A Sneak Peek

This is exciting, I've been given permission to show you a sneak peek at one of my new Claritystamp samples.

It features one of the sets of brand new stamps that will be shown on Sunday's shows. It's a really versatile set and I had such a lot of fun playing with them. I know you will too.

I can't wait to see Barbara's demos and the rest of the team's samples. If you want to see more make sure you watch Create and Craft TV at 9-11am and 2-3pm on Sunday 2nd February.

Don't forget there's still time to enter this month's Claritystamp Challenge. The theme is "New Beginnings" and you have until 8pm on the Friday 31st Jan to enter. There is a £50 Claritystamp voucher for the winner so it's well worth having a go.

I'll be back on Saturday 1st Feb to show my project for February and hopefully you'll get to see the rest of this card on TV on Sunday.

Lynne
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A Couple of ATCs

There's not long to wait now until Sunday (2nd Feb) when Barbara Gray will be on Create and Craft TV for February's shows. My final card took me some time but I got there in the end and my samples went in the post yesterday.

As I have no cards left to share I thought I'd show you a couple of ATCs that I made recently.

The theme for this one was "Film Titles". Can you guess what it is? Yes, it's "Cinderella".

It doesn't show up very well in my photo but the carriage is sparkly. I used Stampendous Jeweled Gold embossing powder which is a beautiful, glittery, yellowy gold. Some Glossy Accents on the windows give the effect of glass.

The slipper has been made with Angelina Fibres.

The them for this second one was "Dreams". I used my Cameo to cut out an aperture the shape of the fairy......

......and mounted it on top to create some dimension. There's sparkly bits on this one too - chunky holographic glitter on the back and some clear Sakura Stardust pen on Puck's wings.

I do love green. Can you tell?

The stamps are all by Claritystamp, except for the phrase on the first one which is a Tim Holtz one.

Lynne
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Another Filigraphy Seahorses Gelli Print

This is the last of my samples from January's shows. Hopefully by the end of today I will have finished next month's. As always, there are some fab new stamps coming up and I look forward to sharing what I've made with you.

This is the second of the Gelli print cards that I made with the Filigraphy Seahorses stamps. It's done in a similar way to the first one except this time I used the Seahorse Masks when I took the print so that I had a nice white area to stamp them on. I kept the bodies monochrome but added some colour to their heads.

The seaweed is coloured in with Distress Markers and Glossy Accents have been applied to the bubbles to add some texture.

I best get up to my craft room. The card I've saved until last is one that could take a while. Wish me luck!

Stamps and Stencils Used

Neptune from the Remountable Patterns Set

Large Filigraphy Seahorse

A Thing Of Beauty

Seaweed

Lynne

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Love Is In The Air

Welcome to my 250th post.

This card was a bit of an experiment - it was the first time I tried ink on the Gelli Plate. The colour I chose was Adirondack Wild Plum (sorry Theresa but it's very pink!).

For the base layer I brayered the ink onto the Gelli Plate, then used the Dotty Wave and Ocean Swirl stencils to create the pattern.

The next layer was the locks and keys. I stamped them directly onto the Gelli Plate then took another print on top of the first.

The rest is then stamped directly onto the print. The black birds and Kissing Couple are stamped in Archival ink, the pink birds are Adirondack Wild Plum and the Love Frame is heat embossed in black.

It was fun to do and I shall definitely be experimenting some more with this technique.

Stamps and Stencils Used

Remountable Love Silhouettes

Love Frame

Remountable Key To My Heart Set

Ocean Swirl

Dotty Wave

Lynne

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Sport/Double Bubble Card

This is a variation of my Garden Heart/Double Bubble Card.

It's done in the same way, just with different stamps and colours. This one's Fish Pie Green!

I've used the Sports Set from Lesson 8 of In The Classroom With Barbara Gray along with the techniques that Barbara taught us. I wonder what we'll learn this year when the Classroom starts again? I do miss it when it's not on.

The stamping is done in Archival black, apart from the word "Sport" which is heat embossed in black.

The grassy mat is an old sheet of Kanban card which I thought was a fun finishing touch.

