Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all of you who are celebrating and hugs to those for whom it's not such a happy occasion.

This is the card that I made for my Mum. You may recognise it as it's based on one of the demos that Barbara Gray did on TV this month. I loved it and had to have a go. I already know that Mum loved it too as she phoned at 8.30am this morning to say so! It's getting framed and going on the wall, so that's a nice result.

I chose peach (Adirondack Mountain Rose) for mine as it's very "Mum". If you want to see how to make it Barbara Gray has blogged hers here.

I made this one for my mother-in-law.

It's uses the same journaling stamps, only this time they're on a Samantha Walker 3D box card that I cut on my Cameo. The base card is K & Co double sided paper but I added more detail to it with the stamps.

Inside it has the beautiful Freesias stamp and Mother verse.

Some adhesive pearls and a dragonfly brad finish it off.

The stamps I've used are all by Clarity except for the round Mother's Day ones which are by Lili of the Valley.

I hope you all have a lovely day and "Happy Mother's Day" to my Mums. I was hoping that Maya would bring me breakfast in bed this morning but I was out of luck. Still, if by some miracle she had managed to make it, she'd only have eaten it on her way upstairs!

Stamps Used

Journaling Set

Freesias

Mother Verse

Lynne

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Pop-up Box Birthday Card

I hope you're enjoying your weekend. I've had a lovely morning; Maya and I had an early walk, then I went up to my craft room for a play. I have just one more card to make (and I know exactly what I'm going to do) then I've finished this month's Claritystamp samples.

There's a bit of a Mum theme going on this weekend as it's my mother-in-law's birthday today and Mother's Day tomorrow (there's a clue about what my next blog post will be about).

I made her this card using my Silhouette Cameo and my Clarity stamps. It's a Lori Whitlock design and I bought it from the Silhouette Store.

It's the first one that I've made and I had such fun doing it. It's given me lots of ideas - I have plans for 4 more, so that should keep me busy next week.

They seem to be very popular at the moment................

...........One of the great things about them is they way they fold flat for posting.

I cut the base in white card and decorated it with Kim & Co. Berry Sweet papers. The flowers were cut out of co-ordinating card. I used an embossing folder to emboss the centres and the edges were inked with Distress Ink.

I hope she likes it.

Stamps Used

Letter Box Set

Letterbox Sentiments Set

Plant a Garden Verse from the Remountable Garden Set

Lynne
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Ruby Wedding Anniversary Card

It's a yucky day here today, so I've tidied up my craft room and started another card. Now I thought I'd have a break, sit down with a coffee and write a blog post.

This card uses just two ink pads - Archival black and Adirondack Cranberry.

I cut the heart shaped moon myself out of a Post-it with a pair of scissors (I folded it in a half to get a nice, symmetrical shape). I then placed it on the card and inked over it with a brush to colour the sky and create the moon. Once I was happy with the sky I removed the mask and added a little bit of colour to the moon, so that It wasn't bright white.

The heart embellishments on the sides are part of a Spellbinders Fancy Tags Two tag.

If you haven't yet got the Birdhouse set (which is one of my faves) or the Letter Box set or the Numbers set it's the perfect time to buy them. Claritystamp have a fantastic offer on at the moment (until midnight on the 31st March, 2014) of 40% off the Classroom kits.

This card has got me thinking, as it will be my Silver Wedding Anniversary later this year. Anyway, I've just worked out that it will be 2029 when it's time for my Ruby one. 2029 - that sounds so futuristic. I wonder if I'll still be writing this blog? I may be writing a post on Hubby's card........

Stamps Used

Lesson 18 Birdhouse Set

Lesson 12 Letterbox Set

Lesson 13 Numbers Set
German Celebration Set

Lynne

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Confirmation Card

Well, my weekend's sample making had mixed results. One of my ideas just didn't work and I decided that I didn't like one of the other cards when I was about half way through it.  However I now have 7 cards made, so that's a good start.

I used the Sun Arch stencil with Alcohol Inks to create the look of a stained glass window on this card. I did this on heat resistant acetate so that I could heat emboss the rays on top. I used Jeweled Gold powder by Stampendous for this - it's a beautiful sparkly yellowy gold.

