Meadow

Posted: June 9, 2023 | Author: | Filed under: meadow, Penny Black | Tags: , , | 8 Comments

I have what I call a pile of possibility in my workroom consisting of panels that could be made into something. The smaller ones are housed in a shoebox; there are watercolour backgrounds, stamped and coloured panels, alcohol ink panels and hand painted experiments. This panel has sat in the box for years unstamped but looking very much like a sunset. I can’t remember whether it was painted with watercolour paints or swiped with watercolour inks. I imagine the pale centre circle was dabbed out with a brush or paper towel but I really can’t be sure.

I stamped the Penny Black ‘meadow’ stamp on the panel with peeled paint archival ink then coloured inside the leaves with zig clean color real brush markers. I added spots and dots to the flowers and sky with gel pens, a white, a gold and a copper.

I stamped a sentiment from the PB ‘enjoy builder’ set on a left over strip. Hope you can take some time to do what makes you happy this weekend. Here are a couple of suggestions. (wink)

(Compensated affiliate links from Foiled Fox & Scrap n Stamp)

Good Day Bouquet

Posted: June 7, 2023 | Author: | Filed under: good day bouquet, Penny Black, Time | Tags: , , , | 3 Comments

Good day bouquet is a pretty vase stamp from Penny Black. I used a strip of hot pressed watercolour paper and kept the deckled edge which is on the large sheets I buy then cut into smaller pieces for card panels and other projects. I smooshed uncharted mariner and lost shadow distress inks on my glass mat, diluted it with water then swiped the watercolour panel through the ink. There was a fine splatter of masking fluid on the panel which is most noticeable on the side of the vase.

I chose to use water-based brush markers to colour the stamp. As the distress markers are being discontinued I have been testing out alternatives for inking stamps. Water-based markers can be helpful in inking small areas on a stamp. For the flowers, leaves and stems I used Staedtler water-based markers; the pack I bought has 36 colours so I was able to use three different pinks for the flowers and a couple of greens for the stems. I used uncharted mariner for the vase and then later for the ‘time’ stamps I added to the background. When I ink my stamps with markers I spritz the stamp before pressing it onto the panel and sometimes blend the stamped image with water also. I inked the centres of the flowers with black, then after stamping used the small tip end of the black marker to add more detail.

To finish I added some water splatter which I dabbed away with a paper towel and some ink splatter because you know I love to splatter! If you are in Ottawa don’t forget you have the opportunity to pick up some crafty bargains this weekend at the Saturday garage sale, details below.

(Compensated affiliate links from Foiled Fox & Scrap n Stamp)

Vintage Beetle

Posted: June 5, 2023 | Author: | Filed under: vintage beetle | Tags: , , | 3 Comments

Isn’t she a beauty? This digital stamp ‘vintage beetle‘ is one from a new set in the Echidna Studios etsy store. My daughter took a photo of a VW beetle convertible recently and turned it into this digi stamp. There is stamp in the set. I haven’t coloured it yet but it is a cute rear view.

I rarely make slimline cards but this stamp definitely called for one. I think it would make a delightful fathers’ day card. It isn’t fathers’ day until September in Australia which has caught me off guard many times! I printed the car on hot pressed watercolour paper using the ‘manual feed’ and ‘heavyweight settings’ that pop up on the computer. I then created a very soft watercolour background by smooshing lost shadow and uncharted mariner ink on my glass mat, spritzing it with water to dilute and move it then swiping my watercolour panel through the ink.

I used mainly Zig clean color real brush pens to watercolour the car along with Kuretaki metallic silver on the hubcaps and black Koi coloring brush pen for the black watercoloured sections. For some fine black lines I use F-C Pitt artist pens. I do have a weakness for markers, especially waterbased ones so it was good to put some to work on this card.

Just between you and me I am pretty pleased with the way it turned out and would now like to take a little drive in one! Hope your Monday is off to a good start.

(Compensated affiliate links from Foiled Fox & Scrap n Stamp)

Gel Print Journey

Posted: May 31, 2023 | Author: | Filed under: Elizabeth Craft Designs, florals 13, gel press, online class, pretty plaid, Spellbinders | Tags: , , , , | 4 Comments

As I have mentioned a few times lately I have a new online class available. It’s called Gel Print Journey. I added the promo on Youtube today and thought I would share it here with you my blog readers as well. It is a class for both beginners and enthusiasts (and those who like me, tried it once and took a while to try it again). The card shown above is just one of the projects I made after a gel printing session. I grabbed the red print from the embossing folders lesson and the green print from one of the stencils lessons and die-cut all my elements to make a birthday card. Although there are project ideas at the end of the class the focus of the lessons is all gel printing. I just thought I would share one of the projects with you today because it is a bright happy card!

