Friends Forever

Yay, another lot of Claritystamp samples went in the post this morning, ready for the show on Sunday. I'm always amazed by the fab new things that Barbara keeps coming up with and this month is no exception. I also found a fun way to use one of the old stamps, so I look forward to sharing them. I'm also looking forward to seeing what the rest of the DT have made.

These Filigraphy Dolphins from this month look like they're having great fun together so that's why I chose the words "Friends forever". 

"Friends" is actually part of the "Friendship" stamp. I just masked off the "hip". I used to do this with Post-its but when I was making these cards I realised that it's a lot easier to use masking tape. It sticks, you can curve it and push it in between the letters. Just remember to remove it before you stamp!

After I'd stamped the words I covered them with rectangular masks, then stamped and masked the dolphins.

I placed the Seaweed Stencil on top and used Salty Ocean (how appropriate!), Evergreen Bough, Bundled Sage and Faded Jeans Distress Ink to create the sea.

For the splash, I experimented with quite a few different methods before I found one I was happy with (I wanted it to be sparkly but also to stand out). This is first stamped with Watering Can Archival to give it some colour (it's grey), then I went over it with Versamark and heat embossed it with White Twinkle Wow! powder.

The ball is stamped onto the smooth side of the purple card I've used for the mat. I coloured alternate sections in with a purple ProMarker to make them darker.

Stamps and Stencils Used

Seaweed Stencil

Filigraphy Dolphin Kit

Beach Ball

Friends and Forever from the Word Chain 8 Set

Lynne

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A Wheelie Joyful Scene

I hope you're having a wheelie good weekend. After walking Maya I sat down to do a few things online - that was well over an hour ago! Once I've written this I really must get back up to my craft room.

This is another card that uses one of my favourite techniques with the Gelli Plate - A base layer of Buff Titanium paint that has had scrumpled up paper pressed into it to give it some texture, followed by the print of the stencil. The colour is then added with a sponge. I love the distressed look this gives.

The stamping is done in Archival Ink and coloured in with Distress Markers.

When it was finished I stamped "Joy" onto it and cut it out with a Spellbinders die. I matted this onto some black card and stuck it on with Pinflair glue gel to give it some dimension.

Stamps and Stencils Used

Treescape Stencil

Sunshine Stencil

Bike and Posy Kit

Birds from The Birdhouse Set - Lesson 18

Joy from Word Chain 6

Lynne

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A Blustery Day

It's been a bit blustery here today..................

..................so I thought I'd blog this card that features the Small Blustery Day stamp.

It's such a pretty little stamp but as the name suggests it is quite small, so I used some mats cut with my Spellbinders to make it more of a feature. The white one behind the stamped image is from Decorative Labels Eight.

It's a gatefold card so I did the same thing with the verse inside it.

I stamped the Meadow Grass along the bottom in Archival ink before I scored and folded the card. I thought I'd be less likely to mess up the stamping on the creases that way. I tried to make sure it wasn't too even (not easy for me) to give it a more realistic look. After all grass isn't all neatly lined up like soldiers on parade.

The scene is coloured in with Pencils.

As the pink mats are the same size I made sure that they lined up perfectly with each other when I stuck them down. I was very pleased that Barbara had spotted this when she showed it on TV. I think that when a card is this simple little details like that are very important.

A bit of dotty ribbon finishes it off.

Stamps Used

Blustery Day Kit

Lynne

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Girl with Balloons

It's nice to be able to sit down with a cup of coffee and relax for a few minutes. I've had one of those weeks with lots of jobs to do and errands to run. Hopefully that's it for the week, so I can now concentrate on making my Clarity samples.

This card may look familiar as I made a similar card (Follow Your Dreams) for a trade show that Claritystamp attended. I thought the Sunrise stencil would also work well with the girl stamp.

After creating the background I just had to stamp the girl, birds and Heart Grasses into place with Archival ink. 

I think that stencil has such a happy feel about it and it makes a lovely background. 

