Curtain Call Inspiration Challenge – Bouquet
Posted: April 15, 2015 Filed under: Efflorescence, Stitched Edges | Tags: Faber-Castell Polychromos Colour Pencil, Penny Black creative dies, Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress stains 4 Comments
Penny Black is playing along with the Curtain Call Inspiration Challenge today and the inspiration picture is a big bright bouquet of flowers.
I chose to highlight one of the flowers, a dahlia I think, and repeated it three times across my panel. I inked the flower from the transparent set ‘Efflorescence’ in barn door and ripe persimmon distress stain, spritzed it so the stains would blend then stamped it once on the panel. I did one at a time so I could do all the painting for each one while the stain was still wet. I used a waterbrush to pull colour from the outline in to fill the petals. If the stain dried before I could pull colour in I squeezed some out of the bottle and picked it up with the brush. After letting the first flower dry I did another and then a third. When all three were dry I added a fine splatter of barn door stain.
The background is coloured with Faber Castell polychromos pencils in two blues, I also added some extra definition here and there on the petals with red and orange pencils. The bottom edge of the panel, as well as the red, the blue mat and the card base, is die-cut by one of the stitched edges dies. For the sentiment I stamped only part of a stamp from the Sprinke & Smiles set so I could finish the phrase with words die cut in the same red as the mat.
Make sure you check out the challenge and some more interpretations from the PB design team
Supplies:
Stamps: Efflorescence, Sprinkles and Smiles (PB)
Creative Dies: Stitched Edges, Splendid Wishes (PB)
Inks: Ripe Persimmon, Barn Door distress stains (Ranger), Versafine Onyx Black (Imagine Craft/Tsukineko)
Cardstock: Fabriano 100% cotton hot pressed watercolour paper, Red and Blue cardstock, Neenah Avon Brilliant White 110lb cardstock
Leaf negatives
Posted: April 6, 2015 Filed under: CAS, Happy News, Watercolour | Tags: Fabriano Watercolour Paper, Kuretake Gansai Tambi watercolour paints, Penny Black creative dies 18 Comments
I am enjoying my new watercolour paints and experimenting with different ways to use them. The panel above is part of a masking experiment. I used the ‘happy news’ die to cut a mask from frisket film. Frisket film is made of plastic so I ran the die back and forth through the machine a few times to make sure it cut well. I saved both the negative and the positive die cut image and worked on two panels at once so one could dry while I painted the other. For the one above I used just the positive leaf and branch portion of the die cut image.
I pressed the frisket film leaves firmly onto hotpressed watercolour paper and painted some greens and blues around the leaves. The shape of the leaves reminds me of gum leaves (eucalyptus leaves) so I stuck with the muted blues and greens I remember from the gum trees in Australia. Some paint did seep under the frisket film in places but I didn’t worry as I knew I was doing several layers anyway. When the first layer was dry I repositioned the mask and repeated the process. I think I repositioned the mask three times; I’m not sure. By the time I had painted several layers the first white masked leaves were almost completely covered in paint but the outlines were still distinct. I added some splatter, a sentiment then matted in a co-ordinating teal cardstock.
The other panel I was working on used the negative frisket film mask and will be on the blog next week. Thanks for dropping by.
Supplies
Stamps: Snippets (PB)
Creative Dies: Happy News (PB)
Cardstock: Fabriano 100% cotton hot pressed watercolour paper, Neenah Avon Brilliant White 110lb cardstock, teal cardstock
Also: Kuretake Gansai Tambi watercolour paints, grafix extra tack frisket film
Birds, blooms and balloons
Posted: April 4, 2015 Filed under: CAS, Tweet Thing, Uplifting | Tags: CAS, Fabriano Watercolour Paper, Penny Black creative dies, Ranger Distress stains 10 Comments
The theme at CASology this week is “Spring” and the sketch at CAS(E) this sketch is a 2×3 array. I had fun combining the two in the card above.
The watercolour panels were left over from my last class so I die cut little birds and flowers using dies from the ‘tweet things’ set to fit with the spring theme then arranged them according to the sketch.
I don’t know that balloons are a spring thing but they do work perfectly for the sketch so I die cut some circle and heart balloons using dies from the ‘uplifting’ set, spent way too long tying six tiny bows of machine embroidery thread around the balloons then popped them up on dimensional tape. The embroidery thread is very shiny so I found the shiniest red cardstock I had and die cut the word celebrate from the ‘doodles’ set which works in well with the curls in the thread.
