Out to Sea
Posted: April 27, 2016 Filed under: Alcohol Ink, CAS, Out to sea | Tags: CAS, Penny Black creative dies, Ranger Alcohol Ink 15 Comments
Is this not a stunning new die? I thought it was perfect to lay over my bright blue alcohol ink panel. Blue panels are the most challenging for me to photograph accurately. In real life there is more purple and the light blues are lighter. The speckled bits that conveniently look a bit like ocean spray or foam are silver accents. I created the panel by dropping some blue alcohol inks on yupo paper and blending. I added some silver alcohol ink and moved it around with extra blue ink and blending solution; the metallic inks don’t move much until another ink is added to them.
This die is also going to be beautiful over a watercoloured panel. If I am feeling patient and steady I might do the inlaid die technique but it really doesn’t need it; the overlay approach works just fine.
Supplies:
Die: Out to Sea(PB)
Alcohol Ink: denim, indigo, silver, alcohol blending solution (Ranger)
Paper: yupo paper, Neenah SolarWhite 110lb cardstock
Scented Beauty
Posted: April 26, 2016 Filed under: Scented Beauty | Tags: Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress stains 12 Comments
These pretty roses are part of the new release from Penny Black, A Little Bit of Sunshine’. I have played with them several times already trying different colour schemes and mediums. These soft pink and apricot roses were inked with distress stains, one of my favourite and most used techniques. I apply the stains directly to the stamp which means there is generally more liquid on the stamp than necessary but this is what creates the loose painterly style image. Once I have stamped the image I use water and a paintbrush to blend any areas that are too sharp and look out of place with the softer edges. The leaves were inked with two green stains and the background colour, also a stain, I painted after finishing the roses.
There are a couple more cards made with this stamp on the PB blog here along with details of how to win some stamps from the new release.
Supplies:
Stamps: Scented Beauty (PB)
Inks: Mowed Lawn, Dried Marigold, Forest Moss, Worn Lipstick, Weathered wood distress stains (Ranger)
Cardstock: Fabriano 100% cotton hot pressed watercolour paper, olive green cardstock
Irises and blue
Posted: April 24, 2016 Filed under: Alcohol Ink, CAS, Love Art | Tags: CAS, Penny Black stamps, Ranger Alcohol Ink 13 Comments
I am enjoying teaching a batch of Alcohol Ink classes at present and we have been having so much fun. The depth and impact of alcohol ink colour is quite something. I chose to use these two similar colour panels as background for iris stamps from the Love Art transparent set.
I blended a few blue alcohol inks on photo paper for these two panels. The circle pattern on the one below was achieved using a stencil. I dabbed through the stencil with blending solution to remove colour but also printed the stencil back onto the paper once it was covered in pale blue ink.
The sentiments and flowers are stamped in jet black archival ink.
I am just going to squeak this stencilled card into the second challenge at CAS Mix Up; there are twelve whole hours left to participate. The challenge this month is below; I used alcohol inks as my choice.
Supplies:
Stamps: Love Art, Special Thoughts, Snippets(PB)
Inks: Jet Black Archival (Ranger)
Alcohol Ink: pool, denim, indigo, alcohol blending solution (Ranger)
Paper: Kirkland photo paper, Neenah SolarWhite 110lb cardstock, Blue cardstock
Pop, Pop!
Posted: April 13, 2016 Filed under: Pop pop poppy | Tags: color burst, Faber-Castell Albrecht Durer Watercolour pencils, Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress stains 16 Comments
I am sharing some more experimentation with brushstroke stamps today. This one is called Pop, Pop, Poppy and you can see I didn’t really mix up the layout at all but the medium was different for all three cards. The top card was stamped in a pale dye ink then coloured with watercolour pencils.
The blue leafed version above was stamped with distress stains and the bright pops of colour below were achieved by dropping colorburst powder onto water-stamping.
The bright one above, although messy, ended up being my favourite. Which do you prefer?
Supplies:
Stamps: Pop, pop, poppy (PB)
Mediums: Dandelion Memento ink, Versafine onyx black (Tsukineko) Worn Lipstick, Chipped Sapphire, Weathered wood distress stains (Ranger) Colorburst powders (Ken Oliver)
Cardstock: Fabriano 100% cotton hot & cold pressed watercolour paper, Neenah Epic Black cardstock
Timely bookmarks
Posted: April 12, 2016 Filed under: Bejeweled, The Unfolding | Tags: Penny Black creative dies, Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress stains 13 Comments
This week the design team at Penny Black are sharing some book mark designs cut using the elegant ‘bookmark’ die. I guess it’s no surprise that I decided to cut my bookmarks out of watercoloured panels, the orange and green one shows a portion of the ‘Bejeweled’ image.
