Claritystamp all the way!

Hi Folks!  I hope you are all well on this the 1st of June!!!

Are you ready for the next Claritystamp Challenge Blog?  I hope so!

Up for grabs is a £50.00 Claritystamp Gift Voucher!  

Just think what you could get from all the Claritystamp goodies that are on offer!!

The Challenge this month is number 40 and the theme is

MASCULINE

So get your Claritystamp Goodies out and have a go,

We would love for you to share your artwork with us!

My Design Team Sample for you this month is a little Canvas that I have been working on.

I have used Printable Canvas from my stash to make this landscape for a male friend

 The products that I have used were all From Claritystamp (except the Black Sharpie Pen)

I stamped my row of Deer Stamp onto the Canvas first before using torn copy paper and a makeup sponge to create my hills.  Denim, Nautical Blue were used for the Sky and all the shading. Then adding the Mantle of the tree to the left and the Large Birch Leaf to the right of the Canvas. Adding a bit of secondary stamping for perspective.

 I then stamped the Single Stag from the Woodlands Set in Cobalt Archival.

As it is on a Canvas I had to then go in again with a Distress Marker (chipped sapphire) to fill in all the white bits which of course makes him stand out further too.

Before and After

well, during and before finished drying!

I added foliage to the bottom and around the Stag, with torn copy paper, makeup sponge I added more shading.

I then went around the edge with the Black Sharpie Pen and using Double sided Tape I attached the Canvas to a Piece of A4 White Card which I trimmed  to make a 1 inch border around the design. I did not put the tape all around the edges just in case a different border colour is required

Now it will be passed to my friend for him to put in a frame of his choice!

So now it is up to you!

Pop on over to the Claritystamp Challenge Blog and have a peek at all the other designs from the rest of the Design Team.  They are there for you to take inspiration from.

Wishing you all the best of luck

Happy Crafting

Emma xx

P.S.  Remember there is also the Barbara Gray Calendar Challenge , which you will find on the Challenge Blog for you to enter each month too.  (another £50 Gift Voucher up for grabs)

Groovi Scotland Workshop

Hi Folks!  Just a little update from me regarding the Groovi Parchment Workshops here in Scotland.

(Groovi is a Registered Trademark of Claritystamp Ltd)

The next workshop will be held on Saturday 11th June 2016, 10.30 - 3.30

Giffnock Scout Hall, Arthurlie Dr, Giffnock, G46 6UP

We will be using the above Groovi Plates on the day

combining traditional Parchment Techniques with the Claritystamp Groovi Parchment System

Workshop Cost: £20.00 with a £10.00 deposit required

To book a place on the workshop and for further details contact:

Emma Burns at: groovi.emburns1@gmail.com

Happy Crafting !!

  

A little bit of Groovi for May

Hi Folks!  I hope you are all well and having fun wherever you are and whatever you are doing.  Me? I have had a good start to the month of May.  lots of Parching in my craft room, a surprise visit from my youngest daughter and her partner.  We also had a visit from our other daughter, so it was very lovely to have all my 3 children together.
Now I have to get myself organised for the next Groovi Workshops in Scotland and the next set of TV samples. But in the meantime I thought I would share some samples from the Groovi Show with the lovely talented Maria Simms from Claritystamp. You should check out her work!!!
Maria showcased two new designs of Groovi Plates to compliment the Geisha and Waterhouse Plates that were recently released.  These two new plates were designed by the lovely Tina Cox (isn't it fantastic news that she has joined Claritystamp).

So first up is a simple landscape featuring the new Bamboo and Butterflies Plate.

Also used were the Starter Kit, Double Line Border Plate, Nested Square Plate, Landscape Plate.

Just a quick piece embossed onto Pale Blue Parchment.

This card Features the New Fan Plate. I have added some detail from the Waterhouse Plate and kept it simple with some traditional whitework and Cutwork.

For the next card I used the new Clarity Light Panel with White Card over the Waterhouse Plate.  I embossed the Leaf pattern from the plate and then used Denim Adirondack Ink and a Clarity Stencil Brush to colour the card and Highlight the Leaf Pattern. I stamped With Love from the Happy Words Set.  On Blue Parchment I embossed the smaller part of the fan design in individual pieces, pierced and cut around before arranging them on a corner of the card.  I added some tiny flat backed pearls to the center of the detailing on the fan.

