Clarity Stamps, a Brayer and a Splodge Away Mat - essential! And a Snippet

Two very different cards, but both using Clarity Stamps.  This first one, is fairly simple to achieve.  The background is one that I had in the box from when I used to just play with the bits left over from the paper with the excess ink from the brayer.  I liked the way this one was blended across the paper, giving a real feel of heat.  The stamps is a Clarity one, the Daydreamer, and I just stamped it direct to the background with black Adirondack.  This is my Snippet card for Pixie's Snippet Challenge for this week - all the bits came from the bits box.

The second card is a completely different kettle of fish, and took a long time to work out.  Before I started this card, my desk was tidy.  Now the entire room looks as if a bomb has gone off in there.  All the stuff I showed yesterday is still there but either buried or shoved to the left.  I had to finish this card today as it is needed tomorrow lunchtime, so tidying up was not an option.

I wanted a card very simple in style for this friend.  She definitely likes the LIM style and also likes the elegant lady type of card.  The lady is the Large Sketchy Lady from Clarity Stamps, and was the first thing to put into place.  I also had to cut myself a mask to protect this image from the rest of the card.  You may recognise the Paris skyline at the bottom, which is actually the ready cut mask from Clarity.  I had to cut the card down a bit as the Eiffel Tower would otherwise have been totally hidden by the lady, so it had to move a bit.  I used a make up sponge to apply the colours to the skyline from the Soothing Sunset Big and Juicy inkpad, keeping the colour paler on the side nearest the sun.  Once I was happy with that, I swapped the one mask for the other (with the masks from Clarity you get the innie and the outie, for the want of a better description), and used the same inkpad to brayer the background.   Then I loaded the brayer with the blue from the Waterfall Big and Juicy to brayer round the edges.

Once all the background was complete, I removed the mask from the lady and coloured her face and neck and legs with a Promarker, and a purple one for her shoes.  Then I got out something I have had around for ages and not tried - the Angelina fibre and film.   Then I had to extract the travel iron form beneath a mountain of other stuff and put it together and get it heated up - it has never been used since we bought it for the caravan years ago.  I inked up the lady with Stazon and put her onto the stand, then loaded it with two colours of fibre and film.  I did remember to put a piece of cooking parchment on top to protect the iron, then applied heat until the ink showed through all over, let it cool and removed it from the stamp.    Then I cut around her, removing the dress and the hat, all the rest going back into a bag for use on another project later.  The dress and the hat then had a bit of Pinflair glue gel on the back to attach it to the stamped image.  The only other thing was the addition of a silver peel off which I coloured with a purple Promarker to blend with the lady and the background, and I edged the card with the same Promarker.

Splodge Away Mat

Several people have asked me recently what the benefits are of using a Splodge mat, I thought I would write down the advantages I have found so far.  

I used the Splodge mat to hold the colour I wanted, which means you save a massive amount of ink and get much more control over the application.  This brilliant mat just holds the ink for you to return to as needed, and only gives as much as you need.  I used it for the sponge and definitely for the brayer work.  

It makes brayering almost foolproof, but even more important in these cash strapped days, it save on ink and paper.  No longer do you need to ink up the brayer heavily and lay most of it down on scrap paper and repeat the process several times to get the right colour level.  No wheelies either.  You just ink up the centre of the brayer, and work it well into the Splodge mat, and work your ink from there.  Instead of going back to the pad for more ink, you just return to the mat for your refill.

You can also use the mat for stamping, just inking your stamp from the ink on the mat.  Again, you get just the right amount of ink for a perfect image..  

Don't be in too much of a hurry to clean off your mat (all that needs is water and kitchen paper - never use a baby wipe).  The ink will stay usable on the mat for several days - I have left it for a week and still been able to use it successfully.

Hope this is a help to anyone who is thinking about buying a Splodge Away Mat.  I can only speak about the genuine mat, not the seemingly similar mats that have appeared since.  My feeling is always that you should try to use the best tools - they usually work out cheaper in the end, and give you the best results.

Less is More - Yellow

This card is for this week's challenge for Less is More, which is to use the colour yellow.