If you haven’t tried gel printing at all, GASP, this class will take you through the basics and provide you with oodles of textures and techniques to try. If you have tried gel printing I am sure you will enjoy putting your dies, stencils, embossing folders, recycling and plants to work to create one of a kind prints.

I added the red petals and green leaves to an embossed white background to keep them looking fresh and bright. There are little prills in the centres and a sentiment from Paper Rose studio.

As blog readers you have just one more day to use the TEAMBLOG10 discount code but if you read this after May has ended just pop over to youtube to see the code I shared over there. If you have any questions don’t hesitate to leave a comment below. I will continue to share gel printed cards and projects here on the blog and have some upcoming videos on youtube as well.

Have a great day!

(Compensated affiliate links from Foiled Fox & Scrap n Stamp)

Clean Up Fairies

Posted: May 26, 2023 | Author: | Filed under: berry leaves, fairy buds, Lavinia, silhouette thistle, star group miniature, three dancing fairies | Tags: , | 4 Comments

No, sadly I don’t have any clean up fairies; that would be a win! This little moonlit scene is stamped with Lavinia stamps on one of my gel printing ‘clean up sheets’ and I couldn’t resist the name. As I gel print I clean the brayer on clean up sheets off to the right of my plate. I use thickish drawing paper and when the sheet is well covered but still looking pretty I move it and start on a new sheet. So, yes, I have many clean up sheets to turn into cards or other projects.

I am still learning my way with Lavinia stamps; there is an art to the layering and arrangement. One of the fairies looks like she is doing a little cleaning of the fairy bud but the other looks like she is diving off the high tower. I know there is a plethora of Lavinia inspiration videos out there so maybe I should watch a few.

I stamped all the bold images in black and used blue and green inks to stamp some sprinkly stars and shadowy leaves in the background. The clean up sheet was mainly blue, pink and green so I cut a circle mask and blended more green around it to suggest a moon. I used sparkly gel pens to colour in some of the fairy buds and the fairy wings.

(Compensated affiliate links from Foiled Fox, Ecstasy Crafts* & Scrap n Stamp)

*if you visit the Lavinia products at Ecstasy Crafts make sure you use the heathertecs10 discount code at check out

Potted Pretties in Pencil

Posted: May 24, 2023 | Author: | Filed under: Coloured pencil, how sweet, Penny Black, potted pretties | Tags: , | 4 Comments

This is the new ‘potted pretties’ stamp from Penny Black; it is pretty isn’t it? Although I love the soft blends of loose watercolour I also find pencil colouring very satisfying too, especially on kraft cardstock.

I use Faber Castell Polychromos pencils and chose a dark and a light pink along with white for the petals, two greens for the leaves and a tan with white for the pot. Once I had almost finished I added some more shadow to the centre of some flowers and the shadows of the leaves with a dark burgandy pencil – a trick I learned from Kathy Racoosin, colouring wizard.

If no-line watercolour is more your thing then I am colouring the same image in that style too. I’ll post it on the blog soon.

Don’t forget to check out my new online course if you haven’t already. The discount TEAMBLOG10 is still valid for a 10% discount at checkout. Thank you to those of you who have joined already. I am excited to hear from or see some prints once you’ve had a chance to dive in!

And another event you might be interested in if you are local is the Community Paper Crafting Garage Sale on June 10.

(Compensated affiliate links from Foiled Fox)

Mushrooms & Pods

Posted: May 23, 2023 | Author: | Filed under: Classes, Darkroom Door, fairy toadstool, gel press, Lavinia, mini meadow mushroom, online class, pods stencil, woodland fern | Tags: , , , , | 6 Comments

I often combine my gel prints with stamping and on this card there is a bit of brand matchy-matchy which really works for a whimsical look. The print is a ghost print made while filming my new class Gel Print Journey. There is a surprising amount of paint and pattern on this ghost print; sometimes they are a lot more ghostly!

The gel print was made with the Lavinia stencil ‘pods’. Last week when stamping with a friend I was able to pair the background with some Lavinia stamps. I don’t own any…yet but I did enjoy the fun of arranging little scenes with their pretty silhouettes.

If you are not familiar with the world of ghost prints or stencil prints or even gel printing, check out my new online course. The TEAMBLOG10 discount is available until the end of May so now is a great time to join me.

