Last card of 2013 - Happy 2014 everyone!

Hi everyone, Happy New Year - let's hope 2014 is a good one!

This is my final card for this year - lots of exciting new projects in the pipeline for next year - some of them might even happen!!

This card is done with the lovely new floral stencil from Clarity, I put the stencil in place on some purple card, then sponged lots of versa mark ink through, then added metallic pan pastels and a few bits of 'ordinary' pan pastels for the colour on the leaves.

Wishing you all Good Health, Peace and Happiness for 2014
Janet xxx

Happy Boxing Day!

Happy Boxing Day to all in blogland,

I hope you have all had a lovely Christmas so far and are enjoying the festivities.
This is not a Christmas card, it is one done with another of the aperture stencils from Clarity.  These are fab new stencils which are versatile as they have the shape of the aperture (in this case, a circle) and then you get the pattern on the inside bit.

I wanted to do something a bit different, so I used bright coloured ink to stencil through the inner part of the stencil in three different colours, then cut the card into strips and mounted on to the appropriate colour backing card.

The 'Congratulations' is one of the words from the mini letterbox set.  I stamped and embossed, then cut out and mounted over the top of the strips.

With best wishes
Janet xxx

Chrysanthemums!

Good morning all!

I hope you have got all your Christmas shopping done!  I actually have got all the pressies (most of them wrapped!) finished my cards and written and sent them - just got the food to sort out! ..oh! and make some cards for the next TV show....oh! and do an ATC I am very late with!!

So before I get on with that, here is a card I di for the last show, using one of the shape aperture stencils (my personal favourite, the honeycomb!) and the chrysanthemum set.

This card is a bit busier than I normally do, so I am not sure if I like it!  I do like the way I managed to colour the flowers though ,,,not usually one of my strong points!

I started by using the centre part of the aperture stencil (a square). 
I brushed ink through the aperture to give me a centre square
I randomly brushed through the shape part of the stencil (the honeycomb)
I stamped a tiny chrysanthemum all round the background (this isn't part of the set, but it is one I've had for ages!)
For the three larger flowers (I can't keep typing chrysanthemum, so will refer to them as flowers from now on!!) I stamped and coloured with promarkers, then cut them out, covered completely with versa mark, chucked crystal embossing powder over and heated, to give them a sparkly look.
I then attached them to the corner of the square
The happy birthday message is gold embossed - it is from a new mini letterbox set which has the messages already in the squares - very handy!

Hope you like it
Good luck if you still have shopping to do!
Take care,
Janet xxx

Underneath the lamp light......

Good morning folks!

I hope you all survived the blustery night unscathed.  Have you got all your Christmas cards done yet??  Me neither!  Not many more to go now though.  Next year, I WILL be more organised!  (...did I say that last year..???)

Any way, this isn't a Christmas card  - it is another of the cards from the last Clarity show on TV.  I have used one of the fab new stencils and the lovely lady is 'Velvet'

I like doing cards with just one or two colours, so for this I chose grey and yellow - I think it is a very elegant combination!

The arch is created by placing the stencil over the card and shading through the aperture.  I used one of the skyline masks for the buildings in the background.  The lamp post is stamped into place and coloured slightly to darken it.
I stamped Velvet in place, then used fusible film and fibres to make her coat - there is a wonderful new yellow colour!!

The centre piece of the stencil(the arch) has lovely rays in it, so I used that to create the rays in the background.
I am pleased with this card, even if I say so myself!

Hope you all have a great day - I am off for a Christmas lunch with my quiz team colleagues today - looking forward to it!
Take care, Janet xx

Metal Madeleine

Hello Folks!

Sorry It seems like ages since I've blogged, I have had to catch up with the Christmas prep.  Got most of it sorted now, so can relax a bit!

This is the first of my DT samples for this month.  It is done with one of the fab new Clarity stencils - Madeleine
I have always liked the stamp, so was pleased to get the stencil too.

This card is done by embossing the stencil on aluminium foil (a stronger metal may have been better, but I didn't have any!!)  The first time I tried, the foil kept cracking, so I stuck it onto card first, then embossed and that worked better.  Once it was all embossed, I aged it by using black acrylic paint wipe on - wipe off and it stays in the cracks.

