Monday 4 November 2013

Clarity Christmas Challenge

 


This is my star card using all 10 of the Twas the Night stamps and the framer.  This was a time consuming card and took 4 days to complete.

Here are some more pictures of the card:










Please accept this as my entry to the Clarity Challenge.

Thank you for reading this

Love Em x



 

Tuesday 29 October 2013

Clarity Winter Challenge
 


Hello Everyone

Wow! I really have been a lazy blogger or rather so much has happened that I haven't had much time to blog in recent weeks.  However, this was a challenge opportunity that I couldn't afford to miss.  Winter card scenes are one of my favourites anyway and with some of the new products it was a great chance to just play.

I used the treescape stencil along with lake mist and juniper Adiroindak inks to create the background.  I then used a white pilot pen to add the snow.  The stamping is done using the English Garden Elements set.  It is easily one of my favourite stamp sets.  Hopefully it has created quite a nice winter scene.

It was a bit of a happy accident really as it was originally meant to be square but I didn't like part of it and so cut it down.

Please accept this as my winter Clarity challenge entry.

Much Love Emily xxx

 

Sunday 16 June 2013

Clarity Challenge 4 Mr & Mrs

 




Hello!  Sorry I have been a bad blogger and not blogged for a while but my husband is currently working away and so I have had to go to work, look after my son and pets, be taxi and house-keeper all by myself so I haven't had much time for anything else.  However, this is my design for the current challenge.
 
I have used the following clarity stamps:
 
Douglas and his pattern
Lily and her pattern
Grasses 1
blossom
A bit of the Blooming Corner stamp
 
The brayering was done using the following Adirondak inks:
 
sail boat blue
lettuce green
 
Thanks for reading this.  I will try to update more regularly
 
Love Emily xx
 
 


Friday 26 April 2013

Clarity Blog Challenge 2

 

'In The Garden'

 
 
 
 
 
This is my interpretation of 'In the Garden' and it includes many of my favourite Clarity Stamps.  I have used the following stamps:
 
The Funky Tree Kit
The Funky Cottage Kit and mask
The Blooming Corner kit
The Cherry Blossom
The Lupin (Design club stamp)
The Cow parsley (Design club stamp)
 
I used various masking and scene setting techniques to create the scene and then used promarkers to colour.  I used Adirondak ink pads in Sail Boat Blue, Lettuce and Sunshine Yellow to complate the background.
 
This artwork really reminds me of a country cottage garden feel and I would be pleased if it could be entered into the challenge.
 
Many Thanks to all those of you who have taken the time to read this,
 
Emily x

Sunday 10 March 2013

Tesselation using the March Design Club Stamp
 
 




Hello Everyone!

For anyone who knows me you will be aware that we are all going through a very tough time at the moment as my Father-in-Law is very unwell and is in intensive care suffering with double pneumonia.  This is hugely distressing for my husband, his mother and his brothers.  We are praying for some positive news but taking each hour at a time.

This card may not be perfect, but the task was to take my mind of things for a bit and actually I am quite pleased with the result. 

I take no shame in that it is clearly a version of the card Barbara did in the Design Club pack.  I think this cow parsley is a gorgeous, very useful little stamp.  I love the way it tesselates into itself to make a border.

This simple little card involved me getting out the brayer.  I used 2 colours of Adirondak ink- the bottom is done in Terracotta and the top in Pink Sherbert.  I removed lots of ink so that the brayered backgound was very light.  I then stamped the image repeatedly in black ink so it tesselated across the page.  I then used at 01 Micron pen to outline the images and the bottom of the page.

I added interest to the main card stock by distressing the A5 card using the same 2 colours as mentioned above.  I wanted it to look very random and not in any way perfect to give a kind of country feel to it.  I then matted and layered using peach and pink card and used the 'May your Dreams come True' sentiment to finish it off.  I hope you like the result. 

