Twas The Night Before Christmas!

Hiya Folks!!  I am a tad late with beginning my blog posts for the month.....sorry.....been a little bit busy.....need to work on my time management skills (or slightly lack off).
I hope you are all doing well out there in craftland......lots of things happening and not all good, so I do wish everybody well!
Last Sunday and Monday had our wonderful Barbara Gray and Paul Church show off the beautiful 'Twas the Night' collection of Groovi Plates on Hochanda.tv.....a marathon of Groovi!
So my first post for you this month of July is to show off my Design Samples using the Groovi Parchment System and the release of the very lovely 'Twas the Night' Groovi Plates.

I used the straight Piercing grid to create a border with the dots adding a fake stitch and colouring it with Red Berry Ink.

Using the Straight Grid to make the border and shades of Blue Faber Castell Pencils to colour the frame and crib.

I have used Tinta Gold Ink to colour the bauble and the first word.  I then used shades of Brown Faber Castell Pencils to colour the frame adding Sakura Clear Star to the front of the frame.  I then cut around the frame with my parchment scissors (no piercing and snipping this time).

I have used promarkers for the Border (they blend wonderfully on parchment), Faber castell Pencils, promarkers for the boy, cat etc Blending them together to get the colours deeper.
I have used Tinta Gold Ink to apply to the corner flourish which is the ribbon from the Bauble plate from this set.

Out again with the Tinta Gold Ink, adding it to the Lettering and Punctuation. Also to the stars.  The reindeer is decoupaged.
I used the Diagonal and Straight Grids to create a border before snipping out with Parchment Scissors.

For this card I made it in two pieces.  I used the Nested Squares Baby Plate to create the frame around Santa, painted the Tinta Gold, Coloured with a Promarker.
I then used the new Green Coloured Parchment to make a frame.
The design was made with the help of the Straight Grid.  At the inner corners I pierced and cut a diagonal line so that the Santa piece could slip underneath creating a photo corner. (see the triangle of dots)

For this card I took another element from the Bauble  to add to the border frame. I used Red Berry Promarker to colour the outer piece and using Dorso Oil I gently blended just so that it would spill over to the inner frame slightly.  Promarkers were used to colour in all the toys and body of the sleigh, with some Tinta Gold to add some bling!   

For this piece I used a Signo Gold Gel Pen to add colour.  I only used one corner of the Universal Framer Plate to make my border.  I used the Typeface Alphabet from the Framer to add in Merry Christmas and highlighted them with the gel pen.  Rudolf was coloured using Faber Castell Pencils with a touch of Gel Pen to his harness.  I then pierced and cut around the inside edge of the moon and Rudolf and the outside edge of the border before mounting onto some very pretty gold coloured vellum from my stash. 

This is my favourite card.  I used the Nested Square Baby Plate around the Fireplace and Verse, created a pierced border before adding a double lined border from the Larger Nested Square Groovi Plate.  I coloured the outside border with Red Berry Promarker and used a combination of Promarkers and Faber Castell Pencils blended together to colour the Fireplace, Santa and cat.  Gold Gel Pen for the mice and candelabra.  

The fireplace and cat is also decoupaged!!  I had to cut up some clear sticky pads into tiny bits for this!  But I did have fun!  

For this Last card I just wanted to highlight the Universal Framer so I kept it as simple as I could.  I began with the Framer then added a Single Square from the Nested Squares.  Added bits of stars from the Star Groovi Plate.  I then added in the sentiment using elements from the Sentiment Border, and new arrival baby plates set. I used Faber Castell Pencils to shade in the swirls channels of the Framer.  I then pierced and cut out some spaces on the Universal Framer.  

This was then cut out with a craft knife, edged in silver gel pen and mounted onto some handmade paper.  I then added a border with silver Peel-offs (mitred at the corners to give a better finish)

You will have probably noticed that I am missing one of the set.....the stockings plate.......my bad......I really thought that I had finished it and sent it off to Barbara......

I had a workshop on Saturday, rested and watched Barbara and Paul on Sunday (and Monday) Went for a walk by the river (was out there all day) and when I came home I decided to get cracking on tidying up my craft room....(bomb had hit it)......found the stocking lineart that I had started, sat between the layers of my coloured parchment......oooops!!

So I shall just have to get it finished.....not sure when as we have Maria Simms coming up on Hochanda very soon and work to be finished for that, then more workshops to organise......all good fun.   

I hope you enjoy looking at my samples.  The designs on these plates were all drawn by the talented and lovely Barbara Gray herself!

If you would like to see the other Design Samples made by the rest of the Design Team (including the new stamps and stencils) then pop on over to Claritystamp and click on Artroom......

