One Stamp, Two Ways

Posted: October 7, 2012 | Author: Heather | 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)

World Card Making Day

Posted: October 6, 2012 | Author: Heather | Filed under: CAS, Foliage Fancy, Penny Black | 8 Comments

Today is World Card Making Day. Penny Black is joining in the celebrations so I participated in a sketch challenge as part of the fun. Penny Black will be celebrating the occasion “here” all day with prizes, give-aways and wonderful opportunities.

I hope you find a little card making time yourself.

Supplies:

Stamps: Foliage Fancy , Music Background (Penny Black)
Inks: Memento Potter’s Clay, Tangelo, Cantaloupe, Dandelion (Tsukineko)
Cardstock: Penny Black Mix & Match Papers Fall Festival

Autumn Tree

Posted: October 2, 2012 | Author: Heather | Filed under: Autumn Tree, Penny Black | Tags: arts | 10 Comments

I took a slightly whimsical path with this tree and the panel came together by trial and error. I started by embossing the tree and colouring all the leaves and trunk with watercolour pencils. After blending all the pencil colouring with water the tree looked very alone so I started flicking orange, red and yellow water colour paint on the panel with a paintbrush. Flicking led to sponging and then sponging led to some letter background and the tree looked much happier. I chose not to add a sentiment as I haven’t decided on a purpose for this card yet. Could be a Thanksgiving card or maybe a fall birthday. The tree panel is matted in Penny Black Mix&Match ‘fall festival’ cardstock and popped up on a card base of the same colour.

I am now seeing these colours all around me and hope to get out with the camera soon to captures some of the beauty.

Supplies:

Stamps: Autumn Tree, Letter Background (Penny Black)
Inks: Memento Lady Bug & Tangelo, Versafine Vintage Sepia (Tsukineko)
Cardstock: Mix&Match fall festival
Also: Faber-Castell Water Soluble pencils, Clear E.P.

OLW 107 Masking

Posted: September 29, 2012 | Author: Heather | Filed under: A Flight of Thread, CAS, Lace Flower, Maidenhairs, Music Background, OLW | 14 Comments

Karen is hosting the One Layer Wednesday challenge this week and it is right up my alley; we have to use masking. I punched a square out of a post-it note and masked a bunch of squares tumbling across my card. Each square is sponged in Gingerbread Versamagic Chalk ink and then an image is stamped in Potter’s Clay Memento ink. I had all my squares completed and my sentiment stamped once but I wasn’t happy with the sentiment. It was too pale so I stamped it again using the stamp positioner but I didn’t get it exactly on the previous impression. Aach, don’t you hate that? It happens to me too often. I wasn’t prepared to start again with my little squares so I just restamped those words about 7 or 8 more times which made them darker but also made the shadow impression less annoying and maybe looked like it was meant to be there. Sometimes it is possible to turn a little glitch around.

Supplies:

Stamps: A Flight of Thread, Music Background, Lace Flower, Diamond Pattern, Letter Background, Flower Flourish(PB)
Inks: Memento Potter’s clay, Gingerbread Versamagic Chalk ink(Tsukineko)

Christmas baubles

Posted: September 22, 2012 | Author: Heather | Filed under: A Bright Tomorrow, CAS, Penny Black | 30 Comments

When I first started teaching card making I was demonstrating a card with Christmas decorations on it and called them “Christmas baubles”. Apparently that name combined with my Australian accent provided great enjoyment for my class who asked me to repeat it numerous times. Other people call them baubles don’t they??
Any way this card fits the bill at the Less is More challenge this week where we get to pick three of their previous challenges and combine them. There are over 80 challenges to choose from now so the it is not hard to find a theme or three to incorporate.
I chose:

Week 12 Off Centre
Week 24 Circles
Week34 Sketch

My Christmas baubles are from the transparent set “A Bright Tomorrow”. I stamped them in black and did all the colouring with Faber-Castell Polychromos pencils.

Supplies:

Stamps: A Bright Tomorrow, Winter Magic (PB)
Inks: Versafine Onyx Black, (Tsukineko)
Also: Faber-Castell Polychromos pencils

OLW 106 Sponging

Posted: September 19, 2012 | Author: Heather | Filed under: CAS, OLW, Penny Black, Stamped Landscapes, Tutorial, Winter Ledge | 42 Comments

As you may know if you have spent any time browsing around my blog, I love to use sponges to apply ink. That being the case I thought it appropriate that I devote one of my weeks hosting the One Layer Wednesday challenge to sponging. I want you to enter into the sponging fun too. You have no doubt tried it already; I see beautifullyl sponged cards here, there and everywhere. So your challenge this week is to use some sponging on your card; use a little or a lot, combine it with another technique if you like, just get inky! (Aach! I just realised, at the eleventh hour, that I used the very same stamp on my last OLW challenge. Sorry for the repetition; I will pay more attention next month!)

