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.