Wedding Card

Wedding Card

Materials:-

• Crafters' Companion - Pearlescent card, Neenah Solar White, Silver Mirror Card
• Tonic Dies - Love Life, circle
• Tattered Lace Stepper die
• Clarity Stamps - Wee Folk, Fuchsias, Wedding words
• Distress Ink Pads - Stormy Sky, Squeezed Lemonade, Encore Silver, Versamark, Versafine Onyx Black
• Hunkydory Snowfall acetate

Hi again, another post from Shelagh-land - twice in one week well, I have been a bit more productive - not so much in 'making' - but remembering to take photos! 

I have had a number of dies and new Clarity stamps resting in my craft room for a bit and when asked to make a wedding card at short notice, I decided it was a good time to play productively.

A Tonic die was used to cut out the aperture for the box lid and also for the card frame from white pearlescent card, the latter also in silver card. Waste heart cut outs were used to decorate the box, along with Clarity Stamps small fuchsias. 

Snowfall acetate was added to the back of the aperture as this reminded me of confetti.

The stepper was cut using Tattered Lace stepper die - gosh, how easy this makes steppers and all the layering, a big change from all the measuring I usually do for my signature card. 

The central circle was cut using a plain die on Neenah Solar White before the 'couple' from one of the latest Clarity Wee Folk' sets was stamped using Versafine Onyx Black and clear detail embossed.

On this, Stormy Sky was brushed over torn paper and moon mask to create a landscape then Squeezed Lemonade added sparingly.

Once the layers were added onto the stepper, more Clarity small fuchsias were stamped, embossed and added, along with two Clarity butterflies.

May I say what a joy it has been to put together something that reflects my favourite techniques - die-cutting, stamping, stepper cards. I have a few more things to do over the next few weeks and hope to share the outcomes with you, successful or otherwise. This is the lead up to one of my busiest times outwith you-know-what! what with anniversaries, birthday cards for four generations and having to think up at least four variations for each occasion as I make all the family cards. I may even resort to a few quick makes - and why not!

Please come back and watch this space! You are more than welcome anytime. Meantime, back to the down-sizing of my craft room - not really - only disposing of some or many of the items I have 'outgrown.'
My mum's reaction to this - 'You'll only buy some more to fill in the spaces.' Never a truer word!

Enjoy the weekend!

Shelagh.

Clarity Challenge 28 Boys, Boys, Boys

Clarity Challenge 28

 June 2015

Boys, Boys, Boys

Singing and Dancing in the Rain

Hello there and welcome again to Shelagh-land and thank you for taking the time to read my rambles and this month I do tend to, so be warned!

Here we are in what is supposed to be 'Flaming June' and in a few weeks we will have the longest day of the year. However as I write this it is flaming raining, I've already suffered a drenching three times this week, or 'drookit' as is how I described it to my mum but oh so appropriate for my Clarity Challenge submission 'Singing and Dancing in the Rain.'

However, if I may, I'm going to take you on my journey in completing my canvas as it is not at all as I planned. IT was a card!

Early on I had an idea using some stamps from the 'Sunny Shades' set, augmented with a few others. I was going to be out of the country for most of the planning and prepping time so off I went an extra suitcase in hand, filled a selection of crafty necessities - stamps, stencils, ink pads, pens, pencils, a shield-shaped die (big clue) and the rest.

Over a few weeks I managed to make both 'innie and outie' stencils in my make-shift craft room along with two types of texture paste - it's amazing what you can concoct with bicarb, PVA, Gesso and talc - and set to work experimenting.

I also continued to read Barbara's daily blog and this was where my great idea ended as I'd chosen the theme 'Route 66.' Ah well, the best laid schemes!

Now to my alternative:-

I must say it took over a week to come up with an idea as I kept thinking of things then rejecting them.

This canvas stemmed from a number of different paste products I found which contain different elements, it's just a pity that the glisten and gleam are not replicated in the photos.

