Carpe Diem - Stamps by Clarity

Clarity Stamps have produced paper pads that make great bases for backgrounds.

In this example I have used some ink to make the sun and hills appear and stamped the girl and branch to complete the scene.

I used a pen to edge the cardstock so it appears as if I have mounted it onto black card stock.  I love the clean fresh look don't you?

Stamping with Carabelle Stamps

Hi there crafters.  I have spent the morning playing with my three Carabelle Studio Stamps sets that I have.  These stamps are deeply etched white rubber mounted on EZ Mount and produced by a French company. They work well with your Distress Inks, spritzers etc. Anyway, it was an opportunity to play around with them and this is what I produced.  

I wasn't sure about the first one but really like the second and third.  It was too tempting to colour them but they would look equally good in black and white against the coloured background.

Skull-tastic

Everywhere you look at the moment you see products with skulls on.  Handbags, phone covers, t-shirts, you name it including stamps.

I have some Sheena "Day of the Dead" stamps and also some skull stamps from Stamp Addicts "Skull-tastic" stamps.

I didn't realise that the Day of the Dead is a holiday celebrated in central and southern Mexico during the days of 1 and 2 November. This also coincides with the Catholic holiday called All Soul's and All Saint's Day, the Mexican people have combined this with their own ancient beliefs in honoring their deceased love ones.

They belief the gates of heaven are opened at midnight on October 31, and the spirits of all deceased children are allowed to reunite with their families for 24 hours.  On November 2 the spirits of the adults come down to enjoy the festivities that are prepared for them.

Apparently it is a very expensive holiday time but outweighed by the belief that happy spirits will provide protection, good luck and wisdom to their families.  I particularly like the multi coloured skulls such as this one.

So here are a few cards I have made using my Skull-tastic stamps by Stamp Addicts.

They lend themselves to any occasion!

Including making fun Christmas Cards!

Stamping around!

I have been playing around with some stamp sets by Leoni Pujol.  I have used some fusible fibres on some of these.  Leoni released these new stamps on the Hochanda Show recently.  It has become my favourite TV craft show for inspiration.  

The first card I made was very simple to do. In fact it took me longer to delve into the back of my cupboard to find my fusible fibres and craft iron!  I simply ironed the fusible fibres between a heat resistant craft mat to fuse the fibres together.  I then used Leoni's heart stamp as a guide to cut around as I liked its quirky shape.  

On this next card I joined several of these hearts together to form petals of a  a flower.


















I used a technique new to me on this card's background below.  I applied ink to the stamp and then misted it before stamping.  I then re-stamped the card over the top of it once it was dry.  I then stamped and coloured some butterflies and stuck these one.

This time I use white embossing powder and stamped the card before applying my aqua paints.  I really love this effect.

On this last card it was this stamp set that I fell in love with.  I just loved the image of the young girl and the idea of making the wings look real with fusible fibre as demonstrated by Leoni on the Hochanda Show.  I had been playing with my aqua tint inks and had some cardstock left over which had fleshy colours so I was able to use this card to make the flesh look life like.

Leonie's Wee Stamps

I couldn't resist getting my hands on these little stamps by Leoni Pujol.   They are really useful for pattern building.

I created my own stencil of the word "Father's Day" using my Cameo Silhouette and then used some Stencil Glue by Pinflair.  This is a really good product.  You use a sponge to apply it, wait five minutes then you have a tacky background.    I then stuck down the words and sponged colour over this. Following this I stamped these little dies over the words and finally, coloured them in with sparkle pens and gel pens.  Only when I had completely finished working on the card did I peel away the words to reveal the area underneath.

Here is the end result.  I hope you enjoy them.

A stamping day

What better way to spend a day off work than to sit in my little craft room and be able to craft away!  I don't do a lot of stamping but I was recently inspired by watching Wendy on the Create & Craft channel using her stamps from her company Card-io.

The floral stamps are tiny and you need acrylic rods to mount them on for stamping.  The earliest ones I have in my collection came from www.rubberstamptapestry.com and are wooden dowels with the stamps mounted on the ends.  The dowels also keep your fingers away from the ink pads so there is less smudging and inky finger prints.