The pink and orange one below features ‘The Unfolding’ which just might be my favourite stamp from the last release. I used distress stains for both images, inking with the lighter stains first, then the darker ones over the top. I sometimes add a spritz of water if the stains were not so juicy it helps the colours blend softly into each other. Once I have stamped the image I do further blending on the paper with a paintbrush. And of course there is the small matter of splatter added at the end if desired.
The die punches the little hole for the cord so I twisted some matching colours of embroidery floss and threaded them through. A book mark project is quiet timely actually as I have stepped up my reading over the past few months. I have a few books on the go right now and am enjoying some audio books also.
Have you read or listened to any good books lately? Do you read more than one at a time? Do you reread favourites? I just finished reading ‘The Invention of Wings’ by Sue Monk Kidd and ‘A Homemade Life’ by Molly Wizenburg. I’m also rereading the Mitford series by Jan Karon.
Supplies:
Stamps: The Unfolding, Bejeweled (PB)
Dies: Bookmark (PB)
Inks: Mowed Lawn, Bundled Sage, Vintage photo, Mustard seed, Spiced Marmalade, Worn Lipstick, Dried Marigold distress Stains (Ranger)
Paint: Phthalo blue Dr Ph. Martin Hydrus
Cardstock: Fabriano 100% cotton hot pressed watercolour paper
Also: Embroidery thread
Colour choices
Posted: April 6, 2016 Filed under: Trumpet Song | Tags: Penny Black stamps, Tsukineko Memento inks 5 Comments
I have been stamping with the same group of stamps over the last few weeks, switching up the colour schemes and the techniques. It has been fun to see the way colour, style and technique can create a different mood. I used memento markers for both cards featured today and varied the technique only a little. The top card was done in one impression applying all the colours to the stamp before spritzing and stamping. I used a paint brush to blend after stamping on both images. On the card below I worked one colour at a time with the help of the MISTI and built up the colour gradually. There isn’t a lot of difference in the results but I think the top one is more delicate and light (not just in colour) and the one below bolder. I left the top one without a sentiment but can think it could be used for something celebratory just as easily as something more reflective.
This one was too bright to be a reflective card and I accentuated the purple with a mat so a ‘bright’ sentiment seemed a good match. I didn’t mat the top card but kept the deckled edge from the watercolour paper and popped the panel up on foam.
By the way Susan has a new challenge happening on One Layer Simplicity this month and the theme is from one of my all time favourite movies.
Supplies:
Stamps: Trumpet Song, Special Thoughts (PB)
Inks: Dandelion, Cantaloupe, Bahama Blue, Danube Blue, Pistachio, Northern Pine, Rich Cocoa, Espresso Truffle, Tuxedo Black, London Fog, Lilac Posies, Grape Jelly, Olive Grove Memento Markers, Versafine onyx black (Tsukineko)
Cardstock: Fabriano 100% cotton hot pressed watercolour paper, fuschia fantasies cardstock
Sunny Wishes
Posted: March 29, 2016 Filed under: Sunny Wishes | Tags: CAS, Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress stains, Tsukineko Versafine inks 8 Comments
Sunny wishes is the name of the set I have featured today and also how I am feeling. Over the Easter weekend we experienced sun, rain, warmth and chilliness, but my wish is for sunshine!
I have used the same stamp to create both cards today but have varied the technique and layout. For the card above I inked only the floral portion of the stamp with distress stains. With such a small image there was not much blending to do but I did fill the petals of the flowers by pulling stain from the outline and then added the darker centre with stain on a brush. To finish I added some green splatter and the coordinating sentiment and mat.
In the card above you can see the full image stamped in versafine onyx black. I painted blue around the image and in the vase with Dr Ph Martins Hydrus Watercolor Pthalo Blue and let it dry. I painted the flowers, butterflies and foliage with distress stain but you could easily use distress markers directly on the image and then blend the colour with a damp brush. To finish I once again added a sentiment and a coordinating mat.