I have to give credit for the sun idea to Emma Williams, who is one of Barbara Gray's talented team of designers.  I saw it done on one of her Create and Craft samples, and stored the thought away for future use.  It is just a case of dividing up a semicircle into segments and sponging different shades into each one.  I used one of the Big and Juicy ink pads, the Soothing Sunset one, and sponged direct on to the plain white card.

The glorious unicorn is from the Dufex range, and is one of a set of decoupage.  I just used the second layer as I wanted it to stay simple.  Sadly, a plain photo does not really do the unicorn justice as it catches the light beautifully.  I am very fussy about unicorns and they have to be good models of a horse before adding the horn.  This one is not too bad from that point of view. 

The sentiment is my one and only "Happy Birthday" stamp, and that again was stamped using the Soothing Sunset, covering two separate sections of colour to shade it slightly.

I love Barbara Gray

Finally, the creative juices are starting to flow, and new things are being tried - not just finishing off old ones.  Having watched Barbara Gray on Sunday (I do wish Create and Craft wouldn't alter the times - it made a mess of my pre-set recording), I was dying to have another go at brayering.  I know all the theory, but actually putting it into practice is very different.  

I stamped the silver birches onto the silk card, and then followed what she had done with the Versamark pen and clear embossing powder, covering the trees themselves.  The first attempt was rubbish.  Not sure if it was the pen (lack of use), not enough powder or the just a rubbish crafter.  So once it had cooled, I added more Versamark and more powder and reheated.  Much better this time.  I really wanted to use a dark colour, a pale grey or something like that, but I haven't got that yet.  The darkest I had was the Mountain Meadow Big and Juicy, so that is what I used.  Having inked up the brayer, I duly took off what I thought was most of the ink and started flicking the brayer across.  Wrong!  I needed to take off much more ink.  The background is now far too bright for what I wanted, so that attempt will go on the shelf until I decide how I can recover it for use.  Never mind, it was only a play, and you don't get things right every time.  Hopefully, you learn.  I did have another go with the brayer, this time taking off so much ink I could not see any left on the brayer.  The result was much better, so that piece of card will also go onto the shelf until I decide what to stamp onto it.

I also had a go at stamping onto acetate, then spraying with adhesive and applying silver leaf to the back.  after burnishing that, I mounted it onto plain black card, then onto silver mirri card, and onto black again, before mounting the whole thing onto a piece of pearlescent white card.  I was quite pleased with the result, which will make quite a good card for a man, being very plain and simple.  I can print a sentiment off on acetate, back that with silver leaf and mount that up below the image.

I am so pleased with my new printer.  It will print everything I have tried so far, including quite thick card, up to 350gsm, which is what I had hoped for.  So I can use it to print a background direct to the card before matting an layering on top of it.  I even tried with a piece of textured card.  Perfect!

By the way, how does anyone else store Clarity stamps to keep them safe, but accessible?  Mine are still stuffed in the box and the paper they came in.  Not good as I cannot remember what I have, so if I want anything, they all come out.  Any ideas gratefully received.

Brayering

This is my first attempt at using the brayer, together with the Big and Juicy Foliage ink pad.  My very first go, ended up as the backing layer,  The second real go did not turn out too badly, having sat and watched Barbara Gray for 2 hours this morning.  Then I had to find a suitable stamp to use this background on.  I had intended to use one of my Pilkington countryside scenes, but I could not find them to begin with - not surprising as I am working in what amounts to a corridor while my craft room is redecorated.  I did come across this stamp, which was at the top of the pile as it was a new one, and it seemed to fit the bill nicely.  The result was trimmed and mounted on another of the silk cards, also trimmed and mounted on the previously created backing layer.  As usual, I now have to make a suitable envelope to fit the trimmed down cardstock - I never work to the size I have.  It may not be a complicated card, but then I am only following Barbara Gray, who did say that if you need to produce a lot of cards in a hurry, this is the style to choose (I wish I were half as good as she is).  I do need a lot of cards in a hurry this month and next month, so I think my brayering technique will get a lot of practice.