Old favourites
Posted: November 10, 2023 Filed under: Berry kissed, Penny Black, Uncategorized | Tags: Fabriano Watercolour Paper, Penny Black stamps, Tsukineko Memento inks 6 Comments
When I say old favourites I am talking in crafting years not harking back to my grandmother’s time. The PB stamp featured on today’s card is definitely a favourite, it’s called ‘berry kissed‘ and it’s been around a few years.
Another old favourite on this card is my often used technique of splattering masking fluid on my hot pressed watercolour paper before stamping or painting. After all the ink is added and dried I remove the masking fluid to reveal little white dots here and there which look like snow.
The final old favourite worth mentioning on this card is the ‘magic’ ink, memento northern pine. It is a dark green dye ink and when it is wet it bleeds into greens, blues and browns. I stamped the leaves with this ink then blended over them with a paintbrush and you can see all the different tones, especially in the close up photo. And yes, the placement of the sentiment does cover a few blotchy berries!
Today’s post features affiliate links to the following companies. If you buy through these links I receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. The Foiled Fox & Scrap’n’Stamp
Seedling Pots
Posted: November 8, 2023 Filed under: Echidna Studios, seedlings 4 Comments
I’m featuring the seedlings digital stamp from Echidna Studios today. You might remember seeing these little pots before but they were sized differently last time to show the whole digital stamp. To create today’s card I printed the image larger on hot press watercolour paper and once again used watercolour paints to add colour.
As the image has quite a few leaves and stems it was less fiddly to paint it on a larger scale. I kept my colour palette minimal using a green I mixed myself along with two browns and a black for the pots.
The Echidna Studios etsy store is my daughter’s store and is filled with a mix of digital images, most are her original artwork but there are some of my designs also. We are continuing to add to the store regularly and are working on some videos to introduce you to the world of digital stamps and cutting files. I print on a basic laser printer but my daughter tested some of the images on an inkjet printer recently and they worked very well. I cut the svg cutting files on my Cricut but a Silhouette or a ScanNCut would also work.
Thanks for dropping by today.
Tree Canopy
Posted: November 7, 2023 Filed under: Alcohol Ink, gel press, The Crafters Workshop, tree canopy | Tags: Alcohol Ink, gel press, gel printing, The Crafter's Workshop 8 Comments
Some might say this print didn’t work and I admit, that was my first thought when I looked at it. On later inspection I decided I really liked its imperfection and incomplete nature. The technique is alcohol ink through a stencil on a gel plate. Once the alcohol ink dries I pull the print with acrylic paint. (I have several videos on my youtube channel showing the technique)
When applying alcohol ink through a stencil onto a gel plate I have had the most success when using stencils full of fine lines not large solid spaces. The tree canopy stencil from The Crafter’s Workshop has some very fine lines but quite a lot of solid tree trunks also. The alcohol ink pools under the expanse of stencil plastic and takes quite a while to dry. If you move the stencil before the ink dries it starts moving again. I don’t believe I waited long enough for the ink to dry so I have some distinctly tree-ish bits in my print and some very abstract blobby bits. Despite the indistinct image I love the atmosphere of the print which I pulled with white acrylic paint. The stencil is 6″x6″ and so is the gel plate I used so I chose the best part of the print to make my 4.25″x5.5″ card. The sentiment is from Taylored Expressions ‘In & Out birthday’ set.
So let me know, is this too abstract for you or do you see a bit of whimsical forest atmosphere in there?
Today’s post features affiliate links to the following companies. If you buy through these links I receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. The Foiled Fox & Scrap’n’Stamp
Double Tweetings
Posted: November 3, 2023 Filed under: Penny Black, season's tweetings | Tags: Fabriano Watercolour Paper, Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress inks 7 Comments
Today’s cards are a 2 for 1 technique. Using the PB stamp season’s tweetings I created both a bold and a soft version with only a little extra inking on the second generation impression. I worked on hot press watercolour paper with distress inks and markers. After stamping the first time I blended the leaves and bird with a paintbrush and water.
If you haven’t heard the term ‘second generation’ in regard to stamping it is simply the pale ghost image you get when you stamp a stamp a second time without re-inking. In this case I spritzed the stamp lightly with water before stamping a second time so the inks would not be too dry to leave an impression.
The second impression gave me the pale, slightly blotchy leaves which I quite liked so I dried the panel and added more ink to the bird with markers before stamping again. Of course working in a stamp positioner makes this very straight forward. The result is a bokeh type background with the bird prominent in the middle.
Many of my Christmas cards this year feature a one stamp design with loads of white space around the image. It is a bonus to get some two-for-one panels.
I finished both cards with a small sentiment from the PB set ‘holiday snippets’
Today’s post features affiliate links to The Foiled Fox. If you buy through these links I receive a small commission at no extra cost to you.
