2020 #2 A Hint of Spring: Spring Zing with JOFY {by Chris Dark}

2020 Topic 2: A Hint of Spring

If you've not heard of the Isolation technique, then Chris' gorgeous project will be a real revelation. Combining Jo's fab new stamps and lots of stencilling, she's created a wonderful ribbon bedecked mini album.

Hi everyone, it's Chris with you today sharing a mini album made using a beautiful new floral stamp set by Jo Firth-Young JOFY 91 and her lovely new stencil PS166.

Those black and white elements within the large stamps gave me the idea to make a master sheet using the isolation technique with black around the stamped images. I love how it turned out and it was perfect to make into a mini album cover with contrasting ribbon to tie in the signatures.

I hadn't decided how I was going to use the mastersheet at the start and considering the techniques, I would have been better off using heavier card. In the end it held up perfectly to the Infusions and paint layers plus the die cutting and scoring afterwards, that's Smoothy A4 Regular cardstock for you!

I started off by covering the card with Infusions in Lemoncello, Blackcurrant and Terracotta and spritzing with water.

I dried off with a paper towel and a heat tool.

I used a lot of colours of Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylic Paints in a mix of opaques, semi opaques and translucents, the zing you get from the translucents brightens everything up.

I dried off in between the layers of stencilling  which were both vertical and horizontal.

I stamped using the largest stamp in the set all over the background.

Now I started isolating the flowers using a black paint pen which would have been quicker with a larger nibbed pen. I used the white pen for stripes, centres of the flowers and on the edges.

I stamped the smaller cluster flower stamp on the background and then I added some white paint pen splatters.

To add a bit of dimension I've added some charcoal around some of the flower petal layers blended out with a paper stump.

Loving this combo of colours against the black.

A fabulous stamp design by Jo, there are so many ways you can go with it.

The completed master board.

I used up some of my patterned paper stash to make the signatures.

I just happened to have the perfect ribbon to match.

I hope you'll join in with the topic and may be you'll have a try at this isolation technique. I find it very satisfying seeing the flowers pop out from the background just like they do at the start of spring to cheer us up. Colouring around them was very therapeutic too. I think the zingy colours give it that hint of spring, I look forward to bright crocuses, daffodils, tulips and irises and all these flower colours are in the masterboard. Daffodils are just starting to appear in the shops; they're a welcome sight at this time of year and my favourites too.

Thanks for joining me today and I hope you have a creative week.

Chris x

Blog: www.sketchingstamper.blogspot.co.uk
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