Clever Corners

I do love the corner stamps - they're so versatile and classic Clarity. I guess that's why Barbara chose the Berry Corner set for the first lesson of her In The Classroom shows way back in 2011. Do you remember it? She also chose a set, the Victorian Corner, for the first recorded USA show. The two cards I made for that are the ones I'm sharing today.

I thought I'd make some smaller cards as from what I've seen online they seem quite popular over there. They are about 5" x 7" or US A7. When I first started card making UK A6 cards (roughly 4" x 6") were really popular but over time larger cards and square cards seem to have become more the norm. It was nice to do something different for a change and the size is quite suited to the corner stamps. Although with pattern building you can go as large as you want!

They are both stamped on white linen card bought from papermilldirect (I do miss the days when you could go to a shop and fill up your own box!).

For this one I used Potter's Clay and Teal Zeal Memento ink pads to create stripes and a square frame. I pencilled lines on the card first to give me something to follow.

When that was dry I applied some Distress Ink over it with a Clarity stencil brush.

For this one I used the stamp to create a circular frame and another stripe. The stamps fit nicely in the circular Framer Shapes stencil so I used that as a guide this time. I also inked inside it with my Clarity brush to add some colour. I masked off the stripe too and did the same.

I kept it really simple and just finished it off some some pearls.

Stamps and Stencil Used

Victorian Corner

Remountable Line Sentiments Set 1

Framer Shapes Stencil Set

Lynne

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Napa Valley

Hello again. Have you had a good day? I went into town this morning to post another lot of Clarity samples off. That's always very satisfying. Don't forget - Barbara will be on Create and Craft TV at 9 - 11am on Sunday (1st Feb). As always there are some lovely new stamps.

I started this card off by stamping the Napa Valley image on to white card. I then coloured the trees and land in with a combination of ProMarkers and Distress Markers.

Inks were used to colour the mountains and sky. I used a brush for the sky and a make-up sponge for the mountains. Stamping the image on to copy paper made a mask that I could drag the colour on from.

When I was happy with the colouring I used the Framer Stencil with Grunge Paste to create a textured frame. After it had dried I went over the paste and white card with Distress Ink on a Claritystamp stencil brush.

A bit of matting and layering and some brads finish it off.

Stamps and Stencil Used

Napa Valley Set

Bird from the Remountable Summer Shades Set

Lynne

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Another Vase Card

Hi everyone. Are you having a nice weekend? We've just been out playing ball with Maya and I'm frozen! That big round yellow thing below is sadly missing here today.

Thanks to everyone who has started following my Pinterest boards. I wondered why it had been busier than usual today, then I spotted the post on the Claritystamp Facebook page about one of them. Mystery solved.

This is the second of the vase cards that I made for the US Claritystamp shows. I'd been trying to think of a different way to use the round California stamps when I realised that one might work with the vase stencil. After trying them all, the Carmel stamp with the wide vase was my favourite combination.

The first thing I did was draw around the stencil to get the shape of the vase.

I stamped the Carmel scene inside then filled in any bits that I missed with a black pen.

To make a mask for the sun I stamped it onto a Post-it note and cut it out with a craft knife.

I then used the outside part and inked in the sun with a sponge................

................and the inside to cover it up so that I could work on the sky. I used a brush for this, fading down to a lighter blue at the horizon. I didn't worry about masking the trees off as they were going to be coloured in green and the blue wouldn't affect that. The colouring was done with Distress Markers as they have a lovely fine tip which is great for getting into the fiddly bits.

The next bit is my favourite part...............

............I covered the whole thing with Glossy Accents, giving it a lovely glazed look.

The ornate black mat is cut with a Spellbinders Floral Ovals die.

Stamps and Stencils Used

Carmel Stamp

Remountable Bouquet Set

Remountable Happy Words

Lynne

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Floral Vase

Evening everyone. Sorry I'm late again today. It's just been one of those weeks!

The next two cards I'm going to share with you have a bit of a vase theme.

This one uses the Remountable Bouquet Set which consists of two Bouquet stamps and a really useful stencil with four vases and a flourish on it. The two stamps are a solid and a line art version of the same image and I used both on this first card.

The first thing I did was stamp the flowers out in black Adirondack ink. As you can see in the photo, I masked off the stems first so that they didn't get stamped.

Next I masked off the bottom part so that the leaves and flowers wouldn't get the ink from the vase on them. As I was using quite a pale colour this isn't essential but I just can't help myself!  :)

I then stuck the vase stencil in place so that I could work on the vase. I masked off the area around it so that I didn't get any stray ink on it. When I'd done that I drew in the outline with a black pen so that it matched the stamped image.

I sponged some Distress Ink through the stencil to colour the vase, then I swapped it over for a paper version (I find that I'm more likely to get my stamping right up to the edge this way as the paper is thinner than the stencil). I made it by drawing around the vase and cutting it out with a craft knife.

