Decopatch

I enjoy doing lots of crafty things and I thought I'd share something different today. Decopatch is something I've recently discovered. It's a great way to jazz up old things. This is what I've done so far.

This dog is the first thing I made.  It was a little kit that I bought it at the Summer Crafting show in Doncaster. They only had a blue one left but the lady on the stall (www.thedecopatchplace.co.uk) kindly made me up a pink one.  I added the eyes and nose with some Cosmic Shimmer pearl glue and I think she looks really cute.  She doesn't have a name yet so any suggestions would be welcome.

This box sits on my craft desk. It was an old MDF box that my dad had made. I think it looks a lot prettier now. The paper was chosen to match the owl on the bin that's also on my desk. I added the scissors as it was looking a bit plain. They are cut in vinyl on my Cameo from a design from the Silhouette Store.

In case you're wondering, the lighter is for sealing the ends of ribbon - a trick I've recently learnt.

These are a couple of Christmas decorations that I bought in Hobbycraft. You can't see it in the photo but I used the sparkly Decopatch varnish on those. It's subtle but really pretty.  Like the box, the words on the bottom one were cut in vinyl on my Cameo from a design I purchased from the Silhouette Store.

Only one more day until the last In the Classroom with Barbara Gray show of the year.  I look forward to seeing what everyone else has made and I'll be back tomorrow to share one of mine.

Lynne
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Colour Log Cabin in the Woods Card

As I mentioned in the post about my Sepia Log cabin card I'd first made a colour version of it. I didn't use it for the UK samples though as I thought it was too similar to the other card I'd done with those stamps.

I didn't want to waste it so I made it into a card for my German samples. The new Lesson 14 Winter Wonderland kit had arrived by then so I was able to add the deer to the foreground.

I've used Metallic Gold Sparkle Wow! powder for the star and Glamour Dust on the roof and trees for a bit of Christmas sparkle.

The embossing is done with a Cuttlebug folder.

I also wanted to show that I have tidied up, after my messy craft room photos on my last post. I've been very busy this morning and my it's now nice and tidy again.  Just how I like it................unfortunately I really must make my own Christmas cards now so I don't think it will stay like this for long!!!!!!

Lynne
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Berry Corner Easter Card

I thought I'd share something a bit different today, an Easter card I made for the recent German shows (there was a set of mix and match greetings stamps). Done on Centura Pearl card with gold embossing and a beautiful red bow this could have been a really classy, elegant card................

but I decided to go BRIGHT. 

I cut the egg on my Cameo (from a Jennifer Wambach design from the Silhouette Store) and started to decorate it with the Clarity Berry Corner stamp. I have the set of Memento Dew Drop ink pads so I had a good selection of colours to play with.  It was all going well until I picked up the wrong green three stamps from the end on the first attempt.  I may have said a few very bad words at this point!

I then decided I wasn't happy with the design so I started again on a slightly different version.

This happened a couple of times before I was happy with it. As you can see I wasted quite a bit of card on this "simple" project. I was convinced it was a good idea though, so I persevered and eventually ended up with something I was pleased with.

I stamped the greeting inside but it looked a bit too plain, even for me.  I went rummaging through my ribbon box and found a small piece of bright green ribbon.  It was just what it needed to finish it off.

I just have finishing touches and photographs to take today, then next weekend's UK samples will be ready to post tomorrow. I went into my craft room this morning, it looks like a disaster area! I thought you might like to see what sort of mess a "Lynne at Work" makes.  It's only fair as I have photos of my pristine room at the top of the page.  :-)

The dining table is also covered in ProMarkers where I've brought bits downstairs to work on. I think I'm going to be very busy cleaning and tidying on Wednesday!!!! Will post again when I've tidied up, just to show I'm not a total slob. Although it will soon be back in this state when the next box of stamps arrive. Keeping my craft room nice a tidy is a bit like painting the Forth Bridge! :-)

Lynne

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Clarity Ballerina Card

I really like the card I did in this style with the Meadow Dance stamps, so I thought I'd have another go with the Clarity Ballerina. It's a bit of an unusual choice but I was pleased with how it turned out.

