Snow Storm
Posted: February 19, 2011 Filed under: Branch Out, CAS, Stamped Landscapes 21 Comments
I came home and created this card last Sunday after walking my son down to the park to play hockey on the rink with his buddies. The snow was coming down very steadily and it was beautiful. I decided to try and recreate the scene on a card. I know spring might be showing its face in some places but I think we have a bit of winter to live through yet.
I started with two masks and then flicked masking fluid all over the panel. When the masking fluid was dry I removed a few very large blobs and positioned my horizon mask. Instead of sponging I used my new soft brayer to create the sky. I started at the left and moved toward the right as the ink ran out so I would have the impression of light and darkness. After the sky was done I moved the mask a couple of times adding trees and sponged snow drifts.
It really does look a bit like this during a snow storm; even after 10 years here in Canada, I still think it is a beautiful sight
Supplies:
Stamps: Branch Out, Ageless Adornment & a little tree stamp of unknown origin which really comes in handy at times
Inks: Brocade Blue, Going Gray
Cardstock: Flourishes classic white
Also: Winsor & Newton masking fluid
A new brayer makes all the difference
Posted: February 18, 2011 Filed under: CAS, Thoughts and Prayers 8 Comments
I am sure many of you have visited the new CAS challenge blog Less is More. With so many card makers participating it is a great source of inspiration. One of the cards which caught my eye was this lovely card by Sylvia who lives in Gibralter. I must admit that I was also taken by the fact that the ocean is in the background of the photo as she snaps her cards on the edge of her balcony. How lovely that must be.
Sylvia’s card is so rich in colour and balanced in layout that I really did not change much at all when I made mine. I cut an oval out of a post it note then brayered with summer sun followed by pumpkin pie. I bought a new brayer last weekend as I have long suspected that I did not have the best one for spreading ink on cardstock. The new one is a soft rubber brayer whereas the old one was hard. The difference is quite dramatic. The new one spreads colour more quickly and evenly. I removed the mask and added the tree and sentiment.
Thanks Sylvia for the inspiration.
Supplies:
Stamps: Thoughts and Prayers, Best is yet
Inks: Summer Sun, Pumpkin Pie, Chocolate Chip
Cardstock: Flourishes Classic White
Unusual
Posted: February 14, 2011 Filed under: Rollers 1 Comment
This card is not so unusual in itself, but it is rather unusual for me. For a start it is a valentine card; I rarely make them and even more rarely give them. I don’t remember the last time I gave one. It also uses bling, something you might see on one of my Christmas cards but rarely anywhere else. I don’t dislike it, it just never occurs to me to use it. It is a small card, about 3.5″ square, a size I like but don’t usually do on purpose. So there you have my one and only valentine for this year. I did cook my children heart shape eggs in toast for breakfast this morning !
Several people have asked where I bought the extreme surfer and skateboarder stamps and the pretty tree in my last card. They are Stampin’ Up) As ninety percent of my stamps are from Stampin’ Up I don’t usually note that down. I do put the company in brackets when they are not from SU. Likewise with my inks. I will try to remember to add where the stamps come from in the future.
Thank you for all the lovely comments on my last card.
Supplies
Stamps: Music Notes roller, Short & Sweet
Inks: Going Gray Real Red
Paper: Flourishes Classic White
Also: Red rhinestones
Less is more challenge 2
Posted: February 13, 2011 Filed under: Baroque Motifs, CAS, Thoughts and Prayers 34 Comments
The second Less is More challenge is up and running and it is a one layer challenge featuring a tree or flower theme.
I decided to create a slightly whimsical sponged scene but without snow for a change. I masked off a rectangle and added a horizon mask. After punching half a circle and half an oval out of a post it note I randomly sponged amethyst and eggplant curves into the sky. I stamped a few pale sections of the Baroque Motifs flourish, removed the horizon mask, sponged the ground and stamped the tree and sentiment in black.
Check out the other challenge entries; there is inspiration aplenty!
Supplies:
Stamps: Thoughts and Prayers, Baroque Motives
Inks: Almost Amethyst, Basic Black, Elegant Eggplant
Cardstock: Flourishes Classic White
OLW 40 Two for the show
Posted: February 11, 2011 Filed under: CAS, Extreme Elements, Extreme Surfboard 16 Comments
Jennifer at Styles Ink described her current One Layer Wednesday challenge as a bit tricksy. I tend to agree. She was very strict, limiting us to two stamps and neither could be a sentiment. She also limited us to heat embossing or colouring with markers!
I was a bit stumped until I remembered these stamps from the Extreme collection. I coloured directly onto the splat image with markers then misted it before stamping on the card front. The surfer and the skater are both embossed in black.
It is always good to have a few boy cards in reserve, the inspiration does not always come when I need it!
Supplies:
Stamps: Extreme Surfboard, Extreme Skateboard, Extreme Elements
Inks: Versamark, Tempting Turquoise, Brilliant Blue, Baja Breeze, Yoyo Yellow, Only Orange, Real Rust.
Cardstock: Flourishes Classic White
Also: Black e.p.
Queen of the sponge takes it to the edge!
Posted: February 10, 2011 Filed under: One of a Kind, Upsy Daisy 6 Comments
Ardyth left a comment on my last post which made me laugh and prompted the title to this post!