I traced around the arch and cut it out to create an aperture in my base card. My original idea was to place the acetate behind this so that you could see through it like a window. However as the colours I'd used were quite pale it just didn't look right.

So I had the idea of placing white card behind it with the design inked in black Archival.

I stuck the layers together and it looked much better as the colours were much stronger.

A matching bow and some gems finish it off.

Stamps and Stencils Used

Sun Arch

German Celebration Set

It's back up to my craft room for me. See you later.

Lynne

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Happy 4th Birthday Luca

Morning all, have you got anything nice planned for this weekend? I'm feeling a lot better than I did so I'm having a crafty day. I have 5 Claritystamp samples that are at various stages, ranging from just planned to just needing sticking together. Hopefully by the end of the day I will have 5 completed cards.

This is another of my German samples. It uses the Birdhouse Set which is one of my favourites.

I started off by creating the blue circle with ink (I think it was Adirondack Stonewashed), a Clarity stencil brush and the Circle Dots stencil, then I built up the scene around it using black Adirondack ink.

The balloons are made with the ovals from the Numbers set. I shaped them with a ball tool and stuck them on with Pinflair glue gel to give them some dimension.

Well, I'd better get on - Maya needs a walk then I'm off to my craft room. Wish me luck!

Stamps and Stencils Used

Birdhouse Set

Circle Dots

Numbers Set

German Celebration Set / Deutsch Feier Satz

German Letterbox Set

Lynne

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Alles Liebe

Sorry, I've been neglecting my blog again. I had a fab day at the GNPE on Sunday (it was lovely to catch up with so many people) but on Monday I came down with a cold and felt really rough. Hubby always says that he can tell when I'm "Proper poorly" as I don't have my iPad in my hand. Anyway, I'm starting to feel human again so I'm catching up with online things. After this I have 58 FB notifications to view!

This is one of the cards that I made for the recent German TV show.

It's a very simple card, done in true Clarity style - with a brayer.

I used three colours of Adirondack ink to create the background - Eggplant, Mountain Rose and Butterscotch. Inking up just the centre of the brayer with the help of a blending mat allows you to create this effect. I started off with Butterscotch down the bottom, then blended in a central panel of Mountain Rose, before finishing it off with some Eggplant at the top. I kept blending and adding colour until I got the effect I was after. The rest of the stamping is done with black Archival ink.

A little bit of matting and layering, done with my Perfect Layers rulers, finishes it off.

Stamps Used

Tree

Deerscape

German Letterbox Set

Lynne

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Follow Your Dreams

It's the first day of the GNPE in Harrogate today. I'm sure that the Claritystamp stand will be really busy, as always. I'm so looking forward to going tomorrow. It's always great to be able to catch up with Barbara and the Clarity gang. I'm sure I will do some shopping too!

This is the second of the two cards that I made using the new A5 stencils for the recent trade show that Claritystamp were at. It's actually been looking quite like this here recently. The sun has been out and it's been lovely and bright.

When I saw these stencils I knew instantly the look I wanted to achieve but I wasn't sure how I was going to do it. The washing line and the main image are separate stencils and I didn't want the colour of the background to alter that of the washing or the for pattern to show through. 

So I stuck the washing line to the main stencil with low-tack tape and then stuck it all to a sheet of Theuva card. That way I was able to work on the background and leave the card behind the washing white.

I used a Clarity stencil brush and a make-up sponge to apply the colour from various Adirondack and Distress ink pads to create the background.

Once the background was completed I changed over to the outside part of the washing line stencil to work on the washing. I wanted to keep the line white so I had to do lots of masking with tiny little bits of Post-it notes..............

..........to get this effect.

Like the background, the colour was applied with a Clarity stencil brush and make-up sponges.

Eventually I ended up with this.

Hubby thought that my choice of sentiment was a bit odd but in my mind it seemed appropriate with the path leading up to the house and the washing blowing in the breeze.

A couple of black mats finish it off. 

