Hello. Welcome to my little crafty blog. I’ve been trying not to listen to the news too much, but it is hopeful to see that the numbers of people in hospital with Covid-19 is coming down. That doesn’t make it any easier for those who are still ill, though, so today’s card has get well wishes for anyone who’s been unwell with this awful virus.

I used this week’s challenge sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches for inspiration, and decided to create it using two of the Claritystamp sets – the Chinese Lantern (properly known as physalis) and the Dots and Spots Grunge texture stamps. The lovely colourful calyces that contain the berries appear in the autumn, so it’s not exactly seasonal for today. Some people, however, believe that it symbolises protection, and that you will be safe and guarded through your life and able to overcome challenges, so it seems rather appropriate for a get well card

I hadn’t used the background stamps before, so it was a good reason to try them out. I stamped the small spots twice, using Adirondack ink in Stonewashed. I then stamped the spray of Chinese lanterns over them using Archival ink in Watering Can

the stamp set has smaller individual ones for the berries and the leaves so they can be filled in with ink. I decided to colour them using my Spectrum Noir pencils instead – I love the translucency of the pencils, so the texture of the dots still shows through. I also wanted to try out some of my new shading skills (which are still very amateur!) using a pencil, using what I’ve learned from the great tutorials on doodling & shading Barbara Gray from Claritystamp has been posting every day (they’re all on YouTube).

I added a small sentiment to complete it. I edged the piece of card using a black Sharpie pen before mounting it, so it had a bit more definition

So as we head into week 6 of lockdown in the UK, I pray that you all stay safe and well.