Trees!!!

Hi Folks!  I hope that you all had a wonderful Christmas.  A quick post from me today (that's if blogger lets me, it has been freezing up on me for days).

This is a picture that I wanted to show you all but couldn't until now as it was a Christmas gift for someone.  With this piece I have used the Gelli Plate to make a reflection...so much easier using the Gelli Plate for this!

I used a sheet of Super smooth Card from Clarity Stamp (for use with the large Gelli Plate).  It is brilliant for stamping and shading.

I stamped my Trees and the Deer onto the Gelli Plate which I had mounted onto the Clarity Mega Mount (fabulous thing). I then used the Gelli Plate like a stamp and stamped onto my card.  I then turned my image around and then this time stamped my Trees and Deer directly onto the card.

I added some 'banking' along the waters edge using my mini Fern and one of the mini Leaves from a remountable set.

I covered the 'land' with copy paper and went to work on the water.  This was done using a Brayer, scrunched up copy paper, two shades of Memento Ink: Nautical Blue and Summer Sky.  The same colours were used with the Brayer (minus the copy paper) for the sky.   I used the Yellow ink from a Big n Juicy Pad - Soothing Sunset with a Stencil Brush. The deer are stamped in Adirondack Black, the Trees and Foliage are stamped in Memento - Olive Grove.  I drew in the small birds in flight with a Black Micron Pen.

I added more foliage to the top and bottom of the picture using Olive Grove again and then with a make-up sponge I added a bit more shading using Memento - Pistachio.

I decided at the last minute to add a bit more shading and foliage to the waters edge with the mini remountable leaf before framing.

All the products that I have used to create this picture, from the Stamps, Card, tools to ink have all been supplied by Clarity Stamp.  If anyone wishes details for anything I have used, leave a comment and I will forward you the details. I usually do a link for each product but as blogger is playing up and it has taken me nearly a week to get this posted I just wanted to keep going before it stalled on me again...apologies!

I hope you like it.  

I am entering this picture into the Clarity Stamp Challenge for December as the challenge is Trees.

Good luck to everyone in all their challenges and I hope that you all have a wonderful 2015.

Hugs to all

Emma xx

I think everyone may get a Jumper for Christmas!!

Hi Folks!  Hope you are all well and have everything in hand for Christmas!  I keep thinking I am sorted but then I get distracted and my schedule goes to pot.  What have I been distracted with......
It's this new stamp set......Christmas Jumper from Clarity Stamp......I can't seem to put it down, having so much fun with it!

Today I was all set to mount some images that I had made and get them posted, I was only having a small coffee break when another idea for the Jumper Set came to me and that was it, back to craft room to Play instead of keeping to the plan!

My idea for the Jumper Set was to make a card look as though the Jumper was gift wrapped!

So I got Shrink Plastic and 3 colours of Archival ink.  Stamped twice for each colour (A4 sheet).  I cut out the jumpers one at a time with a craft knife...now of course you will be saying Duh! does she think were stupid!...NO I do not, I just have a tip to pass on (could have just written Top Tip I here you say).








Before I cut each jumper out, I attached a small bit of masking tape to a corner so that once the jumper is free of the sheet you can pick it up by the tape to move it (just in case ink not dry).  Then if you are doing a batch you can attach your jumpers to a door or wall until you need (or have space to work on them)


I used the mini stamps from the set on some of the jumpers but I also did one with a mini Snowman and one with the NDC stamp for December 2014 STAG.  I did have to mask of the sleeves of the jumper to fit him in.

I did only loose one jumper to the ravages of the heat gun...I just couldn't get it unstuck! and I thought that it was the best one!

After I had shrunk the Jumper using my heat gun I gave it a quick spray of Iridescent Varnish.  I attached the Jumper to a square of Hand made tissue.  (I folded in the corners to put in some creases). I then attached this to a piece of Red Tartan paper (on the underside).  Layered again with White Satin Card and more Red Tartan (Top Tip...put ribbon behind first layer of Red Tartan BEFORE doing the rest of the layers - how do I know that this is important.  lol. The final layer being an 8 x 8 card blank.

To bring a bit of sparkle to the design I added some Gold edged Peel-offs.  I the got a little price tag and stamped a small Snowflake in 3rd generation ink ( Meadow), wrote To: and From: in Poppy Promarker. (I used the pen to colour the white string of the price tag.  I made a bow, curled the papers and attached the embellishments with silicone glue.  By this time the lighting was terrible and the Red is really Red so maybe that was a good thing!

Now all that was left was to make a tiny roll of Sellotape and add to card.  Stamp Inside with my Bespoke Christmas stamps.  Put away the envelope that came with the card (as I need to make a box for it now). Make Box. Take photos. Do Blog Post.

   

DONE!