I inked up the solid Bouquet stamp with Versamark ink and stamped it onto the vase (ignore the outline of the flowers on my mask - they were there from a previous attempt that I didn't like).

Then I heat embossed it with gold detail powder. The swirl on the side of the card and the "with love" are also gold embossed but it I'm afraid it doesn't show up too well in the photo.

I coloured the flowers and added some shading to the vase with my Spectrum Noir pencils.

To finish it off I cut the vase out with my Spellbinders Labels Eight and the greeting with Spellbinders Ribbon Banners.

Stamps and Stencils Used

Remountable Bouquet Set

Remountable Line Sentiments Set 1

Lynne

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A New Discovery

Evening all. I'm a bit late writing today's post but I got a bit distracted - I spent the afternoon at my dining table colouring in. It's much easier doing it there than my craft room as I have the whole table to spread out my Spectrum Noir pencil boxes and ProMarkers.

Anyway, today I'd like to share my bird card with you.

I intended making it a cardinal, so I started off colouring it red but then I added some orange and just made up my own, new to science, bird.

I began by stamping the Large Finch in black Adirondack ink onto Theuva card. I stamped it again onto a sticky note to create a rectangular mask so that I could then stamp the Sycamore Branches around it to create a frame.

The colouring is all done with ProMarkers and Spectrum Noir pencils. I used the same sticky note to add some shadow around the frame, then I masked off the bird and text to do the same.

A squiggly line adds definition around the frame and three black gems finish it off.

Stamps Used

 Remountable Finches Set

Letterbox Set

Lynne

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Partying Elegant Ladies

Brrrr! It's chilly this morning; I don't think I'll be dressing like these ladies today.

They're from a range of Elegant Ladies stencils by Claritystamp. I just had to choose these ones as I just love the style of their dresses.

I used Broken China, Worn Lipstick and Dusty Concord Distress Inks for the base colour.....

.....then stamped the floral pattern on two of the dresses in the same colour. The rest of the stamping was all done in Jet Black Archival ink. Some shading for the folds of the skirt was added with Spectrum Noir pencils.

They are such fun to play with. You can make them look however you want and, with the speech bubble in the set, you can make them say whatever you want too. I used a tiny "Happy Birthday" stamp by Clarity but you could also use your computer and print some text, then stamp the bubble over it.

Stay warm and I hope you have a lovely Sunday. I'm spending mine in my craft room. I'm going to use iPlayer Radio to catch-up on yesterday's Finders Keepers show (it's on BBC Radio York on Saturday mornings and is a bit like the old TV show Treasure Hunt but on the radio) and make some more Clarity samples.

Stamps and Stencils Used

Elegant Ladies Multibuy

Lynne

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Summer Dreams

Morning all. Did you see the American Claritystamp shows live from the CHA? It was all very exciting!

This is the first of my samples from those shows. I thought it might brighten up the day a little as the weather here is so yucky at the moment.

I started off by heat embossing the glasses using Jet Black Archival ink and detail clear embossing powder. I then masked off the frames to work on the scene. The base colour was done with a brush and Distress Inks then I used my Spectrum Noir pencils to add some detail to the sea and the sun. The stamping is all in Jet Black Archival and I used a ProMarker to create some land for the bird to stand on.

To finish it off I stamped "Summer Dreams" with the Letterbox set and added some blue brads and a warm yellow mat to match the colours in the scene.

Maya is walked and coffee is drunk so I'm off to my craft room to make a couple of samples that I planned yesterday. I double checked that I have the correct products so hopefully it will all go smoothly! If that doesn't make sense to you see the previous post.  :)

Stamps Used

Remountable Summer Shades Set

Letterbox Set

Lynne

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Dee to the Rescue!

Morning all. I'm going to be totally honest about today's card and admit I did something really dumb when making it.

This is the finished, rescued card.

This is the original. Can you spot my mistake?

Yep, instead of using the stencil on the left, which was going to be on TV,  I stupidly used the one on the right, which wasn't!

I couldn't believe it when I realised. In need of some sympathy, I told the other members of the DT what I'd done. I was so annoyed with myself that I couldn't see a way around it but the always helpful Dee Paramour came to my rescue.

Dee said "Can't you cut the top off and still use it?". I calmed down a bit, had a think and realised that I could. Phew! Thank you Dee!!!!!!!! x

I extended the branch out to the side of the card and and cut along the top of it.............

.........The black totally disguises the join.

I then drew around the leaves and coloured them in with a black ProMarker. As I'd used the incorrect stencil to start off with I'd sponged black ink through the stencil, but I could also have done the rest of it with this method.

Well that's how I rescued it, but this is how I made it - The first thing I stamped was the flowers. I used black Adirondack ink for this as I wanted to use my ProMarkers to colour them in. I then masked them and the sides of the card off so that I could work on the scene.

