The Timelessness of Leaves

see HERE for full details

Woodland Management Part 2

Thank you for all your kind comments on my last post - I'd not realized it would create so much interest.

the plateau at the top of our first bank leading
up to the second bank's steps & the perimeter fence

In my previous post I briefly mentioned the birdlife we have in our garden. We often hear an owl & even a few Mallard ducks have been known to find their way (a considerable detour from the Brecon Canal) onto our lawn. Treecreepers & Nuthatches are regular visitors as are Wrens & Titmice (Great, Blue, Coal & Longtailed). Often a Robin will come to see what we're doing & during the hard winters the Blackbirds will come & wait expectantly for food which we put out. I've also glimpsed a Greater Spotted Woodpecker & the odd Goldfinch. Various members of the Crow family, including Jays, are also in evidence. An intriguing feature we discovered just at the top of the steps (where the ground starts to level into a small plateau) is an 'anvil' stone which some of the birds use to crack open snail shells - we've seen them do this on our stone terracing.

the 'anvil' stone with the tell-tale snail shell remains to the right
(about half way between the stone & the photo's edge - click to enlarge)

close-up of the snail shell remains

The hand rail was in a rather sorry state but my husband managed to find the various parts of it scattered amongst the brambles. After reassembling, sanding & treating with preservative plus wood stain it now provides something very solid to grasp whilst ascending the bank approaching our steps leading up to the gate & perimeter fence.

the approach to the perimeter fence - this was taken prior to
staining the rail & before we'd started repairing the steps

the hand rail after painting with wood stain

We didn't have to replace all of the uprights or posts but those that were sound we stabilized & treated with wood preservative plus wood stain. We also built up the earth so as to make the 'treads' more solid. 

 

Woodland Management Part 1

As some of you know my husband & I live in a bungalow built into the hillside overlooking Brecon. The hill is actually an old hill fort - Slwch Tump - which is now mostly woodland & grazing for sheep accessed via a Public Footpath which runs along the topmost perimeter of our garden. Our garden, as you can see from the photographs, consists of both woodland & lawn. We keep the woodland in a semi-managed state allowing access to a gate which opens onto the Footpath but at the same time encouraging wildlife. I recently saw a Redwing & over the weekend my husband was surprised to find a Buzzard settling onto a branch about 15 feet above his head as he was gathering the tools for repairing our wooden steps.


The photo on the left was taken with my back towards our perimeter fence looking down onto the bungalow. I reversed the positions & took the photo to the right with my back against the window visible in the first photo looking up over 3 tiers of terracing into the woodland where I was standing for the first photo.

During some earlier dry & snow-free weather my husband managed to clear all the brambles etc... which had grown over the handrail & wooden steps leading up to the gate. The steps & the rail itself were in need of repair so that is what we have been working on now that the snow has thawed. We started with the steps leading into the woodland from the lawn but had to evict a couple of dozen lodgers who had made nests between the bank & rotting wood.

WARNING

 THE FOLLOWING SMALL PHOTOS SHOULD ONLY BE ENLARGED IF YOU ARE USED TO DEALING WITH GARDEN CREATURES

one of the rotten wood uprights removed

to the left is the sight that met us as we removed the wooden upright & to the right is a close-up of some of the inhabitants

a new upright cut, sealed with preservative & screwed into
posts dug in at either side AFTER evicting the slugs

the completed steps after painting with wood stain

In my next post I'll show some photos taken after we'd finished repairing the top section of steps leading to our gate which opens onto the Public Footpath.

Fluttering Flourishes

Brenda (Floral Fantasies) is hosting a blogaversary & 4,000 follower special celebration challenge based upon something in connexion with her artwork/blog (for full details see Brenda's post).

It was sometime in the early part of 2011 that I began to visit Brenda's blog - at about the same time as I was becoming more interested in the Penny Black stamp company. Since then I've learnt much from her artwork & so it wasn't difficult to think of a number of things when pondering over my submission for her challenge.

