Masculine

Hello there!  I can't believe how fast the time is speeding by;  its June already!  And a new month means the start of a new Clarity challenge.  This month we're asking you to make something for one of the men in your life;  now we all know how difficult that can be...  

Rather than revisiting some of my favourite "male" stamps, I decided to go for something different, and use the galleon and ocean swirl set that I bought a while ago, but which were still pristine and unused, (and no doubt, feeling unloved!)

I played about a bit to find the right colours and stencil for a gelli print I could use for my background sea.  In the end, it was Paperartsy Fresco Finish paints in Caribbean Sea and South Pacific, and System 3 Gold acrylic.  In my opinion, you really need a mega mount to produce perfectly layered gelli prints;  it makes it so easy to line up each layer so that you get that lovely hand printed edge.

I then brayered Peacock Feathers distress ink onto the gelli plate for the sky;  now you would be lucky to get this lined this up without a mega mount.

Then I stamped the galleon into place using black archival ink.

Then, using the same paints, I pulled a couple of prints with the Ocean swirl stencil on card and then on parchment.  I tore these out to create the wild, crashing waves.

A bit of whitework on the parchment swirls to add highlights, and to suggest the foaming crests of the waves.

  

I laid these out along with the stamps to make sure I was happy with the composition.

Then I stamped both the swirls into place with versamark and used one of the fancy Frantage embossing powders.  I particularly love this one with its little flecks of gold. 

I added a drop shadow with a light charcoal pencil;  you can see below what a difference it makes.

Using a versamark pen, I emphasised the crests of the waves with a little embossing powder too.

 For the final flourish, to create a really wild, raging sea I coiled some strips of card to make swirls of various sizes, then glued into place.  Now some of you will know that this is a technique we did at a recent retreat with Maria Simms.  And you will not be able to believe that I actually did more curling!  I can hardly believe it myself!

And that's it.  Simply edged with black and mounted on to a plain white card blank.

I hope you like the finished card.  I did enjoy the whole process of making this one;  playing with different ideas and techniques, and letting it grow and develop as it went. 

Now I can't wait to see what you're going to come up with.  There's some really great work entered into the challenge every month, and it gets harder and harder to choose our top 5.  No need to worry if you're a beginner though;  the winner is chosen at random, so everyone has the same chance to win that £50 Clarity voucher.     

I have set myself a challenge too:  to be back soon for a chat and share another of my cards.  So hopefully it won't be long till next time.  Xxx

Its all about the layers

Hello there!  Its been a while, so I thought I'd better pop in to blog one of my cards from the last Claritystamp show on Hochanda.  This one uses the fab oriental trellis stencil:  I just love it!

 

I started by cutting a piece of stencil card to 3"x 5" and pulling grunge paste through the stencil.  Once dry, I started on the real fun bit;  layering up the colours.  Just go with it, making sure to choose an opaque base colour;  I used Bougainvillea.

 

 

 

Paint the colour on quickly, then wipe some off with a baby wipe.  What's left in the crevices starts to highlight the design and texture of the stencil.  Its good to use at least some translucent colours so you can see through to the colours underneath. 

 

 

Don't be frightened to put in some really bright colours.  You can always 'knock back' the effect with the next layer if you don't like it.

  

 

 

You can see here how the brighter colours underneath still show through this darker translucent layer.

 

 

 A little bit of white will always help to emphasise the design of the stencil.

 

 

Going with the flow...  going dark again.

 

 

 

Once you've achieved the depth of colour you're looking for;  concentrate on highlighting the stencil design.

 

 

Dry brushing a tiny amount of gold acrylic will really bring it to life.  I stamped and gold embossed one of the word chains onto some parchment to finish.

 

And here's another card I made in the same way using a different stencil.

 

 

I hope you like them, and that you feel inspired to try this technique out for yourself:  its so easy, but very effective. 

 

Hopefully I'll be back in a few days with another of my samples.  Until then, happy crafting everyone.  Till next time  Xxx  

As long as its Clarity...absolutely anything goes

Hello there!  Sorry I'm late with this months Claritystamp challenge project, but its been a hectic few days, and I only just got my project ready in time before I left for a wonderful crafty weekend away.  To those of you who visited yesterday, I hope that for once you don't mind too much.

 

This month we've given you free rein to use any or all of your Clarity stash;  what will you choose?

 

Running short of time, and needing to focus the mind, I rifled through my scrap box and found this copy paper mop up sheet which I decided to use as the starting point for my design.

 

 

I loved the circular movement, and decided on this sentiment stamped in black archival to emphasise this.

 

 

 I masked off the skyline and added in the grass with this lovely stencil.  I used twisted citron distress ink, and added a little extra definition with peacock feathers distress ink.

 

 

Now mask the grass, ready to stamp the tulips into place.

 

 

I stamped 3 tulips into place with garden patina archival.

 

 

Remove the masking tape.

 

 

Time now to mod podge this onto a small canvas board and add some texture by dragging grunge paste through the stencil in the top left and bottom right corner.

 

 

Add some colour to the grunge paste dots with twisted citron, peacock feathers and barn door distress inks, then colour in the tulips with spectrum noir pencils. 

 

 

 I glazed the tulips using a versamark pen and clear detail embossing powder to bring them out.

 

Add a little touch of glitter to the dots.

 

And that's it done.  Not sure yet if I will mount it on another canvas board or in a box frame.  I really love this one;  I hope you do too.  Its fantastic what you can do with scraps.

 

 

Looking forward to seeing what you come up with for this months challenge, so get creative for a chance to win a £50 Clarity voucher.  Now wouldn't that be nice...  And remember, the winner is chosen at random, so it doesn't matter if you are a beginner or more experienced;  everyone has the same chance to win.  So go on give it a go. 

 

Hopefully, I'll be back soon.  I have my samples from yesterdays shows on Hochanda to share with you.  Till next time.  Xxx