Moonlit Cat Card

This is the last of my three cat cards. It was made for one of Maria Simms' Clarity Take 2 shows - Barbara Gray fans will probably be able to guess when I made it!

Yes, it was just after Lesson 17 (Toadstool and Hares) where Barbara showed us how to do the large moon and dark sky. I thought it would be the perfect background for this scene. If you would like to see how it is done you can watch the video of Barbara here on the Create and Craft website. 

The brick wall is a Spellbinders M-Bossibilities folder - Bricks and Bark. I used the textured side of the card for the wall and the reverse, smooth side, for the terracotta pots. Don't forget to stamp the ferns before you emboss the wall!

It's a very simple card but I rather like it. 

Well I hope the cat lovers amongst you have enjoyed my three cat cards. Maya's a bit worried that they have taken over though so here's a photo of her looking particularly gorgeous for all the dog lovers.

What are all these cats doing on Mum's blog?

Maria Simms' next show is on at 11 am tomorrow (21st Aug) and I will be back after that with the first of the samples I made for her.

Stamps Used

Small Cat Back

Large Fern

Bird and post from the Remountable Garden Set

Lynne

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Happy Father's Day

My Dad is one of my regular blog readers, so "Happy Father's Day" Dad.  xxx

This is the card I made for him.

I was really pleased with the scene I made following April's In the Classroom with Barbara Gray and I thought it would be perfect for my Dad's card.

Turning the topper into a completed card took longer than it did to create it though! I tried out so many backgrounds and colours before I settled on some green card that matches the boat.

The Father's Day stamp is from Lili of the Valley. I bought 3 sets of these at the GNPE, Harrogate as they go so well with the Clarity XL Postage Stamp.

Which I used for my Father-in-law's card.

He likes horses, so I made a little western scene in the stamp and heat embossed the Queen's head in gold. The background is embossed with my Spellbinders Grand Dainty Dots folder.

I hope they both like their cards.

If Hubby is reading this in Cyprus, Maya says "Woofy woof woof" (apparently that's Happy Father's Day in dog) too.

She's looking forward to normal sofa service resuming soon.

Stamps Used

Lesson 15 - Making a Point Set

XL Postage Stamp

Remountable Postage Set

Forest Ridge

Lone Ranger

Lynne

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Lily's Boudoir

I had a fab day at Doncaster yesterday. I don't get to meet up with fellow crafters very often so it was lovely to be able to do that. I also had a fab time watching Barbara demonstrating the Gelli plate. I picked up a lot of tips and bought several of the gorgeous new stencils. I then spent yesterday afternoon practising what I'd learnt.  It didn't get an "It's not one of your better efforts" from Mum and Dad so I think I must be improving!

Anyway, back to my June samples. In the past when I've made cards like this I've used patterned papers but this time I thought I'd make my own Clarity wallpaper. I used the Camelia stamp, Adirondack ink in Mountain Rose and I ink, blot, blot, plotted it. This required a lot of concentration, not one of my specialities!  I ink, blot **** the first time so I had to start again. It's a good job that no one could see me sat in my craft room saying to myself "Ink, blot, blot, plot" over and over again!

The carpet was done using the same ink applied with an Ink Duster.

The wrought iron furniture is stamped in Versamark, then heat embossed with gold fine detail powder.

The Clarity Characters are stamped in black Archival.

I found some lovely Bazzill card in my stash that matched really well and finished the card off with some matting and layering. It is embossed with the Spellbinders Garden Lattice M-Bossibilities folder as I thought this went well with the wrought iron.

I think Lily's boudoir looks a lot prettier than the magnolia woodchip in mine!

Stamps Used

Camelia

Remountable Wrought Iron Dolls House Set

Remountable Clarity Characters

Lynne

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Civil Partnership Card

It's the first of the month, so that means the start of a new challenge on the Clarity Stamp Challenge Blog.  The theme for June is "Mr & Mrs" which can include weddings and anniversaries.

I've gone for "Mr & Mr" and made a civil partnership card.

I wanted to it to be masculine, so I've chosen a black and white colour scheme and kept the design really simple with minimal embellishments. The white card is all Centura Pearl Snow White. It has a lovely sheen to it that doesn't really show up in my photo. I think it works especially well with embossing folders. The one I've used here is a Spellbinders Grand M-Bossibilities - Garden Lattice.

Mr & Mr is cut out on my Silhouette Cameo from "Cha Cha swirl" letters by Samantha Walker. These were purchased from the Silhouette Store.

"On Your Special Day" is heat embossed in black onto card cut with a Spellbinders Floral Ovals die. A thin black mat was cut with my Cameo and it was stuck on with Pinflair glue gel to raise it from the surface.

Douglas was stamped twice to make the grooms. They are coloured in with ProMarkers and stuck on with foam pads.

