FLOWERS and PARCHMENT

            Start of a new year and a new challenge at Claritystamps, well actually the deadline is almost here as I am a bit late again this month with my entry. Anyway the challenge title is FLOWERS.  Easy I hear you say, well yes,but also so much choice. Took me a while to decide whether to use stamps, stencil or Groovi.  Well Groovi won as at the moment I am using it quite a lot, love the effect parchment gives. I did actually use a stamp as well so really good that both can be combined. 

                     

        This actually looks so much better in real life as the background is very pale, the parchment would have shown up much better on a dark background.
  
        
         I started by making a base for the flowers, just an oval shape on which I perforated and embossed a pattern.
                        
                                 

      
         Needed the important bit then some flowers, I chose the lovely peonies and embossed them and perforated them so that I could arrange them around the oval.

     
           For the background I used the Groovi netting plate and although it took quite a while I cut out the middle sections. 
          The butterfly is not  a Groovi one but the stamp that came with the club newsletter in December. I stamped it first on copy paper then traced over onto parchment with a white pen. The traditional way.

 

  

       

                               

                                   A little bit of pink shading on the bottom layer.

      

    

                   

 

                               Some pearls on the butterfly for a finishing touch. 
  

    Items used in this design
    
   Peoni Groovi plate
   Netting Groovi Plate

      I am enjoying using the Groovi system and creating parchment cards. Hope you like this one, think I just need some better photography skills now. 
      
      Thank-you for dropping in,please let me know what you think if you have time. xx
   

CLARITY CALENDAR CHALLENGE

        This challenge is all based on the lovely calendar produced by Barbara Gray for 2016. Each month a piece of her beautiful artwork is featured but as she shares all her skills with the rest of us, the instructions for each piece are on the back of each picture. They are in step by step format so easy to follow. The challenge is to re-create each month's piece of art using the same Clarity stamps if we have them. The winning entry will be judged by Barbara. 
    
         Now I was lucky enough to receive one of the calendars for Christmas, it was also signed by Barbara. This month's picture is a reflection of trees in water. I have only tried this technique once before and that was at a Clarity workshop a month ago. Anyway I am going to give it a try. I have not got the tree stamps used so have had to substitute some other Clarity trees instead which means mine is not an exact copy. I did not have the flock of bird stamp either so I drew mine instead. That is about the extent of my artwork as I cannot draw for toffee. I have given you the link here to watch how Barbara Gray completed the original artwork.  Trees with mantles You Tube video. Included in her blog post is a list of all the stamps etc you will need if you want to try for yourself. 

          This is the original picture, just beautiful. It really makes you feel as if the sun is just rising on a new day. Now for my attempt. 
      
                              

   
        I have not managed to get quite the same depth of colour but as this is only my second attempt at making a reflection I am fairly pleased with end result. Of course I have had to use different Clarity stamps as well. 

    I hope you will join me each month now as I try to re-create that month's picture, some I think are a little easier than others. Anyway I hope you will leave a comment and let me know how you think I have done. Reckon we might have a few laughs along the way. 

              Thank-you. xxx









    

SPRING BLOSSOM

      A little bit of an optimistic title for this blog post really although we do have a snowdrop out in the garden and daffodil bulbs are pushing through. It is very mild for January but I wish the rain would stop. We count ourselves fortunate not to be affected by floods but feel so sorry for all the people who have lost so much. Not a good start to the New Year for so many let's hope this weather improves. 
     
      Anyway back to my card I am sharing today. I recently bought a copy of the new magazine Parchment Lace and there was a lovely grid for a pretty fan on the cover. I am fairly new to parchment craft, I have tried in the past but not done very well. I bought the Groovi system  from Claritystamps this enables you to transfer the line art easily to your parchment. It has made a big difference. So I could not resist trying one of the cards featured in the magazine. So pretty and I am quite pleased with my finished result. 

      

       The design for the blossom is in the magazine but I used one of my Groovi plates for the background and also added an edging using one of the border plates. Lots of patience needed as there was rather a lot of piercing and cutting to be done. I do like doing that though, very de-stressing. 

                         

                   Just a close up of the pretty fan and also the Spring blossom.

                                      

        I have found it helpful to follow a few instructions to learn this delicate card making technique.  Once you get started ideas start to form for more designs. Many thanks to Tattered Lace for the lovely magazine and design ideas. 

       Thanks for dropping by and I will be back very soon with some more creations.   xx