A belated Happy New Year

I knew it had been ages since I posted anything here but even I was staggered when I saw just how long it was!  Anyhoo, a very Happy New Year to all who are reading this, may the new year bring you blessings and much happiness!

I have a few Clarity cards to show you today although from now on there will be fewer Clarity cards on my blog because lack of time, (and very often the absence of my mojo!), has made me decide to step down from the Claritystamp Design Team.  I am sad to do this but I have been privileged to be a part of the team for three years now and I feel that there are new teamies who have lots to offer and I just need to grab back some time for other things.

Well, the quality of the photographs hasn't changed then!  These quirky house images inspired me to create a little fairy village - strange things happen in Diane's world you know!  So the gate stamp created a sturdy platform for the largest house.  This time the images were coloured with Distress Markers and I used them on the Ranger Specialty Stamping paper, as recommended by the great Sir Tim.  This card is not cheap but worth it for the results it gives so I just keep it in its packet so that it doesn't get confused with ordinary stamping card.  Mind you, that would be hard to do since it feels so incredibly smooth compared to the ordinary stuff.

I made this card just to illustrate that an effective card can be produced from just a sentiment stamp, as long as you have the Go Kreate Dies that is!  The corners are cut from an old die that's probably out of production by now but there are plenty of others on the market.

This final card just uses simple techniques of masking and inking with Stampin' Up! Bashful Blue - just add a ribbon and you're there.

Well it feels good to be back and thank you for looking today.  Please leave a comment so that I know you're still there!

Hugs

Still out of action

The camera that is - not me!  Well good evening, peeps - the sun is shining and all is well except I could do with it being a bit warmer since, despite the sun, it's quite chilly out there!

Since a new camera has still not been purchased, I thought I might show you one or two oldies but not yet seen on my blog-ies....oh yes, all has not yet been revealed!

Today, I've been working on some Clarity samples ready for the shows at the weekend but I don't think I showed you some from the last show:

The challenge from Barbara was to take an 'everyday' kit and make it into a Christmas scene and this is what I did with the Harbour Kit yes, it even snows at the seaside!  The snowflakes on this were made with a Whimsy die called Winter's Jewel 1.

This one was a little easier because it just involved making a Christmas scene from the Village Stamps and the Church Stamp had to be included for this one!

Finally, here is Puck sitting under the Mushrooms in the snow.  The lights weren't very kind to this card - I used Stampendous Shaved Ice to make it look really frosty but the fragments turned pink when photographed.  Maybe the camera was already on the blink.

Well I hope that all these frosty cards haven't got you shivering too much and thank you for looking today.

Hugs

Did you see them?

Good morning, peeps!  I hope you are all well and enjoying a little sunshine on this Bank Holiday morning.  Did you see the River Pageant yesterday?  Our brave Queen looked absolutely perished, I hope she had her thermals on!

The other programme on the TV yesterday was the Stamping with Clarity Show and these are the cards I managed to make this month:

This was made from the Beach Huts Kit but I also included the Street from the Harbour Kit that featured on a past show.

I love making backgrounds and this one was created with Twinkling H2Os.  Barbara and Dean said it reminded them of Tales of the Unexpected opening sequence and it really does but I hadn't thought of that when I made the card.  If you remember that old TV programme don't admit to it, it was years and years ago!

This photograph didn't come out too well because of the light from my lamps reflecting on the mica surface but, after colouring the fish and coral with Copics, I sprayed Glimmer Mist over the surface and then decoupaged two more fish on top of that.  The idea was to make it look as though there were fish in the sea in the background and then the decoupaged ones were supposed to be in the foreground.  It worked IRL but it didn't show properly in the photograph.

This card was from the Classroom kit for June and since we have Wimbledon later this month, I chose to use the tennis player and tennis balls.  If you saw the show, you'll know that Barbara and Dean only just survived talking about the Sport and Balls Kit without totally corpsing!

Finally, there was my lady diver card and I chose to use this image with the Union Flag Set, which is so easy to use.  My clever teamie, Linda created the swimmers' costumes from this flag image but I chose to paper piece the cozzie here.