You won't be disappointed!!

Why not pop in and see the full collection of Groovi Plates while you are at it!

click on the Orange Groovi banner at the top right of my page and it will take you right there!

Happy Crafting!

Hugs

Emma x

Claritystamp Challenge 39

Hi Folks! Ready for another challenge from Claritystamp?  

Yes it's the 1st May and the new theme is ANYTHING GOES

(as long as it's Clarity)

This Design is made up of three stages to get the finished piece.

The first stage was made using the Groovi Parchment Starter Kit and Square Nested Plate to make my rectangular Frame. Once I had made the frame I then added the butterflies.  Now the larger butterflies are my design but I took the shape for the smaller ones from a combination of the Butterfly Groovi Plate and Clarity Butterfly Stamp.  I used the No.1 ball tool very lightly to emboss from the plates to give me a very fine line and as I added the whitework to them I adjusted them slightly. ( I stamped various butterflies onto copy paper and picked out the bits I wanted to use by tracing over the designs with my scriber VERY gently. I then added white dots around all the butterflies using one of the first Border plates using the 'in-line' technique.

I added the background using the Sprig Groovi Plate....this is one of my favourite plates, I use it quite a lot....did you know that the design tessellates? A Fabulous Groovi Plate.  I used a combination of Promarkers and Polychromos Pencils for colouring.  

I pierced on the line around the butterflies using a two needle tool. I also played around with the grids to pierce a few designs on a couple of butterflies.  the piercing on the largest is done freehand.  You can see from the picture how I have used the Grid Plate to add the dots to the butterfly and then colouring in from the back. 

I pierced around the Frame and cut away the excess parchment to give a picot edge.  I then cut around all the butterfly wings so that they can be raised.

Stage two shows how I made a hinge with tape onto another piece of parchment so I could match the Frame size and get the Sprig Design in the exact same position for the backing piece as it is on the Front piece.  I coloured the frame with  Promarkers.  I love the way I can get seamless shading with promarkers, especially on larger areas.  No lines or blotches and they work great in combination with Blendable pencils.

Third stage was to cut a piece of Grey board to mount the design onto.  I used a mount board cutter for this (thank you again Carrie for my Present.....see, I do use it!)  I applied Mod Podge to the Grey Board and then covered the front with 12 x 12 Burgundy card.  I trimmed the corners, folded the excess over the back and once again applied Mod Podge to keep the card in place.  I then cut another Piece of Burgundy card to fit the back which again was coated in Mod Podge.
Despite how tidy and prepared I was, I managed to get a sticky bit of Mod Podge on the front so this meant that I would have to disguise it.  Solution...give the whole thing a further coat of Mod Podge.  It gives a great sheen to the piece...it was looking a bit flat before.

Once it was all dry I attached the framed sprig piece to the centre using Large Double Sided Red Tape.

Now to attach the Front piece of the design I simply used my Pergamano Glue behind the bodies of all the butterflies and using a cocktail stick I applied glue to the inner part of the frame, laid the top piece directly over the piece already mounted.  I then laid several layers of copy paper over the top and used my hand to apply pressure.   I left it for an hour (I know Perga Glue dries quick but I wasn't tempting fate) before going back to then begin lifting the wings up.

See how the sprig design matches
and the reason for the dots around the butterflies......
I made a card similar to this years ago and the cut edge wasn't very neat (not the picot)
so this time I decided to add the dots knowing they would give a better finish to the edges.

So this is my design sample for the challenge, I do hope you like it..
I also hope that you will enter the Challenge
First Prize is a £50 gift voucher for Claritystamp Ltd
(not to be sneezed at!!)
The winner is chosen at random
The top 5 favourites are chosen by the Design Team.

So go on, give it a go.  It's a great chance to showcase your work!!
You never know where it will lead!!!

To see all the Design Team Samples click on the following link....I am sure you will be delighted.
http://claritystampchallenge.blogspot.co.uk/

And remember there is also the fabulous Calendar Challenge from Barbara Gray too.

Happy Crafting
And Good luck

Emma xx

April Challenge

Hi Folks!  I hope you are all well and ready for the next Claritystamp Challenge!

This month's theme is 

MASKING!

My Design Sample for this challenge

Now this piece started out a little bit different from the finished result as you will see from the pictures that follow.  

As I mentioned, the theme is MASKING and I certainly did a bit of that!  I made use of a Clarity Square Stencil for centering my image and I used the innie part of it to cover the central area.  I used the Mask of the Large Postage Stamp underneath to keep this area clear as I had an idea rolling about in my head!

