Clarity New Design Club Stamps 2022: Ideas and Inspiration

 With the arrival of my latest stamp for 2023 from CLarity Crafts New Design Club I thought it was time I did a round up of the projects I completed using the 2022 offerings.

January 2022 (#183) see HERE.

Blue and Green echo Scene Tag

The latest prompt over on Tag Tuesday is Blue and Green and I thought this tag fitted it really well.

I decided to work with a reflection technique to produce a visual representation of the word Echo, then create a scene around it.  I marked a line in pencil across a #8 manilla tag, then stamped the word Echo onto the small rectangular gel petite plate using Jet Black Archival ink.  The mounted gel plate was then used to add the reflection of the word below the pencil line.  The word Echo (Clarity Crafts Word Chain Alphabet) was then inked up again and stamped directly onto the tag above the pencil line to match up with the reflected version.

I marked a pencil dot at 5cm and 5.5cm both above and below the central pencil line and used the same technique with the teeny weeny moon stamp from the Woodland Miniatures set. to add the moon clouds.

Next came the really fun part; creating the scene.  I masked off the centre of the moon and used some the hills and mountains masks masks.  I also used tape to mask off below the central pencil line.  Artistry inks in Dry Weed and Midnight Blue, together with two Claritystamp stencil brushes, were used to add the scenery (working from bottom to top).

The tape was moved above the pencil line and the same process used (with the hill masks reversed) to create the scene below the water line.  Additional Midnight Blue ink was used over the hill areas to give the impression of water.

To reinforce the impression of water, some cling wrap was spritzed with water and wrapped around the bottom of the tag, causing the ink to run.  Once removed, the tag was dried and the hills and sky in the reflection were lightly gone over with the stencil brushes and additional ink.

Finally, the same phrase 'it's all perspective' (Tim Holtz idea-ology Small Talk sticker book) was used in both the black on white and the white on black versions and stuck at the same distance above and below the reflection line.

Woodland Dies: Ideas and Inspiration

Some more ideas and inspiration; this time using the Clarity Woodland dies.

Against an inky background (see HERE).

Skyscape Dies: Ideas and Inspiration

 As these dies were showcased on the Clarity shows on Create and Craft yesterday I thought I would bring my samples together here as ideas and inspiration for their use.

Used with a stencil (see HERE).

What a Difference A colour Change Makes

 Clarity Crafts current design of the week celebrating 30 years of Clarity this year is The Happy Couple which Barbara Gray designed for her wedding invitations.  It is available as a stamp set, stencil, die and Groovi plate.  Here you can see that it is not only useful for weddings.  With a change of colour I found it suitable for a sympathy card too.

Here I used soft colours of lilacs and pinks and over stamped using the Word Sticker stamps.

Geometric Overlay Dies: Ideas and Inspiration

 I brought together all my ideas and inspiration using the Clarity Overlay Dies into one place to celebrate the shows with Paul Church on Create and Craft TV tomorrow.  As usual, links to the step by step instructions is given below.

They can be used for many occasions (see HERE).

WOYWW 712: Feeling Ill

 Having just got back into the groove with everything I have had a bout of sickness and diarrhoea which has knocked me for six.  I spent Friday and Sunday in bed and also yesterday.  Still not sure as I prep this on Tuesday whether I will make it into work today although I did drag myself in on Monday.  It is so awkward to try and set work when I am the only German specialist in school.

Luckily the medication seems to be kicking in.

I have just about managed to keep up with the daily drawings.

Stay safe and Happy WOYWW everyone.

EDIT Was still feeling really off by late Tuesday afternoon so called it and will spend today in bed too.

Silhouette Boy on a Swing

I finally got round to using the December 2022 stencil offering from the Clarity New Design Club.  I have renewed for 2023 and can't wait to see what will arrive this year.

Ruby Anniversary Card

Rather than using the New Year sentiment which came with this stamp set, I decided to use the remaining stamps on an anniversary card.

Musical House Move

A friend is moving house and leaving our recorder ensemble.  I made this card for the group to sign.

Batch making Christmas Cards

I decided to get ahead for this year and batch make some simple Christmas cards using the last ever Clarity New Design Club die.

Clarity New Design Club Stamps 2021: Ideas and Inspiration

 Looking back at the projects I completed with the Clarity New design Club stamps from 2021 I thought I would bring them together in one place.  Links to individual card instructions are below each one.

Made with January 2021 #171 plus the bonus stamp set for paying up front for the year (see HERE).

Clarity Club Stencils 2021: Ideas and Inspiration

 This was the first year that I decided to use each Clarity New Design Club stencil as it arrived to create a card or tag.  Here are all the projects together with links to the step by step instructions.

January 2021 #80 (see HERE).

WOYWW 711: Back into the Swing

 The new year is in full swing and I am well into a routine with my marking and planning and #dailydrawing2023. 

My desk shows some of the things I was using yesterday to finish off samples ready for posting.  I dropped them off last night so they should be delivered tomorrow with a day to spare for the first deadline and a week ahead of the second.

I am keeping up with the daily drawings as you can see.

I managed well reading the recorder music at my monthly group at the weekend using my generic reading glasses.  I have now finished with all the eye drops as it is over four weeks since my first cataract operation.  Just waiting for my follow up opticians appointment at the start of February then I can look at booking the second.  

Don't forget to pop over and visit Julia at Stamping Ground - home of WOYWW.  Stay safe and Happy WOYWW.

First Challenge Update of 2023

 Having completed a daily journal page challenge in 2022, I decided to go back to a daily drawing challenge for 2023 as I did in 2021.  I found a set of prompts for each month (except October as I will use the Inktober2023 prompts for then).

For January I found these to follow and they are quite challenging at times to come up with an idea.  Of necessity I am keeping things minimal and basic.  So here is the first half of January...

I must admit for googling ideas for this prompt.

I thought of things that grow despite challenges.

My first thought was eggs.

I am not confident drawing people so went with forms and shapes.

So many different types to choose from!

My thoughts went to plants straight away.

Deceptively difficult to draw!

Another idea I found by googling.

Not a problem to come up with an idea.

First thought but kept the figure simple again.

My choice on special occasions.

A quick and simple response today.

An iconic song gave me the idea for this.

Never tried pottery but I imagine my efforts would look like this.

I have plenty of this to draw!

A really bad pun I know but the drawings have to be quick on work mornings.