Hope you like it!  Janet xx

Weekend workshops

Morning All!

So how is the Christmas prep going?  Me?  just realised to my horror how close it is and nothing done at all!  It's going to be a catch up for Christmas weekend for me!
Before I start, here is what I was up to last weekend - Claritystampers East workshops!  I did the Norwich one in Bawburgh on Saturday and the Suffolk one in Great Blakenham on Sunday.  The pictures are all from Bawburgh - thank you Veronica for the photos.

These are the cards we made, I thought we had better do a couple of cards for the guys!  They do get a bit neglected in the card-making sense, don't they?  I think the combination of the Rocky Block stencil and the Sportsmen remountable set along with the Sports Balls set make for an easy, effective card for a man

 

Thanks for visiting and I hope you have a lovely weekend, whatever it is you are doing!

Janet xxx

Filigraphy shapes

Evening everyone!

This is the last of my DT cards for this month, it is done with the new Filigraphy shapes set (I love the word combination there)  The set consists of the main frame and 5 variations for the circle centre.  

I stamped the yin/yang symbol along both edges of the card in currant, then squiggled along the edges with gold fineline pen
For the centre image, I stamped in the currant ink and embossed with clear powder.  I cut out the triangle shapes, and stuck gold glitter card to the back, so it showed through the shapes. 

Hope you like it
Janet xx

Fuchsias

Morning lovely people,

I'm glad it's the weekend again! This is the first one for a while that I am not doing a workshop, so I have time to do a bit of planning!  The Claritystampers East workshops aren't far off now, so my intention is to get all the cards sorted for them! - Wish me luck!!

Today's card is another simple one - using the Fuchsia stamps from Clarity. Everything is simply stamped and coloured with promarkers, then a bit of glitter on the flowers.

 

Hope you like it.

Don't forget, Barbara Gray has a very generous Blog giveaway, so if you want to be in with a chance of a lovely prize, click on the link on my home page.

Enjoy your weekend xx

Kingfisher and cat's teeth

Hello all,

So, here we are on Thursday again - my day off work!.  I have just taken Misty to the vet's to have her teeth looked at.  I had to take her in to see the nurse first to do all the preop checks.  'We like to give you an estimate these days' she said 'so there are no nasty shocks when you pick her up' she handed me a printed out sheet.......£200.00.......£200.00??? just to have her teeth checked and cleaned!!! It was quite a nasty shock at that stage, I can tell you!  Apparently, that is worst case scenario, so it may be a bit less if she doesn't need too much doing..we will wait and see...

so here is a nice, calming card to steady my nerves!  This one is made with the little elements of the kingfisher set from Clarity.  the only stamps are the kingfisher silhouette and the reeds/grasses.

 

I cut out the shape (?decahedron) with a spellbinders die and did the whole scene through the aperture.  Once I removed the mask, I drew a fine line round the shape, inked the edges of the card and drew some fine lines round the edges.  They are solid lines, and I am not sure why they look dotted on the picture!

 

Hope you like it - I am off to check my bank balance!!

Janet xx

Claritystampers East Oct/Nov

Morning all!

Hope you are having a lovely day and enjoying a bit of sunshine!
Yesterday I did the Claritystampers East workshop in Great Blakenham, which was good fun.  There was a small  but very select group this time.

The previous week, I did the same cards at the Bawburgh venue, also great fun.

These are the cards, all done with the NOEL stamp and the Christmas remountables set from Clarity (of course)

 

Bit of a strange effect on the middle one, which isn't there in real life!  It is a shaker card.

 

Thank you to all the ladies who come to these workshops, you make them special.

 

Janet xxx

Rise and Shine!!!

Hello folks,

I have to confess that rising and shining is not really something I am good at - not until I have had several cups of coffee!!

This card reminded me of a box of cornflakes!  I love this new stencil from Clarity, I will get a lot of use from it, I'm sure.  The rooster is from the fab new weather vane set which is the next 'in the classroom' set.  I am looking forward to seeing what Barbara does with those.

 

Hope you like it!

In the Pink (and grey!)

