How to ........ Cloudy Sky

Helloooooo,

How is everyone?  I've had a lovely family weekend with my brother and his bunch.  It was the first time they'd been over to the island so a lot of the time was spent sightseeing, and showing them around the place, and a lot of eating out (nom! nom!)
They're already planning their next trip, a weekend just wasn't long enough.  And the fact that it was freezing cold while they were here didn't put them off coming back again.

'Trouble' also arrived on the island at the weenkend, aka Alex, my grandson ......... and the house has not been the same since.
He's a bit of a handful shall we say, but I love having him here.

outside Peel Castle

First stop was the local toy shop to pick up some new train bits, then of course the main job of the day was to set it all up, with help from Grandad ....

It's like Kings Cross station in our lounge - trains coming and going all day.  And of course Thomas the Tank Engine has to be on the TV as well!!

I've managed to quietly sneak away to the old craft room for a little while, to do the 'How To' I promised last week. I'm going to have to be quick though,  before Alex finds me.  He'll want to 'help'!

Here we go ....

A quick and easy way to make a cloudy sky

This is a technique I use quite a bit, and I've had a few comments lately asking how I do it.   It's so simple and really effective. 

All you need is some cardstock, a piece of copy paper, a blue ink pad (I use Distress Ink) and something to apply the ink with.  I always use stencil brushes to apply my Distress ink (Dreamweaver ones), but you can use whatever you're comfortable with - blending tool, sponge, even a piece of paper towel would do.

Cut yourself a cloud shape from the copy paper, just free-hand, you don't need to be precise.  This is mine that I've had for months .......

well used isn't it!  I've cut a new one for today though .....
Take your cloud and place it towards the top of your card where you want your sky to be .......
Hold it in place and gently apply the blue ink around the edge.  I start on the stencil and then gradually move off onto the cardstock.  Remember, you can always add more ink to make it darker, you can't take it away if you apply too much.  Start with very little ink on your brush/sponge and build it up gradually.

 Move your stencil around the card leaving some white space inbetween, and repeat the inking process around the edge of your cloud stencil, until you have your sky.

To make things look as if they are floating in the clouds (balloons, aeroplanes, butterflies etc.) you need to stamp this image first, make a mask to cover it up,

and then ink your clouds in with the mask in place.

This way the blue ink doesn't alter the colour of the main image.

And there you have it .......  clouds in the sky

That's me done for today.
I think I've been rumbled.  I can hear the sound of tiny feet coming down the hallway and was that 'Grandma'
I just heard.

Thanks for popping by today.  I'll be posting on the Indigo Blu DT Blog tomorrow with some of my show samples from weekend.   You can also find me on the Craftwork Cards Blog today with a cute little Mother's Day project if you fancy a look.

a sneaky peek

Enjoy your day.  Cheerio for now.

Linda

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