QUICK CARDS

               January, not the best of months. The days always seem so dark and miserable, once Christmas is over I am always ready for the brighter Spring days. Got to wait a while yet I think.

             I have not started back to any of the workshops that I attend yet but when I do at the end of the month I need quite a few Birthday cards. So decided to make a few neat quick ones.


           I have a lot of stamps and stencils that I have never used so I am trying to make sure they are brought into use. The first of these is the little handbag stamp.

                On a small piece of card approx 5" x  5" I stamped the handbag into place with Black Archival ink then I positioned my square aperture stencil over the top of the handbag. 

                          Mask the handbag off first before covering with the stencil.
                                                           

       

                Brush your selected shade of ink through the aperture, I used Adirondack Wild Plum. 
   Scrunch up a piece of copy paper really well then dip in your ink pad and blot over your coloured square. Just gives a bit of interest to the background. Remove all the masking tapes and stencil.

      I have actually stamped a little flower onto the bag but on the finished card I ended up adding a paper flower. Paint the bag with some diluted ink. then finish off the card by edging with black and mounting onto a card base. I used a 6 x 6" card blank.

                   
                                           Below is a another one I did in another colour.

           While I was busy at my desk I got another two different ones made. Below are the pictures.   

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   Hope you like these. I have some parchment cards to make as well so will share those as soon as they are finished. Have a lovely weekend. xx

FINAL END TO CHRISTMAS CARDS

        Just popped back with last two designs of Christmas cards then I think it is time to move onto
    some lovely new things for this year. Although I am hoping to get my cards made earlier this year,      try to avoid that last minute rush.


                                I received a beautiful card from a very good friend Shelagh
                                Metselaar, a very talented lady. I met her at one of the Clarity
                                retreats.

     
               So although this is not my design, I thought I would share it with you all.


                            The last one is the one I gave to my husband.

 
     I am afraid I realised about two days before Christmas that I had not made him a card. I used Clarity stencil and stamp. I stamped the deer in Sepia Archival ink and positioned the stencil
on top then brushed some blue ink over, putting a moon mask in place first. Make it a bit darker around the edges. Removed stencil and moon mask then just brushed over moon a little. went round the circle with a micron pen and added a greeting. 


    Well he liked it anyway but I had better make sure his Valentine card is a bit more special.

         Thanks for dropping in. xxxx                   

NEW YEAR, FRESH START

                                                  Happy New Year to all of you.



                     I hope you have all had a lovely Christmas and enjoyed the New Year celebrations. I have been struggling with the after effects of a cold all over Christmas but it has not affected me enjoying myself. I was very lucky in that my sons took over the catering, fist time they have both cooked Christmas dinner. They did an excellent job with Guy and Hayley taking on Christmas Day and Greg and Amie entertaining us all on Boxing Day.


                    Did you all have lots of new craft stash for gifts. I had some new Groovi plates which for those of you that don't know are for transferring designs onto parchment paper. Much easier than tracing. These are made by Claritystamp.


                     I made a few parchment cards for Christmas but really should have started earlier as they take quite a while. So these were just for the special ones. Below are a few.

     
                        The two above were started in a workshop with Josie Davidson and Chris Walker. Both very talented ladies. I love doing the intricate gridwork. Takes a while but I think you will agree very effective.

           
                  This one above was for my nephew's 50th birthday which we all got together to celebrate.

                     
                     This one went to my great niece. She loves some sparkle so I added glitter wherever I could. I started the deign in a class with my parchment tutor Pat White but did the majority of it at home.

                    Another example of the gridwork I love. The centre snowflake is a design by Claritystamp.

         Finally a little decoration I made using some of the beautiful parchment papers from Claritystamp again. I do buy a lot from them, the quality is wonderful.


              So all that is left is to wish you all a healthy and happy new year. I hope to get here and blog
  a lot more. I have loads of things I want to make. XXX