50 shades of Grey? Keep your Hat on!!

50 shades of Grey? Keep your Hat on!!

Hi there

Thanks for popping in. Hope all is well where you are? Warm, sunny day here. Who would ever think that we are under siege? Beggars belief, doesn’t it.

So how about taking a closer look at that little project I started yesterday?

Did you figure out how I made it?

Let’s have a look at the photos. There are lots of steps, but it’s not difficult at all! Just lots of different tricks and tips all tagged onto each other!

First of all you need a piece of copy paper, and the beautiful hat stamp. Or the boot stamp. In fact, there are several in the set which would work ! Have a look and pick 5.

Stamp into the middle of the copy paper using Black Archival

Cover up with the mask which is included. All the sets have masks actually.

Right. Here goes. THE HAYSTACK ARTISTRY INKSET has all the colours used. Several of you yesterday commented on the background; it’s all about the colours. SInce we were supposed to be at the NEC today, I thought we might as well adjust our online prices to come in line with the Show specials which we had planned. For example, the Artistry Ink Pad Mini Sets are down from £25.99 to £19.99 (plus your club discounts). CLICK HERE for all 4 sets.

To make the under undercoat, dab the Rosy Cheeks onto your 6x6 inch Gelpress + Mega Mount
Spread the ink out with a brayer
Lay the Petite Mandala stencil (there are six of these beauties) at the base of her neck.
Flip the pinky inky Gel Press over onto the piece, press hard, and
Peel the copy paper off to reveal a smooth pink layer.

Outline the Mandala with a Micron Pen

Next layer. Clean the brayer and the Gel press with a little water and paper towel. Repeat the ink trick with the fabulous colour Moon Crater. Before you plant it over the pink layer, let’s add a little texture. Scrunch up a sheet of copy paper, lay it down on the grey layer on the Gel Press and press. This creates a great distressed effect. Remove the scrunched up paper and plant the Gel Press directly on top of the pink layer. Nice.

Outline the Mandala centre. Missed that!

Third layer. For the next layer, I used Black Archival. I know it will stain my brayer, but I’m cool with that. That’s the least of my worries !! Now I’ve got a black brayer. Whatever. It doesn’t stain the Gel Press though! And the black stained brayer is still fine! Except it can now be used for absolutely any Archival colour. Who cares?!? What a smashing background! See the three shades of pink and grey?

Ok Good. Next thing is the hat. This is just about using the mask to isolate areas and stamping in a little landscape. I went with one of the Floral Figures stamps for the fill.

How about a little silent step by step now, and you pretend you’re the voiceover? Ready? Clear your throat, and pretend you’re actually guiding the audience through the steps! When you’re a presenter, don’t forget the 3 T’s: Teeth – and I forget the other two.

Right . Ready? In your own time….

Well done!! Easy when you know how!!

Next stop: grey shading and the faux gemstone in the centre.

I’ll show you what I have done, then I have a challenge for you. Some time between now and tomorrow, go and look up how to create a faux gemstone. There was a spate of it last year, remember? They were everywhere!! Then please do me a favour, and post a gemstone of your own creation on Groovi Worldwide or Clarity Worldwide. Tomorrow we’ll go through it here. Tell you who’s really REALLY good at these: Louise at work. She who answers the phones and the Live Chat online Monday- Friday.

Yes. Tomorrow, we’ll go through the shading and the gemstone. And we’ll then turn the copy paper into the canvas board.

But for now, I shall stop. I reckon that’s plenty to be going on with and trying out, don’t you?! And actually, I really need a little catnap. All this chaos makes me want to sleep. I guess that ok though. Sleep is good.

Be safe.

Love and Hugs.

Barb xxx

20 thoughts on “50 shades of Grey? Keep your Hat on!!

  1. I do need to practice the gem stone great technic. Love this also cyber hugs everyone stay safe great sunshine today makes us feel good smiles on face xxx

  2. Sleep is the best healer.
    I know that this virus is worrying everyone but something positive to come out of it is that as us humans quieten and withdraw a bit the world is healing…. Pollution is less and air is clearer. Rivers and canals are cleaner. So when we come through this….. And we will our world will be a better place.
    Have a relaxing evening!
    Love and hugs Xxxx

  3. Lovely blog , isolated and stuck in craft room , oh well lots of time to play 😄 . Keep safe and well at clarity towers x

  4. Lovely blog , isolated and stuck in craft room , oh well lots of time to play 😄 . Keep safe and well at clarity towers x

  5. Lovely blog post and great offer. I am happy because I have been able to hang my washing out in the breeze. It is something that gives me joy, much to the amusement of my dad and my husband. Standing in the garden watching the washing blowing – Cheap date or what?