Stamps and Stencils Used

Double Bubble

Sport Kit

Remountable Sports Balls

Lynne

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You Hold The Key To My Heart

Following on from my last post, I have to say that the fish pie was indeed yummy. I guess we really do eat with our eyes though as it just seemed so wrong. Anyway, I won't make that mistake again.

My cards for next month's shows are coming on well; I've now made five. So far they've all been stamped but today the Gelli plate is coming out to play.

Last month's card were mainly Gelli ones and this is another of them. It's a one layer card so that meant lots of masking whilst I created the print.

I started off by planning where I wanted everything to go, then I stuck the Post-it masks of the Letter Boxes onto the card I was using. I applied a layer of Buff Titanium paint onto the Gelli plate and took the first print. This kept the area behind the Letter Boxes white.

I wanted the area behind the heart to be Buff Titanium though, so I applied the Post-it mask for that after I'd taken the first print. That is the stage you can see in the photo above (the print is square - the paper wasn't flat when I photographed it).

After that I applied a couple of shades of brown and using the Ocean Swirl stencil created the top print. I chose that stencil as I thought the swirls went well with those on the padlock.

Then it was just a case of adding the stamping. The padlock was heat embossed in gold, the key heat embossed in black and the letters and boxes were stamped in black Archival. I coloured the swirls of the padlock in and went around the edge of it with a black pen to make it stand out more.

Three heart gems finish it off.

Stamps and Stencils Used

Ocean Swirl

Remountable Key To My Heart Set

Letter Box Set

Lynne

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Life is a Journey

Hubby's just phoned to say he's going to be late, so I thought I'd write tomorrow's blog post (well I guess it's today's now) whilst I'm waiting for the spuds to cook. I have to say he is in for a treat tonight - green fish pie! I recently got a Vitamix (a very clever blender that will cook things if you leave it running) and was using it to make the white sauce. I've done this before and it worked really well. However this time I thought that I could save another job if I just threw the parsley in at the end. The blender would chop it and stir it in. Not my cleverest idea - the sauce is now green! Oops! Let's just hope it tastes a lot better than it looks!

Anyway, back to what I meant to be writing about - my Life is a Journey card. This is the second one of my cards using the new Filigraphy Balloon stamps.

I wanted to have the sky flowing from one scene to another, so after I'd created the skyline I attached the strips to the base card and masked off the bits in-between.

I then used my cloud stencil, blue and grey ink and a brush to create the sky.

I wanted to raise the balloon off the card so I had to figure out how to do it.

In the end I decided the use heat resistant acetate for the base. I used Versamark ink and black detail powder to heat emboss it before cutting it out...........

.............then I stamped the image onto Theuva card (using Black Archival), cut it out and stuck it on top. A few little gems give it a bit of bling.

As the first card I made with these stamps was black and white I had intended to do this one in colour. I coloured it in several different ways but I just kept coming back to the monochrome one. It's funny as when I saw everyone else's on TV I thought they looked really good in colour.

Talking of colour, here's my green fish pie. Doesn't it look yummy? lol Hopefully it won't be as noticeable when the spuds go on and anyway Hubby will probably be too hungry to notice!

Stamps and Masks Used

Filigraphy Hot Air Balloon

Silhouette Hot Air Balloon

Life is a Journey

Skylines Mask Set

Lynne

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Garden Heart Card

The card in my previous post used the Seaweed Stencil as it was intended - as seaweed. However it also reminded me of roots..........

.........so I thought it would be perfect with these stamps too.

I started off the Gelli print with a base layer of Buff Titanium, then used the Seaweed Stencil and brown paint to create the "root" layer.

The stamping is all done with Versamark Ink which is heat embossed with Black Detail Powder. I added some Distress Ink around the heart to make it stand out and coloured it in with Distress Markers. It is such a beautiful stamp and my favourite from this month.

Stamps and Stencils Used

Garden Heart

Kind Hearts Verse

Remountable Birdsong Set

Remountable Garden Set

Seaweed Frame

Lynne

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Filigraphy Seahorses Gelli Print

The Filigraphy Seahorses were another new addition this month. Like the balloons, I also loved these stamped simply in black and white.......

...............but for this card I decided to use the base Gelli print as their colour.

The Gelli print was created in vibrant blues and greens using the Seaweed Stencil. I then stamped the seahorses on top with Versamark Ink and heat embossed them in black. I went around the edges with a sponge and some blue ink to add some shadow. 