Hi all,

Thursday is my favourite day of the week - why?  because I have the day off work (hurray!)  Usually I have prep to do for workshops, but I am well ahead at the moment, so today has been a nice relaxing one.  I have been to the hairdresser, done a bit of shopping and managed to get worm tablets down the cats without getting bitten or scratched!
I've made a cup of coffee and thought I would blog my first DT card from last weekend.
All my cards were very simple this month, mainly due to the amount of time I had to make them.  This one is done with one of the lovely new filigraphy shapes from Clarity

 

The main image is stamped and embossed and coloured with the lovely Wink of Stella pens.  I did three layers in grey, pink and grey and decoupaged them.  The strip is just stamped in pickled raspberry, then brushed over with the clear Wink of Stella, which gives a beautiful sheen to it. 

 

Hope you like it.

I hope you are having a lovely Thursday too!

Janet xxx

Half a workshop!

Hello folks,

How is your weekend going?  I was doing a Diva Red workshop with Moira today, but we had to abandon it when there was a power failure - no light, no heat and, worst of all, no coffee!!!  Luckily we managed to get the morning cards finished:

This is my card.  We went to a Hobby Art workshop on Wednesday and I fell in love with this set of stamps, so I had to use them today. 

 

This is my version of Moira's lovely card, the deer are die cut and the background is scrunched up paper embossed with silver powder.

 

Enjoy the rest of your weekend

Janet xxx

 

 

The Green Scene

Morning everyone,

I hope you have a lovely weekend planned.  I am doing the final prep for the Claritystampers East workshop tomorrow.

This card is not new, but it was shown over the Clarity weekend on Create and Craft, so I thought I would give it an airing on here.

I think the inkpad I used is 'Meadow' but I can't be sure.

Everything is simply stamped.  The corners and edges are done by using the edges of the tree stamp.  The trees are cut out and layered on top.

Have a wonderful weekend
Janet x

Saplings

Hello bloggers!

This is another of my favourite cards from the last Clarity weekend shows.  I love tree stamps - luckily Barbara does too and Clarity keep bringing out lovely new tree designs

These saplings are line art, so I had great fun colouring in all the tiny leaves with my new wink of stella pens (yes, you definitely need to get them!!!)
The duck is stamped separately, cut out and stuck over the top.

Thank you for visiting,
Janet xx

Hello Scotland!

Morning all,

 

I hope you are all having a good weekend so far.

 

This card is one of my favourites from the shows last weekend - it is very simple, I know, but I am pleased with the way it turned out!

 

When I was deciding what to do with this kit, I didn't want to put the castle in the frame, because I thought that was the obvious thing to do and wanted to do something different, so I had a rummage and found the lovely stag and a lone tree, which I think work well with the Scottish theme.

 

 

It al all stamped in blue (possibly stonewashed, but I can't remember!), then the usual torn paper mask trick for the hills.  There is a tiny bit of green and grey promarker on the castle.

 

I managed to resist the temptation to put something in the bottom right corner!

 

Hope you like it!

 

As always, thanks for taking the time to stop by

Janet xxx

 

 

Another weekend of Clarity

Hello folks,

This was a different sort of weekend of Clarity and mostly involved watching Barbara launch the new DVD on TV, as well as her regular shows. 
This card is the one I did as a step by step, but unfortunately it didn't get shown as the stamps and stencils sold out quite quickly.

 

The colours I've used are Stream and Terra Cotta, the background is done with the leafy swirl and dotty wave stencils and the wording across the strip is done with the wonderful letter box kit and some of the lovely new shapes that go with it.  The tiles are coloured with promarkers.

 

Thanks for looking!  Have a lovely day xxx

A weekend of Clarity

Hello bloggers,

Well, this weekend was a bit of a Claritystampers East-fest for me!  Saturday, it was the lovely Bawburgh crew.  I chose the treescape stencil and stamp and the outline ducks to work with

 

The second of these cards was heavily based on a card Jo Rice did for the DT.  I loved the idea of the stencil and stamp together, so I asked if I could pinch the idea for a workshop.  Check out Jo's blog for the original.

