Hi there!

Just sharing another of my Visible Image makes - and for a change (and a rarity) it's a CAS card!!!

I've used the Visible Image Phoenix Rising stamp set with some extra splashes of ink and some antique silver frantage embossing enamel.

I decided (don't know why!) to removed some of the central ink with water and paint in a moon/sun......in my arty head I felt that the rising of a phoenix should be accompanied with the rising of a moon or sun too!

Clean and simple and no fingerprints!!!!!

Thanks for stopping by,

Leanne xxxx

Octopus .....For The Men In My Life.......

 

Hi there!

This creation was made for my entry in to Sweet Poppy Stencil's "For The Men In My Life" challenge for June.

I had great fun with this one.  The background is a spray ink background.  I allowed it to thoroughly dry overnight and then popped Sweet Poppy's translucent paste over the Octopus stencil.  You have to be very patient with this technique as there is a lot of drying time involved!  So, when the translucent paste had dried nice and clear, I went over and around the octopus with a dark blue distress ink which of course, left the lovely, multi coloured octopus behind!

I then used white texture paste through Sweet Poppy's circle links stencil and sprayed over those with more spray inks.

Popped on the sentiments (which are also Sweet Poppy's) and mat and layered to a finish.

Perfect for both male or feminine card!

Thanks for stopping by,

Leanne xxx

Every Dream Begins With A Wish......

 

Hello there!

This card was my entry in to Lavinia Stamps Challenge last month of "My Favourite Colour".

I have used the beautiful Jalandhar jelly fish stamp which I embossed in white and coloured using my coloured pencils.  I also used Arlo the fish and highlighted him with a pastel pencil.  The stencils Flourish and Coral have been used in the background and it was finished with some Lavinia bubble stamps and the sentiment "Every dream begins with a wish".

What a beautiful stamp Jalandhar is!

Thanks for stopping by,

Leanne xxxx

We Rise by Lifting Others.......

 

Hey there!

I'm sharing this creation that I've made using some of my Visible Image stamps.

Many people ask where I get my ideas from or how I got to the finished result so today I've got a couple of step by step photo's so that I can explain what I did with this one.

Believe it or not, I often don't start with much of a clue of what I'm going to do with a stamp set and because my style is experimental, it often changes very much along the way!!! So here we go.....

Ok, so I chose a piece of card that I'd sprayed with my ink sprays previously (this was a yellow and pink sprayed piece) and I stamped the eyes from Visible Image's Face It stamp set in black versafine clair ink and clear embossed over the top to seal it.  The eyes were then covered with some masking fluid. I then used my Ecoline liquid watercolour in black to give an ombre effect coming down from the top of the page using a 1 inch watercolour flat brush - this darkened that original sprayed piece of card perfectly for me.

To this, I used the Visible Image Into The Woods stamp set (the stand alone tree central in the set) and firstly stamped using versafine smokey grey inkpad and then applied my Dylusions yellow and orange paints to the stamp with a dauber and had lots of fun.

I have now rubbed away the masking fluid from the eyes (they still look a little pink as remember, I had used a yellow/pink ink sprayed piece of card to start with).  Now I stamped the pheonix from Visible Image stamp set Phoenix Rising in black versafine clair ink and covered that with black embossing powder to cover any areas that were struggling to cover over the Dylusions paint - note, some of the emobossing powder caught the damp paint but that's ok - it adds to the effect!

....... and here is the finished card.  You will see that I have coloured the whites of the eyes with a grey watercolour pen and highlighted with white pastel pencil. The eyes have been coloured with an orange watercolour pen. and then I have used black, orange and white pastel pencils to take the glow of the flames up in to the eyes. Matted on to another piece of card that I had blended mustard seed and Kitsch Flamingo distress inks on to and used another of the stamps within the Pheonix Rising set with versafine clair ink.  The sentiment is also in the Pheonix Rising set and I have white embossed on to black card for this.

Well, hope you stuck with me, a lengthy post and hope that you got a small glimpse in to how my mind works to achieve the effects that I need!

Thanks for stopping by!

Leanne xxxxx

Bold and Beautiful........

 

Hi there!

Have neglected my blog a little bit because I've been so busy - mainly in the garden at this time of the year!

So this week, I cleared a day so that I could go and play in my craft room.

Here, I am sharing a make with my Visible Image stamps.  I have used the FACE IT stamp set and INTO THE WOODS along with the sentiment which is from OWN IT.

