2021 Topic 8: Nature's Treasure
Jenny
really is offering a masterclass in how to build up an idea and then
bring it to life, layer by layer with one of our Hot Picks floral
vintage stamps as the focal point. This truly is an astonishing read and
I love how she tells us how and why she adds all those scrummy details
to each layer.
~ Leandra
~ Leandra
Hi everyone, it's Jenny Marples (Pushing The Right Buttons) with
you today, and I'm here to share an idea for creating a home decor
piece which was inspired by memories of a trip to the Palm House at Kew
Gardens, London. This remarkable glass and metal structure provides a
wonderful home and backdrop for protecting and displaying some of
nature's most beautiful botanical treasures - it is well worth a visit
or three!
Following
on from previous journal pieces I teamed a hand drawn sketch depicting
part of the Palm House with Hot Picks stamps, used to create both focal
points and subtle accents
The
stamps have also been used to create decorative paper for the
background, whilst some words and a stencil by Sara Naumann have added
accents that help to build in those all important interesting little
details.
Start
with a sketch - I roughed out my design from photos using pencil marks
before reproducing it on a piece of tea dyed paper. Use different nib
sized pens (permanent ink of course!) to help emphasise some of the
lines when you re-draw over the top of your original sketch lines.
Emphasise
the important elements - whilst more recently I've been adding a little
watercolour to help make the main structures stand out, for this sketch
I've reflected the fact that the metal beams in the Palm House are
painted white by using 'Snowflake' Fresco Finish Paint on the ones in
the drawing.
Adding
a touch of nature - a dramatic plant was needed to work with and
compliment those strong vertical beams in the Palm House so I chose a
strong architectural one from the Hot Picks HP1602 stamp set.
Test your positioning -
try stamping onto a piece of transparent packaging to work out where
you want to place your plant before committing to adding the ink.
Thinking
ahead - I deliberately chose to stamp the flower heads over the edge of
the sketch knowing that extra layered flower heads would be added next
to fill in the missing detail.
Adding
colour - single-ply tissue dyed with 'Violetta' Infusions has a
wonderful mottled look which can be given a warm or cool hue by adding
it to a cream or white card base with a gel medium. For this project I
chose to stamp the flowers onto the warmer cream base.
Think
outside the black - just because I'd used black ink to stamp the flower
on the sketch didn't mean that had to be replicated on the coloured
tissue card. Since there is a lot of shading detail incorporated into
the stamp design I chose to use a purple ink to stamp more flower heads
to compliment the card colour.
Cut,
shape, layer - adding several layers of shaped flower heads brought
dimension to the flat stamped image underneath. I also stamped the
central sections onto a contrasting yellow coloured piece of card to
create more of an exotic look for this dramatic plant, covering each one
in some Glossy Accents.
Don't
forget the foliage - there may be no leaves included on the original
design but you can always embellish your flowers with some bespoke
foliage. I die cut little leaves, painted them with 'Tinned Peas' Fresco
Finish Paint and slipped them underneath the flowers, remembering to
add the same colour to the stamped stem. A white gel pen was also used
to add a little more definition to the edge of the flower heads.
'Gild
the lily' - I've shown in previous posts how you can use different
coloured inks with your stamps to add detail with a lower 'value'.
Around the stem and flower heads I utilised more stamps from the HP1602
set in conjunction with grey and purple ink.
You'll also see below how Grunge Paste has been applied through Sara Naumann's stencil PS247 over the stamping. To finish the main panel I went on to add some hand stitching over the stamped sections.
Build
a background - with the main panel complete I started work on the
background, creating some bespoke vintage style decorative paper using
Hot Picks stamp sets HP1301 and HP1501.
Some of the text based images from these sets were stamped over painted card with a mix of grey and black inks.
The
Fresco Finish Paints used for this card all came from the same set and
included 'Taupe', 'Truffle', 'Stone', 'Eggshell' and 'Chalk', all
applied in random patches with well-worn household paint brushes and a
spatula. By finishing with a loose brayered layer of 'Snowflake' Paint
it brought the various colours and stamped images together.
Begin
building - after covering a solid tag base with the stamped background
paper I applied some more of the Infusions dyed tissue over the top.
Adding
layers - by adding further layers of tea stained and gel printed paper
on top of the tissue and under the main panel it helped with framing it.
I also added a piece of fabric on top of a board painted with black
gesso and edged with a gold pen to do the same. You can see below how
more stamping and stencilling was applied to the bottom and top of the
lower layers to match the ones on the top panel.
To
finish the tag I added clusters of smaller die cut leaf stems at the
top and bottom, various metal embellishments and a large bow.
The words 'nature's journey' can be found as part of Sara Naumann's ESN50 stamp set.
I gold heat embossed them onto off-white card before mounting them over
the flower stem to create a second focal point. Touches of gold wax
were applied to the edges of the tag and over the leaf stems.
Here are some final close ups of the finished tag;
As
with previous posts I hope that this post demonstrates how the images
in your stamp collections can add to and enhance your drawings as well
as helping to create your own backgrounds.
Thank you so much for stopping by.
Jenny
Facebook: https://facebook.com/jenny.marples.73
