Family & Friends
Posted: May 26, 2014 Filed under: Dots & Swirls, Dotted Fusion, Pinwheel, Tweet Thing 9 CommentsThis week it’s all about Family and Friends on the Penny Black Blog and Facebook. Visit both for a chance to win stamps and get inspired. The design team have family and friendship themed projects prepared for the week. I’m sharing a card today with a message I’ll be happy to send to one of my family or friends.
There are two main processes in making this card. First I created my own patterned water colour paper. Secondly I die cut a bunch of images and arranged them into a design for the card.
I swiped three different colours of distress stain across a piece of watercolour paper, spritzed and tilted it to let the colours blend then let it dry. Once dry I painted water onto the Dotted Fusion background stamp and pressed it onto the watercolour paper. Nothing shows up immediately but as it dries you can see a watery print of the stamp.
After the ‘water print’ dried I stamped Dotted Fusion again, this time in blue and green stain. Once the watercolour paper was totally dry I die cut flowers, leaves and swirls from the panel and arranged them on a pale purple background. You can just make out a pale print of the Dotted Fusion on the background also. (I made two water colour panels using the same technique but the stains were spread differently)
I also added some half pearls coloured to match with Spectrum Noir markers.
As you can imagine there are countless possibilities with this technique. Let me know if you try it I’d love to see what you come up with.
Supplies:
Stamps: Dotted Fusion, Amazing (PB)
Dies: Tweet Things, Dots & Swirls, Pinwheel (PB)
Inks: Faded Jeans, Peeled Paint, Pine Needles, Broken China Distress Stains (Ranger) Memento Paris Dusk (Tsukineko)
Cardstock: Neenah Classic Crest Solar White 110lb smooth, Periwinkle Mix & Match Paper ( PB), Fabriano 100% cotton Hot Pressed Watercolour paper
Also: Half pearls
Flourished Twirls
Posted: May 23, 2014 Filed under: CAS, Celebrations, Twirls 8 Comments
I think navy and white can be very elegant. I was aiming for simple but elegant when I created this card. The flourish pattern from the Penny Black “Twirls” set is stamped in Chipped Sapphire distress stain (I stamped off on scrap paper first so the imprint wasn’t too wet). To finish I flicked a little stain over the pattern after stamping, added a navy strip of card stock and the die cut sentiment. This design might work as a wedding card especially if you knew the colour scheme to follow.
Using navy and white reminds me of a polka dot dress when I was nine; I loved it. I wouldn’t mind having a navy and white polka dot dress again. Perhaps something like this one I pinned recently:
Supplies:
Stamps: Twirls (PB)
Dies: Celebrations (PB)
Inks: Chipped Sapphire Distress stains (Ranger)
Cardstock: Neenah Classic Crest Solar White 110lb smooth, Navy cardstock
Ten Tulips
Posted: May 18, 2014 Filed under: Promise Me, Triple Banner, Watercolour | Tags: Fabriano Watercolour Paper, May Arts ribbon, Penny Black creative dies, Penny Black stamps, Tsukineko Memento inks 8 Comments
The Tulip Festival finishes tomorrow so I am glad I can slip one more tulip card in before the end. I worked on this one latish last night and all did not go according to plan. I stamped the tulips first on watercolour paper and they were fine. It was in the finishing off that I had problems. But I will go back to the beginning and explain my process.
I began by inking just the flower heads in Memento Dandelion and Cantaloupe using markers. I spritzed before stamping them at the top of the panel. I stamped just the tulip heads twice, one set under the other and the third time inked the stems and leaves as well. I was happy with the whole panel even the bit that is now covered by a large sentiment banner. I matted with Olive card stock and decided to attach the three strips of lace; I am still not sure if I like the lace there but I decided to stick with it. The panel is long and thin as you can see so it was difficult to work out where to put a sentiment on a 4.25×5.5 inch card base. I tried a sideways sentiment or a small sentiment beside the lace but neither looked right. Anyway, to make a long story a little shorter I stamped the sentiment on the tulips, messed it up and had to either cover the mess or crop the panel. I decided to cover it with a die cut banner and make a very narrow card so the points of the banner could go over the edge.
“Over the Edge” just happens to be the current challenge at Addicted to CAS and it’s a birthday card featuring May Flowers so I will join in at Seize the Birthday as well.
This morning we were down town having a coffee before church and I snapped these tulips in the sunshine.
