Pinecones & joy
Posted: December 19, 2019 Filed under: Darkroom Door, Ink to Paper, jumbo joy, Penny Black, pine cones, season of joy stamps | Tags: Darkroom Door stamps, Fabriano Watercolour Paper, Ink to Paper, Kuretake Gansai Tambi watercolour paints, Penny Black creative dies, WOW embossing powders 11 Comments
The pine needles and pine cone stamps I used for this card are from Darkroom Door and I love how realistic they are. The stamps are quite large and there are several sizes and shapes of cones which makes for lovely feature images and fillers as well. I used one pine cone stamp but two of the pine needle stamps and worked on hot pressed watercolour paper which had been splattered with masking fluid. If you look at the close up below you can see large white dots as well as tiny ones; they’re all made by the masking fluid.
I stamped the pine cone three times using a stamp positioner and four different brown distress inks. A spritz of water started the browns blending and I did a little blending with a paint brush as well.
I stamped the green pine needles with forest moss and evergreen bough distress inks and the fine needles in the background with iced spruce. I added some green splatter then some gold splatter using one of the gansai tambi starry colours. I used the ‘jumbo joy’ die from Penny Black to cut out the word joy from the stamped panel and cut three layers from shimmer gold cardstock as well so I could stack them up just a little offset so the gold peeps out on the side.
I stamped the rest of the Christmas carol lyric using a stamp from Ink to Paper’s ‘season of joy’ set and some gold embossing powder. The overall pattern may be a little messy but it reminds me of what I see if I look up into the branches of the very messy pine tree in my front yard, which is currently covered with snow but not gold splatter!
I have been blessed to receive some beautiful handmade Christmas cards in the mail this week and I am enjoying them on my window ledge. I hate to say it but as yet I have not sent a single one! As I’ve said before there are twelve days of Christmas so I haven’t run out of time yet!
Supplies
Heather Telford 
So pretty, always love that soft water color look. It really does convey that impressionistic view we get of the real world. Took a closer look to see the word,”Joy”. Well done! Thank you for sharing. Getting my cards out today. Plenty of time!
Love this card. I didn’t see the word Joy at first, well done 🙂 I reeeeally like it and wish I had the stuff to make it. Really looks great.
Merry Christmas to you and yours Heather!
Beautiful card in every way! I, too, didn’t notice the JOY until you mentioned it, but I suspect it’s more visible in person. Looked up DarkroomDoor stamps…can we get this stamp in the US? I saw $31 Australian and that’s not going to happen!
This is $21 converted to USDollars today. It is at Simon says Stamp for $24.99
I love pinecones and these with the foliage from DD are so beautiful especially done in your watercolour style Heather, and such pretty colours too. x
love this card. beautifully done……
Those stamps are indeed realistic and beautiful. I love the look of your card. Don’t worry about being late sending cards. It’s the season, and anyone receiving your cards will be grateful, early or late!
Beautiful card. I like the subtle Joy.
You know how much I have hoped for the opportunity to experience a northern hemisphere Christmas and I have been reminded of that wish several times in recent weeks through the beautiful seasonal cards you have created. But your wisdom has prevailed as you have lovingly but firmly removed any Ottawa Christmas visit from my bucket list.
So i was particularly delighted when you posted your latest card. You might also have called it an ‘Aussie Christmas card’. It particularly depicts the colours of an Australian Christmas – the brown of the metracarpa pines which provide windbreaks along fencelines of many rural properties and which, when dry, become the foundation of many a Christmas wreath. And the green which is typically that of the eucalypts of the Australian bush. There will be many similar wreaths on Australian homes this year.
EXCEPT that those pine cones and eucalypts are much of the fuel of the devastating bushfires (wildfires) that are burning out of control across much of Australia today. Already hundreds of thousands of hectares have been burnt in blazes in every state (province) of Australia except Tasmania, Over 100 blazes in NSW alone with many out of control at emergency rating, Hundreds of homes lost, hundreds of thousands of stock and wildlife lost (including many koala) and some human lives, including fire-fighters. We are grateful for assistance from Canadian and USA and other volunteers who are here with us.
I take this opportunity to say “thank you” to the many people who so regularly and generously express appreciation of Heather’s cards and tuition. I feel I know many of you and have met a few of you, I believe. May you experience the joy and happiness of Christmas that Heather expresses in all her cards..
Beautiful JOY pine cones card!
Love.
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