Poppies with love
Posted: September 14, 2015 Filed under: Efflorescence, Flourish, No Card Left Behind | Tags: Fabriano Watercolour Paper, Penny Black creative dies, Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress stains, Tsukineko Memento inks 16 Comments
I have another card featuring one of my favourite techniques, ‘watercolouring with distress stains‘. I worked on a panel of watercolour paper taped to a board and splattered with masking fluid. The stamp is an outline stamp which I inked with festive berries and ripe persimmon stain on the petals and peeled paint on the stems. I painted colour into the petals straight away so the outlines would blend with the colour in the whole petal. I drew a bud and a few leaves with a marker to fill the space more evenly. Once the flowers were almost dry I painted the background with desert sand ink and added some text also. I added black to the flower centres with a marker and blended with water to soften the edges a little.
When I removed the tape and the masking fluid I wasn’t entirely happy with the finished panel. Instead of trying to alter any part of the watercolouring I decided to add another element, the die cut flourish over the top. I tied the flourish in with a swirly sentiment and attached all the elements to a natural card base.
Supplies:
Stamps: Efflorescence, Footnotes (PB)
Creative Dies: Flourish, For You (PB)
Inks: Festive Berries, Ripe Persimmon, Peeled Paint Distress stains, Desert sand ink, Tuxedo Black, Northern Pine memento markers (Tsukineko)
Paper: Fabriano 100% cotton hot pressed watercolour paper, Neenah natural white cardstock
Also: Winsor & Newton masking fluid
Roses for my Mother
Posted: August 28, 2015 Filed under: Efflorescence, Textures | Tags: Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress stains 15 Comments
As my mother lives on the other side of the world, the easiest way to send roses is on a card. I stamped and painted these back in February when my garden was under snow but my parents’ was probably looking great.
I worked on each petal and leaf separately, stamping one rose at a time in distress stain, blending and moving the colour with a waterbrush and then doing the same with the leaves. This way I was able to avoid any colour ink running from one petal to another. (I used the technique described in this video tutorial but used finer brushes to work on the small images.) I painted a bud to bridge the gap between the lower roses and the top one. The background is sponged and splattered with pale blue ink. I stamped a texture stamp on the side panel to balance the finished panel.
Enjoy your weekend.
Supplies:
Stamps: Efflorescence, Eloquence, Textures (PB)
Inks: aged mahogany, worn lipstick, scattered straw, peeled paint, forest moss distress stains, memento summer sky & rhubarb stalk (Tsukineko)
Paper: Fabriano 100% cotton hot pressed watercolour paper, burgandy cardstock
Also: Winsor & Newton masking fluid
Roses and wishes
Posted: May 12, 2015 Filed under: Efflorescence, Stitched Edges, Wishes | Tags: Fabriano Watercolour Paper, Penny Black creative dies, Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress stains 5 Comments
Today’s card is the one which produced the pretty coloured baby wipe that made the previous card possible. The watery rose panel above was initially much larger and there were red roses down below the orange ones. I used the wipe which ended up covered with orange, pink and green stain to clean off the rose stamp after each impression. I can’t really give you a play-by-play for this panel because I just kept on stamping, spritzing, painting and blotting until I ended up what you see above. There is a fine line between a soft blurred floral design and and a mess of washed out colour which some of you might think I have definitely stepped over (hehe) but I like the way the roses bleed into the background and the leaves bleed into the roses.
I cropped the red roses out because they were not so pretty then added a shaped border cut with one of the ‘stitched edge’ dies. I put ‘stick it’ adhesive on the back of the green cardstock before I cut the ‘best wishes’ sentiment which makes it very easy to attach to the card base.
Supplies:
Stamps: Efflorescence (PB)
Creative Dies: Stitched Edges, Wishes (PB)
Inks: Ripe Persimmon, Worn Lipstick, Forest Moss, Festive Berries, Spiced Marmalade distress stains (Ranger)
Cardstock: Fabriano 100% cotton hot pressed watercolour paper, Green paper, Neenah Avon Brilliant White 110lb cardstock
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
Warmth on a cold day
Posted: February 20, 2015 Filed under: Efflorescence, Watercolour | Tags: Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress stains 17 Comments
When it’s -25°C outside the best thing to do is stay inside and make pretty things. The weather here continues to be bitterly cold and I keep reading of places in the states where the kids have had a week of snow days. A week! No snow days here. My daughter caught the bus to work this morning and said if she kept her eyes open they froze but if she closed them the skin on her eyelids stung too much!
I used the rose from the new transparent set ‘Efflorescence’ to make this card and it will be a bit tricky to give you all the how-to details. I stamped and painted, left it, came back, spritzed it, left it, came back, stamped again…you get the idea. Basically I stamped with distress stains to give me a wet outline image from which I pulled in colour to fill the petals or leaves. I spritzed the painted images to let some of the colour bleed into the background. I let it dry before masking the first rose so I could stamp a second behind it plus some extra leaves. I wanted a little rosebud in there too so I painted my own. I created the border with a watercolour pencil then added a splatters of blue and orange before adding a little sentiment and a matching mat.
I don’t know about you but I have had to look up a few of the new PB stamp names in the dictionary. Efflorescence means the action or process of developing and unfolding as if coming into flower. Effulgence means radiant splendor. Ebullient means having or showing liveliness and enthusiasm. So there you go; stamping is expanding my vocabulary.
Supplies:
Stamps: Efflorescence, Snippets (PB)
Inks: Ripe Persimmon, Iced Spruce, Chipped Sapphire distress stains (Ranger), Memento Paris Dusk marker (Imagine Craft/Tsukineko)
Cardstock: Fabriano 100% cotton hot pressed watercolour paper, Navy paper, Neenah Natural White 110lb cardstock
Six Tulips
Posted: May 12, 2014 Filed under: CAS, Efflorescence, Watercolour | Tags: CAS, Fabriano Watercolour Paper, Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress stains 9 Comments
I am continuing with my Tulip Festival theme, an idea inspired by a regular visitor to Bits & Pieces. (Thanks, Karen) On this card I have a watery array of tulips stamped with distress stains on watercolour paper. Distress inks are designed to react with water and each other which makes them great for blending on flowers, patterns, backgrounds etc. I inked the tulips on the stamp with Victorian Velvet first then added a touch of Barn Door at the base of each bloom. I inked the buds and stems with Crushed Olive and stamped on watercolour paper. I then used a waterbrush to blend the two colours together. To frame the panel I diluted some Tumbled Glass distress stain and painted around the edges pulling the colour into the centre and diluting it further to fade it out. Finally I flicked red and green inks over the panel, attached it to the card base and added a sentiment.
I haven’t visited any of the tulip beds yet but I did drive by the canal yesterday and saw there were plenty in bloom. Are they blooming where you are?
Supplies:
Stamps: Efflorescence, Amazing (PB)
Inks: Versafine Spanish Moss (Tsukineko) Barn Door, Crushed Olive, Victorian Velvet, Tumbled Glass Distress stains (Ranger)
Cardstock: Neenah Classic Crest Avon Brilliant White 110lb smooth, Fabriano 100% cotton hot pressed watercolour paper
Heather Telford 