Thank you to all who read my Blog and leave a comment. I really do appreciate every one of them and do my utmost to reply as soon as possible.
Crafty hugs to all!


Thursday 23 May 2013

Shades of Blue 3, Bird Song, May ClarityStamp Challenge

Well its that time again when I had better get my entry in to the Clarity Stamp Challenge.  This month the theme is "Its all in the Sentiment".  This card below was made using 8 Clarity Stamps  3 Blue Inks, Copy paper, Post-it notes, makeup sponges and Ink Dusters and some Stencil Tape.







 
I started with A5 Theuva Card, masking up the edges to make a frame.  I decided to use the Birdsong quote along with the Hanging Vine and Birdcage (New Design Club Free Monthly Stamp) as these were 3 of my newest stamps. I also used the Love Birds and the rod from Lesson 10 Birdcage Set and two of the Maple leaves from the remountable set.
 
(once you clean the blue indexing off the stamps they are completely clear - I stamped them in blue ink to be able to get a clearer photo of them). I began stamping using Chipped Sapphire Distress Ink, the Hanging Vine and the Birdcage, then the two Love Birds.  I then stamped the Rod and Sentiment which I covered with a post-it note. Using the end of the Hanging Vine I linked these two together. (I shortened the length of the Rod

Wednesday 22 May 2013

Shades of Blue 2

Hi Folks.  This Thank You card was fun to make.  I used the first  Clarity Stamp stamp that I ever bought.  The stamp is a version of an Alphonse Mucha (1860 - 1936) print from his Arts collection entitled Music (1898).  I was given some Mucha posters for my new flat when I first left home waaaay back when, and I still have them today, a little worse for wear but still loved.  I was already a fan of Barbara Gray from Clarity, but when I saw this stamp I think I fell in love with her a bit.  This you see is my favourite artist.  So you can imagine how excited I was when I spotted the stamp (I think I actually pushed someone out of my way to get at it...there were a few on sale but that didn't matter).  I have since used La Petite Musique a lot and this is my latest take on it.

The ingredients were as follows:
A5 Theuva Card, 4 White paper strips
(to fit Sizzix Die)
White Card (15.5 x 15.5 cm),
Copy paper, Low tack tape,
Main Card with Insert 16 x16,
12 x 12inch envelope paper,
Sizzix Swirly Back extended Die,
Spellbinder Shapeabilities grommet tag, Sizix Bigshot,
Silver thread, Double sided Tape,
Distress Inks - Chipped Sapphire & faded Jeans,
Memento Ink - Summer Sky,
Versamark - Clear,
Wet Wipes, Kitchen roll,
Ink duster, Makeup Sponge,
Heat Tool, Clear Embossing Powder
Large moon mask, La Petite Musique mask,  Shrink Plastic, Scalpel, Ruler, Bone Folder,
La Petite Music stamp, Mistletoe stamp, Sending a Little Note Your Way stamp (all from Clarity Stamp).

Sunday 19 May 2013

Parchment Card


.
Simple Parchment

This card is a very simple design and very easy to make. The design used is the copyright of Sue McGuirk which I obtained from the Parchment Craft magazine, issue January 2012.   It makes a lovely little Tri-Fold card with a difference.  I used White Parchment for the outer wrap and a dark lilac for the inner card and added a little parchment butterfly.

This card is easy to adapt to your own design. 

Being a Tri- Fold card it is also of centre so you can have the design opening to the left or the right of the card.

The tools I used were:
White Lead Pencil
small, medium & large Ball.
Two Needle tool.
Foam Mat for piercing.
Embossing Mat.

First I traced the design from the Mag onto my outer piece of parchment using my white lead pencil.  Then with my small ball tool I went over the design again. 

Working on the back of the design with my large to small ball tool I worked the parchment using small even strokes.

I used my two needle tool to pierce around the curves.

I folded the inner dark lilac piece to match the fold in the outer piece and pierced through both pieces along the floral part of the design, which I then cut out with my parchment scissors.

Once you have decided on which way you would like to fold the card you could add a sentiment or another embellishment to suit.






Thursday 16 May 2013

Timepiece Birthday card

This Birthday Card was made for my husbands birthday today. He likes Fob Watches so the stamps that I used were ideal.  (both were free gifts from a craft mag) I also used a Frame stamp that I picked up at a car boot sale a few years back.
 
To make the frame I used Theuva Card from Clarity Stamp, two post-it notes, glaze, Black Archival ink and a Happy Birthday stamp.  I stamped the frame onto the post-it notes then cut one around the inside edge (Mask 1) and the other around the outside edge (Mask 2)  I Stamped the Happy Birthday onto Theuva Card then I stamped the Frame around this.  I covered the inside with Mask 1. I then dabbed around the edge of the frame with Old Paper Distress Ink using a makeup sponge. I removed the mask and used what ink was left on the sponge to lightly distress the inside panel of the frame.  After this I cut around the frame then I glazed the edge and left it to dry.



Timepiece by Emma Burns
 Using more Theuva Card, I taped up the edges with stencil tape, stamped the frame and then covered it with mask 2.  Following this, I randomly stamped the fob watches with Black archival Ink. Making use of my splodge mat, brayer and Antique Linen Distress Ink I took the whiteness away from the card and then used a makeup sponge to make it more distressed in the corners and edges.  I used Old Paper Distress Ink and a makeup sponge to create a shadow around the frame by dabbing my sponge into the ink, dabbing the excess off on copy paper then dabbing along the edge of the covered frame.

Sunday 12 May 2013

Shades of Blue

Hello Folks!  I have been so busy reading other peoples blogs that I thought it best to get along with my own.  I have a few projects on the go at the moment but the one I like most ( till the others are finished) is this Shades of Blue Birthday Card.  I made it for my daughter Leanna for her 25th today.  She has been keeping all the cards that I have made for her and displays them in her room, so I thought that this card should look more like a painting rather than just another card.

I chose a blue theme as that is the colours in her room.  I used satin cardstock for the card and super smooth card for the picture then to finish it off, added a Slim frame cut (carefully) out of super smooth card which I attached with double sided foam tape.

Thursday 2 May 2013

April Clarity Stamp challenge Result

Congratulations to Stephanie Cunningham who won the April Clarity Stamp Challenge 'In the garden' with entry number 29.  Well done, it is a lovely card.

My entry to the April challenge was very rewarding to do, especially with the comments received from some of the design team ladies, so thank you to them, made my day.


I chose to split my image into two using one of my spellbinder label dies. I also chose to use only 4 colours but used my ink dusters to give me the shading in the sky and the grass and my splodge mat to give me the 2nd generation ink that I needed for the foliage.   The inks I used were archival brilliance pearlescent crimson, memento olive green, memento summer sky and a mini yellow from papermania.

I also used my versamark to help make the clouds. (great tip learnt from Barbara Gray)