Materials:-

·         Background: - Canvas, Theuva Clarity Card

·         White Gesso

·         Fresco Finish Paints – Little Black Dress, Baltic Blue, Southern Skies, Jade, Caribbean Sea, Honey Dew,

·         Stencil – Double Bubble – 9insx11ins

·         Texture Paste: - Windsor and Newton Black Lava Texture Paste, Glass Bead Paste, Iridescent Medium

·         Stamps: - Balloon (as seen on TV), Jazz Man, Umbrella from Remountable Clarity Characters Set, Word Chains

·         Tissue Paper

·         Inkpads: - Archival Black, Versamark Onyx Black

·         Spectrum Noir pencils – white, grey

·         Distress Marker – Broken China

·         Black Micron pen

·         Martha Stewart Glitter: - Blue, Silver

·         Mod Podge - Gloss

Method: -

1.       The canvas was coated with gesso and smoothed out with an old store card then left to dry. The large ‘Double Bubble’ stencil was placed over the top right hand corner and glass bead medium spread through with a palette knife. The stencil was washed to remove any paste residue and dried. The stencil was then placed on the lower left hand corner where the lava paste was spread over with the palette knife.

2.       At this point the canvas was left to dry overnight.

3.       Using Fresco Finish, I coated the textured canvas completely with Honey Dew, the blues were added from top right hand corner and blended diagonally, whist the Little Black Dress was added sparingly to lower left and blended upwards to blue area. Paint was removed using baby wipes to create light and shade. I also blobbed on some hand sanitizer gel to  areas between textured bubbles which also removed some paint.

4.       When dry, Iridescent Medium was added to the textured areas. At this point, I kept adding more glass bead medium over as the stencilled areas were too flat and also to areas in-between. I 'puddled' the areas with my fingers to create an uneven texture.

5.       The Jazz Man, Umbrella and two balloon images were stamped onto tissue paper using Onyx Black and then heat -set. (I tried Staz-On and Archival but the results were too patchy.) I cut out all images and coloured over the white areas on the reverse of the Jazz Man with Spectrum Noir White pencil. I also cut away the walking stick from the Jazz Man.  Two balloon strings were placed and glued on with Mod Podge before the Jazz Man and umbrella were added.

6.       I stamped the words using a compilation from Word Chains and Archival Black onto Theuva Card, scribbled lines to form borders, then coloured them using a Distress Marker Spritzer and Broken China marker. These were then Mod Podged onto the canvas.

7.       I added highlights and shading to various areas along with glitter and blue micro beads.

8.       I applied some Little Black Dress around the edges and in particular to both left hand corners but removed some with baby wipes.

 Saturday 30th May

I'm not happy with the overall appearance as my canvas needs a backing and the large card I have is too flimsy so please bear with me as I have a play in my 'alchemy' corner of the kitchen, I do have an idea. Whilst down at my mum's this week, I picked up a set of stretched canvasses so here goes.

I painted both sides with black gesso then a coat of matte Mod Podge before applying embossing paste through the Clarity Treescape stencil, having first masked off the trees.

This was then gilded first with silver gilding wax then with a number of other colours. I did NOT like it!

Sunday 31st May

Things are getting critical!

I slept on the idea but it still was not to my liking. 

However, I did like the sheen I'd achieved on the extreme border so this was masked off all round then white gesso applied several times followed by Fresco Snowflake. Once dry, another area was masked off all round to create a white border before iridescent paste mixed with Fresco Little Black Dress was applied using a spatula.

Masking tapes peeled off, canvas attached to the centre using gel medium . . . . . . .

Et voila!

My first big canvas!

This month's Clarity Challenge is 'Boys, Boys, Boys' and  I very much look forward to viewing all your submissions. Barbara's ingenuity never ceases to amaze me and this has encouraged me to look at Clarity products in other ways and judging by your clever and inventive monthly submissions you too also seek to stretch those boundaries.

 Once again, thanks for visiting, Should you have any questions or queries, please do not hesitate to get in touch and I'll do my best to answer them.

Shelagh.

Clarity Challenge 27 Clocks

Clarity Challenge April 2015 - Clocks

Rock Around the Clock

Hi from Shelagh-land again. Cannot believe it's time for the next Clarity challenge.Where have the first four months of this year gone? I do recall someone saying time passes so much more quickly when we are 'older' but I'm not THAT old YET! Pondered long and hard over this challenge, tried a few different things but kept coming back to the clock. In the end, the idea would not disappear and  I doggedly persevered. This was yet another departure for me as I was using Fresco Finish (now available from Clarity) and Spectrum Aqua pens. The clock was a reduced item I spotted and purchased from a local supermarket as I thought it had potential.
Many apologies for the lack of step-by-step photos this time but I had revised my write-up and added more when the server refused to play and I lost the lot. So, I'm afraid it's chalk and talk this month!

