Wednesday 1 July 2015

"Anything Goes" - Clarity Challenge No. 29

So here we are already with the July Clarity Challenge - the month's seem to be flying by! 
For you this time, I decided to do a canvas made with the Clarity Club stencil (from May I think).  (Just a little aside........The Clarity New Design Club has great benefits - as well as getting a stamp & stencil at the beginning of each month if you're a Gold Member, you get a 10% saving on all purchases and free postage on orders over £10 - I highly recommend it!)
Anyway, back to the challenge........"Anything Goes!".....so, here we go.........My finished artwork and how it came together........

Ingredients:
A4 canvas board
Powder watercolours of your choice - I used Ken Oliver Crafts Colour Burst (the little puffer bottles are fab for control) or you could use Brushos
Stencils - Fish (Club Stencil), Seaweed & Seaweed Frame, Jo's Bubbles & sequin waste
Grunge paste, Spreader & palette knife
Pirate Treasure Gilding flakes
Clarity Stencil Brushes, Blending Tool &  Brayer
Inks - Adirondack Stream & Eggplant, Tim Holtz Distress Inks - Mowed Lawn & Peacock Feathers,
Archival Ink - Fern Green, Archival Brilliance Moonlight White
Stamps - Tall Grass, Fish from the Harbour Set & grass from the Foxes Set
Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylics - Blueberry & Limelight
So first of all, spritz the canvas board with water and very lightly puff on some yellow powder and gently brush with a clean stencil brush

Next the blue - same process,,,,

Then finally the green

Next you need to compose your background with the seaweed stencils.  Place them around the canvas and using all the inks, gradually build the pattern through the stencils using the brushes.

That'll do!

Allow to dry completely, then attach the fish stencil where you would like him to be swimming in the deep ocean.  Spread some grunge paste on the side of the stencil with the palette knife.
 
Drag the grunge paste through the stencil with the spreader.  Immediately remove the stencil and place in water, together with the spreader & palette knife - be quick though as you then need to sprinkle the gilding flakes on while the grunge paste is still wet.  Once applied, VERY LIGHTLY press the flakes onto the grunge paste & pray for no drafts!.......
Ooooooo, looks a bit of a mess, but be patient and allow about an hour for it to dry completely........

Once dry, gently brush off the gilding flakes - not too hard as you don't want to remove them all!
Next - the border.....Take the Fresco Chalk paints and squeeze a small amount onto your crafting mat and brayer round the edge of the canvas, lightest colour first until you're happy with it.  I used the Limelight sides & top, and the Blueberry along the bottom.

Next, Jo's bubbles & the sequin waste.  Using the blending tool & Moonlight White Brilliance ink, dab through the stencils adding a few bubbles here & there.

Then stamp the grasses at the bottom of the ocean, which gives the picture depth, and also some little fishy friends - all using the Archival Fern Green ink.
And there you are - all done!

Hope you are inspired to create something for this month's challenge.  There's some fab inspirational pieces from the other Clarity Design Team members too, so please do check out all of their blogs as well.
As "Anything Goes" it doesn't have to be something new, how about looking around the house to see what you can up-cycle?......I've spotted quite a few things which could do with a make-over.....I just hope my other half Peter doesn't stand still for too long - he could end up covered in stamps & paint!!!
Don't forget there's a £50 Clarity Voucher up for grabs for someone picked at random, which means everyone's in with a chance, beginners & experts alike.  (Please check out the Clarity Challenge Blog for the rules).
Anyway, I look forward to seeing all your artwork....Happy crafting all, Carole xxx







16 comments:

  1. I love how you have done this canvas and how you have used the gilding flakes with the grunge paste. Xx

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  2. oooo this is fab Carole - I never even thought of gilding flakes on grunge paste xx

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  3. Thank you Ladies :-) You just have to be careful not to brush too much when removing the excess! As long as they are pressed on a little when the paste is wet, they do stay put! Have a good afternoon xxx

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  4. This is gorgeous Carole, I love the background you've achieved. Like Linda I hadn't thought of using gilding flakes on top of grunge paste. xx

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  5. Lot of work went into this piece of work the colour is wonderful x

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  6. Carole, what an excellent idea combining gilding flakes and grunge paste and such a great result. Love all the detail you have added to the sea bed. ;~}

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  7. Carole, love you sparkling Fish and the canvas details are wonderful. Hugs.

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  8. Love your watery background and the glorious gilded fish, Carole. Beautiful colours too x

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  9. Love your watery background and the glorious gilded fish, Carole. Beautiful colours too x

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  10. Thank you all for the lovely feedback ladies - it's much appreciated.
    Love to all xxx

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  11. Fabulous design. Gilding flakes and grunge paste.... About the only thing I haven't tried together, will have to sort that out! Thank you for the inspiration. Hugs xxx

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  12. Fabulous design. Gilding flakes and grunge paste.... About the only thing I haven't tried together, will have to sort that out! Thank you for the inspiration. Hugs xxx

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  13. Fabulous design. Gilding flakes and grunge paste.... About the only thing I haven't tried together, will have to sort that out! Thank you for the inspiration. Hugs xxx

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    1. Thank you Emma - it's great to share :-)
      Have a lovely weekend - can't wait for Sunday! xxx

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  14. This was lovely. I have not used mine yet, was going to make Greg's card with it but he saw the owl stamps and wanted those using his Birthday card. Thankyou for your great tutorial, like the idea of gilding flakes. xx

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    1. Thank you Lynne - this was the first time (and won't be the last) that I'd used the gilding flakes on grunge paste - I guessed if it's wet, most things would stick to it and it dries rock-hard, so "why not?"......It's definitely stuck, that's for sure!!! Bet it would be good with glitter too :-) Have a lovely weekend xxx

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