Furry Friends....

....is the challenge over at Sunday Postcard Art this week.  Now I'm more of a dog person than a cat one but I love this cat stamp so here's my make for this challenge......

....why not pop over and join in the fun :)

Donna xx

Time for another flower...

....from the new Victorian Floral Stamp and Die range that Sheena is launching tomorrow on Create and Craft.  Yesterday I showed a couple of my samples using the Poppy, today is the turn of the Anemone.  First off I have another bit of recycled art for you, a tin can decorated with flowers cut from sheets of craft metal.....

...I had intended to colour the flowers using my eBrush and Spectrum Noir pens but as I was putting it together I decided that I liked the shiny silver look!  Next we have a decorated MDF plaque, I used black gesso, gold dyna paint and PVA for the crackle background with a bit of texture paste added for good measure! I die cut the flowers in black, stamped and embossed in black and then painted them with Pebeo Dyna paints....not the best picture I'm afraid, the Dyna paints are truly beautiful in real life but are the devil to photograph!! 

...then last but not least a simple little card.  Background is gesso covered Kraft card which I embossed with one of Sheena's old embossing folders, the flowers were coloured quickly and simply with some blended Distress Inks.... 

...This launch is a weekender so there will be several shows over the weekend, lots of chances to watch Sheena demonstrate these great new dies and stamps :)

Donna xx

New stamps and dies are on the way.....

...from Sheena! If you love flowers then you're going to adore this Victorian Floral collection.  It comprises of 6 matching stamp and die sets featuring Poppies, Anemones, Sweet Williams, Lillies, Bluebells, Lilly of the Valley and last but definitely not least Pansies. They will be launching on Create and Craft this coming weekend, 9th/10th May, so you'll be able to see lots of demonstrations from Sheena.

Here are a couple of samples I've made, both featuring the Poppy stamp and die set but showing just how different, at least I hope so, that they can look. The first is showing the Poppy as most people think of it.....that gorgeous red flower that pops up along our roads and in our fields. I've used a couple of older Sheena stamps in this sample; the cottage is 'Milestones and Moments' and the poppies in the background hidden behind top panel are 'Poppies and Daisies', both are from the Little Bit Sketchy range. All the colouring was done with AquaTints...

Next we have a bit of arty up-cycling of a Liquorice Allsorts Tub that I'd saved from Christmas. I coated the sides with black gesso to cover up the writing, then crackled it with a layer of blue Dyna paint, layer of PVA and then a top layer of more black gesso. The Poppies, this time Blue Himalayan Poppies, have been coloured with AquaTints.... 

So what do you think? Pretty stamps and dies aren't they? So blooming (sorry!!) versatile as well!  I'll pop back tomorrow to show you one of the other flowers from the collection :) 

Oh and if you're a Sheena fan and are on Facebook, I've set up a group on there, along with my fellow Inkoids, called 'Sheena's Ink-ettes'.  Basically its a group where you can share your 'Sheena' creations, get tips and loads of inspiration.....we'd love to see you over there!

Donna xx

Another little scene....

....for the Country View Challenge 'Simply Scenic' challenge. Now I went all warm and sunny for my first make so for this one I've used similar elements but changed the colours for an end of day scene with maybe just a little frost in the air....just catching the branches and the hills as the bird soars high above the fields.....

The technique is pretty much the same as my first card; first I stamped the images (Sheena's Perfect Partner stamp range) to create the scene, added the wash of colours using AquaTints and then added highlights and a moon by damping areas with a damp paintbrush and blotting with a bit of kitchen towel.  I also flicked on tiny spots of water and blotted to give the look of the first signs of stars in the evening sky....

I used the black AquaTint to fill in the tree and to paint a bit of a ground line across the bottom to 'plant' the tree firmly to the picture, also darkened the edges with some black soot distress ink...... 

To add a bit of a frame I used Sheena's Wildflower and Shady Meadow stencils.  Then stamped the wording and the bird before adding a few extra highlights on the tree using a white pen.

Why not pop over to the challenge blog, join in the fun and create your own scenic creation :)

See you again soon

Donna xx

Simply Scenic....

....is the new challenge over at Country View Challenges blog, chosen by me this month :)

I've used some of Sheena's Perfect Partner range of stamps, along with some from her Silhouette Grasses and Silhouette Garden stamp plates. I've used AquaTints for the colour but if you don't have them you could get pretty similar effects by blending with distress inks......it's just not as quick!!

So first off I stamped the main images onto some white card using a black archival inkpad....

....next for the colour, I wanted a warm, lazy scene so I went for washes of bright yellow, orange and pink which I applied quickly with a flat brush....

....then I gave it a quick dry. Next using a damp paint brush and a bit of kitchen roll I lifted out some of the colour to give me a sun and some highlights.  All you need to do is damp the areas you want to 'bleach' of colour, leave a few seconds and blot.....

Next I darkened the edges by blending on a little black soot distress ink before stamping the leaves and grasses to act as a frame to the scene. Adding the dark black round the edges make the centre glow more and gives a feeling of looking through into the light. I then stamped the sentiment, the dragonfly and the little bird sitting on the front of the tractor. To give even more feeling of light and sun I used an alcohol marker in a pale grey to add extra shadows around the tractor and beneath the trees...

All that was left to do was to mount it onto a card blank.  Hope you enjoy the scenic challenge and have time to play along :)

See you again soon

Donna xx