Materials:-

·         Wooden Heart Clock:- purchased from a supermarket for a couple of pounds

·         Gesso:- Pebeo White

·         Fresco Finish Acrylics:- Sherbet Opaque, Claret Translucent, Honey Dew, Crackle Glaze

·         Clarity Stencils:- Elegant Ladies

·         Grunge Paste

·         Clarity Stamps:-Remountable Music Clear Stamp Set, Remountable Birdsong Set

·         Ink Pads:- Ranger -Archival Black, Distress Inks – Old Paper, Black Soot

·         Spectrum Aqua Pens

·         2B pencil, eraser, paper stump

·          Black, white card (Clarity)

·         Cut’n’Dry sponge

Instructions:-

1.       Firstly I removed the ribbon from which the clock is suspended (I'm not a fan of ribbon on household items.) then taped over the hands with masking tape.

2.       White gesso was applied to front, back and sides mainly to cover the painted message on the front of the clock (for the life of me I cannot recall what it said, obviously meaningful!) – and also to cover the unreal colour of the wood as it was a grey/green/ yellow shade.

3.       This was where I made a bit of a mistake.  I painted the base of the clock in Sherbet; dried it; added Crackle Glaze then sponged on areas of Claret.  When it was dry, it was too sugary-pink. Back to the drawing board – or alchemy corner of the kitchen as Mike my husband calls it.

4.       I drew around the clock onto some canvas paper to create what I call mock-ups. I painted one of these with Sherbet and Crackle Glaze, allowed this to dry then sponged on Honey Dew. This created a much more eye-friendly cooler tone; I repeated this on the clock-face and the desired cracks reappeared. Phew!

5.       Old Paper and Black Soot Distress inks were gently blended onto the clock face and some areas removed using  baby wipes.

6.        I decided where I wished the right-hand figure to be placed, taped on the stencil and smoothed Grunge Paste through this. The clean, dry stencil was flipped over and placed at the other side of the clock and Grunge Paste dragged through again.

7.       Once the figures were dry, I sanded them gently before adding colour. Spectrum Aqua colours were scribbled onto a palette - Peach for skin, Yellow for hair, Slate for shirt and Scarlet for trousers and picked up using a fine, wet paintbrush, intensifying the colours in areas of shade. (I tried using the pens 'neat' on a 'mock up'  but could not achieve the intensity of colour to create shade, hence resorted to diluted colours. NOT the pens fault, I hasten to add, but mine.) 

8.       Three records were die-cut from black Clarity card and added to top, middle and foot of clock. The records at 6 and 12 o’clock were stuck to the clock by using a sheet of Clarity double sided sticky film. The middle record was slit from centre to outside, Glossy Accents applied to flip side and smoothed down around the hands.

9.       With black Archival, I stamped the musical staves from the Musical Birdsong to waft out from each record, two Treble Clefs, a number of notes and the single note repeatedly around the edge – all from the Remountable Music set.

10.   Armed with a 2B pencil and an eraser, I gently shaded around the figures, notes and records. (It took me two evenings to create the depth of shadow I wanted.)
12. The clock hands were coloured using a dark red alcohol marker.

11.   In my craft stash, I found tiny red seed and larger black glass beads. With a length of fine silver wire, I created a hanger for the clock, threaded it through the hole at either side, through the first black bead on either side, tied it off and clock complete!

Et maintenant, we have ‘Rock Around the Clock!’ 

Thank you for looking in and remember to have a go at the new Clarity Challenge, number 27. Each month I look forward to viewing the marvellous creative masterpieces you produce and I'm always quite blown away by the amount of talent you all display.
Bye for now,
Shelagh.

Clarity Challenge 26 April 2015

Wee Folk

Hello from Shelagh-land! Cannot believe it's April already, daylight longer and warmer weather should be showing its face soon to match all the beautiful blooms in the garden, not to mention all the little nesting birds. I was lucky enough to see my elusive wren this afternoon - I've been spending too much time upstairs in my craft room and the change in the great outdoors has eluded me. 

