Christmas baubles

Posted: September 22, 2012 | Author: Heather | Filed under: A Bright Tomorrow, CAS, Penny Black | 30 Comments

When I first started teaching card making I was demonstrating a card with Christmas decorations on it and called them “Christmas baubles”. Apparently that name combined with my Australian accent provided great enjoyment for my class who asked me to repeat it numerous times. Other people call them baubles don’t they??
Any way this card fits the bill at the Less is More challenge this week where we get to pick three of their previous challenges and combine them. There are over 80 challenges to choose from now so the it is not hard to find a theme or three to incorporate.
I chose:

Week 12 Off Centre
Week 24 Circles
Week34 Sketch

My Christmas baubles are from the transparent set “A Bright Tomorrow”. I stamped them in black and did all the colouring with Faber-Castell Polychromos pencils.

Supplies:

Stamps: A Bright Tomorrow, Winter Magic (PB)
Inks: Versafine Onyx Black, (Tsukineko)
Also: Faber-Castell Polychromos pencils

OLW 106 Sponging

Posted: September 19, 2012 | Author: Heather | Filed under: CAS, OLW, Penny Black, Stamped Landscapes, Tutorial, Winter Ledge | 42 Comments

As you may know if you have spent any time browsing around my blog, I love to use sponges to apply ink. That being the case I thought it appropriate that I devote one of my weeks hosting the One Layer Wednesday challenge to sponging. I want you to enter into the sponging fun too. You have no doubt tried it already; I see beautifullyl sponged cards here, there and everywhere. So your challenge this week is to use some sponging on your card; use a little or a lot, combine it with another technique if you like, just get inky! (Aach! I just realised, at the eleventh hour, that I used the very same stamp on my last OLW challenge. Sorry for the repetition; I will pay more attention next month!)

Don’t forget about the Gratitude Campaign! See Susan’s blog for details.
Don’t forget to check out the sneak peaks and giveaways on the Penny Black blog.

OLW106 Rules

1. A ONE-LAYER card is defined as a single layer of card stock folded in half. No other layers allowed!

2. Make a card that incorporates sponging

3. Post your card somewhere online and link back here using the InLinkz button at the bottom of this post. Please make sure you link to the specific post on your blog rather than your blog’s main page.

4. Have Fun!

I have received several requests lately for a sponging video tutorial. I am sorry I don’t have one for you today but I do have the next best thing, a photo tutorial. I will get a sponging video done as soon as I can.

Position your masks first; I find that it helps to use the lines on a cutting mat to get everything square.

Sponge your lightest colour first.

I only used two blues so I started sponging the darker blue on the side I wanted darkest. I even started off the card base to help regulate how much ink I applied. Without picking up more ink I sponged towards the lighter side of the sky as the intensity of the colour faded.

When I am getting close to the coverage I want I blend the ink by sponging in circles instead of dabbing it on.

When I sponged this snowdrift I did not go back to the lighter blue I used the dark blue sponge without picking up more ink. I sponged right on the edge of the post-it mask rubbing it against that edge so the blue would define the snow drift.

I always sponge a little on the bottom edge to define the edge of the panel.

Supplies:

Stamps: Winter Ledge, Silent Night (PB)
Inks: Memento Summer Sky, Nautical Blue, Versafine Onyx Black, Versamark(Tsukineko)

Japanese Maple

Posted: September 17, 2012 | Author: Heather | Filed under: CAS, Japanese Maple, Penny Black | 8 Comments

More leaves? Definitely; I imagine leaves will feature for the next month at least! There will be a few Christmas cards thrown in here and there also.

This card was very simple to complete as the variation in the colour of the leaves is part of the stamp. I inked it with both Memento Morocco and Rhubarb stalk over versamark. By inking the stamp in versamark first then colour I was able to emboss the image in clear e.p. I then added minimal sponging for a background sky and matted in the two colours featured.

Penny Black is showing sneak peeks of new releases and holding giveaways on their blog also. Check it out everyday this week to see the new sets and enter to win one!

Supplies:

Stamps: Japanese Maple, Foliage Fancy (Penny Black)
Inks: Memento Rhubarb stalk, Morocco, Bahama Blue & Versamark (Tsukineko)
Cardstock: Penny Black Mix & Match Papers Grand Canyon & Clear Skies

Maple Leaf panel

Posted: September 16, 2012 | Author: Heather | Filed under: CAS, Maple Leaf, Penny Black | 6 Comments

This card could very easily be a one layer card but I created the leaf panel on a strip of white card stock then attached it. When I am making one layer cards there are usually a bunch of strips cut off the ones that didn’t work which are exactly the right length to make a panel like this one. I first stamped pale leaf images in three colours by stamping off on a piece of scrap before stamping on the panel. Then I sponged in three colours before stamping the leaves again and adding the sentiment.

The number of gratitude cards is growing.

Cards made for Gratitude challenge: 6
Cards mailed for Gratitude challenge: 1 (Woohoo, I made a start!)

