Cleverprints Blog 4 - Sunshine and Flowers

 Sunshine and Flowers

Hi, welcome to this week's blog. 

Sunshine and flowers - an appropriate term when I was making this project but not so much today as it's raining. Flowers are still there though - one of the flowering cherries is well in bud and the long-established crocuses are in full bloom. Two examples today - the original and the 'not quite' copy. 

This is the original card, made from my stash of stamped images, coloured with aqua pencils. 

. . . And here is the example described below, coloured with water soluble crayons.

Materials:-

• Cleverprints Stamp Sets - Fantastic Fox, Hedgehugs, The Little Things, Sea Urchin, Patchwork Flower
• Water Soluble Crayons - Caran D'Ache
• Black Ink Pad
• White Gel Pen
• Self-adhesive gems
• White cardstock
• 6" x 6" card blank

Instructions:-

1. Stamp sea shell from Sea Urchin set and scribble selected colours in areas of image. Blend together with either a waterbrush or damp paint brush. Trim. 

2. Stamp leaves from 'The Little Things' set and pumpkins from 'Hedgehugs.'  Colour, blend and trim as in 1).

3) Repeat with flowers from 'Fantastic Fox. . . . .'

. . . . hedgehog from 'Hedgehugs and . . . 

. . . flower from 'Patchwork Flower.'

4) Arrange trimmed images onto 6" x 6" card blank and glue in place. 

5) *Rather than waste the off-cuts from the patchwork flower, they were layered onto the top right-hand corner. 

6) Add highlights with white gel pen and gems to flower centres. 

7) Stamp sentiment onto card. 

. . .And there we have it, a variation on a theme. 

Time to explore the different colouring mediums in your stash. 

Back in a few weeks' time.

Happy crafting!

Shelagh,

'The Making Lady'

Cleverprints - Blog 3 'Happy Days'

'Happy Days'

Hello. Happy Days indeed! Several days of sunshine, crocus and daffodil bulbs showing through and new bird box inhabitants to-ing and fro-ing, all serve to lift the spirit. 

Today's blog features a quick card, ready for a suitable sentiment. 

Happy Days

Materials:-

• A Happy Bloom stamp set by Jane Royston for Cleverprints
• Stamp Pad (Lavinia Bermuda used here)
• Alcohol Markers 
• Black Fineliner
• White Gel Pen
• A4 Card
• Scoreboard

Instructions:-

• On A4 card with short sides top and bottom, make a tiny mark half way down on each side (either pencil or a bone folder.)

• Stamp images to suit, ensuring parts of each image are above the mark line. (advisable not to miss bits, as I have done!!!)

• Once the images are in place, score along the halfway line ONLY on the areas outwith the stamping. This will assist the cutting which comes next. 

• With a craft knife, cut around the stamped images only as far as the scores.

Back view

• Colour. (Alcohol Markers)

• Ready to add sentiment. 

Thank you for taking time to visit. I will be back again soon with another blog.

As ever,

Happy Crafting!

Shelagh  

(The Making Lady)

 

 

 

Cleverprints - Wildflower

 

Cleverprints

Blog2 February 2023

Hi . . . and thank you for visiting my blog page. 

Today the tag card is something I rarely do - stamp an outline in a colour! I'm usually locked into black. 

The background is the stencil 'clean up' from last week's blog and minimal equipment is required for this project as listed below. 

    * 'A Happy Bloom' stamp set designed by Jane Royston for Cleverprints

    * 'Flower Fall' #041 Stencil from Cleverprints for background (details on last           week's blog)

    * Red Ink Pad for main images; Black Ink Pad for sentiment

    * Three watercolour pencils - Rose Carmine, Dark Red, Mauve

    * Tags - white and black

    * Ribbon, Buttons

    

Wildflower

      Select  flower from 'A Happy Bloom' set, place on stamp block and curve the flower stem. 

    With red ink pad, stamp flower five times on white card.

    Colour each flower head all over with pink watercolour pencil - Rose Carmine       used here. Add shadows with Dark Red, followed by Mauve. 

    Blend colours together with water brush or damp paintbrush. 

    Spritz 'inky' stencil (a bi-product of last week's blog) with water then blend onto    card beneath with sponge or similar. 

    Trim card to fit tags, add ribbon.

    Attach to background with foam tape. Add black and white mats.  

    Decorate with buttons. 

Hope the instructions are clear enough. 

Thank you for following this.

Will be back soon. 

Meantime 'happy crafting!'

Shelagh

'The Making Lady'

Cleverprints Patterned Flowers February 2023

Cleverprints 

Zigzag Flower Stamp Set

Hello and thank you for tuning into my first blog for 2023. Today I'm reprising a card made at the end of 2022 but using different materials.

 

 Here, I use one stamp and one stencil along with some watercolour pencils and Prism Pearlescent Powders and a good spritz of water. 

Original example using Swirly Flower Stamp Set

Today's example using Zigzag Flower Stamp Set. 

 

Main materials used:- 

Zigzag flower Stamp Set designed by Jane Royston for Cleverprints. 

Cleverprints Flower Fall Stencil

Ink Pad  - Black

Prism Pearlescent Powders

Watercolour Pencils

Cardstock - White

Brad

1)Stamp main image twice. (Having used a brand new and very juicy ink pad, one of the images is smudged, but no worries - it is all going to be trimmed out.)

       

 2)For this project, I'm using watercolour pencils in three colours - Scarlet Red, Magenta and Dark Cadmium Orange. The image is randomly scribbled with the Orange in all areas, followed by Red to aimost halfway up from centre and finally Magenta around the central circle and a short way up each petal/segment. 

     

3)Out with the old water brush to blend in the scribbles. Easy! That's why I love these pencils so much. 

4)Trim out both coloured images - and be prepared to score!

Align a petal top and bottom on the same line of scoreboard as shown and score. Rotate by 90 degrees and score again: repeat twice more. 

Repeat on second image. 

Mountain fold, valley fold. Repeat around flower.  

5)Cut away one eighth from each flower. Adhere each petal piece to each other to create a 3D flower. Ensure each half petal matches up. Add brad to centre. (Original card had a button as a centrepiece.) 

Background:-

For the background, I selected three Prism Pearlescent Powders - Sunshine shimmer, Radiant Rose and Burnished Bronze. These were sprinkled sparingly over a damp sheet of card, spritzed gently with water, allowed to settle then spritzed again. TOO LATE! - mopped the watery liquid up with kitchen paper when it ought to have been pressed into service by another sheet of card, however another print achieved - process pictured below. 

  

Stencil placed on top. Second card sheet placed on top then run through the die-cutting machine. Et voila, two for one! (machine of choice presently, the Tangerine and the sandwich was from base - Orange plate, copypaper, inky card, stencil, blank card, copy paper, green plate. *Other machines I have not tried and indeed this was trial and error for me.)

As there were areas of powder still evident on the card, I brushed off the residue then trimmed to square. 

Completed example with added sentiment.

Background layered onto mats of silver, pink, silver and white card before adding main image and sentiment. 

Thank you for tuning in. More creations soon.

Meantime 

Happy Crafting!

Shelagh Metselaar

(The Making Lady)