Monday 19 August 2013

The fairies are out!

Good evening, peeps!  I'm just popping in with the promised sneaky peek of some more of the images from wor Sheena's new 'A Little Bit Magic' collection.  I've brought in one of the fairies from the Hidden Fairies stamp plate because it just seemed to fit so well.


This one is watercolours and H2Os - the H2Os are perfect for the moon and where the moonlight catches the toadstools etc. but it's very hard to see that from the picture.

The shows featuring these stamps are on Thursday but C&C are still keeping quiet about what times they're on but I'll keep you posted as soon as I know when they are.

Thanks again for looking today and I'll be back again tomorrow with something completely different.

Edit

It has been suggested that I add step-by-step instructions so that you can make this card if you wish, so here goes!

  1. Cut a piece of Centura Pearl Card 6" (15 cm) square - you will be working on the matte side of this card, not the shimmery side.
  2. Decide on the size and positioning of the moon, mine just happens to be the same size as a pot of Body Shop Body Butter!   Draw around the chosen utensil very faintly in pencil then do the same on a Post-it note to make a mask, making sure that your pencilled circle extends into the sticky area of the Post-it, cut out the mask carefully and place it over the drawn circle on the card.
  3. Stamp the toadstools and the leaves in position with Stazon Dove Grey.  You will need to make about 4 masks of the leaf on the sticky area of Post-it notes - I used only the smallest of the two leaves on the plate.
  4. Mix a suitable night time sky colour from your watercolour palette (I think I used Ultramarine and Black) ensuring that you have enough to cover the entire area of sky since it's almost impossible to mix the same colour twice if you run out of paint part way through!
  5. Working around the mask over the moon and the toadstools, wash over the sky area with clean water only on your brush (I seem to recall that this is called 'applying a glaze' in arty circles!).  Aim for the sky to extend about two thirds of the way down the piece of card.  Straight away apply the wash of blue whilst the card is still wet (another glaze!) trying to keep the colour as even as possible.
  6. Mix a slightly watery green (remember that moonlight makes colours look washed out) and use the same water first and colour second routine, as above, to create an area of ground in the lower third of the card, avoiding using this colour on the toadstools and leaves.
  7. When the first layer of colour has dried slightly, mix a purplish grey from your watercolours and create some distant, misty hills on the horizon.  Now let the card dry completely, which won't take long.
  8. Whilst the paint is drying, (you won't want to watch that because it's not very exciting!) you can spray the H2Os with water to prime them.  I used Buttercup, which I think comes from the Springtime set, a pale coral colour and Iridescent Gold in this picture.  If you don't have a pale coral pot, you can always mix some red with the Buttercup, H2Os mix together easily just like the watercolours.
  9. Remove the mask from the moon and paint the area with the Buttercup H2O and shade it around the lower part with the coral.  Once this is dry, you can create a few clouds with a slightly stronger mix of the dark blue watercolour that you used for the sky.  Use your brush in a circular motion to do this, fading out the paint at the edges and drawing out the sides to a point.
  10. Paint in the toadstools and leaves.  Add some of the Iridescent Gold to both of these, just try to imagine where the moonlight would touch them.  I found it easier to use a cocktail stick to create the white spots on the toadstools because it was easier to control than a brush.  When this paint is dry, stamp in the vines in Forest Moss Distress Ink.
  11. The fairy (link to the set above) was stamped in with permanent black ink but it's not completely opaque over the H2O moon - solution? paint over the body and hair of the image with black paint but I didn't paint over the wings so that they still had a shimmery quality.
  12. Finally, I stamped the fairy dust from the Hidden Fairies stamp set with thick Pewter H2O paint and I distressed around the edge of the picture with Chipped Sapphire DI.
  13. The card is completed with matting and layering with white and navy blue card and finished with Cheery Lyn dies and some organza ribbon.
I do hope you have a go at this one, it's a great card for girls of any age.


Hugs


7 comments:

  1. I love this one.. And the fairy does fit in so well. Px

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  2. wouldn't mind finding these fairies at the bottom of MY garden- a lovely card Di xx

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  3. oh Diane - so gorgeous - love love love it xx

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  4. I want, I want, I want - they are gorgeous! So very jealous! Thank you for sharing these with us Karen x

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  5. Hi
    Lovely Samples, as usual, your designs are beautiful. Hope to watch the show on Thursday but will be busy getting ready for a visit to Cornwall with all the family, ten in total. David and I are staying five miles away whilst the others are all together in a holiday let. Think we got that just about right, don't you? Spend the days with them and when the kids get crotchety we go back to the hotel. Ha Ha
    See you at Stamping Group.
    Shirley
    XX

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  6. This is lovely but it looks so much like a card that was designed and made recently by Barbara Gray on her classroom show. Here is my version of it!
    https://www.facebook.com/messages/1004431287#!/photo.php?fbid=10151794003415039&set=a.10150402266810039.408643.583240038&type=3&theater

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    Replies
    1. Any resemblance to a card made by Barbara is purely coincidental. Had I been inspired by Barbara's work I would have acknowledged it and been happy to do so. However, since Barbara and I have been friends for at least 10 years and I spent 3 years on the Clarity Design Team, it's hardly surprising that there should be some common elements in our work!! Loyal followers of my blog will have seen similar styling in the work I produced as a member of the Clarity DT and it only requires a click on the Clarity label in the sidebar to be viewed.

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Thanks for visiting my blog today. Please leave me a comment- I love to read them! Diane x