Art Class - Charcoal drawing

Still Life - Puma

Another term started and I am already a week behind in putting up my work.  We are starting off the term with oil painting. Not having any oil paints I decided to buy myself a beginners set of water soluble oils to have a go at.  My thinking was this would be easier to clean up etc.  No oils this week but charcoal to get us back into drawing before painting next week.

Evidently this big cat was donated to the Art department many years ago by a Department store in Norwich, where it had been used in a window display.  It is about three feet tall and looking a bit battered now but it must have been great in that shop window.  

Working in charcoal was very messy and I found it very difficult to get the detailed edges even with a plastic colour shaper. It was only when I got home and wrote some notes on the back that I realised the paper used had a textured side and I had used the smooth side. I did cheat and add a few highlights with a white pastel as my rubber didn't lift the charcoal very well.

Looking forward to getting back to painting next week as I haven't done any at all over the Christmas period.  

Lesley x

Claritystamp Challenge - Say it with Flowers 2

Another example for this month's Clarity Challenge 'Say it with flowers'. For inspiration I got out all my NDC flower stamps but couldn't make my mind up which ones to use so in the end I just used all of them!  I hope my card will remind you of some of the wonderful flower stamps and inspire you to enter this month's challenge. 

Stamps:  Clarity NDC 67 Lupin, 71 Pear Branch, 72 Mistletoe Sprig, 77 Cow Parsley, 82 Cherries, 84 Rose, 89 Edelweiss, 93 Lady's Mantle, 95 Flower stem, 99 Daisies, 101 Agapanthus, 104 Potted plant, 109 Acorns. (Put NDC in the Search box on the Clarity site and you will find all of these and more)
Stencil:    Wonky Boxes
Inks:        Adirondack Lettuce, Butterscotch, Peach Bellini, Pitch Black
Other:      Clarity stencil brushes, Black pen, Spectrum Noir pencils

Sorry no step-by-step photos for this one

• Fix stencil to card at top to make a hinge and then brush on colours until you are happy with the result.  You can lift the stencil to have a peek. 
• Use a makeup sponge to wipe the ink off the stencil and define the edges.
• Using copier paper to mask the edges, stamp a flower into a box.
• Press hard because of the stencil. Any little bits missed can be added later with a black pen ("How do I know this?") 
• I used a dye based ink because I didn't want to stain my stencil.
• Put some scrap paper between the art work and stencil and with a dry cloth wipe the stencil clean.
• Repeat until all the wonky boxes are filled.
• Remove the stencil and draw wiggly lines around the boxes.
• Colour in flowers with pencils.
• Cut around artwork with wiggly scissors and mount on yellow paper.
• Fix to card blank and write on sentiment. (All my sentiment stamps were too big for my gap)

We would love to see more entries this year so why don't you have a go.  Entry is free and you might be the lucky one to be picked at random to win the £50 Clarity voucher.

Lesley x

New Baby Card

I got the best ever Christmas present this year.  Christmas Eve saw the arrival of my first Granddaughter and this is the card I made for my daughter and son-in-law. This is their third child the other two being boys and I have tried to represent their growing family with the bear stamps.

The stamps I have used are some very old rubber foam backed ones plus some of my own design.
(a) Mum, two boys and baby from a set of Teddy bear stamps.  I can't remember the maker.
(b) Pram was a Freebie stamp from CraftStamper magazine (May 2008).
(c) Dad from a set of bear stamps I drew and made with my Tessa Collins Stampmaker kit. This was a Christmas present a couple of years ago and I must start using it more.

It is only when you go back to using wood or foam backed stamps that you realise how much easier it is to position clear stamps.   The photo above shows some of my scrap paper where I was trying to get the bears in the right places.  I did  manage it in the end but it took a lot of time and effort.  (Many thanks to Barbara Gray and her moment of clarity in coming up with the idea of clear stamps.)



Lesley x

Claritystamp Challenge - Say it with flowers

Happy New Year to all.

