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