Coniferous Silhouettes
Posted: November 1, 2023 Filed under: Coniferous Silhouettes, Echidna Studios | Tags: Echidna Studios, Ranger Distress inks, Taylored Expressions 4 Comments
You know me; I am always up for more tree stamps and the latest release from Echidna Studios is made to order. No, really, it is made to order; I asked my daughter for some evergreens and she designed this digital stamp from one of her own photos. It is called Coniferous Silhouettes and includes five different versions: ‘detailed’ which is the one in the card above, ‘solid’ which you can see in the card further down in the post, ‘simplified’ version not shown in this post and two versions with just tree tops – no trunks.
I printed the images on neenah solar white cardstock with my laser printer then foiled with black foil to make them darker. The foil resisted the blended distress ink just as heat embossing would do. You can see how I masked and blended in the short video below.
Even though the cards look very similar you can see some light through the trees in the image above whereas the image below is solid.
Back in the olden days I blended ink on many scenes like this using sponges; I must admit I like the smoother and faster application of the blending brushes.
Several blog readers have expressed interest in a how-to video to introduce you to using digital stamps and cutting files. We are working on getting that done for you.
Both cards with dark blue skies feature unchartered mariner and broken china distress inks; I like to have a lighter ink for the foreground snow and to blend around the moon. The card below was my test run and it features tumbled glass and peacock feathers distress inks. You can see I blended across the moon in the card below. I did it to cover a smudge but I think it looks a bit more realistic this way; maybe I’ll go back and add a light blend to the other two moons.
Little did I know that I would have snow on the ground when posting these cards but it’s there!
Today’s post features affiliate links to the following companies. If you buy through these links I receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. The Foiled Fox & Scrap’n’Stamp
Just Trilling
Posted: October 30, 2023 Filed under: CAS, Penny Black, trilling trio | Tags: Fabriano Watercolour Paper, Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress inks 7 Comments
These two sweet birds are from the Penny Black ‘trilling trio’ set. There is also a cardinal in the set. I made these cards as samples for my current ‘Painting with Stamps’ class. They are examples of when slow and steady wins the race. The stamps were in my stamp positioner and, starting with the palest colours I slowly added ink to the stamp a colour at a time, stamping after each application so as to not overwhelm the small image. I did some blending on the panel with a paintbrush but again my process was ‘little by little’.(Trilling Trio is available in both the US Foiled Fox store and Scrap n Stamp in Canada)
I do enjoy the clean look of a simple image on a plain card base but added just a little texture to these images with an embossing folder to create a distinction between the panel and the base.
On the little chickadee above and below I stamped the large coloured sections in the stamp positioner then at the very end added some ‘feather texture’ with the fine tips of markers.
If you are working with bird stamps and your images are not quite coming alive I have found it helpful to use a fine tip pen to define the eye, adding the white dot back in if necessary with a white gel pen. I had not positioned this little chickadee well on my watercolour paper and it looked like it was falling backwards until I drew a simple twig with a marker to give it a reason to be at the odd angle I’d placed it! The tiny sentiment from PB ‘holiday snippets’ was just what I needed stamped in grey to keep it subtle.
Today’s post features affiliate links to the following companies. If you buy through these links I receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. The Foiled Fox & Scrap’n’Stamp
Scarlet Majesty
Posted: October 26, 2023 Filed under: Finetec paints, Penny Black, Scarlet Majesty | Tags: distress markers, Fabriano Watercolour Paper, Finetec artist mica watercolour paint, Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress inks 7 Comments
Penny Black has released a lovely selection of poinsettia stamps over the years but this one might just be my favourite (don’t tell the others). The endearing feature on this image is those curly ends on the petals. I just love how whimsical they look. This pretty poinsettia is called ‘scarlet majesty‘ and I have featured it in years gone by.
You might have noticed that I don’t have pictures of the products used in my projects at the end of my blog posts anymore. I decided to return to just linking to products in the written text of the post. Many of the links will still be affiliate links and when clicked will take you straight to one of the three stores where I earn affiliate income. Some of the links won’t be affiliate links, they will just be for your convenience.
To create this panel I worked in a stamp positioner so I could work on one or two parts of the stamp at a time rather than try and get it right in one go. I used a couple of red distress inks to stamp the petals but wiped ink off the tips so I could ink them with green ink. I gave the stamp a spritz to get the inks moving and after stamping, blended from red to green with a paint brush. I also used some yellow ink in the centre of the poinsettia and later drew the seeds over the top with a gold gel pen.
To ink those sweet little berries I switched to water-based markers. Once dry I splattered gold paint over the panel and added a little sentiment from the PB ‘holiday snippets’. As is my preference I worked on Fabriano hot pressed watercolour paper.