All the stamps used are from Clarity Stamp Ltd.

The NDC stamp is from Clarity Stamp too.  It is the free stamp for this month for New-Design-Club Members.  http://www.claritystamp.co.uk/New-Design-Club

I hope you like this.  Please feel free to leave a comment, I read and appreciate everyone of them and I do my utmost to respond as soon as I am able.

Christmas hugs to all

Emma x

Winter Warmers Galore!

Hi again Folks!  So as I have been busy what with Christmas shopping, Cleaning House, Wrapping Presents etc.   I decided to have a break and catch up on some of my favourite crafters and their Blogs! The first one that I caught up with was Barbara Gray.  (Sorry ladies I didn't get around to looking at anyone else's yet...I got distracted).

Lo and Behold Barbara had Posted about The Christmas Jumper Set!  But not only that....Barbara had done her YouTube video that she does every Tuesday.  So being a fan I checked it out....I felt so silly.

I fiddled about with Post-it Notes for my Jumpers in my two previous posts and then I saw what Barbara did and I am glad that no-one was around to hear what I said to myself!!!!

You have a choice now! You can either read on or you can go to Barbara's Blog by clicking on  LINK or you can go direct to YouTube and search for Claritystamp Christmas Jumper and all will become clear.

So for this post I am going to copy what Barbara Gray did for her YouTube Tuesday!

This time I have stamped onto two different materials, a cotton and a webbing and backed with double sided sticky sheets.  Now just to show you that I am obviously not firing on all cylinders the photo on the left is a bit squint! Reason...I stamped this one out then attached it to the double sided sheet. Much better to attach your material to the sticky sheet first!  Never mind, I did manage to salvage it.  (I have taped them down to stop them slipping around)

What Barbara did instead of messing about with Post-it notes making makeshift masks, was to cut up the Jumper Mask into its parts to isolate them.  These masks that are produced by Clarity Stamp are tacky so that they will stick to any surface.  (they need a little bit of de-tacking before first use but after that you are sailing as they do not tear your project and can be used time and time again)

outer part

inner part

in bits!

Now why didn't I think of that!

Simples!!











So I set about stamping in my pattern.  (I did make a mini post -it note mask for the stag....Barbara did this too).  I then proceeded to follow her example.








Now I am not going to show you the finished card as yet because I will be posting it out to someone for this Christmas but below is what came about by me watching Barbara Gray.

I decided to do two jumpers as you can see and I will be following Barbara's example and mount them on card and then onto Hessian.

colours used

If you look at my post of the 10th December Winter Warmer you will get the details of the Christmas Jumper set or you can go from the link of Barbara's Blog (even better as she has reduced the price of them).  Remember  The Jumper itself can be stamped with any small stamp not just the Christmas stamps.

And I have one more bit of advice...when stamping onto material, check the grain.  The reason my first one went squint was because I didn't check which way the weave was going.

If I had only thought about it a bit I could have had the effect of knitted rows!

Give this a go.  I think it is very effective.  Thank you very much Barbara Gray for sharing.

Hugs to all.

Emma xx

Another Winter Warmer!

Hi Folks!  Well time is certainly running fast this year, it's nearly over and I still haven't finished all my Christmas cards!
I have another Christmas Jumper card to show you.  I am even more happier with this one!

Right here we go, this is how I made it!

I stamped the Jumper onto Cream Satin Card with Denim Adirondack Ink and then sprinkled on Clear Embossing Powder and Heat Set from underneath.
I then placed my own Circle Mask onto the Card and then on top of that I placed the Jumper Mask (outer piece).
I covered up the arms with post-it notes and started building up my pattern.  I moved the notes and covered up the body to get the stamping on the sleeves.  I then removed the outer mask and replaced it with the inner part for the actual Jumper.




I stamped the Forest Ridge into place.  I then dabbed some Denim onto my Clarity Blending Mat and using a make-up sponge put in a little shading around the Jumper - pulling the ink from the mask onto the card.  I used the sponge to build up a bit shading for the sky and shading for the snow.  




Before removing the Jumper Mask, I used my Clarity Stencil brush to go around the Circle lightly.  I then took a White Pilot Pen to put in a bit of snow here and there.

I removed the Circle Stencil and Jumper Mask then proceeded to layer up using Clarity Blue Pearl Paper (7" x 7") and a patterned paper from my stash.  Now I have only used ONE piece of the Blue Pearl Paper.  Because I use the Perfect Layers Rulers I was able to cut very precisely to achieve this.

I used the Christmas Greetings from my Bespoke Set of Christmas Stamps and made a little tag which I attached to the first two layers with a blue and white Twine.  (I shaded the tag a little with some of the ink that was left on the Blending Mat).  

So that is another one off my list!

I hope you like it!

