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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.

Sunday 4 November 2012

Craft A Scene - Troubled Skies 1

Dad's Photo
This dramatic picture is not my card but the inspiration and starting place for it (finished card is at the end of this post if you are short of time)

It is my first DT offering for November's Craft A Scene challenge and had to reflect the theme which is Troubled Skies.  My mind went straight to this photo taken by my father many years ago of a really threatening and dramatic scene.  It was taken up on the moors in Cornwall, and you can see how the prevailing wind has driven the trees into strange shapes.  My aim was to get as close to this image as I could and, hopefully, to encourage others to look at their photos and use them in a different way, as inspiration, not just printed toppers.

The first task was to print out a couple of images on copy paper to chop up to use as masks for brayering over.  Then I attached a piece of Clarity coated card to copy paper to hold it firm.  I cut the silhouette of the moorland trees and standing stone and put that aside, using what was left as a mask while I brayered in the silhouette with Adirondack Pitch Black.  I found that the image was not quite as dark as I wanted it, so I took my black Promarker and, using the chisel end, went over the brayered area to darken it.  I found that the promarker bled slightly, an effect that I accentuated by using the thin nib to add the tree branches and twigs.

Part 2
Stage two was to put back the piece I had put aside of the silhouette, and cut away the two side pieces, retaining the centre section too as a mask while I brayered in the very dark threatening clouds. 




Part 3
I added Adirondack Denim to the the Pitch Black for this section.







Part 4
I then took away all the masks and laid down a light layer of the same colours over the whole image.  Then I needed to work out how to put in the highlights to mimic the bright edges to the clouds in the centre of the image.

First try - miserable failure!
This was the first result, created by added more of the Denim/Pitch Black, dabbing it on with a make up sponge.  When I had done that, I rushed to mount it up, thinking I had done it.  Wrong!  I stood back and went "Yuck".  It was half way there, but too bland and flat.  Back to work, trying to protect the clean white card it was mounted on.  I tried a mixture of media - white Sakura pen, but that only had limited effect - white Derwent pencil, again limited effect - and finally white pastel in a random way.  I decided that I had probably reached the limit of what I could do, so I sprayed it with Crafters Companion Spray and Shine (that reminds me, I must order more as the can is almost empty).

This is the final result.  I can see things I would do differently next time, but I hope I have done justice to the original photo, and Dad would have liked it.  What do you think? 

Final result!
Why don't you see what your imagination can produce for this theme and join in at Craft A Scene, whether you use stamps, inks, draw your own design - the world of crafting is open to you to create a scene with "Troubled Skies".

8 comments:

Sally H said...

Wow, Maggie! I love the inspiration behind your card and you captured the atmosphere beautifully! LOVE it!

Linda Simpson said...

WOW Maggie this is absolutely awesome and you sure have captured the photograph brilliantly.

Hugs
Linda xxx

brenda said...

A wonderfully atmospheric sky Maggie, I can't begin to imagine how long it took you but it certainly is worth the time.

Have a good week.

B x

Dora said...

hello, beautiful done with these theme.
thank you for showing how it is made.
greetings

Spyder said...

This is sooo clever! and what a great picture!!
(Lyn))

Whimcees said...

Hello!

Beautifully done! The photo is very dramatic and intense - as is your lovely creation! Great card! We had SNOW today in this part of WI - Whoa, I am so NOT ready! Wishing you a great day!

Hugs,

Barbara Diane

Jacqui's little piece of England said...

Wow Maggie this is amazing

jacqui x

Anna-Karin said...

Fabulous piece! The photo is very dramatic and your scene turned out so well. Great idea!!