Chinese Lanterns take three.

Good morning, and how are you today.?

I am still not feeling too well and Mikey kept me up again but never mind, lipstick on and seize the day.

I have walked Tess, need to take Karl to the station, drop some samples off at the publishers and then get my stuff ready for going to Ally Pally tomorrow....packing up the craft bag takes the longest time!!!!

Anyway back to something crafty, now you know the Chinese Lanterns is my favourite Stencil from Clarity.

So we have used ink through it, and glue with gilding flakes. Today we are using the wonderful Perfect Pearls.( and if you are coming to Ally Pally we have a great show offer on...)

Here is the finished card....not easy to photograph though...so please forgive me...

I started with a sheet of the black A5 silk coated ClarityCard, and taped the stencil in place with low tack tape.

Next I used VersaMark in and a small piece of cut'n'dry foam to ink through the stencil.

Take the stencil away and wash it, then start to add the perfect pearls with a paintbrush...oh there are some gorgeous colours.

I find it best if possible to leave the powder for a few moments . Stamp one of the words from the new word chains....I went for Magical.....then add more perfect pearls...

After a few moments , wipe off the excess powder....I do find that a soft handkerchief is best for this....Quilted kitchen roll can be a bit scratchy.....

Be brave...it really will work...

Some matting and layering and some ribbon...

And hey presto, let's have a closer look,

And

I do hope that you like this .

Better get on.....have a good weekend and see you soon

Much love and please be kind to each other.....

Hugs, Jo. X

 

Tuesday already.

Good afternoon all and a warm welcome to our new blog follower...it is so good to have you join us.

This week seems to be racing away, I can't believe that it is Tursday afternoon already...

I seem to have a lovely little cold visiting me this week, oh deep joy!!! But no time to be ill as it is busy, busy, busy here.

I have got lots on magazine work to get done and have been beavering away yesterday and today. Obviously I will have to keep it under wraps...so today I am going to show you a birthday card that I made for my nephew.....and don't worry he doesn't follow my blog, so I am o.k. sharing it with you. His Birthday is at the weekend, he will be eight, so I need to get it in the post.

I have used the beautiful Victorian Nursery Rhyme Alphabet stamp from Clarity and coloured the images with Graph'It markers.

Here is a closer look.

Right better get on, that is my tea break over...

Enjoy your evening , big hugs from me...X

 

Filigraphy Dolphins meet some Shaving Foam....

Good Morning, hope you are all enjoying your Sunday morning. I have been so busy already, Adam had to be collected from the airport....oh I have missed him but he had a great time in America.....

Tess had to be walked etc, so I have only managed to watch half of Barbara's Clarity show on C&C, the rest has been recorded for later when hopefully I can sit down with a brew and enjoy.

A lot of crafters have asked about the shaving foam technique so here is my take on it.....

This is the finished card using the gorgeous new Filigraphy Dolpihin stamps....

This is such a quick and easy way of creating a background, I use one of my storage box lids, some shaving foam, some spray inks (and I mix and match depending on the colours that I want ) a ruler, and a very expensive wooden coffee stirrer.

Spray some shaving foam, and you don't need a lot.

Add some colour...

Make a pattern with the coffee stirrer

Push your card onto the top oh it feels all funny....

Peel your card away

Use a ruler to scrape off the shaving foam

This all goes back into the lid

And hey presto ...this is what you get....and it dries really quickly too.

And if your sprays have Mica in you get a lovely sheen...

You can then add other colours and repeat it all over again...and again...

I stamped the dolphins in Archival ink and used a word from the new word chains set 7.

I stamped the dolphins once more and cut them out so that I could decoupage them.

Some glue gel and job done.

I do hope you like this card and technique and I would love to find out how you have used it...

Better get on....

Enjoy your day...

Much love and hugs.

Jo. X

 

Clarity Cumbria.

Good evening all, hope you have had a good Saturday.

It was our first Clarity Cumbria today and I have had a brilliant day . I have met some lovely new crafters and was so pleased that some of my friends came to support me too....Thanks Lisa, Freda and Jeanette.

I also have to Thank my sister Sheila for finding such a great venue and for her help today..

These are the cards that the ladies made today....

Didn't they do well, and we had cake......

A quick reminder that Barbara is on our screens tomorrow at 9am for two hours of fabulous Clarity Stamping..

Right that is it from me for tonight ....Sheila is cooking Fish Pie and there is a bottle of bubbly in the fridge and Karl is driving me home.....oh ....life is good....enjoy your evening all.

Much love and hugs...Jo. X

 

It's all about Travel.