I added some Wee Folk to add interest to the background and found the perfect sentiment to tie it all together - No matter how you spend your day - hope it's perfect in every way.

Thanks to Dee my day got a whole lot better. I really hate things getting the better of me and I was so glad that this didn't!!!!!

Stamps and Stencils Used

A5 Swing Stencil

Remountable Blooming Corner Set

Wee Folk 1

Wee Folk 2

No Matter

Repositionable Trees

Lynne

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Walkies!

Morning everyone. I've got two UK cards left to blog before I start on my US samples.

I was really excited when the Wee Folk set arrived and one in particular caught my eye (I bet you can guess which one that was).

I just had to make a card focusing on that stamp. A few people said that it reminded them of me and Maya, well it did me too. Although I'm afraid I don't look quite that glamorous when I'm out walking Maya. I'm more likely to be seen in muddy jeans and boots, especially on a day like today when it's cold, really windy and pouring down with rain. Brrr!

The scene is created on a piece of card cut out with a 3 x 3" Spellbinders die from the Classic Squares Large set.

I used mixture of inks on it - Archival for the trees and characters and Adirondack and Distress for the scenery. The flowers are coloured in with Distress Markers and some shading is added with Spectrum Noir pencils.

I added a black mat and the word "friendship" stamped in Jet Black Archival to finish it off. The base card is only 6 x 6" so it's a lot smaller than the cards I usually make but I love the simplicity of it.

Stamps Used

Lady with dog from Wee Folk 1

Flowers from Remountable Floral Figures

Repositionable Trees

I've just had my next lot of stamps arrive and when I start creating I will try and take more photos - It makes blogging so much easier. The thing is I start off with good intentions but then I get so engrossed in what I'm doing that I forget. I will try though........

Lynne
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Live From The USA

I've just finished watching Barbara Gray broadcasting live from the USA, wasn't it exciting? I'm sure that Barbara will be as big a hit over there as she is here.

Here's my usual quick look at the samples I made for the show. As always I will be blogging them all individually throughout this month.

There's a great mixture of stamps and stencils. The ladies in particular were great fun to play with - there's so much you can do with them. I look forward to sharing my ideas with you.

Happy crafting,

Lynne
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Floral Figures

Morning everyone. There's only one more day to wait until Barbara Gray's first live Claritystamp show in the USA. Luckily it's also being shown on Create and Craft TV in the UK (3pm UK time) so those of us here will be able to watch too. Exciting!

I do love the Floral Figures set; it's such a clever idea to make the images out of flowers.

After planning the placement of the images on scrap paper, I stamped them onto card using Jet Black Archival ink. I also stamped the cat and rabbit on to a Post-it and cut around them to create a mask. I didn't realise that one of the Clarity Moons Masks fits the circular stamp until Barbara mentioned it on TV, so I cut my own out of vellum on my Cameo. I used the outside part to ink in the sun with Mustard Seed and Spiced Marmalade Distress Ink, then replaced it with the circular part to mask that as well.

I was then able to ink in the wall using the Stone Wall stencil and several brown shades of Distress Ink. I also brushed in the clouds before removing the masks. It looked a bit bare when I did that so I stamped some more flowers as if they were behind the wall.

Distress Markers are perfect for colouring in the flowers as they have a lovely fine tip. I used Mustard Seed for the sun, Iced Spruce for the cat and rabbit and various colours for the flowers. To finish off the animals I added some grey to their outlines with Spectrum Noir pencils.

The black lacy mats are cut with a Spellbinders Decorative Labels Eight die.

Stamps and Stencils Used

Stone Wall

Remountable Floral Figures

Magical from Word Chain 7

Birds from Remountable Birdhouse Set

Lynne

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Good Luck Card

Hi everyone. It's nice to sit down for a bit after a hectic start to the week. Hubby went back to work on Monday after 3 weeks leave, then when he finished for the day we jumped in the car to go down to Norfolk for his Aunt's funeral. Such a sad occasion but her family did her proud.

We got home last night and it was lovely to get Maya back from kennels this morning. We've just got in from a nice walk so I'm sat here in front of my computer with my customary cup of coffee.

I thought I'd start with this card, as it's a nice simple one.

When I first saw the man with outstretched arms in the Wee Folk set I wondered if would be able to hold up the boxes from the Letterbox set. I was really pleased to find out that he can. This means that you can get him to announce whatever you want. I chose "Good Luck".

I planned it all out on scrap paper first, so that I could work out the positioning and what size card I needed to use, then stamped the men and boxes out in Jet Black Archival ink.

I coloured the boxes in with a green ProMarker before adding the letters (again in black Archival).

To finish if off I added some shading under the men, some mats (white card was coloured with the same ProMarker to get the green one) and a couple of images from the Remountable Lucky Set.

