Winter Sun

Hello all, and a very happy New Year to you!  I had planned to be here before now for some slightly more timely well-wishing, but it didn't work out.  But today it's time to start a new challenge at A Vintage Journey, so I'm here with some inspiration for you.





The lovely Deb is our host this month, and her theme is all very straightforward... she'd simply like you to Put Your Stamp On It.

All the details are over at A Vintage Journey, along with some brilliant inspiration from my wonderful fellow Creative Guides.

I decided to keep things as simple as possible, and let one magnificent stamp take centre stage.

Actually, I lie - there are two stamps involved because, of course, there are also the words, taken from one of my own PaperArtsy quote sets.

But either way, this tag is pretty much all about the stamping.














Of course, that's not really true either because if I'm going to "put my stamp on it", I need something to put my stamp on.

I created the background with some PaperArtsy Fresco paints and a natural sponge - one of my favourite ways to apply paint for a soft, blended look which still has some texture to it.















There's Snowflake for the brightest sunlit part of the sky...
















... a touch of Sky (of course! but sadly discontinued, I think) blending out to the richer Turquoise, for that vivid winter blue sky.














Down amongst the undergrowth there's the rusty Cinnamon (also discontinued) and the darker shadows of French Roast (which I hope and pray they never discontinue!), with just some specks of Snowflake sponged lightly on top for a frosted look.

The birds perched on their branches are just one side of a 6x6 inch stamp by Impression Obsession. 












It has made the occasional appearance before, but I really must ink it up more often - it's gorgeous.  Here, I've stamped it and then embossed with the wonderful Primary Bark embossing powder by Wow.











There's some worn rusty mesh framing the quote in the bottom corner.  It's from EAB05 The Winter Edition.  I cut off poor Henry David Thoreau's name from underneath, as I wanted a smaller panel so as not to cover up too many branches.













And some bare rusted wire forms the topping - bleak and spare like the branches stamped below it.











And that's your lot... unless of course you head over to A Vintage Journey to check out the fabulous projects there, created for your delectation.  We hope you'll decide to Put Your Stamp On It and join us on the Vintage Journey some time this month.  We'd love to see you there.

In the meantime, happy crafting all, and I hope 2019 will be kind to us all.

And now we welcome the new year.  Full of things that have never been.
Rainer Maria Rilke

"You can't get too much winter in the winter."
From Snow by Robert Frost




UPDATE - For all those coveting this stamp, it's Impression Obsession Birds On Trees CC102.  Thanks for the lovely comments so far, and happy shopping all!