Fixing the 'Uh-Ohs'!

Good evening.

Thank you very much to everyone for the amazing experience, kind and encouraging words yesterday. A special mention to Barbara Gray, Paul Church, Alex, the presenter, on Hochanda for the encouragement when I was preparing to flee out of the building from the nearest fire exit. I did not look up much at the cameras as I never knew which one was being used and I was too petrified to look up. But from what I have read they were excellent so really pleased everyone got to see what I waffled and stuttered about.

And a HUGE MASSIVE thank you to Emma Burns for the gorgeous scissors pouch she made for me. It even had my name on and that got me even more excited. It is absolutely stunning and such a kind and generous thing to do for me. Really really touched by the gesture and it has become a forever keepsake for me to admire. Barbara blogged the step by steps if anyone is interested in making one on http://barbaragrayblog.blogspot.co.uk/2017/02/generous-friends.html

When I turned on the TV this morning to watch Barbara with the One Day Special, I heard it had sold out and the restock was sold out during Paul's show at 12.00. I am not surprised as the poetry plates are absolutely gorgeous and such a pleasure to work with. So today I will blog the step by steps of one of the samples I did for the show.

Looking at this, it looks like it was created without any problems and very smoothly... Ha! When I have spent any amount of time creating something I hate throwing it out and starting again. So I usually look for quick fixes. And it normally means adding 3D elements such as butterflies, flowers, tags, ... Now you know why so many of my cards have extra butterflies on them. 

Let's start with this one and I'm sure you will see the mistake as soon as you see the photo so I will not point it out.

1.) Emboss the largest square from the Nested Squares plate and the deer from the Woodland Animals plate. This is now the back of your work.

2.) Emboss the grass from the Serenity Prayer plate.

3.) Of course I couldn't leave the landscape the way it was so decided to add some more grass from the plate and the landscape from the Sunbeam Moonbeam plate. Love this landscape and the trees are just so cute that I added a few more trees and a sun from the plate. If I was not rushing for time, I probably would have ended up with a forest in the background. I also added swirls in one corner of the square and around the square from the Calligraphy Swirls plate. This photo is of the front of the work.

4.) I coloured the design on the back using Distress Markers.

5.) Emboss the corner swirl on the back starting with the largest ball tool ad working down the tool sizes with each layer. Let the parchment rest between layers to get white embossing without the bulking of the paper. This is what mine looks like on the front.

6.) On the Straight Basic Grid, perforate on the front the design using the Groovi 1-needle tool. 

7.) Turn the parchment over and stick it back on the grid after aligning the perforated holes and emboss between the perforations on the back.

8.) On the front cut between the perforations to create this lace effect.

9.) With the 2-needle tool, on the front, perforate between and outside the swirls around the square.

10.) Cut between the perforations with parchment scissors or Perga cutters.

So who picked up on my 'Uh Oh' moment? Poor soul has a grass stem going right up through his bum. OUCHY!! I needed to fix this otherwise I would not have been able to sleep through the night feeling guilty about causing so much distress to the deer.

11.) So here is my fix ... Emboss the words Serenity, Courage and Wisdom from the Serenity Prayer plate on a scrap piece of parchment and emboss a rectangular frame around them using the Nested Rectangles plate.

12.) And to finish, cut out the word tags and backing paper tags slightly larger than the parchment. Mount everything on a designer backing paper (18.5x18.5cm) and black card (19x19cm) using brads on either side of the tags. Stick this whole piece onto a folded white card (20x20cm). See everything hidden ... PHEW!

That is all for today as I think I have rambled a lot already. Enjoy.

Love and laughter

Tina

Friends Don't Bite One Another

Good Afternoon.

Have you seen the new Groovi plates and aren't they beautiful? We could have so much fun with them. Demos by Maria and all the beautiful inspiration from the design team always leaves me in awe at not just how amazing everyone's creations are but how the same Groovi plates can be used in so many different ways depending on how everyone interprets them. I love the fact that with this system, parchment craft has become so much more accessible and easier to use by everyone and also with it you become the designer of your creations.

Today, I will go through the steps of this cat and fish card. I see this pair as friends and believe the cat is looking out for his little friend.

All the embossing and colouring on this card has been done on the back and the perforating and cutting from the front.

1.) Emboss the largest square from the A5 Nesting Squares plate followed by the cat from the A5 Feline Delights - Cat Back plate and the second largest square around the cat. This photo is what it looks like on the back of the card.