Thanks for looking at this latest batch of goodies in my DT work - I do hope you enjoyed them and enjoy the rest of this Bank Holiday break.

Hugs

Brayer-phobia

Good morning peeps!  Are you surprised to see another post from me so soon?  Anyhoo, I thought I'd just pop onto here briefly and show you some cards for a forthcoming workshop over at Craftrange at Burnley on Saturday 28th April.

On my various travels I meet a lot of ladies who've bought a brayer, usually having watched Barbara Gray demonstate at a show or on Create and Craft TV, and the brayer is still idling in its box never having been used because they're afraid they won't be able to master the technique or maybe they used it once and got stripes!  I hope to release a few such ladies from their brayer-phobia on this workshop and these are the cards we'll be making in a morning and an afternoon workshop.

If you're within commuting distance of Craftrange, I'd love to see you there!

I hope you enjoyed this quick post.

Hugs

A moment of Clarity

Good afternoon, peeps!  Well it's just about afternoon isn't it and I'm posting this from wonderful Aberfeldy in Scotland where we're having a great and relaxing time at the moment.  Home on Saturday though and the holiday has passed by all too quickly.

I thought I'd just catch up by posting a few of the cards I've created for Barbara Gray's shows on Create and Craft TV - I think I'm at least two shows behind showing you some of samples, so here goes:

This picture looks a bit lopsided but I really enjoyed colouring all these pansies and leaves with my Copics.  The letter 'O' is embossed in green because I wanted it to stand out and the rest of the word 'flower' is stamped in Memento London Fog in the hope that it facded into the background a little.  The gold filigree corners are from Wild Orchid Crafts.  I don't recall this card being shown during the broadcast.

This was one of my favourite designs from the February show and it would appear that the audience agreed because the stamp sold out in a flash!  I watercoloured the images on 300 gsm hot pressed, watercolour paper, tore the edges of the paper and finished with the corners cut from a Spellbinders die and some ribbon from my stash.

This was another favourite, the Mandarin Duck and Bullrushes.  It reminds me of when I used to see one of these ducks regularly when I used to travel the Staffs and Worcs Canal and they are just so cute and colourful!  This image was coloured with Copics and I created the clouds using a cardboard template I cut out with Stampin' Up Bashful Blue ink and an old make-up brush.  I love creating skies this way.  The vines are a Marianne die and the flowers are Sweetheart Blossoms from Wild Orchid Crafts.

I loved the simplicity of this card and I simply embossed the image with Moonglow Embossing Powder and it's a shame that you can't see from the picture how it shines different colours asyou move the image in the light.  I recall that the presenter commented on the fact that I hadn't coloured the image but you can't please everyone!  The DP is a really old one from my stash but I couldn't resist using it because it has the Lily of the valley on it.

Well before this post turns into a real marathon, I'll sign off and see you again soon.

Thanks for looking today and I'd love to read your comments!

Hugs

Oh! Mr Postman what did you do...?

Good morning, peeps and a happy Thursday morning to you!

What did the postman do? - you may well ask!  This was in December now so the steam has stopped coming out of my ears but this is the tale.  As you can imagine, I'm always working up to the last minute with my samples for the Stamping with Clarity Show on C & C TV.  I then dash to the Post Office and despatch them via their guaranteed next day delivery service so that Barbara gets them in time to take to Peterborough.  What happened?  I had a phone call from the lovely Grace at 2.00 p.m. to say that no cards had arrived!  To cut a long story short, the Post Office had no idea where they were, their records showed that I had posted the package and that was the end of their story.  You can imagine how I felt after all that work and also feeling like I'd let Barbara down!  Anyhoo, the cards finally did show up on the following Monday - after the show had aired...:-((  Well, if Barbara ever offers those kits again you may see these cards on the TV screen but I thought I would show them here anyway, whilst I'm currently hoping that the cards I posted yesterday are safely now at their destination!

I had been wanting to have a go at a recessed card for ages and this kit with the little boy fishing and the leaves was the perfect opportunity.  The colours have come out badly in the photograph (those are always taken in a rush, as well!).  IRL the background was lovely, warm shades of yellow, rust and red.  You can find this stamp here.