We had amazing spring weather yesterday; my girls and I went for a run in beautiful 15°C sunshine. This morning we woke up to fresh snow so my husband skied this afternoon. Happy Easter everyone.
Supplies:
Stamps: Snippets (PB)
Creative Dies: Tweet Things, Uplifting, Doodles (PB)
Inks: Barn Door, Mustard Seed, Chipped Sapphire Distress Stains (Ranger) Satin Red versafine ink (Tsukineko)
Cardstock: Fabriano 100% cotton hot pressed watercolour paper, Neenah solar white cardstock
Patterns on patterns
Posted: March 30, 2015 Filed under: Hidden Hearts, Hypnotic | Tags: Penny Black creative dies, Penny Black stencils, Ranger Distress inks 4 Comments
I’ve been wanting to create something with the large ‘Hypnotic’ circle stencil ever since it arrived but there were flowers to stamp first! Inspired by the pretty colour schemes of Karen Dunbrook I pulled out all my blue and green toned distress inks the other day and sponged over and around this pretty stencil. There was already masking fluid splatter over the Neenah Solar White panel to create some extra texture. I chose a spot close to the centre of the circle pattern to be the lightest area then worked out from there making the outer edges of the stencil the darkest areas. When I was happy with the sponging I splattered some blue and green ink over the panel and dropped some water also. To create the watermark on the right I painted water onto the stencil then pressed it onto the sponging. Once all was dry I removed the masking fluid and added a sentiment, the circular ‘Hidden Hearts’ die cut and a strip of matching cardstock along the base of the panel.
It is almost time for a new One Layer Simplicity challenge but before that appears on April 1st, pop on over and see the details the design team highlighted from all the creative March entries. I tried to create a ‘words only one layer card’ for the challenge this month but my attempts went from bad to worse ending with card which was comical it was so wrong. Sorry, but you’ll never see that one. I am going to try again in April with a fresh new challenge.
Supplies:
Stencil: Hypnotic (PB)
Creative Dies: Hidden Hearts, Stylish Gratitude (PB)
Inks: peacock feather, salty ocean, pine needles, chipped sapphire distress inks (Ranger)
Cardstock: Neenah Solar white cardstock, turquoise cardstock,
Spring Things
Posted: March 25, 2015 Filed under: CAS, First Dance, Sun fire | Tags: Fabriano Watercolour Paper, Penny Black creative dies, Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress stains 17 Comments
I pulled out one of last year’s floral stamps for this card and tried the co-ordinating die from this year’s release. I painted a pale background first and let it dry before I did any stamping. I inked the stamp directly with distress stains, spritzed, stamped then blended with a waterbrush and a clear wink of stella pen. The petals were inked in seedless preserves and dusty concord so there would be some light and dark purple to blend. On the main panel I added a few wink of stella highlights once I had blended the petals but on the die cut lily I did all the blending with a clear wink of stella so it has a subtle shimmer when it catches the light. The dots on the petals and the filaments get a bit lost when inked with distress stain so I went over them with a marker once the petals were dry.
I completed the card by matting the main panel in green and popping up the die cut lily over the top. I added a simple sentiment but I am realising now that this would have made a nice easter card. I guess I can stamp an easter sentiment inside.
Believe it or not I still have a few snowy scene card ideas bouncing around in my head. How about you – are you just stamping all things spring these days?
I’ve never entered Darnell’s cool NBUS challenge but I am eligible with my never before used ‘sun fire’ die so I will link up over there and at the Work it Wednesday Challenge on the Simon Says Stamp blog.