Stamps and Stencils Used

A5 Washing Line

A5 Sunrise

Follow Your Dreams

Lynne

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My Art

It seems appropriate that I'm writing about my last card from March's show on the day day that the new stamps for April's have arrived. My head is full of ideas and I can't wait to get started.

I'm not one of the "arty ones" on the DT, so the journaling stamps were something a bit different for me. I certainly had fun playing with them though. I particularly loved the distressed diamonds stamp (as you can probably tell) and I can see me using it a lot. The background is just that stamp, stamped repeatedly on white card with black Archival ink.

For the main image I used Permanent Red, Orange and Diarylide Yellow PanPastels with black and Red Geranium Archival ink. I just kept adding to it until I thought I'd better stop. Hopefully I managed to do that in time. I'll let you be the judge of that though.

Stamps Used

Word Chain 1 Set

Remountable Journaling Set

Lynne

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Home Sweet Home

Good morning. This is one for all you pet lovers, whether it's cats or dogs or both. I think you know which I am.

I always enjoy using the frame style stamps from Clarity. They're so versatile.

For this card I used the Home one with the Letter Box set to create the phrase "Home sweet Home".

I stamped the design out on copy paper first so that I could see the size that the card needed to be and then cut a card blank the appropriate size. The roof was cut on my Cameo from a design bought in the Silhouette Store but you could easily cut one by hand. 

I positioned the roof in place and added a pencil line down the centre so I could see where I needed to do the stamping. "Home" was stamped in black Archival and heat embossed with clear powder. "Sweet" was just stamped in Archival.

I then masked them off with Post-its ready for the next stage........

.....the brickwork. This was created with the 9 x 11 inch Brick Wall stencil, a Clarity stencil brush and various shades of Distress Ink.

When that was complete I created a couple of little scenes in the frames.

Naturally the Labrador took centre stage.

My final task was to stick the roof on. I did this before I cut the corners off the card to make things easier.

I hope you like it. My home certainly wouldn't be the same without Maya, although it would be a lot quieter............. and cleaner.................and there wouldn't be scratches all over my leather sofas.......... That would be dull though.

Stamps and Stencils Used

Brick Wall

Home Frame

Remountable Home Set

Letter Box Set

Lynne & Maya

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A Couple of Blue Tit Cards

Morning all, I hope you're having a lovely weekend. I had a really enjoyable afternoon yesterday making a Mother's Day card and a birthday card with my Cameo (and of course some Clarity stamps).

I will share them at the end of the month but today I've got two Claritystamp Blue Tit cards to show you.

I made this first one for my Dad's birthday last month. He's a keen bird watcher so these stamps arrived at the perfect time.

Last month I made my Clarity Family Tree Card and I though that the same design would work well with the Blue Tit stamps.  With hindsight I wish I'd added some of the blossom in the apertures too.

The Blue Tits were stamped in black Adirondack ink and coloured in with pencils. I did try them with ProMarkers first but I decided that I liked the softer look of the pencils more.

One of the fun parts of this card is the bird feeder.

I stamped it onto shrink plastic with black Archival ink and coloured it in with coloured pencils. I tried it on clear shrink plastic first but I didn't like it so I did it again in white. As you can't see through it I added some blue in a few of the squares at the top for the sky.

This shows the difference in size between the stamp and the shrink plastic version of it.

I did think about recreating it for one of my Claritystamp samples but I decided against it as it's based on/so similar to the Clarity Family Tree card that I made last month. 

So I made this instead. It uses the bird feeder as it was intended with the blue tits hanging off it. They certainly look like they're enjoying their feast. In fact it reminds me of Mum and Dad's garden. They have lots of bird feeders hanging in the trees.

The stamping was done with black Adirondack ink and I coloured it in with pencils. It was a lovely way to spend an afternoon. In fact I enjoyed it so much that I think I might have to invest in some decent pencils.

Stamps Used

Large Blue Tit

Blue Tits and Feeder

Large Blossom Branch

Small Blossom Branches

Lynne

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Floral Mother's Day Card

The Freesia stamp from Clarity is a lovely, elegant design. When the design team were discussing it so many of us said that they're our Mum's favourite flowers. I guess that makes them perfect for a Mother's Day card.