2.) To put the drapes and curtain, emboss the designs from the A4 Oooh-La-La Knickers plate that was designed by the lovely Linda Williams and the A5 Large Lace Netting plate. You can have so much fun with the set of Oooh-La-La Knickers and Bra plates and they are jam packed with so many designs that can be used on other Groovi designs that for me it a must have.

3.) Emboss the fish bowl from the A5 Meow plate on a side table created with A5 Nesting Square plate for the table top, frilly dangle with the A4 Oooh-La-La Knickers plate and the base stand with the A6 Vases plate.

4.) Emboss in the drapes, curtain, bowl, side table with shader tools, Pergamano 6mm and 4.5mm ball tools and Groovi no. 3 and 2 ball tools.

5.) On the side table base stand, emboss dots from the A5 Diagonal Basic Piercing Grid. Between the double square outline, emboss the flower design which is the 4th one on the Diagonal Border Pattern Piercing Grid 1 border plate.

6.) Colour the design on the back using Distress Markers. To choose what colours I wanted to use, I decided on my backing paper first and then picked the pen colours that matched the backing paper.

7.) Perforate (sorry I forgot to take a photo of the perforating step) using a 2-needle perforating tool between the embossed sections on the curtain. On the frilly part of the curtain and on the table cloth, perforate with a 1-needle perforating tool in each of the the 3 white embossed circle-y bits (couldn't think of what to call them and am hoping you can see which bits I trying to say. Lol). Cut between all the 2-needle perforations with parchment scissors or Perga Cutters.

8.) On the excess part of the parchment, emboss the ribbon from the A4 Oooh-La-La Knickers plate, Perforate around the bow with the 2-needle perforating tool and cut between the perforations.

9.) To finish, cut outside the square and mount it on a backing paper from the Northern Lights Designer Pack and black card using brads. Stick this whole piece on folded white card. Stick the cut out bow on the curtain with a tiny dot of Perga Glue or Pva glue that dries clear.

These are the other 3 samples I made with the new Groovi plates for the show.

 I had a really 'Mice' time making them and 'Fishing' I had more time to play.

All plates available from www.claritystamp.com. Enjoy.

Love and laughter
Tina

Groovi with Jo's Flower Stencil

Good Evening,

Over the last few days I have been doing a bit of paper cutting but today I felt like having a messy play with paints and inks but was not brave enough so ended up mixing up a bit Groovi and stencil. Claritystamp have really gorgeous stencils and I have 'invested' in quite a few of them but rarely get a chance to play with them. While going through my stencil collection, I remembered I had bought the stencil designed by Jo Rice at the open day in Leyburn last year Which I love and have not played with so here is what I came up with ...

1.) Using the Groovi A5 square nesting and circle nesting plates, emboss the largest 2 squares and largest 2 circles. Place the stencil inside the circle, stick it down with Groovi tabs and gently emboss around the stencil. If you prefer you can use a white pencil instead to go around. Remove the stencil and go over the outlines with a No.2 ball tool.

 

2.) Emboss the design from the A5 floral design plate around the outlined flower. Between the square double onlines, emboss the design from the cake decorations border plate and in the double outlines of the circles, emboss the design from the large leave netting A5 plate.

3.) Color the design from the back. I used distress markers as they are water based. In the next step I want to use bendable pencils with alcohol blending solution so it is important not to use anything that will smudge when using the blending solution.

4.) Using various colours I coloured around the floral design but not in the stencilled flower. Use the pencil as flat against the paper as possible so you do not get any harsh lines. This will make the blending easier.

5.) To blend the colours I used alcohol blending medium and a make up cotton bud. You need very little medium on the cotton bud to blend. In circular motion blend the lightest colour first and work your way through the darker colours. Instead of alcohol blending medium you can use Zest-it, Pergamano Dorso oil or Lavender oil. Instead of a make up cotton bud you can use a paper blending stump, Cut n Dry nib or even take a little bit of cotton wool and wrap it tightly around a cotton stick to give you a small cotton bud.

6.) I wanted the rest of the empty areas as lace work for which I used the A5 straight perforating basic grid. I perforated the design first as I find it easier to line it up to do the embossing later on the other side. From the front perforate with the one needle tool every other hole vertically and horizontally in the 4 corners and the stencil outlined flower.

7.) To emboss the dots around the perforations, turn the parchment over, line up the holes using pins in the corners. Stick the parchment down and remove the pins if they get in your way while embossing the dots.

This is what it looks like from the front after all the dots are embossed.

Generally though, if it is a more complicated design with more embossing than perforating, I do the embossing first as it is easier to count the dots.  

