Complementary collage

Complementary collage

Most, if not all of the collages I have done previously have been analagous colour schemes. This one is a complementary colour scheme meaning that it uses colours opposite each other on the colour wheel. Complementary colours create more contrast and each colour promotes the other. In creating this card with red and green together you can see that my natural tendency for muted and harmonious tones influenced which red and green I chose to put together.

I started by stamping a very light impression of lace background in red where the image was darker at the bottom and hardly visible at the top. I then sponged the red from the bottom right hand corner to around the middle and the green from the opposite corner down. I stamped the flower in the same red but with some brown added on the stem. Finally I added the letter background in red to tie the whole panel together. I sliced the panel and matted it before adding the ribbon.

Tomorrow I have a collage in an analogous colour scheme, more of what you are used to from me. Thanks for dropping in. I am glad when I have inspired you to try something new and love reading your kind comments.

You probably realize this, but on the right side of my blog I have a little drop down menu that allows you to search my archives by single stamp, set, technique, tutorials, manufacturer, etc. I have just added a “collage” category and there is already a stamped landscape category. Just thought I’d mention it as it might be helpful if you are looking for something specific.

Supplies:

Stamps: Letter Background, Floral ThreadGratitudeBliss (PB)
Inks: Memento Rhubarb Stalk, Rich Cocoa and New Sprout, (Tsukineko)
Cardstock: Mix & Match Coral Reef


Lemon and Lace

 Lemon and Lace

This is an unusual colour scheme for me but a  happy one. Because the flower is made of lace I think it works well in white. I began the design on a rectangular piece of Penny Black Mix & Match Summer Sun cardstock by stamping the diamond design background stamp around the edge of the panel and the letter background in the middle. I then stamped the lace flower several times on in versamark ink and embossed in white embossing powder. To highlight the edges and the flowers I sponged some memento dandelion ink around the edges of the panel then sliced it into four pieces. I had a scrap left over so I punched a tag out and tied it on with embroidery floss. The four panels are popped up for a little added dimension.

I hope your day is happy and  sunny.

Supplies

Stamps: Letter Background ,  Diamond Pattern Lace Flower, (PB)
Ink: Memento  Dandelion, Versamark (Tsukineko)
Cardstock: Penny Black Mix & Match Summer Sun
Also: embroidery thread


Winter challenges

Winter branch

One of the challenges of winter is the warm days, like today. It may not sound hard to take but when you get rain instead of snow you get ice covering everything. And, I may be wrong, but the bitter cold seems to keep the germs at bay whereas the unseasonal thaws don’t.

But this post is really about a couple of card making challenges I am entering. The first is the current CASology challenge “winter”

Week 26 - Winter

and the second is CASe this Sketch #10.

cts10

I have been inspired to enter a few more challenges by Ardyth who enters several regularly and always nails each one. I think I have said it before but I actually find challenges quite, well “challenging”. It seems to me that being given the parameters for a card is a sure way for all my inspiration to disappear.  I was pretty safe with the ‘winter” challenge as I never seem to tire of those winter scenes and the sketch was similar to one of my favourite layouts so I was, this time, up to the challenge. It still took me two attempts to get it right!

This branch is from a Penny Black halloween set but as far as I am concerned it can be useful all year round; I just left the bats out! I stamped the branch in black first then, using a stamp positioning tool I stamped it again in versamark a little above the black image. After embossing in clear powder I was able to sponge the sky behind and expose the snow laden branch. When I had the snow banks and sky completed, the scene really cried out for a little contrast. A few red berries would have been perfect but I didn’t want to risk wrecking it by adding them over the sponging so instead I added a few hints of pink to the sky and snow.

Enjoy your weekend.

Supplies:

Stamps:   WishesHoot of a Time (PB)
Inks: Memento  Teal Zeal, Angel Pink,Versafine Onyx Black, Versamark(Tsukineko)
Also: clear embossing powder


Butterfly Symphony

Heart sing water droplets

The design team at Penny Black are playing with Valentine Stamps this week; to show the versatility of the stamps we are each making a couple of cards using the same stamp. One card is celebrating love and the other is for another occasion. I created the pink toned card above by sponging a panel in pink and plum tones. The lower butterfly image is stamped with water rather than ink and the upper one a mix of ink and water. To finish I flicked water and ink droplets over the panel and the card base.

Vellum butterfly

My second card is a birthday card for my daughters’ violin teacher made using layers of vellum. Because of the vellum it was very hard to photograph, hence the three perspectives to try and give you the idea. There are four layers and a card base making up this card which is rather unusual for me! The first layer is ivory cardstock stamped with the music background in black. The next three layers are all vellum each stamped with the butterfly from Butterfly Symphony, once in sepia, then black and finally gold.

Vellum butterfly

Vellum butterfly

Supplies

Stamps: Butterfly SymphonyMusic Background Sweet Wishes (PB)
Ink: Memento Angel Pink, Sweet Plum, Elderberry, Versafine Onyx Black and Sepia, Encore Metallic Gold (Tsukineko)
Card stock: Vellum and Mix & Match cardstock Rose Garden


Fern Fronds

Fern card

The card above was inspired by the packaging of the gift that went with it.  I forgot to take a photo but you can see it here.

The packaging featured fern fronds and soft greens so I pulled out the fern stamp from the transparent “Enjoy Life” set. I masked the left and bottom edge of the panel with post-its then stamped the fern frond in several greens before sponging and popping up the whole panel on a white card base.

