Is it a flower or is it a leaf?

Good Evening everyone,

I'm so glad we have an extra week to create entries for the current challenge of masks over on the PaperArtsy Blog as it's given me time to finish an idea I started last weekend but didn't get to complete.  I wanted to use a skeleton leaf from one of Lin Brown's fabulous range of PaperArtsy stamps to create a flower.  I love the direction Lin has gone with her last two releases.  There are some gorgeous main images as well as lots of lovely smaller stamps to create backgrounds and collages, simply beautiful, so her latest stamps released a few weeks ago quickly made their way to my craftroom.

I started by painting a layer of Snowflake Fresco Finish onto a square of card and followed this with brayering three different colours of FF over the top.  I did this very randomly and made sure each layer was dry before moving onto the next as I didn't want the colours to blend at all.  When I was happy I stamped the skeleton leaf from ELB30 multiple times in a circle using Archival Black Ink to create the flower.  After stamping each one I dried it with a heat tool then covered it with a mask I had made from a post-it note. I made 7 masks altogether so that I could overlap the 'petals'.  I think this looks like a clematis I have in my garden.

I then masked off all the petals and proceeded to use stamps from several of Lin's new sets to create the background, sometimes using FF paints and others using Archival Inks.  Finally I stamped the quote, another of Lin's stamps, with black Archival Ink before lightly applying Watering Can Archival round the edges using Cut n Dry foam.  I layered the square onto a larger piece of PaperArtsy designer paper (precious now as it's discontinued I think) and attached it to a white base card.  The final touch was a paper flower and a bit of bling embellishment for the centre.  I loved the way this 'flower' turned out stamped on the brayered background so I abandoned my original idea of adding more colour to it.

There has been so much gorgeous inspiration over on the blog this past 2.5 weeks, first for this challenge and this week to showcase more lovely new releases from the PaperArtsy designers.  My Wish List is now totally out of control and I will have so much trouble deciding which stamps (not to mention some fab new stencils and masks) I can afford to bring home with me from Ally Pally in April.   

Tonight I have another treat to share.  A small group of my friends and I decided to do a version of RAKs as it was RAK week last week (see mine to Emma HERE).  We did a sort of secret Santa thing to decide who we were to make for and this is what I received from my lovely friend Helen (https://stampingbyh.blogspot.co.uk/).  It is an 8 x 8 gorgeously textured canvas and I love it!

Helen has also used some of Lin's new stamps to create the canvas and the shades of blue are so pretty.

 

Just look at the fabulous crackle on the heart!  Awesome!  Lots of wonderful layers of paint, paper and various other media on this lovely gift and I shall treasure it.  Thank you Helen!

 

Helen also included this lovely card using some of Emma Godfrey's newest stamps which were only officially released at this week but Helen was lucky enough to get them from the Stevenage craft show the previous week.  These are also on my wish list, lol!

Well, that's enough from me tonight.....bedtime shortly as I need a good nights sleep - famous last words, lol!  I have my Daughter and her children coming down for a couple of nights tomorrow and as we all have colds it could be fun, lol!  Off to link up my entry to the PaperArtsy Challenge.

Night, night and hugs

Lesley  Xx