Chocolate Baroque Challenge January 2017

Chocolate BaroqueChallenge

January 2017

‘Floral Flutterby’

Hello and welcome once more to The Making Lady's blog. 

As we are approaching St Valentine's Day, I decided to incorporate the beautiful palette with a 'love' themed card, not only that, there's not a single 3D element in sight!!! The biggest challenge was to select the stamps to use and on looking through my selection of CB stamps, I settled on the floral butterfly, something I've wished to use for some time. The entire image is created by stamping and masking, with a bit of shading to create the illusion of an 'add-on' butterfly. 

My special Christmas present was a complete set of Polychromos and boy! did I have fun exploring. I laid down the base with Inktense pencils, taking colour straight from the pencil tip with a damp paintbrush (No 6) then added the Polychromos over. 

The sentiment is repeated stamping of Love from the Mackintosh 'With Love' phrase.

Top Tip - I found it easier to ink the words, cover up 'With' with a piece of Scotch Magic Tape, stamp 'Love,' remove the tape and repeat to suit. (I used a new piece of tape each time to prevent smudging.)

Materials:-

·         Stamps:- Chocolate Baroque Tangled Garden set – floral butterfly; Sunny Sunflowers set – large leaf and small leaf; Mackintosh Sentiments – ‘With Love’

·         Cardstock:- White card 8ins x 8ins

·         Inkpads:- Archival Black

·         Colouring medium:- Derwent Inktense Pencils; Faber Castell  Polychromos

·         Misc:- Micron Pen – 005; Self-adhesive gems – 2mm black oil-slick; sticky notes; scrap card; black Sharpie.

Instructions:-

1.       Fold a piece of 8ins x 8ins card in half and draw half a heart shape against the fold. Cut out the centre and set aside. The square with the heart centre is required for this card.

2.       Place the heart square over another 8ins x 8ins square and tape down around the edges with low tack masking tape.

3.       Using Archival Black, ink the butterfly stamp and stamp in the centre of the heart aperture.

4.       Re-ink stamp and stamp onto large sticky notes. Cut out and reserve to use as a mask. Place over stamped image.

5.       Ink the large leaf from the set, stamp a number of images on sticky notes and cut out. Stamp a leaf on the edge of the butterfly, mask then re-ink and stamp again. Repeat until there is a leafy border around the perimeter of the butterfly.

6.       Repeat (5) with a smaller leaf from and stamp and mask as before, whilst so doing, creating a heart shape.

7.       Using a light, dilute pink from the Inktense box, paint in the exposed, un-inked heart shape.

8.       Remove heart aperture.

9.       Colour butterfly using deep pink from the Inktense set in a variety of colour strengths.

10.   Colour the inner, larger leaves with a darker green Inktense and the outer, smaller leaves with a softer, lighter green.

11.   Continue colouring these images with Polychromos.

12.   Doodle a border around the heart’s perimeter with a fine black pen.

13.   Trim card to suit and edge with a black Sharpie pen and mount onto an 8ins x 8ins card blank.

14.   Stamp ‘Love’ repeatedly along a strip of card. Edge with Sharpie and attach below the image.

 The photos are taken on three different backgrounds - you can decide which one you prefer! Meantime, thank you for reading my blog; I do hope you will visit again. 

Best wishes,

Shelagh

'The Making Lady.'

Chocolate Baroque Challenge December 2016

Chocolate Baroque Challenge 

December 2016

'Rennie's Rose'

This month's colour palette more than suggested 'Valentine' to me and although my finished project is not at all how I envisaged it at the outset, I think it reflects the essence of St Valentine's Day. The instructions and materials are listed below. Happy browsing!!! 

Materials:-

• Stamps:- Chocolate Baroque 'Punky Hearts;' 'Mackintosh Beauty;' Mackintosh Windows'
• Cardstock:- White 
• Inkpads:- Archival Black; Distress Inks - Twisted Citron, Mowed Lawn, Antique Linen, Picked Raspberry, Worn Lipstick
• Misc:- Faber Castell Polychromo Colouring Pencils, Derwent Inktense Pencils, Glue Pen, Alcohol Markers, Clear Glitter, sticky notes.

