Got the blues...

Hello all - it's the first of the month so it's time for a new theme at Country View Challenges, and for November Doreen has chosen The Colour Blue - so it's time to get out all your blue inks, paints, pens, pencils, chalks, mica powders, glitters, papers and anything else you can think of, and start playing.

I think Blue works differently for me according to the season I'm playing with it in, and at this time of the year it definitely took on a wintry hue.

It was a chance to ink up Dina Wakley's Scribbly Birds for the first time, even though they've been perched in my stash for some months now.

And my other challenge to myself (along with inking uninked stamps) was to attempt to keep things a bit simpler, so that there can be a few posts of short story length as opposed to War and Peace!!

I started with some simple wrinkle-free distress technique with Chipped Sapphire, Blueprint Sketch, Faded Jeans and Stormy Sky on the craft sheet.













I stamped the bird in Ground Espresso, but then decided he needed a touch more presence so I embossed him with some Wow powder in Bark (this has become quite a favourite for me - dark enough to be a powerful presence without being quite as full-on as black).

I used a watery wash of Chalk Fresco paint to make him stand out a little from the background, and added some watered down Ground Espresso too for the shading.










The words are by Dina Wakley too, though I stamped them in two lines rather than straight across, and they're also embossed in Bark.

I added some of the tiny Studio Calico stars to the sky, giving them a touch of the Chalk paint too to make them paler.











I masked the bird and stamped some of the Tim Holtz alphabet for extra texture.  It's from the Documented set, and has become a favourite stamp for adding detail to backgrounds.

A simple topping and we're done...










Do hop over to Country View Challenges to see what my lovely team-mates have been doing with The Colour Blue, and remember there will be more inspiration there throughout the month, so it's well worth dropping in occasionally, and come and play too, for a chance at the prize voucher from our generous sponsor Country View Crafts.

Thanks so much for stopping by today, and I hope to be stopping by myself round your way soon!

dive for dreams

dive for dreams
or a slogan may topple you
(trees are their roots
and wind is wind)

trust your heart
if the seas catch fire
(and live by love
though the stars walk backward)

e.e. cummings

Find it at Country View Crafts:
Dina Wakley - Scribbly Birds
Dina Wakley - Handwritten Quotes
Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous - Documented
Distress Inks - Chipped Sapphire, Blueprint Sketch, Faded Jeans, Stormy Sky, Ground Espresso
Fresco Finish Chalk Paints - Chalk
Idea-ology Crinkle Ribbon