They didn't stand out as much as I wanted them to though, so I covered them with Glossy Accents.

To emboss the Seaweed Frame I covered the stencil with Versamark Ink, placed it on the Gelli print, then ran it through my Grand Calibur.  This transferred the Versamark Ink to the print so that I could heat emboss it with Stampendous Jeweled Gold embossing powder.

Stamps and Stencils Used

Small Seahorses

Seaweed Frame

Seaweed

Lynne

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Filigraphy Hot Air Balloons

It's nearly time to go back to reality for me as Hubby's back to work on Monday after 3 weeks Christmas leave. It's been a lovely break just relaxing at home and visiting family.  I've not been online much and I've only only done a little bit of crafting - my next project for the Challenge Blog and an ATC. This does however mean that I will be extra busy for the next couple of weeks as I have next month's Claritystamp samples to make. Hopefully I haven't forgotten what to do!

This is the first of my cards using the new Filigraphy Balloon stamps. I've always enjoyed using the old balloon stamps so I was really excited to see these new ones.

I think that they look really striking in black and white so that was the basis for this card. I stamped out the main balloon and then masked it off to create the background. I used the new Pine Forest Mask to create the trees, getting them paler by applying less ink each time I moved it up. I then used my cloud mask to create those.

The smaller balloons and "thank you" are stamped in Black Archival Ink.

My original idea for finishing this off was to give it a Zentangled border using the same patterns from the balloon. Unfortunately I am probably the only person in the world who can't do it and it looked a right mess. The look on Hubby's face when I showed him confirmed my suspicions and version one was binned. Luckily I remembered that I had some fab black and white Kanban card so I used that instead. I think it sets it off really well.

Items Used

Pine Forest Mask

Filigraphy Hot Air Balloon

Silhouette Hot Air Balloon

Thank You

Lynne

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Love Padlock Card

This is the second of my samples from last weekend's Claritystamp shows. The main image is a combination of two stamps -  I removed the "O" from the Love stamp and replaced it with the heart shaped padlock stamp.

They are stamped in Versamark and then heat embossed with Detail Copper powder. I then covered up the padlock and masked off the end panels to create the clouds with a mask and Ink Dusters.

Next it was the turn of the end panels so I masked off the central section.  The keys are stamped in Archival Ink (1st and 2nd generation) and it's distressed with Aged Paper Distress Ink applied with a Clarity stencil brush.

Simples!

Stamps Used

Padlock and key from the Remountable Key To My Heart Set

Love Frame

Swallows from Remountable Love Silhouettes

Lynne

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Garden Heart/Double Bubble Card

I was so pleased that people seemed to like this card - It's my favourite of the ones I made this month. The Double Bubble stencil is perfect for creating little apertures to stamp into and I thought it would work well with the Garden Heart stamp.

The base of it is a Gelli print. The first layer is Buff Titanium acrylic paint, then I used Process Magenta with the Double Bubble stencil to create the pink layer. I kept the print really plain as I didn't want it to distract from the stamping.

Once I had the Double Bubble print it was just a case of filling in all of the apertures. This took a while!

You can stamp through the stencil, but when I was making my Hubby's Birthday Card I found a technique that worked better for me (I forgot to mention it when I blogged that card) as I wasn't always getting a perfect impression. I made a thinner, paper version of it and used that to stamp through.

My stencil for Hubby's card       My stencil for this card      Original stencil

For Hubby's card (which used the larger Double Bubble stencil) I used thin copy paper and cut them out with a craft knife. If you look closely at that you can see that I wasn't too precise with my cutting but it still worked fine. For this card I cut out a replica in vellum with my Cameo (I use vellum for things like this with my Cameo as it's thin and gives a nice crisp cut).

Then I masked off each aperture one at a time and, using Black Archival Ink, I stamped in different sections of the Garden Heart stamp until I had filled all of the apertures.

As I mentioned before, I've finally got some more Distress Markers so I used them to colour in the images. I got quite engrossed in this and failed to notice what a mess I was making.

The pens don't dry that quickly on acrylic paint and I'd got the wet ink all over the side of my hand and transferred it onto the lovely white border of the print. Typical me!

