Anything goes this month!

Well, where did June go?  At least summer has finally arrived this week.  Thanks to all of you who entered last months Claritystamp challenge on the theme of "Boys, boys, boys."  So many fabulous entries, its getting harder than ever to choose our top 5.  This month, we've decided to give you free rein;  absolutely anything goes, so the only constraint is your imagination.  And of course, your collection of Clarity stamps and stencils and new Groovi stuff too!
 

As this is wedding season, I decided to make a keepsake horseshoe.
 

 

I started off with an MDF blank, and dragged some grunge paste through the dotty wave stencil to add some texture. 

 

 

 

Once the grunge paste was dry, the whole thing was given a couple of coats of pewter paint. 

 

I then quickly coated it with white paint, and wiped off a lot of it, allowing it to remain mainly in the crevices to give an old, distressed look. 

 

 

A tiny amount of gold acrylic was then dry brushed over the surface to add subtle glimmering highlights.

 

 

I die-cut this fancy label, stamped the couple first with watering can archival, then offset slightly with versamark  and gold embossed.  This gives a very subtle shadow;  not too much, or you lose the definition of the figures (yes, I found out the hard way!)  I then gently brushed round the edges with blue distress ink. 

 

 

A very small amount of seedless preserves distress ink was also brushed round the edges.  This required a very light touch to avoid overdoing it.

 

The flowers were repeat stamped with watering can archival onto some paper that had been coloured using Oak House Studio Colour Chemistry sprays.  They were fussy cut, and 3 layers glued togethet in the centre for each flower  

 

 

The leafy sprigs were stamped onto gelli card, VERY carefully fussy cut, then dipped into my melt pot.

 

 

"Forever" from the word chains was stamped first in watering can archival, then offset in versamark and gold embossed to create a shadow.  This was then carefully cut out.

The doves were stamped in grey archival onto gelli card, and in versamark onto some clearly for art modelling film which was then carefully gold embossed.

 

I arranged all the components and stuck them into place with pinflair glue gel.

All that was needed to finish was some complementary  ribbon.

 

I hope you like it, and I'd really appreciate it if you took time to leave a comment so I know you've stopped by;  I love to read your feedback on my work.  Now its over to you;  I am so looking forward to seeing loads of amazing entries this month.  Its always so inspiring to see all your different ideas.  Go on, you can do it!

 

 

Till next time.  Xxx

 

 

 

 

 

Another "boys, boys, boys" project

Hello to you all.  Here as promised is another project I made for this months Claritystamp challenge theme;  in fact this was my original idea using Paperartsy Fresco Finish Acrylics and Crackle Glaze as taught by the inspirational Maria Simms.  I wanted to make a keepsake gift ready for my youngest grandson's second birthday and decided on this doorhanger.

 

Ingredients

MDF doorhanger

Paperartsy fresco finish paints

Paperartsy crackle glaze and satin glaze

Black archival ink

Butterscotch adirondack ink

Mermaid lagoon distress ink

Mixture of green distress and adirondack ink pads

Shrink plastic

Stamps used:  journalling set, wee folk boys, boy and birds, remountable patterns, bubbles, word chains.

 

First job was to give the doorhanger an undercoat of white paint, then I roughly sponged in some sky and painted in the hills. 

 

 

Then I scraped on a very thin layer of crackle glaze, let it dry, and overpainted with a thick layer of cream paint.  now I just had to wait for the magic to happen.  Although its only subtle, this meant that you can see the different colours through the crackle.  

 

 

Now I started to build up the scene using inks and stamping in some texture and details using the fresco finish paints, masking off each section in turn, and then stamping the silhouettes in black archival.

 

 

 

I gently brushed some yellow for the sun, and then very lightly stamped in some bubbles for interest.

 

 

Now for this side, I stamped in the lovely boy and birds.

 

 

I created a similar scene on the other side of the doorhanger, but used different wee folk.

 

I coated the whole piece in satin glaze to protect it.  The finishing touch was to stamp out some appropriate words in black archival onto shrink plastic and stick them into place on each side of the door hanger.

 

 

Well I hope you like it, and maybe it will give you a few more ideas for what you might like to create for this months challenge. 

 

Don't forget to join in, the winner of the £50 Clarity voucher is chosen at random, so this month it could be you.

 

Pop on over to the challenge blog for more inspiration from the rest of the design team.  Hope you will be watching Barbara on the telly with us tomorrow morning.  See you there!  Till next time.  Xxx

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One for the boys...

Hello again.  Thanks to all of you who entered last months Clarity challenge on the theme of "clocks."  This has proved to be quite a tough theme:  maybe a reflection of what a struggle it is for many of us to find enough time for crafting.  This month, we are tackling another theme which can sometimes be difficult:  creating a piece of art for the men in our lives.

Ingredients
Black archival ink pad
Black micron pen
Clear embossing powder
Theuva card
Black card for matting and layering
Jazz man stamp, music stamp set and wordpress stamp set

As I kept it simple this month, I thought I would share with you a bit more of how I go about designing a project from the start.

First, I very often start by stamping out the design roughly onto copy paper.  I might do this several times, until I feel confident and happy with the layout.

Next, I cut Theuva card to size, and dusted with talc.  I then stamped jazz man and clear embossed him.

Of course, with a design so simple, there's no place to hide.  Here are some of the rejects...

Too timid when drawing in the lines.  Tried thicker lines, but didn't like them.

Tried drawing the lines before stamping jazzman.  I concentrated so hard on trying to put his feet in the right place, I cut off his cane.  Barbara:  0   Bin:  2

I drew the lines first again, and disaster!  Can you spot it? 

I realised I had to be brave and stamp jazz man first, and then draw in the lines.  Yay, success at last!  Then I stamped in "Happy Birthday" using both upper and lower case letters from the wordpress set randomly through the stave.

Next job was to add in the notes until I was happy with the balance of the design.

All that was left to do now was to mat onto a piece of black card and the card blank.

I hope you like the finished card.  I'm really looking forward to seeing the projects you come up with for the men in your life;  be it a husband father, son, grandson...  Its up to you.  I have another "boys, boys, boys" project that I've made for one of my grandsons, which I'll blog later in the month.  Don't forget, the winner of the £50 Claritystamp voucher is chosen completely at random, so what have you got to lose?  Go on, give it a go.  If you need more inspiration, pop over to: http://claritystampchallenge.blogspot.co.uk/

You'll find the links there to the blogs of all my talented design teamies.  Till next time.  Xxx