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.

Saturday 26 September 2015

Clare DT - Balloon Girl

Good morning all, I'm hoping that everyone is well in blogland? I'm here today with my weekly Bee Crafty spot.

This week I am bringing to you another Banksy inspired stamp along with some distress inks.

 

For this card I have used:

Banksy Inspired balloon girl

Backdrop borders dandies

Backdrop stamp crackle paint

Wordage - shoot for the moon

Inkables template - harlequin

Distress inks

Liquid pearls

 

Firstly I masked off the moon and blended Salty ocean across the sky. Through the harlequin stencil, using the same colour, I added some diamonds. Using a circle mask I blended through some antique paper distress ink and stamped the crackle paint stamp with some brown ink.

With some vintage photo distress ink, I blended on the bumpy ground and stamped on the dandies backdrop borders along with the balloon girl and wordage sentiment in black ink.

Finally I added some liquid pearls to my dandies and sky.

 

 

It's a busy weekend for myself, I'm off to the craft show at Westpoint, Exeter this weekend which will mean not much crafting but the next best thing, crafty spending.

 

Have a fantastic weekend whatever you may be doing.

Crafty hugs,

Clare x x x

Monday 21 September 2015

Art is Freedom


Good morning to you all. Today I am sharing with you something from my art journal. This year I have been starting to develop my drawing/painting skills. I do this in the comfort of my own home largely because there are a lack of workshops to attend in the South West of england. So when I started this page I wanted to share a little of me with you!

This page was based on a picture that I had previously sketched into a sketch book, too scared to add any colour to it I decided to leave it as it was in my sketch book but recreate it in my art journal.

Now I have probably have created this page a little back to front but I decided to sketch into my journal first before covering with a layer of clear gesso.

 

Time to add some colour, eeek, scary times!

I painted the face mixing Dina Wakely paints for the skin tones.

When Painting on my background, again I used Dina Wakely paints through the Finnabair wild roses stencil. I added some stamping using the Finnabair dot grunge stamp and some butterflies, circles and sentiment from the Finnabair Dont forget to fly set.

 

I painted some card and stamped several of the tiny butterflies, fussy cut them out and applied them to my ladies head.

 

Compared to some I am still relatively new in my art journaling journey. I know that I still have a lot to learn but isn't it fun enjoying the ride?

 

Thank you for stopping by today. I am always overjoyed when you share your thoughts and comments.

 

Big hugs,

Clare x x x

 

Sunday 20 September 2015

What shall I do whilst waiting for paint to dry?.......

Good afternoon bloggers. I'm back again today with my painting hat on. Today I have been mainly painting a DT piece and a picture for a friend and I found myself at that point where I could go no further unless I wanted to literally watch paint dry. So I grabbed another canvas and off I went again.

 

I used liquitex paints for the background and crafters acrylic metalic paints for the flowers and grasses.

I love the way the metalics poke through the acrylic paint although I'm not sure you can really appreciate that from the photo.

 

 

That's it from me today. I'll be back tomorrow with my DT spot for A Sprinkle of Imagination. If you have enjoyed your visit today you can follow my blog from above. If you would like to leave a comment below they are alway gratefully received.

 

Enjoy whats left of the weekend,

Hugs,

Clare x x x

Friday 18 September 2015

Clare DT - Banksy inspired watering girl

Good morning to you all. We have made it too the weekend which can only mean one thing. I am bringing to you my little bit of Bee Crafty for this week. Incase you didn't already know all Bee Crafty stamps are free P&P so pop on over for a peep!

I'm going to rewind to a couple of weeks ago where I had a batch making session of some tags.

 

To make this tag I used:

Dylusion inks Bubblegum pink/Lemon zest/Pure sunshine

Ranger tags

Inspired by Banksy - Girl watering aerial

Wordage stamp - Sunshine, freedom and flower

Beautanicals Leaves stamp

Live with no excuses stamp (The word 'Love')

Liquid pearls

Mica powders from stash

 

 

To make this tag I scrunched it up as much as I could and then unravelled the tag. I spritzed some Dylusion ink onto a craft mat and then used my tag to mop up the vibrant, juicy colours.