Stamps and Stencils Used

Love Is In The Air Kit

A5 Sunrise

Birds from The Birdhouse Set - Lesson 18

Lynne

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A Happy Accident

The title could be about a lot of my cards...............

...............but today it's about this one. For once I took photos as I went along so let me explain  what happened.

To start with I used my stamping in a circle technique (the post about that is here) to work out that I needed a circle with a 152mm diameter to position the four dolphins.

Using a compass I drew that on my card and quartered the circle so that I knew where to stamp each dolphin. I drew the outside square in pen so that I could see where to trim it when I'd done the Gelli print.

I then masked them off so that when I took the Gelli print the dolphins would remain untouched.

The Gelli print is the "Happy accident". I wanted a nice watery look for the background and I chose three colours for this - Phthalo Turquiose, Pistachio and Buff Titanium, letting each layer dry before I added the next.

Phthalo Turquoise went on first. I blotted a lot of it off to end up with a mottled effect.

Then I added a layer of Pistachio and used the Ocean Swirl stencil to create my waves. It was at this point that I realised that my beautiful waves would be covered up by the first layer. I should have done them the other way around!

Still, I carried on, adding a layer of Buff Titanium before taking the print. It may not have been the pretty waves that I was after but it is swirly and I rather liked it.

To finish it off the words were stamped in black Archival and heat embossed with clear powder. The edge was inked with Peacock Feathers Distress Ink. I then sponged on some grey ink to the dolphin's heads and some grey and black mats.

Stamps and Stencils Used

Ocean Swirl

Filigraphy Dolphin Set

Word Chain 3 Set

Lynne

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Love Is In The Air

I hope you're having a lovely Easter weekend. Next month's stamps arrived yesterday so that's my weekend sorted. I treated myself to a chocolate bunny this morning so I'll have to make sure I don't get chocolatey fingers all over them. I guess it will make a change from inky ones though.

This is the first of my samples using the new Love Is In The Air kit. I couldn't resist doing one with the hearts in red.

I started off by stamping the word Magical in black Archival ink. Then I masked that off and used the Chinese Lanterns stencil, grey ink, a Clarity stencil brush and a make-up sponge to create the background. I thought it went well with the stamp as the stencil looks like paper lanterns floating in the sky. After all that is how the plant got its name in the first place.

To get the stems black and the hearts red I stamped each colour separately. I made a Post-it mask to make the inking up of the stamp easier.

I used one of my Full Adhesive Post-its for this as they're sticky all over. I stamped the image onto the sticky side and then used a craft knife to separate the hearts from the stems.

I then used the heart part to cover them up so I could ink up the stems in black and stamp them into place (don't forget to remove the mask before you stamp!). Then I masked off the stems to ink up the hearts in red. The Clarity handles come in handy for when you're hovering above trying to line up the hearts with the stems.

They're not perfect but I tried a couple of different ways and this gave me the best result.

Stamps and Stencils Used

Chinese Lanterns

Love Is In The Air Kit

Magical from the Word Chain 7 Set

Lynne

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Happy Birthday Mum

It's my Mum's birthday today so "Happy Birthday Mum".

This is the card that I made for her. It uses one of my favourite sets (The Birdhouse) with the new girl with balloons stamp. I thought they would work really well together and I was really pleased with the result. The Birdhouse set makes such a good frame for the the girl.

I also used the Mother verse which gave me the idea of colouring the heart shaped balloons gold. I did this by going over the black stamped image with Versamark and heat embossing them with detail gold powder. I did this twice to make it nice and smooth/thick.

When I spoke to Mum this morning she said that she likes her card. I hope that you do too.

Stamps Used

Mother Verse

Girl Love Balloons

Birdhouse Set - Lesson 18

Lynne

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Boy and Birds

Morning, I thought I'd write this whilst watching the build-up to the London Marathon. I watch every year and so admire those who get out there and have a go. They're braver than me!

I had a fun afternoon yesterday making next month's project for the Claritystamp Challenge Blog. Today, after the Marathon, I will be finishing Mum's birthday card. I guess I'd better get on with this post then.

This card was inspired by two things. 

