Trees, Chromo Card and Alcohol Inks

Hi everyone. Sorry it's been a week since my last post but I've been getting used to my new glasses. They still feel a bit strange but hopefully I will get used to them before I have my next lot of Clarity samples to do. My eyes are definitely feeling less strained.

Today's card is the last of of my German samples from this month. It uses Alcohol Inks on Chromo card.

The outside frame is created with the Cracked Box Frame stencil. I first ran it through my Embosser to emboss it, then I masked off the central panel so that I could ink it. The colours I used are Caramel, Latte, Ginger and Gold.

I also covered some more Chromo card with the inks and stamped the trees on with Jet Black Archival Ink.

They were cut out and glued to the central section. The gold bits look so pretty when the light hits them.

I didn't like the white between the cracked sections so I brushed over some Distress Ink. I also used it to add a moon and sky.

I hope you all have a great Bank Holiday weekend; I'm off to watch the Tour de Yorkshire on TV now. Don't forget that Barbara Gray is on Create and Craft on Sunday (9 - 11am) with some very special goodies from my very talented teamies. Exciting!

Stamps and Stencils Used

Cracked Box Frame

Remountable Tree Rows

Lynne

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Goldene Hochzeit (Golden Wedding) Card

Good morning. I thought I'd write a quick post before I crack on. Mum and Dad have been up to stay for a week; I've had a great time but I now have a lot to catch up on and I haven't even started this month's Clarity samples!

This is another card from the German show. I think the old couple look so cute together on the bench and they could well be celebrating their Golden Wedding Anniversary, hence the card.

I wanted the tree stencil to be embossed in gold over the top of the scene but my first attempt wasn't very successful.

I taped off the border of the stencil so that I could then ink up the central part with Versamark ink. I then removed the tape and placed the stencil onto card (which I had rubbed with an anti-static bag) and ran it though my Ebosser to transfer the ink.

However, when I applied the powder I ended up with a right mess thanks to the sticky residue the tape had left behind. I was never going to get rid off all those specks so I had to do it another way.

I also realised that I needed to do the scene first.

So I did that and then created a card frame that I could ink through. No sticky residue this time and I was left with a lovely gold embossed frame around the scene that matched the inner one.

Some punched hearts hanging from the tree finish it off.

Stamps and Stencil Used

Remountable Tree Rows

Wee Folk Set 1

Remountable Woodpress Letters

Tree Box Frame Stencil

Lynne

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Happiness Is When You Share It

Today's card is the first of my German samples from this week's show. I think I'll alternate them with some of my personal cards for the rest of the month.

The words translate as "Happiness is when you share it" which I thought was perfect for this family day out.

The scene is created with inks and Clarity masks, then I added detail to the castle and coloured in the bunting with Spectrum Noir pencils.

Stamps and Masks Used

Wee Folk 1

Remountable Woodpress Letters

Landscape Mask Set

I hope you have a good weekend.

Lynne

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Frohe Ostern/Happy Easter Card

Hi everyone. Today's card is a bit of a globetrotter. It started off as a sample for German TV, hence "Frohe Ostern", but then it gained an English sentiment (Happy Easter) and appeared on Create and Craft.

I do love these bunnies. They always make such cute cards.

I began with a piece of 7" x 7" card, as that's the size of the stencil, but I knew I was going to cut it down to 6" x 6" when I finished so I marked a line in pencil ½" in so I knew where to stamp the bunny. After I'd stamped her I masked her off and stamped the grass.

I then popped the stencil in place and stamped the other two bunnies.

The end of the A4 Clarity Blending Mat comes in handy for tearing the hills..................

...................that I brushed and sponged in for the bunnies to sit on.

I kept the masks in place and added the sky and some more grass.

The bunnies are coloured in with Spectrum Noir pencils.

Some mats and the sentiment (in German or English) finish it off.

Stamps and Stencils Used

Bunnies Set

Small Birds In Flight

Lynne

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Christmas Log Cabin

Morning all. It's hard to believe that it's nearly October, before we know it it might be looking like the scene in my card. Brrrrrr!

Speaking of October, there's still a couple of days left (until 8pm on 30th Sept) to enter this month's Nature challenge on the Claritystamp Challenge blog.  There's a £50 Claritystamp voucher (chosen at random) for the winner so it's well worth having a go.

