Mum's Dragon

 

     This months optional theme at The Paper Funday is April Showers, there's no rain on this one but the flower would make a perfect umbrella. The image is by Lee Holland, it is available as a digi stamp, although this one is an acrylic stamp.

     I stamped with Versafine black ink on smooth white card a couple of times, my colouring is not great so I thought I should have a spare just in case.

     My Mum is Welsh so the dragon had to be red rather than green. I used watercolour pencils and a water brush to colour him in.

     The image panel and mat layer are cut with a notched square die set and mounted on to a dark green card. I kept it all flat as it had to be posted and I didn't want any hiccups to delay it's arrival.

     The Paper Funday is an Anything Goes challenge with an optional twist, so whatever you have made with card or paper is fine with us.

I would like to enter this card in the following challenges:

613 Avenue Create - #202204 Anything Goes/option April Showers

Send A Smile 4 Kids - Cards for Mum's/Special Ladies

The Fairy and The Unicorn - Anything Fantasy Goes

Crafting Happiness - #122 Anything Goes

Castles In The Sky

 

     I do seem to be carrying a bit of a theme through most of my River Of Creativity projects, it wasn't intentional but I do love dragons. Our theme this month is 'One Earth', a bit of a stretch maybe but this is my dragons earth.

    

     Using the Lavinia Stamps Fairy Orbs I stamped on white card, this was following an idea I had seen on their FB page and I'm very sorry to say I can't remember who to credit for this idea.

     The castle is an Encaustic Wax stamp that I have had sitting in my stash for years.

     Once the castle was stamped and dry I used a fine micron pen to draw lots of tiny circles to join up the orbs, it took an hour or so but I really wanted to try this idea and I think it was worth it.

     Once I had drawn all the circles I die cut a circle in masking sheet and covered the card with it so that it would make a moon just behind the castle towers.

     I chose three shades of lilac/purple to blend around the castle, trying to avoid colouring the orbs if possible. The advantage of using Distress inks was I was able to bleach out the colour with a water brush where needed.

     When I was happy with the colour coverage I used a spritz bottle and my hand to flick water across the card to make marks. I also used a white Posca pen to make tiny specks on the card by tapping it with a rule to make it splatter.

     Using the same pen I added some white lights to the castle windows. Then it was time to add the dragon, another Lavinia Stamp, using black Versafine.

     A thin black mat around the card frames the image and helps pick out the stamping. It was a little tricky finding the right shade of purple for the wide mat layer. I didn't want to colour it with inks as I wanted a solid, plain colour that wouldn't distract from the image.

     Finally it all went on a white layer, ending up 8x8. It won't be a card, I'm keeping it as a picture. I might try another one sometime but right now it's happily sitting above my desk until I decide how to frame it.

     If you have a project that you think will fit our loosely based theme then please come and join us at River Of Creativity, we would love to see your creations. Remember it doesn't have to be papercraft, it can be anything you have made yourself with any materials. 

I would like to enter this project in the following challenges:

Addicted To Stamps and More - #411 Make Your Mark

Ike's World - #147 Anything Goes/option Animal

Through The Craft Room Door - Anything Goes Aug3

Crafting Happiness - Anything Goes

Challenge Up Your Life - #138 Circles

Country View - Monochromatic

Learning To Fly

 

     It's our second challenge at River Of Creativity, this month our theme is Parent and Child. We accept any hand crafted project as long as we can see how our theme has inspired you.

     I have been watching some very inspiring videos online by Eileen Godwin, her use of stencils to give just a hint of colour to the background really caught my attention.

     To begin this card I stamped the mushroom by Lavinia Stamps in Versafine black. Before getting a stamp press silhouettes were a bit problematic, but now it's so easy, if you miss a bit then stamp it again.

      To make sure my moon was kept perfectly clean I die cut a circle of Stix2 masking sheet and placed it so it would appear to be behind the mushroom.

     With the mask in place I used a stencil, some Distress Oxide in Lilac and a blending brush to colour my background.

     I only coloured part of the area through the stencil, I kept lifting it up to peek underneath and check it was where I wanted it to be.

     Once the Distress Oxide had dried off I stamped the large dragon in the air and the baby dragon sitting on top of the mushroom, looking at his Mum.

     The mushroom was grounded by adding a small shadowy area at it's base with a coloured pencil. The sentiment is also a Lavinia stamp, stamped in Versafine black.

      The image panel was trimmed to fit a 6x6 black card blank but it needed a tiny splash of colour to bring it all together, this was when I started searching my stash for the right piece of card or paper. After what felt like hours I gave up and used a purple pearl marker to colour the edge of a white card mat, once under the image panel it looked perfect, just a hint of purple to match the background.

      River Of Creativity is not just for cards or mixed media, we would like to see any hand crafted project that fits your interpretation of our theme, please come and join us.

I would like to enter this card in the following challenges:

Shopping Our Stash - #446 Gnomes / Mythical Creatures

2 Crafty Critter Crazies - Anything Goes With A Critter

A Bit More Time To Craft - #141 Anything Goes