I think that with cards like this getting a nice shape of hill is the key. I'm not that great at tearing them though.  For this card I used a new trick.  I worked out where I wanted the hill to go to fit in with the moon and the ballerina and drew the shape on a piece of copy paper. I was then able to follow this guide with the ruler when I did the tearing. I found it a lot easier to get a good shape than tearing it 'freehand'.

The brayering and sponging was all done with various shades of Adirondack ink. All of the stamps in the main image are Clarity, apart from the Vine and Stars which are by Lavinia. The Birthday Wishes stamp is from Chocolate Baroque.

It's all finished off with some holographic glitter.

Lynne

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Golden Winterland Card

Here is the last of my cards from the November shows on Create and Craft. For this one I revisited a design that I won the Clarity Club Challenge with back in September 2011.

The original was done in black and silver. I'd wanted to make the snowflakes on that one sparkly but the sparkly embossing powder I had back then wasn't very good and made them look like a blobby mess. So in the end I just used my Detail Silver powder. It wasn't quite the effect I wanted but at least the snowflakes were crisp.

Since then I've bought some Metallic Gold Sparkle Wow! powder. It holds the detail of the stamp so much better so I can now have sparkly snowflakes!

The Winterland scene was stamped in black Archival and I coloured the windows in to give them a warm glow.

The snowflake detail at the bottom is done with a Martha Stewart punch.

Here's the original one. Which do you prefer? I think the gold one is my favourite.

Oh well, I must get back to work on next month's cards.  I've only made two so far, so I have lots to do. The next German ones are done though and Barbara will be on HSE24 Extra with those on Sunday.

Lynne

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Clarity Hummingbird Card

I certainly coloured in a lot of hummingbirds before I got one I was happy with. They are such beautiful, iridescent birds and I wanted to try and achieve that look on mine. I stamped a load out and got out all of my sparkly things.  I tried Perfect Pearls, mica powders, Sakura Stardust pens, then coloured pencils and ProMarkers, but I wasn't happy with any of them

In the end Hubby came to the rescue. He said "Why don't you use that sparkly stuff you used on the Autumn Leaves card?". I wasn't convinced as I didn't want to end up with "Disco Hummingbird" but I gave it a go to keep him happy.  In the end I had to admit it was by far the best, so that was the technique I used. Thanks Hubby. I coloured the bird with Promarkers first, then I went over it with a Versamark pen before covering it in Stampendous Stardust embossing powder and heating it.  Voilà!  One iridescent hummingbird!

I wanted to make the flower that he was going into stand out, so I stamped it several times and decoupaged it to give it a 3D look.

It was all finished of with a pretty lace frame cut on my Cameo.

Lynne
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Baby's 1st Christmas Bauble

This was another of my ideas for the number stamps from Lesson 13. It also uses the letters from the previous lesson.

The bauble was cut on my Cameo from Centura Pearl Card. I inked it with Dusty Concord Distress Ink on my Splodgemat.  The bauble top was cut in gold Mirri card (that hasn't photographed very well).

The baby in the crib is part of one of the 'Twas the Night stamps. I first saw this done by another member of the Design Team, Janet Pring (thanks Janet). It's great to be able to get more use out of a Christmas stamp. It's stamped on a Nestabilities and mounted onto foam pads to give it a more 3D effect.

The reverse is done the same so it doesn't matter if it turns around.

Lynne
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Clarity Deerscape Card

I always have a favourite and this is November's.

It's my version of a card that Barbara Gray taught at her workshop at the Harrogate show. Fortunately it ended up a lot better than the one I did at the show!

Dad bought Mum and I tickets and although we had a brilliant time, my artwork was a complete disaster. If it could go wrong it did and I was so embarrassed!!!! So when I got these stamps to make samples with I wanted to show that I could do it.

To make it different to Barbara's version I added the reflection and put the words in the moon.

The invention of the Splodgemat has made reflections much easier to do. All you have to do is stamp onto the mat and then you can lay the paper onto that image to reverse it. It's then easy to line up the clear Clarity stamp to complete the reflected image. In this instance I used the brayer though, as I preferred the results I was getting with it.  I have the wider 6" one, as well as the regular size, so I was able to fit the whole image on it.

I think it's always worth having a play when you do things like this. I tried first and second generation ink for the Deerscape and the same with the brayer and Splodgemat for the reflection. You can then decide which you like best for that particular project.