I coloured the outer background of my piece using Adirondack Ink: Caramel and  Cranberry. Applying the inks to the card with a couple of Smoothies, dabbing and rolling, overlapping and using the ink till it was no more!!.  I then spritzed  water onto my fingers and let it drip onto my work, left it for a few seconds and dabbed it dry with a clean kitchen roll.

I then replaced the Square Stencil and using the Caramel Ink I shaded in between the stencil and Stamp Mask.  After removing the Stamp Mask I stamped the owl (Black Archival) into the center and MASKED him (I love that Barbara had Masks made for her stamps) so that I could create a background for my owl. (more caramel and Torn Copy Paper for hills along with Low Tack Masking Tape to protect the outer background)

My owl was coloured using a selection of reds and orangey brown Spectrum Noir Pencils and I finished him off with a Henna ProMarker over his head, wings and body.  A quick polish with kitchen roll and he comes up a treat!  Just  pity the light was too bad to show the shine.

Now at this point I had definitely decided that I had taken a wrong turn with the colour choice for the center frame.  I originally wanted the card to look as though I had framed a stamp of an owl and then mount the piece on a canvas.  But it just wasn't working out for me!  But ever the resourceful crafter, I changed the central frame with the help of a black fineliner, ruler and a Black Sharpie!  

Then of course the central background was too pale for me so I had to play around with that. Low Tack Masking Tape around the center frame, a few Leaves and some foliage, more green (Pesto Adirondack) to the hills and of course blue to the sky. (Stonewashed Adirondack)  I used a damp paint brush to pick up some green ink from ink pad to colour the foliage.  Out came the black Sharpie and Ruler to add a Line around the whole piece.  Then using Strong Double Sided Tape I attached it to an 8 x 8 Card Blank.

Much happier with this!

So now it is up to you to get your thinking caps on and your MASKING Techniques on the go.

As usual you will find the RULES of the Challenge on the Claritystamp Challenge Website (they are very simple).  I look forward to seeing all your lovely creations and wish all who take part the very best of luck.

Happy Crafting!

Hugs

Emma x

All Stamps, Stencils and Masks used to make this card can be sourced from Claritystamp Ltd

To enter the Clarity Challenge, to see the Rules and of course to see the wonderful samples from the rest of the ladies on the design team click here: CHALLENGE 38 Masking

All about the Girls!!!

Hi Folks!!  I am Back!!  Not quite a hundred percent but very happy to be back crafting!
Today is the start of the month of March and that means the start of the new challenge at Claritystamp which is:

ALL ABOUT THE GIRLS!

My Design Sample for this month is a Parchment Piece using the lovely Groovi Plates.  You can use ANY Claritystamp product to take part in the challenge.

Instead of a card I decided to make a piece to put up on the wall of my craft room.  Before I give you the details on what was used, I have to apologise for the not so great photos....still got a bit of the shakes with my right arm!  Click on the photos to see them enlarged.

I have for the moment mounted the A4 Parchment onto White card.  I have yet to choose a frame to put it in as I have a few to choose from.

I began by making a frame on the parchment using the Nested Square Groovi Plate and the Double Straight Line on the Border Plate.  Then using Torn Copy Paper, Stencil Brushes and Memento Inks I blended them together to create the hilly background on the BACK of the parchment. I used Summer Sky Memento Ink funnily enough...for the sky!

Next step after this was to smooch my parchment again with a tumble dryer sheet and add the corner embellishment of my design using the Art Deco Border.  These were coloured using ProMarkers

I then added my four ladies and then a couple of Trees. I did a bit of White Work before colouring on the back with ProMarkers.  You cannot see it very well but I uses a Blush ProMarker for all the flesh

After adding the ladies and Trees I then added some foliage, stamping Wee Flowers with Memento Olive Green Ink.  You have to either blot this ink or leave it to dry for a bit if stamping on parchment.

I used ProMarkers- Forest Moss and Moss on the tree canopy, blending them together to get the shade I wanted and I used ProMarker- Holly for the leaves....I used a piece of Kitchen Roll for blotting the leaves as I didn't want them to be too dark.

I then used an AquaMarker- Lamp Black between the double white line border of the piece before mounting it onto white card.  to mount I have used slivers of invisible tape at each corner and along the middle of the edges.  I also added tiny spots of Perga Glue to the corners......be careful not to use too much (I use an OLD stylus) especially if working with non permanent inks as this will make the ink bleed.  I once added extra glue to a piece that I had worked on for ages, I was very proud of it....that is until I added the glue....I had forgotten that I had used a water soluble ink to create a background on the mounting card...result was the ink bled and the piece looked like I had spilled water on it!  Ruining the piece completely!  Not a happy bunny!!! 