8.) Emboss the first border on the back from the straight border pattern piercing plate 2 around the 4 sides of the outside square. Turn the parchment over to the front and perforate a whole in the middle of the alternate square on the border.

9.) Cut the piece to size. I cut 2 pieces of black card (19x19cm and 15x15cm) and a backing paper from the Northern Lights Designer Paper Pack (18.5x18.5cm). Stick the parchment piece on the smaller black card using strips of the left over (why waste such beautiful paper!) backing paper wrapped around the corners. Stick this whole piece on the backing paper, larger black card and a folded white card. Thread a thin piece of ribbon through the holes of a button and tie a bow. Stick the button on the card for a flower centre.

Jo's beautiful stencil and all Groovi plates are available from www.claritystamp.com.

This coming week, the design team will be inspiring us with their beautiful samples made using the new Groovi plates alongside Maria who will be demonstrating these plates on Hochanda on Wednesday, 18th Jan, between 1-2pm and 5-6pm. Do tune in to watch the live demos or set the box to record the shows. The news Groovi plates are beautiful and so much fun.

Enjoy.

Love and laughter

Tina

Shoes, Bags and Hats

Good Afternoon.

Doesn't Christmas already seem like it was so long ago? Or is that just me! I love the Christmas season. You can never have too much glitter, sparkle and tinsel. My sister and her family had flown over for the week and this year, after a lot of years, we actually got to have a Christmas at home rather than at a hospital so it was very nice ... and relaxing.

I even managed to make some samples for Barbara's shows today on Hochanda between 2-4 and 5-6. If you can, please tune in )or if possible put on record) to watch some great demonstrations by Barbara and see the amazing samples by the design team ... lots to learn and lots of inspiration. Watch out for those scrumptious Designer Paper Pads. Each sheet is really beautiful and perfect for mounting your parchment work on without needing to spend hours looking for that perfect background.

These were the samples I created with the new Groovi plates, A5 Fashion Phrases and Elegant Expressions and Borders Shoes, Bags and Hats:-

And the step by step I have for you today:-

The Plates I used are:

A4 - Alphabet Picture Frame, Oooh-La-La Bra

A5 - Nested Squares, Ribbons & Bows, Elegant Expressions

Borders - Shoes, Bags

1.) Emboss the design. I started with the A4 Alphabet Picture Frame plate for the frame and the greeting.

Emboss the shoe in place, followed by the bag behind the shoe and gifts behind the bag using the Nested Squares plate.

 The gifts are decorated using the Nested Squares for the ribbons, Oooh-La-La Bra for the circles and Ribbons and Bows for the bow on the top gift.

In the 4 sides of the frame, emboss the elegant expressions and create boxes around them. Break the space in between these phrases using the Nested Squares plate.

2.) On the back, emboss the circles and bow on the gifts, the handbag and shoe.

Colour with Distress Markers on the back. Use the Sakura gold gel pen on the front to colour the circles and outline the diamonds on the handbag.

2.) I had also coloured the spaces between the elegant expressions but then decided I did like it so decided to perforate those spaces. Looking at it now, I do like the colours. Maybe I should have left it alone for a day or two and to decide what I wanted to do with the space. I also perforated the spaces I saw as would be open on the Shoe and Bag handle.

4.) Cut out between the perforations using your parchment scissors or Perga Cutters.

5.) To finish, cut the parchment piece to size and mount it on the cute hearts paper from the Sweet Dreams Designer Paper Pad and black card using brads and stick this onto folded square white card.

All the gorgeous new (and old) Groovi plates and Designer Paper Pads are available from www.claritystamp.com.

Enjoy.

Love and laughter

Tina

Flower Power

Good Morning,

I finally finished the project I was working on over the last few weeks, so ... Phew ... and Yayyy ... but can't say more ... Shhhh. That means through Christmas I can relax and enjoy being with just family and do lots of paper cutting ... A new hobby I am obsessed with. My sister, brother-in-law and nephews are coming over from the States for a week so that will be excellent ... Lots of giggles and happy faces.

Today. on Hochanda at 11, 2, and 5, Paul Church is demo-ing new Groovi plates which are really lovely ... just my type of designs I love ... very tangled/doodley sort of design and very cute. I forgot to take photos as I went along because I was so excited to create with them, but just as well because there would have been a few too many photographs. I love the versatility the Groovi system gives us to so easily mix the plates to create beautiful art work. I created this with the new plates and some of the previous plates.

