Sunday Best. Let's play dress ups!

Sunday Best. Let's play dress ups!

Hi there!
Thanks for stopping by! I’m blogging on a plane! Yep. 
This is the new Mile High Clarity Club!
Headed from Albuquerque to Atlanta, and then on to London.
So what better way to spent this transit time in the air than pretend you’re here, sitting next to me, and we’re chatting arty!
I’ve even worked out how to insert pictures! So let’s take a look at a really retro set of Style Stencils we showcased at the CHA in Los Angeles. My oh my. That seems like months ago!
Well, there are 3 stencils, each with 2 stylish 50’s ladies. – inny and outy stencils included.
And then there’s an ingenious dress-me-up set of remountable Claritystamps,
complete with 2 speech bubbles! So hours of fun there!
Bit dark, this picture, but I cannot wait to spend an afternoon dolling these girls up with the stamps.
I wanted to be a fashion designer when I was a kid,
So this set of stencils and stamps
Is right up me street. Or should I say catwalk?
You can see here that the ladies have been paper embossed, then coloured with our stencil brushes through the stencil, all ready for adding the finishing touches.
Here’s a pink lady I want to dress up before I go to town on the catwalk.
Just attach the stencil over the embossed figure, and gently apply colour using a Clarity brush and make up sponges.
It’s best to stamp the extras and the patterns into place with the stencil still in position.
Not the hat and flowers of course !
Smear any pink Picked Raspberry ink from the stencil into the dress, to create shade.
They come later! Mask the hand so that it looks like she is clutching the bouquet.
Add shadow, shoes, detail to the clutch bag and skirt pleats with a pink pencil
 (Spectrum Noir for me all the way!)
A same colour pencil is all you need to define the dress, the sleeves, the legs. It really is that simple!
Add a little bling to the hat and shoes; maybe a little accent on the clutch bag?  Perfect!
The Thank you line sentiment will make a great base. Just stamp it into place, mask it off and add the flower spray below. 
Nice. Now I just want to get going on the other 6 lovely ladies! But it just got turbulent, and we’re coming into Atlanta. So I’d best say bye for now!
See you on the flipside!
Much love,
Barb xxx

50 thoughts on “Sunday Best. Let's play dress ups!

  1. Pretty in pink and perfect for dress up. I can see so many things you can make with these stencil for lots of occasions. The speech bubbles are super and I look forward to having a lot of fun with them, thinking up comments as we speak.

  2. I do so love these very much and methinks will be added to my growing collection soon ~~~

    Well, I wanted to be a fashion designer too! I spent hours and hours drawing outfits and colouring them in! Eventually, aged 42, when I was going through my divorce and refused to let 'him' get to me, I plucked up the courage and applied to art college and went off on my own, doing something for me, for three years to study fashion design and pattern cutting! Took a lot of courage, sacrifice, and effort to do this at a very dark time in my life, but it became the light that got me through. There is a lot, an awful lot, to be said for the therapeutic value of creativity.
    Sorry, going on a bit now ~~~ Safe Journey ~~~ Deb xoxo

  3. Got the stencils this week, love them. Hoping to have playtime later. Safe journey home. I'd put the kettle on for you but Norfolk's a bit of a detour. ⛄️

  4. Oh dear, oh dear…..what to do…..oh stuff it……I'll get the lot that's what.

    I always wanted to be a fashion designer – I could make all the things that were in my head but couldn't draw them to save my life so that was that back in the day – plan A was ditched and the rest is history as they say.
    Can't wait to play with lot, thank you so much for coming up with this brilliant idea.

  5. Hi Barb,
    What a cool way to pass the time on a plane. Like the stencils, but not really into dresses, shoes etc on my cards, so in that sense not for me. However, I do love what you have done and can appreciate that they will be extremely popular with loads of people. Have a safe journey back home. Love Alison xx

  6. love a bit of turbulence !!!!
    You have made these stencil look really fabulous Barbara!!!
    My mind is racing to wonder what else you will be bringing us!!!
    Much love
    Kim

  7. Lovely card, Barbara, and great idea filling the dress of the stencil with the flower stamps.
    I did something similar some years ago. I had a huge high heels-stencil and stamped different ladies into it. Looked good as well.
    Have a safe flight home.
    Rolf xxx

  8. Hi Barbara. What a great idea, a mile high clarity club! Love these stencils and stamps Barbara and what a pretty dress you have created, bought one like this last year for a vintage tea party! Did you have the set where you drew around the outline of a body and then drew round clothes to dress them with and cut them out of paper ( in our case wallpaper!) when you were little? My sister and I spent hours playing with our sets! Might get the stencils as a blast from the past! Have a safe journey. Love Diane xxx

  9. I love these stencils. I also used to spend hours drawing figures. Mum used to sew and i loved looking at the pictures on the patterns, these stencils remind me of the patterns. They are so pretty and girlie. I love the stamping technique and adding the border pulls it all together.

