A Touch of Nature

Hi everyone and thank you for the amazing reaction to yesterday's tutorial over at Frilly and Funkie. I really hope you give it a go and create your own weathered wood effect backgrounds, and don't forget to let me know if you do so I can come and see!

I was gutted yesterday morning. Having beavered away with DT projects I realised that time was running out to enter the last Compendium of Curiosities 3 water-colouring challenge. Trouble is I had two ideas in my head (not a good thing :) and tried to forge ahead with both but it was clearly not meant to be. Refusing to just post something sub-standard for the sake of it I got the first card finished and then had to wait for the sun to appear to get photos (Glossy Accents and daylight bulbs don't mix!) And here's the result...

But, all was not lost. There's a new challenge on the block headed up by the fabulous Shery Russ, and I'm sure she must have created this one just for me! The very first challenge is 'Touch of Nature' and the Design Team have come up with some great ideas to get you started.

Of course water-colouring requires watercolour paper and I used a pale grey one for this card, stencilling over a background piece with Distress Inks and a Tim Holtz Doily stencil for a muted effect. And as luck would have it the theme for this month's Country View Challenge is 'Stencil It'.

Let's take a closer look at the details...

The same card was used for the central panel which was stamped with that TH Classics dragonfly which was coloured using Tim's method and a mix of Shabby Shutters, Tumbled Glass and Pumice Stone. The Glossy Accents over the main image made the colours pop and added a sheen.

I'm definitely developing a bit of a thing about arrows. They add such interesting lines and structure to a composition and can be die cut from different materials (in this case using the Sizzix Bigz Die 'Artful Arrows').

To make the whole thing more interesting a sprinkle of die cut tickets, florals and frameworks, watch parts, Idea-Ology - Cogs/Spinners and inked Linen Ribbon were piled up under the panel edges (I say piled up as though no thought went into that bit!!!)

There will be more to come this week with one of my most favourite cards to date for Frilly and Funkie, and a trip to the seaside and quick idea for a chalkboard project for IndigoBlu. If the wind is fair I may even finish that second water-colouring card! For now the sun is shining, Le Tour de Yorkshire and the Formula 1 Grand Prix sing out throughout our house and an afternoon of baking (caramel cupcakes and chocolate cheesecake) with my youngest await so I'll bid you adieu.

Have a great Sunday and take care of yourselves, Jenny xxx