Monday 6 November 2017

Natural forms in pastel



Over on the Stamps and Stencils blog, the new challenge is using Pastels.
I liked this idea and decided to join in.

I recently saw an idea for showing off dried flowers and leaves which appealed to me and here is my first attempt....a card.

I began by selecting some fern leaves and dried Astrantia seedheads from my large collection of pressed flowers and leaves. I can never go anywhere without returning with something to press between pages of a weighty tome.

I used heavy card and persuaded them to stick down with some persistence and trusty Matte medium.


Next, 2 layers of gesso. loads of possibilities arise after this stage.



Then I covered it all by stippling paint using a stencil brush. I used Paperartsy fresco chalk paint in Antarctic, Mermaid and Lilac.
When dry, I stencilled some butterflies using a mix of the chalk paints mentioned and added a little Amethyst.
I chose one of Lin Browns lovely stamps from ELB05, not the whole stamp, but enough to convey the lovely verse.
To complete my card, I brushed treasure gold over the flowers and leaves and created a frame with distress inks.
Double mounted onto a card I feel that it sits prettily. I hope that you like it too.
My pressed flowers are now going to gradually dwindle as I experiment more with this technique.


Very happy to join in with the Stamps and Stencils challenge. 

13 comments:

  1. wow, Hazel, this is so pretty!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wow, these worked beautifully Hazel and I love how you turned that dark card into pastel shades along with your dried flowers. You are so right, they do sit prettily indeed!

    Hugs
    Lesley Xx

    ReplyDelete
  3. So lovely! The coours are so delicate and pretty, perfect for the inticate natural forms. When I had a go at this, I adored thegesso stage, and thenfound myself simply recreating the original green of the fir frond with my Pan Pastels. I might as well not have painted over it in the first place!
    Alison x

    ReplyDelete
  4. Ooh Hazel, this is fabulous - I love the effect and am definitely going to have to have a go at this. It's so pretty and it looks wintery and icy to me in those gorgeous soft colours.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Oh this is so beautiful Hazel!! I fascinated its very much for the dimensional pressed flower and colours. xx

    ReplyDelete
  6. Oh Hazel, you’ve definitely ticked the pastel box, beautifully interpreted. Love the wintry feel to this, can see this technique would make great xmas cards. Perfect! Hugs Ruth....ooh and thanks for joining us Stamps and Stencils! Ruth xx

    ReplyDelete
  7. so pretty and a great way to use pressed flowers :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Oh Hazel, this is truly stunning and you have just totally inspired me to start drying some plants... (probably totally the wrong time of year, but hey).... I absolutely adore this, such gorgeous colours and the treasure gold just really brings it to life, - love it!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  9. What an amazing idea and stunning result! We're thrilled that you shared with us at Stamps & Stencils. Hugs, Autumn

    ReplyDelete
  10. Such a pretty card. Love the technique and how you used real leaves etc. Stunning effect. Such fabulous inspiration, thank you x

    ReplyDelete
  11. This is so pretty. I love how you altered the natural items and gave them more texture. Thanks for joining us at Stamps and Stencils.
    Hugs!
    Cec

    ReplyDelete
  12. Absolutely beautiful Hazel - I really love the result of your play time - so very pretty! Thanks for joining us at stamps and stencils. Hugs rachel xx

    ReplyDelete