Monday 1 June 2015

"Boys, Boys, Boys" - Clarity Challenge No. 28

Hi everyone.....
Well, the 1st of June already, and obviously a new Clarity Challenge for you all. 
I think we all know how challenging (excuse the pun) masculine cards can be, but hopefully you all have enough stamps and stencils to make this one a breeze....so here we go for the Boys.......



For my card, I used the following ingredients:


8 x 8 blank greeting card & a piece of 7 x 7 Gelli card
Shaving foam - the cheaper, the better, Perspex box lid, Spreading Tool and a skewer or fork
Tim Holtz Re-inkers - Broken China, Mustard Seed & Mowed Lawn
Also Salty Ocean & Mowed Grass Distress Ink pads
Ranger Archival inks Black & Cobalt
Brick Wall & California Stencils
Stamps - Boy & Birds & various small ones from Victorian Miniatures (the car & motorbike), Wrought Iron Dolls House, Small Hot Air Balloon & various Word Chain words masked off to create my "Oh Boy - Look @ You!"
Clarity Stencil Brushes
Cyan Promarker & Sharpie pen
Textured wallpaper scrap, (courtesy of Wicks)
First & foremost, make a cuppa, we could be here for some time.......!

Spray the shaving foam into the plastic lid big enough to take the 7x7 piece of card and spread so that it was fairly flat. I then randomly dripped in the inks and whirled a wooden skewer through it to mix the colours up a little.

(Now I know from experience that the first dunk is quite bright, so I thought I would take another piece of card to use at a later date - I'll show you further on the two examples side-by-side to give you an idea).
Fix the circular part of the California stencil far enough in so that the Boy & Birds will fit to the lower left of the card, and place the Brick Wall Stencil over the top and tape it down tight to stop it moving.  Place the piece of Gelli card stencil-side-down into the shaving foam and press evenly.  Gently lift out and place direct onto the craft mat to scrape the excess foam off using the Spreading Tool.  Once done, wipe your work with a piece of clean kitchen roll.

Here's the first & second dunks so that you can see the difference

Wait for this to dry completely before starting to stamp onto the card.
Dust with talc as the next part is to emboss the main image.  Mask off the birds then ink up the Boy & Birds using the Cobalt Archival ink - don't forget to remove the masking tape before stamping!
 
Emboss with clear powder and heat-set.  Next stamp the miniature stamps on the end of each string and emboss in the same way.  I chose words from the Word Chains that contained letters to make up the sentiment, then laid them onto the artwork to see what best fitted with the design. I masked off and stamped accordingly as shown, in Black Archival ink.

Next I took the outer part of the Californian stencil and taped it over the circular area to brush through with Salty Ocean and Mowed Grass inks

Once done, I removed the masks, added shadow to the whole piece, then outlined it with a Cyan Promarker and put some contrasting twine across the top & bottom, cellotaped on the underside.

Finally - we all like a freebie don't we?  Last time I went to the DIY store, I decided to look at the wallpapers and thought that the heavy duty anaglypta was perfect for using as backing paper as you can colour co-ordinate to suit your project.  Probably not everyone's cup of tea, but I like it.  Cut to size and brush randomly with the Distress Inks.

Mount the anaglypta on the base card, put mounting foam pads on the artwork (as it won't lay flat due to the twine attached on the underside), and mount.
Well, that's about it folks - the finished article.....and I hope you enjoyed your cuppa too!

Hopefully you'll find this, and the other DT blogs inspiring, and I look forward to viewing and commenting on your creations over the coming month.


Go on then, get your thinking caps on......Happy crafting folks! xxx














18 comments:

  1. All I can say your card and your art work is stunning I love the shaving foam background and the stamps you have used. Xx

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    1. Thanks so much Carol for your lovely comment :-) Hope you're feeling a lot better now :-) xxx

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  2. Carol, how amazing is that. What a wonderful design and your step by step is super. Boy oh boy did you nail it. Great design. Hugs.

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    1. Appreciate your lovely comment Naomi - thank you xxx

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  3. I love this Carole - that background is superb and a cool idea using anaglypta - deply embossed paper - no machine required lol. I like how you have used other stamps to replace the birds too xx

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    1. Thank you Linda - we like a freebie don't we :-) lol xxx

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  4. Another fantastic card and stunning art work, Carole; those colours are simply spectacular. ;~}

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    1. Many thanks Shelagh - I'm always drawn to blues & greens as they're my favourites! xxx

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  5. Another amazing card Carole. I love the colours you've used and the stamp combinations. xx

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    1. Appreciate you lovely feedback Angela - I'm going on to check out everyone's blogs tonight.....the day job gets in the way of my crafting!!! lol xxx

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  6. So love this Mrs p so different love the brick work xxx

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  7. I love this card Carole; the colurs are so clean, fresh and zingy. Your attention to detail with all the shadows really makes your stamped images pop. And I think maybe a few of us will be picking up wallpaper samples from now on, it makes a great textured backing paper. Xxx

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    1. Thanks for the lovely feedback Barbara - much appreciated :-)
      I like to share any "finds" so we can all benefit from them - they're even better when they're free as not a lot nowadays is! lol xxx

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  8. Love the colours you have chosen, not what you would expect for a wall but they work. The textured wallpaper sets it off well too. This has just reminded me that I have seen some You tube videos where people use textured wallpaper to make impressions for a Gelli print, something else to try out. x

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    1. Ooooo - good tip Lesley, I bet that makes a fab impression on the Gelli-plate. Looks like I'll be visiting the DIY store again at the w/e......Thanks for sharing xxx

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  9. Hi Carole - have just worked out that if I click on the name of the DT member it takes me to their blog! Love your card, and the step-by-step is so helpful and informative. The wallpaper background is just fab too - B&Q expect a visit from me soon!!! Susan x

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    1. Thank you Susan - I'm no expert at blogging either, I only joined when I became a member of the Design Team, so I have a lot to learn on here too....we'll all help each other....All technology to me is a big learning-curve :-) xxx

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