Powdered snowflakes
Posted: January 20, 2017 Filed under: All is Bright, Color Burst, Soft Grace | Tags: color burst, Penny Black stamps 19 Comments
The keyword for the January challenge over at CAS watercolour is snowflake and there are a few days left to participate. I have very simple looking cards to share but they are not quite so simple to make. There is a bit of trial and error involved in order to avoid a colourful mess. To create these two little cards I used what I like to call the ‘water stamping technique’. I stamped with only water then lightly sprinkled colorburst powder over the water stamped image. I left it alone to dry then shook off any extra powder that hadn’t been activated by the water.
The problem comes when you have too little or too much water. Too little gives you an incomplete image, too much and you get a mess! I applied water to my stamp with a paint brush rather than a spritzer and stamped on watercolour paper. It’s a fun technique to try and won’t really deplete your supply of materials too much!
Supplies:
Stamps: All is bright, Soft Grace (PB)
Paint: Colorburst watercolor powder (Ken Oliver)
Cardstock: hot pressed watercolour paper
All is calm
Posted: December 23, 2015 Filed under: All is Bright, Prancers, Soft Whisper | Tags: Canson watercolour paper, Dr Ph Martin Hydrus watercolor paints, Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress inks, Tsukineko Versafine inks 8 Comments
This one went in the mail this morning so there is no way it will get to where it’s going by Christmas but hopefully before new year. I used my new Dr Ph Martin Hydrus watercolours for the sky. I will write more about them once I have done some more experimenting. Sky, background and snow banks were done as described in this post but the black foreground tree was stamped last.
Hope all is calm at your place…
Supplies:
Stamps: Soft Whisper, All is bright, Prancers, (PB)
Inks: Black Soot, Stormy sky distress inks (Ranger) Onyx Black Versafine ink (Tsukineko)
Paint: Dr Ph Martin Hydrus watercolour paints
Cardstock: Canson 100% cotton hot pressed watercolour paper
Also: Winsor & Newton masking fluid
Inch by Inch 1: Gold Snowflakes
Posted: November 17, 2014 Filed under: All is Bright, Winter Pine | Tags: Inchie Arts, Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress stains, Sharpies 20 Comments
The Penny Black design team are collaborating with Inchie Arts this week and I will be sharing an Inchie Arts project here each day too. I have really enjoyed creating on a smaller scale, trying to make a visual impact in a couple of inches square. I have several projects on a single square and a couple where I lined up more than one. I did not end up working with ‘true inchies’ (1″x 1″); I had 1.5 inch, 2 inch and 3 inch matboard tiles to experiment with.
Today’s card features a 3 inch cream square. I started by embossing the snowflakes in gold powder then used distress stains to add colour. Distress stains react a little differently on matboard than on watercolour paper as the matboard absorbs liquids more quickly. I not only blended the colours on the matboard but layered them creating different colours and tones. The matboard is sturdy and does not warp with the addition of water and stains. I can’t remember exactly which distress stains I used (sorry) but I have taken a guess in the list below. I also stamped a few little snowflakes in light and dark blue ink. I added a border to both the square and the navy card base with a gold sharpie. I was impressed that the sharpie matched the embossing so well and showed up on the dark cardstock. Running the sharpie along the edge is a very quick way to ‘gild’ the edge of panels.
Thanks so much for visiting today.
Supplies:
Stamps: All is Bright, Most Wonderful, Winter Pine (PB)
Inks: Versamark ink (Imagine Crafts/Tsukineko) Chipped Sapphire, Salty Ocean, Pine Needles, Tumbled Glass distress stains & Chipped Sapphire, Salty Ocean distress ink(Ranger)
Cardstock: Neenah Navy 100lb cardstock, Inchie Arts 3″ cream square
Also: gold embossing powder, gold sharpie
Winter Cityscape
Posted: December 10, 2013 Filed under: All is Bright, Skyline, Stamped Landscapes | Tags: Penny Black stamps, Tsukineko Memento inks 9 Comments
Today is day 2 of Winter Wonderland on the Penny Black Blog. Make sure you check back each day for wintry inspiration.
Usually my snowscapes feature snowbanks, snow laden branches and gently falling snow flakes so this one is a bit of a departure from the norm. Living in Ottawa means that I get to see the city in snow which can be very pretty especially with Christmas lights and trees peeping out from under a fresh blanket of white.