 For this piece I used Pale Green Parchment and embossed the lineart from one of the Wren Plates.
I coloured the bird using Polychromos Pencils and the Leaf Pattern with a Promarker
I then added some detailing to the border using the Square Grid

Also shown on the show was the lovely Geisha Plate.  This piece is simple Gold on White, using Tinta Gold Ink on the Waterhouse, Flowers, Dots on the Dress and on the Corner Design.  The frame is made up of the Ornate Box Framer Plate, a corner design from the Geisha Plate and Double Line Border Plate.  A black Promarker was used along the edge to hide the double sided tape.

This last card is another simple piece using another Wren Plate, Nested Circles and Baby Nested Circles, Nested Squares, Straight Grid and Diagonal Grid.

All Groovi Products can be found following the Orange Groovi link at the top right of this blog!

So that's my offering for the moment.  There is a lot more to come!

There is also lots more goodies to come from Claritystamp 

(they are working their little socks off back at Clarity Towers)

So keep an eye out for news updates....Barbara Gray has a treat in store for all you lovely crafters.

Now I really must get on with organising myself and my Groovi Parchment Workshops, Design Samples.....lots to do.....days disappearing..... or is it just me getting old......don't answer that!!!

Hugs to you all 

Happy Crafting

Emma xx

p.s.   If anyone is interested in joining in with a Groovi Parchment Workshop held in Scotland, then please contact me at:  groovi.emburns1@gmail.com  and I will get back to you with more details. xx

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

Groovi Birdies all the Way

Hi Folks!  Hope you are all well this fine April morning.  I have a fair bit catching up to do as I have been a tad busy of late.
First on my 'to do' list is to post photos of my Claritystamp Design Team Samples that were on Hochanda.tv on Saturday when the lovely Paul Church was doing his thing!  He had a marvellous day at the studio where he began his day demonstrating the Claritystamp Groovi Parchment Embossing Plates, he then went on to two further shows where he was demonstrating the fabulous Claritystamp Stencils and Stamps.  What brilliant and beautiful designs from all the Claritystamp Design Team...very hard to pick a favourite design....I just loved them all.  Unfortunately I had to watch the programmes on Catch-up as I was hosting my first Claritystamp Groovi Parchment Workshop in Scotland.....more about that in the next post!!
So today is just a quick show of the samples I designed for Paul.  I hope you like them.  If you have any questions about the designs or the fabulous Groovi Plates then leave me a comment below and I will get back to you.

The Claritystamp Design Plates that were used to make these samples are the Groovi Starter Kit, Landscape and Trees Plates, the Garden Birds Set and the Magpies Set. Nested Squares, Nested Octagon, Lacy Corners Border Plate and the Straight Grid Plate. Nested Tags and a Baby Groovi Plate.  All the Groovi Plates can be found on the Claritystamp Website.  You can find the link (in Orange) over to the top right of my Blog Page and you can also go to the Artroom where you will find Fabulous Design Samples for not just the Groovi Plates but for the Stamps and Stencils too!  Happy browsing!!

Thank you for popping in and having a look.  

Have a great day and I will be back soon with news of the Groovi Scotland Workshops.

Crafty Hugs 

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

More Groovi Parchment Design Team Samples

Hi Folks!  As I am unable to craft at the moment I thought it was time to get more of my blog posts up to date. So today I have uploaded pictures of my Groovi Design Team samples, made for the last two  Hochanda.tv shows featuring the lovely Maria Simms from Claritystamp Ltd.

Can you work out what plates I have used?

All of the Groovi Design Plates can be found by following the link GROOVI

Well that's me caught up with the samples from Maria's show and I think I have some from Paul Church and  Barbara Gray's shows still to show.
Barbara Gray will be back on our televisions this coming Sunday and Monday.  I hope you will be able to tune in to see her wonderful demonstrations and the beautiful samples from the rest of the Design Team.

Happy Crafting

Hugs 

Emma x