And as we walked up the lane….

And as we walked up the lane….

Hello there!
Well here we are in lovely Bretagne, and you would never believe it’s December! The low winter sun is beaming through the trees, and the colours all around are phenomenal. So let’s conjure up a picture….
You don’t need much:
The Twiggy Framer Claritystamp
The Clarity Farmyard miniature set
A6 Claritycard
Espresso, Willow, Peach Bellini, Sandal and Lettuce Adirondacks
Selection of Pastel Promarkers
Make-up sponges
So stamp the twiggy Framer in Espresso on the A6 Claritycard
Tear a rolling hill and a path edge with a ruler.
Position the edge of the path and use the tree trunk from the tree (farmyard set) to build a picket fence.
The stumps get smaller and more faded in the distance.
Now for the crosswires. Work from one stump to the next. Use a scrap of paper to mask and cover.
 
Work your way along the fence. And if you think this is hard, just imagine putting in a real fence, in the hard ground with a post basher and all that jazz. I have watched Dave build fences which went on for miles. They were as straight as arrows, as far as the eye could see. There is certainly an art and a skill there. This is a walk in the countryside by comparison!
 
Now to add some grass, with a makeup sponge and Willow. Did you know Dave was a sheep farmer? Comes from a long line of farmers. His Dad was a dairy farmer. So I have watched him lambing and lookering and working so hard! Pretty astounding watching him help bring lambs into the world…
 
But he had to supplement his farming with fence-building, and he built many strong, fabulous fences, for the National Trust, too.
 
But back to the picture here. Time to make a path. Just move the scrap paper down and use a Claritybrush or a Make-up sponge along the edge with Sandal.
Needs to be a tad darker…add some Espresso.
 
One of the best things about Dave is that he is a farmer through and through. So when we walk around the countryside, he knows SO much! It’s fascinating. Especially for an urban chick like me.
 
Next come the hills. Just use the torn paper and lettuce.
 
Bit more in the background.
 
Sheep don’t need the best ground in the world, but they need grass of some description! So add some more for them!
 
Let’s add some low, warm sun, so that they can enjoy grazing. Near where we live, on the Ashdown forest, the sheep roam around free on the roads. I love it up there. It feels like that’s how it should be; not us with our fast cars and crazy lives.
 
So let’s just add a couple of sheep. Don’t worry about them being green, we can change that.
 
Let’s add a tree, and a few tufts of grass with the side of the tree.
 
And let’s whiten the sheep with a Promarker blending pen. It will lift the background colours for you.
 
Less is more, so let’s just colour in the Twiggy Framer with some Promarkers. For all it’s worth, I think this Framer and the miniature animals is one of the most useful sets we have ever designed.
 
Soon the ground will be hard with the frost, but the sheep like that! Dave tells me there are 3 T’s with sheep: teeth, toes and teats. If the ground is hard, their feet don’t rot! But the farmers will then have to go out and feed them because grass stops growing with frost.
So if you ever think that opening a tin of cat food is a mission, or walking the dog in the rain is a nuisance, talk to Dave, or any other farmer, about animal husbandry. My eyes are wide open now!
I hope you like this simple little country picture, too.
Have a great Sunday, don’t forget to leave a lovely comment to be in with a chance for that Stencil Hamper.
And have you noticed that the number of folks following this blog is edging up on 700? If you follow the blog, attach the giveaway button to your blog, and then let me know you have done so in a message, you will go into the random draw for the £100 Clarity gift voucher when we hit 700! That’s got to be worth having!
Love
Barb
Xx

84 thoughts on “And as we walked up the lane….

  1. Fascinating learning a bit about the life of a farmer and crafting at the same time! I think maybe we don't appreciate the amount of hard work farmers do until someone points it out to us. So here's to farmers everywhere. Thanks once again Barbara for a fabulous blog read. I look forward to visiting with you every day x

  2. Not having the best morning but just read your blog and it's made me feel so much more positive, thank you. I love the picture, will have a go at this later today. Hope the holiday is going well.

    1. Thanks for that, Barbara. How late in the day can you start again before it becomes tomorrow? Got up this morning feeling like death not very well warmed up, but I can breathe now and feel a little better, so can I start the day again now, please? xx Maggie

    2. Hi Barbara, I was amazed when you responded but I did as you suggested and in my head started the day again………..and I've had a great positive day, thank you. Ready to craft tomorrow – although I dont have all the stamps you used I'm going utilise what I have and attempt something similar. Once again thank you and enjoy the rest of your holiday.