Supplies:

Stamps: Enjoy Life, Wishes(PB)
Inks: Memento New Sprout, Pear Tart, Bamboo Leaves, Versafine Olympia Green (Tsukineko)


Snowscape glimpse

Snowscape glimpse

Sometimes a small snapshot of a scene is all that is necessary to give you the big picture. That’s why I like making stamped landscapes which are either wide and short or narrow and tall; they give you a glimpse of a larger scene.

The challenge at CAS-ual Fridays today is to make a clean and simple thank you card. I need a few thank you cards so I decided to keep it simple and enter the challenge. This card started out as a one layer card masked top and bottom with post-it notes but I stamped a simple “thank you” and got two extra black dots I hadn’t asked for. Not to worry, I sliced the stamped panel out of the card and stuck it on a white card base and proceeded to stamp the sentiment again. This time no dots, but crooked! I peeled off the snowscape panel and re-positioned it over the crooked ‘thank you” then wrote my own. The landscape was stamped in the following order:

  1. Position top and bottom masks then curved horizon mask
  2. Stamp trees in Paris dusk over the horizon.
  3. Re-position curved mask and stamp trees in black, emboss in clear.
  4. Return curved mask to horizon, add a post-it circle for the moon and sponge the sky in Summer sky and Paris dusk
  5. Return curved mask to lower hill position and sponge snow bank in Summer sky
  6. Remove curved mask and sponge lower edge in Paris dusk

My son has gone downhill skiing with a friend today for the first time. He’ll probably love it…

Supplies:

Stamps:  Christmas Park(PB)
Inks: Memento Summer Sky, Paris Dusk, Versafine Onyx Black, Versamark(Tsukineko)
Also: Clear embossing powder


Winter Sky

Winter Sky

A couple of days ago my husband and I went X-Country skiing. After two big storms the woodland we skied through looked beautiful. I took a few photos but the weather was too cold to take my mitts off and fiddle with my camera for long. As we were heading back to the car the late afternoon sky was turning pink and apricot where it met the expanse of untouched snow in front of us. I took a mental picture rather than freeze my fingers and then tried to recreate it this afternoon with stamps and ink.

I masked the horizon first so I could sponge the sky in pink, yellow, grey and blue. I also dotted some grey twigs along the top of the hill. After removing the mask I partially inked the Winter sky stamp with a grey marker so I could make a little patch of brush in a hollow of snow. When the masks were removed I stamped the complete stamp in grey then black.

Supplies:

Stamps: Winter Sky, Enjoy Life (Penny Black), 
Inks: Memento Summer Sky, Angel Pink, Cantaloupe, London Fog, Versafine Onyx Black (Tsukineko)
Cardstock: Penny Black Mix & Match Papers Storm, Rosegarden


Casing Patsy Collins

Tree Thank You

Edited to correct the name of the cardmaker. My apologies to Patsy Collins who is the creator of the lovely cards that inspired mine.

I have a card for you today inspired by card pinned on my Handmade Cards board. Usually I browse those cards and get a few ideas. This time I pretty much copied the card. I loved the combination of colour, text and tree image which Patsy Collins used in her cards.

I stamped the letter background first, then brayered and sponged the colours before adding the tree. Thanks Patsy for the inspiration.

Supplies:

Stamps: FantasyThanks, thanks (Penny Black)
Inks :  Memento Summer Sky, Danube Blue, Tangelo, Morocco, Versafine Onyx Black (Tsukineko)
Cardstock: Penny Black Mix & Match Papers Fall Festival


Masking Fluid Christmas Collage 2

Masking fluid Christmas collage

Here ends a week of Christmas cards made using masking fluid to create falling snow. I really enjoy this technique and I hope you will too when you get a chance to try it out.  I would love to see what you create as I’m sure others would too so I have created a link up below where you can share your creations. It will be open for two weeks.

To create this one I stamped music background and winter scroll first, before I placed any masks. Then I positioned the first hill mask and sponged the blue and grey sky and added some background trees. I then repositioned the mask to create a snowbank, added a tree, removed the mask, stamped a foreground tree.and added a bit more sponging. I did add a bit of black on the foreground tree for extra definition but I don’t really like it so I wouldn’t bother next time. If that description is a bit rushed check out my tutorial where I go into way more detail.

I hope to post my last few Christmas cards in the next two days and some gingerbread creations too.


Supplies:

Stamps:  Letter Background,  Winter ScrollSilent Night, Before the Snow (PB)
Inks: Memento Pistachio,London Fog, Paris Dusk (Tsukineko)
Also: Winsor & Newton Masking Fluid


Masking Fluid & Brayered Sky 2

Masking fluid 2 colour brayered sky

Another snowy scene for you today using masking fluid; I know many of you have purchased masking fluid and are trying it out or waiting for a chance to play. I have one more masking fluid card to post tomorrow so I might set up inlinkz so that you can link your cards if you get a chance. I could love to see what you create.

I used a brayer for the sky and  applied grey ink from one edge and pink from the other so they would blend in the middle. I sponged the snow banks in both pink and grey.

To see why I keep creating snow scenes check out the photos below taken when I looked out my windows this morning.

Supplies:

Stamps:  Pine & StarSilent Night(PB)
Inks: Memento Angel Pink, London Fog(Tsukineko)
Also: Winsor & Newton Masking Fluid

 

This morning I woke up to this out my back door:

backyard

and this out my front door:

frontyard