Hugs 

Emma x

Winter Warmer!

Hi Folks!  Well I don't know about where you all live but the weather is atrocious down my way.  Very Cold, wet and very very windy!  So here is a lovely Christmas Jumper to keep you warm!

This picture  shows the stamps that I used making this card. This is the first time that I have used the Jumper Stamp set and my Personalised Dickens Script Stamps from Clarity Stamp and I have to say I am really chuffed with both sets.There is a lot more to both sets so follow the links for more details and to see the full sets. The Holly Wrap stamp is from Clarity Stamp too.  

This picture shows all the bits that I used along with the stamps to make the card.  So what do we have...
Cable Knit Stencil, Own Circle Stencil,
Big n Juicy Red ink pad, Adirondack - Meadow, Promarker - Poppy, Stencil Brush,
Perfect Layers Ruler, Double sided Tape, Masking Tape, Craft knife, scissors.
Copy paper and Theuva Card.




Step 1 )  Attach Circle Stencil to Theuva Card (cut into a square) with masking tape. Ink up Jumper with the Red ink and stamp into circle.  Cover Jumper with Mask.

Step 2) Attach Cable knit Stencil over the top. Dust lightly with the Adirondack and stencil brush.  Remove Cable knit stencil.

Step 3)  Remove the Jumper Mask and using Meadow, stamp in the pattern on the Jumper.  Then take a Poppy Promarker (with a fine nib) and colour in the jumper.

Step 4)  Remove the circle stencil and stamp pattern around the outer edge. Then stamp in the Holly Wrap stamp.

Step 5)  Mat and layer onto red card.  Stick image to backing card / paper with the double sided tape then use the perfect layers ruler and craft knife to get a perfect border.  Then attach to a Blank Card with strong double sided tape.

(To get a perfect match in the colours of red I used the chisel end of my poppy promarker on thin card before layering)

Step 6)  Using the lovely bespoke Dickens Script stamp message on insert (or if making a few of the same it might be quicker to just stamp the greeting directly onto the card)

Step 7)  Photograph work but try not to wait until it is too dark or the lights have fused (again!) in craft room.  Have a quick break and onto the next card!

I hope you like this, please feel free to leave a comment.

Hugs to all!

Emma x

More Fairies!!!

Hi Folks!  Hope you are all well out there.  I have two more Fairy cards to show and they will be my last for the year.
So lets get right down to it!  Here are the two cards.  I have mixed things up a bit with using stamps from my stash.  I have used a Papermania Fairy along with a Rubber mounted Christmas Cheer Stamp and the little Robin is from Clarity Stamp for the first card and I used two freebies from a craft mag along with a lovely Frame stamp from Clarity Stamp for the second card.

I stamped the Red Fairy and Heat embossed using Fine Detail Gold Powder onto Theuva Card, then stamped her onto a Post-it Note to make a mask which I covered her with. I placed my own Circle Stencil onto the Card and Stamped the Bauble Garland (which has the words too) in Adirondack Meadow.  I coloured the baubles with a Red Poppy ProMarker and a Gold Gel Pen.

I used a Clarity Stencil Brush and the Meadow ink to dust around the circle and then removed the Stencil.

I began to colour the red fairy using Red Poppy, Blush, Caramel, Fern Green ProMarkers and a little bit of Gold Gel Pen.  Once I was happy with her shading I stamped the Robin into place and coloured him in too with the ProMarkers.

I ran my Gold Gel Pen around the circle (very slowly and carefully...didn't need it to go wrong at this stage).  I then layered and matted the card using double sided tape, Perfect Layers Ruler, Craft Knife.
(I coloured the red backing paper with the Poppy ProMarker.)

For the Gold Fairy I stamped and heat set with detail Gold embossing Powder.  (don't forget to use talcum powder to reduce static) and then I stamped the lovely Frame with the Detail Gold too.

I made a mask for my fairy, put a post-it along one edge of the frame and then stamped in the Christmas tree.  I used a make-up sponge to put in a little bit of shading within the tree and I highlighted bits of it with my gold Gel Pen.

I used Promarkers -Lemon, Blush, Cardinal Red and Marsh Green along with my Gold Gel Pen and a White Pilot pen (for the dots on the Parcel)

I used Cardinal Red, Marsh Green again with my Gold Gel Pen to colour in the Frame.  I put in a bit of shading for the background and gave a bit of a shadow using a Cool Grey 1 Promarker. I then layered the image onto Green Dotty paper from my stash and mounted this onto a Blank Card.  I decided to finish it off by adding a little bit more sparkle by using clear gold edged Peel Offs.

So that's it for the Fairies, fun to do but now I have to get on with making my own Christmas Cards...way behind but will post some soon.   (have one to post in the morning)

Take care all

Big Hugs

Emma x