Lesson 16 Windmill and Reeds Kit

Good afternoon,
As promised the last of my samples from my March selection of DT samples.
This is using the next lesson kit which Barbara will be showing on TV on the 4th May so I hope you can join in the lesson.
I wanted to do something rustic with these stamps and thoughts of corn dollies and harvest came to mind and also the Yule Goat seemed to fit quite well with this set.
I used one of the mini stamps to pattern build my version of a corn dolly pattern.
Natural and Kraft card added to the feel of this rustic design along with the raffia, ribbons and bakers twine to add further interest.
I plaited a piece of raffia and used a selection of dies to compliment the design.
I'm looking forward to seeing what Barbara and the rest of the DT do with these stamps and don't forget you will be able to contribute and send in your homework after class!
Hope you like this and now I'm off to make some samples for the Clarity German TV shows in May, make some clocks and hopefully have a play with my new toy, my Melt Pot.
Thanks for reading xKx

Laurel

Well I should have finished blogging my DT samples last week but as usual time just flew by!
I a pleased to say I'm almost caught up with my crafting backlog so it's nice to be enjoy it at a more steady pace!
Yesterday I went to Ally Pally and thoroughly enjoyed my day catching up with fellow crafters and friends and enjoying the fab demo's.
I'm glad I didn't venture there on Sat apparently it was heaving! obviously some things have sold out by Sun but it was a more pleasant experience.
Of course I added to my stash, additions include, the Melt Pot :-)) and some items to alter.
Today's offering is a very simple design using Laurel and the background stamp along with the "Thing of Beauty quote"
I mixed the stamps with some dies and coloured with pro markers and added some shading around the die edges.
A ribbon bow and gems finished the card.
Thanks for popping by and I hope you have a good week,
 I have one more project to blog which will complete this set of samples xKx

Something out of my comfort zone

I made this for a friend and neighbour of mine who is also into craft and card making.
I usually try and do something a bit different for her birthday and having been so inspired recently by Hels Sheridan's wonderful creations I decided to experiment a bit myself.
The shaped card is made using the Hougie Board, I wasn't too sure about the shape at first but it all seemed to work quite well in the end.
I used Clarity card to make the distressed backgrounds, spritz with water and laid onto a mix of scattered straw, seedless preserves and forest moss distress stains.
Then used a chicken wire/trellis mask to add interest in some areas, blending scattered straw distress ink from ink pad.
The birds, leaves, flowers and flourishes were from Heartfelt Creations and Spellbinders dies, blended with the same colourways as the background.
I cut the various pieces from my distress background cards to form the sections to layer on top of shaped card.
Then I decided what die cuts to use and chose the colouring for them from my themed colours.
I added the greeting on the reverse side of the centre diamond shape and made a box to present the finished card.
Thanks for visiting xKx

Annabel and Douglas go to the Prom

Good Morning,
I hope you had a good weekend and thought I'd start the week by sharing this monochrome make with you.
I decided that Douglas with his funky hair was the perfect match with Annabel and also knew I wanted to keep things simple for this one.
I thought he'd look great stamped and embossed in white on black and this determined the card design really along with the funky style.
To try something different I went with the triangle shaping, layered up.
Ric-rac, ribbon, candy and a flower completed the design along with the wording and numbers from the letterbox kit.
Once I started this card inspiration hit for the "Prom" idea, I hope you like it.
I have a couple more makes from this months design work to share with you but, in the meantime trust you are having a good day and start to the week...xKx

Shell Seeker

Last of my "Shell" designs and it's nice to be posting these with the sun shining for a change!
Another idea I liked was to try embossing the shells with Shabby White Fran-tage embossing powder.
Firstly I used a piece of Clarity card and distressed with scattered straw distress ink and water.
I then used a mask and blended peacock feathers distress ink over the top.
The shells were stamped and embossed and coloured with some distress ink mixed with water before adding the larger shell coloured with scattered straw.
I used spellbinders to layer up the stamped verse which had been coloured in the same two ink colour combination.
String and dew drops add the finishing touches.
I really like these colours together.
Next posts move on to Douglas, Laurel and the Lesson 16 Kit.