  3. stunning card Barbara ,i must get the farmyard stamps ,there are so many i need ,enjoy your holiday ,you must have missed all the nasty storms we have had xxxxx

  4. I've got this frame, so I think it's time to put the coffee mug down and go and play. Lovely as usual Barb. How's the soul searching going? xxx

  5. What a lovely country scene, I don't have these stamps but they are now on my wish list along with lots of others lol. It sounds like you are having a lovely break in France it's great that the weather is being kind for you. I'm sat here reading this while catching up with last Sundays programme on C&C and being very inspired while also giggling at you and Dean crafting together. Love it thank you.
    Jackie x

  6. You are supposed to be taking time out, holding hands, rediscovering the man who shares your life! Not keeping the clarity stampers busy with lovely new ideas! But lovely card and a lovely story to go with it! Hope you are just about to enjoy a great breakfast, then a long walk to build up an appetite for a long lazy lunch! Super Sunday!,

  7. Barbara, it is not only your fabulous art work that I love about your blog but also the fabulous things you tell us on how you came to make it. Dave certainly is a dark horse and a talented one at that ! Living for years in the country taught me farming is not for the faint hearted !!! xx

  8. I love rural scenes. My mum kept rare breed sheep for some years and my girls loved visiting granny and helping with the sheep. I have a photo of the eldest carrying a lamb as big as her. She is now a veterinary nurse! Mum used the fleece for spinning then weaving and knitting.

  9. Gorgeous artwork. I finally got to work on my skills with Maria yesterday – im now hooked brilliant workshop and loved your stamps. Have a great holiday x

  10. Bonjour, very tired today after a busy quizz night I have organised last night, but I am really awake now that I have read your post and follow your step by step card. It's very frosty in my part of France today, so will have a thought for the farmer who have to deal with the sheeps round me. have a great sunny Sunday.
    Laurence xx

  11. Beautiful artwork as always. We adore France and really treasure our time away there. Hope you are enjoying your break and thank you for taking the time to blog everyday. You are a real inspiration. A bientot xx

  12. What an interesting post today Barbara- explaining how to make this card and the added extra about farming- I so miss my farming life when I was younger with my mum and dad- sadly my dad is not with us anymore- Im hoping to get some of your stamps and the gelly plate for xmas ( got everything crossed lol) Enjoy your break take care. Wendy xx

  13. Please tell me that Dave isn't still sheep farming as well as working with you, otherwise I'll start to feel even more exhausted than I do when I read about your own exploits! We see sheep all over the mountains and glens up here in the Highlands, and when we've had a week of weather like the past one, I do feel for anyone working on the land! Thanks for the step to step guides – I do really enjoy them. By the way, I also really like the new format to the Clarity Club project sheet – very posh, and well done to the team for not waiting until the new year to launch a new format! Susan x

  14. Such a beautiful little scene, I can see there are some stamps there that need to be added to my ever growing wish list. So glad you're enjoying your holiday.
    Sue x
    Have just taken the button and am adding it to my blog next.

  15. Hi Barb,
    Love the step by step instructions – always great to have as no matter how many times I watch you do scenes like this on tv I can never remember all of the steps! I also love the snippets about Dave the sheep farmer! He certainly has a lot of strings to his bow! I always feel desperately sorry for farmers in winter. Being from rural Durham we often go for walks in Weardale and Teesdale and last winter we saw some very distressing sights because of the snowdrifts, but then some wonderful sights later on in Spring with the newborn lambs – one farmer actually took us into a shed to see five gorgeous little lambs that had been born five minutes earlier – it was the highlight of my day! Hope you are enjoying your stay in Brittany. Lovely area of France. Alison xx

  16. What a lovely tutorial and a lovely scene/picture… I think it speaks of your love for Dave over and over xxx We have some sunshine here today…certainly not the scene out of your window..but nonetheless its sunshine…did you send it our way?? xxxx

  17. Good morning Barbara, Thank you for continuing your blog despite being on holiday, such dedication! I found your step by step instructions very interesting as I had no idea that the promarker blending pen would work on the Adirondak inks! This is something I must remember. Farming seems to rule our home as my husband works on the farm in our village and is a workaholic. 7 days a week with approximately one week off a year means that this is how I discovered crafting, well I needed something to fill the weekends!

