Spring Into Life Apple Blossoms watercolour

Apple Blossom 

Stamps by Alison Bomber

I am using a technique I taught at Country View Crafts a few weekends ago, Everyone loved it and the effects they achieved.

Stamp and wider stamp the apple blossom to cover approximately half the page. This was a practice one I did.

Paint the images with masking fluid and leave to dry - this is an experiment in a Hobbycraft Shore and Marsh A5 sketchbook which says it is watercolour paper but it does not allow the distress inks to work and react with water like other card and watercolour papers do. So I shall be giving this sketchbook a miss in the future. After stamping over the images with the masking fluid still on and dipping into watery distress ink puddles, I made sure the ink was dry all over and rubbed the masking fluid from the page and then painted the images using  my chosen palette of colours.

From there I made sure I had recorded colours on a colour palette I created and use quite frequently at the moment.

I also made some swatches as I needed to include Rustic Wilderness which was an additional colour at the last minute.

 After adding the words and some thin cheesecloth I cut coloured papers echoing the coloured inks I had used and made the tiny bunting. The composition just needed something in the top right hand corner ......

.... and it finished with a splattering of white using a large white chalk marker.

xx

Supplies

PaperArtsy Alison Bomber stamps - Apple Blossom Edition EAB46

Ranger arhival ink - Watering Can

Tim Holtz distress inks - Scattered Straw, Bundled Sage, Mowed Lawn, Rustic Wilderness, Spun Sugar, Kitsch Flamingo, Vintage Photo and Ground Espresso.

Watercolour book of hearts

'Hearts' - using distress inks like watercolours

 Cut a long strip of watercolour paper - mine was 7 cm wide and 38 cm long.

Crease the central line vertically, cut 1 cm off each end and score at 6 cm to create each page.

Create distressed backgrounds by using stencils - rub some ink randomly over the stencil, spritz with water and lay randomly a couple of times along the strip, repeat with another colour and a different stencil and dry. 

Then take an old credit card or something similar and aged mahogany ink, press one edge into the ink pad, spritz water lightly on the horizontal line of the card pages and push the edge of the credit card into it and watch the colour disperse outwards as it moves into and through the water. Dry and stamp some random text along the line just above and below using aged mahogany ink.

Take some card and using the dip, drip, spritz and dry technique, create distressed backgrounds from which you can die-cut some hearts. I used all the colour inks in my colour palette and the distress spritz sprays as well.

bring the pages together with the die-cut hearts, some thread for texture and rub-ons.

I added distress ink and distress spritz colour palettes and left over hearts to the back pages of the book.

I also made a belly band to keep the booklet together.

 xxx

Supplies

Tim Holtz distress inks - aged mahogany, picked raspberry, candied apple, tattered rose, spun sugar, saltwater taffy, picket fence, 

Tim Holtz distress Spritz - picked raspberry, worn lipstick, tattered rose

Sizzix Tim Holtz dies - Vault Matchbook, Vault lovebirds,

Tim Holtz stamps - Ledger Script CMS241, 

Fabriano watercolour paper, bookmaking thread. punched hearts.

Toadstools

 Stamping Toadstools

“The children of the forest live deep in the roots of an old pine tree. They collect wild mushrooms and blueberries and shelter under toadstools when it rains.”

Elsa Beskow Children of the Forest

I love mushrooms, yes to eat, but also as a shape. I focussed on the Tim Holtz mini toadstool stamps and I made a small concertina book to house them all.

I stamped, painted, distressed all 7 stamps and the whole process focussed me in to light backgrounds, composition, shapes, colour mixing and blending. I used them to add an activity for my second Creative Sketchbook workshop that had a focus on 'Autumn'

Process Steps for all of the toadstools

Stamp chosen colour distress ink.

Stamp first using oxide inks to create the outlines and structures.

Use permanent ink fine black pen to create some of the outline and texture.

Paint DIs and/or oxides in layers similar to watercolouring.

 When dry add details with black pen.

Stamp mask and cut out. When image is dry place mask over.

Create background of your liking.

Toadstool #1

Stamp with Hickory Smoke - dry. Use black pen to start some of the detailing and outlines. Blend and layer colours of both oxides and inks to create a watercolour style. Colours listed below.