So there you have it, A very simple pastel piece of Parchment Work using the Groovi Plates (Winner of Best New Product 2016).  I hope you like it and that it will encourage you to take part in this months challenge. To join in with a chance of winning a £50 Claritystamp Ltd Gift Voucher, simply follow the RULES, make your entry, photograph it (detail of what you have used and how you made it would be lovely too), then EMAIL or BLOG it using the Froggy link on the challenge blog. 

Rules:    http://claritystampchallenge.blogspot.co.uk/p/the-rules.html

Email:   Claritystampchallenge@hotmail.com    

Blog:     http://claritystampchallenge.blogspot.co.uk/

A full list of all the Groovi Products can be found at: http://www.claritystamp.co.uk/Groovi

A full list of all the Clarity stamps  can be found at:  http://www.claritystamp.co.uk/Clear-Stamps

a full list of all the Clarity Stencils can be found at:  http://www.claritystamp.co.uk/Stencils

So here's wishing you the best of luck and I look forward to seeing all your wonderful creations.

Happy Crafting!

Hugs

Emma x

P.S.   Remember there is a second challenge now!  Barbara Gray invites you to take part in her MONTHLY CALENDAR challenge.  For each month you follow Barbara's Step by Step instructions to create the beautiful design on the calendar.  Barbara Gray will choose the Winner herself and give a £50 gift voucher for the winning entry.  

The email address to enter is the same as the challenge above, and the Calendar Challenge No 3 can be found at the above Blog address or you can link to the challenge blog through Barbara's Blog too.

http://barbaragrayblog.blogspot.co.uk/.  Best of luck to all who enter. x

Groovi Samples Quiz

Hi Folks!  Well what do you know, I have some blog posts that I never got around to posting.  Silly me!  I came on here to do a tutorial of a parchment box that was shown on Wednesday this week on Hochanda tv.com.  It was for the Groovi Show with Maria Simms.  But then I noticed that I had a few draft posts! As I will not be doing any crafting today I thought I had better get around to getting that sorted out first!

Now I had a little quiz going with a lovely friend on FB as to what plates were used to make a particular sample.  So I thought that I would continue it here.  (sorry Lisa P....you have to choose a different card lol) If anyone can list the plates used to make a particular card (just pick one), then leave the list in the comment box below,  I will pick a winner at random and the prize will be a copy of the particular card that they chose to comment on.   I shall announce the winner on the 20th January and make arrangements to post out the prize.  I will then do another Groovi Quiz for the next set of samples.

First up are my design Samples for  the Barbara Gray show, which was aired on the 3rd January 2016
(I do have older shows to post on...ooops!)

If you click on any of the pictures they will enlarge for you to get a better look.

.

 I hope you like my samples and that you join in with my little quiz.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Until then

Happy Crafting!

Hugs

Emma xx

Claritystamp Challenge #33 Clean and Simple

OMG  Its November!!!  Time for another challenge over at Claritystamp while I wonder where on earth this year has gone!!

Challenge 33

Clean and Simple

For my Design Team Sample I have gone for a very simple card using a couple of techniques that I love doing.  They are so effective and very easy to do. 

So first things first.  Ingredients.

I used Clarity Black Coated Card, Dusted with Talcum Powder  

I used a bit too much!

Stamped the Wallflower with Versamark

 It really does help if you blot the stamp first before plotting!

Then with a soft brush I dabbed various Mica Powders over the image

Brush off the excess

(I brush mine into a container as I can use it for another project even though it will all be mixed up)

This is what you get after clearing all the mess away

(soft folded tissue for that job)

At this stage I decided to add a sentiment so I simply repeated the process

The next part was to make a border. As you can see from the picture above I went with 

Variegated Copper Gilding Flakes and Red Double Sided Tape.

Add Tape to the edge of the Black Card.  Pull off the Red Backing and Add Gilding Flakes

(use a bit of folded tissue to hold card in the middle to stop fingermarks while doing this bit)

Use a scoochy sponge to  press the Flakes onto the tape and smooth out.  Try not to go onto the card with the smoocher as you don't want to mark the card. 

Below is the card before I mounted it onto a larger Piece of Black Coated Card (A5)

I love how the Gilding Flakes pick up the colours of the Mica Powders

So now over to you!

We would love to see your entries up on the Challenge!

email entries to claritystampchallenge@hotmail.com

or from your Blog if you have one.

There is a £50 Claritystamp gift voucher for the winner

Only Claritystamp Stencils and Stamps (or Groovi Plates) can be used to create your images

Best of luck in the challenge to you all.

Happy Crafting!

Hugs

Emma x