  10. Very impressed that you made that whole post while way up in the sky! I bet you were in business class, I can't imagine you managing that in tourist somehow. Love the idea, especially with the accessories to go with!

  11. Beautiful ladies Barb and love the sentiment masked off with the flowers added to make a border. You are always so clever with your finishing touches. Safe journey. x

  12. Morning Barbara and Dave. Fabulous design as always. I wanted to be an interior designer. Being short the thought of designing clothes for all those leggy models just didn't appeal. But these stencils are something else! By the way but 'the mile high club' refers to something else…you can be 'creative' if one wishes, but I think that the flight attendants might get a bit embarrassed. Xxxxxx

  13. If only it was that easy to pick a matching outfit for ourselves. These stencils with the stamps are brilliant. Hope the journey home is a good one. it's a bright crisp day here in Kent at the moment. x

    1. Hi Barbara. Thanks for the inspiration, I am planning to make a birthday card for a dear friend this afternoon, so your blog is perfectly timed! Hope the rest of your journey is turbulence free or you may colour outside the lines!
      Gayle x

  14. Hi Barb,
    Had a laugh at the thought of the mile high club! I could never draw, well never draw very well – I know that because my art teacher told me when I was 11 that I was useless so I never really tried much after that. BUT I've been able to knit, sew, crochet, embroider, and do other arty things since I was about 7 when I started making and hand-sewing dolls clothes (without patterns). My mother taught me embroidery and it all went on from there.
    Well done to Deborah for turning her life around xx

  15. I'm thinking of using these for my niece's birthday card – somehow or other and if I get the time! They're in my next parcel – or have they come yet ……I'm losing track ! 🙂 Glad you are now back home safe and well, how lovely to know you have somewhere else to call home too xxx

  16. When I saw you doing these they reminded me of playing with fashion wheel when I was young. That consisted of choosing a dress shape and then rubbing over a raised pattern to create the design. Had hours of fun with it! Hope you have a smooth flight home. XX

  17. Ooh I just love adding patterns through apertures so this set is a must have. A lovely way to use up all those tiny flower stamps. Your colouring reminds me of a dress I wore when I was 16. Am I giving my age away? Have a good trip home.
    X Chris

  18. Wow a Clarity mile high arty club, what will you think of next? These are great and this morning I thought the red stencil brush was a tube of lipstick. Beautiful… These are fantastic! Happy Sunday….

  19. Hello Barb, what a fantastic idea and one which is much more acceptable to the general public! Love the designs and the versatiity. xxMargaret Col.

  20. The l ladies are so stylish. I remember my mum having dresses in that style when I was about 7 years old in the mid 1950's. Lovely. Safe journey the rest of the way home.

  21. Love these, I only have a cuttlebug so I hope I will be able to cut them so I can emboss them, love the colours, definitely next on my list. Welcome home and hope your flight was good. Jx

  22. I love these stencils with coordinating stamps. Can't wait to purchase them and try them out…..
    Hope you had a good trip and pleased to be back in the UK… xx

  23. Your other ladies are "in-waiting"…. the stencils & us! Glad you had a chilled out time and gope your journey is a safe one 🙂 Take care, Carole P xxx

  24. Hi Barb, a really great way to get through a flight. Love the stencils and stamps, they are on my never ending wish list, cannot wait to see what you do with the others, as this one is so pretty. Have a safe trip home. Bx

  25. The lady stencils somehow arrived in my shopping basket along with the brushes and the two glasses stamps while i was watching your show. Now just have to get the stamps and I will be very happy. Hope your journey was a safe one. Hugs
    lilian

  26. Hi Barbara. What a great set of stamps, love them all. I have always loved the 50's stles and your finished lady looks gorgeous. This set reminds me of the paper dolls and clothes with the little fold over tabs on them i played with as a child : ) I hope you and Dave are home safe and sound now, and have enjoyed that lovely first cup of tea at home : ) Take care.

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