Sunday, 17 March 2013

Craft Barn - Alpha Challenge - P

The latest fortnightly alpha challenge for the Craft Barn is "P". I was flicking through my dictionary and keeping in mind what stamps I have to go with the words as I read them - my eye alighted on "pear"

I am partial to a nice pear, one of my favourite fruits (raw, not so fond of tinned pears) - but they do tend to be one of those fruits that are rock hard and unripe one day and have turned to over-ripe mush the next.... however I have a few stamps from A Stamp in the Hand along the subject so I was set...


I started by painting the page round the definition with Snowcap white Fresco paint and stamped the Pears - Words stamp in the top corner. However there wasn't enough paint on the page, and the dictionary words came through, so I painted over it with another layer of Snowcap, then added a light coat of Guacamole over the whole page, and some more Snowcap on top to lighten the green.

It was time for stamping proper now! I changed the placing of the words, going for the bottom right page  and down the left hand edge of the first page (this bit was always my plan!) in black archival ink.  The pears - I have a large and small version of the single pear, and the 3 pears together are on one stamp - I used a mixture of Distress inks, blending them on the stamp - Mowed Lawn (kept this mainly for the leaves) Crushed Olive and Rusty Hinge.

I was going to write words on the page, that describe pears, but cut them from the rest of the dictionary and fixed them with a Pritt glue stick.


Sorry about the photos -  it is really dull and I am having problem getting close ups without using the camera's flash!
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32 comments:

  1. sam21ski17 March 2013 at 12:50

    Oooh fabulous, love how you've left the background pale an the colouring on your pears is brilliant, they look so effective.

    Great choice of word.

    Sam xxx

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  2. TwinkleToes2day17 March 2013 at 13:24

    Visiting from the Craft Barn - Great choice of word and how fab you have pear stamps! I like the idea of using dictionary words to describe Pear :0) Mo

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  3. ionabunny17 March 2013 at 13:42

    Great pages Helen. I like a nice conference myself. Pears are tricky like you say. Great stamps and love your colouring

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  4. Artyjen17 March 2013 at 14:08

    Love the colouring on your pears :)
    xoxo Sioux

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  5. Dianne 17 March 2013 at 14:40

    Fabulous page Helen, the pares colored beautifully lovin all that fresco paint it awesome thanks for sharing your inspiration.. Have a great day..

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  6. Lin17 March 2013 at 16:14

    love this page helen...looks like it was a lot of fun..that script stamp is lovely !!

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  7. snazzyoriginal17 March 2013 at 17:21

    Really beautiful shading on the distress inks on the pear stamps, so subtle. Great pages xx

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  8. Hettie17 March 2013 at 18:06

    Mmmmmn Pears in Red Wine! Now you ARE talking!!
    Great page and liking your choice of word. I keep meaning to join in with this but the work stuff gets in the way!!
    Hugs
    xx

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  9. Lynn Stevens17 March 2013 at 18:36

    Its "pearfect" .I do have a question. Did you stamp on muslin fabric/ or is it a gunny type sack? I Love a good pear too.
    Not to hard but juicy. yum yum.
    Hugs Lynn

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  10. Virginia17 March 2013 at 18:39

    Oh that is gorgeous Helen!

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  11. Christelle Az17 March 2013 at 18:40

    excellent!!!a good idea.Great work.

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  12. Words and Pictures17 March 2013 at 19:08

    Just love this, Helen - the palest of pale backgrounds and then all those beautifully shaded pears - subtlest of fruit flavours given a wonderfully subtle page - love it!
    Alison x

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  13. BJ17 March 2013 at 19:18

    Super Pear page, I need to get my thinking hat on for a special day beginning with "P"???? BJ

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  14. Sue17 March 2013 at 20:06

    Gorgeous page Helen, I like a nice pear too! I know what you mean about the photographs, we really need some sunshine now xx

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  15. LindaS18 March 2013 at 02:22

    Wonderful row of cool pears. Great take on the P.

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  16. Karen18 March 2013 at 12:13

    I very nearly did 'PEAR' in my dictionary and now I am glad that I didn't. I could never have done such a lovely page as you have Helen. Thank you for joining us again over at The Craft Barn x

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  17. Carmen 19 March 2013 at 22:37

    Oh wow! I was going to ask if you painted these - they look like little watercolour studies. Love these pages Helen, so cleverly done.

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  18. Elaine20 March 2013 at 08:30

    Great pages and great use of your pear stamps!

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  19. chrissie20 March 2013 at 10:20

    Wonderful pages and the pear stamping is terrific

    Love Chrissie xx

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  20. JansArtyJunk20 March 2013 at 17:27

    Beautifully coloured pears(lovely stamp too!)...these are wonderful pages for the P challenge Helen.

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  21. Pat20 March 2013 at 17:28

    Great page, I particularly like the associated definitions. Great idea.
    Thank you for your comment.

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  22. Scrapmate20 March 2013 at 23:04

    Nice pages, I love the colouring of your pears.

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  23. Bonnie Irvine21 March 2013 at 23:56

    I love the subtle colour palette. The background is so pretty and provides great contrast to the stamped pears. I love the idea of defining the describing words. Lovely layout, too.

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  24. Joan23 March 2013 at 23:30

    Lovely pear stamps and beautiful page,love the written definitions

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  25. Julia S-W25 March 2013 at 11:47

    Beautiful pages. I love the pale background against those wonderfully shaded pairs. Love the stamped words on the left and the lower right.
    Juliax

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  26. lena-dailyscrap26 March 2013 at 15:03

    Lovely pages; a Pear is Perfect for this P letter challenge. Great idea!

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  27. Maisie Moonshine26 March 2013 at 16:20

    What a great layout - love your colour blending on your pears - good enough to eat. MMx

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  28. Maggie26 March 2013 at 17:08

    Snap.....great page Helen loving the definitions

    MaggieH

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  29. Laura27 March 2013 at 17:03

    Love the descriptive words dotted around

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  30. Sylvia28 March 2013 at 16:19

    Love the colouring on the pears and the definitions to go with them. Great pages.

    Sylv xx

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  31. Anonymous4 April 2013 at 14:38

    LOVE this page. At first glance, you would think you have painted on fabric.
    Thanks for playing with us at the Craft Barn
    Izzy

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  32. Dawn4 April 2013 at 20:27

    Gorgeous pages Helen, I love how your subtle background brings those yummy pears to life.
    Hugs x

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