Old School Clarity - Thinking of You Card

Hello. I just realised that I haven't blogged my card from the recent US show. It's been a funny few weeks as Hubby has been away adventure training. Apparently 3 weeks of teaching diving in the Florida Keys is "Hard work" but I don't believe a word of that and I haven't been at all jealous stuck here! Still he's coming home tomorrow and we'll be able to celebrate our 26th wedding anniversary which was yesterday.

These trees and the Moonshadow were some of the first Clarity stamps I bought, over six years ago. They were also what Barbara was using the first time I met her on my first visit to the Harrogate Show in September 2009. We were totally enthralled by Barb's demo...........

............and were very lucky to be given it (photo above).

With all this nostalgia I couldn't resist going old school with them for my card. Things have changed a lot in those years but it's still what I love to do the most.

Back then it was all done with a brayer, hills torn from copy paper and masks cut out of Post-its. Now we have the Clarity stencil brush and Clarity masks to make things easier. I used them with Adirondack Eggplant and Denim ink to create the scene.

Stamps and Masks Used

Trees, Moon and Birds Set

Letterbox Stamps and Masks set

Landscape Masks Set

Woodland Animals Set

Lynne

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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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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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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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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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