Elements of Nature ~ Stamps and Stencils ~ New Challenge.

Hi everybody! Its the first Thursday of the month and that means it's time for another challenge over at Stamps and Stencils. Autumn is our fabulous host and she has chosen 'Elements of Nature' as her theme. This is what Autumn has to say........

Whether you are inspired by the glorious world around us with the changing seasons, or tempted to use elements of nature in your art work, this month we'd love to see your nature inspired entries.  Anything goes as long as you include a natural element in your art which can be either either stamped or an actual item!  As always you need to include stamping or stenciling.

I think you'll agree, there is plenty of creative scope with this challenge! My project is a little 5x7 canvas. This is how I got started.....
I firstly collaged some papers and  Washi tape to the  surface of the canvas.....

I then applied gesso to the surface using a palette knife so that some of the papers showed through.

I then stenciled on the heart design using Wendy Vecchi Crackle Embossing Paste. The stencil is by Crafter's Workshop.

As you can see in this closeup, the crackle paste works a treat! Once this was dry, I applied a couple of  thin washes of Deco Art Media Acrylic paint in Titan Buff and Green Gold. Once these layers were dry, I stenciled a few leaves to the bottom and top corners and added some stamping with a flourish stamp. I then replaced the heart stencil, and applied Treasure Gold, gilding paste, in Spanish Topaz

This really brought those lovely crackles to life. To encourage the heart to stand out, I went around the edges with a black Stabilo pencil and activated it with a water brush. The final stage to the background was to add a 'dirty wash' to the surface. I used Andy Skinner's recipe, with Quinacridone Gold, Paynes Grey and a touch of Yellow Iron Oxide thinned down with plenty of water. I then made a dimensional dragonfly, using Tim Holtz's Layered Dragonfly die and embossing folder.

I cut the body from a piece of thin craft metal and coloured it with Alcohol Ink. The wings are cut from acetate. I also stamped onto the wings, with the same crackle stamp, that I used for the leaves, on my last project for Stamps and Stencils. I then attached it to the canvas using Glossy Accents.

So, that's how I made my canvas ! If you would like to join our challenge this month, hop over to the Stamps and Stencils blog with this link where you'll find the challenge details, as well as Autumn's beautiful project and some fantastic inspiration by the rest of the team. hope to see you there ! x