One advantage of using these small stamps is you can use small ink pads too, which have the bonus of not taking up much space. I use the little Versacolor ink pads and at £1.50 a pad, they are very affordable. Versacolor is pigment ink that stamps beautifully and allows for more than one impression before re-inking. This term is often referred to as "stamping off" and it gives depth and dimension to the finished artwork.

I re-visited my stamp collections from Card-io and Rubber Stamp Tapestry and made the following cards.  

These ones were made using the Summer Garden collection of stamps from Card-io.  I should like to make another one now and this time make it a "New Home" card. 

I also love the watering can in this set and got the idea of using the border down the side of the card and the colour combination from a fellow crafter http://suelesley.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/card-io-stamps.html .  Thank you Sue for the idea.  You will notice that I have put my own spin on this design, having put the border on the right side of my card and created an embossed line.  I am really pleased with the colour combination.

Here is an earlier attempt, for some reason I didn't manage to stamp it straight.

and another!

A wheelbarrow stamp is also included in this set of stamps. 

I wasn't too pleased with the end result but it is all about playing with the stamps and coming up card ideas and getting the right colour combination for the cards.

This next card is used from the Celebrations set, I can see many uses for this set of stamps.

Believe it or not, it includes a bunny rabbit so I used some of my egg peg stamps from Rubber Stamp Tapestry in this card.  I know it looks like an Easter Card but I am pleased with the result.  It is just begging for me to stamp it with an appropriate Easter sentiment and it is complete.  

The edging is Wendy's signature which is catching on as I noticed Barbara Gray uses it.

And finally a couple of cards with a Christmas theme.  Here I have used both Card-io and Rubber Stamp Tapestry stamps. I did the first one in monochrome and for the second added some colour. 

They are both nice but I think I like the monochrome look best.

A Taste of India

I am full of crafty happiness this weekend.  I have been learning some new techniques for blending my dye inks and have some new stamps and dies to play with.  The theme is "A Taste of India".

Once again Sheena Douglass has designed some lovely stamps and embossing folders that work well together.  She has also found different ways of using glycerin with card.  I have already tried her faux leather technique and made a book jacket as a gift for my mum.  You can watch Sheena demonstrate this technique on her YouTube video found Sheena's Faux Leather.

Her latest discovery is using glycerin as a base before using dye based inks as it aids the blending process.  I have tried this process in the card I have attached here.

This first card I made I embossed some pearlescent card stock then used my Stazon Ink Pad over the surface to highlight the embossed area.  I then lightly sponged glycerin onto the card surface.  I used Adirondack Inks in Lettuce, Wild Plum, Eggplant and Stream colours and blended them all over the card.  This card came out quite pale in comparison to the second example.  The difference with this second example is that I didn't use pearlescent card stock which made the colours much stronger.  

I also used some H20s on this second example over the embossed areas to add some shimmer to the card.  I love the strong vibrancy of the colours.

Another card coming soon!

In the classroom

The first weekend in every month is reserved for the classroom.  It is an opportunity for me to try new techniques and improve existing crafting skills.  In the classroom with Barbara Grey appears on the Create & Craft TV channel 36. This weekend Barbara got out the Gelli Plate which is used for mono printing and demonstrated how you could combine the art of stamping with acrylic paints.    I followed along but I am not ready to share my efforts with you yet!    

If you are intrigued to know what you can do with this Gelli Plate then I recommend you watch one of Andy Skinner's video's on You Tube.  I have shared a quick link to it - "Deco art Traditions and Gelli Plates... a match made in Heaven!" 


Meanwhile, I had a go at something I am more akin to, stamping and brayering and here is the results.  

I was quite pleased considering I was following Barbara's workshop whilst it was being broadcast live.    

Both the Nativity scene and the jigsaw set were purchased from Clarity Stamps  as well as the lettering.  

Now I have had a go at the techniques, I may work on these designs.