This month's challenge is the lovely little 'Wee Folk' stamps. I tried a number of things including canvasses and different scenes before settling on my finished project. It seems to help me to use a quote or similar to send me on my creative way. Please enjoy my step-by-step which I've have photographed using Spun Sugar and Stormy Sky and not Squeezed Lemonade, Stormy Sky, Salty Ocean, Cracked Pistachio and Shabby Shutters as in the completed example.

Materials:-

·         Cardstock:- Clarity Gelli Plate 7x7, black, silver mirri, Clarity Gelli Plate 8.5x11, Turquoise mirri

·         Stamps:- Clarity – Wee Folk Sets 3,4; Diamond Carriage; NDC Bubbles; Remountable Artist Clear Stamp

·         Stencils:- Clarity – Umbrellas

·         Inkpads:- Ranger Distress Squeezed Lemonade, Stormy Sky, Cracked Pistachio, Salty Ocean, Shabby Shutters; Archival Black; Versafine Onyx Black

·         Embossing Powder:- WOW Clear Hologram Sparkle

·         Micron Pen

·         Acetate

Instructions:-

·         Tape the Umbrellas stencil to a piece of 7x7 Gelli Plate card. Brush (Clarity Brushes) or blend       (Ranger mini blenders) selected Distress Ink from bottom right hand corner across to top left,         continue until desired intensity of colour is achieved.

·         Place moon mask to suit. Gradually introduce second Distress Ink and work from below centre diagonal, sweeping colour upwards. Remove stencil and continue brushing Spun Sugar until complete 7x7card is gently coloured.

·         Apply masking tape around all four sides to continue with the border created by the stencil.

·         Sweep a good covering of baby powder over entire card.

·         Ink up the elf stamp with Archival ink and stamp image in the lower middle of stenciled card; ink again and stamp towards bottom right of stenciled card. On a post-it note stamp elf image and cut out two masks.

·         Mask elf; ink carriage with Onyx Black and stamp to left of elf. Heat emboss using clear hologram sparkle. Stamp carriage onto a post-it and cut out; place over carriage image and with black Archival, stamp fairy through window. (Ensure the foot of carriage is masked with another post-it – the fairy has long legs!!!)

 

·    Stamp the fairy (same one as in the carriage) opposite with black Archival, masking off from just below her lower hand, to leave her torso.

·         Cover the larger ginkgo leaf with masking tape, then place the NDC Ginkgo stencil over the fairy torso to form a skirt. Tape down then apply chosen Distress inks to suit. Remove stencil. 

Outline the ‘skirt folds’ with a Micron pen. Blend in some more colour to achieve desired results.

·         Remove moon mask and right side masking tape. Stamp left-facing fairy at the top right corner.     Replace moon mask then stamp stars to form a pathway to the carriage.

·         Stamp (Black Archival) toadstool from the fairy set at the bottom left-hand corner; stamp again on a post-it and cut out two masks. Mask toadstool and stamp image again, slightly off-page (masking tape is still in place so it’s ok to do this); mask this image and stamp again. Remove masks.

·         Stamp seated fairy on one of the toadstool caps.

·         Create sentiment on computer and print. Place Umbrellas stencil over and ink as before. Using side and edge from the Artist’s Set, create a scroll. Trim and adhere to top left.

·         Apply Quickie glue pen to elves and fairies wings. Repeat on stars and diamond on carriage.

·         Scribble a border around card and mount onto black then silver mirri.

·         Cut white card to 21x21cm. Using Cracked Pistachio, stamp the top scroll from the carriage around the edge. (Stamp each corner, then middle which leaves enough room for another image in-between.) Trim a sliver from each edge and mount onto 21x21cm turquoise mirri.

·         Mount card onto this.

NB (I added a trimmed sheet of acetate as an overlay to create an illusion of depth.)

Et Voila – Cinderella shall go to the ball!

Stamps, white card, stencils and ink pads can all be purchased from Clarity Stamps. The turquoise and silver mirri along with black card and acetate all came from my stash.

