Stamping is for the birds part 1

This week my blog is all about the bird stamps! It is a bit of a departure for me but there are some sweet birds flitting around my workroom so I decided to paint a few. This one from Penny Black is called ‘cheerful Christmas‘ and I’ve painted it with a robin in mind. The image is stamped in black, embossed in clear then painted with peerless watercolour paints. I kept my colour scheme fairly simple, a couple of greens for the leaves, a couple of reds for the berries and bird, a grey for the bird and background then some pale blue. I die cut the red mat with the elegant stitching dies from Penny Black and added a sentiment from the festive snippets set.

Peerless paints come in a very convenient format and provide beautiful blendable colour. I tend to forget them for a while and then binge on them with one project after another. They will be back with another bird tomorrow. You can see how I set up my peerless palette here

This little bird reminds me of a Ladybird book I had as a child called ‘The Wise Robin‘. I just had a hunt for it on our bookshelves and found it. The pictures in the book are all paintings and quite lovely. Then I did an online search for it and found it was published in 1950, sold for 2/6 but is listed for $72.51! I flicked through the book to remind myself of the story; the robin ends up in the house on the Christmas tree and delights the family with a song. Of course my experience when a bird has come into the house has never been delightful but that need not get in the way of a cute story!

Supplies

Stamps: Cheerful Christmas

Dies: elegant stitching

Paper: hot pressed watercolour, neenah cream, red

Ink: versafine clair nocturne

Paint: peerless watercolours

Also: clear embossing powder