Thanks for dropping by today. I appreciate your support and love to read the kind messages you leave in the comments.
Today’s post features affiliate links to The Foiled Fox. If you buy through these links I receive a small commission at no extra cost to you.
Printed Baubles – short video
Posted: October 24, 2023 Filed under: Alcohol Ink, Echidna Studios, entwined, gel press | Tags: Alcohol Ink, Echidna Studios, gel press, Penny Black stamps, Stampin Up, Taylored Expressions 6 Comments
Last month I posted a sped up video on instagram showing how I printed alcohol ink patterns through the entwined stencil onto my 5″x7″ gel plate. I planned to add it to youtube as a vertical ‘short’ because not all my blog readers and youtube followers are on instagram. Sadly I discovered a ‘short’ on youtube must be 60 seconds or shorter. My sped up video was #shortnotshort at 77seconds. I decided to post it on horizontally on youtube anyway so I could share it here along with the cards I made from the panel.
The print you will see in the video above shows how I created the alcohol ink pattern through a stencil then pulled the print on printer paper with acrylic paint. I know there is no narration along with this very short sped up video but I go through the process in more detail with less speed in a couple of other recent videos here and here.
To make the print sturdy enough to die cut I used double sided adhesive to attach the print to thick cardstock. I used dies from a stampin up set ‘holiday ornaments’ which is possibly retired. I borrowed the set because I thought the finial style suited the symmetry of the print.
As I often do with a patterned busy element I embossed white panels to be the background. I used Taylored Expressions sheet music embossing folder, an Spellbinders in the pines folder and the one below that I don’t know the name of. The little sentiments from my well used Penny Black set, ‘holiday snippets’.
The card bases and embossed panels are Neenah solar white 110lb cardstock. That is four more cards added to my Christmas card pile which is definitely not a big enough pile just yet. At class today a few people said they had finished all their Christmas cards, but others were yet to start so I feel happy somewhere in the middle!
Today’s post features affiliate links to the following companies. If you buy through these links I receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. The Foiled Fox & Scrap’n’Stamp
Warm Reception
Posted: October 20, 2023 Filed under: Penny Black, warm reception | Tags: Artline Stix brush markers, Fabriano Watercolour Paper, Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress inks 7 Comments
I continue to enjoy the gorgeous autumn colours outdoors these days but there will be a few wintry scenes appearing as I create cards for the coming months. This sweet house, a Penny Black stamp called ‘warm reception‘, is similar to several we see on our drive to church. They are lovely houses and look impressive during all the seasons including when they are surrounded by snow.
I did all the inking of the stamp with watersoluble markers with the stamp in a misti so I could stamp, re-ink and stamp again as needed. I was experimenting with a brand of markers I haven’t used direct to stamp before. I originally bought them for brush lettering. If you are in Australia you’ll be able to find them but elsewhere in the world they are not so common. The brand is Artline and the shell of each marker looks a bit like lego! I inked the house and trees with red, brown, green and black using the side of the brush nib to apply ink to the stamp. I spritzed the stamp lightly then stamped on hot pressed watercolour paper. After I had stamped everything I blended some of the ink with a brush and water to fill the walls of the house, tree branches and foliage.
To add background I stamped and cut a simple mask of the house from post-it note and lay it over the house so I could use a blending brush and speckled egg distress ink to fill the background sky. Once I had applied the ink I painted over it with water, just loosely, to give it the same watercolour look the rest of the image had.
I have mentioned before that distress markers have been discontinued, that’s why I wanted to try the Artline for inking stamps. I also have a pack of Staedtler water based brush pens that work well.
Today’s post features affiliate links to The Foiled Fox . If you buy through these links I receive a small commission at no extra cost to you.
Surf’s Up
Posted: October 17, 2023 Filed under: Echidna Studios, Surf's Up | Tags: digital stamps, Echidna Studios, Penny Black creative dies 2 Comments
What do you think of today’s funky van from Echidna Studios? A few months back I watercoloured the vintage VW beetle and it’s still one of my favourite digital images from the store. The new Surf’s Up image is equally cool and made me reach for some marbled paper that would make it all the more fun! The digital stamp set includes three surfboard images that can be positioned with the van or used on their own.
The paper I had was a 6″x6″ square which I was able to manually feed through my printer. I imagine some of you are wondering if I fussy cut this because I have been vocal in my dislike of fussy cutting in the past. Surprisingly I did cut it out and also an extra roof and van body from cardstock to tuck behind to lift and strengthen the cut out. I coloured directly on the marble paper with a black pencil, and white and silver gel pens.
Naturally a marbled van wanted a paisley backdrop so I embossed some pink cardstock with a cuttlebug folder I recently picked up at a garage sale. The bold die cut sentiment is from Penny Black. Hope you have a groovy day!
Heather Telford 