There's not much to explain about this card really. The snow, sky and some of the trees are stamped in Weathered Wood Distress Ink. The cabin roof is covered with Glamour Dust to give it a bit of sparkle and the star is heat embossed with a gold glittery powder for a bit more bling.

That was short! I'm going back up to my craft room now to finish off my samples for next Sunday's TV show. I'll be back on Wednesday with my card for the next challenge on the Claritystamp Challenge Blog - it's a silly one! My card that is, not the challenge.  :)

Stamps Used

Log Cabin

Sprucescape

Remountable International Christmas Greetings Set

Lynne

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Stille Nacht - Silent Night

Yay! It's the weekend! I hope you've got something nice planned. I was hoping for some happy post but it didn't arrive, so I've had a bit of a clear out in my craft and utility rooms. Not very exciting but productive.

Today I thought I'd share my Stille Nacht card and how I made it.

The first thing I did was ink through the Curly Strip stencil so that I knew where to position everything. I then stamped the trees in black Archival (first and second generation), added a moon and masked off the music so that I could brayer in the sky. This was done in Denim and Black Adirondack ink.

When I was happy with the scene I put the stencil back in place and applied Forest Green Sparkle Medium. I think it makes an unusual, blingy base for the trees and I do like a bit of bling at Christmas.

Stamps and Stencil Used

Stille Nacht

Curly Strip

Repositionable Trees

Lynne

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Frohe Weihnachten

Morning all. I was going to write this post yesterday but Dee Paramour wrote on FB about organising her Clarity stamps and I got sidetracked - It gave me the kick up the bum to do mine and I unmounted all my mounted ones. It wasn't a fun job but I'm so pleased I did it. I've gone from 4 boxes full to less than one (I guess that should be two really if you include one for the handles).

Talking of the handles, I didn't realise how many different sizes there were - I have 12 different ones! The handles are fab but they do take up a lot of storage space when the stamps are on them. When they're not they all nest together. Now I have the best of both worlds - I can mount the stamps when I'm using them and then unmount them and store them neatly away afterwards.

Anyway, as I mentioned in my last post, I have my German samples to blog. That means that my Crafty Little Blog is going Christmassy for a bit.

This one uses the Dove Window stencil with Sweet Dimensions Gold Paste by Sweet Poppy and it gave me a lot of trouble! The paste is quite runny and when I was spreading it through the stencil it kept going under the lines (I must get one of the long Sweet Poppy metal spreaders as they look really good). In the end I got so fed up with it that I mixed a whole pot of gold holographic glitter in to try and thicken it up.

It worked and this is what I ended up with.

I'm afraid that my photographic skills couldn't do it justice but this blurry one shows the sparkle a bit. The banner across the front is also more legible in real life.

Once I was happy with the paste section, I stamped the International Christmas Greetings in Versamark ink and brushed over them with gold Perfect Pearls. I did the same for the banner.

It was still missing something, so I used the stencil to draw around and cut out two doves in pearlescent card. The great thing about stencils is that you can just flip them over to reverse the image.

A mat in the same gold card finishes it off.

Stamps and Stencils Used

Remountable International Christmas Greetings

Dove Window

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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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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Winter Wonderland Aperture Card

I'm starting to get excited - only 3 more sleeps until I'm off to the GNPE in Harrogate.  It always a fun show and it's lovely to catch up with crafty friends.

This is the card that inspired the one in my previous post. It's one of my German samples.

The stamped image is on the inside of the card and can been seen through the aperture on the front.

I started off by stamping the deer scene on the front of the card with Cobalt Blue Archival Ink. I then cut it out with my fab little Fiskars Fingertip craft knife.

I matted that onto some blue card and followed the outline with my knife to give an even-ish border.  It's not stuck on to the background then, I just forgot to photograph that stage.

The base of the card is covered in snowflakes. I used Cobalt Blue Archival Ink and Weathered Wood Distress Ink for this. I also went around the edges with the Weathered Wood.

Once I'd finished the base card I stuck the main image on so that it lines up perfectly with the aperture.

A spotty bow finishes it off. 

Stamps Used

Lesson 14 - Winter Wonderland Set

Lynne

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Embossed Snowflake Christmas Card

I am writing this surrounded by mess. Yesterday I decided to clear out the cupboard under the stairs. Today I have to put what I'm keeping back in - it's amazing how much junk can fit in such a small space. I hope your weekend is slightly more exciting!