Like the diver on my Flower Power card, I thought these stamps would work well with some pretty papers. Again they're by K & Co. but these have a lovely vintage look to them. 

I stamped the image using Espresso Adirondack onto watercolour paper as it has a lovely texture. I then cut that out using one of the Spellbinders Decorative Labels Eight dies. The flowers were coloured in with ProMarkers using colours that matched the papers.

I added some Distress Ink around the edges and finished it off with some lovely vintage looking lace.

Stamps Used

Freesias

Mother Verse

Lynne

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Good Luck Card

I thought I'd start with this one as it's a bit of a grey day outside and I thought it might cheer things up a bit.

There are lots of little stamps in the Lucky Set and I thought this was a great way to use them all. After all you can't have too much good luck!

I started off with the Good Luck stencil, inking through it with Black Archival.

Once that was dry I cut a piece of copy paper to cover it and stamped the border. I again used Archival for this as I wanted it nice and black. I left it to dry overnight and then coloured it in with ProMarkers - Bright Green and Poppy, with a little bit of Cool Grey 2 on the horseshoes. 

I was careful how I went around the Archival Ink with the Promarkers but as you can see it's fine. It's not like that there's a lot of blending (that might cause it to bleed).

Stamps and Stencils Used

Remountable Lucky Set

A5 Good Luck Stencil

Lynne

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March's Clarity Samples

Well that was another busy show! Barbara certainly looked like she was enjoying herself with Dean. I always love seeing what the rest of the DT has made with the stamps and there were so many fantastic cards this month.

These are what I made for the UK show.........

............and these are the ones I made for the German show.

As always I will be blogging them all individually throughout the month. I also have my Dad's birthday card (made with the Blue Tits) and another of the A5 stencil cards that I made for the Trade Show to share, so I hope you'll come back for a closer look. 

This Easter card from last year was also shown again. If you've not seen it before, the post about that can be seen here. 

I'm now off to have a play in my craft room. I loved the demo that Barbara did with the Tag stencil and I fancy having a go myself.

Lynne

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Flower Power

It's the first of the month, so that means the start of a new challenge on the Claritystamp Challenge Blog. I always think that these blog challenges are a great excuse to have some fun. You're not making a card for a specific person or occasion, so you can do whatever you like, as long as you stick to the theme.

I certainly did that with this one! You've probably guessed already but the theme is "Flower Power". 

I have a huge stash of patterned papers from when I used to scrapbook and when I saw this month's theme I immediately thought of these papers. The range is called Berry Sweet and was by K & Co. Add to that the fact that I've recently been watching Splash (wasn't Perri Kiely fab!) and that this diving stamp was in the recent New Designs Club members' sale and you end up with a card like this. I am sure that her hat and costume are giving her real flower power!

Other than the lettering, this panel is the only bit of stamping on the card. I stamped the diver first onto an oval cut out with one of my Nestabilities and masked her off to create the background. I chose the colours of this to match the papers. They are Evergreen Bough Distress Ink for the water (I brayered over scrumpled up copy paper first to get the waves) and Wild Honey and Rusty Hinge Distress Ink for the sun. I cut my own stencil for this using a Design bought from the Silhouette Store and my Cameo. It was only when I was uploading my project and saw the beautiful tags by Linda Page that I remembered that I already had a fab Clarity sun stencil. Silly me!

I coloured the diver in with ProMarkers and cut her costume and hat out of the paper with the smallest print.

Then it was just a case of going wild with the rest of the papers, adding some of the matching felt embellishments and assembling it.

I hope she makes an elegant entry into the water, unlike some of the contestants on Splash! 

Congratulations to the winner and Top 5 of the Love and Romance Challenge. It was lovely to look at all of the entries and I hope you will enjoy this challenge as much. The Design Team certainly have; I love all of the beautiful creations that they've made. Don't forget that there's a £50 Claritystamp voucher for the winner.

Stamps Used

Diver 1

Letter Box Set

Lynne

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