Hi All......

Well we had a Fab Time in France! Weather was great 25 degrees on most days ....quiet funny as Rory and I were hot and in T/Shirts Poor Hubby Because he works in a hot country most of the year that has 35-40 degrees most days he was shivering and has come back with a bit of a sniffle!

Here is a card that is making it's way over to France as I type this.....managed to see a small bit of Barbara Greys show before we went out on Saturday, And decided I would make a very quick take on what she did......I didn't attempt the Skep that will be for another day. As I have a feeling it will take a bit of practice and I really didn't have the time to do it over what was a very busy weekend. But I must admit I do like the colours and the muted tones .......

So you will need;

Espresso inkpad

Promarkers

Carnation Pink

Pastel Pink

Orchid

Leaf Green

Putty

Powder Blue

Pastel Blue

Buttercup

Pastel Yellow

Blender Pen

Clarity Blooming corner stamp kit lesson 6.

I used Crafters Companion Neemah card to stamp on (Sorry Barbara) I have used this for ages and have got loads still left I find it works great with the promakers.......

So Inking the stamp well, I then Stamped off the first generation ink and then Stamped the first corner. Repeated the process with each corner so I had a Square...ish frame.I then Stamped the verse out before I coloured anything in and also stamped the inner part of the card again just the two corners this time and put the two insects in the middle......Given the choice NEXT time I will omit the ladybird the bright red does not go with the card but as that was the very last thing to be coloured in!!!! Well sorry By that stage It was done I was not about to start again. Lesson learned next time use the two bee's same as the front! Hope you like it.

Well thank you to ISOBEL for the Versitile blogger award. And many thank's to Vee for helping me attach it! so My Nomminees for this award are;

http://Isobelscreationblogspot.com/

http://lindasrainbowcraftingcabin.blogspot.com/

http://polkadoddlesandme.blogspot.com/

http://what-nikki-did-next.blogspot.com/

http://craftytmonster81blogspot.com/

http://teegsscrapncards.blogspot.com/

http://simplystylishstamping.blogspot.com/

http://veecasidy.blogspot.com/

http://CrimsonMoonCrafts.blogspot.com/

http://thecraftyclarkster.blogspot.com/

http://catherine-whatkatiedidnext.blogspot.com/

http://goonergirl-craftingheaven.blogspot.com/

http://dawn-dawnscrafting.blogspot.com/

http://janescraftybits.blogspot.com/

http://inkymits.blogspot.com/

The agreement upon accepting the Versatile blogger award is to nominate 15 blogs that have inspired you .....the above blogs I go back to again and again and are some of my many favourites.........

Also you have to say 7 things about yourself.....

So;

1. I have 2 boys James 20 at Plymouth Uni studying Law. And Rory who will be 17 on Monday 19th March....Rory has an Autistic Spectrum Disorder.

2. We have 5 Rhodesian Ridgeback's Durban, Purdy, Jilla, Pierrot, and Squirt!

3. My Husband works away a lot .....

4. We live in a very Beautiful part of the country Plymouth in Devon.

5. We used to own 2 Cafe's but as my husband works away so much the hours were to much as well as looking after the family and dogs so I am now a stay at home Mum.;)

6. I will try my hand at most craft but I hate sewing or needle craft as I had my hand run through a sewing machine at school by one of the school bullies.

7. I was nearly expelled from school for letting the rabbits out that we were going to dissect in the science lab. A friend and I took them and let them lose over the park but we were seen and reported. I owned up and said I would do the same again....... There was a little smile on the heads face........I was given detention for a month and it was worth every line.

Hi I'm doing well this week....Well only because we are off to France in a few days for a week or 10 days don't know when we are back but leaving Eldest here with instruction's for NO WILD parties!

So here as promised, is The Mandarin Duck. Again this is a Clarity stamp Love these they are so easy to use. Used it in the same way as I did the Kingfisher. Masking the sun and the duck put the sky in first in Adirondack Cloudy Blue.

The the ground is Oregano.

And the water is Stonewashed.

The mud! is Sponged with Espresso and a little Lake Mist.

The Duck is Stamped in Espresso Adirondack ink and then coloured in with Promarkers;

Turquoise.

Gold.

Mustard.

Sky blue

Burnt Orange.

The bull rush leaves are Lime Zest.

the only thing I have done different is pick a little lake mist ink from the inkpad onto a brush and swirl it around were the mud ends to give it some depth...........I will be AWOL for a couple of weeks but hopefully will be back before Easter to tell you of my travels. Take care. xx

IF AT FIRST YOU DON'T SUCCEED............



Good Morning and what a lovely day it is today here in Plymouth......I do hope you like the image above after many failed and aborted attempt's I think I've finally "Got It" Brayering that is. The stamps used are all from Clarity stamps the inks were Adirondacks from Ranger;

Ingredients;
Pitch black
Cloudy Blue
Lettuce
Stonewashed
Expresso
Speedball Brayer
Copy paper.
Clarity cardstock it's like very good quality photo paper and has a lovely sheen.
The king fisher set from Clarity Stamps
Cheap memo pads and a pair of scissors.
Small round coin or punch.
Low tack tape

For the Kingfisher;
Sky blue
Bright Orange
Cool Grey

Bright Green for the leaves

What to do;
Take four strips of low tack masking tape and place around the end or the card to make a frame. you are going to be stamping on the inside of this tape.
Stamp kingfisher onto memo pad making sure that part of the bird has been stamped on the sticky part of the pad cut out......do the same with the coin or small round punch again making sure there is sticky on the back.