On Sunday, I did the first of the Suffolk workshops in Great Blakenham, it was brilliant to meet a lovely lot of new ladies, everyone was a bit nervous to start with, some of the ladies had never been to a workshop before, but we soon settled down to making cards and having a good time.

'Pud' is one of favourite Claritystamps, but I don't see it being used much, so thought I would give it a bit of an airing, so we did this at both workshops.

 

The two cards below are the one we did in Great Blakenham, both involve brayering and I was so impressed with how well everyone did - especially those who had never brayered before!

 

 

I am already planning the next lot!!

 

 

 

Angling for a card

Hello lovely peeps,

I am back home after a lovely few days away.  The main purpose of the trip was to visit Monkey World in Dorset.  I have been watching the 'Monkey Life' series on TV for a while now and always wanted to go.

I loved it there, - maybe not the best place if you don't like Primates, but I found them amazing, especially as these are all rescued, some of them from appalling conditions and dreadful cruelty.  It is wonderful to see them lead some semblance of normal primate life.

Before we went, Simon celebrated a birthday, this is the card I did for him - he is a very keen angler and likes very simple cards.

I decided to go for a 'strip' which fitted the bill well.

All done in browns, blue and greys.








The stamps are all from clarity apart from the 'Happy Birthday' which is from 'Stampin' up'

Hope you like it and thanks for visiting xx

Diva Red workshop

Morning all,

Hope you are all doing okay!  It is lovely and bright here this morning, I only hope it lasts.  We are planning a couple of days away and the weather forecast is dreadful - lots of rain and a bit of thunder!  Still, they don't always get it right do they?

These are three of the cards we did at the workshop on Saturday, the first two are mine and the third is Moira's.  I did do a fourth, (the other 'Moira' card!) but I can't scan it.  It was a lovely screen card.

We were delighted to have the lovely Eileen Godwin join us, she was having a break in Norfolk and came to our workshop while she was here.  It was a small and select group as we had a few last minute cancellations, but we had a great time.  Thanks to Veronica for the scrummy cakes!

 

Have a great Sunday xx

We three kings...

Evening all!

(so who else is old enough to remember Dixon??)
I hope you are all well and busy crafting.  All sorts has been going on here... I've had the water tank and the cistern leaking, my guttering overflowing, flat battery in my car on so on.  Still, it's all stuff that can be sorted!

Here is another DT sample, another Christmas one, using several Clarity sets.

 

Hope you like it, that is the last Christmas one for a while!  I am working on the next set of stamps now - very exciting as Barbara has a new DVD launching soon on Create and Craft.

 

Take care

Janet x

Home flight

Morning bloggers!

Thursday is my favourite day of the week - it is my day off work!  So , today is a card-making day.  I have DT cards, prep for workshops and a 60th birthday card to make!!  Will it all get done?  Almost certainly not, but I have the weekend too!

This is another of the cards I made for the last TV show.  I really enjoyed using the ducks and saplings.  I saw a picture on the wall when I was waiting to go in to a meeting and it inspired me for this scene.

 

I used the remountable duck silhouette set along with the lovely large sapling stamp.  (There is also a small sapling available)

 

I do love the duck silhouettes, but I immediately thought of Hilda Ogden's wall in Corrie when I saw them!  I wasn't alone - Jane Telford made a wonderful 'Hilda' card (although she used the line art stamps on shrink plastic.)

 

Hope you all have a fab day and thank you for stopping by

Janet xx

A glittery scene

Hello everyone

Hope you are all okay!  This is a bit of a departure for me - lots of glitter!  I normally only use a minimal amount of glitter (or none at all!)

This is the lovely treescape stencil from Clarity.

I have to say that this isn't  the best picture in the world, so apologies for that!

I taped the stencil to some Kraft card and used a gold embossing paste on the top (sky) part of the stencil and silver embossing paste on the ground part.
Spread the paste evenly over the stencil, then remove the stencil carefully.
Sprinkle with glitter before it dries.  I used shades of blue for the sky and greens and browns for the ground.  Leave to dry, trim then mat and layer!

Thank you for visiting
Janet xxx

More trees! (and shoulder blades...)

Hello bloggers!