      1. Used to love seeing a row of nappies blowing on the line (does that date me!) . Too windy here today, the washing tangled itself round the line x

    1. Hi Karen ,
      Well just what i have been doing to day.
      Good to hang washing out now , yes cheep date !!!.
      Keep Safe .
      Lynn xxx

  6. Great step by step, may try this later. Need to finish off yesterdays efforts with the hats before starting something new.
    Beautiful day here today, woken up early by the tweeting birds in the garden. Inspired me for a birdy project and made some notes so I don’t forget before I get round to making it. My book of ideas gets longer every day so there will be no lack of ideas for things to do in the lockdown.
    Received the “magic” Groovi plates this morning, will get them traced out and filed this evening.
    Thanks for all you are doing to keep us occupied and sane. The chat line is a good idea to keep people in touch with each other and get crafting problems solved while in self isolation.
    Keep smiling everyone 🤩
    🍒🍒🍒

  7. Great step by step, will have a go tomorrow, meanwhile I will check the website out. I also need to master the gem colouring in which has been on my to do list since last year.
    Like others on here I have had the washing on the line today, its smells so much better when you bring it in.
    My OH found a website with loads of magazines on so he has spent the last hour on the phone getting my 91 yr old mother to download the app on to her ipad & find the magazines she likes. He got there in the end & she is a happy bunny with lots of extra reading to do.
    The granddaughters facetimed us all today to have a remote dance along with them. Great fun & unexpected

  8. Nothing like a bit of sunshine to lift the spirits. Went out with hubby and the dog this morning for a much refreshing walk, blew all those angry gremlins clean away. Was just a little irritable this morning, definitely bit of cabin fever. Walk did no end of good, easily able to practise social distance and as not in high risk group, pick up some lovely fish on way home. Yum, yum. Followed this up with couple of loads of washing that dried lovely, I too love smell of washing dried in fresh air, spring on the way, with it hope. Perhaps Pandora opened the box in 2020 with floods and now disease, but hope was last out of the box and maybe this Spring sunshine is just that, hope that this will pass. Keep well, keep safe and Happy Mother’s Day to all the mum’s out there, we love you. Karen xxx

  9. Hi Barb,
    Love the background – will have to get my gelli plate out and play! I never really mastered the gem stone colouring – I did a few that were passable and a lot that weren’t! Weather up here has been beautiful for the last few days – sunny, although chilly in the wind. Spring is a lovely season , plants and trees bursting into life again and of course the little lambs frolicking in the fields. Our garden hedgehog has come out of hibernation and our resident stoat (Sammy) has also made an appearance. My sister arrived safely back from Switzerland yesterday afternoon and were appalled at what is happening in our shops! Things have been handled much more severely over there with very strict rules on social distancing, limiting numbers of customers in supermarkets , orderly shopping etc. Dave and I were in the supermarket here on Friday and even though there were signs saying only two of toilet rolls, pasta etc , there were people with 5 packets of loo rolls and nothing done to stop them buying them – why do some people have to be so selfish? I saw the clip of the nurse who had just completed a 48 hour shift and had gone to supermarket to pick up essentials,fruit and veg and couldn’t get any and was just left exhausted and in tears. Oh, my heart went out to her and everyone who is in the same situation and then saw a picture of a bloke sitting in his van surrounded by loo rolls, smirking as he had made £3000 selling them to people out of the back of his van. Just sick!!
    Anyway, you are keeping us all going and we are lucky to have our crafting to occupy us. Might try to go for a little walk today which will be painful but good. Stay safe everyone, love and hugs Alison xxx

  10. Everybody should have walked pass the toilet rogue then he would have been left with all his toilet rolls. And he would have been out of pocket. Then who would have had the last laugh. He should have been reported to the police for selling without a permit. There really are some terrible people, they just don’t think about other people. Take care everybody.Norita

  11. morning all. That’s such a beautiful piece of art, Barbara. I have to say the world does seem a little less bleak when the sun is shining. I’m definitely going to get my Gelli plate out over the next few weeks – I very rarely use it, but I’m going to need some crafting downtime to deal with all the stress when I head back into work tomorrow. Take care everyone and stay safe

  12. Hello Barb, what a fabulous project to keep us busy, and a brilliant offer on the inks too. Take care all and stay safe. Bx

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