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You are welcome to copy any of my designs, as long as you do not take credit for them yourself. I am very happy for you to sell them. If I have used anyone else's design, I always try to give credit where it is due. If I have missed anything, please let me know and I will put things right.


This is intended to be mainly about my crafting stories, as a personal record of what I do. However, I interpret crafting quite widely, not just paper crafting but other things too. I have a butterfly mind and like to change from one thing to another depending on what I feel like on a given day - knitting, crochet, cross-stitch, cards, baking and several others, including my favourite right now, parchment, both traditional skills and Groovi, very relaxing and calming to do.

I have decided to put some structure into my blog so that each day will have something of a theme.
Monday- for Mindfulness; Tuesday - Tidy Up Day; Wednesday - What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday; Thursday - Technique and Tips; Friday - Finish Off Day; Saturday - Start Something New; Sunday - Anything Goes
These themes are not hard and fast and will be changed if I feel the need.

Wednesday 27 April 2011

WOYWW - 99

Having been away for Easter, there was no action on my workdesk this week - at least, not at home.  So I thought I would show you some of what I have been up to, and the beautiful surroundings we were in.  Eastnor Deer Park, near Ledbury in Herefordshire, is a fantastic place to spend time.  Peaceful, no street lights, nothing to irritate, unless you have a strong objection to Land Rovers.  As we are members of the Midland Rover Owners Club, we have no problem with lots of the vehicles all in one place and it is a good time to sort out any little niggles with the motors.  There is always someone there who can help.  All you have to do is to lift the bonnet and everyone flocks around to have a look and a chat.

Before we went, I did a lot of stamping and printing out of images to colour in, and had a great time just playing with different mediums and techniques.  I took my trusty old paint box (see previous postings), some Derwent watercolour pencils, some Derwent Inktense pencils and some Derwent Graphics pencils.  I ended up mixing them all up on the same piece of work.  The Inktense are gorgeous but I think I prefer them as accents on a water colour, rather than for the whole project.  It all depends on the effect you want, and you have to remember that I am a beginner just trying things our and experimenting.

Watercolour pencils only

Inktense pencils only



I like both of the above, but I think I prefer the softer look of the watercolour on these Pilkington stamps.  You also need to be very sure you have your colour in the right place with the Inktense, as you cannot work them as much as the watercolour.

Watercolour paints

This is a lovely little stamp from Kaycee and reminds me so much of a fantastic view just outside Shanklin on the Isle of Wight.  The shading is very good and the image is clear and crisp.
Watercolour paints
Cannot remember if this is a Pilkington stamp, but it is very pretty, well cut and shaded.  Doing this taught me a lot about mixing the colours I wanted, especially to get the lavender.  The flowers in the foreground were just the strong vermilion direct from the box with no mixing.  I am still using just the Kuretake water brush, which does most of what I want. 

Embroidery design
This old embroidery design was scanned and then cleaned up before printing out.  I chose not to put in a background and just stick to the original idea.  The only difference in that was in the lady's dress, which I managed to shade.  I think most of the flowers were done with the Inktense, while the lady was done mainly with the watercolour pencils.

This poppy was a print out from Joanna Sheen's Pamela West CD set 2, and I used just the watercolour paints on this one, as I wanted a really vibrant colour for the flowers themselves.  I allowed it to dry and went back several time to darken the shaded areas.  I also had a go at sketching while we were away, but I will show you my results later.  Due to advancing years, I did come to the conclusion that I cannot sketch landscapes "in the field".  If I can see the landscape, I cannot see my paper, and if I can see the paper, I cannot see what I am trying to copy.  So I may have to settle for working from my own photos.  Time will tell.  I am not very good, but I am having fun just trying.
Having gone on at length, I hope you all had a wonderful Easter and were able to enjoy the glorious weather.  Now it is time you all went to look at all the other desks linked to Julia at http://stamping-ground.blogspot.com/   I will try to do better this week with visiting as many of you as possible, but I would like to thank all those who visited me, and I hope I managed to get back to all of you.  Have a lovely May Day and enjoy watching the Royal Wedding and your street parties.