Instructions:-

1. Using black Archival, stamp the 'wavy' leaf from the Punky Hearts set eight times. Sweep over Twisted Citron followed by Mowed Lawn using blending foam pads, leaving some areas lighter than others. Cut out and edge with a dark grey marker. 
2. Draw a template of a heart on a folded sheet of card and cut out. Draw around this twice on a piece of white card and cut out. Set aside.
3. Cut a heart out from the centre of the template and draw around this in the centre of on of the reserved hearts. Cut out centre to leave a heart frame.
4. Using Archival black, stamp the garland from the Mackintosh Beauty set onto sticky notes and cut out three masks. (Cut all three out at once to save time.)
5. Again using Archival black and beginning at the lower point of the heart frame, stamp and mask the garland, working around the perimeter. (I worked from side to side to achieve a sense of symmetry.) Colour leaves, flowers and berries using Inktense pencils to introduce each colour (from the CB palette) and add depth using Polychromos. Outline inside and outside border with a dark grey alcohol marker. Blend over Antique Linen. Apply glue pen to the outer leaves only and sprinkle over glitter. Set aside.
6. Stamp leaves and berries from the same garland repeatedly over the solid heart and colour in as before. Lightly blend over Antique Linen.
7. Stamp the lady from Mackintosh Windows twice using Archival black onto white card. Colour the faces using a very pale pink alcohol marker, the eyes and lips with Polychromos. the hair was coloured first with Inktense and as before depth created with Polychromos as were the large flowers.
8. Cut out face from one image and attach onto the other to create some depth. 
9. Glue onto main heart to suit the attach frame using foam pads.
10. Stamp large rose from the Mackintosh Beauty set (I stamped and coloured six but only used three) and colour using Picked Raspberry. Add glitter to highlight areas. 
11. Glue onto to heart frame using foam pads.
12. Run double sided tape around the reverse perimeter of the heart shape to hold the leaves. Attach to suit.
13. Finish off by attaching a loop to the reverse.
14. (To create a tidy back, I cut out another heart and attached it to the main heart to cover all the 'workings.')

Et voila! - Rennie's Rose!

Thank you for reading this post.

Happy crafting!

Shelagh

'The Making Lady'

Indigoblu Challenge December 2016 Snow

Indigoblu Challenge - 'Snow'

December 2016

'Snowballs'

This is my contribution to the latest Indigoblu challenge. A number of stamps appropriate to the theme I had actually used in previous but recent challenges therefore it was back to the drawing board and thinking cap on! I wanted to create something a bit different thus did a bit of research through 'word association' and one of the links I thought of was 'Snowball.' How to make them - please follow the instructions below!


Materials:-

• Stamps:- Indigoblu Snowflakes A6; Snow Globe A6
• Cardstock:- White pearlescent; parchment
• Inkpads:- Versamark
• Misc:- Silver holographic embossing powder; alphabet dies; deckle circle dies; double sided sticky sheets (A4 size cut down - origin unknown); talcum powder

Instructions:-

1. Mask off the base and writing on 'snow globe' stamp with low-tack masking tape. Ink with Versamark, remove masking tape and stamp onto parchment sheets. Repeat four times, allowing enough space to leave a border when die-cutting. (I used two A4 sheets and stamped three images on one and two on the other. 
2. Sprinkle over silver embossing powder and heat-set.
3. Select one image and stamp the same snow globe image again, but around the gap to create the illusion of a circle. Emboss as before.
4. Apply double-sided sticky sheet to the reverse of each stamped image and die-cut with a deckle circle - NOT the largest!
5. Die-cut five circles from pearlescent card using the largest deckle die.
6. Peel off the backing sheet and apply 'snowballs centrally to each die-cut card circle. Dust edges with talc to remove any tackiness. 
7. Using Versamark, stamp the Snowflakes stamp onto a piece of white pearlescent card, heat emboss with silver embossing powder and die-cut the letters 'S,' 'N,' 'O' and 'W.'
8. Attach with foam pads to snowballs.
9. Using double sided tape, attach a double length of metallic string to join each snowball, ensuring the loop is at the top.

Et voila! - a cascade of snowballs!

Thank you for reading my blog. Happy crafting!!

Best wishes,

Shelagh
'The Making Lady'

Clarity Challenge 47 Animal Kingdom

Clarity Challenge 47 

January 2017

Animal Kingdom

The 'Hi' Life - Example 1

It's quite hard to believe I'm about to enter my third year as part of the Clarity Challenge Design Team. It seems a long time ago that on Hogmanay 2014, I was scrabbling around, trying to post on my blog whilst the whole concept was not something I was particularly 'au fait' with. 

Time has evaporated even more rapidly as the year draws to a close and this month - always busy at the best of times - is certainly no exception, so for this month there will be no step by step photos only instructions. I had decided to make two variations on a theme but in the wee small hours of one morning between Christmas and New Year, I came up with an idea that begged to be realised, hence the third example. 