I'd originally ordered some wide black ribbon for this card but when I was putting Hubby's washing away I spotted his bow ties! Unfortunately he wasn't quite as excited by my crafty idea as I was, so I had to buy one. You can get them really cheaply though, this one was £3.20 from Amazon but I also got one for £1.59 on eBay and that included P&P! When you think about how much some embellishments can be I didn't think that was too bad. The band is stuck on with Red Liner Tape and I added some Pinflair to secure the bow as it is quite weighty.

Well that's my take on the theme, I look forward to seeing what everybody else comes up with. Don't forget there's a £50 Claritystamp voucher for the winner (chosen at random).

Stamps Used

Douglas

On Your Special Day

Lynne

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Woodland Foxes Card

I created a little woodland scene for this card which involved quite a bit of masking! 

I started off by stamping out the design on copy paper. When I do this I don't bother with masks as I just want to work out where things are going to go. Then when I come to stamp it out for real I know exactly where to position the stamps. It makes things a lot easier, especially on designs like this where I had to stamp the front fox and the sitting fox before the tree stump.

After I'd done the stamping, the masks come in handy again to cover the work up whilst doing the brayering. They're now stored with all of my others for the next time I use those stamps.

The colouring is done with ProMarkers and the greenery is done with Adirondack Lettuce and Meadow and Versafine Olympia Green.

I used the bark side of Spellbinders M-Bossibilities Bricks and Bark folder to create textured panels for the background as I thought they worked well with the tree stumps. I found some card to match the foxes but it still needed something else. After rooting through my stash I found some eyelets that matched perfectly. These came with my Crop-A-Dile and I have a load of them left  - I bet I'm not the only one!

Stamps Used

Standing Fox

Sitting Fox

Tree Stump

Grasses 1

Mini Grasses from Remountable Garden Set

Lynne

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Spellbinders Bauble Card

Now I could say that I'm sharing this card to encourage you all to start early for Christmas 2013, but I'd be lying! It was one I made for the German shows and didn't get it blogged before Christmas.

I hope you all had a good Christmas. It was a strange one here, hubby and I are still suffering with our colds but somehow Mum and Dad, who were here for a week, managed to avoid catching it. We probably weren't the best company but it was nice to be together. Mum and I spent Boxing Day and the 27th working on the samples for January's shows and I've been finishing them off today. They are a bit of a family affair as I even had hubby doing some drawing on one card for me today. Apparently that's the best bit! :-)

This is an 8x8 card made with a Spellbinders Grand M-Bossibilities folder and Heirloom Ornament (2011) die. The stamps are by Clarity

I stamped the star in purple first, then went over it with Versamark and Stardust embossing powder to make it sparkle.

I had originally intended for the bauble to hang loose in the frame I cut on my Cameo, but as it was for a sample I was worried about it falling off. In the photo it looks like the bauble has a purple mat around it but it is in fact acetate. It's like the filling in a sandwich, holding it all together.

I put a sheet of purple card on the back so that it shows through the acetate from the front. 

Lynne

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Log Cabin in the Woods Card

I have used the Clarity Sprucescape stamp so much and I was very pleased to see the little Log Cabin joining the collection. They work so well together.

I started off by stamping the Log Cabin and built the scene around it. I'd love to be sat next to a roaring log fire in that cabin. It looks so peaceful.

The sky was brayered in blue using my Splodgemat, then I added a couple of other colours to give it a grey snowy look (I really should write down exactly what I use but I keep forgetting).

The snow was done with an Ink Duster and copier paper. I like the subtle effect that they give.

It was looking a bit bare so I added the deer from the Deerscape stamp and some Glamour Dust to finish it off.

It's matted on some Coredinations card that has been embossed with the Bricks and Bark M-Bossibilities folder and then sanded.

Lynne
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Poppies Card for Remembrance Day

It's Remembrance Day today, a time of year when I feel so thankful for what I have. Hubby and I are off to a Remembrance Day service and I wanted to share this card with you. I just love the sentiment and I thought it was perfect for this card and today.

Stamps by Clarity.  Poppies cut on my Cameo.  Leaves are from a spellbinders set.  Corner die is a Sizzlet.  Embossed background is done with a Grand M-Bossibilities, Garden Lattice.

Lynne
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'Twas the Night Before Christmas Clarity Stamps - Rooftop

Well we're getting near to the end of my 'Twas the Night cards. This one is the ninth in a series of ten stamps by Barbara Gray. Hopefully Barbara will get drawing and we'll get some more next year.

As Santa is coming down the chimney I thought it might be fun to be peeping in the window at him.  It also gave me an excuse to buy the new Spellbinders Bricks and Bark M-Bossibilities folder that I'd been lusting after!  

I stamped the mice before I embossed the card, so that I got a nice, crisp image. Then I inked it with some Walnut Distress Ink to enhance the brick effect.

The window was cut on my Cameo.  As it's a simple shape I was able to draw it myself.  A scalloped strip made the pelmet and I cut the curtains freehand. There is a sheet of acetate in the window so that it looks like it's glazed.

The fluff on Santa's boots is Flowersoft. 

It's a good job the cat is better behaved than Maya. She would be jumping all over him if he came down our chimney!

Lynne

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