About Me

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Hi I'm Clare, I live in the South West of England in the seaside town of Torquay. I adore playing with inks, paints and generally getting messy. It is the calm place which fits in between my hectic life whilst working as an outreach support worker, looking after my son, daughter, foster son and hubby. Not forgetting our gorgeous springer spaniel, Suzi.

Friday 7 June 2019

New Tracy Scott stamps from Paperartsy June 2019
















Hi everyone,It's been such a long time since I last blogged! Well I'm back on my feet and  I've been fortunate enough to get my hands onto this gorgeous new collection.

I always get so excited when new Paperartsy stamps are being released!  Even more so when I hear that Tracy Scott has been back at the drawing board to create some more glorious images for us to create with.  

Tracy has been dropping little clues for us to follow along the way and when it was confirmed that she had indeed gone on to convert her black line drawings into these
 stunning new botanical stamps I was absolutely thrilled. There are sentiments a plenty
 which will offer you plenty of uses for many occasions.  Completing the collection are three stunning floral stencils which, in my opinion, could easily be used in stand alone projects.


So I decided to throw a little bit of everything into the mix and come up with a mixed media project.  I was a little upset with myself for not incorporating those stunning butterflies but those flowers (swoon)  were an absolute dream to paint and colour, so much that I ended up with three flowers instead of the two I'd originally planned. 






I knew that I just had to have the creatures as a 3D element and the way I made this happen was by curling some green wire around a paintbrush to create a spring and attaching my Busy Bee using silicone gel.




I used glossy accents where the petals curled over to add yet another dimension to the blooms.  Piece by piece I layered my project at varying heights using silicone glue.



More smoothy card & Fresco paints! This time I blended Guacamole & Toad Hall onto card.  Once dry I stamped with one of Tracy's earlier stamps, to create texture and cut out some foliage.  I attached the leaves to some green wire and inserted them around the blooms.  I wasn't too worried about the position of the leaves at this point!  I let everything dry before moving the leaves and wires into the desired position.

These stamps are truly delightful and I'm  sure you will agree that they will lend themselves to many occasions.  These beautiful works of art are sure to grace many cards, art journals and mixed media projects and will carry us through to creating that spring feeling all year through.

Thank you so much  for joining me today, Wishing you all a creative week.



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Saturday 19 January 2019

Tracey Scott New Stamps from Paperartsy - Full Reveal

Hi folks I'm here today to share with you the delightful new stamps & stencils, designed by Tracey Scott and brought to you from Paperartsy.


In this new release there are 3 new stamps sets and 3 new stencils.  I chose to work with sets ETS24 & ETS25 along with stencils PS125 & PS126.


I started off by painting a 12 x 12 canvas board using my chosen colours of Paperartsy Fresco paint.


I added in some stencilling and stamping using both paint and an archival ink pad.  Whilst doing this i was loosely plotting where my trailing blooms where going to be positioned.


Using some old, textured wallpaper I added more depth to my piece, continuing with the colour theme that I'd chosen.


Lots more stamping now, I'm gradually building up my layers that will be seen poking up from behind my blooms.


I stamped the flowers, cut them out and painted them all individually using Paperartsy Fresco colours: Tangerine Twist, Lemon Zest, Cerise, Bourgonvillia & a splash of Carribean Sea to tie in with the background colours.  I also added some extra splashes to the flowers along with some pearly dots.


I added some white pen doodles to the stencilling, also here and there on the background before layering the flowers, along with the foliage from my stash, using a silicone gel.



Around the darker edge I added some gold stamping using the bubbles stamps (I Love that Stamp!).  All I need to do now is to get a deep box frame for my canvas to be displayed.

Thank you for taking the time to stop by today. I love hearing from my followers and love to read the comments.

Happy Crafting,

Clare xxx



Saturday 20 October 2018

Long time no blog!

It's  true to say it has been a very long time since I last blogged! It's been a very difficult year for me health wise but despite that I am still tapping into my creativity as and when I can. I wanted to share with you a little card made with the wonderful Paperartsy/Jofy stamps.



For this card I used the flower stamps from Paperartsy-Jofy set #61.  I stamped, cut out and water coloured them first before adding another layer of colour with coloured pencils.


I tore up some craft card into my desired size, distressed with Spun Sugar distress oxides and applied them to the card.  I added some accents with a white pen and some liquid pearl.

Thank you for stopping by today I hope you have enjoyed your visit?  Remember to stop by the Topflight Stamps online store and check out the amazing selection of online stamps.

Happy Crafting,

Clare.

Saturday 11 August 2018

Jofy stencil & a personal touch!

 This week I wanted to share with you a little make where I just used a stencil and added a personal touch.


I stencilled the flower onto some craft card using Nougat Paperartsy Fresco paint and Jofy flower stencil PS082


On top of the white, chalky flower I added some colour using Neocolour II water soluble crayons and pencils.  Using a fine black pen I traced around the edges and added in my own doodles.


Not quite to the standard of Jofy's gorgeous stamps but nice to put a personal spin on a beautiful bloom.


Happy Crafting,

Clare.

Saturday 4 August 2018

Artist Trading Coins - Who wants to Trade?

 I've been experimenting with Artist Trading coins. These are new to me, although I've been watching them pop up all over the place for a while, I've waited until now to have a little play.



To top my coins I used these cute little characters from That's Crafty(uk) Magda Polakow set Mama Bear.


I coloured them in using Neocolour II crayons and added in some shading with coloured pencils.


The backgrounds were made from a masterboard using stamps from Paperartsy - Tracy Scott stamps.


Mamma Bear was stamped directly onto the coin, masked off, background stamping added before colouring in.



The two baby bears were coloured in and glued onto the coins, I then added some doodles to the coins in white and black paint pens.


Lots of people make there own coins out of multiple die cut circles.  The coins I've used are made from MDF from That Craft Place and so they are very sturdy. I like the thought that I can get straight to the fun parts of crafting without having to make my coins before hand. 


Thank you for stopping by!
Happy Crafting,

Clare.

Saturday 28 July 2018

From Santa to Gnome!

It certainly has been a log time since I've blogged.  I have been quite poorly and it's taken quite some time to recoup and get my mojo back!  To ease myself in gently I made this card for someone who was has a special birthday and a strong liking for garden gnomes.


I used the Santa stamp from Leanne Creatif, removed his bobble and sack and voila we had a garden gnome!


With some creative colouring, carefully masking the lines in the hat and converting the laced boots into wellingtons I painted out the lines & details with some white acrylic paint before adding some colour with neocolour II water soluable crayons. With addition of some rosy cheeks, the transformation was complete.


To the special age of 80, I added a little foliage to make my gnome feel right at home.


Thank you for stopping by today, I hope you have enjoyed your visit?  Pop over to Topflight Stamps and have a look at the extensive range of branded stamps available.

Happy crafting,

Clare.





Monday 23 April 2018

Fine Flowers

Hi Folks, this week I have cultivated an A5 canvas using Darkroom Doors 'Fine Flowers'



Using the following stamps and stencils I pieced together my mini plot.








I used watercolour & Polychromo Faber-Castell pencils to colour the flowers.


I painted the canvas with Paperartsy Fresco Paints along with a green layer through the stencils.  I also stencilled the leaves with some crackle paste.


You might notice that there are additional leaves surrounding the flowers.  Now I love a multi-use stamp and I soon recognised that one of the flowers provided excellent foliage!



That's it from me this week but I'll be back next week with some more craftiness.

Happy Crafting,
Clare