Greetings from a rather damp Norfolk!  Isn't it amazing how quickly we can go from lovely, hot, sunny days to damp, cold and dull days?

Anyway, can't do any gardening, so may as well make cards!  (every cloud...)
I went for another appointment at my osteopath's on Thursday and this time asked him to sort my neck out as it had been a bit stiff.  I also explained about my strange shoulder.  I was born with one shoulder blade in a strange position, this hasn't really caused me too much trouble, but I don't have a full range of movement in that arm.  He asked me if I wanted him to 'have a go at sorting it out'.  I said 'Yes!'
He did a deep tissue massage, which was very painful, but the results were amazing, he lowered the shoulder (it had been too high!) by 30%!!  I can now look over my right shoulder without turning my whole body and the whole area just feels so much more comfortable - I hadn't realised how much discomfort it was causing me (because I had never known any different!) until it stopped.  Isn't that just amazing!??  I had never had any treatment because I never realised there was anything that could be done.

I am going back again in a month to see if he can improve it further!

So back to cards.... this is another of the sample cards I did for Barbara for the last TV show.  Again, I have used the next 'In the Classroom' set.  This time I used the naked tree and the mantle over the top.

I used the grassy border to make a frame, then stamped the scene inside.
For the trees, I stamped the branches first in Espresso, then added the green over the top.  You have to do a bit of experimenting with the right amount of ink for this, otherwise the branches can look too prominent!

Hope you like it!  I'm off to look over my shoulder ...because I can!!

Take care, Janet xx

Monochrome Winter Tree

Hello Bloggers,

As it's turned a bit chilly, I thought it would be okay to post my 'Winter' card.  I did this using just one tree from the next 'In the Classroom ' set from Clarity - I used the 'naked' tree.  This set comes with four 'naked' trees and mantles which you can add over the top.  This is such a good idea, because you can so easily do the bark and branches a different colour from the leaves.

I have hundreds of tree stamps but I always love getting more! 

I masked off the central panel and stamped the tree randomly down the sides.
Then I masked off the edges and stamped the scene in the centre panel.  The strip of grass along the bottom of the tree is part of the set too.
The bird is one of the crows that came with the lovely Scarecrow set a while ago.

A bit of matting and layering and a few gems and you have your card!

Hope you like it and thanks very much for visiting xxx

Workshop cards

On Saturday it was the Diva Red workshop I run with Moira.  We had a good day and made some lovely cards!

These are the cards I did

 

The first one is done by stamping on to Kraft card, and the second is stamping and masking with Clarity stamps.

 

Hopefully Moira will blog her cards in due course!

 

Thanks for dropping by

Janet xx

Duck and Drake

Hello everyone,

Remember me??  Sorry it has been so long since I blogged!  No excuses really.

My back is much better now, but still sore, so I am going back to the osteopath next week. 
Did you catch the Clarity shows at the weekend?  My favourite bit is always looking through the homework cards that everyone sends in - some brilliant cards there!!

This is my first card from the weekend, using the treescape stencil and the new duck and drake stamp sets.

I used Centura Pearl card for this.  I embossed the card with the stencil by running it through the Grand Calibur.

Place the stencil on the other side of the card and using a stencil brush, colour with blue and green inks.
Stamp the ducks on another piece of the same card, cut out and stick over the top.
Stamp the message on another piece of card.
Mat and layer, there you have it!!

Hope you like it!
Thanks for stopping by and hope to see you again soon
Janet xxx

Last one for Germany

Hello everyone,
Hope you are all doing okay!
I have had some lovely stamps and new stencils to work on for the Clarity shows next weekend - you definitely need to tune in to Create and Craft, there are some wonderful new stamps, and as for the new classroom set...!

Anyway - enough teasing!  This is the last of the cards I did for Germany.  It confused Barbara, because she couldn't figure out what it said, so let me explain.... It is two names. Sabine and Jurgen, sort of intertwined - well, that was the plan!

This is a fairly simple one to do, just lots of masking involved!  I did the letterboxes fist, then added the letters and coloured in.
Mask the words and stamp the lovely foxgloves, so they will appear in the background when you remove the mask.

