Some bees & honey over on PEP tangles.

Winged Creatures

As long as I can remember my Father never went anywhere without his camera. Lately I've begun to understand as I've delighted in being able to photograph the wildlife in our garden. It was when I first began to craft & was creating in the ATC format that my husband decided that I needed to have a proper camera as my dated non-digital Olympus could not cope with such tiny detail. It took about a year for me to pluck up courage to negotiate the digital technology & I still tend to feel my way forwards using the Macro, SuperMacro & Automatic settings rather than having a theoretical knowledge. The rewards are immense for I have a lot of pleasure in photographing details of plants & insects.

Red-tailed Bumblebee on Cotoneaster

Dandelion Clock in our Woodland

I was dead-heading & weeding the other day when I stumbled upon a moth beautifully camouflaged against the red brown earth. He obligingly allowed me to photograph him as he made his way across one of the Lesser Periwinkle (Vinca Minor Bowles Variety) plants. I believe he is a Large Yellow Underwing Moth for I caught sight of brilliant yellow underwings as he moved.

Large Yellow Underwing Moth on Lesser Periwinkle 

Our Wallflower (Erysimum "Bowles's Mauve") regularly attracts the Small Tortoiseshell butterfly & yesterday I managed to photograph what I think is a Meadow Brown whilst he was totally engrossed in feeding.

Meadow Brown Butterfly on Wallflower 

I'm a novice when it comes to identifying butterflies, moths & bees although I've been identifying birds since I was eleven years old.  I shall miss the birdlife that we have here in Brecon - suprisingly my last count of positively identified bird species seen in/from our garden came to 27, & that's not including the owl that we regularly hear at night - but I hope that when we relocate to Exeter we'll be able to find a property where I can have a courtyard garden to grow butterfly/bee friendly plants in. Whilst I'm on the subject of insects has anyone else noticed a distinct lack of ladybirds this year? I have only seen one so far.

The house is finally up for sale. Should you know of anyone who loves wildlife & wishes to have a little piece of woodland in their back garden with lovely mountain views........you can point them in THIS direction.

The Same But Different

I've been struggling to make a card for several days but nothing has been coming together. There are good reasons for this: we are about to have our house valued prior to selling plus my husband had knee surgery in the middle of May which has meant that I've been wearing a lawn maintenance plus woodland management hat as well as being head gardener. Seeing my frustration my husband suggested I make one I'd made previously - I adapted that idea by making a variation of my design HERE using Chocolate Baroque instead of Penny Black stamps. 

front of card

close-up showing sentiment panel & tone on tone
background stamping

close-up showing shine of wet embossing,  iridescent
glittering, pearlescent & matt white contrasts
 plus shaped dimension of butterfly 

inside of card

close-up of corner stamping

When I was working with the butterfly I had a vague idea that I'd read somewhere about painting with Liquid Pearls & thought I'd try it (I just diluted a drop with a little water & applied it to the butterfly's wings using a paintbrush). I was quite thrilled with the results & decided to leave the very edges of the butterfly wings plain white so as to provide a touch of contrast without introducing any specific colour to detract from the iridescent shimmer of the Stickles used for the body & wing spots. 

Recipe

Stamps  Chocolate Baroque UDLSP0153 Just Butterflies (butterfly), UDLSP0155 Delightful Damask (sentiment) & UA4SP0146 Big Flowers (background & inside of card).

Inks Fired Brick Distress Ink (background), VersaFine Onyx Black (sentiment), VersaFine Onyx Black with Stewart Gill Ultrafine Embossing Powder (butterfly), VersaFine Satin Red (inside of card).  

Pencils/Markers etc… Memento Tuxedo Black Dual Marker (edging cardstock), Crystal Ice Stickles Glitter Glue, White Opal Liquid Pearls (colouring butterfly wings). 

Cardstock Whites & assorted blacks in various finishes from stash.

Paper Textured red from stash.

Dies Spellbinders Nestabilties Labels 16 (sentiment), Sizzix Bigz Die – Elegant Flourishes (swirls).

The pearls are Papermania.

Peacock Mandala

I had actually intended to use several more elements from Glenda's recent release of peacock stamps but eventually the mandala looked right using only two of the stamps - repeating the same image but in different sizes. This is a feature that I really appreciate with Chocolate Baroque: the provision of the same image but varying the direction it faces &/or the sizing.

front of card

angled view to show glittering
& central patterning

close-up showing detail of colouring plus
embellishing

angled view to show dimensional shaping & layering

inside of card

The two stylised feathers were repeatedly stamped & cut out after colouring & then gently shaped prior to assembling them in a mandala pattern. 

Recipe
Stamps Chocolate Baroque UA4SP0419 Peacock Parade.

Inks Memento Tuxedo Black (images on card front), Memories Black Dye (inside of card & edging paper).
Pencils/Markers etc… Copic Markers, Memento Tuxedo Black Dual Marker; Stickles Glitter Glue (Patina).

Cardstock Blacks in various finishes from stash.
Paper Textured light blue from stash.
Punches Woodware (Corner Rounder & Inverted Corner).
The gems are an assortment from stash including Kanban & Anita's.

Challenge Entered
Simon Says...Anything Goes

Distress Stain Cultures

A quick question: the above photo shows some of my Distress Stains - I have the 36 basic colours plus Picket Fence - which seem to have acquired some interesting cultures which don't smell but I'm not quite sure how to deal with. I was about to take the whole set of 37 & just dispose of them & put Distress Stains & me down to not being compatible - but I wondered if there was some mileage in taking the tops off & whether the stains themselves would be usable in just spray form or I could use them for watercolouring with. I suppose the question really is whether the mould is inherent in the stains or it is just the gauze top that has somehow gone mouldy. My craft room is not damp & we have more than adequate heating.

I would appreciate any ideas or suggestions. I have had the stains for over a year so I'm not considering returning them or asking for a refund & as I prefer the inkpads themselves I'm not looking to replace them. I just don't want to use them for water colouring & thereby 'contaminate' any artwork only to find that my artwork goes mouldy.

June's Chocolate Baroque Leafy Challenge

Full details HERE

The Timelessness of Leaves

see HERE for full details