To do the water I got out my Ink Dusters and tried to get lines when I was dragging the ink across. I think this gives a nice watery effect.

The inks I used are Adirondack Eggplant and Espresso.  You brayer the hills in Eggplant, then go over them very lightly with Espresso at the end. The creates an almost misty effect. You want hardly any ink on your brayer for this. As Barbara says, "You can always add more ink but you can't take it away". Someone should have said that to me at Harrogate!  :-)

Lynne
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Sepia Log Cabin in the Woods Card

The first version of this picture was done in colour but I thought it looked too similar to the other Log Cabin card I'd made. Mum had the idea of doing it in sepia.

I used the coated Clarity card and it's all done with an Espresso Adirondack dye ink pad.

Like the previous card, I started off with the cabin and then stamped everything else. The sky was brayered using my Splodge mat and then spritzed with water and blotted to give a snowy effect.

I used the coated Clarity paper to make the background. I originally bought it as a cheaper option to practise my brayering on, but it's also fab for using for backgrounds.  I randomly applied the Espresso ink to it with an Ink Duster and brayer before I spritzed it with water and applied scrunched up cling film.  Once it had dried I stamped the snowflake from the Lesson 14 set all over.

If you looked closely at the group shot I previously posted, you may have noticed that the topper was on wonky.  The foam pads stuck so quickly to the coated card and I couldn't move it. I was frightened to pull it off incase I ripped the card and ruined all that work. Luckily Dad came to the rescue with a clever idea (apparently he's used to fixing Mum's mistakes!).  I went into the kitchen and sharpened a long knife. I protected the sides with some copier paper (so that I didn't scratch the coated card) and then just cut through all of the foam pads. Simples! I was then able to stick it back on straight with some Pinflair. I should have just used that in the first place!!!!!!

I've since tweaked the colour version and made that into a card too. I will post that on here too.

Peace on Earth is stamped onto a Spellbinders Ribbon Banner die cut and it's all finished off with some Glamour Dust for a bit of sparkle.

Lynne
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Log Cabin in the Woods Card

I have used the Clarity Sprucescape stamp so much and I was very pleased to see the little Log Cabin joining the collection. They work so well together.

I started off by stamping the Log Cabin and built the scene around it. I'd love to be sat next to a roaring log fire in that cabin. It looks so peaceful.

The sky was brayered in blue using my Splodgemat, then I added a couple of other colours to give it a grey snowy look (I really should write down exactly what I use but I keep forgetting).

The snow was done with an Ink Duster and copier paper. I like the subtle effect that they give.

It was looking a bit bare so I added the deer from the Deerscape stamp and some Glamour Dust to finish it off.

It's matted on some Coredinations card that has been embossed with the Bricks and Bark M-Bossibilities folder and then sanded.

Lynne
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Poppies Card for Remembrance Day

It's Remembrance Day today, a time of year when I feel so thankful for what I have. Hubby and I are off to a Remembrance Day service and I wanted to share this card with you. I just love the sentiment and I thought it was perfect for this card and today.

Stamps by Clarity.  Poppies cut on my Cameo.  Leaves are from a spellbinders set.  Corner die is a Sizzlet.  Embossed background is done with a Grand M-Bossibilities, Garden Lattice.

Lynne
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A Card for a Dear Friend

For this card I've used the Clarity Meadow Dance stamp and the new Deerscape. They fit together perfectly to make one long image. Now, I have to say that fullscreen on my 27" iMac this card looks a right mess but in real life the marks of embossing powder are not quite so noticeable.

I very rarely use black embossing powder, as even with a dusting of anti-static powder and carefully brushing away stray bits, there are always some little specks that remain elusive. They are especially hard to spot on the Centura Pearl card. However for this card I decided it was the only way to get the effect I wanted. The stamp is so stunning on its own that I wanted it to really stand out. For this reason I also kept the background very simple.

I brayered the background first using Adirondack ink pads and my Splodge mat. Once I had done that I used a sponge to add a bit more definition to the top of the hills.  Then I stamped and embossed the main image.

I did try it with black ink and clear powder first as if you do end up with any stray bits of powder, being clear, you can't see them. However on the Centura Pearl card that I was using it looked really grey. It was hard to get a decent photo of this but I think you can see the difference. It is even more noticeable in real life.

