Hi there

Had a hankering to make a card this evening. No particular motive, except to calm my scrambled brain, distract my thoughts, focus my mind. Dad has been on my mind a lot today. I do miss him.

The minute I stepped into my artroom, I could feel my shoulders relax. Time to dig out some of my favourite stamps...The House Martins and the Bijou Backdrop Stamp…

• How about a little step by step…
• 3.5 x 3.5 inch card. Black Archival ink pad.
• Pick a large and small pair of birds. For depth.
• Cover with the masks that come with the stamps.

• Bijou Backdrop Stamp.
• Mount on a 4×4 inch mount. Just the square part. Not the sentiment strip.
• Ink up with an orange and red Distress oxide.
• Blend with a spot on sponge.
• Spritz lightly with water
• Plant on top of the birds.

• Lift stamp. Clean it with water.
• Peel off the masks and replace on carrier sheet
• Allow ink to dry before adding a drop shadow on the birds with a dark grey Polychromos pencil

Add a word that gives you hope. I found the little Japanese set of symbols. LIFE it is. Today, that is the word I need. because Life is Life. It is what it is.

Next thing to finish the card is outline the little piece. Which colour? I tested my 3 perga Colour options, then decided on the warm yellow.

• Frame the piece with a perga Colour pen.

Finished card took 15 minutes. 15 minutes well spent. Came back indoors much happier and relaxed. Even had a nice card to show Dave. And blog.

All 3 stamp sets are available on our website. I added the links above as I wrote.

There are literally hundreds of step by step projects that I have done on this blog over the years, which you can go back and read. Right back to 2013! I kind of retired from doing them, because LIFE got in the way. But I do enjoy them, when I have time / feel the need. I hope you do too.

Love always,

Barb x x x