After all of that work I wasn't going to start again, so I just trimmed the border off. I thought I'd share it though. It might give you a laugh and I can say "Don't do that!"

Once I'd cut it out I mounted it onto a fancy black mat that I'd cut on my Cameo and added some pink Distress Ink around the edge of the card. I'm not one for embellishments but I thought it needed a little something, so I looked through my verses and found an appropriate one. You can see that on the completed version at the top; I think it finished it off nicely.

Stamps and Stencils Used

Garden Heart

Double Bubble

Together

Lynne

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January's Claritystamp Samples

I can't believe that the first Clarity shows of 2014 are over already. There are lots of lovely new stamps this month and I'm not surprised at how popular they all were. I certainly enjoyed creating with them.

These are the cards that I made. As you can see, the Gelli plate features quite heavily - I've used it on 7 out of 10 of them. 

As usual I'll be blogging them all throughout the month. I've had a couple of requests to blog the pink Double Bubble/Garden Heart one first so that's what I'll do. I have to admit it was my favourite and took me quite a while to make. More about that in my next post though.

Until then,

Lynne

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ProMarker Storage and Mum's Craft Room

After Christmas we had a few days in Norfolk visiting family. We stayed in Mum and Dad's spare room which also happens to be Mum's craft room. As you can imagine I had lots of fun having a good old root around.

I know crafters always love storage ideas so I thought I'd share Mum's ProMarker stand.  I thought it was rather good and I wish I had space on my desk for one.

If you think I'm organised, I have nothing on Mum! You probably think that the pens were arranged for the photo but they were already like that. I was so tempted to twiddle them all around!

You may have spotted a photo of someone familiar. Maya was 7 days old in that photo and it was the first time we met her.

She bought it on eBay and it reminds me of a test tube stand. Each one holds 60 pens and Mum has two of them joined together.

Dad has added an extension on the side for her scissors and rulers.

Whilst I was at it I thought I'd photograph the rest of the room. Sorry about the quality of them but they were taken on my phone and looked OK on the small screen.

These shelves are on one wall and I think she has nearly as much stash as I do. She has a lot of colours in Adirondack ink pads that I don't, so I got out one of her Clarity stamps and stamped them all out for reference. I was almost afraid to use it though as her stamps and mounts are immaculate, not covered in ink like mine. Anyway, I now have a list of the colours that I "need".

Mum loves colouring in so she has lots of things to do that with.

There are a few more shelves on the other side of the room........

.........and a lovely long work surface between them. If that was mine it would have stuff all over it! Dad is always telling me that I need more space to work in as I'm lucky if my cutting mat is clear. 

What a fun place to stay!

Lynne

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Happy New Year!

Welcome to my first post of 2014 and the launch of a new challenge on the Claritystamp Challenge Blog. The theme this month is very appropriate - "New Beginnings".

I bought a bottle of bubbly for Hubby's birthday last month and that gave me the inspiration for this project - a bottle tag.

I do have templates to cut these on my Cameo but I did this one by hand.

I planned the design on copy paper. I started off with a strip of A4 wide enough to cover the bottle, then drew a semicircle with a compass to shape the top and cut it out with scissors. The hole for the bottle to go through is cut with a Spellbinders die. I was then able to hang it on the bottle so that I could work out the length.

I also planned out the design for the stamping. The 0 in 2014 is the "O" from the Love Frame stamp but any of the frame stamps with a large "O" will work.

Once I was happy with all that I chose some pearlescent silver card to match the bottle and heat embossed the stamping with black detail powder. Some chunky holographic glitter gives it a bit of bling. It is New Year after all. 

It's a great way to personalise a gift and is a bit more interesting than a bottle bag. 

I hope 2014 is a great year for you and all your dreams really do come true.

Congratulations to the winner and top 5 of the "Scene Building" challenge. I look forward to seeing what you all create for this one. Don't forget that there's a £50 Claritystamp voucher for the winner. It's chosen at random so everyone has an equal chance of winning regardless of experience. 

Stamps Used

Love Frame

Letterbox Set

Remountable Shapes Set

Numbers Set

Remountable Letterbox Set

Remountable Clarity Characters Set

May All Your Dreams Come True

Lynne

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