Thank you for taking the time to visit my blog. I would love to see where your 'Elves and Fairies' crafting takes you, so please think about entering your project into this month's Clarity challenge.

Hope to see you returning soon.

For now, cheerio!

Shelagh.

Memory Book

Memory Book 

Hi, Shelagh here again. 

The memory book is a variation of my exhibit for the Clarity Challenge Design Team for March, I thought I'd try the New Design Club 'Tree of Life' as it reminds me of a banyan tree - still on the tropical theme. (The filigree leaves are parts of deconstructed earrings - I'm always on the lookout for such items when supermarkets have price reductions.)

Materials:-

• Canvas x 2
• Black Gesso
• Kraft cards DL, Gold Mirri Card, white card, Clarity black coated card
• Stencil - Clarity Tree of Life (New Design Club 3)
• Grunge Paste
• Stamps - Clarity Palm Leaf, Letterbox 
• Inkpads - Versamark - Dazzle, Versafine Onyx Black; Ranger Distress Peacock Feathers, Mowed Lawn, Salty Ocean
• Gold detail embossing powder
• Micron pen
• Mod Podge

Instructions:-

Canvas (Covers)

1. Paint the canvas on both sides with black gesso. 
2. Mask off the root portion of the stencil to only reveal the tree. Tape stencil over dry canvas and apply grunge paste.
3. Once dry, paint with more black gesso. When dry, apply gold gilding wax. (I added some silver gilding (a misnomer!!) wax to tone down the gold. (You can see from my photo there is some grunge residue near the foot of the canvas; I was going to sand it away but decided to leave it to add some interest.)
   
4. Front and back of canvas were painted with Mod Podge.

Pages:-

1. The pages were made by cutting down Papermania DL Kraft cards, punching tabs from scraps, adding black panels to front and back and mirri board panels to inside pages.
2. Clarity NDC palm leaf was stamped over white card to fill panel using Dazzle then heat embossed with gold detail powder. A mix of Peacock Feathers, Mowed Lawn and Salty Ocean were blended over each panel then edged with a black alcohol marker and mounted onto gold mirri. (I made two extra panels which were then cut down and edged with black as before to provide the mounts for the front page labels.)
3. Pockets were made from scrap Kraft card and outlined with faux stitching using a micron pen.

     

     

     

  

   

   

I made a variety of pockets and a number appropriate labels, the latter using the Clarity Letterbox. 

I can't believe how little time this took to assemble compared to my first book, perhaps because I knew the path to follow!

Thank you for dropping in and hope to see you visiting my blog again.

Any queries and I'd be delighted to help.

Bye for now,

Shelagh  ;~}

Anything But A Card

Shelagh Metselaar

Clarity Stamps Challenge 25 – Anything But a Card

A Passage Through India

Hi, Shelagh here.

My project for this month’s Clarity Challenge ‘Anything But a Card’ was only ever going one way although I have an alternative should time run out - but thankfully not! My friend from Brunei days - we first met over 35 years ago – has a birthday pending and is spending it visiting India. My idea - a Memory Book in which she can scrapbook her journey. The project has taken a few weeks to put together and as ever, my planning followed the old teaching path starting with:- a) what ? b) where ? c) how?

I selected a canvas - I wanted to trial some new techniques (for me) – and the rest took trial, error and plenty of mistakes and patience. (I'm sorry I don't have step-by-step this month but there is a photo for each 'chapter.')
(The tags and butterflies are purely to add interest and to hide the rings.)

Materials:-

·         Clarity Stamps:- Palm Leaf, Remountable Parakeets, Letterbox, Hot Air Balloon – medium and small; caravan, bird, small palm tree from Summer Shades Set, Speech Bubbles, Remountable Cheese Plant, Wild Flower Corner, Toucans, NDC Pocket, Ornate Church

·         Clarity Stencils:- Seed Heads

·         Cardstock:- Clarity- Theuva, Black Coated; Kraft card-card blanks

·         Canvas x 2

·         Pebeo:- Black Gesso, Gilding Wax - gold

·         Inkpads:-Distress Inks – variety; Versamark, Versafine Black Onyx

·         Embossing Powder – Gold Detail, Clear Detail

·         Grunge Paste

·         Mod Podge

I went ahead happily stamping, masking, blending until all areas chosen were covered. I used Kraft cards cut down to size for the pages and scrap pieces to create the tabs. The panels were stamped on Theuva card and mounted on Clarity Black Coated card. Pockets, frames, books were made as retainers for travel memorabilia.