You are the Queen of the Sponge. And I mean that better than it sounds! LOL
After a comment like that it seemed appropriate to post my latest card, a one-layer covered entirely in sponging. This is one of those cards that evolved. I certainly didn’t set out to sponged the entire card front. As I sponged and moved the mask to randomly place more sponging I kept wanting to increase the amount of colour until I had covered the whole card.
The inspiration for this card came from my daughter’s violin teacher. She was wearing a top the other day with these colours and flowers printed in a batik style. I stamped the flowers in versamark and mustard so I could emboss them in clear. I then began to sponge in turquoise, garden green, brilliant blue and mustard. I moved a post-it note around to create criss cross patterns of colour which, now that it is finished, remind me of light coming through stain glass windows.
As this card was quite experimental I am going to play with the technique a little more when I get the chance and see how other colour combinations work. Thanks for stopping by today and thanks for the kind comments you have left me, they are so encouraging.
Supplies:
Stamps: Upsy Daisy, One of a Kind
Inks: Versamark, More Mustard, Tempting Turquoise, Brilliant Blue, Garden Green
Cardstock: Flourishes Classic White
Less is More challenge
Posted: February 8, 2011 Filed under: CAS, Garden silhouettes 19 Comments
I had a chance to make a card for the new Less is More challenge blog over the weekend. The colours of the challenge were black, white and pink. Unfortunately this scan makes the pinks look a lot bolder than they are. The sponged pinks look much softer and the darkest colour, Rose Red does not look so red on the card. I am pretty fussy about colour matching so the pinks and reds clashing here are not pleasing me. Edited to add the photo below taken on a friend’s camera. You can see the colours are a little softer.
I used post it notes to mask and kept moving the bottom one up a little between spongings, changing from Pretty in Pink to Rose Red half way through. I stamped the Queen Anne’s Lace and the sentiment in black and extended the stems with a fine tip marker.
Make sure you check out the new blog, the challenge already has close to 100 participants, so it is off to a great start.
Supplies:
Stamps: Garden Silhouettes, Graceful words
Inks: Pretty in Pink, Rose Red, Basic Black
Cardstock: Flourishes Classic White
Through the windows
Posted: February 6, 2011 Filed under: CAS, Stamp Simply challenges 14 Comments
I have a tiny snowscape for you today viewed as though through a train window as you travel through the snow covered countryside. To make it I punched three squares out of a post-it note and then created a post-it note mask for the horizon and a moon mask also. The technique is the same masking and sponging technique I use so often but in miniature.
I have several non-stamping projects on the go at present so very little time to stamp but I am hoping to participate in a few challenges later today. Thanks for dropping in, I hope you are having a great weekend.
Supplies:
Stamps: A little tree stamp from Embassy Arts, Teensy Tiny Wishes
Inks: Night of Navy, Bashful Blue, Basic black, Brocade Blue
Cardstock: Flourishes classic white
Red poppies
Posted: February 2, 2011 Filed under: CAS, Poppy Patch 7 Comments
Considering the large dump of snow we received today, poppies are certainly not a seasonal thing to be stamping but I pulled them out and made a couple of cards anyway. I decided to use a watercolour technique to colour inside as I love the look of watercoloured poppies and hope to paint a larger watercolour of red poppies one day that is good enough to frame. For now I will settle for a card sized image. I stamped with versamark and embossed with black and then used my aqua painter to pick up colour from the stamp pad lid and colour in the poppies. The aqua painter is such a cool tool. When I think of all the blender pens I went through before I bought an aqua painter…if only I had tried one earlier. The only issue I have is that the brush tip ends are comparatively large so if I want a very small amount of water I will reach for a fine paintbrush. I also added some colours with marker and blended it in with the aqua painter.
My initial image was bigger with whole poppies in it but I preferred the cropped look . I considered just popping up the poppy panel with no mattes but after trying red and black decided that it actually looked best with both mattes.
I hope you are surviving the winter storms if you are in my part of the world. It has been a strange day for us as we have watched our own weather as well as checking updates about the cyclone hitting Queensland today. My husband grew up in that area, so we listened and watched with interest as people talked about their preparations and fears about what was coming. Now the pictures are appearing of the damage done which is just as extensive as people thought it would be.
Supplies:
Stamps: Poppy Patch & Tag lines (Flourishes)
Inks: Real Red, Garden Green, Basic Black
Cardstock: Basic Black, Real Red, Flourishes Classic White Cardstock
Also: black e.p.
OLW 38 Let’s get sketchy
Posted: January 31, 2011 Filed under: Branch Out, CAS, Stamped Landscapes 11 Comments
I guess they’re called challenges for a reason! This week’s One Layer Wednesday challenge was to use a design sketch. I tried several pretty flower themed cards before I settled back into the comfort of my sponged winter scenes. I will post one of the flower cards later this week. After cropping, matting and layering it was no longer anywhere near the brief for this challenge.
Several times lately I have noticed that an overcast day can look quite pretty particularly when the trees are still laden with snow. The colour scheme tends to be very monochromatic though. I tried to recreate that here with the sun weakly shining through the cloud. It is not a particularly “pretty” card, but I thought it might be appropriate to send, with encouraging words inside, to someone going through a difficult “season”.
To see a much prettier card using this technique check out the beautiful one by Sarah at Criminal Grace
Supplies:
Stamps: Branch Out, Season of Friendship
Inks: Basic black, Going Gray
Cardstock: Flourishes classic white
Also: White e.p.
Heather Telford 