Shaped Card – Clarity Challenge 31 – September 2015

Ring a ring o’ flowers!

Hello there and welcome to Shelagh-land once more and thank you for your visit to my blog.

September is here and perhaps we'll be rewarded with an Indian Summer as our 'real' summer has not been too evident here in the north-east of Scotland. The golfers are none too happy with it either, I hear. Thank goodness our crafting takes place indoors - here it can rain, hail, sleet or snow while we're cosily tucked away, working on our next project.

Well, what an exciting month this has been. 

After a plethora of notable events and all requiring cards - sister's anniversary on 1st, uncle 83 on 2nd, nephew 20 on 9th, great-niece reaching the Terrible Twos on 10th, school-friend - 60 on 12th and the biggest celebration of all was a short stay in Dubai for my husband's birthday on 13th - September is set to be a tad quieter with only two family birthdays and our 29th anniversary. 

Then, of course, there was the event I'd been excited about and looking forward to since February - my first visit to Crowborough and the Clarity Retreat and what a treat indeed it turned out to be. Fab-u-lous!!! Two days of crafting bliss! Barbara and Paul, the dynamic duo, shared techniques, skills and encouraged, Jane catered for us all effortlessly and the behind-the-scenes Clarity team ensured all our Clarity product wishes were realised. 

Met up with ladies whose names I recognised from the Clarity Challenge blog, Lynne and Moya, sat opposite Dawn and next to Karen who was driving all the way back to Yorkshire that Thursday evening - hope you had a safe and uneventful journey, Karen and in my chosen hotel, enjoyed the great company of Margaret and Chris, two Scots lasses who'd travelled down by train from Glasgow.

'The Crowborough Five!'

After all that, I then discover that my blog is currently featuring in 'Papercraft Inspirations' Issue 143 October 2015 as Blog of the Month!

Now down to business!

Shaped Card

The inspiration for this month's challenge started from raking through my boxes of Clarity stamps, looking for some way to use one/some of them in a different way to meet the brief for a 'Shaped Card.' The 'Columbine' stamp was the right fit!

Materials:-

·         *Clarity Stamps: - Remountable Gentian and Columbine, Remountable Maple leaf set;  A Million Thank Yous stamp

·        * Watercolour Paper

·        * Inkpads:- Pearlescent Beige; Distress Inks – Worn Lipstick

·        * Clarity Brushes

·        * Embossing Powder – Detail Clear

·         Ivory doubled-sided pearlescent card A4 x 3 - from stash

·         Dies:- circles, frame both from stash

·        * Spectrum Aqua Pens - Peach, Blossom, Spice, Begonia, Sepia

·        * Perfect Pearls: - Forever Red, Mandarin, Perfect Copper

·         Self-adhesive gems

·         *Glitter – Glamour Dust

·         Quickie Pen

·         Glue of choice

N.B. Starred items are available from the Clarity Stamps website. 

Instructions:-

1.       Fold an A4 sheet of Ivory Pearlescent card (I found a sheaf of this during a craft room clear-up) in half and die-cut a card blank using a plain circle die. Choose a smaller circle die and die-cut the centre from ONE half of the card only to create a frame. *N.B. The photo below is not quite accurate as I experimented with an open base. 

2.       Measure halfway horizontally on this top frame and score across to make a semi-circular frame as in photo.

3.       Die-cut a frame of the same outer and inner circle size and attach to the semi-circular top frame of the card.

4.       Die-cut four circular fancy frames (these serve to strengthen the circular frame as well as being decorative but plain ones as in (3) would serve the same purpose.) Reserve two and brush two with Tattered Rose. Off-set one onto the other and attach to the open circular frame. Lightly brush frame 3 and attach to the inside of the folded frame.

5.       With the residual ink, brush the last frame and attach to the solid card base.
6.       Using Brilliance Pearlescent Beige inkpad stamp Columbine stamp six times onto Watercolour Paper. Add clear detail powder and heat emboss. *N.B. The photo shows it stamped in black. 

(Stamp and emboss singly otherwise ink is too dry to collect the embossing powder.)

7.       Colour each flower trumpet with chosen Spectrum Aqua pens, from the centre out so the colour is less intense towards the top of each petal. 
I used Peach, Blossom, Spice and Begonia, scribbled the colours onto a Clarity Blending Mat and picked up the colours with a fine paintbrush and from there added watered-down colour to each petal, flicking out from centre.

8.       On a palette or similar, mix Red, Mandarin and Copper Perfect Pearls with a drop of water and paint each flower centre. Once dry, cut out each flower head; cut into each flower along each petal and gently bend to create movement. Reserve.

9.       Stamp thirty large maple leaves from Remountable Maple Leaf set onto watercolour card - a remainder from (6) with the same Brilliance stamp pad and emboss as before. Colour along veins using same colour pens as in (7.)

10.   Stamp ‘Thank You’ from set detailed above onto card base, again using Pearlescent Beige add detail powder and heat emboss. Colour in random stripes using the Spectrum Aqua Sepia pen - fine point side.

11.   Attach leaves and flowers around top frame to suit. Repeat on base.

12.   Add self-adhesive gems to each flower centre; dot a little glue from a Quickie Pen around each gem and dust with glitter.
Et voila - my take on September's Clarity Challenge. 

Thank you for reading through my blog; I welcome comments and/or questions and will help where I can. I have made a resolution this month to add posts more frequently and from now I intend to do this weekly. It's not that I don't craft between the Clarity Challenges, I just give the items away before I remember to photograph them!!! I hope this has given you some ideas and as ever, I look forward to viewing your Clarity Challenge submissions. You are an extremely talented and innovative group and I love seeing what you come up with. If you haven't entered the Clarity Challenge before, please consider 'having a go;' it took me a long time to pluck up the courage and I do so wish I had attempted it earlier on. You can enter through a link to your blog found at the foot of the Clarity Challenge blog or by email at claritystampchallenge@hotmail.com

Wishing you all a sunny September!

Happy crafting,

Shelagh  ;~}