To crown all, my blog was nearly complete about an hour ago when the system decide to negate any written work, so once more into the breach . . . .

As for the time constraint, you see, I'm in the throes of making decor for my mum's birthday on 4th, when she reaches the grand age of 90 and as I write, the birthday mementos and card are still incomplete! Much to do before Wednesday!

Looking forward to your brilliant art work over this next year.  

Wishing one and all a happy, healthy and crafty 2017. 

Shelagh

'The Making Lady'

The 'Hi' Life - Example 1

Materials for Examples 1 and 2:-

• Stamps:- Clarity Safari Animals, Alphabet Word Chains
• Stencil:- Clarity Giraffe Spots
• Cardstock:- White 7 ins x 7 ins; 1 x DL card blank; 1 x 6 ins x 6 ins card blank; bronze, gold pearlescent; 
• Inkpads:- Distress Mustard Seed, Vintage Photo; Archival Sepia, Black
• Misc:- Micron Pen, Square Die, Faber Castell Polychromos, Black Alcohol Marker, Low-tack masking tape, Gel Press (mine is the original Gelli Plate and wil be referred to as such)

Instructions:-

1. Using low-tack tape, mask off a border around the DL card. 
2. Using a square die of comparable size to the giraffe stamp, cut an aperture in the card front. Using the square remnant as a guide, mask off a comparable area in the card interior. Set aside.
3. Apply Mustard Seed over Gelli and brayer for an even coverage. Place Giraffe stencil over and blot with copy paper.
4. Apply Walnut Stain over stencil and brayer as before. Carefully remove stencil. 
5. Place card blank over, protecting lower area and inside with large sticky notes and smooth to transfer ink.
6. With Sepia, stamp giraffe image on inside of card and on a sticky note; cut this out and apply to stamped image. (N.B. If you have the Clarity mask to hand, then this is a time saver but I didn't thus made my own.)
7. Colour with Polychromos to suit.
8. Clean Gelli with water and kitchen roll and repeat 3 and 4 to obtain pattern on inside and lower square on DL card.
9. Edge with Micron pen.
10. Stamp 'Hi' to suit.

Et voila!! - the first example is complete!

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

The 'Hi' Life - Example 2

Materials:-

• As above

Instructions:-

1. Apply Mustard Seed to Gelli and brayer over. 
2. Place giraffe stencil on Gelli and blot with a sheet of 7 ins x 7 ins card. Reserve for background.
3. Aply Walnut Stain to Gelli; brayer then remove stencil. 
4. Stamp giraffe on lower left hand side on a new sheet of 7 x 7 card. Apply mask to image.
5. Place this card over the inked Gelli and smooth to transfer print.
6. Remove mask. Colour giraffe family with Polychromos. 
7. Outline the dark spots with a Micron pen.
8. Trim and stamp 'Hi' to suit. Outline with black alcohol marker.
9. Attach to reserved pale giraffe print.
10. Layer onto bronze then gold pearlescent followed by 6 x 6 card blank.

And now the second example is finished.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

'Top Dog'

Materials:-

• Stamps:- Clarity NDC Dog; Alphabet Word Chain
• Cardstock:- White, 8 ins x 8 ins card blank
• Inkpads:- Distress Twisted Citron, Peacock Feathers, Squeezed Lemonade, Fossilized Amber; Archival Black
• Stencils:- Clarity Dotty Wave, Sam's Eggs, Double Bubble
• Misc:- Sticky Labels, Polychromos, Uniball White pen, blending foam spots

Instructions:-

1. Stamp Dog six times on labels; colour five in varying shades of grey and one in golden browns. Cut around outline and set aside.
2. Attach Double Bubble stencil onto a sheet of 7 ins x 7 ins card and blend over Twisted Citron in one corner, shading into Peacock Feathers on the diagonally opposite corner.
3. Offset the stencil slightly and blend lightly original colours before adding smidgen Squeezed Lemonade.
4. Replace this stencil with Dotty Wave and blend over Squeezed Lemonade.  
5. Replace this stencil with Sam's Eggs and blend lightly over Fossilized Amber.
6. Attach the dogs in pyramid form and add detail with toning Polychromos in the gaps.
7. Stamp sentiment to suit - my whole idea came from the phrase 'Top Dog' hence its inclusion here.

And there we have it, my final example of 2016, although all three really are the first for 2017. 

Please hop over to the Clarity website for all necessary information. 

Meantime - very much in haste on Hogmanay - I've a pie to make now!!!

 . . . and a 'guid' new year to "ane an' a'"

Shelagh

'The Making Lady'