NEW: Kay Carley {by Lauren Hatwell}

February 2019 New Products
Eclectica³ {Kay Carley}

Lauren has created a cool colour combination that showcase Kay's new stamps so magnificently. Her colouring really brings these images to life and the clever grey outlining makes for a great 3 dimensional effect.

Before we get started, here's a reminder of Kay's new stamps released yesterday. These are all available from our retailers now, see Kay's new product announcement yesterday for stockist details.

                     

Hi everyone, it's Lauren with you today, and I'd like to share with you a few samples I made with Kay's amazing new releases. I fell in love with these gorgeous stamps the moment I saw them and have had lots of fun with them.

What I like most about all of them is the larger size, which makes them perfect for striking cards and for pages in my journal. 

You can never have too many butterflies in my view, and I wanted to create a darker background with bold butterflies settled on the top. 

I love the way the butterflies pop off the dark background. Those gorgeous dandelion heads really add extra interest. They are already a firm favourite. 

I used Distress Ink on glossy card and rag rolled my background for extra texture and added interest. I love the effect. I really must look up more ink techniques. I focus so much on the colouring of things (which is my favourite thing to do) that I often overlook backgrounds. They tend to be a bit of an afterthought for me... (hanging my head in shame amidst all you Mixed Media Moguls).

Now for those beautiful dragonflies. They are just fabulous and I can't wait to put some in my journal. There are so many different things you could do with these beautiful creatures; multi-layered wings; tissue wings; even turn the wings into flowers by stamping and cutting several. Lots of room for play there.

I went very clean and simple for this one and worked direct onto gorgeous Smoothy Card. I really love how smooth and white the card is. Sometimes it seems such a shame to cover it up..... I was really tempted to lightly stencil the background but I resisted the urge and I love the way the dragonflies look like they are just resting on the paper, before setting off again on their journey to wherever it is they are going next... 

Dots of clear Glossy Accents randomly across the page leading up from the bottom corner to the top subtly lead the eye across the page. 

I gave each image a light shadow all around using a very watered down solution of Sleight Blue Infusions. I managed to keep things very regular and subtle by putting down a layer of clean water first and then washing over the top with my Infusions solution. If it got a little heavy I lifted it off with a thirsty brush. check me out with my watercolour know how - LOL. 

I did add a few dots with my pens but I have to say I'm not convinced they work so well now I look back at them. Maybe if I did it again I would leave them off. Jury is still out on that one.

Last but not least are those amazing Dandelion Heads. I absolutely adore this plate of stamps. They just remind me of my daily walks with my dogs in our local woods. If you look at my Instagram feed you will see it is full of close up photographs of exactly these sorts of things. Kay has captured their essence so beautifully. They have a real sense of movement. 

In the spring when all the wild flowers grow really high, I love to walk through them or sit on the ground and look up at the sky through them. I tried to achieve that feeling with this very quick card. I found that just by stamping from the outer edge of the card into the centre quickly gives that feeling. I almost want to brush my fingers through them.

Again, I've washed around each image with a very light solution of water and Infusions in Sleight Blue. I think this one turned out better because I was a bit more confident with the amount of water and a bit quicker about things. 

Just a touch of colour here and there and these images really come to life. I absolutely love the finished effect. I think these would look fabulous embroidered onto a cushion too. They are stunning and I think they are going to be firm favourites.

Though I love cutting out and layering images (and these stamps are perfect for that), it was really nice to take a side step and work on one layer for a change. I enjoyed using the Infusions as a light wash. It was interesting to see how much of the colour actually comes through when you water them right down, and I love the subtle effect I achieved. 

In contrast, the rag rolling of the Distress Ink on Glossy Card was lots of fun and I like the kind of washed denim effect I got there. The dark background really made all those bright colours pop, which I love.

Of course I am dying to make some fabric based projects with these. I think they will make fabulous bags, brooches and cushions. No limits then.... Just break open the packet and have fun!

Many thanks to Kay and to Leandra for letting me loose with these stunningly beautiful stamps; I thoroughly enjoyed myself. They will not be going back into their packets any time soon.

Blog: marvelousmechanicalmouseorgan
Facebook:LaurenHatwell
Twitter:bluebertie12
Instagram:bluebertie12