Supplies:
Stamps: Promise Me, Tweet Wishes (PB)
Inks: Memento Dandelion, Cantaloupe, Bamboo Leaves & Olive Grove markers (Tsukineko)
Creative Dies: Triple Banner
Cardstock: Fabriano 100% cotton hot pressed watercolour paper, Neenah Classic Crest Avon Brilliant White 110lb smooth, Penny Black Olive Grove Mix & Match Papers
Also: Crochet Trim ribbon (May Arts Ribbon)
Two Tulips
Posted: May 11, 2014 Filed under: CAS, Dainty | Tags: CAS, Faber-Castell Albrecht Durer Watercolour pencils, Penny Black creative dies, Penny Black stamps, Tsukineko Memento inks 8 Comments
When I set out to make this card I had two things in mind. I wanted tulips to mark the beginning of the Tulip Festival here in Ottawa and I wanted to use the current sketch at CAS(E) this sketch. I did not plan to make it one layer at all; the sketch really looks like at least a two layer to me. I made a stencil in masking paper (removable grocery sticker paper) with the new tulip die from Penny Black. It’s called ‘Dainty’ and I can see myself reaching for it often. I stuck the mask down and painted with a waterbrush picking up colour from watercolour pencils. I did not lay down too much ‘paint’ or water; the card base is not watercolour paper so I didn’t want it to warp or soak through to the back.
My daughter came along at this point and commented on my ‘floating tulip’. It did need grounding; I just hadn’t worked out a method at that point. Anyway, I left it as I had promised to take my daughter shopping for a dress to wear to her Academic Dinner on Thursday. We arrived at the mall at 4:30 clueless that it was going to close at 5:00! First store, second dress, happy girl, thankful mother.
I came back to my card, masked and sponged a frame around it then looked for a suitable sentiment. My plan was to stamp the sentiment in green so it would double as some grass but none of my green inks matched the leaves. I was about to settle for less than the best green when the it occurred to me that a dark blue might work. It did.
And the card just happens to also work for the One Layer Simplicity challenge, Fabulous Flowers.
Supplies:
Stamps: Sweet Wishes PB)
Dies: Dainty (PB)
Inks: Memento Summer Sky, Danube Blue (Tsukineko)
Pencils: Albrecht Durer Watercolour Pencils Vermillion 117, Sap Green 167 (Faber-Castell)
Cardstock: Neenah Classic Crest Natural White 110lb smooth
Spring is in the air at Stamp Nation
Posted: May 8, 2014 Filed under: Background Stamps, Dies 4 CommentsI am celebrating the arrival of spring over at Stamp Nation today with their inspiration challenge.
I had fun creating a bright sunny card as did several more designers .
Backgrounds in Bloom
Posted: May 2, 2014 Filed under: Floral Tapestry, Hooray | Tags: Penny Black creative dies, Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress stains 11 Comments
I have made several cards with this pretty background stamp lately and there are more to come. For this one I tried something new, a technique I saw on Jennifer McGuire’s blog and in a few other places too. To begin I stamped the background stamp on watercolour paper with versamark ink then embossed with clear embossing powder. Next I applied several different distress stains taking care to blend them in some places and keep them separate in others. I then spritzed the whole panel with water and let it dry naturally. Finally I placed the panel between two pieces of printer paper and ironed all the embossing off. The effect reminds me of batik, something I did a lot of in high school. I added the “Smile” die cut in the same “Fall festival” cardstock as the mat.
Background stamps have been the feature all week on the Penny Black blog so if you are looking for inspiration pop on over.
Cheryl has set us a new challenge on the One Layer Simplicity blog which will be a delight to try. Go and take a look.
Supplies:
Stamps: Floral Tapestry (PB)
Dies: Hooray (PB)
Inks: Versamark (Tsukineko) Vintage Photo, Spiced Marmalade, Barn Door, Mustard Seeds Distress stains (Ranger)
Cardstock: Neenah Classic Crest Natural White 110lb smooth , Fabriano 100% cotton hot pressed watercolour paper, PB Fall festival mix & match paper
Dusty Pink Poppies
Posted: April 1, 2014 Filed under: Blooming Garden, Field of Dreams | Tags: Faber-Castell Albrecht Durer Watercolour pencils, Penny Black creative dies, Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress stains, Tsukineko Memento inks 5 Comments
I have poppies for you again today, in pink. The only poppies in my garden are orange; they are quite cheery and bright but the lady down the road has dusty pink poppies which appeal more to me. I cut out the poppies with the Field of Dreams die then coloured them with distress stains. I added some watercolour pencil as they were drying and finished them by stamping parts of the co-ordinating stamp from Blooming Garden to add a little shape and shading. Before sticking them on the card front I ran a rich cocoa marker around all the edges. The left hand border is from the Lace Edgings set and is stamped in a mix of memento rich cocoa and vintage photo distress stain.
Thank you for all your lovely comments about my simple watercolour card. I enjoyed reading them all and was interested in the suggestions for making subtle additions. It was a simple card to make and I did the watercolouring while watching tv so I might remake it and try a little embellishing just for the fun of it.