I can't believe it's a year since I was asked to join the Claritystamp Challenge Design Team.  Where has the time gone? I still feel very privileged.

Another month, another challenge. This month's Challenge is 'Say it with Flowers' and my example was inspired by a Japenese Print.  If you follow my blog you will know I attend an Art class once a week.  Just before Christmas we were doing monoprints and for research had to look at Japenese Woodblock prints.  I really liked one of a single Chrysanthemum so when I saw the challenge was flowers I just had to have a go at my interpretation using Clarity stamps.

Stamps:  Claritystamp Chrysanthemum and Filigraphy Foliage
Ink:        Archival Watering can, Adirondack Lettuce and Cranberry
Other:     Spectrum Noir Pencils

• Make masks for the leaves by stamping on post-it notes

• The stamping is done using 'Watering can' as I didn't want it too dark.  Stamp the flower and then lightly sketch where you think the stalk should go. This will help in placing the leaves.
• Using the leaf masks where necessary stamp the leaves. For the small top left leaf I masked some of the stamp with masking tape before inking. Then removed the tape before stamping .

• Draw in the leaf stems and flower stalk with a fine black pen.

• Now just use your colouring pencils to add the colour.  Start light and gradually add darker colours until you like the result.

• Trim to size and then brush the edges, first with Lettuce ink and then Lettuce with a bit of Cranberry added.
• Mount on Gold card.
• Add 'LOVE' sentiment.  I tried to draw it in a pseudo Japanese style to go with the Japanese Print inspiration.  Apologies to any Japanese readers. 

This is a fairly simple card. The only tricky bit was working out the order of stamping the leaves. I hope this inspires you to have a go at this month's Claritystamp Challenge and I look forward to seeing your entries.

Lesley x

Art Class - Mono-print Christmas cards

During the last three weeks of term we have been having a go at mono-printing.  I was able to take in my Gelli-plate and use that rather than the acetate sheets that the others in the class had to use.  Using acrylics rather than printing inks meant that my prints dried almost instantly.  This was good for some effects but others, like drawing into the ink didn't work too well.  The aim was to make some prints that could be used for Christmas cards.  For most of the cards I have made, I took photographs of the original prints and resized on the computer before printing out.  This meant I could work into them with colours pencils, add glitter etc without spoiling the original print.  We had great fun doing the printing and it was so interesting seeing how different people's cards turned out. It is difficult to remember exactly how the prints were achieved but I will try to give brief outline instructions for some of the cards I made.

Card above (my favourite)

1. Roll blue and yellow ink onto the plate. 
2. Mix a bit but not so much that you just get a plain green
3. Place fern leaves on the plate and blot with copier paper
4. Quickly remove the leaves and take another print
5. When print is dry add blues with Spectrum Noir colouring pencils
6. Stamp on the deers (Claritystamps)
7. Add some glitter glue.

• As 1-3 above with the addition of some sequin waste over the ivy leaves. More blue than yellow paint this time
• Emphasize greens on ivy leaves with pencils
• Add glitter.
• Backing paper is also a mono-print

• This one was the first (scrap!) print of a fern leaf on copier paper. (step2 above)
• It left a blank space where the leaf was and I drew the tree into it with a black pen
• Add a horizon with the pencils
• Stamp the deer and sentiment 
• Add glitter of course.

• I think for this one I took a print of ivy leaves as step 2 above
• Let this dry then printed on top with the leaves in different positions
• Enhanced edges with pencils and glitter on some of the leaves

• Photo not very good as this one was printed on glossy card and the flash bounced off it
• Another version of ivy leaves and sequin waste

• These three were all printed in the same way but decorated differently afterwards
• I made a foam stamp Christmas tree and pressed this onto the paint on the plate.  (Kids foam sheets from Hobbycraft)
• Remove the stamp and take a print.
• These were quick to do and the correct size for my cards so I just decorated the original prints.