As I've said before, I hadn't really used stencils much before Clarity started making them, so this is another experimental card.

I used the Snowflake stencil and clear embossing powder to create the background. To do this I inked up the stencil with Versamark, ran it through my Grand Calibur to transfer the ink and heat embossed them.

When I had covered the background with embossed snowflakes I spritzed it with Glimmer Mists to create a lovely shimmery background. I also did this for the sentiment which is cut with a Spellbinders Decorative Labels Eight die. Some Dusty Concord Distress Ink adds some shade around the edges.

A lovely big bow, made with Silky Crush ribbon, finishes it off.

Stamps Used

German Celebration Set / Deutsch Feier Satz

Stencil Used

Christmas Stencil Set

Suppose I'd better get all of this stuff put away now.

Lynne

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Holly Corner Christmas Card

Just taking a break after a busy morning in my craft room.

This is another of my German samples using the Christmas corner stamps. This time it's the Holly one.

The stamping is done with Olympia Green Versafine ink and the berries are coloured in with a red Sakura Glaze pen.

The holly embellishment is cut on my Cameo but it could easily be done by hand. The berries for that are white Card Candi coloured with a red ProMarker.

The thin black mats are cut with my Perfect Layers ruler and the red scalloped card is cut with a Spellbinders die.

That was short and to the point!

Stamps Used

Holly Corner

German Celebration Set / Deutsch Feier Satz

I hope you all have a lovely weekend. 

Lynne

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Snowflake Christmas Card

After the upside down card in my last post, I thought I'd share this one which also had a "Stupid Lynne" moment.

This one nearly stopped it being made altogether! More about that later though.

The main image was from a session of me playing around with a stencil and inks to see what effects I could create. I made my favourite into this card.

I used the Snowflake Cluster stencil, blue ink and an Ink Duster to create the background. Then I stamped over it with vertical rows of the Snowflake Corner. A Kaleidacolor ink pad in Blue Breeze gives it the different shades of blue.

When I've done a pattern like that I hate to cover it up, so I just added a German Christmas sentiment to it and a thin black mat.

The side panels are a Spellbinders tag cut in half ( Fancy Tags 2) and the background is embossed with a Spellbinders Grand M-Bossibilities folder (Garden Lattice).

Before I go, I have to share the "fun" I had with this card.

I'd just made another card using the Snowflake stencil and wanted to start this one. One problem - the stencil was nowhere to be found. I'd only just been using it and my craft room had been tidied the day before so I couldn't understand what I could possibly have done with it.

To cut a long story short, I spent well over an hour searching for it before I spotted it.

Can you see it?

It was totally camouflaged on some old lace curtains, that were on my Pilates Performer, in the middle of my craft room. Why did I put it there? It's a miracle that I ever found it!!!!!!!!!!!

Stamps Used

Snowflake Corner

German Celebration Set / Deutsch Feier Satz

Stencil Used

Christmas Set

Lynne

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German Log Cabin Christmas Card

Here's one of my samples for the Claritystamp shows on the German channel HSE24.

Making it nearly had me in tears!

I thought it would be nice to do a little snowy woodland scene in the middle of a Treescape Gelli print. I masked off the central panel, so that I would have a clear area to stamp in, and took a print using the large Treescape stencil. You never know how Gelli prints are going to turn out but I was really pleased with this one; it was nice and crisp and the areas around the stencil were clear. Great for adding colour to. I placed the stencil back in place and used Weathered Wood Distress Ink to do this.

The next step was to stamp the scene in the aperture that I'd created. I didn't want to get ink on the Gelli print so I carefully masked it off before I began. 

I thought it was all going well until I got to the stage where I removed the masks..........

.............I'd only done the stamping upside down!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Cue very bad words and nearly tears!

After a vent and some encouraging words on FB I decided the only thing to do was to make another stamped panel and stick it on top. I liked the Gelli print too much to completely start again.

It's not a "clever" one layered card any more but I rather like the co-ordinating green mat that I put it on. I also changed the colour of the cabin to better match the Gelli print.

I finished it off with Merry Christmas in German. This was stamped with the Letter Box set - I used green ink for the boxes and navy for the text.

It may have given me a lot of grief but it all turned out for the best. I think I prefer the second version.

Stamps Used

Log Cabin

Sprucescape

German Letter Box Set

Stencil Used

Treescape

Lynne

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