This creation started as a cling film technique background in some gorgeous spray ink warm tones.  I then stamped away with my stamped and used my pastel pencils to add detail.  The eyes were repainted in with white paint so that they looked really intense.

The sentiment is white embossed.

Hope you like it - something rather dramatic.....well, what else from me?!!!!!

Thanks for stopping by,

Leanne xxxx

Through a mother's eyes........

 

Hello!

Well, we've had a little bit of card making, and a little bit of horticulture so it's now time for a little bit of painting!!!! Now that I'm on the design team for Visible Image I am very much continuing from crafting journey too and I will be sharing some of those makes as and when time allows me to!

So today I'm sharing a painting that I've recently done of my youngest daughter Katie - I painted this from a photograph that was taken about 3 years ago when she was dressed up ready for her school ball - here is the photo that I had for reference....

I have called this painting "Through a mother's eyes".

Not having done much human portraiture I was really pleased with how this came out. Rendered in Daniel Smith watercolours, pastel pencils and black posca pen.

Thanks for stopping by,

Leanne. xxxx

A look in to my horticultural side........

 

Hi there,

Well, thought that as this is my personal blog, I should start to share some personal things about myself as well as my creative and crafting life!

So, let me introduce you to "Eric" my Monstera (swiss cheese plant/tree!).  He lives in my orangery here at home and stands at almost 8 feet tall.  The second photograph shows you that he has reached maturity and is about to flower (there are actually two flowers forming, the other one is just to the left of that big one but much smaller at the moment). It is very rare to have a swiss cheese plant flower indoors so he is very much enjoying life.  The flowers do bare fruit which takes about 12-14 months to ripen and tastes a little bit like a pineapple crossed with a banana ......not sure that I'll be eating it!!!!! Look at all those aerial roots that he is putting out, when these grow down to the pot, I poke them back in to the pot to suck up further nutrients from the soil.

As well as an orchid collector, I am also a collector of African Violets too (named varieties) so here are a couple of my very young plants flowering for the first time - here we have "Ian Fun" and "The Shining Bell" - both are small plants but are a delight to have around the house.  You will notice the plastic pot underneath that top photograph, this is because I use a wicking system for watering my AV's so that is the reservoir pot!

Hope you enjoyed a little trip down personal alley today, I think it's nice to share my other interests as I have sooooo many!

Thanks for stopping by,

Leanne xxx

A masculine make .....

 

Hi there!

Hope you are all keeping well. 

I'm sharing a creation that I made this week for an elderly gentleman.  I found a lovely tutorial on the Lavinia facebook page and although quite a simple make, I thought "that's perfect!" so I had a go!  I've used my Daniel Smith watercolours to paint the background in and the lovely Lavinia stamp Pheasant on a Fence.  The grasses are also a recent stamp released by Lavinia too called Orchard Grass. The world is full of beauty are words by Lavinia and the happy birthday is an old stamp from my stash. I darkened the edges with distress oxide black ink. A simple make but such a striking image, that's all it needs!

Thanks for stopping by,

Leanne xxxxx

Fearless Tiger for Visable Image......

 

Hi there!

Today I'm sharing a sample that I've made using my Visible Image Fearless Tiger stamp set.

I wanted the tiger to be coming out at you from that backgound so I started with an ink sprayed background (one that I had created some time ago - I tend to have a background making session every once in a while!). I then stamped the Fearless Tiger with my Wow embossing pad and added clear embossing powder and then heated it.

The next step was to highlight that tiger and to do this I used a white Polychromo pencil with a touch of a grey and black pencil too. The tigers eyes were coloured using teal and blue Polychromo pencils.  I added a touch of the pink Polychromo to the mouth. There are also some light touches with a white pen too.

To the background I added some Izink white pigment ink to the Strobes stencil and finished around the edge using one of the stamps from the Grunge Tones set with Chipped Sapphire distress ink and black Versafine Clair.

A great effect, just take your time and the tiger comes out at you!

Thanks for stopping by,

Leanne xxx

Mid month reminder for We Love Chocolate Baroque Challenge - Springtime.....

 

Hellooooo!

I'm here with my mid month reminder for the We Love Chocolate Baroque Challenge and this months theme is "Springtime".

Well, it wouldn't be Spring without snowdrops would it!

So here I've used Chocolate Baroques stamp sets Spring is in the Air and Essence of Nature

The background I have produced with my Distress Inks, Polychromo pencils and some white paint and the snowdrops themselves I used the Polychromos again with some white paint.