This is another one of those words with a large 'O'!  The animal remountable stamps are lovely!

 

One of those endlessly useful tree and flying bird kits has been used here to create a snowy scene for  a New Year card.

 

Isn't it amazing what you can do with a Clarity Corner Stamp - this one is the Snowdrop Corner.  I stamped it with Stampin' Up Cherry Cobbler and cut out the blank areas of the design to show the Cherry Cobbler card underneath.  The frame is made with a Martha Stewart PATP punch.

 

The colours aren't all that good here again but I embossed the Large Snowdrops on white card with Moonglow EP and cut them out with a Spellbinders die.  I then mounted them on dark green card to emphasise the teardrop shaped cut-outs in the border.

Well, I think that's enough for one post and thank you if you've read this far.  I should be making my next post from Northumberland because we're up there for a holiday next week woohoo!!

Hugs

Mardigras!

Good morning, peeps!

Are you feeling in a party mood this morning?  It's hard to feel much like a party when all the Christmas and New Year celebrations are over and it's gloomy and cold outside, so I thought I'd show you something bright and cheery to help the day along a little.

These cards were produced for the Stamping with Clarity show on Create and Craft TV last Sunday.  When the stamps arrived, I was delighted with them and I think they hold many possibilities.

This is another of my not very good photographs but I hope you can see the effect.  It gave me a good opportunity to play with my Twinkling H2Os to create the background.  They haven't been out to play since I can't remember when and I've promised myself that I won't leave it so long before I bring them out again!  To get this effect, I first painted a sheet of A4 card with pale pink and then stamped all over it in random fashion with the small mask and the harlequin stamps using Versamark. I then applied clear embossing powder and heated it.  Then out came a large-ish flat paint brush and I splodged several colours all over the top (red, pink, green, yellow, blue, purple).  At this stage, it wasn't looking so clever but then I spayed it with Pearl Glimmer Mist and the magic happened when all the colours ran and blended into one another so I finally had the effect I'd been aiming for.  Don't you just love it when a plan comes together?!  With all this colour going on I decided to keep the large mask image to just black and white and it's stamped on to Centura Pearl Card, coloured with a black ProMarker then cut out and glued on to the background.

I wanted to create the impression of fireworks, which is how the gold ribbon came on to the scene. Having found the ribbon, the problem then was how to make it curl.  The answer was to wind it round a wooden chop stick, secure the ends with little metal bulldog clips and apply the heat gun.  However, I have a tip for you with this technique - wait for the bulldog clips to cool before removing them otherwise you're stuck holding an ice cube for some time until your fingers stop throbbing, ask me how I know!!

I then used the large mask stamp with one of the Clarity Alium stamps to produce the firework effect for this card:

 

The alium image was embossed with several different shades of  Moonglow Embossing Powder.  The main image has been stamped and enbossed in gold and then painted with the H2Os.

When it came to creating a card with the Dippy Toe Lady set, I knew I wanted to have the effect of the lady in a leafy glade at sunset then, having created the sunset, I was trying out all the colours of card to mount the image when I suddenly realised that I'd used all the colours of the Mardigras background -I am slow sometimes!  Good thing that I'd created a whole A4 sheet wasn't it?  Here's the result:

Well, if you've stayed with me through this marathon post, thank you and well done!  I hope you enjoyed seeing the cards and thank you for looking.  I'll be back later in the week with some challenge cards but, in the meantime, if you see someone without a smile, give them one of yours!

Hugs

Featuring a sentiment

Good morning, peeps and thank Crunchie it's Friday!  You got anything special planned for the weekend? - I'm gonna take it a little bit easy and that's special!!

Well, the challenge over at Fussy and Fancy this week is to Be Thankful and Feature a Sentiment.  I must admit that I slightly misunderstood this challenge because I thought it was to be thankful Or Feature a Sentiment and this is what I did:

The sentiment I've featured is more of a blessing than a verse expressing thanks but I hope you all like it nevertheless.