Everything coloured in with Promarkers.
Thanks for calling!
Janet xx

Winter Wonderland

Hello everyone and welcome to my new followers, thank you for joining me!
Today's card is another of the German samples, this time using the very lovely Winter Wonderland kit, which was first shown as an 'in the Classroom' kit. For the German show, some of the lovely Clarity stencils were also available.  I got the fab snowflakes, which are part of the Clarity Christmas stencil set.

I masked the strip area, then using a stencil brush, I stippled various colour inks over the stencil. there is a little snowflake stamp as part of the kit, and I stamped that in amongst the stencilled design.  I did the top and bottom of the strip separately.
Remove the mask from the centre strip, but run a strip of masking tape along the edges of the stencilled area.
Stamp the scene and add a bit of shadow under the deer.

Remove the masking tape and squiggle a line along the top and bottom edges.  I added a few gems in the centres of the snowflakes as a finishing touch.
Hope you like it and thank you for visiting xx

Cabin in the woods

Hello everyone,

I hope you all enjoyed summer!  It seems to be back to winter here today!, 

Here is another of the German samples.  This is a lovely set of stamps - more trees, one of my favourite things to stamp!  I really like the log cabin too - good for men's cards!  I have done this as a winter scene, but with a change of colour, it could be for any time
.
I masked around the edge of the card first.

Everything was stamped in shades of brown on to the coated Clarity card.  I lightly coloured the cabin with promarkers.  I then brayered some brown along the top and added the star. I added some glitter!
After removing the masking tape, I used a brown fineline pen to squiggle round the edge of the scene.

Thank you for dropping by xxx

Christmas in Germany

Hello Everyone,

I got loads of page views for my last post, so welcome along if you are a new visitor!
This card is another of the samples for German TV, using the letter box set and a remountable set of Christmas stamps. This is one of my favourite miniatures sets, I love the spruce tree and the little snowman.  It is amazing how such little stamps can make such a large scene.

I stamped the boxes for the letters first, then stamped in the letters - being very careful to get them right, as I don't really speak much German.  I then masked the whole word
(which means Christmas)
I stamped the snowflake above the word and the tree underneath.
I shaded lightly along the top and bottom of the letters in black and shaded round the whole picture in blue.
Stamp Father Christmas and his sleigh in place and add the greeting which is part of another German greeting set (Best wishes for).
I added some glitter on the trees and along the top of the letters.
Hope you like it,
Thanks for visiting xxx

When is a corner not a corner...?

Evening all!
So I am blogging the first of the samples for German TV HSE 24.  there are two cards here mainly because I put an English greeting on the first one by mistake (as per previous blogs!)  I was asked at the last workshop how many time I have a go at a card before I get it right.  Well sometimes, if I am REALLY lucky, it all goes to plan on the first go, but mostly I have to do it two or three times.  This one, however, took me many, many attempts.

I had the idea to do the star and knew the pattern, so thought it would be relatively quick - WRONG!!!  I eventually got the pattern perfect, it is not easy to line it up perfectly (especially with my eyesight!!) and showed it to Simon who said that it wasn't square on the card and wasn't good enough to send in, so back for another few goes.  Yaaaay!  I got it centred and the pattern was good.  Unfortunately, I had a tiny crease in the card which magnified to a big line once I had inked round the edges, so rather than do it all again, I put my greeting over it and sent it in....only to discover a couple of days later that it was supposed to be a German sample!!!!
So the second card is the same thing all over again!

 

Take care xx

Claritystampers East on Saturday

Saturday, it was another Claritystampers East workshop. There were lots of people this time, so I was kept on my toes, I can tell you!  It is a lovely group of ladies who come along to make cards, eat cake and have fun!  Did I mention cake?  We have the lovely Veronica (check out her blog) to thank for the cake this time as sadly Moira wasn't feeling too good and decided not to join us (although apparently she is going to cause twice as much trouble at the next one, to make up!!)

Here are the cards we made

 

 

The first two, using the lovely Clarity Birdhouse and remountable garden set and the Leafy Swirl stencil.

 

 

The second two using the Holly Tree and Holly Sprigs stamps

Thanks for visiting
Janet xx