Clarity catch up

Happy Wednesday,

Can you believe it's December in less than a week ......... only 30 days off Christmas Day ..... and not a present bought! ..... oh no!!!
(Well ..... that's not strictly true ...... I have got a couple of stocking fillers but none of the big stuff yet!)

But ..... I'm not thinking about all that now .... I've just realised that I haven't blogged any of my samples from Paul's Clarity shows last weekend ...... oops!! I didn't even give you any teasers (bad DT member!)  Let's put all that right now shall we .....

Did you see the shows?..... didn't he do well!  Great new products, fab demos from Paul and lots of great inspiration from the rest of Design Team.

Here's just a couple from me using the new stencils ..... the elephant and that gorgeous, very regal looking stag.

I love the elephant, he's such a great size..... and he goes so well with the new Trellis stencil.

I simply inked through the stencil using a grey ink (Hickory Smoke Distress), onto a piece of white cardstock.  Then I used a Clear Glass Bead Gel over the top to give him some texture
(Barbara did the same technique on her blog at the beginning of this month, using a translucent embossing paste and then sprinkling Micro Glass Beads over the top whilst the paste was still wet - works exactly the same)

Once everything was dry (I left him overnight) I fussy cut around the elephant before attaching him to my card

For the background I used the Trellis stencil ..... onto a piece of white card, and then sprinkled through some pigment powders.  I used Brushos but you'll get a similar effect using the Color Bursts from Ken Oliver (must get my hands on a set of these .... I really need to try them!!) 
I then spritzed over the top with some water, let the pigments do their work for a few seconds then carefully removed the stencil.
It's a good idea to have another piece of card handy when doing this technique because as you lift the stencil off you'll find that there's still quite a bit of colour on the stencil itself.  Don't waste it, turn the stencil over ...... lay it down onto the white card and voila!  you have another background!

I also used one of the corner stamps from the Elegant Corners set just to add a bit more interest and embellishment

These are really useful little stamps to have in your collection ..... not just for corners either.  Create fab designs by just repeat stamping the same corner, turning it each time you stamp.  Just have a play with them and see what you come up with .... it's fun!

 
I finished off my elephant card with one of the Word Chain stamps.

Next up is that gorgeous Stag stencil .....

You don't always have to use the whole of a stencil ..... just use part of it like I've done here.

Like I did with the elephant, I inked through the stencil using a couple of shades of brown Distress inks (I think it was Vintage Photo and Gathered Twigs) then I applied some translucent texture paste over the top.  Once I'd removed the stencil and whilst the paste was still wet,  I sprinkled fine crystal glitter just over the antlers and then set it aside to dry.

Once everything was dry I cut around the stag using an oval die.  With the die still in place I used a touch of distress ink to add a bit of colour around the edge

I sprinkled on a little chunky white embossing powder and finished him off with a festive bow and a bell around his neck

Using the Trellis stencil again for the background, I inked through with red and green Distress inks

and then finished off with a festive greeting from one of the Christmas Word Chains.

I think this weekend I'll make a start on writing all my Christmas cards, especially the ones that need to go overseas ....... and across to the UK.  I need to make sure everyone has our new address .... again!!

Thanks for popping by ..... enjoy the rest of your day.
I think we're off out this evening ....... there's a Christmas shopping event on over at Tynwald Mills so it might be a good time to make a start on those festive purchases.  And you never know ..... I may just get treated to dinner out if I'm lucky (or if there's any money left!!)

Cheerio until next time

Linda

xx