Sheena Douglass is amazing!

I have to admit, I am slightly obsessed with Sheena Douglass, (this will become apparent) not in a weird stalkerish kind of way, she is quite safe (although my bank balance most definitely isn't.)  I too have a great love of nature and animals and I think this is why I feel an affinity with her designs, and she is more than just a crafter, she is also an artist. I always feel inspired by her craft products and demonstrations, they allow us, as crafter's, so many possibilities. I find, I mainly like creating layered pictures that people can keep and frame, this way you are giving them more than just a card, they are receiving a mini work of art to treasure.

As soon as I saw the hummingbird stamp I had to have it ( I am obsessed with them too.) I have a dream in which I am feeding hummingbirds from my hand, sigh, if only. My other passion is orchids, so this was another stamp I simply had to add to my craft stash.

You can't really tell from the photo but the hummingbird partially stands away from the card, so it's wings are coming towards you. I also built a frame, so that the hibiscus flowers could be layered to add depth. I coloured the flowers and the bird with Copic pens, and I added shine to the hummingbird with Cosmic Shimmer Iridescent Watercolour Paints. I finished with Tonic flourishes, Royal Fern, and highlighted the centre of the flowers with Cosmic Shimmer coloured PVA.

The Phalaenopsis orchid card was also layered, reaching out towards you. For the leaves, I used Tonic Arboreal Dream die set. The sky, again, like the hummingbird card, was created with Cosmic Shimmer Colour Cloud Ink. I love Colour Cloud Inks, they are slightly wetter than some other inks, so for some things I find they are easier to blend.

I do love Sheena's Landscape stamps too and this 'Ruins' design came about by using several of them together to build this scene.  It was coloured with alcohol pens and the clouds were made by dabbing my index finger into a white memento ink pad and then on to the sky. I then softened these impressions with a cotton wool pad to make them wispy and less defined.

There will be more designs coming up with Sheena's stamps and dies in the future, because I can't help it.

Adele x