I had a particular friend in mind when I made this card so it soon went off in to the post and was very gratefully received - well, a Springtime card is best received in the Spring after all!!!! 

Please do come and join us over at We Love Chocolate Baroque Challenge

Thanks for stopping by,

Leanne xxxx

New theme at We Love Chocolate Baroque Challenge - Springtime.....

 

Hi there!

Here I am with the sample that I've made for the new theme over at We Love Chocolate Baroque Challenge which for this month is "Springtime".

For this card, I used Chocolate Baroque stamp sets Essence of Nature and Just Butterflies

The background was created using Stormy Sky and Peeled Paint Distress Inks and the grasses at the bottom (which are actually the top of one of the trees from this set) are stamped in Versafine Claire Green Oasis.

I popped a few Nuvo Drops in white on the tree for a little bit of blossom.

Please do come over and join us at We Love Chocolate Baroque

We Love Chocolate Baroque Challenge

We look forward to seeing your entries!

Thanks for stopping by,

Leanne

xxxx

Mid month reminder for We Love Chocolate Baroque "I Love......."

 

Hi folks!

Here is my mid month reminder for the We Love Chocolate Baroque Challenge for our theme this month which is "I Love.......".

This time, I'm showing you that I love nature, flowers and the tones of blue and brown together.

As with my sample at the beginning of the month, I have again used Chocolate Baroque's Glorious stamp set.

The background of this creation started with blue and brown brushos ( well, that's another love of mine isn't it - anything inky, painty or what I can get myself in to a mess with!!!!). After thoroughly drying off that background I stamped the beautiful flower and coloured it in using my Sentimentally Yours brush pens. Highlighted with a white pen and splattered with white and blue splashes.  Mounted it up using co-ordinating coloured cardstock.

Do come over and join us at

We Love Chocolate Baroque Challenge

If I had to actually list what I love in my crafty world I think I'd be here for hours, the list would include, rubber stamping, inks, messy backgrounds, anything at all to do with nature and flowers, animals, pyrography, sewing and of course my love of Daniel Smith watercolour paints that I use in my paintings - you see? I've only just touched the surface!!!!!

See you on the first Sunday of April for a new theme!

Thanks for stopping by,

Leanne

xxxx

New theme at We Love Chocolate Baroque "I Love......."

 

Hi there,

Well, March is here AND SPRING IS ON IT'S WAY YAY!!!!!!!!

It's a new theme over at We Love Chocolate Baroque and this month's new theme is "I Love...." so for this theme I've chosen two things that I particularly love, pyrography (or wood burning) and nature.

Here I have created a sample using a bamboo coaster and I've used Chocolate Baroque's Glorious set.

The sentiment comes in the same set too.

Firstly I stamped out the image and then I have used my pyrography tools to burn over those images and the sentiment.  Finishing it off by shading it in with my alcohol pens and a white posca pen.  I have popped a hard floor varnish over the top to give it some protection too.

Please do come over and join us at 

We Love Chocolate Baroque Challenge

and share what it is that you love in your crafting world.

Thanks for stopping by

Leanne 

xxxx

Phalaenopsis orchid......

 

Hi there,

I'm sharing today a painting that I did earlier this month that I have had printed on to greeting cards.

I have a great love of orchids and have quite an extensive collection of common and more rare varieties.

I have used a royalty free image that I found on Pixabay of an extreme close up of a Phalaenopsis - although quite tricky to get each individual element right, it came together quite well I thought and it certainly went down a storm with my orchid loving friends on facebook.

This photo shows a card measuring 5 x 7 inches and within it's cello sleeve with it's white envelope.

A lot of my paintings have been printed on to greeting cards, prints and coasters so please do have a little look at my website:

leannecharrisfineart.co.uk

I'll keep sharing my paintings as and when I paint them.

Thanks for stopping by,

Leanne 

xxxx

Mid month reminder for We Love Chocolate Baroque Challenge.... Flowers, Butterflies or Birds

 

Hey there!

Welcome to my mid month reminder for the We Love Chocolate Baroque Challenge and our them this month which is "Flowers, Butterflies or Birds".

My first sample this month I took on the butterfly option of the theme and on my second sample here I chose the flowers option of the theme!

This beautiful stamp from Chocolate Baroque is called Hanging Flowers

I coloured it using my Daniel Smith Watercolours and pastel pencils.  I worked on the background first using an impressionistic approach that I use in my paintings (you will notice the green of the leaves is also in the background where the leaves are and purple of the flowers is also in the background around the flowers) - you basically make a nice messy background and then neaten everything up once the background is thoroughly dry!

