August 2014 New Products {Clare Lloyd}

Hi everyone, Leandra here. Welcome back!

Well here we are at the final night of 7 days of new product releases, and this one is a surprise for almost everyone as we have kept this release well under our hats! 

Clare Lloyd has been one of our fabulous 2014 Guest Designers, and her quirky hand-drawing skills didn't go unnoticed! We subsequently asked her to do a 'face tags' feature this semester too which many of you have thoroughly enjoyed. So naturally then next step was stamps!

Clare has come up with these fabulous designs which she calls Christmas-Nordic and  lacey in style. We always like to bring something new to the table, and these stamps tick that box. You could use these for altered art, journals. but on the face of it they also look ideal for clean and simple cards too.

We have literally only had our hands on these stamps for a few short days! Clare has whipped up a few altered style projects, and I'm her wingman tonight with a few very simple Christmas cards as below. What would you do with them? I'll hand over to Clare to explain...

Hi there Clare Lloyd here with some news I have been bursting to tell someone! I have been busy designing some new stamps for PaperArtsy’s fabulous Eclectica range.

As I don’t like to be pigeon holed when it comes to craft styles; I wanted to design stamps that would be equally at home on CAS cards or something more arty/mixed media. This would give all the crafters/artists out there plenty of options and scope for their own creative journey. 

My first stamp set ECL01 is very feminine but still has a strong graphic style which I am a fan of. My inspiration was broderie anglaise lace and the images in the stamp set could be used as a focal point to a project or to build patterns and backgrounds. There are loads of sentiments that can be used on cards or art journey pages most of which fit into the lacy frame.

ECL01

ECL02

By Clare Lloyd: Just wanted to say...

Let me share a couple of projects using my first new stamp set ECL01.

I made a background by brayering on Cheesecake, Guacamole and Mermaid Fresco paint onto heavy weight Smoothy card.

Then I created a pretty background by simply stamping three images from the set randomly using Black Archival Ink.

The borders and embellishments on my card were all created by painting Smoothy card, stamping and then cutting out to layer up my finished design. This 5” x 5” card would be fit for all sorts of occasions and I stamped the lacy frame plus my chosen greeting inside the card.

 By Clare Lloyd: Door Hanger

My little decorative door hanger was simply created using Grey/White board painted in Snowflake Fresco paint and then I built up a background by stamping the lacy borders from ECL01. The coloured papers were created using the same brayer technique as above but instead I used Yellow Submarine and London Bus.

By Clare Lloyd: Nordic Christmas

Now onto my second stamp set ECL02 this has a Nordic design vibe and was inspired by Nordic festive knits/textiles. There are lots of images that can be used to build patterns and also has a great frame which many of the elements and sentiments are designed to fit into. This set would be perfect in the run up to Christmas when you want to crank up the card making and produce quick but stylish batches of cards to send to your loved ones.

I used the elements within the stamp set to build a background and also to create the focal point/embellishment. The background was created like this:

I swished the paint brush around onto some Heavy Weight Smoothy Card using Cherry Red Fresco paint (JOFY Ltd Edition Set #2) and then started stamping using Black Archival ink.

Then a layer of stamping using Bora Bora.

I painted on a quick coat of Matte Glaze and added just a touch of Snowflake which I wiped back with a baby wipe. Then came some more stamping with Snowflake.

The finishing touches were to create my border/faux washi tape and heart embellishments. I simply painted card, stamped and added Matte Glaze.

by Clare Lloyd: Festive Canvas

Here is a festive 4” x 4” chunky canvas I made. It was simply painted in Cherry Red Fresco paint and I did some pattern building and borders by stamping with Snowflake. The canvas was painted with a layer of Gloss Glaze to make the red really pop.

I stamped the sentiment within the main frame from the set ECL02 and also created another layered frame using the narrow border. This was all stamped using Carnation Red Archival Ink and I splashed on a coat of Gloss Glaze. I rummaged in my altered art stash to find some wooden/wire elements to finish off my canvas. These were all painted with Snowflake and Gloss Glaze. 

My little heart topper was created using Grey board and a layer of Grunge Paste which I stamped into.

I do hope you like these new designs and I can’t help but wonder what you will make with them? Something else for me to look forward to! Enjoy!

~ Clare

Wow, such awesome samples Clare, particularly considering you only had about 48 hours to do them! I know how excciting it is to use your very own stamps for the first time...what I call a scary-good experience!

Well as I said earlier, I am Clare's wing man tonight. And I must confess, I used the opportunity to kill 2 birds with one stone. 

Today we have been hosting a retailer training day here in Essex, and the focus of it was to teach 6 x 1 hour classes using as many of the new products as we could. So for me, I decided CAS cards with Clare's stamps was the way to go. So today the retailers made 7 cards in 1 hour. That is some achievement, but I did give them a helping hand with the background....

by Leandra Franich: Mini Gift Cards

Cards like these is exactly how I started crafting over 20 years ago. Simple layers, bold colour, and perfect to accompany a gift. I used to sell this size card to a local gift shop with matching hand-made envelopes. Great to have a stack of these on hand!

Oh yes, and Miss Courtney got busy with Nana (over from New Zealand) last week to make some plum jam, one of our trees is laden this year. Wasn't as hard as she thought!

Oh look, it has friends.....in red and turquoise. So I admit it, I stole the JOFY tradition of kraft card, but when I first saw Clare's stamps, the first thought I had was Carnation Red Ink and Kraft Card. The turquoise background is made using about 4 shades of blue: Turquoise (new JOFY colour), Mermaid, Hint of Mint (new Lin Colour), Chalk and a bit of pazazz from Beach Hut. Using all of them together brayered randomly onto Smoothy Card Stock, you end up with a bit of variation rather than one shade of a flat blue. The white stamping is all with Chalk Fresco paint.

By Leandra Franich: Festive Cards

If you leave your Xmas cards till the very last minute, then this might be the answer below!

What starts small always ends up with a bigger version too. You can see the brayered backgrounds a bit better now in the close-up below.

Same method, a simple colour palette, wood bellies, a touch of bling, twine and voila, instant card. The blue ink is Ranger forget-me-not archival. 

All year I've been feeling the love for CAS, and it is very satisfying to not always throw the kitchen sink at a project!

Well people, that's your lot for new products until we hit the new year and Trade Show season! This is plenty to keep you busy until then I am sure!

Congratulations to all the designers, new and existing. It's our absolute pleasure to work with you all and help bring your ideas to life through the medium of RUBBER! Whatever could be better! We can't wait to see how these new products spark your creativity, please do share what you make with us via our blog challenges! We really love to see what you do.

Tomorrow a new semester is upon us, so we shall see you back here quick smart after work. We have 3 posts planned for tomorrow evening, so keep your eyes peeled for information about all the new things we have in store!

~ Leandra