Supplies:
Stamps: First Dance, Snippets (PB)
Creative Dies: Sun fire (PB)
Inks: Dusty Concord, Seedless Preserves, Spiced Marmalade, Tumbled Glass, Ripe Persimmon, Forest Moss Distress Stains (Ranger)
Cardstock: Fabriano 100% cotton hot pressed watercolour paper, green cardstock, Neenah Natural white cardstock
Happy News
Posted: March 23, 2015 Filed under: CAS, Happy News, Watercolour | Tags: Fabriano Watercolour Paper, Kuretake Gansai Tambi watercolour paints, Penny Black creative dies 19 Comments
Penny Black has a mini release out today and you can see projects featuring the new stamps and dies on the blog and facebook all this week. I have two cards for you featuring the rest of the faux marble watercoloured panel I made last week. It was inspired by Sandy Allnock’s video of her faux glass technique. I used a bird & branch die called ‘Happy News’ from the new release. Rather than use only the die-cut or the negative I wanted to use both so I didn’t lose any of the pretty patterned panel. To raise the bird and branch above the background I stacked six die-cuts out of navy cardstock then stuck the watercoloured die-cut on top. This panel has proved quite hard to photograph; I’m not sure why but it is hard to get the greens to look like they do in real life. I switched to a grey background which lessened the contrast but it still isn’t quite what I see. (blue, green, gold, white-who knows?) To make it easier to stack the die-cuts I stuck scrapbook adhesive sheets on the back of my cardstock before cutting. To finish I matted it on gold cardstock then on a deep blue panel.
With my last little scrap of the faux marble watercoloured panel I created a CAS card on a kraft base which picked up the gold details. The ‘thank you’ die is another from the new PB release. I stuck the die-cut words inside the card.
Thank you for all your kind words about my poppy series. Let me know if there is another PB stamp you would like me to play around with and I will see if inspiration strikes!
Supplies
Creative Dies: Happy News, Many Thanks (PB)
Cardstock: Fabriano 100% cotton hot pressed watercolour paper, Neenah Natural White 110lb cardstock, gold , navy and kraft cardstock
Also: Kuretake Gansai Tambi watercolour paints 38, 50, 55, 56, 62, 66, 91 and gold wink of stella brush
Orange Poppies
Posted: March 18, 2015 Filed under: Blooming Garden, Flourish | Tags: Penny Black creative dies, Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress stains 14 Comments
As you can see I haven’t finished experimenting with the poppy stamp just yet. I have another one after this one too and I noticed as I finished off this one that the watercolouring has got progressively looser in each design. In the first one, Pink Poppies I worked slowly with a fairly small brush, the second, Red Poppies, my brush work was looser but still contained by embossed borders. In this one I stayed mostly inside the outlines but pulled and pushed the colour around quickly with broader strokes. My next version is even looser. I worked with distress stains for this design. I inked the stamp with spiced marmalade and ripe persimmon stains on the petals and peeled paint on the stems and seed pods. I restamped the image after spritzing it with water. I didn’t re-ink because there was still plenty of stain left on the stamp. Then I did the same again. You can see the image on the left hand side is paler as the stain was more diluted by the time I stamped that one.
The stain sits on the hotpressed watercolour paper for a little while without soaking in which makes it possible to pull the colour into the petals and ‘paint’ them using the stamped stain. I do add more stain where I want it a little darker or dilute it with water to make it lighter. I painted the seed pods in the same way but added some vintage photo stain. Some colour does run in a direction you don’t want from time to time but I like a little bit of that on a loose watercolour. I added the blue background after the poppies were totally dry working with a water laden brush first then dropping tumbled glass stain and painting that around all the flowers. I added some splatters once the blue was dry.
Although I was happy with the poppies over all, some of the stems and seedpods crossing over and overlapping with the lower poppies in the bottom right corner did get a bit messy. I didn’t want to crop them out completely and lose half my panel so I decided to add the sentiment over the top held in place with a pretty little die cut flourish. The flourish is attached using ‘stick it’ adhesive sheet and the sentiment oval is popped up on dimensional squares. The nice thing about ‘stick it’ adhesive sheets is that you have a few moments to adjust the positioning before it sticks permanently so I was able to position the flourish then lift the little curls I wanted to sit on top of the popped up oval before pressing all the flourish firmly onto the panel. (Edited to add: I noticed the next day that I had called this post Orange Tulips! I’ve changed it to poppies)
Supplies: Stamps: Blooming Garden, Snippets (PB) Creative Dies: flourish (PB) Inks: Peeled Paint, Spiced Marmalade, Ripe Persimmon, Vintage Photo, Tumbled Glass distress stains (Ranger) Cardstock: Fabriano 100% cotton hot pressed watercolour paper, Neenah Classic Crest Natural White 110lb smooth, blue and green cardstock Also: Stick it adhesive sheets, scrapbook adhesive dimensional squares
Imagine
Posted: March 15, 2015 Filed under: Dies, Watercolour | Tags: Fabriano Watercolour Paper, Kuretake Gansai Tambi watercolour paints, Penny Black creative dies 57 Comments
I am enjoying my new watercolour paints and have watched some recent watercolour videos by the very talented Sandy Allnock. She has been playing around with the same paints (Kuretake Gansai Tambi) and posted a video last week where she created a faux glass panel inspired by vase she saw. I used some of the same techniques and made a faux marble panel. I painted blues, greens and purples on a piece of watercolour paper and let them blend. I dried them with a heat tool then added more layers leaving some pale and others dark and intense. When I was happy with the colours I painted some thin lines of gold onto the panel and blended them out on one side with a very wet paint brush. This gave me a soft edge and a hard edge I also splattered some gold paint over parts of the panel. The piece on the card above is less than half the watercoloured panel so I have some more to play around with another day.
