Natalie Bowers: Living Out Loud

The 9th of May, the day that Mama Makes’ stamps are going to be featured on Hochanda, is rapidly approaching. When Loti asked the design team to make some samples for the Let Leonie Loose show she said ‘the more out of the box the better’ and that she wanted ‘quality not quantity’ – wow projects that would come across well on screen.

I do love a challenge!

I’ve tried not to rush into my makes because I’m always happier with my work when I let ideas percolate away in my mind before I get going. The first piece I made was this ‘dream big little one’ nursery plaque. Loti said she didn’t just want cards, so I decided to use a piece of old packaging from my scraps box to build a nighttime scene using a background I’d previously created using liquid water colours and alcohol. First, I painted the packaging with black gesso then covered it with the Mixed Media A7 Map Background stamp image in silver ink. On black card, I heat embossed the sleepy fox from the Woodland Friends stamp set using copper embossing powder then fussy-cut him out. I stamped the sentiment on a strip of mixed media paper too, once in black ink to make it stand out, then several times in purple ink. I really love the way it turned out. Imagine being a young child and looking up at this as you fall asleep at night …

The second sample I made was a card inspired by the sentiment ‘when we’re together it feels like home’ from the Woodland Friends stamp set. I wanted to create a sweet scene with another fox from this set and the rabbit from the Hello Spring set, so I used Distress Inks to make a sunset background and drew the outline of a house in the distance. I also stamped on the flowers and mushrooms from the Hello Spring set as black outlines only, so the characters stood out the most. I coloured the critters using distress inks and water to create a watercolour effect. To give the rabbit and fox something to stand on, I used the Mixed Media A7 Crackle stamp to create a path. I think this would be a sweet card to give to a loved one.

The sample I made today is another card, but this one is long and thin – a bit different from most cards. The ‘well done clever fox’ sentiment, again from the Woodland Friends set, inspired this make. I thought it would be nice to have something you could give to a young child who has achieved something, perhaps at school. From ‘school’, my mind leapt to ‘writing’, which led me to use the Mixed Media Large Script stamp in the background. I repeatedly heat embossed the stamp with clear embossing powder, and then watercoloured over it in a variety of blues. This reminded me of the sky, so I printed the sentiment on white card and cut it into a cloud shape. After that, it seemed natural to stand the clever fox on a little hill. I stamped her onto mixed media paper and coloured her and the hill with watercolour paint. I think this might be my favourite of the three …

I need to get the samples in the post early next week, but I’d like to make at least one more before then … perhaps a journal or scrapbook layout. I’ll be back next Friday with an update!

In the meantime, my second tutorial for Mama Makes is up on their blog today, so head on over there to find out how to make this mixed media nursery plaque.

And don’t forget to set your alarms for HOCHANDA’s Let Leonie Loose show on Wednesday 9 May at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.! You can tune in via Sky 673, Freeview 85, Freesat 817 or via the HOCHANDA website.

Thanks for reading! Catch you later. xxx

I’m very excited to announce that Mama Makes will be on HOCHANDA’s Let Leonie Loose show on Wednesday 9 May at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.! You can tune in via Sky 673, Freeview 85, Freesat 817 or via the HOCHANDA website.

For the next couple of weeks, I’m going to be very busy making samples for the show!