Lavinia Stamps "Zia" and the "Tree of Dreams".

I have no idea where this card came from in my head.  The only thing that I had in my mind was to use the Lavinia Stamps "Zia" as I've never used her before and she has been in my stash since the Steampunk collection were released.

I stamped "Zia" in Versafine Clair "Acorn" in second generation stamping, so that the image was quite light.  I then stamped another "zia" on a piece of scrap paper, fussy cut it and placed over the other one to use as a mask.

I then stamped the Lavinia "Texture 1" stamp in Versafine Clair "Morning Mist" either side of the face.

While the mask was in position, I stamped the "Tree of Dreams" in Versafine Clair "Acorn" brown ink. I used the same ink to multi stamp teh "Small Branch".

Over the Texture area and the "Tree of Dreams , I used a blending brush with "Antique Linen" Distress Oxide ink.  I decided to add a little brown and green to the background by using the Archival Inks called "Coffee" and "Leaf Green"

I removed the mask and coloured Zia's face using three shades of Distress Oxide Inks:  Tatterred Rose, Spun Sugar and Picked Raspberry applied with a brush.  I coloured her lips and eyes using a green Derwent Inktense Pencils.

I then started work on the hair area using the small Lavinia Pound stamp called "Mini Leaf Creeper" stamped in first and second generation stamping in Versafine Clair "Verdant" and Shady Lane.

I edged the card using "Bluebird" Archival Ink.  I then stamped the bird, part of the Lavinia "Birds Collection" in Versafine Clair "Acorn" brown ink.  

Finally, I added touches of white gel pens to the hair/leaf area.  I added the sentiment of "Dream" which is part of the "Inspire Me" stamp set, stamped in Verafine Clair "Morning Mist" grey ink.

Clarity Stamps "Dandelions" Sympathy Card

Sadly I needed a sympathy card, so made this one using Clarity Stamps and one of their stencils. 

I used the Clarity Stamps "Abstract Droplet Stencil" with Versafine Clair "Cheerful" yellow ink, fading the colour from the bottom right hand corner to the top left.

Using Versafine Clair "Blue Belle" ink, I stamped the Clarity "Dandelions" and the greeting from the "Entwined Sentiment" stamp set.

Finally, I added a few dots of white Ranger "Enamel Accents".

Clarity Stamps "Abstrace Squares" Male Birthday Card

I was looking at the Clarity "Abstract Squares" stencil and decided it would make a good male birthday card, so had a quick play.

Rather than using the whole Clarity Stamps 7x7" Abstract Squares Stencil, I opted to used less than half, placing it off the edge of the card.  Through the shapes, I used an assortment of Archival Inks.  The shades I used were:  Fern Green, Peat Moss, Garden Patina, Shadow Grey, Cobalt and Coffee.

I used Versafine Clair "Twilight" dark blue ink to stamp the sentiment, which is part of the Clarity "Christmas & Celebration Words" stamp set.  I used the same ink to stamp the "Kiss by Clarity - Doodle Discs and Framers" for the circular inked area.

Lavinia Stamps Textured Seascape Card

Last Friday, the lovely Amanda Branston did a demo of using texture paste with the new Lavinia Stamps Dinkles.  I was impressed, so decided to have a go myself. 

I lay a Sweet Poppy aperture circle stencil over my piece of card, then lay the Lavinia Stamps "Honeycomb Stencil" over the top, securing it with a piece of low tack tape.  I then applied Tim Holtz/Ranger Matte Distress Texture Paste with a palette knife.  I then used my heat gun to dry it. 

Once I was happy the paste was set, I repositioned the circular Sweet Poppy metal stencil and then spritzed the inner area of the circle with water. I then tapped small amounts of three shades of Lavinia Stamps "Dinkles" on to the spritzed surface, using Deep Yellow, Lime Divine and Sea Blue shades.  I gave an added spritz of water t ensure the powder dispersed then used my Tim Holtz hand held air puffer (I can't remember the proper name for it, but it's in the photo above), to blow the surplus water off the textureed area onto the white card. I continued to rotate the card so that the ink was blown outwards all the way round. I used a heat gun to dry off the area.

At this stage, I really wasn't sure what I was going to do with this textured circle, then I thought of a fishing net and that gave me the idea of a seascape.

I stamped a selection of Lavinia Stamps ocean stamps (Shoal of fish, Fish Set, Seaweed 2, Seaweed and Urchins) in Versafine Clair inks. I coloured them with Derwent Inktense pencils and then fussy cut and stuck the images on to the textured card.

Finally, I added some touches of silver glitter gel pen and then mounted the card on to a dark mauve piece of cardstock and then on to a card blank.

Funky Fossil Designs "Doodle Alpha Blocks" Diet Journal Cover Page

Funky Fossil Designs recently released a stamp set, that shouted to me to use in my diet journal.  The stamp set arrived in the post today, so I got busy creating a page... I appear to be in orange mode today, this being the second orange coloured make of the day!

I started by digging around in my background folder, where I found two backgrounds using Funky Fossil stencils with Pan Pastels.  I used the "In the grove stencil" and the "Lots of pips stencil", I don't recall which Pan Pastel colours I used.

I distressed the "Lots of pips" background by using a white pastel pencil and dragging a green Versafine Clair ink over it.  I then stamped the Funky Fossil "A7 Sea Life stamp in Versafine Clair "Rain Forest".

I did cut the "In the grove" background and inked the edges of it in Versafine Clair "Rain Forest" green ink and then stamped the Funky Fossil "Doodle Alpha Blocks" in the same ink. I used a wet glue to stick the circle on to the "pips" background and then stamped the word "Journal" in the same ink.

Finally, I added touches of white gel pen to areas of the letters and dots of "Outrageous" Liquid Pearls to the "Sea Life" pattern in the background.

Clarity Stamps "Kiss by Clarity Doodle Discs" Thank You Card

This morning, I have had more play with Clarity products making this thank you card. 

I started with a spray ink background I'd made some months ago using orange and yellow spray inks.

Using Versafine Clair "Medieval Blue" ink, I stamped the "Kiss by Clarity - Doodle Discs" in a row.

I then used "Bright Tangello" Archival Ink through the Clarity "Stripes" stencil.  I decided it needed something more, so used "Poppy" Archival Ink through areas of the Clarity "Orbit" stencil.

Finally I stamped the "Thank You", part of the Clarity "Entwined Sentiment stamp set" in Versafine Clair "Medieval Blue", I then inked the edges of the card in the same ink.

Clarity Stamps "Treescape Stencil" card

I seem to be on a roll with my crafting today, each make has been quite different, which I like.

I had an urge to do something with trees and came across a stencil by Clarity Stamps that I had purchased second hand from Ebay, called "7x7 Treescape", so decided I would put it to use for the first time.

I had a rummage through my file of prepared backgrounds and came across one that I thought would be suitable.  It was a variation of mid green shades, which I thought I would be able to manipulate.

I ended up using the following Versafine Clair Inks, used in this order for the area above the ground:  Warm Breeze, Monarch and Medieval Blue.  For the groundscape area, I used two shades of green Versafine Clair Inks:  Verdant and Shady Lane.

I used my Van Goch Pastel Pencils to create light and shade areas, adding touches of white using a white gel pen.