When dry add further details and shading with the black pen.

Stamp mask and cut out. When image is dry place mask over.

Blend pumice stone and lost shadow around the image. Drip water droplets on and blot and/or dry. Splatter with any left over inks on your palette and blot before they dry. Stamp texture using walnut stain.

Remove mask

Repeat similar steps of your own with all the toadstools.

xx

Supplies

All
Pens - Uni Pin fine line 0.1 Black, Uni Posca White
TH stamps - Tiny Toadstools CMS377
My supplies - media paper, black card


Toadstools 1
Stamped outline with Hickory Smoke
Colours -
TH - DOxs Hickory Smoke, Lost Shadow, Forest Moss
TH -DIs Picket Fence, Pumice Stone, Gathered Twigs, Rustic Wilderness, Walnut Stain.


Toadstools 2
Stamped outline with Pumice Stone
Colours -
TH - DOxs Vintage Photo
TH -DIs Frayed Burlap,
Paints - Snowflake


Toadstools 3
Stamped outline with Fired Brick
Colours -
TH - DOxs Fired Brick
TH -DIs Rustic Wilderness, Walnut Stain, Picket Fence, Vintage Photo
Paints - Snowflake


Toadstools 4
Stamped outline with Iced Spruce (small ones) and Hickory Smoke (large one)
Colours -
TH - DOxs Iced Spruce, Hickory Smoke
TH -DIs Peacock Feathers, Frayed Burlap
Paints - 

Toadstools 5
Stamped outline with Wilted Violet layered over on the stamp with Iced Spruce
Colours -
TH - DOxs Iced Spruce, Wilted Violet
TH -DIs Villainous Potion
Paints - 

Toadstools 6
Stamped outline with Scorched Timber
Colours -
TH - DOxs Scorched Timber
TH -DIs Scorched Timber, Ground Espresso, Picket Fence, Gathered Twigs
Paints - 

Toadstools 7
Stamped outline with Gathered Twigs and Picket Fence
Colours -
TH - DOxs Scorched Timber, Gathered Twigs, Ground Espresso
TH -DIs Scorched Timber, Ground Espresso, Picket Fence
Paints - Snowflake

Butterfly panel - watercolouring with distress inks

 Butterfly Metamorphosis

The Great Outdoors CVC #1 July

I'm doing a workshop at CVC headquarters this month with a theme of butterflies, bees and moths and it's focussed on creating sketchbook pages. I had created so many pieces to add, that I am completely zoned in on butterflies again and I wanted to create a butterfly painting by watercolouring using distress inks, but rather than draw and paint I decided to use one of Tim's butterflies being used in the workshop but use it in a completely different way.

To begin I stamped it in antique linen so that I could use the shape but not the pattern.

I used salvaged patina, rusty hinge, ground espresso and uncharted mariner with a fine round brush.

I cut out the butterfly .....

.... and blended ground espresso round it.

The orange edges in the wings looked very sharp against the blues so I blended them using white charcoal pencil.

Then used a white posca pen and black drawing pen to add final details.

xx

Supplies

TH Distress inks - Antique Linen, Salvaged Patina, Rusty Hinge, Ground Espresso and Uncharted Mariner,

TH Butterfly stamp - Perspective CMS213, 

White charcoal pencil,   white posca pen,   black ink pen fine 

TH - Collage Strips, Snippets, Remnant Rubs, Mummy Cloth.

Gesso

Watts Gallery Sketch Saturday March 2025

Watts Gallery, nestled in the Surrey hills on the 

North Downs Way

Had an amazing day at Watts Gallery today attending a workshop that I thought was going to be just about sketching but actually turned out to be an brilliant mixed media session. Kerry, our tutor, took inspiration from the gallery and 'The Spirit of Charleston' exhibition, building sketchbook pages with a variety of studies influenced by the decorative Bloomsbury style. This style is completely new to me and outside of my comfort zone but I still enjoyed using a number of photographs, Kerry provided, to do some pieces of my own. We experimented with watercolour paints, acrylic paints, oil pastels, watercolour pencils, gelli plate, a technique new to me called Dry Point using a water based oil paint, so here are all my designs and a couple of the photos I used for inspiration.

Dry Point

Painting on a gelli plate.

Everyone's finished art.

xx