Autumn

Well I didn't manage to get a lot done this weekend in the end - too busy trying to prepare for my Aspirational Development Centre tomorrow - aaaaargh! Some parts of it I'm ok about, but am really not looking forward to the role plays. I hate them! If a client is in on the phone I have no problems dispensing advice and working out any issues they may have, but trying to pretend my senior manager is a client just makes me cringe and I act like a fool. Deep breaths, is what I keep telling myself, it will all be fine! This will determine any promotion I get in March, though, so am just a little bit nervous!

Anyway - the ATC. The background was created from an idea in Kelly Rae Roberts' book (there's a link to her blog somewhere on here). I collaged various patterned papers and then used a brayer to layer acrylic paint over them (in this case parchment, naples yellow and gold). Then I used a damp paper towel to wipe away the paint so that it was faint and aged looking, and brushed the edges using the gold paint. Then I stamped the circles using this gorgous opalescent white paint I found and left it to dry. In the meantime, I used the paints and brayered them onto a peice of card and left it to dry before finally stamped the fairy on the card and cutting her out.

I used a charcoal pencil and paper sump to highlight (or lowlight, I suppose) the circles and layered the fairy onto the ATC base using skeleton leaves and a real leaf that I picked up yesterday and pressed.

I wanted the fairy to have one of those little picture book crowns and I tried and tried to make one using copper, but it was too tiny and fiddly and stupid and so I ended up using some stick on gems to make a halo around her head instead.

Next idea involves watercolour and the rest of the leaves that I picked up yesterday, but I need to have a little think about how I am going to go about it... Plus, I don't really want paint and whatnot all over my hands for tomorrow! Already had a very near accident this morning when I was putting my new stamps on EZMount. My God that stuff is STICKY!!! I kept finding bits of plastic on it and couldn't work out where it was coming from - until I realised it was pulling the scissors apart! I was trying to clean the sticky off the blades and so I just picked up a cotton pad and some nail polish remover and started off, before remembering that I have false nails on it preparation for tomorrow and had nearly melted the buggers! Remembered what I was doing just in time, otherwise it might have been messy!