Don’t forget about the Gratitude Campaign! See Susan’s blog for details.
Don’t forget to check out the sneak peaks and giveaways on the Penny Black blog.

OLW106 Rules

1. A ONE-LAYER card is defined as a single layer of card stock folded in half. No other layers allowed!

2. Make a card that incorporates sponging

3. Post your card somewhere online and link back here using the InLinkz button at the bottom of this post. Please make sure you link to the specific post on your blog rather than your blog’s main page.

4. Have Fun!

I have received several requests lately for a sponging video tutorial. I am sorry I don’t have one for you today but I do have the next best thing, a photo tutorial. I will get a sponging video done as soon as I can.

Position your masks first; I find that it helps to use the lines on a cutting mat to get everything square.

Sponge your lightest colour first.

I only used two blues so I started sponging the darker blue on the side I wanted darkest. I even started off the card base to help regulate how much ink I applied. Without picking up more ink I sponged towards the lighter side of the sky as the intensity of the colour faded.

When I am getting close to the coverage I want I blend the ink by sponging in circles instead of dabbing it on.

When I sponged this snowdrift I did not go back to the lighter blue I used the dark blue sponge without picking up more ink. I sponged right on the edge of the post-it mask rubbing it against that edge so the blue would define the snow drift.

I always sponge a little on the bottom edge to define the edge of the panel.

Supplies:

Stamps: Winter Ledge, Silent Night (PB)
Inks: Memento Summer Sky, Nautical Blue, Versafine Onyx Black, Versamark(Tsukineko)

Japanese Maple

Posted: September 17, 2012 | Author: Heather | Filed under: CAS, Japanese Maple, Penny Black | 8 Comments

More leaves? Definitely; I imagine leaves will feature for the next month at least! There will be a few Christmas cards thrown in here and there also.

This card was very simple to complete as the variation in the colour of the leaves is part of the stamp. I inked it with both Memento Morocco and Rhubarb stalk over versamark. By inking the stamp in versamark first then colour I was able to emboss the image in clear e.p. I then added minimal sponging for a background sky and matted in the two colours featured.

Penny Black is showing sneak peeks of new releases and holding giveaways on their blog also. Check it out everyday this week to see the new sets and enter to win one!

Supplies:

Stamps: Japanese Maple, Foliage Fancy (Penny Black)
Inks: Memento Rhubarb stalk, Morocco, Bahama Blue & Versamark (Tsukineko)
Cardstock: Penny Black Mix & Match Papers Grand Canyon & Clear Skies

Maple Leaf panel

Posted: September 16, 2012 | Author: Heather | Filed under: CAS, Maple Leaf, Penny Black | 6 Comments

This card could very easily be a one layer card but I created the leaf panel on a strip of white card stock then attached it. When I am making one layer cards there are usually a bunch of strips cut off the ones that didn’t work which are exactly the right length to make a panel like this one. I first stamped pale leaf images in three colours by stamping off on a piece of scrap before stamping on the panel. Then I sponged in three colours before stamping the leaves again and adding the sentiment.

The number of gratitude cards is growing.

Cards made for Gratitude challenge: 6
Cards mailed for Gratitude challenge: 1 (Woohoo, I made a start!)

Supplies:

Stamps: Maple Leaf, So Blessed (Penny Black)
Inks: Memento Rich Cocoa, Rhubarb Stalk, Morocco, Versafine Vintage Sepia (Tsukineko)

Autumn Leaf

Posted: September 15, 2012 | Author: Heather | Filed under: CAS, Maple Leaf, OLW, Penny Black | 19 Comments

Once again I have combined the One Layer Wednesday challenge with the Less is More challenge. Cheryl challenged us on Wednesday to make an Autumn themed card featuring what we love about the season. For me it is the colours of the leaves. My favourite season is summer but the beautiful colours of fall help me cope with summer’s departure.

The challenge at Less is More today is to incorporate an oval into your card. It only took me three attempts to get my card the way I envisioned it! I stamped the leaf first then positioned an oval mask over it and restamped it and added more colour both on the stamp and by painting on some ink picked up from the stamp pad lid with a small paintbrush and some water. Before lifting the mask again I sponged and restamped the leaf.

I realize that I did a leaf card last week for OLW and Less is More. The layout is identical. Sorry to be so repetitive. The leaves are turning here and so my mind turns to leaf images!

( I finally posted some pics of my daughter at the National Track & Field championships on my other blog)

Supplies:

Stamps: Maple Leaf, …Wishes (Penny Black)
Inks: Memento Rich Cocoa, Rhubarb Stalk, Morocco (Tsukineko)