Notes & Quotes 1

Stamps - Parakeets, Speech Bubbles from Remountable Elegant Ladies, Letterbox

Inkpads - Spiced Marmalade, Picked Raspberries, Seedless Preserves, Squeezed Lemonade

Notes & Quotes 2

Stamps - Palm Leaf

Inkpads - Mowed Lawn, Peacock Feathers, Salty Ocean

Notes & Quotes 2

This is a little notebook to record memorable conversations and quotes from the trip.

I cut some printable vellum, rounded the corners and made a note book with a pocket inside each of the back covers. The pages were stitched together, something I learnt to do at a SCEA summer school in Germany over 30 years ago and a technique I have had little opportunity to use since.

Notes & Quotes 3

Travel 1

Stamps - Small and Medium Hot Air Balloons, Remountable Christmas Banners (one of the blank ones)

Inkpads - Weathered Wood, Squeezed Lemonade, Mowed Lawn

Travel 2

These pockets are for ticket stubs and travel bits and pieces.

Accommodation 1

Stamps - Caravan from Summer Shades Set

Inkpads - Iced Spruce, Salty Ocean, Mowed Lawn, Squeezed Lemonade

Accommodation 2

These corners are doubled up to contain accommodation memorabilia.

Stamps - Wild Flower Corner

Inkpads - Picked Berries, Spiced Marmalade, Mowed Lawn, 

Distress Markers

Flora & Fauna 1

Stamps - Toucan, Cheese Plant

Inkpads - Weathered Wood, Mowed Lawn

Spectrum Noir Pens

Flora & Fauna 2

These little frames are for photographs.

Sights & Sounds 1

Stamps - Ornate Church, Small Palm Tree from Summer Shades

Inkpads - Squeezed Lemonade, Mowed Lawn,Pine Needles, Weathered Wood

As I don't have the Taj Mahal stamp and  wished to create a type of high edifice, I masked off part of the Ornate Church to create the towers.

                                                                  Sights & Sounds 2

These little pockets have extra room for USB sticks etc.

Stamps - NDC Pocket, Palm Tree as before, bird from Summer Shades

Inkpads - Spiced Marmalade

Front and back boards:-

Each canvas ‘Grunge Pasted’ over the ‘seed-head’ stencil. Once dry, black gesso was applied over all; and once this was dry, applied to the other side. Gilding wax was applied over the grunged area of each canvas, particularly around the edges. A Cropodile Big Bite was used to punch holes for the ring connectors.
                                                                      Outside Covers

Stencil, Grunge Paste, Black Gesso, Gilding Wax, Mod Podge

Inside Covers

Stencil, Black Gesso, Gilding Wax, Mod Podge

The seed-head stencil was then placed over this flat side of the canvas - front and back, then gold gilding wax sparingly applied. 

Finally, back and front of each canvas was painted with Mod Podge to offer some  resilience to wear and tear.

A few tags were cut, stamped, coloured and attached to the rings, along with butterflies from the Butterfly Tree set.

Et voila! Here we have one Indian Holiday Memory Book.

The Box

I had attempted to make a box using Kraft card but the A4 was too small to accommodate the book. Since I save all my gift boxes, I went on a search looking for one from a particular perfume brand which I thought would fit the bill; however instead I found a perfect match which had contained culinary spicy sauces.

Sorry - I omitted to photograph the before, but here we have the box top coated with black gesso, masked off equally on all four sides before being stencilled through with grunge paste.

The box was masked off then stenciled and grunge paste applied to four sides, painted with black gesso then gilding wax rubbed over the top. The base was painted with black gesso; when dry the stencil was placed over, first having masked off a border using very low tack masking tape then gilding wax applied through the stencil as before.

The final touch was to black gesso over the entire interior, gilding wax over the stencil (as before and above) on the inner lid, then Mod Podge applied to all areas inside and out.

This completes my memory book and matching box.

Thank you for visiting and I hope this gives you ideas to make your own Memory Book.

Cheers,

Shelagh  ;~}