More inky fun

I said yesterday that I was busy making cards that couldn't be blogged yet, but I feel fairly safe in posting this , even though my son's birthday isn't until the end of the month. He is not likely to look on here. 

I recently ordered two Michael Powell stamps online. One is still out of stock so I have to be patient and wait for it, but this one arrived and I just had to get it inked up so I could have a go at colouring it. I used Memento ink as I wanted to use my copic markers. It is quite an intricate image for my current poor eyesight, so I sort of followed the colour guide on the stamp to help me differentiate between the various buildings, though I did add extra colour to the background hills, and vary some of the brickwork. I used a very pale blue Pan pastel for the sky but this doesn't really show in the photo.

When it was done, I trimmed it up and gave it a very narrow frame to match the base card I had chosen. Then I had to decide on the backing paper. In another recent online order, I bought the current issue of Craft Stamper magazine, because I was interested in a technique using highlighters that I read about on Lynne's blog recently. (I used to subscribe to the magazine but the hike in price for international customers is unreasonable, and you are not able to claim subscription gifts, or free offers, even if you are prepared to pay the postage, so I did not renew my subscription, but I do miss seeing it). Anyway, in this month's issue I read an article by Elaine Hughes about colouring a background with alcohol ink pens, and dripping blending solution on it to give a bubble effect, so I tried it, and it worked a treat for making a watery background for my picture. I then used off cuts for the sentiment strip using a Chocolate Baroque stamp. Finally I used another CB stamp for the seagull which I coloured with copics and cut out. It is mounted with 1mm sticky pads behind the post and it's body to bring it just above the panels.

I am entering this in the following challenges:

Celebrate the Occasion Challenge 70: Happy Birthday.

Scrap Creations: Use something bought in the last two months.

Loves Rubber Stamps Challenge 8: Sweet summer days.

Make it Monday 97: Anything goes.