Stamps Used

Remountable Lucky Set

Wee Folk 1

Letterbox Set

Lynne

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January's Claritystamp Samples

What an enjoyable show today and aren't the new stamps fab? I'm not surprised they sold out so quickly. I particularly love the Wee Folk, they are perfect for adding interest to a scene or even as the main image..............

..........as I did with the woman walking her dog. You can imagine how excited I was to get that one! I just wish I looked as glamorous as her when I walk Maya.

I haven't shared a Hubby quote for a while but I had to write this one down. I was showing him the four cards above and one sort of abstract one that I wasn't sure about. He didn't need to say anything, as I could tell be the look on his face, but he came out with this gem "Those are the sort of thing you're good at where as that, on the other hand, looks a bit kindergarten". I do love people who tell it like it is! lol

I love the demos Barbara did with the canvas. I've been wanting to have a go at one since France but I still haven't taken the plunge. I am thinking I might have a go at recreating the dog card on the 4 x 4 inch canvas for my craft room though.............

There were also some older cards shown that I have already blogged so I thought I'd put them on here too. If you click on the titles it will take you to the posts on them.

Meadow Dance Stampstamps Card

Lynne

The next two weren't shown But I thought I'd add them anyway. The first one is a better idea I had after I'd made the Lynne card.

Mum

Finally, I couldn't show my Blooming Corner cards without the wedding one. It always makes people laugh, I can't imagine why!

Wedding Card

That set is so versatile and still one of my faves.

I'll be back soon with the individual posts on today's cards. Happy stamping!

Lynne

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Owls

Evening all. I thought I'd sit and write this whilst dinner is cooking. We're having lasagne tonight, one of my faves. Are you having anything nice?

Today's card uses pretty similar colours to the last card I blogged but they look very different on kraft card to they did on white.

I started off by inking though the stencil using green and orange shades of Distress Ink. Then I flicked on some water and dried it off with a paper towel to add a bit of interest.

It still looked a bit boring so I decided to cut it into sections (after this photo was taken I also trimmed the border off the central square). I inked the edges and added a thin dark brown mat around the outside sections using a Perfect Layers ruler.

I then stamped the owl image in brown Archival ink and took away some colour on their faces with a wet paint brush and paper towel.

I stuck them all down leaving an even gap in-between and added a final mat and layer to finish it off.

Well, I think it's nearly time to put the garlic bread in. I'll see you all again tomorrow with my samples from this month's show; there's one stamp that Maya and I are particularly fond of.  

Stamps and Stencils Used

Owls

Word Chain 12

Flare Frame

Lynne

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Thank You

Hi everyone. I hadn't intended writing another post until tomorrow but I just wanted to say thank you to everyone that took the time to reply yesterday. I wasn't expecting such a response and I'm touched. I guess I will keep on blogging...........

I'll be back tomorrow with my final card from last month's show. Then I'll start all over again with this month's. Don't forget that Barbara is on Create and Craft TV (UK) this Sunday (4th Jan) at 9am with some fab new stamps. Then there's an extra treat with the createandcraft.com (USA) shows starting on Monday. Exciting times for Clarity.

Thanks again,

Lynne
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Happy New Year and a Question

Happy New Year! Did you have a good night last night? Our BBQ was chilly but lots of fun. It seems odd not to be starting the month with a project for the Claritystamp Challenge Blog but the Clarity DT members have stood down and there is a new team there now.  I'd like to wish them all the best and hope they enjoy it as much as I did. Their first projects are fab and so inspirational. I think 2015 is going to be a great year for Clarity.

Before I get on to today's card I have a question for my regular readers. The New Year has got me thinking about what I want to do in 2015 and I'm wondering whether to continue blogging or not. I'm not a prolific crafter, all I really make are my Clarity samples and a few personal cards. For this reason I spread them out through the month but I do wonder if that's what people want. Would you prefer if I just put the photos on Facebook and Pinterest on the day of the TV show? Or do you like to read a blog post on how they were made? Or have you got a better idea? I know a lot of people read and don't comment but I'd really appreciate some feedback on this, please.

Since I got my Spectrum Noir pencils my poor ProMarkers have been rather neglected but for this card I got them out again. They do give a lovely effect and I have since got back into using them, sometimes on their own and sometimes with the pencils.

The outside frame is created with the solid Oak Leaf stamp and various Adirondack ink pads, including Spice Big and Juicy (another blast from the past). I then found matching ProMarker colours to colour in the circular oak frame.

The deer was coloured in with ProMarkers and Spectrum Noir pencils.

To finish it off I added some acorns to each corner. The central one is cut out, shaped with a ball tool and suck on with Pinflair gel to give it some dimension.

Stamps and Stencils Used

Remountable Oak and Deer set

You Made My day from Million Thank Yous set

Lynne

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