(Compensated affiliate links from Foiled Fox, Ecstasy Crafts* & Scrap n Stamp)

*if you visit the Lavinia products at Ecstasy Crafts make sure you use the heathertecs10 discount code at check out

Gel Printing with the Strands stencil

Posted: May 18, 2023 | Author: | Filed under: Classes, Dies, Echidna Studios, Flutters, gel press, online class, Penny Black, rustic birdhouse, strands | Tags: , , , , | 4 Comments

A stencil gel print for you today. I created this distressed print on a large gel plate so I could pick up a card front and an envelope print at the same time. If you don’t have a large plate you could just use the same paint colours and stencil on a second print. Just in case you didn’t catch my news yesterday, my new online course Gel Print Journey is now available! (And there is a discount for blog readers TEAMBLOG10)

The stencil is called ‘strands’ and it is a digital design I created and have made available in the Echidna Studios etsy store. The bold print shown on the card above was made with copper, burgandy and purple paint so I chose a dark burgandy cardstock to cut dragonfly elements and a sentiment strip. Printing directly on the envelope is a easy way to co-ordinate with your card and I placed a sticker on the white envelope before printing to preserve white space for the address. I think I might make a video of this process because it’s quick and effective, a combination I like.

The pattern on the second card is very muted because it is a ghost print, the leftovers on the plate after I pulled the one above. I cover this technique in my new online class using a range of different stencils and colour combinations.

Even though ghost prints are often patchy I like using them for collage or backgrounds as I have here. The line between cream and grey ended up looking like a path or lawn and I just like the unique grungy texture.

The dies and stamps I used to finish the cards are all Penny Black, those dragonflies on the first card are some of the first dies I ever got and they’re still a favourite.

(Compensated affiliate links from Foiled Fox & ScrapNStamp)

Gel Plate Plant Prints

Posted: May 16, 2023 | Author: | Filed under: Classes, gel press, online class | Tags: , , , | 6 Comments

I have a few more plant gel prints to share with you. I put these ones together as a gift a while ago but saved this post to co-ordinate with the launch of my new online class Gel Print Journey. This class has been in the works for a while so I am excited to finally share it with you. It is an introductory class covering printing with acrylic paints and includes loads of techniques, hours of video instruction and a few inspiration galleries at the end so you can see what I do with some of the prints. (there is a discount code at the end of this post)

In the new class three of the lessons cover leaf, grass and feather prints teaching the techniques used to make the cards in today’s post. For the card above I used one large leaf but often I use a mix of leaves, grasses and when available, flowers.

Because I made all these prints with a 6″x6″ gel plate I was able to cover the card front and save a strip to add to the edge of the envelope. I used double sided adhesive to add these prints to my card fronts but a tape runner or gluestick would also do the job.

As you can see in the print above ferns print very well. I rolled red paint on my plate, pressed a fern frond and a flower into the paint, removed paint all around the elements with tissue paper then pulled the remaining print with gold paint. So much fun! Now that I have plants growing again in my garden I will be creating a new pile of nature prints.

I promised to let you know when my class launched and because my blog readers are such an encouragement to me feel free to use the discount code TEAMBLOG10 for a 10% discount when you register.

(Compensated affiliate links from Foiled Fox & Scrap n Stamp)

Sun Kissed

Posted: May 15, 2023 | Author: | Filed under: Penny Black, sun kissed | Tags: , , | 5 Comments

These breezy flowers are from the new Penny Black release. The stamp is called ‘sun kissed‘ and I have stamped it twice on this card. I used both distress markers and ink pads to ink the stamp; I know the markers are being discontinued but while I have them I will keep using them.

I inked the flowers with barn door and worn lipstick, spritzed the stamp lightly then stamped on hot pressed watercolour. Often I follow this step by blending the ink on the petals with a damp paintbrush. I decided not to do that this time as I liked the soft ‘impressionistic’ look of the uneven coverage. I inked and stamped the stems with mowed lawn then added some fossilized amber to some of the flowers.

I added fine lines and dots to each flower head with a fine black marker then added a sentiment from the PB ‘Enjoy builder set’. The builder sets include one or two large solid stamps then a range of phrases or words to stamp adjacent to the large word. Once again I decided not to add any background blending or shading. I like the simple clean look of the stem and flowers on white and it gives me a chance to get to know the stamp before combining it with other stamps or techniques.

(Compensated affiliate links from Foiled Fox & Scrap n Stamp)

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