  18. I do like this picture, Barbara. It is very reminiscent of a mountain road we travelled last year with the caravan on the back somewhere between Welshpool and Barmouth. I really learned a lot from this tutorial, and would never have thought of using the Promarker blender in that way – didn't know it did that. I have put your badge on my blog, by the way. Enjoy the rest of your holiday. xx Maggie

  19. Hi Barbara. Another lovely scene & one which I see from my window almost daily, as I live in a village in cumbria. Every day the farmers are whizzing down the lane in their 4×4 or quad with collie dog riding aloft a bag of feed. I love spring time when the daft lambs find a gap in the fence & play chase in the lane but can never find the gap to get back again! Such a sight to see their little tails wiggling as you herd them back. One stood his ground, stamping his foot at me once. Such a cheeky blighter!

  20. What a beautiful piece of artwork this is, you always make things sound simple but I know they aren't. Must get down to doing some seane building.
    Thank you for taking time out while on holiday to show us what you see Xx

  21. You make it all look so easy Barbara! Achievable even -so I need to have a go.
    I can often see a big woolly sheep from my garden window as we are in a village and close to a field. This picture has reminded me how blessed I am -which I needed!
    Continue to enjoy your lovely break Barbara xxRuth p.s I don't have a blog to put a button ? on -guess I need to get with it !x

  22. Well I didn't know that about Dave but now you mention it. Could do with him nipping over and putting my fence back up after the storms the other day. Another lovely card Barbara, a good one for practicing prospective too. Xx

  23. Gorgeous picture, Barbara, and the background info with it is great, brings it to life. We live next door to a sheep field and they are so interesting and amusing to watch. The life of the farmer is indeed how you describe. Enjoy your break. I'm just off to investigate those stamps……….

  24. Lovely card,I'm still trying to pluck up the courage to try one of your style cards. I love the way you make it look so easy,New Year resolution make a Barbara Gray card .

  25. gorgeous work Barb and great detailed instructions! I popped the blog button on my blog a while ago – don't know if I told you in a note! Lol!!! Big Hugs and hope the holiday is going well xx

  26. What a wonderful scene! I've been having a go at making landscapes and finding it huge amounts of fun, I think the new year will be me buying lot's more stamps.

  27. Your step by step tutorials get better and better, loved this one especially as you were telling us your thought processes as they were influenced by the lovely Dave and his farmer's viewpoint. Hope you are both enjoying what France has to offer and that you will come home re-enegerised and ready for the madness of Christmas xx

  28. Another stunner Barbs, your Dave sounds nice. As a child every summer holiday my gran would take me and my siblings to a cottage she rented in Yorkshire right in the dales, it was beautiful and idyllic, thank you for making me remember those lovely days surrounded by cows and sheep and hens and a patchwork of fields. I love the countryside. Joan x

  29. I really do love you Art Work and your instructions, thanks for that. Bust i love even more the way you talk about Dave. There is so much love arround. Have a nice day and take care of yourselves . Love xxx

  30. What a star, blogging while taking a much deserved break so that all of us followers can have a daily fix of the Barbara magic. A lovely simple design with easy to follow instructions – magic.

  31. Thank you for posting when you're supposed to be having a holiday! Those of us who live in the country can so easily take it for granted. Any grumpiness fades as soon as you venture into the woods or fields but not everybody has this luxury – and some like the farmers are just too busy! Love the apparent simplicity of the card.

  32. Great step by step. I think the sheep in the foreground is saying "The grass is always greener where EWE are my love". Haha, i watched Babe on tv yesterday!! Xx

  33. Lovely card with nice clear instructions to have a go ourselves. Really appreciate your helpful tips especially on getting the perspective right. Know how you feel about listening to Dave's farming stories. When I was at school (many moons ago) my friend lived on a farm and I used to love visiting. There would be lambs everywhere including the kitchen being kept warm by the stove. Did not like the cows though and still don't like being near them. Anyway get some rest and enjoy that fresh air…..Lynne xx

  34. Hi Barbara, Im new to your blog and just wanted to say hi. What a fantastic post, i love the how to stamp ideas, i am rubbish at stamping. Ive also learnt a lot about sheep.

    all the best
    Gill

  35. Hi Barbara,just read your blog with my cup of tea….you always make me smile…I love the inspiration but most more importantly for me is that I feel as though we have had a cuppa and a chat together…
    Karl and me have just been walking Tess for an hour…oh it was lovely….not too cold and we saw a pair of Buzzards enjoying the air…..they were creating such a flying display….enjoy your evening…Jo. X X

  36. Stunning and you break it down to make it seem simple when we know its not!!
    You definitely seem to be having a great time and wow Dave is fabulous!!!

