Merry Christmas To All

Merry Christmas to all my blog followers and visitors.  I am determined to use all my Clarity club stamps and stencils before the end of the year, so here is the stencil offering for November.

Bunny Canvas

This is the last sample that I made for the Claritystamp show at the NEC where the Earth Has Music 3 way overlay stamps were introduced.  I worked on a canvas board for a change, but I'm not entirely sure of the finished piece.  I love the autumn colours, but I am not certain about the layout.  Opinions and advice gratefully received.

WOYWW 509: Secrets, Secrets

Welcome to the weekly desk share, linking up with head desker Julia over on the Stamping Ground, to join in with What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday.  As you can see from the number at the top of the post, this weekly link up is approaching its 10th anniversary.

I can't show a great deal of what I'm up to at the moment as usual.  However the Country Animals Montage stencil has been around for a year so is not really a secret.  As you can see, I had masked off one animal that I wanted to use and had my Dreamweaver embossing paste out.  More than that will have to wait until March 16th.

Here are my favourite samples from each of the Clarity shows that I have been involved in so far since January 2019.  I am having a blast!

Sadly, there is nothing to show on the other side of the desk again this week, as Eva and I have still not managed to get together in the shed since half term.  However, #2 son is flying in from Romania for three weeks on Saturday, so we haven't had to wait too long to catch up with him.  #1 son and his girlfriend have just purchased a house and I am hoping to have time to go along with hubby and give them a hand with the decorating on Sunday. 

A Christmas Card Scene within a Wreath Frame

I know that black isn't the first colour that you might think of when making a Christmas card,  but the embossing paste through the Laurel Christmas Wreath stencil from Claritystamp finished this card perfectly.

WOYWW 494: Getting Excited

I am starting to get excited for Christmas.  My son and his girlfriend will be returning from Romania for nearly three weeks and I am looking forward to seeing them.  I shall also be creating my first secret Clarity DT samples shortly (I can say no more). 

My desk shows a Christmas card topper that I am working on (I will share the finished piece tomorrow).  I love creating mini scenes using the various Clarity wee stamps and teeny weenie stamps and decided to give the finished scene an embossing paste outline using the laurel wreath stencil.
I have finally caught up with all the marking from my meeting last Wednesday afternoon.  I will get plenty done during the two hours that I have this afternoon in school.  No other side of the desk this week.  Eva has been really busy with work and courses and we haven't had a chance for a crafty get together for a couple of weeks.  I'm  hoping she can manage a session tomorrow.  To visit more desks and find out more about What's On Your Workdesk, Wednesday?   please pop over to our host Julia at the Stamping Ground.  I'll be over to visit after work tonight.

Early for Valentine's Day

I worked on a #8 manilla tag for the November challenge over on Tag It Tuesday.  Four prompts are given each month and at least two have to be used.  This month the prompts were: 1 Paste through a stencil; 2 Paint with your fingers; 3 Write random words; 4 Numbers.  As you will see, I used three of the prompts.

Happy Birthday Autumn Card

Today is my eldest son's birthday and this is the special card which I made for him.  As he has an autumn birthday, I used seasonal colours.  Happy Birthday son!

Autumnal Tag

The four prompts for October over on Tag It Tuesday are 1: Use scrapbook paper; 2: Add a map; 3: Fall/Autumn and 4: Nature.  I have used all four in one way or another.

A Car Themed Tag

When I saw the current challenge over on Country View Challenges: Planes, Trains and Automobiles I knew exactly which stamp set I wanted to use.  I have had it in my stash for ages and never used it; I felt it was about time to change that.  My son has also recently bought himself a convertable, so I thought that he might like the tag to use as a bookmark.

A Bird does not sing: Journal Page

This page was made in response to the June Challenge on Mixed Media Art Journey.  There are 6 prompts each month.  These month's prompts in no particular order are: Make a page, add red, add texture, use scrap paper, add doodles and favourite quote.

Steampunk Tag: The Second

Having made one steampunk tag for the current challenge over on Tag Tuesday: Steampunk/Mechanical,  I couldn't resist making another.  Even though I followed very similar steps to the first one that I made, they turned out completely differently.

Tag: From small beginnings...

This tag was originally created for the January prompt on Tag It Tuesday: Circles; Add fabric; Beginnings; Drips, where at least two of the prompts had to be followed.  It is also suitable for the first fortnightly Tag Tuesday prompt of 2018: New Beginnings so I will share it there also.

You Win Some, You Lose Some!

I decided to experiment with alcohol inks on parchment.  The first part of the plan went well, but then everything turned into a hot mess.  I have at least learned something from the experiment and there is plenty of texture on the tag!

Steampunk Tag

This tag was created for the Steampunk challenge with Tag Tuesday (a fortnightly challenge).

Tag It Tuesday: Stars

This tag was created for the July challenge with the Tag It Tuesday group: Stars.  As it is July, I decided to go with a stars and stripes theme.

Art Journal Prompts Week 27: Gold

Just as I caught up with the Art Journal Prompts for 2017 I have fallen behind again, due to leading a school visit to Berlin.  This is in response to last week's prompt 'Gold'; I am planning on completing this week's prompt before the next one appears!

Grunge Tag

I decided to finish the tag that I was playing about with the other day.  I had already got as far as colouring and embossing it; it just needed some decoration and finishing touches.

JJJ and Mindful Art Challenge 12: Feathers, Black, Pink and Green

This page was created for the weekly challenge on Junk Journal Junkies and Mindful Art. This week's theme is feathers and the colours allowed are black, pink and green.

Tag It Tuesday April Challenge: Add Letters and/or Numbers

This tag was created for the Tag It Tuesday Facebook group challenge for April:  Add letters and/or numbers.  I enjoyed building up the layers, but I wasn't initially sure about the finished tag, it's not a colour combination I would usually go for.  It's growing on me though.

Journal52 Week 10: Truth

Although I am sharing this page after the next prompt for Journal52 has already been released, I actually completed it on Tuesday; one of three art journal pages in one day.  That is a record for me, but as I work on Thursday and Friday, I prepare some of my blog posts in advance.  I arrived at the quote that I wanted to use quite quickly, but my idea about the page was very nebulous until I found a sheet of 12" x 12" K & Co. paper which had birds on it.  One of them contained the word truth and I went from there.