Good morning and welcome to a new Challenge over at the Fussy and Fancy Friday Challenge Blog.

Our new theme is Travel, I'm so pleased to say that I'm hosting this challenge and really looking forward to seeing all your fabulous creations. Our sponsors for this challenge is Fresh Brewed Designs.

Here is my D.T. inspiration, I do hope that you like it..

This is how it all started, I had been using inks on my Gelli Plate and had been cleaning my Brayer on a piece of copier paper.

It just looked too good to throw away, so I trimmed it.

Then used some Black Archival ink and some Clarity Stamps. The Filigraphy Hot Air Balloon, the Compass from the British Isles set and the ship from the Weather Vane set.

Then using torn paper and Denim Adirondack ink I sponged some sea into place.

Next with Expresso Adirondack ink I created some land and hills.

I then added some colour with Distress Markers. Oh see how it is all coming together .....

Some matting and layering and glue dots ...next for some embellishments..

I have been waiting to use these, the hinge clips and filmstrip both from the Tim Holtz Idea-ology range..

I do love my metal embellishments...

Finishing touches were added using a white gel pen...and I have to say I was really pleased with the result,

Especially as it started out as the waste from using Billy Brayer...

Us crafters, we don't like to throw anything away, do we???

The rest of the design team have made some fantastic projects and I would love you to go and have a look.

Here. http://fussyandfancychallenge.blogspot.co.uk

Even better why not enter the challenge....I would love to see your interpretation...

I had better get on as I have lots still to get ready for tomorrow...The first of our Clarity Cumbria...oh I am so excited....

Have a great day and remember Barbara is on C&C on Sunday..9-11am...yah...

Hugs...Jo. X

 

Workshop with foam....

Good evening all, and welcome to another new follower....oh it is so exciting ....I really love crafting with you all and getting to know you.

Today it was workshop day in Hazel Grove and we had a play with the shaving foam technique and some gorgeous Clarity Stamps,

If you haven't tried this technique it is so quick and easy but gives a great result. Simply spay some shaving foam onto a plastic tray, spritz some Dylusions sprays or Mica sprays onto it, give it a bit of a pattern with a wooden stick....then take a print. Wipe off excess foam with a ruler and hey presto a stunning pattern appears....and it dries really quickly.

We stamped using black Archival ink, look at the shine...

Plus, it smells great too.

Next we did some classic Clarity work with the cloud mask, some torn paper and Adirondack ink pads.

Colour was added with Alcohol markers and the design was finished off with sand,,,yes lovely white decorative sand.

Here is a close up.

Oh to be sat on that Deckchair now....

As usual we had a bit of a giggle, some chocolate biscuits and lots of coffee, the only down side was that our Vicerage was unwell and had to stay at home.......and we had bought her some flowers as she retired last week. ( thanks to Wendy they were delivered)

That's enough from me tonight, time to go and catch up on some TV and cuddles with Tess....I feel a bit tired tonight...and I have another busy weekend ahead...

Enjoy your evening and call back soon.

Hugs, Jo. X

 

Monochrome.

Good morning everyone, and Happy April the first....

Today it is a new challenge over at the Clarity blog Challenge and the new theme is Monochrome....

Here is my take on the theme...

I have used the fantastic Nursery Rhyme Alphabet set of stamps from Clarity, they were designed by Barbara herself many years ago.....I just love them...

I started with a piece of watercolour card and used a piece of masking tape as a guide for the lower edge of my stamping. I stamped the letters using Distress Ink...Faded Jeans...

This is how it looked...I thought the word Clarity was appropriate.

Next I removed the tape, using a paintbrush and some water I dragged some colour from the line art and added some shade underneath the letters.

To add other shades of Blue I put some Peacock feathers Distress ink onto my craft mat and added some water, then finished off the watercolour painting....

I trimmed the card and added some Tumbled glass D.I. around the edges with my lovely Clarity Stencil brush...

I wanted to Matt and Layer my work but it was already A4 size in width so I had the idea to make some larger matts and keep all the joins in the same place...my plan then was to hide the joins with a ribbon....

Rather clever I thought....

A bow, some hat pins and embellishments and my Clarity sign was completed....

Here is a closer look,

I do hope that you like it.

We had some fantastic entries to last months challenge and well done to the winner .....who wins a £50 voucher to spend with Clarity...

I always love to see what everyone creates and my fellow DT members have made some stunning pieces of artwork this time...you can see them all here...

http://claritystampchallenge.blogspot.co.uk

Thanks for looking in today, as always I love to read your comments and I will visit as many blogs as possible today....and no April fools from me...

Enjoy your day and pop back soon,

Hugs

Jo. X