Welcome to my blog

I hope you enjoy reading my posts, and please leave me a comment. I always enjoy reading them, and will try to visit you in return.

For security reasons for me and for you, I would appreciate it if you would leave your name on your comments.

You are welcome to copy any of my designs, as long as you do not take credit for them yourself. I am very happy for you to sell them. If I have used anyone else's design, I always try to give credit where it is due. If I have missed anything, please let me know and I will put things right.


This is intended to be mainly about my crafting stories, as a personal record of what I do. However, I interpret crafting quite widely, not just paper crafting but other things too. I have a butterfly mind and like to change from one thing to another depending on what I feel like on a given day - knitting, crochet, cross-stitch, cards, baking and several others, including my favourite right now, parchment, both traditional skills and Groovi, very relaxing and calming to do.

I have decided to put some structure into my blog so that each day will have something of a theme.
Monday- for Mindfulness; Tuesday - Tidy Up Day; Wednesday - What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday; Thursday - Technique and Tips; Friday - Finish Off Day; Saturday - Start Something New; Sunday - Anything Goes
These themes are not hard and fast and will be changed if I feel the need.

Thursday 17 December 2015

ClarityStamp Challenge for December 2015 - No 34

Why don't I listen to Barbara shouting at me?  Why do I go just that little bit too far and then wreck it?

I had started off yesterday with the stencil of the dreamcatcher and transferred that to the parchment, and done all the embossing on that.  All I had to do yesterday was to put the faces from the mother and child into the central aperture.  Easy peasy, no problem at all!

No, there was no problem here, just a little more whitework to do on that central  section.  A little patience and care to avoid puncturing the parchment.

There was no problem even after I had cut out between the lines of the dreamcatcher.  A bit fiddly, but a pleasant relaxing thing to do in front of the TV.  Almost there.







I added a few little star centres off one of the snowflake plates.  Then I decided it needed a little more work so I got out the diagonal pricking plate and set to work.  Still ok at this point.  Then I thought I would be clever and do a bit more cut out work in a pattern.  I really should have listened to Barbara at that point.  She really was shouting at me by then.

Now it went wrong - BIGTIME!!!!!!










Now what to do.  Do I throw it all in the bin and start from scratch or just give up?  If you know me, you will already know that I do not like being beaten, so a bit of thought and out came my scissors, ordinary and parchment.    I cut out the whole of the dreamcatcher with its feathers and the four little stars.  I also snipped out the thin frame  found a piece of pale blue shiny paper, cut a piece of blank parchment to match it.   The parchment was laid over the blue and glued together, with the frame over the top.  Because the frame was embossed and coloured, the glue was hidden.

The final part was to glue the pieces on to the parchment within the frame and stick the whole thing under a weight to keep them in place until the glue was dry.  Here is the final result which is my entry into the ClarityStamp Challenge for this month. 
My choice of the stencil and the Groovi plate was dictated by something I used to read to the chldren in my classes years ago, which they loved.  It was the story of the Creation, told by one of the native American tribes.  Hence the dreamcatcher.  I just combined it with the Madonna and Child, which brings back memories from travelling with my parents in Italy, where we saw the Pieta in St Peter's in Rome.  It was a combination of different beliefs and just seemed to fit the times we are living in these days.

I hope you understand my thinking and like the result.

12 comments:

crafty said...

What a lot of nice work you have done here good luck in the clarity challenge xx

carols handmade cards said...

This has come out lovely you should be proud of it. Thank you for entering the challenge and the best of luck. Xxx

Unknown said...

Hi Maggie. I love this and how you used the dreamcatcher stencil on the parchment - very clever. Tut tut for not listening to that little voice in your head - less is more. I love how you rescued it though - well done you. Xx

Linda Page said...

Oh beautiful Maggie and very well rescued !!xx

Lesley said...

The Dreamcatcher with the Madonna and child is such a good combination. A beautiful card. good luck in the challenge x

Shelagh Metselaar said...

This is a stunning piece of parchment work, Maggie, comprising so much work and so many techniques. Best wishes in this month's challenge and thank you for joining in. ;~}

Naomi said...

Maggie, that is so lovely. xxx

Emma Burns said...

Lovey card Margaret. I like your thoughts behind your design. Not to worry, we can all over cook it. But I think that you have created a very lovely piece of artwork. Best of luck in the challenge and have a merry Christmas. Hugs xx

Jomada-Dawn said...

Well, as my Mum says, "a blind man on a galloping horse wouldn't see it" - she's very critical of her own work, too, and always points out the most minor of errors that I have completely overlooked! I honestly can't see where you went wrong - it's a very beautiful piece.
Good luck in the Clarity challenge.

Angela said...

Gorgeous parchment work Margaret and well rescued. Thanks for joining in with the Clarity challenge this month. Good luck! x

Lynne Bishop said...

Think you are being very critical of your work but we all keep seeing our own mistakes. Well done for your rescue plan.Beautiful piece of parchment work and I appreciate the effort put into it now. Well done Maggie and Good luck. xx

Dora said...

wow...this is beautiful. and I do not see what went wrong.
but beautiful solution.