Lots of Love

Emily x

Thursday 7 March 2013

CLARITY CLUB BLOG CHALLENGE ARTWORK


This is the artwork I wish to submit for the March Challenge...Anything goes ...



 
 
This exploding box uses the following Clarity Stamps:

The Design Club Celtic Box
The Design Club Mask
The Wire Heart
The Butterfly

I have also used the following Promarkers:

Hot pink
Rose pink
Pale pink
Violet
Lilac
Winter Berry

Overall 101 stamped images were used on this project and it  me 6 days on and off to complete. 

I started off by finding myself a template for the box and drawing it out and scoring the lines.  I cut out each pannel and marked a grid on it.  I carefully aligned my stamp tiles so as to form the pattern.  I then used the mask, butterfly and heart as decoration in the middle to catch the eye.  Each layer has a different middle design ( layer 1 has the mask, layer 2 the butterfly and layer 3 the butterfly).  These middle designs are raised up with foam pads to make them stand out.

 
 
 
 


The did outside panels were done in the same way although 2 have butteeflies and 2 masks.  The lid again was completed in the same way and is decorated with 2 hearts and some lilac and hot pink ribbon.

 
 

This was a very enjoyable project and I hope it is enjoyed by all those who see it in the challenge. 

Friday 1 March 2013


Careful Manipulation of the Brayer


Hello Everyone!

Well this is not the most perfect card in the world, but it is entering new territory for me as I have never tried a card that invloves so much brayering in different ways and also only using one colour.  I saw that Andy's Stamping Group were creating a card along these lines which inspired me to wonder could think through the process and create a similar card.  I love how effective only using one colour can be.

I chose to use the Adirondak ink Pool.  I decided to use Clarity coated paper as I find this the best for brayering.  To begin with I created my hill masks.  I began by putting in the dark hill in the forground.  I then did the lake using the crumpled paper technique (for anyone who has not watched Barbara Gray on the tv this is where you scrunch up a piece of copy paper and run the brayer over it to pick up the textured effect.  This is then run across the paer and gives the water effect.  very simple yet very effective).  After this I used another mask to put in the backgound hills.  I finished the brayering off by doing the sky- this was done just using the remaining ink left on the brayer.  NB I must add that I now use a splodemat to get the desired amount of colour as it wastes so much ink that using endless copy paper. 

Then I came on to stamping.  Firstly I put the church in the foreground.  I used a little bit of ink on a sponge to ground it and add a bit of shade.  I then put in the baloons and the flock of birds.  I stamped one ballon off the page to try and create the illusion of perspective.  Lastly I stamped the trees.  I wanted to make thes look as if they were reflected in the water.  I still find doing reflections hard.  The brayer over the image and then rolled it onto the page.  It is a great effect but I still find matching up the reflected image with the original image very hard to acheive especially with such a small stamp.  Hopefully I have done okay though.

Combining so many techniques in one piece of artwork was a challenge in itself for me.  I think maybe I will have a few more goes at this using different colours. 

Thank you once again for reading this,

Love Emily xx


Monday 25 February 2013



Clarity Mask Design Club Stamp and Pan Pastels


This was today's make.  I used an older clarity design club stamp that has been lurking in my stash.  I stamped it 3 times and cut into rectangular boxes.  I then coloured 2 in with an amethyst Promarker and one with a violet Promarker.  I then embelished the 2 amethyst maks with pink gems and the vilot one with silver gems.  I then distressed the edges using violet tint pan pastel and edged using amethyst or violet Promarkers.

To do the background I stamped the mask several times some off and some whole on the page using versa mark ink.  I then went over this using violet tint mixed with a little pink pan pastel.  Again I edged in amethyst.  I then matted and layered the card.

I have to say I am rather pleased with the finished result and am now more determined to buy more pan pastels.  They are so easy to use.

Well best sign off now as Hubby needs the computer!

Lots of Love Emily xx


My Craft Space


Oh dear!  The total shame- this is my craft space- I cannot call it a room as I share the room with a computer, my 'cruise' wardrobe and a bookcase!  I don't even have a desk!!!  But hey this little stash is all mine built up over the last 7 years.