For the sentiment I stacked four diecuts of the word ‘imagine’ each with ‘stick it’ adhesive on the back to make them easier to stick together. The gold cardstock I used was slightly duller than the gold paint so I brightened it up with my gold wink of stella pen. I did the same with the sides of the card base so it would all match. I am thinking it might make a good graduation card.
Supplies
Creative Dies: Envision (PB)
Cardstock: Fabriano 100% cotton hot pressed watercolour paper, gold cardstock
Also: Kuretake Gansai Tambi watercolour paints 38, 50, 55, 56, 62, 66, 91 and gold wink of stella brush
Flower Sparks
Posted: March 3, 2015 Filed under: Flower sparks, Illuminate 5 Comments
Today’s card features more watery blurred stamping, probably not the look we usually aim for when creating cards. I was having fun experimenting with some of the stamps I hadn’t used from the new “Bring on the Happy” release. These flowers are from the ‘Flower Sparks’ set which I had dipped into to make this card but had not used the other eight flower stamps. I used markers to ink the stamps and stamped on watercolour paper. To make the colour flow around the panel I spritzed and tilted the paper. Once again I used black for my sentiment and also borders and two die cut flowers.
There is a new challenge on the One Layer Simplicity blog hosted this month by Susan. She is challenging us to use only our word stamps, no flowers, trees, background stamps are allowed, only words! I hope you get inspired.
Supplies:
Stamps: Flower Sparks, Heartfelt (PB)
Creative Dies: Illuminate (PB)
Inks: Memento Northern Pine, Bamboo Leaves, Danube Blue, Love letter, Tangelo, Dandelion, Nautical Blue, Grape Jelly markers & Versafine Onyx Black (ImagineCrafts/Tsukineko)
Cardstock: Neenah Natural White 110lb cardstock, Neenah Epic Black cardstock, Fabriano watercolour paper
Gentle Whisper
Posted: February 18, 2015 Filed under: Gentle Whisper, Geometrics | Tags: Penny Black creative dies, Penny Black stamps, Tsukineko Memento inks 5 Comments
If you have browsed through the new Penny Black release you would have scene some lovely Asian motifs in both the stamps and the dies. In this card I was trying to create an Asian themed card by using the ‘geometrics’ die and the gorgeous large orchid stamp, ‘gentle whisper’. I began by stamping a very subtle background pattern using Memento Desert Sand ink and the ‘Oh Spring’ brush stroke stamp from years ago. I then inked the orchid stamp with markers, spritzed it, stamped on the watercolour panel and then spritzed the panel. I blended the colour here and there with a brush, adding a little more in a few places. To create the gold details and mat I cut up a couple of envelopes that had shiny gold linings. I stuck scrapbook adhesive sheets to the back of the gold paper then die cut my word and circle motifs. With the adhesive already attached I was able to adhere them easily onto the watercolour panel. I cut a gold mat to completely cover the front of my card base then attached the panel.
The stamp is quite large so I think I made this card a bit bigger than my usual A2. I hope you have been checking out all the wonderful projects on the PB blog lately. The designers are still showcasing the many new products from the new release, ‘Bring on the Happy’. Last week there was all sorts of clever paper cutting and piecing from the incredible Peet Roven. This week it’s all about the new creative dies.
Supplies:
Stamps: Gentle Whisper, Oh Spring!(PB)
Creative Dies: Envision, Geometrics(PB)
Inks:Cantaloupe, Tangelo, Olive Grove, Bamboo Leaves, Desert Sand Memento inks and markers(Imagine Craft/Tsukineko)
Cardstock: Fabriano hotpressed 100% cotton watercolour paper, Shiny gold paper, Neenah Natural White cardstock
Also: Scrapbook Adhesive sheets
Heather Telford 