 

Once dried, i got out the iron ( about the only time I do use an iron) and flattened out my crumpled tag. I stamped on the image, sentiment and leaves using black ink. I added a bit of shimmer to the leaves using mica powders.

 

I mounted my tag onto some black card and then carefully, using my sewing machine, added some stitching around to the tag. To finish off I stamped the 'Love' sentiment from live with no excuses onto a little wooden embellishment from my stash and added some copper liquid pearls.

 

Thank you for coming over to see me today. If you have enjoyed your visit today remember to follow the blog or leave a comment, they are always greatfully received.

 

I'm off to cause some more crafty mayhem! Have a fun weekend.

 

Crafty hugs,

Clare x x x

Saturday 12 September 2015

Clare DT Tree Silhouette

Hi, it's Clare here again and I'm back with my little bit of Bee Crafty.  It's been my first full week of work so there hasn't been much crafting this week but fortunately, during the holidays, I made a batch of projects and I have something to show you this week.


Items used for this project are:
Beautanicals Tree Silhouette
Da Vinci  inspired script
Wordage live with no excuses 
Distress inks
Embossing powder - Clear

You can visit http://www.beecrafty.net to find all of these stamps and many more.


To start I stamped the script stamp all over the card in brown I know.   With my clear embossing stamp pad I stamped the tree and heat embossed with clear embossing powder.  

I then started to blend in my distress inks starting with squeezed lemonade in the centre of the card and gradually working in spiced marmalade and dried marigold with some walnut stain around the edge of the card.


That's my post for this week,  if you have enjoyed visiting why not follow the blog.  If you would like to leave a comment you can do this below.  

Happy crafting,
Big hugs, 
Clare x x x 

Wednesday 9 September 2015

Be Brave, Be Strong, Be True

Good morning folks. This is very exciting, it's my first ever blog post for ' A Sprinkle of Imagination ' and I feel so very proud and honoured to be here.

 

There are so many changes taking place in my household at the moment. My son has just started an apprenticeship and my daughter has started at secondary school. With my daughter in mind I created a page in my journal.

 

I know that I am going to be incredibly biast but my daughter really is inspirational. She gives everything 100% and wants to do it well. Sophie loves to sing, write, bake and even ventures down into my craft room where we sometimes sit and participate in a crafty session or two. Unfortunately she seems to have a very low self esteem where she underestimates herself because of how her peers may have judged her. So this is a little message that I want to pass onto my girl to help her with new chapter.

 

 

For this project I used:

Dina Wakely Paints

Dina Wakely Silhouetted women

3 x 5 Gelli Plate

Tim Holtz layering stencils

Cargo

Crocodile

Burlap

Splotches

 

I also used some of my own textures like bubble wrap and bottle tops on my Gelli plate.

I started off on my page with Tangerine paint on my gelli plate, putting down various prints using things like a metal grid from a disposable barbeque (bizarre) and bubble wrap. To dull down the orange paint a little I repeated this with white paint.

With the Gelli plate I applied two colours midnight and turquoise and blended with a brayer. I used some bottle tops on the gelli plate to make circular patterns before printing.

Using some midnight paint I went through the cargo and crocodile stencils and then with the burlap stencil I applied some white paint.

Dina's silhoutted women were all stamped onto the page but on a separate piece of card I painted some magenta and added some orange with the splotches stencil. When this was dry I stamped on another of the women and cut out and stuck onto the page.

 

I added some doodling over the two background characters and some words of wisdom around the edge of the page that says 'Don't be afraid to stand out from the crowd. Be brave, Be strong, Be true'

 

 

So that's my first blog for A Sprinkle of imagination, phew! I shall be back again soon with some more craftiness. Thank you for taking the time to stop by, I love to hear your thoughts and comments, you can do this below or if you would like to see what I get up to next you can follow my blog by clicking on one of the above links.