The blessing comes from Claritystamp and I've centred it in a Nestie shape which I've coloured with Antique Linen Distress Ink before removing the die.  I love this effect because it looks as though the verse is double mounted, which it isn't - it's just mounted once on to the dark brown card.

The wonderful DP is from a K & Co pad I've had for ages and it has no name on it.  Add one of the large gardenias from Wild Orchid Crafts, some stamens from the same source, flourishes cut from a Magnolia Doohickey die and, finally, butterflies cut with Martha Stewart punches and you have a card!

I must thank a teamie from a former DT I was on, the uber talented Dana for this idea, which I saw on her blog some time ago.  Her work is fabulous so do pop over and pay her a visit.  She's not too well at the moment so Get Well Soon, Dana!

Do come and join in this challenge, which is sponsored by Sweet and Sassy Stamps.

Thank you for looking today, please leave me a comment to let me know I'm not talking to myself here!  Whatever you're doing this weekend, have a great one!

Hugs

Reminder of Summer

Good morning, peeps and how are you all today? Isn't it getting autumnal? The hillside I look out on from my craft room is changing daily it seems and I watch the lovely greens change to the wonderful Autumnal colours. Wouldn't it be great if we could have the rich colours of Autum without the cooler weather? I know it's not possible but I can dream! Anyhoo, speaking of losing the lovely greens of Summer, I thought I'd share this card with you today:

If you've been watching Barbara Gray on the Pick of the Week Show on Create and Craft TV, you'll have seen this card already because Barbara asked me to make some staged samples for her to help out with the massive task of preparing so many demonstrations for all the shows being aired this week. Please follow the link if you want to buy Barbara's DVD 5 at a real bargain price!

If you didn't see the show, this card was made by stamping the Birch Tree stamp twice across an A6 Clarity Card using a dye based ink pad, then covering the trunks with Versamark pen and embossing with clear embossing powder. The clouds were produced over a cloud shaped template using a make-up brush and Adirondack Stonewashed ink. The Birch Tree Leaves were then stamped with Kaleidacolor Fresh Greens ink. I used the same stamps and inks to make the backing paper on the base of this card but blotted the stamps twice before planting them on the paper. The pale blue card mount is cut from a Go Kreate die because I was trying to echo the shape of the clouds and make the whole design fit with the lovely verse that forms the stop for the easel card.

I'm making every effort to be a better blogger and post more regularly although I can't promise every day. I really don't know how you peeps that post every day manage it but perhaps I just need to be more organised.

I'm working hard on samples for the Polka Doodles dem on Thursday evening that I told you about in yesterday's post. Some wonderful sample cards have just arrived in the post from my lovely Teamies Dee, Emma and Lis. Do hop over and look at their work, it's just fabulous!

I do hope you like this memory of Summer and thank you for looking today - I'll see you again soon.

Hugs

Hello from an absentee blogger!

Good afternoon, peeps! Well, did you think I'd fallen off the face of the Blogosphere? If you did I'm not surprised - I'd rather not think about how long it is since I last posted, but I thought I'd check in and show you a little of what I've been working on craftwise and the first thing is a memory of Summer with these poppies:

I so much enjoyed making this card for two main reasons; firstly, poppies are one of my favourite flowers and secondly, I love the medium of watercolour, which is what I used to colour the large poppies. Sadly, this card did not pass its screen test (or something) so didn't make it on to the screen during the Stamping with Clarity at the beginning of the month so it's making its debut here. Its mount is very plain, as many of my Clarity cards are because I think the images speak for themselves. I simply brayered some sky and some grass and added the small poppies in Memento London Fog to add some depth and that wonderful little verse to complete the picture.
If you live in the North, I'll demoing Polka Doodles stamps and CDs at Craftrange.com in Preston on Thursday evening from 5 p.m. until 8 p.m. Do click on the link and check it out because there are lots of demos happening on that evening so it will be well worth a visit. Then, on Saturday from 10 a.m. until 4p.m., I'll be teaching a Copic/Promarker colouring class at Samuel Taylors in Roseville Street, Leeds.
Have a wonderful evening, y'all and I promise I'll be back sooner with something else.

Hugs