Supplies:
Stamps: Sunny Wishes, Special thoughts (PB)
Inks: Versafine Onyx black & Majestic Blue (Tsukineko), Mowed Lawn, Vintage photo, Mustard seed, Dried Marigold, Barn Door, Forest Moss, Seedless Preserves, Blueprint Sketch, Aged Mahogany distress Stains (Ranger)
Paint: Dr Ph Martins Hydrus Watercolor Pthalo Blue
Cardstock: Fabriano 100% cotton cold pressed watercolour paper, blue cardstock, orange cardstock
Iris Shimmer
Posted: March 23, 2016 Filed under: Color Burst, Pure Iris | Tags: color burst, Fabriano Watercolour Paper, Penny Black stamps 19 Comments
I am having all sorts of fun with brushstroke stamps at present while teaching my March class. Not only have I been experimenting with all my floral brushstroke stamps and a range of mediums, I have been inspired by the creativity of the class members also.
In my most recent class someone created a beautiful burgandy iris with the “pure iris” stamp and some merlot colorburst powder. Her petals could not have looked more life like! I tried the combo at home and added some pearl-ex spray and some yellow gold liquid metal. My camera did catch some shimmer in the photos so you can imagine how much there is in real life. I took a little video of it shimmering in the sunlight and posted it on instagram.
Supplies:
Stamps: Pure Iris, Special Wishes (PB)
Mediums: Colorburst powders, Liquid Metal (Ken Oliver) Versafine Onyx Black ink (Tsukineko)
Cardstock: Hot pressed Fabriano watercolour paper, Burgandy cardstock
Also: gold metallic thread
CAS Mix up Challenge
Posted: March 18, 2016 Filed under: CAS, Color Burst, Dies, Love Art | Tags: CAS, color burst, Penny Black creative dies, Penny Black stamps 11 Comments
There is a new challenge on the block and it is definitely worth a look. It has been dreamed up by the very talented, Bonnie Klass and Loll Thompson and it’s called the CAS Mix up Challenge.
In their words:
Is CAS your style?? Do you love the look of clean and simple designs with lots of open space?? And have you seen all those fabulous mixed media techniques and products popping up all over and want to give them a try?? Then this is the challenge for you!
- stamping – no problem
- watercolour – absolutely
- my choice – a die cut
I splashed some water on my watercolour paper then added some Tangerine colourburst powder and some Copper liquid metal. I let the colour move and blend and tilted it to almost fill the paper then let it dry. I had to do a little fussy cutting to mask one daisy before I stamped the other but I seemed to have survived the ordeal. I used the notebook die from the ‘pocket full’ set to cut the top of the panel then popped it up on the card base before adding a sentiment. I tried to do the artistic-messy-thread-stuck-behind-the-panel trick but did not succeed. Maybe it was just as well because the challenge specified three elements not four!
Pop over to the challenge and check out the entries; it is a feast of inspiration.
Supplies:
Stamps: Love Art, Soar (PB)
Die: A Pocket full (PB)
Mediums: Colorburst powders, Liquid Metal (Ken Oliver) Versafine Onyx Black ink (Tsukineko)
Cardstock: Cold pressed Fabriano watercolour paper
Happy
Posted: March 17, 2016 Filed under: Alcohol Ink, CAS | Tags: CAS, Penny Black stamps, Ranger Alcohol Ink 15 Comments
This new sentiment has appeared on a few of my cards already and will likely continue to do so. It is such a nice message and one I should send more often. This is one of my first alcohol ink experiments. I was just playing with the inks and ended up with an odd shape which did not immediately inspire me until I remembered this layout which is no doubt familiar to you; it is always popping up around the interwebs. I have been wanting to use if ever since I first saw it. I don’t know who first came up with the clever offset panel but I hope they feel proud whenever they see it on a card!
The inks I used were willow, pesto, poppyfield and honeycomb along with the blending fluid which lightened some of the colours. You can see both the pale and dark auras which appear around some of the inks. I am still using yupo paper for my creating, mainly because that is what I have and it works beautifully. I will get some glossy and photo paper to try out at some point. I have tried some doodling with my micron pens but nothing share-worthy yet.
Supplies:
Stamps: Sentiment Collection(PB)
Inks: Versafine Spanish Moss (Tsukineko)
Alcohol Ink: willow, pesto, poppyfield and honeycomb, alcohol blending solution (Ranger)
Paper: Yupo, Neenah Avon Brilliant White 110lb cardstock, green cardstock
Heather Telford 