Can't stand the rain?

The song title for this month's challenge at the Craft Barn is very apt for April - I Can't Stand the Rain!

I'm definitely going to show my age with this one - the disco version by Eruption is the first and only thing to pop into my head on mention of this title (although I confess I did have to look up the name of the group to make absolutely sure I had it right!).

Lots of hand drawing on this postcard - I started by drawing the curved lines and lettering the song title and group name, adding just a bit of Copic colour in shades of blue/aqua. Then I had a go at drawing rain drops (this tutorial on YouTube is very useful) and although I need a fair bit more practice, I don't think they're too bad for a first attempt.

I masked the bottom of the postcard and stamped the paisley pattern to fill in above the top curve.

This is not my usual style and I had fun experimenting - play time!

Supplies:
Smooth white card
Fine line marker
Copics
Pencil, blending stump and eraser
White pencil
Paisley Scrapblock stamp (Cornish Heritage Farms, no longer with us)
Brilliance Graphite Black ink by Tsukineko 

Thanks for stopping by!

Birthday olives

It was my hubby's birthday recently and this is the card I made him. He's a fan of olives and olive oils (he actually had oils as his gift) so I went in that direction.

I did something unheard of for me here - I drew my focal image! I have one olive stamp (from a set by the original Cornish Heritage Farms) but it was really a bit small for what I wanted to do. I decided to just get over my conviction that I can't draw and using the small stamped image and a photograph of a real olive branch for guidance, I sketched very lightly in pencil and then coloured using a combination of Copic markers and watercolour pencils, aiming for a "borderless" look. I was quite pleased with the result.

The olive image is mounted on a background done with home-made shimmer spray and pigment from a watercolour pencil brushed on through drywall tape for a bit of textural interest. I made speckles by wetting the surface and sanding the pencil over it (the blue around the olives and a dark purpley colour on the background panel) and also by flicking thinned down black acrylic paint from a brush. I added a few black enamel dots and a couple of photo corners for more texture and contrast.

Stamps:
Sentiment from Big Day Today by Waltzingmouse Stamps
Hand drawn image of olives

Ink: Versafine Onyx Black by Tsukineko

Paper:
Bamboo Mixed Media paper by Hahnemuhl
Laid texture
Black

Other:
Copic markers
Watercolour pencils
Shimmer spray made from Tumbled Glass reinker and Turquoise Perfect Pearls
Drywall tape 
Tim Holtz/Sizzix ATC and Photo corners die
Black acrylic paint
Black enamel dots

Thanks for stopping by!