Really had fun and it was a quick way to produce some original Christmas cards. Art class is over for this term.  Best wishes for a speedy recovery to Diana, my Art tutor.

Lesley x

PS. Does anyone know how to get three pictures together on one line?

Balloon Pop-up Card

Inside of card

This is a card I made for my grandson Forrest's first birthday in November. This is the inside of the card and it is a 3D pop-up (which doesn't show very well in the photo).  Sorry no step-by-step photos for this one.

Dies:      Card Scallop 3D(Pop-up) by Sizzix, Large Die Balloons by XCut, 
Stamps:  Happy Birthday Wooden stamp by Anitas, Letterbox kit by Claritystamp
Ink:        Versamark, Archival Black
Other:     Embossing Powders various colours, Background papers

• Stick background papers inside card.
• Die cut pop-up frame and balloons in various colour card.
• Attach pop-up frame to the inside of the card with strong glue. I used the strong red double sided sticky tape for this.
• Stick a thread to back of the balloons before attaching them to the top tab of the pop-up.  .  
• Draw 1 on a balloon and stick to the background paper.
• Using the Letterbox kit, stamp birthday name onto card, cut out and stick to the bottom tab of the pop-up.
• Add a strip of matching red with 'happy birthday' stamped onto it at the base.  Not sure of the make of this stamp.

Front of card

• I kept the front of the card very simple.  Stamped 'Happy Birthday' block stamp in Versamark and sprinkled with various coloured embossing powders before heat embossing. The spare powders can go back into a little pot for a new mix of colour.
• Edge with a Sharpie pen and then mount on red card also edged with black pen.

This was a bit of a change in style for me, but I don't have many stamps suitable for young children's birthday cards. Creating the pop-up was quite fun and really easy using the Pop-up die.

Lesley x

Claritystamp Challenge - A Christmas Story

This month's challenge is 'A Christmas Story' .  I'm sure many of you have already made this year's cards but I am way behind so I thought I would go for a design that didn't take too long to make.

Stamps: Claritystamp Pear Tree and Small partridge.

Stencil:  Claritystamp NDSC13 Various Pots

Ink:       Archival Black, Adirondack Stream, Butterscotch and Cranberry

Other:    Versmark pen, Gold embossing powder, Black pen, Colouring pencils and pens

• My background paper for this is a shaving foam offcut from my box of 'might be useful someday'
• Make masks for the small partridge, pears (drawn freehand) and the pot (using the stencil) on sticky-notes.
• On background paper stamp the partridge using Black Archival ink and cover with it's mask.
• Draw the outline of the pot using the stencil and a black pen and then cover with it's mask.
• Position your pear masks wherever you want them.

Apologies for the blurry image.

• Stamp the Pear Tree using Black Archival ink and then remove the masks.
• Draw in the pears and the back of the pot with black pen.

• Place stencil back over pot and using a makeup sponge add colour using Adirondack Stream, Butterscotch and Cranberry.
• Colour in the leaves, pears and Partridge using whatever you prefer. I used some waterbased pens with a fine nib for the leaves and the brush end for the pears. A touch of white pen for the highlights.
• Add some more shading to the pot with colouring pencils.

• Trim and edge.  I first went round the edge with an alcohol pen but this didn't work very well on the shaving foam.  To retrieve this I went over it with a Versamark pen and added gold embossing powder and heat set this.
• With the embossing powder out, I couldn't resist adding gold to a few leaves, a tiny bit on the pears and the stripe on the pot.
• Add the impression of a table with pencils to ground the pot.
• Mount on blue and gold card before attaching to card blank.
• Final touch. Add a small tag made from a scrap of card. Write on 'Happy Christmas' message. Draw string with pen.

Hope you like my design and feel inspired to have a go at the Claritystamp Challenge yourself. 

Lesley x

PS
I tried this design again without the shaving foam background to give a cleaner image. It was even quicker now that I have all the masks cut out. Glitter glue instead of gold embossing.  I like this version better.