Supplies:
Stamps: Blooming Garden, Truly Great, Lace Edgings (PB)
Pencils: Albrecht Durer Watercolour pencils Vandyke Brown 176, Medium Flesh 131 (Faber-Castell)
Inks: Memento Rich Cocoa (Tsukineko) Vintage Photo, Peeled Paint & Victorian Velvet distress stains (Ranger)
Creative Dies: Field of Dreams (PB)
Cardstock: Fabriano 100% cotton hot pressed watercolour paper
May Arts Creative Collaboration
Posted: March 14, 2014 Filed under: Chat Bubbles, Hollyhocks, Love Expressions, Poppy Pattern, Promise Me, Tagged | Tags: Fabriano Watercolour Paper, May Arts ribbon, Penny Black creative dies, Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress stains, Tsukineko Memento inks 15 Comments
Penny Black and May Arts have been collaborating all week and today is my turn to show how easy it is to pair ribbons with stamping. I decided to make a few tags but if you are looking for more ideas check out both the Penny Black blog and the May Arts blog for all sorts of creative projects. (Instead of listing the supplies at the end of the post I have linked to them in the descriptions)
On both the tulip tag above and the poppy tag below I stamped Memento inks onto wet watercolour paper causing the colours to bleed and blend. When the paper dried a little I added foreground tulips or in the case of the poppies centre details and a blue distress stain background. As watercolour paper is rarely pure white I dyed the white cotton lace ribbon from May Arts in tea to give it a natural off white colour. The tulip tag features luxurious velvet ribbon from May Arts tied with a bow of crochet trim ribbon . The stamps are Promise Me and Special Wishes.
I used a different crochet trim ribbon to tie the versatile Faux Burlap Wired Ribbon on the poppy tag. I left the wire in the edges of the ribbon at the top of the tag so I could shape wavy edges then cut a little mat for my sentiment out of the burlap. The stamps used are Poppy Pattern and Special Wishes.
To create the Hollyhocks tag below I stamped, coloured the tiny tag and dyed the crochet trim with Victorian Velvet distress stain. I used the Hollyhocks stamp as my main image, a little bit of a sentiment from the Eloquence set on the tiny tag and the Hugs diecut from the Love Expressions set. I cut both the tiny tag and the lower rectangle using dies from the Chat Bubbles set. All large tags were cut using the large tag die from the Tagged set
Negative space rose
Posted: February 9, 2014 Filed under: Love Chapter, Rose | Tags: Fabriano Watercolour Paper, Penny Black creative dies, Penny Black stamps, Tsukineko Memento inks 17 Comments
I found this rose panel under a pile of scraps a few days ago. I had created it back when I was making this card. When die cutting a negative rose mask out of masking paper to sponge through I naturally ended up with a rose out of masking paper too. I stuck that on the watercolour block and used some Memento pink and green inks that were open on my table. I painted diluted ink over the mask which did make the masking paper a little waterlogged but I let it dry completely before I peeled it off. I used the 1 Corinthians text stamp to add background interest and sponged a little Sweet Plum in the corner before adding a fading green sentiment.
Have a lovely week.
Supplies:
Stamps: Letter background, Love Chapter
Creative Dies: Rose
Inks: Memento Sweet Plum, Angel Pink, Bamboo Leaves (Tsukineko)
Cardstock: Fabriano 100% cotton hot pressed watercolour paper
Warm toned collage
Posted: February 8, 2014 Filed under: Cupcake Day, Fancy Flourish, Twirls | Tags: Penny Black creative dies, Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress stains, Tsukineko Memento inks 15 Comments
I am not quite sure what style this card would be. Perhaps Vintage floral grunge with a side of chalkboard?? I had fun layering colour, particularly a few yummy sounding distress inks. I don’t have many distress inks but I surprised myself in realising that spiced marmalade is currently my favourite. I rarely reach for orange inks, or orange anything really, but the spiced marmalade is just so rich and bright and happy and yes, yummy. And that wild honey sounds nice too.
I brayered Antique Linen and Wild Honey on the cream panel as a base. Next I added some text inked with Spiced Marmalade and spritzed with water in a couple of places. On the left side and in the corner of the panel I stamped the flourish strip from the Twirls set. I chose one of the new chalkboard style sentiments which I stamped in water first to create some watermarks then brown ink. When dry I used a marker to add black shadowing down the left hand side of some of the letters. To complete the panel I used the same inks to colour and stamp a scrap of card out of which I die cut the fancy flourish. I matted the panel in dark brown then added some stamping and sponging to the card base.
Thanks for all the lovely comments you left on my watercolour florals this week both here and on the PB blog. It is a thrill to get such positive feedback on my designs and the wonderful new stamps.
Supplies:
Stamps: Cupcake Day , Twirls , Letter background(PB)Inks: Memento Espresso Truffle (Tsukineko) & DistressWalnut Stain, Antique Linen, Wild Honey
Distress Stains: Spiced Marmalade, Vintage Photo (Ranger)
Creative Dies: Fancy Flourish
Heather Telford 