Blue Birds.

Good evening, and thanks for looking in today....I have just been out with Tess and Eric and although it looks lovely and sunny outside...it is so cold..On the plus side there are lamb shanks in the oven for the males of the house and they do smell so good.

Did you manage to catch Barbara on C&C on Sunday? Wow what fab demonstrations she did and how fast things sold out...

Today I am sharing my favourite stamps from the show..don't get me wrong ...I love them all....but this was the one I stamped out first...it really did speak to me...or should I say chirped to me!!!!!

I do love birds.....and when I was little I used to travel around the country with my parents going to poultry shows....we used to show rare breeds....and my mum was one of the top judges in the u.k.....I even embroidered a Rosecomb ( breed of poultry) on the back of her judges coat....

Whilst I was wandering around I used to sketch the birds on the back of the programmes, so as you see , I do love birds...

Anyway enough nostalgia...but honestly they really were magical times...

I started by stamping the birds..firstly..I bent the stamp a little ( this is o.k. And won't damage the stamp ) and added colour with my Spectrum Noir pencils.., blended a little using a paper stump and some blending fluid....remember to put it in a pot with a sponge...and not to use it straight out of the bottle..

This is how it looked...

Next I used the mask to protect the birds.

And added my background with the stencil and adirondack inks...

This is what I had..but I didn't like the way the branch had no begining or end...

So ...a little light bulb moment and I drew the border and joined it to the branch...there that's better...

Some matting and layering....and my usual charcoal blending to add shade...

Here is a close up...the charcoal really does make a difference ...

The stamps, ink pads, stencil . Brushes , mask , Spectrum Noir pencils and Charvoal pencils are all available on the Clarity Website...

http://www.claritystamp.co.uk

As always I really appreciate you visiting my blog and I do enjoy reading your comments...

Thanks for spending a few moments with me today...

Take care and see you soon...

Jo. xxxx