AALL & Create Creative Ember Cardmaking: Slow Down & Feelin' Foxy

Leonie Pujol asked me if I'd like to create some cards using her new AALL & Create Creative Ember collection of stamps, papers, ephemera and rub-ons, featuring characters designed using artwork from Mr Barghest. Obviously, it wasn't a request I could say no to!

The stamps feature four fabulous characters, and I found it so hard to choose which one to start with that I decided not to choose at all. Instead, I set aside an afternoon, which turned into an evening because I was having so much fun, and created something with all four!

I'm sharing two of the cards today, with the other two to follow in a separate post. Otherwise, this would be a loooonnnngggg read!

Slow Down

I knew I wanted to create a leafy background, and the branch stamps made this really easy to achieve. I blended Mowed Lawn and Twisted Citron Distress Oxide inks over the top to create the illusion of a green tree canopy, then coloured the leaves in a mixture of shades.

In my head, the Slow Down snail would sit in the corner, looking up at the leafy canopy. That's where I stamped him. Unfortunately, I fudged the stamping, and the wee perfectionist in me couldn't leave it alone!

How did I manage that? The snail sits on a rock, and to stop him looking as though he was floating, I used partial stamping to add more rocks around him. I got a little carried away and managed to stamp over the snail himself!

Rather than start again, I stamped the image onto watercolour card, along with a few extra rocks. Then I got a wee bit carried away again and added some extra leaves, flowers and a cute little bird. I watercoloured everything and cut the images out.

Adding the snail back onto the card, raised up with the extra rocks and leaves, worked much better. A successful cover-up!

And then I added even more leaves and flowers to the canopy, tucking the little bird in amongst them. Perhaps a little overkill for some, but I was enjoying myself! I finished by stamping the sentiment from the set directly onto the card base.

Feelin' Foxy

While I still had the Distress Oxide inks out, I created another quick background using the floral stamp, layering the colours from light to dark.

I added some grounding lines at the bottom of the stamped area to give the impression of distance, then used my brush to blend out the colour and extend it across more of the card background.

Once everything was dry, I added some black stamping with the smaller foliage image. This helped give the background a little more depth and made a lovely contrast with the softer colours.

Next, I stamped the fox, some larger foliage and a few extra flowers onto watercolour card. I watercoloured the images and cut them out, ready to build up the scene.

Here's a little tip I've found useful when layering images: only apply 3D foam or gel medium to the middle of an image, rather than right to the edges. This leaves you room to tuck other elements behind it without the adhesive getting in the way. It's much easier to add a little more adhesive than to try to remove it!

Once I was happy with the arrangement, I finished the card by stamping the sentiment onto the front.

I had so much fun creating with these characters, and I still had two more to play with! I'll share those projects in another post, as they each have their own little story to tell.

Until next time, take care,

Lou
xxx