A Magnetic Farmyard

Hello again.  As I've had so many lovely comments about this project, I thought I'd share this one first.

 

When I saw the wee farmyard and animal stamps, one of my first thoughts was to make a DIY farmyard scene.  I was inspired partly by childhood memories of fuzzy felt, and the sticker books my grandchildren love.  As I love making projects that are more than just a card;  I thought this was something a bit different to do, and ideal for a little gift.  An added bonus was that it kept the scene building required to a minimum, as its not something I'm very good at.

 

Just by chance, I found the little tin in my local discount shop:  full of fancy little post-it notes and just 50p:  what a bargain!!!

 

Before I started anything, I did a little test with the magnetic sheets to make sure they would exert their pull through the Clarity stencil card and adhesive sheets I used;  and also to make sure that I was sticking the magnetic sheet on the right side so it would attract, rather than repel.  Always best to make sure... 

 

Now for the fun bit... 

 

I started by making the background scenes, and cut two pieces of card to fit my tin, each 15cm x 10cm.   

 

For scene 1, I used the ploughed field stencil.  Having cut a paper mask to cover the trees, I brushed in some yellow distress ink (scattered straw, I think), concentrating where the sunlight would catch the top of the hills.

 

 

Then I brushed in green (crushed olive?) from the bottom of each hill, sweeping upwards.  Using a make-up sponge, I also swept in a bit of blue (faded jeans), to add even more depth and shadow.

 

 

Then I removed the stencil and covered the fields with a paper mask.  Having put a moon mask in place, I brushed the sky into place with stonewashed adirondack.  I added a tree and a hedge with fern green archival;  I used the edge of the tree stamp to do this.

 

I stamped the picket fence with black archival into place along the bottom, leaving space for the gate;  then coloured it in with spectrum noir pencils.

 

Old paper distress ink was blended around the edge for a soft vintage look.

 

 

Now for the second scene.  Two simple hills created with by tearing paper along the edge of my Clarity blending mat and green ink (crushed olive distress or maybe lettuce adirondack;  I can't remember which).  Then I covered the hills and put the sunburst stencil in place and brushed through wild honey distress ink, concentrating the colour in the centre.  I did brush on a little stonewashed Adirondack for the sky, but I avoided brushing over the sun as I was worried about turning it green.  I added a little extra blue between the rays with a spectrum noir pencil.

 

Old paper distress ink around the edge as before.

 

 

This was where I really got engrossed and forgot to take photos, so we'll talk through making the little magnets while seeing them in use in some different scenes.  Please bear with me;  its really easy...

  

The shed is stamped with black archival and coloured with spectrum noir pencils.  For each of the silhouette stamps, I blended a couple of colours of archival inks.  I find I get a much better impression with archival inks rather than dye based inks, but its all down to personal preference and the inks you have.  If you are using coloured archival inks, be aware that these will strip the blue indexing off your Clarity stamps and affect the colour of your stamped image, so you need to take it off first with a baby wipe, nail polish remover or alcohol blending solution. 

Rather than a single solid colour, I was aiming for a blended effect.  The technique's the same for the trees and all the animals;  ink up the stamp in the lightest colour, then gently kiss part of the stamp onto the corner of the darker inkpad to blend the colours.  The cockerel and hens were done in orange blossom and sepia archival.

 

 

The barn was stamped in black archival and coloured with spectrum noir pencils.  The trees were done using fern green and potting soil archival;  the cows with tree branch and potting soil archival.

 

 

The sheep are easy peasy;  simply stamped in black archival.  The windmill, gate and tractor were also stamped in black archival, then coloured with spectrum noir pencils.  The horse was done in watering can and black;  the pigs in tea rose and cactus flower;  the ducks in saffron and orange blossom;  all archival inks. 

 

I cut everything out roughly first, then stuck the pieces onto the magnetic sheet and cut each one out leaving a small white border.  This wasn't hard to do, but did take quite a bit of time.

And there it is.  I'm on the lookout now for more tins, as I think I'll be making more of these for my grandchildren...

I've been blown away with all the positive feedback on this project;  you've all made me very happy, thank you.  In return, I hope you feel just a little bit inspired.  I'll be back again soon with another of my projects from last weekend's Clarity shows on Hochanda.  Till next time.  Xxx