Groovi Plates Used:-

Border Plates: - Straight Border Pattern Piercing Grid 1, Cake Decorations

A5 Square Plates - Basic Straight Grid, Nested Squares, Nested Hearts, Nested Panel Boxes, Happy Birthday, Floral Circle, Friends are Like Flowers, Leafy Frame, Texture

Baby Plates - Vases

1.) The embossed line art goes as follows:

a.) Emboss the 3rd and 4th square from the outside of the nested square plate on regular parchment.

b.) On the inside of the square, in the corners, emboss part of the 4th heart from the inside of the nested heart plate.

c.) In the middle, emboss the 6th from the inside panel box of the nested panel boxes plate.

d.) On one side of the panel box, emboss the pot from the baby vases plate and decorate it using the textures plate.

e.) Emboss flowers from the floral circle plate growing out of the pot.

f.) Outside the pot and flowers, emboss the 5th from the inside panel box of the nested panel boxes plate so it creates a double outlines frame.

g.) Emboss the greeting 'Enjoy' from the happy birthday plate of the other side of the panel box.

h.) In the corner hearts, emboss the floral design from the floral circle plate.

i.) Above the panel box, emboss leaves from the leafy frame plate between the heart corners.

2.) At this point I was not sure what I wanted to do in the double outlined frames so, on the back, I will coloured the art work using distress markers while I thought about what I wanted to do in them ... should I use the border pattern plates, or more emboss line work or keep it simple and just colour?

By the time I finished colouring I decided to put some more line art in the double outlined frames for which I used the cake decoration border plate and then coloured the hearts. I didn't need to emboss the circles between the hearts as I later decided to perforate between these sections instead of colouring them. Why make life simple when we can complicate it, right?

3.) For the border around the card, I choose the 3rd pattern border on the straight border pattern piercing grid 1. Start with perforating the pattern from the front.

4.) Turn the piece over on the back, align the perforations on the basic straight grid and emboss the dots inside the border. Ignore the messy colouring as this is the back. The front is fine (I hope).

5.) On the front, using the 2-needle perforating tool, perforate between all the tiny hearts in the double outlined frames and between the corner hearts around the leaves.

6.) Cut between the perforations using the parchment scissors or Perga Cutters. A bit of madness? Yes! But well worth it.

7.) To finish, I mounted the parchment on purple parchment (13.5x13.5cm) and brown card (14x14cm) using brads and stuck this onto a folded white card (14.5x14.5cm).

Hope everyone gets a chance to catch the shows and watch amazing live demo-s by Paul and get tons of inspiration from the design teams stunning art work they created with the Groovi plates. Every time I see their art work I am completely star struck by their designs and talent. So much to learn ...

All the Groovi plates, tools, parchment is available from www.claritystamp.co.uk or www.claritystamp.com. Enjoy.

Love and laughter

Tina

Wintery Scene

Good Evening.

Jayne Nestorenko's winter scene drawings/designs are exquisite. On their own they are amazingly beautiful but when you see all the great art work created by the fabulous design team using the stamps and Groovi plates, they are absolutely out of this world and am sure most of you will fall in love with them. Barbara and Paul will be showcasing them with all the great art work from the design team and lots of inspiration on Hochanda as a 1-Day special, tonight at 8.00 and then tomorrow at 9.00, 12.00, 4.00 and 7.00.

This is what I created today and will go through the steps for those who may wish to recreate something similar. The plates I used are:-

A4 Square: Jayne's Winter Scenes and Alphabet Picture Frame

A5 Square: Nested squares and Jayne's Poinsettia Name

Border: Diagonal Border Pattern Piercing Grid 1

1.) Emboss the design on regular parchment and green parchment. I started with the nested squares plate and used the 4th and 5th squares from the outside as a guide for the size of my card.

2.) Colour on the back. I used Distress Markers.

3.) On the snowman layer, between the double square border, perforate pattern no. 4 from the Diagonal border pattern piercing grid 1.

4.) On the green parchment border layer, emboss and perforate the pattern no. 5 from the Diagonal border pattern piercing grid 1.

5.) On the last bottom, poinsettia layer, between the double square border, perforate pattern no. 4 from the Diagonal border pattern piercing grid 1.

6.) Cut between all the perforations on all the layers.

7.) Cut all the pieces to size ad mount them on green parchment and black card using brads. I have used more brads then I needed to because I wanted to use them as an embellishment too. Stick this whole piece on white scallop edge folded card. To finish off, add a bit of sparkle using the Sakura Clear Star gel pen.

 All the Groovi plates, stamps, parchment paper, are available from www.claritystamp.co.uk or www.claritystamp.com.

Enjoy.

Love and laughter

Tina