The first was that I'd already seen some gorgeous cards by Jo Rice using the stencil of this. They featured beautiful cloudy backgrounds, so I didn't want to do the same. 

The second was my Alles Liebe card from last month. As that was a sample for Germany, I thought I could do something similar for the UK.

I did blog about how I did the background in the Alles Liebe post but here it is again for those of you who didn't read that.

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, apart from the verse which I did in Eggplant Archival.

When I'd finished it I thought it looked a bit boring as there is a lot of space around the boy. That gave me the dotty idea. I put the Dotty Wave stencil on top and brushed the same inks over the appropriate areas.

You can see the different colours on the copy paper that I was working on.

I tried a few different things to finish it off but in the end I decided on a simple black card base. I also added some little birds on a few of the branches.

Well I'd better get on. I have a sofa to sit on and a marathon to watch. Go Mo! Go David!

Stamps and Stencils Used

Fly Away Kit

A Bird Does Not Sing

Birds from Birdhouse Set - Lesson 18

Dotty Wave

Lynne

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I Wheelie Love You

I'm on a bit of a health kick at the moment - I'm sat here drinking a pineapple, orange, banana and spinach smoothie, having just got off my Pilates Performer. I think that probably influenced me picking this card to blog next.

It's a bit of fun but as you know I can't resist a bit of cheese. It was obviously inspired by the "Have a Wheelie Happy Birthday" stamp that is part of the kit.

I stamped the bicycle in black Archival and coloured it in with a red ProMarker. I wanted to keep it simple so I kept the background white and just added a bit of shadow under the bike to ground it.

The hearts were cut out with a small punch, edged with black and inserted into a slit cut in the bicycle basket.

The matching heart frame was bought from the Silhouette Store and cut on my Cameo.

The sentiment was created using words and letters from the fab new Word Chain stamps.

There it is, a wheelie simple card.

One thing that has always puzzled me about cycling is that I see so many more cyclists here on the roads of North Yorkshire, where it's hilly, than I did back in Norfolk, where it's pretty flat. The obviously make 'em tough up here!

I think I'll go and make a coffee now. I've been good for long enough!

Stamps Used

Bike and Posy Kit

First Set of 5 Word Chains

Second Set of 5 Word Chains

Letterbox Sentiments

Lynne

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Through The Arched Window - Boy and Girl Versions

As I mentioned on my quick peek at this month's samples, I LOVE the new boy and girl stamps, so I thought I'd start with these cards.

This version, with the boy flying away, was the one I made as a Claritystamp sample. The Boy and Birds stamp fits perfectly in the Clarity Sun Arch stencil and I thought it would make a lovely scene.

I started off by creating the Gelli print using the Brick Wall stencil. I cut out a paper mask using the Sun Arch stencil and placed this on the Gelli plate before I took the print. This gave me a nice clean area to do the stamping on.

I kept the scene simple as I wanted the main focus to be on the boy. He is stamped in black Archival. The stamping on the wall was done in that too, only that was also embossed with clear powder.

I was so pleased with how it turned out that I decided to do another version for my friend Lucy's birthday yesterday. One of the things that brought us together in the first place was our love of our Yellow Labs, so I often make her a card with a Labrador on it.

The previous card inspired me to make this version. I thought that the little girl with the word love in her balloons was perfect to go with the Labrador. We are both a bit bigger but we do love our Labs!

To alter it a bit more I also used some different trees. Which version do you like best? I think you can probably guess which is my fave. 

Stamps Used

Fly Away Kit (Boy) 

Love Is In The Air Kit (Girl)

Pine Forest

3 Repositionable Tress

Labrador from the Remountable Home Set

Brick Wall

Sun Arch

Lynne

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Happy Birthday Connie!

I will get back to my Claritystamp samples but it's my friend Connie's birthday today and I just wanted to say Happy Birthday Connie! Of course I couldn't possibly tell you how old she is, as that would be rude.............

.......................but this is the card that I made for her.

It's a mixture of two pop-up box cards by Lori Whitlock bought from the Silhouette Store and cut on my Cameo. The printable papers by American Crafts were also bought from the store and sized to fit.

