How inappropriate to call this planet Earth ...

... when it is quite clearly Ocean ...
Arthur C Clarke

I've not done any stamping for some time, as I been immersed in painting, but the latest Craft Barn Dictionary challenge letter is O, and, unusually, I had no inspiration whatsoever.

Until (light bulb!) I decided to dust off some stamps - and do an oceanic scene; starting with a random acrylic ink background with a bit of cling film to create some texture.

The fish stamps (and associated dies) are by Heartfelt Creations stamped onto some left over sprayed background pieces. My favourite is the sea horse.

No-one does water drops and bubble stamps like Ryn, so added some bubbles to the mix, together with some pieces of oceanic flora!

Also entering Ryn's monthly challenge, and the Craft Stamper stamping challenge.

I start my intermediate watercolour and mixed media course on Monday, which I'm really looking forward too, though I think it is going to be a bit challenging!

Flitter ... flutter ...

The next letter in the Craft Barn's Alpha Dictionary Challenge is F - with a little twist of the addition of a heart somewhere.

A lot of Fs went through my mind, and reading the dictionary is quite enlightening - but eventually  I plumped for flitter.

I decided to use the whole dictionary page this time, which covered most of my 10 x 8 sheet. I also also used another page to produce a couple of die-cuts.

Stamps used - one of my favourite's from Designs by Ryn - the humming bird; and some floral and foliage stamps (another 2 Fs) from Unity Stamps and Paperartsy.

I used my Windsor & Newton pigment markers to do some colouring, and added a little heart. Did you know the humming bird's heart beats at more than 1000 times a minute. They also flap their wings at around 50 times a second!

I was inspired to write another haiku -

Little bird flitters
Drenched nectar flower beckons
Creates winged rainbow

Also entering into this Month's Craft Stamper Magazine challenge which is all about using background text.

Don't quote me!

The next letter in the Craft Barn Alpha Dictionary Challenge is Q.

My first thought was Quotation! I have a book of quotations which I have compiled over the years, and I found one which I thought was quite appropriate.

The background is brayered acrylic ink, with a little paint through an alphabet stencil. I finished off with a border stamp, using Archival ink - thank you Craftyfield: I remembered which ink to use on paint!

I also ... erroneously ... thought my Designs by Ryn stamp (from the Fiddlehead stamp set) looked like a quotation mark, but of course - one is upside down!

So - a quotation about quotation.

And here is another one from A A Milne:

"A quotation is a handy thing to have about, saving one the trouble of thinking for oneself, always a laborious business."

And while I am on quotations - here is another erroneous one! (by G M Jackson)

"Every time we prove a positive, we simultaneously prove an infinite number of negatives. Therefore, it is erroneous to declare that we can't prove a negative."

I think that is enough!