  37. Wow! What a lovely stroll through the countryside – a great design and some fascinating info on farming to boot. What more could a girl ask for – keep them coming, we love it!

    Have popped your giveaway button on my blog, hun.
    Hugz, Jan xx

  38. I can't believe you are on your hols and still blogging! France must be inspiring those "little grey cells" (reference to "Hercule Poiret" not Barbara Grey). Anyway, keep it up because they make a good read and inspire the rest of us to get creative.

  39. I enjoyed your blog today again Barbara. I don't have the twiggy frame but I'm sure I could adapt today's card, maybe with the floral corner set? Another thing to add to my list of things to try. Thank you. Lxxx

  40. another great demo you always make it look so easy but as you say easier to make than the real thing i dont fancy hammering fence posts as far as the eye can see or tending sheep /lambing ! i lov eteh twiggy frame what agreat design it is .have a great week and thank you Andrea x

  41. There is nothing like a walk in the countryside to bring you closer to nature and make you remember the things that are really important in life. You always make these demos look so easy, I'm still practising but never seem to get the dimensions right somehow.

  42. You make it look sooooo easy!! I have lived all my life by the sea, but love to go into the countryside but like a river or a lake (it must be a water thing) I have every admiration for farmers a very hard job x

  43. Hi Barbara, love this framer stamp too! And I learned today that you could remove colour with the blender pen – wow those sheep don't look so daft now! Thanks for the tip 🙂 Just added my Barbara blog button – hoping I'm the lucky winner!! Claire x

  44. What a gorgeous scene and great tutorial – I am always a bit daunted by creating a 'scene' but you break it down so helpfully! Thank you for taking the time out to do this 🙂 Loved the farming tips too!

  45. Nothing simple about this, it's gorgeous – now need some sheep stamps, not something I ever thought about til now. I am following and have put your badge on my blog – I just can't remember if I told you that lol! Love reading your blog every day you are a natural orator Barbara, and it's fab! x

  46. This is my first visit to your blog Barbara, but it won't be my last. I enjoyed reading your comments and the picture you did was divine. I used to love going out for walks in the winter but I am unable to now as I suffer from chronic pain syndrome and the cold causes such pain in my face. Anyway, I am looking forward to reading more of your comments, have a nice time away. X x

  47. I hope your break in France proves really relaxing. I love the blog, and especially like your wonderfully clear tutorials and natural ease of style.

  48. Hi Barbara
    Bit behind with my blogging. I have put your button on to my blog please enter me for the 700 giveaway .
    I have a very long Clarity wish list ! x

  49. Hi Barbara. I missed this on Sunday. This cold / flu has got the better of me and I've not moved far from the sofa or my bed for a couple of days! I had to listen to my body saying 'stop'!
    What a beautiful little scene you created there!!! And fascinating commentary about sheep. Farmers do work hard! I will not moan about walking the dog again! X

  50. hi barbara i absolutely love your stamps, im a beginner to clarity stamps and only have a few, but i do have to say the letterbox kit comes in very useful. I think your stencils are fab and complement your stamps wonderfully. Barbara you are an amazing artist and your tutorials are great and really easy to follow. I do have to say i think farming is one of the hardest jobs ever all them hours i dont think i could do it, anyway i just wanted to say i love your stamps, i love your blog and i think you an dave are two amazing people x x

  51. hi barbara i absolutely love your stamps, im a beginner to clarity stamps and only have a few, but i do have to say the letterbox kit comes in very useful. I think your stencils are fab and complement your stamps wonderfully. Barbara you are an amazing artist and your tutorials are great and really easy to follow. I do have to say i think farming is one of the hardest jobs ever all them hours i dont think i could do it, anyway i just wanted to say i love your stamps, i love your blog and i think you an dave are two amazing people x x

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