Next take a piece of clarity card stock and ink the kingfisher in Pitch black, Now this is important because of the type of card it is when you ink it you need to stamp it on some copy paper first so you have the second generation of ink to actually stamp onto the card .....if you don't and you go directly to the card with the ink fresh it will not dry and you will end up with a mess believe me I have tried........So with the kingfisher stamped and ready to go put the mask you have made over the top and then decide where you want the sun to go  and place the round mask on top now you ready to brayer.
 Take the brayer and ink up Cloudy blue for the sky rip a piece of copy paper and place on the bottom half of were you think the ground or hills should go and stick with low tack tape on the side to keep it in place being careful not to stick to the inside of the picture. With the ground /hills part covered SAVE the other piece of paper you will see why in a minute. 
Take the brayer and run the ink off on a piece of copy paper, and on the side of the brayer do one of Barbara Grey's famous wheelies. Now spin the brayer over the paper ...you can find lots of tutorials that Barbara Grey has done and if like me you need a visual lesson then please do take a look she is a fab teacher. Next do the grass or hills  now .....you need to have saved that other piece of copy paper the bit you ripped because now you need to cover the sky, the piece you have ripped will cover that perfectly.
 Clean the brayer and dry it and ink with Lettuce repeat the process again not forgetting to roll off the first generation of ink first on another piece of copy paper, this time covering both the sky and where you want the water to go.
 The hills in place you now should have a piece at the bottom where the water is going to be....leaving the sky covered you also now need to cover the grass or hills.......you should have the paper for this if not don't panic as the waterway is straight any piece of copy paper will do as long as it cover's the grass or hills you have done. now this bit is fun....Screw up into a tight ball a clean piece of copy paper...the tighter and more wrinkled the better and smooth out. clean the brayer and dry again and ink up with stone washed you want the whole brayer covered and then run it over a the wrinkled paper when you lift the brayer off you will see the wrinkles transferred onto the brayer......this is going to be our water. Spin the brayer over the card where you want the water to be and now set aside to dry.......
I left mine over night as I do a lot of my crafting late in the evening....but that's just me. I then took the branch inked it with the Expresso inkpad and stamped it off once on a piece of copy paper then planted it on the now dry card And repeated that but put the branch over the top the bird so it looked as though he was sitting in the tree. I had leaves that I think may have came with this set and popped them on the branches also. Then inked bull-rushes and repeated the process and put them in the corner.  then coloured in Kingfisher and branch with leaves in colours stated above. I cheated and paid the price I tried to use walnut promarker on the branch thinking it would match the expresso inkpad ...be warned it doesn't the next time I will take a little ink from the inpad and a brush and colour it in that way ....the promaker bled out of my frame so I have had to crop it which is why there is no white rim ......however all that aside I am pleased with this one. I love the stamp and it is a firm favourite.
I hope you like the end result.

Madeline stamp for a friend

Just a card for a dear friend of mine......the stamp is Clarity Art stamp Madeline cut out with my scalloped circle spellbinder dies In two sizes the larger one to matt and layer. And coloured in with Promarkers.  Thank  you to Maria Simms for the idea. xx the ribbons were some I have in the colours that I had coloured  her hair.....and the edge was my old faithful Martha Stewart punch.

Oriental Card for Crafty Bloggers challenge;

To Make the card Red Bazzil card
Gold Mirri card
A4 red card taken from stash.
Peony Card from a pack that I think was called Oriental Blossoms.
The coin was one from a shop that has since closed that was based at the Plymouth Barbican.
Red ribbon.
Versamark inkpad.
Red Tinsel embossing powder.
Red and Black Flexi marker.
Ivory Pro-marker
Oriental lady stamp ....this was a set off of QVC many years ago.
 And the Character stamp in the corner was one I found in my basket that I did'nt know I had.......I don't even know if I have stamped it the right way up!

This seems more difficult than it actually is the trick will be for me to explain it, so you my wonderful peeps can understand it. OK! take the Lady stamp and ink her up to her neck in Versamark leaving her head and face blank once this has been done take the red flexi marker and dab onto her lips she now has bright red lipstick! then take the Black flexi marker and colour her hair and eyes make sure the rest of the "bits" that are round her hair are coloured in too. Now stamp (THIS IS WHEN I SAY A LITTLE PRAYER) and lift you should now have an image of her face with the dress being in Versamark. Now add the Red Tinsel Embossing powder, and heat gently the sparkle is unbelievable.  Add red ribbon if desired and  trim if needed and set aside. Taking a red A4 card I scored on 8inches so the 8 inch square is the back square part of the card.I folded along that line then trimmed just a smidge as the end on one side was a bit battered! I then cut the back piece slightly smaller and added the character and embossed in Red Tinsel in the right bottom corner. Glued the back smaller card onto the main red body so as to leave an edge of red card showing. and then  did the same to the front adding the coin and ribbon.
I then simply matted and layered my lady coloured her face in ivory and her neck though her neck looks pink in the photo I have no idea why unless its the reflection off the red tinsel?
Well that's all for today TTFN. xx