Saturday 23 February 2013



Clarity Club Design Stamp Feb 2013


Well here it is- my card that used 31 of the design Club stamps.  I coloured them all using Azure, cool grey 5, twylight sky and powder blue Promarkers. The idea was a slightly retro looking card. I then did five decoupaged areas which I reotated so they were diamond shaped.  Each had a raised base layer and 2 further layers to give some depth and add some interest to the design.

This was a very time consumming card which I did over the course of a few days.  I am quite pleased with the final result. 

I have really enjoyed experimenting with this month's stamp.  It lends itself to tesselation, cutting in half and into quarters and then pattern building.  Changing the colours used changes the card quite dramatically. 

Here are some other designs I have produced :









 As you can see a very versitle little tile stamp.

Take Care Emily x



Friday 22 February 2013



3 Clarity Cottages


This is another card using the Clarity Funky Cottages and gate set.  This took a while as I attempted to build up the scene.  I put the cottages in first and then masked them.  I had to make additional masks as there weren't enough in the set.  I used the blooming forner extension bar for the flowers and one of the grass stamps for the additional foliage. I created the background using home made cloud and hill masks and sponges.  The ink pads were denim and lettuce.  I masked the sun and sponged it using bright yellow Adirondak.  I even did a bit of freehand drawing on this one as I drew the pond!  ll colouring is done once again with Promarkers.  I am lucky in that I have many of the colours.

The background of the card was a bit of a gamble for me but I thought the small leaf stamp would tie in with the rest of the card and draw the eye into the scene on the card.  I am actually really pleased with the result as it has meant that I have diversified from my normal lined edged backgrounds. 

Sorry this is a short blog opost but I have to take my son Henry to his swimming lesson now :
Henry insisted I took his picture and put it up so here he is - 7 year old Henry!

Loving you and leaving you now

Hugs Emily x




Clarity Funky Cottage Scene


Hello and welcome to my very first crafty blog post.  Forgive me for still being a novice and making lots of mistakes- any advise and help gratefully received.  I even have to admit that we have a brand new camera and I had to ask my hubby where the USB lead attatched to it- oops!  Nevermind - we all have to start somewhere and here it is....

This is a scene card made using Clarity stamps.  I used the Funky cottage kit to stamp the house and the gate.  Then I used the tree from the kingfisher kit plus the leaf from that kit and then the tree from the remountable village set and the small flcok of birds from the harbour remountable set.  I masked the gate and house whilst doing the background.  The sky is done in Stonewash blue Adirondack ink using the brayer.  I punched the moon mask using a circular x cut punch.  The ills were done using a make up sponge and lettuce green Adirondak ink.  The leaves were done in bottle and I used multiple leaves to create the hedge.

All the colouring was done using Promarkers.  I invested in Promarkers several years ago now and feel they suit my needs and have a wide colour choice.  I use them for almost all of my craft work.  I finished my piece by edging with a black whispers brush marker (left over from the days when I thought these were the bees knees before I made the change to Promarkers).

I know this card isn't perfect but I am quite pleased with it especially for my first attempt using the new kit.

I so wish I had more time to craft but with the constraints of having a cat, 2 guinea pigs, a husband and a 7 year old son (who has a greater social life that me) it is quite hard tio find much spare time.  I have however recently started at the Clarity Southwest stampers group and so hopefully I will improve my techniques. 

Thank you for taking the time to read this blog post.

Much Love

Emily x

Saturday 16 February 2013

Hello!

My name is Emily Follett.  I am 35 years old and live in Devon with my husband, 7 year old son Tonkinese cat and 2 Peruvian (very long haired) guinea pigs. 

I have been crafting, particularly stamping for about 7 years now.  I enjiy stamping with Clarity stamps and the art of brayering.

This blog is just a small platform for me to showcase some of the craft work I do.