Forest scene treat bags

I said I would do a quick tutorial on how I created my little forest scenes. These images were created on cheap and nasty  6x4 envelopes, which I sealed,  then cut the top end off to create a new opening, and used these as treat bags. 

I blended yellow (S.U. Barely Banana, which is a pale warm yellow, not a citrus yellow)  ink around the edges of the envelope, working my way towards the middle, the yellow was stronger at the edges fading out as I worked towards the centre. I left a white patch in the middle. The yellow needs to be blended carefully, as you get to the middle it needs to be very pale where it meets the white  so you don't have any harsh lines.

Once the yellow was applied I blended in some  pale papaya ink, ( another S.U ink which is a pale orange) working over the yellow edges and the corners, applying less and less ink as I worked inwards. I didn't want to cover all the yellow.

I tore a sheet of copier paper and placed it over the top section of the envelope and blended a lime green ink on the bottom section to create the woodland floor. I also used the edge of the torn paper to create some contours in the ground. You'll see these in the photos below.

I stamped a tree trunk either side of the envelope. I masked off the trunks using the sticky edge of a couple of post it notes.  Then stamped the trunk again diagonally.

Using my stamping platform  I secured my piece of work with the magnets.  I positioned the CLEAN mice stamps, where I wanted them to be on my work and closed the platform to pick up the stamps.

 I inked up the mice stamps using Versafine Clare Nocturn and closed the platform again to transfer the  mice image to my work.

 The mice stamps are from Lavinia stamps.( In fact all the stamps I used on this project were purchased from Lavinia stamps)

The beauty of using a stamping platform is, That if your image doesn't stamp correctly you can ink up the stamps again and stamp over the previously stamped images.  This will fill in any misses perfectly, providing your work hasn't moved at all. Always lift the platform door carefully to ensure your work doesn't move.  Sometimes the stamp will stick to your work, so if you're not careful your work can move.

If you don't have a platform and you get small  misses you can usually fill these in with a small paintbrush and the ink you used for stamping.

Once the mice were stamped  I could start stamping the foliage. I used the leaf creeper stamp to form the overhanging greenery.  I stamped in a yellow and lime green ink.  I finished off with a few stamped in Versafine Clare  Shady lane. I like this ink,  it gives good coverage, especially for silhouettes.

I masked off the tree trunks again, and stamped some wild flowers over the masked off areas, so they appear to be behind the trees. I used red ink for some and dark blue ink for others. I dotted some Posca paint over the top of the flowers in a lighter colour for a little more dimension.

Then stamping some ferns at the base of the trunks in lime green, and shady lady.

I wasn't completely happy with my fern stamping, so when the ferns where dry I stamped a small branch over the bottom of the envelope and up over some of the ferns in brown Versafine Clare.

 Versafine inks take much longer to dry, so I gave it some drying time before dotting  white Posca paint on and around the branches to form buds and flowers, disguising  the areas I wasn't too happy with. I added a few more flowers to the foreground again adding tiny dots of  Posca paint to the blooms.

 After waiting for the paint and inks to dry,  I coloured the tree trunks with Copic markers. If you look at the photo above the lower mouse looks odd, almost as though he is floating. He needs to be grounded.

This is easily done with a piece of torn paper placed over the mouse with his foot poking out  and brushing a tiny amount of a darker ink over the edge of the paper and  his foot.

If you are very confident you could bring this ink shading downwards to form the shadow. I am not that confident, so I added some shadows beneath the mouse with black chalk pastel and a tiny, stiff paint brush. Because I can rub out the chalk pastel if I mess up.

 This is not my normal style, so I did feel a little daunted when I decided to have a go at creating these scenes. But it really didn't take that much effort or time to create these images.  Which is just as well as I need to do 3 bags each week and I don't have vast amounts of time to waste on something that will end up in the bin a few minutes after they sweets have been devoured, ha ha .