December Clarity Stamp Challenge 2013

So this is the last Clarity Stamp Challenge for this year and boy what a year it has been for me Craft Wise - I will go into that one maybe right at the end of the year. But for now I will stick with the subject at hand.  The theme for this challenge is "Scene Building"!  My heart sank a little when I saw the title because I knew that the rest of the DT are just so good at this and believe me they really are good at this, the entries they have put in are just fabulous.  I felt a little out of my depth.  You see I can build a scene and I can use a brayer but what I struggle to do is make everything look in proportion on a picture. I actually made five cards for this Challenge work, my favourite one was a kitchen scene I had done, I loved it, I made my own wall paper with clarity stamps, I even made a chequered floor with a brayer on the Clarity Coated Card but it didn't look right you couldn't distinguish the Skirting board from the floor, so I distressed a little with inks and the floor looked great like something from the 1920's so I stamped the Clarity Lady a dog and a table, the dog was supposed to be running away from the lady and she was holding her arms out and calling him, that bit worked, but it didn't look like they were in a kitchen, they looked like they were stood in front of a decorated card?  So guess what I decided to do, funnily enough my Daughter "gave me the same advice" Fold the card in half and put the wall at the back (how come both of us made this mistake?)so I did that and of course they now look like they are laying down - on a decorated card!!!!! I had even put a tear in the wallpaper to make it looked aged - My daughter said "Mam this looks really old because it"s torn" so at least that worked!!



This is one of my rejects, I got to this stage!
Then I totally over-cooked it, see below.

So I gave in, but I am not disheartened because I now know this:
 If you make a Kitchen Scene, or any scene - take out the stamps you are going to use before you make your background, if I had done this I might have realised that the squares on the floor were too large for the size of the figures and that the pattern on the wallpaper was too large for the size of the wall, and that the border of stamped animals was too wide for the amount of wall.  All things that can be rectified right?  



I like it myself but in my books it would be labelled
"Not Fit For Purpose"

But on this occasion I took the easy option, easy for me!  I might not be able to see a picture in my head to put on a blank piece of paper, but I can always see a picture in a Gelli Print!

So I had a play with my Gelli Plate, and then inked into the print and Stamped over the top.

I also did a bit of the "Credit Card" technique on the Gelli print. 

Made using the Gelli Plate and Duck & Drake Set



 So why am I telling you this, well 1. to get it off my chest.  2. Because I know a lot of people will be daunted by this task, but I don't want you to feel that way.  It is here to be enjoyed, its here to show our own creativity, with the Help of the Clarity Stamps and Gelli Plate and Brayer etc.  3. To tell those who are daunted that these challenges are not a competition with each other but a challenge for ourselves to conquer our own fears and to try something a little different and maybe out of our comfort Zone!!  - OK a contradiction I know for this one, but only because I was running out of time - but I can guarantee that you will see my little 1920's kitchen looking like a kitchen with home made wallpaper is a future challenge because I like to learn and improve, and I won't be beaten by a kitchen tile that just needs to be cut in quarters - yes it was that big, should I show you it?  NO CHANCE!

So I say you are not in competition with others, another contradiction, because there is the chance to win a £50 gift voucher to spend at Clarity  Stamp and then the top 5 chosen by us, the Design Team, will be featured on the blog.  So go on why don't you have a go, in your own way to "build a scene" why not try it on the Gelli Plate, Barbara has given us some great examples of how to do this and you can check them out on the Web Site.

If you got this far, well done, grab a cuppa or vino you deserve it,

but please leave a comment first.

Cary on Crafting.

Sam xx