As we go out for coffee and cake once a week I had to make sure that there were cakes involved. The cupcake paper on the side is so cute.....

............and I positioned the paper at the back so that the cake had pride of place. The flame on the main cake has been glittered to add a bit of sparkle.

The balloon is shaped with a ball tool and stuck on with Pinflair glue gel. I tied two strands of embroidery floss to it and let them hang down like a string.

The same printable papers were used to create a matching gift bag.

Some thoughtful words finish off the back of the card.

I think I am going to be in so much trouble when I see her later......................

Lynne

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April's Claritystamp Samples

It was another fab show from Barbara Gray today. I do love it when she's on with Nigel. There were some stunning cards from the rest of the DT. One of my faves was Paul Church's landscape done with masking tape. The fields looked amazing.

Here's a quick peek at mine. As always I will be blogging them all individually throughout the month but this lets you see what's coming up.

The bicycle set is one I've wanted for ages but never got around to buying, so I was very excited when I saw I'd got it to play with.

The boy and girl silhouettes are fab. I've already used the girl again and they've quickly earned a place on my Favourites List (it is getting quite long!). You can have such fun creating the backgrounds for them and easily change the look and feel of the card.

I've used the stencils quite a bit this month, both with ink and the GelliPlate. Anyway, I'll explain more when I blog them all properly.

Lynne

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Oops!

I'm going to show you two versions of today's card.

This first version is for those of you who, like me, don't speak German. It took me quite a while to make and I was so chuffed with it, until I showed it to my German friend Connie. We were out for our weekly coffee, cake and shopping trip when she pointed out that I'd made a spelling mistake! I'd better not repeat what I said!!!!!!

There are two very similar birthday greetings (Connie did tell me the difference but I think I was too busy swearing to take it in) -

HERZLICHE GLÜCKWÜNSCHE ZUM GEBURTSTAG (which is how it's spelt in the German Celebrations stamp set)

and the one I used 

HERZLICHEN GLÜCKWUNSCH ZUM GEBURTSTAG.

I'd noticed that there was an "N" on the end of Herzliche and no umlaut on the second "U" in Glückwunsch but I hadn't spotted that there was no "E" on the end of it!!!!!!!

I tried to rescue it with the help of a handy bird but it didn't really work.

So, this is the version for German speakers. It looks a bit odd but at least it's spelt correctly!

I guess this post is more about the idea of the card, which I still like, rather than the actual card that I made.

It's done on Theuva card. I drew a cross in pencil, marking the centre of each side, to help me get the stamping straight and centred. Then I stamped the text boxes and filled in the greeting.

I masked that off with Post-its.........

........stamped the scene and added the sun.

That was then masked off so that I could add colour to the rest of the scene. Maybe I should have just left it like this. Anyway, I am now under strict instruction to show Connie anything German before I do it!

Stamps Used

Lesson 18 - Birdhouse Set

German Letterbox Set

Lynne

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Monochrome

It's time for a new challenge on the Claritystamp Challenge Blog but before I talk about that I must say congratulations to the winner and Top 5 of last month's "Flower Power" challenge. A lot of those cards were lovely and colourful but this month we're going "Monochrome".

This is my card. I've used the Clarity Honesty stencil with various shades of brown.

The seed cases of the Honesty plant have a lovely translucent sheen so I used Centura Pearl Snow White (Hint of Gold) card for my base.

I ran the card and the stencil through my Grand Calibur to emboss it. 

Then, leaving the stencil in place, I added the colour. I used a stencil brush and a couple of brown Distress Inks to apply the base colour, then I darkened it at the edges with some Cut-n-Dry foam. Then I just kept stamping the journaling stamps until I was happy with the design. This was done in Sepia Archival Ink.

To finish it off I hand cut a little tag and stamped Honesty onto it. 

That's my interpretation of "Monochrome". I look forward to seeing everyone else's. 

Stamps and Stencils Used

Journaling Set

Letter Box Set

Honesty

Lynne

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