Further Developments - I can't stop!

I kept coming back to this page and wondering what I could do to make it more interesting. I decided to stick the stencil itself beside the image and define a few details with a dark coloured pen. It still looked a bit ordinary then I had the idea to cut out the spaces between some of the stems and allow the previous page to show through.

This page hasn't worked as well as the others. I used ordinary wax crayons instead of oil pastels and think they may have dried out over the years so that they no longer act as a resist to the yellow ink I applied over the top. When the ink had dried I sprayed the page with Cosmic Shimmer Mist which adds a lovely lustre but it doesn't show up on the photo. This added to the misty effect and seemed to push the design further back which I quite like. I finally added a little definition with a water colour pencil in a matching purple to darken the central area of the design.

I think this was the very first page I worked on and have cut out simple shapes from the areas between the stems. I like this idea and it's 'buy one, get one free' possibilities.

This is what happened to the reverse side of the page. I simply outlined the cut out areas with a 'running stitch' in dark pen. I still have the fern stencil and would like to create a few more designs with it before it falls apart, but .......................
....................there may be a halt to these sketchbook exercises as these three small booklets arrived in the post this morning. I have only had a quick skim through each one but they are absolutely packed with great ideas and are written by Dale Rollerson. She and her husband own and run The Thread Studio in Perth, Australia. Dale's blog is 'Downunderdale' and well worth a visit as is Thread Studio website.

It took me ages to find walnut ink. Every art shop I went into had never heard of it and firms in the small ads. offering it for sale were out of stock, but eventually I tracked some down. Apart from 'ageing' white paper I wasn't sure what else to do with it, but I'm about to find out. That's a gorgeously colourful bookmark beside the booklet.

I already have a couple of hanks of sari ribbon and have learned that it works well with the embellisher. There are many other uses for it, so it looks as if my time has been accounted for, for the forseeable future.

Last but not least is the Flower Stitcher booklet. I was lucky enough to win one in a giveaway some months back but haven't plucked up the courage to try it. In this booklet there are some lovely examples of flower stitching worked on kunin felt and the felt burned away to reveal beautifully holey textures.

I think I am going to be very busy! Where do I start?!