The first step in making this scene was stamping the skyline stamp in versamark, then using a stamp positioner to move the stamp slightly lower and stamping it again in grey before embossing it in clear powder. By doing this I created a snowy edge on the top and sides of the buildings. Next I flicked some masking fluid over the panel and but not as I liberally as I would to make falling snow for a forest or woodland scene. The small drops that fell could just as easily represent stars as snowflakes. I also painted masking fluid over the buildings so that any sections that were not embossed would resist the sponging to follow. The sponged sky was done in yellow, pink and blue Memento inks mimicking the glow of the city at night. A few swirls suggest a snow storm is just beginning. The sentiment was stamped on a scrap that I trimmed from the top of the panel.
I’ll be back tomorrow with more snow!
Supplies:
Stamps: Skyline, All is Bright, Winter Magic (PB)
Inks: Memento Dandelion, Angel Pink, Summer Sky & Versafine Smokey Grey, Versamark (Tsukineko)
Also: Clear Embossing Powder, Winsor & Newton masking fluid
Snowflake collage
Posted: December 12, 2012 Filed under: All is Bright, CAS, Collage cards, Penny Black 11 Comments
Cheryl is hosting the One Layer Wednesday challenge this week and her theme is Snowflakes. A nice thick layer of snow would be welcome here because we have a treacherous layer of ice that needs to be covered up.
I realized yesterday that I hadn’t created any Christmas cards using my collage technique so I played around and made a few. I had a few card bases with masking fluid already flicked onto them so when I decided to make a collage Christmas card I picked up one of the bases complete with ready made snow. The post-it masks were place before I flicked masking fluid on and then remained there while I created the collage. The order for the collage was:
- stamp letter background in teal zeal
- stamp snowflakes in versamark and emboss in clear powder
- sponge in blues and pink
- stamp extra snowflakes in blue and pink
- remove masks and masking fluid
Have a great day, keep warm and stamp some snowflakes if you get the chance.
Supplies:
Stamps: All is Bright, Noel, Hello Winter , Letter Background(PB)
Inks: Memento Summer Sky, Teal Zeal, Angel Pink, Versamark(Tsukineko)
Also: Clear e.p., Masking Fluid
More Sponged Snowflakes
Posted: October 8, 2012 Filed under: All is Bright, CAS, Penny Black 14 Comments
As I mentioned yesterday when stamping with the All is Bright set and the blue inks I got a little carried away and continued creating different layouts with the same stamps, inks and technique. The card above is two layer but it could easily have been one layer if I’d masked the panel.
I certainly haven’t exhausted the layout possibilities for this this type of card but as you can see it is easy to create a range of masked and sponged cards just by moving the panel around the card base and switching from portrait to landscape orientation.
Anyway, enough of these snowflakes; I’m off to photograph the fall colours. Have a great Thanksgiving Monday if you are in Canada.
Supplies:
Stamps: All is Bright, Noel, Flourish Christmas (PB)
Inks: Memento Summer Sky, Nautical Blue, Danube Blue, Versamark(Tsukineko)
Also: Clear e.p.
One Stamp, Two Ways
Posted: October 7, 2012 Filed under: All is Bright, CAS, OLW, Penny Black 16 Comments
Susan’s challenge for One Layer Wednesday this week is to use the same stamp on two different cards in two different ways. I made the top card first and when I had finished realised I had used the emboss resist technique which included sponging so I couldn’t do that again! I do tend to sponge a lot don’t I? I am not sure that the word is really in the right place. If I made this card again I would make sure there was a gap between snowflakes at the bottom of the circle instead. I made the mask for the circle with Spellbinder circle dies I had forgotten I owned. After masking a circle on this card I made two more with different designs. You’ll see them another day.
I decided to go super simple and elegant for the second card. Even though I am very comfortable with tons of white space it does seem a little empty to me. I looked among my meager supply of bling but there were nothing the right size or colour so I left it as it is. The gorgeous flourishes on the words make me happy so I’ll live with the design being minimal.
After I had made these two I returned to the emboss resist technique I used in the first one and made three more cards to complete a set of five. I’ll post the others soon.
Supplies:
Stamps: All is Bright, Noel, Flourish Christmas (PB)
Inks: Memento Summer Sky, Nautical Blue, Danube Blue, Versamark(Tsukineko)
Heather Telford 