Misty Morning

Hi there everyone.  I have a male birthday coming up and it is always difficult making cards for men. I got out a few stamps including a NBUS set from Claritystamp which consists of a windmill, long grass, and long grass flower heads.

I started with a snippet of white card 41/2" square, and stamped the long grass at the front to frame the scene using Adirondack ink in Lettuce which I added all over the stamp first, and then Bottle which I dabbed on in places to break the colour up.  I then added the water using some blending foam and a slightly curved piece of paper to mask, and some Adirondack ink in Stonewashed, and starting at the edges I built up the colour, keeping it darker round the edges and lighter in the middle.  I then cut a piece of scrap paper with larger curves for the hills and the same greens that I used for the grasses.  I used the curved edge of the scrap paper to form the hills starting with the Lettuce and then adding the Bottle for some darker areas and shadows.  I then very lightly added another couple of hills in the background but literally using just the ink which was left on the blending foam.  I finished the scene by filling in the sky using Adirondack Stonewashed and a very little Adirondack Faded Jeans.  I used another piece of scrap paper with two or three smaller curves and moved it randomly around dusting the colour on to give lighter and darker areas, and then I went over the whole sky with a bit more Stonewashed to even it all out, but with a bit of variation so that it wasn't too flat and uninteresting.  I used a bird from a set of stamps by Sheena Douglass over a darker patch which I couldn't seem to blend away so the bird disguises that a bit.  Being a picky person I also see that there is rather a definite line in the right hand hill where I added another hill over the top and didn't smooth the ink out enough, but I think in real life it doesn't show as much as it does in the photo, and it is in the post now so too late!  The trouble is sometimes I get impatient and try to add the colour too quickly which leads to an irritating blob, so I say 'steady as you go' when adding colour, it doesn't always work though.

You will notice that I didn't use the windmill in the end because as the scene progressed there didn't seem to be anywhere where it would fit in, so no windmill this time.  I also decided the grass looked better without any of the leaves or flower heads.  I mounted this on to a snippet of dark green card and then on to a white square base card and then added a sentiment to finish.

This is the first scene like this that I have done recently and Mr Mojo stuck around so it went quite well.  When completed I decided that the colours were quite soft and it reminded me of the early morning before the sun has burnt the hazy cloud away, so misty morning it is.

Thanks for stopping by.

Pat  x

I am entering the following challenges:

Pixie's Crafty Workshop - Week 166 where we use up all our leftover paper and card etc.
Stamping Sensations - One for the Guys.
Seize the Birthday - Masculine.
Happy Little Stampers - Sponging.  I sponged the ink on using blending foam.
Country View Challenges - Anything Goes.