The sentiment is from the Chocolate Baroque Birthday Words stamp set

Please do come over and join in with our theme of flowers, butterflies or birds this month, I look forward to seeing your entries,

We Love Chocolate Baroque Challenge

Thanks for stopping by,

Leanne xxx

One for Sorrow.......

 

Hi there!

Here I am sharing another quick painting with you.

This was me following a tutuorial with Alison C Board (whom I've learnt so much from) and learning techniques with black - this time it was Schminke Galaxy black from their super granulating range.

I have also used a couple of Daniel Smith colours - French Ultramarine and Turquoise and finished with my favourite pastel pencils.

I don't paint many birds and I must paint more of them!

Thanks for stopping by,

Leanne 

xxxx

New theme at We Love Chocolate Baroque..... Flowers, butterflies or birds

 

Hi there!

Well this is a WHOPPER of a butterfly! This stamp that I've used comes from Chocolate Baroque's stamp set Patchwork Butterfly

This is a huuuuuuge stamp and is lots of fun to create with - here I stamped the butterfly with a Kaleidacolor ink pad, spritzed it with my water sprayer (I love getting messy!) and let it run down the page.  Once dry, I over stamped the butterfly in black versafine to bring out all the details (you could use a stamping platform to do this).

The sentiment - also stamped with the same Kaleidacolor ink pad - is also a Chocolate Baroque sentiment and comes from the Birthday Words stamp set

Bright and beautiful!

Do come over and join us at the

We Love Chocolate Baroque Challenge

We love to see your entry's and how you've interpreted the theme.

Thanks for stopping by,

Leanne xxx

Sett For Anything.......

 

Hi there!

This is the second painting that I've done in 2021 (the first one being my cat Charlie that I posted here on my blog on 25th January this year).

This one I've called "Sett For Anything".

Now I must confess, I love painting nature and particularly animal portraits but this one I found particularly difficult - and I don't really know why!!!!

This was actually my third attempt at this badger - I just wasn't satisfied with previous efforts, all were good, but not good enough for me!!! Colours needed to be spot on too - I wasn't going to paint just a black and white badger now was I!!!!

So here it is - finished when I was happiest with it!  Painted with my trusty Daniel Smith watercolours, watercolour markers and pastel pencils with a touch of posca pens.

Hope you like it now that I eventually do!!!

Thanks for stopping by,

Leanne xxx

Meow-vellous

 

Hi there!

I know that several of you like me to share what I've been up to in my painting world (as well as in my paper crafting world) so here is a recent one that I've done - it's one of my cats - my only boy, Charlie!

I actually took the photograph last year.

Painted in my favourite mixed media style with my Daniel Smith watercolours, pastel pencils, watercolour markers and posca pens.

Hope you like it, I was pleased with it.

Thanks for stopping by,

Leanne xxx

Mid month reminder for We Love Chocolate Baroque for our theme of "feminine"

 

Hi there!

Here's my mid month reminder for the We Love Chocolate Baroque Challenge:-

We Love Chocolate Baroque Challenge

I loved making this sample, not only is it quite a simple make, it's feminine but also has a peaceful feeling to it so suitable for a feminine sympathy card too?

Here I have used Chocolate Baroque's Essence of Nature stamp set

I used Distress inks for the background and coloured the butterflies with Sincerely Yours watercolour blending brush pens finishing with an organza ribbon and some nuvo drops.

There's still plenty of time to get your entry in to our challenge, just use the link that I've popped on here above.

Thanks for stopping by,

Leanne xxx

New theme at We Love Chocolate Baroque..... Feminine

 

Hi there and Happy New Year! - (let's hope we all have a much better year than we did in 2020!).

It's the first Sunday of January so we have a new theme for you over at the We Love Chocolate Baroque Challenge :-

We Love Chocolate Baroque Challenge

This month our them is "feminine".

My sample for this theme is a DL card using Chocolate Baroque's 

Butterfly Perfumery

Stamped with Kaleidacolor ink pad {birthstone} and coloured with distress inks Evergreen Bough, Picked Raspberry and Seedless Preserves.

The background is Picked Raspberry and Seedless Preserves distress ink sponged on with a dauber.

I finished with some Swarovski crystals but they are hard to pick up from the photo I'm afraid.

Do come over and join us!

Thanks for Stopping by,

Leanne xxxxx