"Message in a Bottle"

Another "inspiration" for me from these gorgeous stamp sets was the theme of one if my favourite films
 "Message in a Bottle"
I wanted my finished design to have a romantic feel.
Again I used a mix of the two sets "Walk Along the Sea" and "Shell to Your Ear"
I stamped the shell border along the base of my card and masked off while I created the Sunset, Sea and Sand background.
I coloured the shells with colour pencils.
The Scroll was printed on parchment paper cut around and then aged with tea dye distress ink.
Acetate was used for the bottle and inside the addition of shrink plastic shells, sand and pearls and a label tied to the finish the bottle.
Glamour dust, pearls and sand complete the seashore and once layered up extra pearls were used on the twisted organza ribbon.
Barbara's classroom was great yesterday and this mornings shows so inspirational too!
Hope you can tune in again for this afternoon...
More makes to follow from me later....xKx

She saw seashells on the seashore...

So a new style of clock for me to show you today and the term "square peg round hole" springs to mind with this design!
When I first saw the shell corner from the "Walk Along the Sea" kit I knew I wanted to make some sort of 3D frame.
Initially I thought about making it into a mini picture to hang or stand, something dimensional.
I made a sample frame to start with and then when I looked at the centre opening it occurred to me it was about the size of my clock faces. So the clock idea for this was born from there!
My vision was to create an "antique" looking clock something that may have once been a treasured possession.
The frame was made by stamping the shell corner four times to form the frame and embossing it in gold.
I used the splodge mat with distress ink pads in antique linen and victorian velvet to blend colour onto the shell frame and mounted it onto a second piece of card for strength before cutting it out.
I cut my own chipboard by using 3 layers of cereal carton for the square background behind the frame and punched a central hole for my clock fitting.
The background on the square was created on a further piece of white card to which I blended distress ink pads again this time using, antique linen and tea dye.
Then I used the crackle stamp, stamped in tea dye over the background this was then glued on top of the chipboard base.
I cut the inner circle from a spellbinders grand circle and stamped and embossed the numbers from the Clarity Numbers and Symbols lesson 13 Kit. Then used the victorian velvet in the centre to colour and stamp the crackle stamp and the antique linen on the outer rim blended inwards.
The embellishments were made by shrinking the verses and various shells in shrink plastic from the "Shell to Your Ear" and "Walk Along the Sea" Kits.
To add further dimension to the frame I decoupaged and layered up some of the shells and once
finished assembled with the clock movement.

A New Term Begins "Lesson 15" Clarity Stamps

Good Evening,
Hope you've had a Good Friday evening and have a nice weekend ahead.
It's been so cold again this week and we had snow again yesterday but, thankfully now all clear!
I'm looking forward to catching up with Barbara on TV this weekend and can't wait to see what she has planned with the Gelli Plate and what the other DT members have designed with the new stamps.
Saturday show - A New Tern Begins "In The Classroom"
Sunday shows - Stamping with Clarity
I will be watching and crafting, I did some crafting today but had one of those day where nothing quite went right, I guess all crafters have those days and just had to think that when I return to the project in question another day it will prove to be more productive....Here's hoping.

Anyway I thought I'd post this refresher for tomorrow's classroom show, a quick make of mine with the new lesson 15 stamp set " Making A Point Kit"
Enjoy the lesson and I'll be back posting my makes for Sunday's shows soon xKx

"In The Garden"

Hello there!
Hope you're all enjoying the Easter break and lots of chocolate treats, but!...
Don't be an "April Fool" why not pop over and join us this month for the second Clarity challenge with the theme of
"In The Garden"
Clarity Stamp Challenge Blog
The first month's launch with the theme of "Anything Goes" was overwhelming!
The standard of entries was just so high and I know that like me all the Clarity Ladies were so impressed and amazed by the almost 90 entries received, Thank You All so much for joining in!
The winner of the £50 voucher and our chosen top 5 have been announced over on the blog so Congratulations and very well done!
I've been relaxing when I can and preparing my samples for the Clarity TV shows next weekend.
It's not exactly been the weather for getting in the garden, sooo cold!
I have a couple of pots of Tete-a- Tete's outside the patio doors and although it's not been garden weather, yesterday the sun did shine through early morning and I sat with my cup of tea admiring these cheerful bulbs.
A couple of these bulbs I received at a memorial church service after loosing my Dad, I added them to my pots and now they bloom with the rest and give me happy thoughts about my Dad who loved his garden so much.
For this month's challenge card I decided to try and create "The Seasons" through the garden, although I have to say our seasons are not what they use to be are they??!! All so mixed up!
However sticking to tradition this is what I came up with, I hope you like it and thank you for reading my blog.
Enjoy the rest if your Easter break xKx