 

Happy crafting,

Clare x x x

 

Sunday 6 September 2015

A Sunday night blog

Just a little blog from me tonight.  It's been a busy old day really.  Amongst catching up with the chores and managing to grab some sunny moments in the garden I have been in and out of the craft room working on DT projects.  

The house has been quiet as hubby and my daughter have been sailing the seven seas (ok, not quite the seven seas). They have been bobbing around on our South Devon waters in search of fish (yuk!). No I don't like fishing, that's why they leave me at home in the craft room.


As promised, earlier in the week I painted an MDF heart for my friends birthday.  She was overjoyed with her hand made gift.


She is a little bit like me in the sense that she is a home bird with those that she loves gathered close, Hence the homely theme.


For this project I used Jofy stamps, stencils (the chicken wire stencil is a TCW) and paper artsy paints.

That's it from me tonight.  I shall be back in the middle of the week with my first blog for A sprinkle of Imagination.

Feel free to leave your comments below.  Have a good week everyone.

Hugs, 
Clare x x x

Saturday 5 September 2015

Clare DT Slide & Bubble with Dylusions

It's the weekend hurrah. I've only worked for three days this week but I for one was so glad to see the weekend arrive. I'm here today with my Bee Crafty slot and I have quite a selection of recent makes to blog I couldn't decide! So I decided to share with you a little something I made a while ago whilst playing with my Gelli Plate.

 

For this project I used:

Dylusion paints :- Bubblegum pink, Vibrant turquoise, Lemon Zest, Squeezed orange

Inspired by Banksy- slide and bubble

Wordage - Live with no excuses

Inkable templates :

Harlequin

Metalwork alpha

Alternative circles

 

I started off by tearing some scrap paper into circles and tearing a hole in the middle. One at a time I brayered each colour onto the Gelli plate and placed the torn circles onto the plate.

When I applied the new colour the torn circle was put into a slightly different position so that some of the previous colour would peep through. I continued this with the all the colours until I was happy with my print.

When the paint was dried I used the Harlequin and metalwork alpha stencil and blended through some black distress ink.

Horizontally across the card I created my slide using the alternative bubbles stencil and some white dylusions paint. The sentiment and bubble girl was stamped using black ink.

 

Thank you for popping over today for a look at my post. I always look forward to hearing your comments, you can post these below. If you would like to follow my blog you can click on one of the above links or follow by email.

 

Happy crafting,

Clare x x x

Tuesday 1 September 2015

Back to school!

 I am here tonight with a heavy heart. Alas it is the end of the summer holidays but one must remember that It is because of my job that I am fortunate to have an abundance of holidays.

So to make the most of my last day I have been in and out of the craft room with a few small projects.




This is a card I have made for a friends birthday, I have also painted a wooden heart which I shall blog at a later date.




Ok I didn't actually paint this today although it was something that I had to finish off from yesterday. This is a small canvas which I painted using liquitex basic paints and Dylusions (in the background). It is a canvas for my new class. Our new class name for this year is 'Whales'. The completed canvas has welcome stamped at the top. This will be one of my first jobs tomorrow.





My Auntie Barbara has been making some fabulous tags, they really are worth a look you can visit her blog here http://glitterarti1.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/a-little-bling-for-tim-holtz.html 
Her tags inspired me to have ago at my own and with all of the recent summer rain I came across a stamp set that I have never used (guilty as charged, but I bet I'm not the only one?) so I had a little play with some tags and Dylusion inks.

So that's it from me for now, I shall be back at the weekend with my weekly blog for Bee Crafty and I shall also be starting my new post on the design team for A Sprinkle of Imagination so there is plenty to look forwards to.

Thank you for stopping by. I love to here your comments you can leave these below, if you would like to follow my blog you can do this by clicking on one of the links above.

Happy Crafting,
Clare x x x