Colourful Hot Air Ballon Card and ATC

Like everyone, sometimes I struggle for ideas for my cards.

I had a friend's birthday card to make and I just couldn't think of what to do. Luckily I also had an ATC to make and it then gave me the idea for this card. The ATC theme was "Colour", so I got out all of my Memento ink pads and created a colourful patchwork. It took me quite a while to do but once I'd finished it I wasn't that keen on it, so I started again.

I love making scenes with the ballon stamps and thought a grey background with a rainbow coloured balloon would fit the theme.

I was really pleased with how it turned out and thought it would also make a lovely card for my friend. Problem solved!

This is the patchwork one. It made me laugh as I sent them both off for the swap and I think the recipient preferred this one! Which one is your favourite?

Stamps Used

Small Hot Air Balloon

Medium Hot Air Balloon

Large Hot Air Balloon

Be The Change

Sprucescape

Remountable Haberdashery Set

Lynne

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My 1st Blogiversary - Looking Back

It's funny, yet appropriate, that my 1st blogiversary has fallen at the start of a Clarity weekend. I can't believe it's been a year since I made my first post after joining the Claritystamp Design Team. It's made me feel a bit nostalgic and I've been looking back through my old photos to try and find the first Clarity card I made. Can you remember yours?

I didn't always photograph my cards back then but I think this is it. I guess this also means that the Large Sketched Lady and the Large Ornate Corner were the first Clarity stamps I bought. The photo is dated 6th August, 2009. It is my version of one of the cards in Barbara's book, Handmade Clear Stamped Cards. I recognise the ink pads that I used too, they were my first two Adirondack ink pads  - Lettuce and Denim. They were in a Dawn Bibby TSV kit and I am still using them!

14th August, 2009 - I guess I then bought a brayer and a Big and Juicy ink pad as these are some ATCs I made not long after using the Versamark reist technique on Clarity card.

13th September, 2009 - This was either my first or second trip to the GNPE in Harrogate where I met Barbara and her lovely daughter Grace.  As you can see, my stamping isn't the only thing that's changed!

28th September, 2009 - I guess I bought the shoe there as I made this card not long after. I'm not sure where the lace stamp is from but the papers are from an Artylicious CD.

16th November, 2009 - I guess I started getting a bit more adventurous as this seems to be my first brayered scene. Look at all those lines in the sky! 

16th November, 2009 - My first card using the balloon stamp. I've used that a few times since then!

There have been quite a few changes since I started. For me, the two biggest are the Splodge Away Mat, which makes brayering so much easier, and the thing that's made the most difference to so many of us - In the Classroom with Barbara Gray. I've joined in with the lessons since the beginning and have learnt so much. Thank you for that, Barbara, and for picking me to join your wonderful team. 

I wonder what the next year will bring...

Lynne

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Angelina Film and Fibres Balloon Card

I always enjoy working with these stamps. They are so versatile.

I've got a few Hot Air Balloon cards on here but this is the first one with Angelina Fibres and Film. It's a card I made for the German TV shows.

I think the balloons look so pretty. You can use you iron or a ball tool to get some dimension into them so they look quite realistic too.

I only have one colour of the film (Gold Pearl) so I just use different colour fibres inside it to change the colour. These are what I used.

My favourite stamp, Meadow Dance, makes an appearance too. It's the first time I've used it with the balloons but I think they go well together.

The hills are made using the Clarity Mountains and Hills mask.

Stamps Used

Large Hot Air Balloon

Medium Hot Air Balloon

Small Hot Air Balloon

Meadow Dance

Mask Used

Mountains and Hills

Lynne

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Hot Air Balloon Card

I hope you're all enjoying the Bank Holiday weekend. We've had lovely weather here and have been making the most of it by doing lots of outside jobs, followed by BBQs and wine in the evening. Bliss.

This card is one of my Claritystamp samples for HSE24. It may look familiar as it's very similar to the card I made for the CO's 40th Birthday.

This time I used the new Clarity Mountain and Hills Mask to create the mountains in the background.

Another change I made this time was to stamp the balloons onto Hunkydory card, rather than colouring them in myself with ProMarkers. It has a lovely sheen to it which I thought worked well for the balloons. I used several co-ordinating sheets so the balloons weren't all the same design.

The post on the CO's card is here and I explain there how I shaped the balloons. This adds a bit of interest to the card and I think it makes them look more realistic.

The sentiment this time says "Best Wishes" in German.

Stamps Used

Large Hot Air Balloon

Medium Hot Air Balloon

Small Hot Air Balloon

Spruce Tree

Sentiment from the German Celebration Set

Plus

Mountains and Hills Mask

Herzliche Glückwünsche,

Lynne

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40th Birthday Card - Male

I had such a lovely response to this card on FB yesterday that I thought I'd blog it today.  It's for Hubby's boss so I wanted to see what people thought of it before I give it to him at his party tonight.  Thankfully it went down really well.

These Clarity balloon stamps are perfect for men's cards, especially if you don't know what their hobbies are.

I started by printing the words on my computer.  I used copier paper to check the positioning and when I was happy with it I printed it onto card.  I masked off the middle section and then the fun began!

I stamped the balloons into position first.  As I was going to decoupage them the only bit I masked was the basket on the largest balloon.  I later coloured that in with a ProMarker.  Out came my trusty Splodge Away mat and I then brayered the hills using a torn paper mask.  Before I took that away I added a bit more colour to the top with a makeup sponge.  My cloud template is still going strong, so I got that and an Ink Duster out to do the clouds. I then just needed to add the trees and the background was finished.  I love it when it all goes smoothly!

I think you can see in the photo, but the balloons have been shaped to give them a more realistic look.

I did this on a soft mat using a large ball tool that I bought in a cake decorating shop.  To give you an idea of size, that is the middle sized balloon next to it.   If you haven't got a mat it could also be done in the palm of your hand.

Once the balloons were shaped I filled them up with Pinflair glue gel, so they will keep their shape, and stuck them on the card. 

A Few Of My Favourite Clarity Cards

I don't have any new cards that I can post at the moment, so I thought that I'd start with a few of my recent favourites.

This one was made for the Clarity Club Challenge back in September, 2011.  I was so excited when I found out that I'd won.  The challenge was  a square black, white and silver card using a Christmas Claritystamp.

This one was made as a thank you to Barbara Gray.  The longest part of making this was the planning.  Lots of sheets of copier paper went into the bin!

This was a Father's Day card for my Dad this year.  I had the idea of recreating the main scene on the Clarity Easel stamp.  Getting the proportions right was a nightmare.  Again, lots of copier paper in the bin.

This was my homework for the Horse and Carriage Lesson on Create and Craft TV.  It was on the Jubilee weekend so I couldn't resist going all patriotic.  I was really pleased with how it turned out.