Supplies:

Stamps: Maple Leaf, So Blessed (Penny Black)
Inks: Memento Rich Cocoa, Rhubarb Stalk, Morocco, Versafine Vintage Sepia (Tsukineko)

Autumn Leaf

Posted: September 15, 2012 | Author: Heather | Filed under: CAS, Maple Leaf, OLW, Penny Black | 19 Comments

Once again I have combined the One Layer Wednesday challenge with the Less is More challenge. Cheryl challenged us on Wednesday to make an Autumn themed card featuring what we love about the season. For me it is the colours of the leaves. My favourite season is summer but the beautiful colours of fall help me cope with summer’s departure.

The challenge at Less is More today is to incorporate an oval into your card. It only took me three attempts to get my card the way I envisioned it! I stamped the leaf first then positioned an oval mask over it and restamped it and added more colour both on the stamp and by painting on some ink picked up from the stamp pad lid with a small paintbrush and some water. Before lifting the mask again I sponged and restamped the leaf.

I realize that I did a leaf card last week for OLW and Less is More. The layout is identical. Sorry to be so repetitive. The leaves are turning here and so my mind turns to leaf images!

( I finally posted some pics of my daughter at the National Track & Field championships on my other blog)

Supplies:

Stamps: Maple Leaf, …Wishes (Penny Black)
Inks: Memento Rich Cocoa, Rhubarb Stalk, Morocco (Tsukineko)

Moonlit branch

Posted: September 9, 2012 | Author: Heather | Filed under: CAS, Hoot of a Time, Penny Black | 14 Comments

Although this stamp is from one of Penny Black’s new Halloween sets I thought the delicate branches were too pretty to dedicate only to spooky scenes. I avoided inking the three bats and created a moonlit branch instead. To achieve the moonlit edge on the branches I used the same technique I have mentioned before when creating snow laden trees and branches. I stamp the branch twice, once in versamark and then ever so slightly lower in black, then emboss it all in clear before sponging.

Thanks for dropping by. I hope you have a great week.

Supplies:

Stamps: Wishes, Hoot of a Time (PB)
Inks: Memento Danube Blue, Ladybug Red,Versafine Onyx Black, Versamark(Tsukineko)
Also: clear embossing powder

Simple Foliage

Posted: September 8, 2012 | Author: Heather | Filed under: CAS, Foliage Fancy, OLW, Penny Black | 18 Comments

Susan is hosting the One Layer Wednesday challenge and has challenged us to join in her Gratitude Campaign for 2012. In her words:

The Gratitude Campaign is my annual attempt to save Thanksgiving from the commercial limbo between Halloween and Christmas. I resent that Thanksgiving only gets an end-cap at Target. Those of you who read my other blog know how important an attitude of gratitude is to me, and it’s just sad that Thanksgiving has become an excuse to over-eat rather than an opportunity to jump in a big pile of autumnal gratitude and roll around in it.

I wholeheartedly agree with her so have created two gratitude cards today. The challenge for me is not creating them; it’s mailing them. I’ll keep you posted on my success rate!

The Less is More challenge this week is to create a one layer card featuring Foliage so I combined the two challenges and created the card above.

I used Memento dewdrop inkpads to apply ink directly to the stamp, first a pale orange, then a darker one around the edges of the stamp. I then added text to the leaf stamp by inking the letter background stamp and pressing the two stamps together (often called the ‘kissing’ technique).

I liked the look of the blended leaf so I stamped several more then cropped one out to make a single popped up strip on the two layer card below.

Supplies:

Stamps: Foliage Fancy (Penny Black)
Inks: Memento Cantaloupe, Tangelo, Potter’s Clay (Tsukineko)
Cardstock: Penny Black Mix & Match Papers Grand Canyon

Les Petites

Posted: September 5, 2012 | Author: Heather | Filed under: A Wish for Peace, CAS, Penny Black, Stamped Landscapes | 11 Comments

Yesterday I featured the lovely new patterned paper from Penny Black; today I have a little card to share. My card is made using Les Petites the sweet little pre-folded cards with coloured envelopes which are available from Penny Black.

The cards are 12 x 8.6cm (4¾”x3 3/8″) and are perfect for a little note.

I opted for petite stamps to create my little snow scene. The tiny spotted tree and the spotted swirl are from the transparent set ” A Wish for Peace”. The tree is embossed in clear embossing powder and all the sponging and stamping is done with Memento Teal Zeal ink.

One of my fellow PB designers, the talented Cathy Andronicou has a fabulous giveaway happening at her blog: The Bright Side of Life. Included in the giveaway are products by Faber Castell Design Memory Craft and Penny Black. Go and check out the giveaway and browse through Cathy’s lovely work at the same time. http://candronicoucardcraft.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/giveaway.html

Supplies:

Stamps: Winter Magic, A Wish for Peace(PB)
Inks: Memento Teal Zeal, Versamark(Tsukineko)
Also: clear embossing powder

Madison Paper Pad

Posted: September 4, 2012 | Author: Heather | Filed under: CAS, Designer Paper, Penny Black | 3 Comments

Penny Black has a new pad of designer paper with all sorts of designs perfect for fall, winter and more. I pulled out a red and white print to make a Christmas card and two leaf prints plus a check to create a fall wreath card. I used a recollections leaf punch to create the fall wreath. The red and white print reminds me of Scandinavian patterns. To create the square I cut four identical squares then used a corner rounder punch on two corners of each square.