20 comments:

shazsilverwolf said...

Hi Marg, glad you had an enjoyable time, your watercolours really are very good, you should be pleased with them. Seeing the embroidery piece really takes me back. My Mom (still) has tablecloths with this design, or one very, very similar worked onto them, which she had embroidered before she married my Dad. I can remember them always being in a table when I was young. I also remember the chair back covers( antimacassar?) that she had done to match- you don't see those very often any more, do you? Speak soon, Shaz

Kathleen said...

Hi Maggie, I've so enjoyed veiwing your work, I understand your feelings about trying to work outside, I have the same problems but mostly with the glare from the paper. Thank you for sharing.
Kathleen x

Sarpreet said...

i like your view, lots of lovely work, Happy WOYWW 99, Thank you for sharing your desk with us much appreciated it. A great desk. #31.

Sarn said...

Your watercolouring looks fab. Sounds like you had an enjoyable break.

Hugs, Sandra (visiting you from Eileen's blog)

Helen said...

What lovely colourings & such different effects with the different types of pencils etc.

DottyA Cards & Things said...

What a lovly time you must of had... from the look at all the coloring you did. Thanks for sharing all of them with us..I can't pick one over another, there all beautiful!

Sylvia/LittleTreasures said...

Thanks for stopping by, what a lovely post. These pictures are beautiful. Love seeing variety and other countries are facinating to me. Have fun,

okienurse said...

Glad you had fun on your trip! Beautiful pictures and your coloring in awesome. Thanks for sharing. Vickie aka okienurse #35

Andria said...

HAPPY WOYWW - Andria #29

Hettie said...

Some lovely colouring work there!
I have some old tablecloths which were embroidered by my Grandmother and Hubby's Great Aunts. They are all still in use on my two small tables and I love them! Great idea to scan them! I have some embroidered cloths that I did too! Oh Happy Days...

Sue B said...

Hello Maggie,

Wow! your watercolour paintings are gorgeous! The village scene looks nice with the soft colours of the watercolour pencils. My dad has some of those pencils. I might have to borrow them LOL!

Sue xx

Di said...

Hi Maggie

Super colouring! And such a great idea to scan the embroidery patterns. Am very envious of you caravanning, used to tour all over with my ex-H and had lots of fun and met loads of nice people - as well as fresh air and that pitch darkness at night so you can sit and watch the stars. Thanks for the memories - and for calling by to say hello! Enjoy the wedding tomorrow :) Di x

Emma Williams said...

So glad you had a wonderful time over Easter and really hope you too, enjoy this bank holiday and the Royal Wedding.
I absolutely love your watercolour work...it's stunning and how wonderful to show all the different effects that can be achieved! Thanks for sharing!
Love Emma x

Angie said...

Wow those water colours are amazing ...love them

Spyder said...

Your water colouring stamps are fabulous. Love those poppies. I'm still wayyyy behind on my woywwering, but I'll be home on Sunday (Yay!!)
(Happy WOYWW)
((Lyn))

Mrs A. said...

Don't know how you can describe yourself as only a beginner. These prints are all gorgeous and I like both of the pencil effectsas I can't decide if i like one more than the other. No desk from me either this week nor Monkey as he seems to have gone AWOL.

Carola Bartz said...

Beautiful paintings, Maggie, I wish I could paint like you!

Fuchsia said...

Your images are lovely and well coloured
don't you just love those Derwent Inktense pencils

ShazInOzCardsCalligraphy said...

Running very late here happy WOYWW - thanks for popping over! and do love your project Maggie with al the trials of colouring plus pickies of hols! Shaz in oz.x

Sue from Oregon said...

Hello Maggie, thanks for popping in today! Your outing looks like so much fun!!! And the weather looks nice in the pics too! Lucky you. Loved looking at your lovely coloring today as well. Happpy WOYWW