The border is the edge of a Spellbinders Persian Accents die.

Lynne
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Two Little Ducks Bingo Card

Here's one of my cards using the number stamps from Lesson 13 of In the Classroom with Barbara Gray.  I'm not quite sure where the idea came from but this is what I came up with.  :-)

It's a good job that Mum and Dad were here when I was planning it. Being a crafter, rather than a bingo player, I was thinking of the bingo cards that you get as embellishments. As with a lot of craft things they are American. I didn't realise that British ones are different. 

After a quick Google  I found out what they should look like and set about drawing the grid on my computer. I sized it to fit the number stamps and luckily it was just the right size to fit on an A5 card.

Nigel made me smile when he was showing it on TV.  He came over all nostalgic as apparently he used to be a presenter on a bingo channel.  I bet he was a laugh on that!

Lynne

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Monochrome Clarity Winterland Card

Decisions, decisions!  Which card should I blog first?  In the end I thought I'd just do them in the order they appear in the group shot.  Simples!

I got the idea for this one from the shape of the Winterland stamp and I sized the card to fit it. The stamp is just over 10.5cm wide but I rounded each panel down to 10.5cm, so that it was easy to score on my Hougie Board. Once I'd done that I cut the slope so that it would finish just above the Nestabilities shape at the bottom. Then it was just a case of adding some details.  

The sheep are from the Remountable Farm set and the geese are from the Remountable Village set.  

I created the snowdrifts with a Post-it note cut to shape and an Ink Duster. I decoupaged a couple of the sheep to give the card a bit more dimension, then finished it all off with some sparkly Glamour dust.

On the show there was a gorgeous card shown by Annie Mehew. She had done a beautiful winter scene with the same Winterland stamp and the little labrador that I have on my Handmade by Lynne Hammond stamp (it is available as a separate stamp in the Remountable Home set). Anyway, I wish I'd thought of doing it. It looked so cute! I think it will be making an appearance on some of my Christmas cards. Thanks for the idea Annie.

Lynne
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November's Stamping with Clarity Shows

It's my favourite weekend of the month again.  Barbara Gray is on my telly!   As always the shows have been fab and Barbara's demos, and the other members of the Design Team's cards, have got me all inspired.

I'm still pretty new to all this and trying to work out the best way to do things.  The telly weekend is obviously the main focus of the Clarity month, but if I post all my cards today I will have nothing to blog for the rest of the month.  On the other hand I realise that people want to see the samples; I know I love to see everyone else's.  So I thought I'd post a group shot of my cards today, then I can do individual posts on them throughout the month.

I hope you like them.

By the way, I was excited to see that I'm nearly up to 50 followers!  It's so nice to know that I'm not talking to myself.  Thank you.

Lynne
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Clarity Meadow Dance Card Lavina Style

Here's another card made with my favourite Clarity Meadow Dance stamps.  I saw a project in Craft Stamper by Tracey Dutton from Lavinia Stamps and this is what I made from it.  I love the mixture of colours.

The tutorial is also on her blog, here.  She uses one of her stamps called Harietta.

The little star cluster is by Lavinia and the words are from an old Joanna Sheen set of dress stamps.  All of the others are from Claritystamps.

Well that was short and to the point!

It's nearly time for the next In the Classroom with Barbara Gray show on Create and Craft tomorrow.  I'm looking forward to seeing what everyone else has made.  I'll be back tomorrow to show you what I've been up to.

Lynne
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Halloween Tag Book Instructions

I had a question yesterday about how I'd made the Halloween tag book so here is how I folded it.

1.  Start with a square of double side paper.  I think I trimmed mine down to 10" x 10".

   The red pen lines are just there so you can see where to fold.  Do not draw them on yours.

2. Decide which pattern you want on the outside and fold in half.  A Hougie board is handy for this if you have one, but as it's only paper you're folding it's not necessary.  Turn the paper 90° and fold again.

3. Fold in the corners.

4. Fold the pointy bit up.  "Pointy bit" being a technical term.  :-)

5.  Repeat this for however many pages you want.  Punch some holes along the folded edge and you can now assemble it into a book using book rings, ribbon, or a binding machine and fill it with your tags.

I hope that makes sense.  If it doesn't just let me know.

Lynne

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