I have CASEd the first card in Brenda's post Cherish & Dream in such a way as to demonstrate what I see in Brenda's artwork. A particular feature of her work is the matting of the main panel - there are usually two borders; the outer one thicker than the inner. Flowers & butterflies are common components as are die-cuts, swirls & pearls. More often than not there is some kind of stamping & inking (frequently with Distress Inks) combined with dimension in the form of shaped flowers or decoupage.

front of card

close-up showing shine of wet embossing plus
shaped dimension of butterfly

close-up of  background tone on tone stamping upon
linen textured paper prior to card assembly

inside of card

Brenda & I share a fondness for Penny Black stamps & so I used these for all the stamped elements. She often creates an inky background or a scene but after my husband caught me 'red-handed' (his words) I abandoned my attempts & created a floral background using my favoured technique of tone on tone stamping.

Recipe

Stamps Penny Black 30-117 free flight (butterfly & sentiment), 4159K sundial (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 & sentiment border).

Cardstock Whites & assorted blacks in various finishes from stash.

Paper Textured red from stash.

Dies Spellbinders Nestabilties Labels 17 (sentiment), Sizzix Bigz Die – Elegant Flourishes (swirls).

The pearls are Papermania.

Thank You

Thank you for all your thoughtful wishes - my migraine control has improved over the last month & after catching up with some essential organising about the house I shall hopefully have some more time for artwork.

In the meantime I have a new post on PEP tangles HERE.

Finally.......

........ a post HERE on PEP tangles.

Both blogs have been rather lacking in posts as my crafting time has been somewhat curtailed by a breakdown in my migraine control. My apologies if you have visited & found nothing new.

Friendly or Loving Roses

I wanted to work with the latest release of rubber stamps from Chocolate Baroque (UA5SP0402 Rose & Thistle) which is also the current Stamp of the Month set at the same time as building myself a repertoire of background techniques which I can turn to. Initially I thought of making ATC sized panels but upon rummaging in my W H Smith white card box (I only take a new sheet of A4 card/paper if I don't have a large enough piece in one of my scraps boxes which are sorted according to type/colouring medium: watercolour, alcohol markers, W H Smith 220gsm white & Southfields 160gsm Bright White) I found a whole pile of 3½ inch Zentangle tiles I'd cut & these are proving a perfect format.

front of card

close-up of image panel

angled view of image panel showing
dimension & shine of wet embossing 

close-up showing detail of corner embellishing, patterned
paper panel plus layered background stamping 

inside of card

close-up showing inked edges of both patterned paper
frame (Tattered Rose) & message panel (Spun Sugar)

The image was stamped in VersaFine Onyx Black & then wet embossed with clear embossing powder prior to colouring with Copic Markers. This is a technique which I learnt from Elizabeth Allan which gives a lovely finish, particularly with a stamp like this where there are large solid areas, & avoids the 'contamination' of the marker tip which can occur when using black/coloured embossing powder.

The background was made by stamping each of the three rose images randomly around the edges working inwards: using the large bud with Dried Marigold first, then the flower-head only from the single stem with Tattered Rose, & lastly the smallest bud with Spun Sugar. Finally Spun Sugar Distress Ink was applied around the edges using a blending tool.


Recipe
Stamps Chocolate Baroque UA5SP0402 Rose & Thistle.
Inks VersaFine Onyx Black with Stewart Gill Ultrafine Embossing Powder (main image); Dried Marigold, Spun Sugar & Tattered Rose Distress Inks (background & internal panel inking as detailed above & in photos).
Pencils/Markers Copic Markers.
Cardstock White & assorted blacks in various finishes.
Paper Joanna Sheen.
Dies Spellbinders Shapeabilities Lace Doily Motifs.
Punch Woodware (scalloped square).

Challenges Entered
Stamping Sensations January Challenge - Friendship (my card is intended for a friend's birthday but it could equally be used for a 'Just to Say/Friendship' card)
Penny Black & More January Challenge - Love is in the Air (with the rose imagery & the pink colouring this would be appropriate for a Valentine or Anniversary card)