Musical thanks
Posted: February 26, 2012 Filed under: Irises, Music Background, Penny Black 15 Comments
As I have said before on this blog we often have need of musically themed cards in this house. This one is made using the Penny Black music background stamp which I love because it is big and the music can cover a whole card base if necessary. For this card I just stamped it in grey on a panel and then used marker to ink the iris stamp. Before stamping it I spritzed it with water so the image would “bleed” a little then finished the panel off with some sponging and a sentiment.
Several people have asked what I use for sponging; I cut circular sponges into quarters which you can see in my sponging tutorial post here.
Thanks for dropping in today; I hope you have a great week.
Supplies:
Stamps: Music background, Irises (Penny Black), Kind Thanks (SU)
Inks: Perfect Plum, Elegant Eggplant, Garden Green, Going Gray (SU)
Cardstock: MFP 100lb white, Perfect Plum, Elegant Eggplant
Having another Penny Black Day!
Posted: February 20, 2012 Filed under: Berry red snow white, CAS, Penny Black, Splendor 29 Comments
Believe or not I am being featured again on the Penny Black blog today. The exciting news is that I am now a member of the Penny Black design team. I will be posting over at the PB blog regularly and you will see more PB creations here on my blog too. I am thrilled and a little nervous about joining such a talented team of designers.
Both these cards were masked first and in the case of the top one I masked within the big square so I could sponge one season colour scheme at a time. I then added water droplets and the text before stamping the tree.
In the moonscape card I punched a circle from a post it note for my moon and placed a hill mask before sponging the sky. I used two more hill masks for snow drifts and then stamped the image in black. To create the shadow I inked the fence and stamped it on a piece of clear plastic which I could then position and press onto the snow for a mirror image.
Supplies:
Stamps: Berry red, snow white (Penny Black), Splendor (PB), Letter Background (PB)
Inks: (1st card) Pretty in Pink, Certainly Celery, Bashful Blue, Summer Sun, Pumpkin Pie, Rose Red, Marina Mist, Early Espresso
(2nd card)Marina Mist, Going Gray,Versafine Onyx Black
Cardstock: MFP 100lb white
OLW 77 Birds
Posted: February 7, 2012 Filed under: Penny Black, Winter Sky 32 Comments
This week Jennifer Styles is hosting the OLW challenge and has asked us to use birds. It is quite a while since I participated in One Layer Wednesday but thanks to this lovely winter sky stamp complete with birds I can just squeeze a card in before a new challenge starts tomorrow. I took some photos while making this card so I’ll try to get the tutorial up soon. Thanks for all the encouragement you gave me after I posted the Berry branch tutorial on the weekend. I am happy to be able to share the technique and would love to hear how you went.
Today’s card doesn’t include any embossing just the masking and sponging to create the effect of dusk or dawn.
Supplies:
Stamps: Winter Sky (Penny Black), Tag lines(Flourishes)
Inks: Marina Mist, Pretty in Pink, Versafine Onyx Black
Cardstock: MFP 100lb white
Winter Berry Branch tutorial
Posted: February 4, 2012 Filed under: Berry Branch, Penny Black, Tutorial 45 Comments
Thank you so much everyone who has arrived here via the Penny Black blog and also my faithful readers who drop in here regularly to see what I have been doing. The comments I have received in the last day have been such a treat to read. Thank you also to all my subscribers; I am so pleased you have been inspired to sign up.
What better way to thank you all than a tutorial? Many of you asked questions about the Winter Berry Branch card I posted last week so here is the tutorial which will hopefully provide the answers.
Mask the around the area where you are creating your scene. This is one of the trickiest steps, sometimes I trust my eye, sometimes the ruler; both have been known to fail me.
Flick masking fluid randomly over the cardbase. I put my card in a box, almost close the box and blindly flick the paintbrush with masking fluid on it around over the card. This way the masking fluid is contained in the box. An old toothbrush does a good job too but I didn’t have a spare and didn’t think anyone in my family would appreciate masking fluid toothpaste! While you wait for the masking fluid to dry, wash the brush because the masking fluid can ruin it if you don’t.
Stamp the branch first in versamark using a stamp positioning tool. Re-ink with versamark and then add whatever colours you want on your branch using markers; I used real red and early espresso. While you are inking your stamp with markers you must not move your stamp positioning tool.
When your branched is inked in versamark and colour move your stamp positioning tool ever-so-slightly down (as in no more than a millimeter!) and stamp the branch again. What you have created is two branch images extremely close together which you will heat emboss in clear.
In the close up below you can see the two impressions from the stamp. Ideally you want the coloured print to overlap with the versamark print. The versamark is the snow sitting on the branch. The yellow dots are the masking fluid. Because they are raised they will resist the stamp a bit but it doesn’t matter as it will look like a clump of snow.
After embossing in clear embossing powder it is time to start sponging. I tend to build up the colour slowly when sponging so the variations in intensity will be gradual. If you are not happy with your sponging it could be that you stopped too soon.
When you are happy with your sponging you can gently rub off the masking fluid. It should come off easily but make sure you keep your fingers clean otherwise you can smudge colour into the freshly revealed white spots. Remove the masks when all the masking fluid is gone to see your snow laden branch.
Supplies:
Stamps: Berry Branch (Penny Black), Teeny Tiny Wishes(SU)
Inks: Versamark, Marina Mist, Bashful Blue, Real Red, Early Espresso
Cardstock: MFP 100lb white
Also: Clear e.p., Winsor & Newton masking fluid
Having a Penny Black day
Posted: February 3, 2012 Filed under: Penny Black 14 CommentsI just wanted to let you know I am the Penny Black guest designer today. So check out their blog to see what I have been doing lately.
Berry Branch – Autumn & Winter
Posted: January 24, 2012 Filed under: Berry Branch, CAS, Rollers 19 CommentsHere are the other two cards from my little four seasons Berry Branch set. Winter is definitely my favourite and is the only one where I embossed.
Thank you for the kind comments about the first two; I am happy to have inspired a few people to try the same thing with one stamp.
Supplies:
Stamps: Berry Branch (Penny Black), Teeny Tiny Wishes, Very Vintage roller(SU)
Inks: Chocolate Chip, Real Rust, Riding Hood Red
Cardstock: Flourishes classic ivory
Supplies:
Stamps: Berry Branch (Penny Black), Short and Sweet(SU)
Inks: Versamark, Marina Mist, Bashful Blue, Real Red, Basic Black
Cardstock: Flourishes classic white
Also: Clear e.p., Winsor & Newton masking fluid
Berry Branch – Spring & Summer
Posted: January 22, 2012 Filed under: Berry Branch, Penny Black 12 CommentsI have been busy on another project lately which I will share in the future but today I have a little set of cards I finished a while ago. I made them for a friend’s birthday; there are four – one for each season- all made with the same stamp. Here are the spring and summer cards. Winter and autumn to follow another day.
Supplies:
Stamps: Berry Branch (Penny Black),Teeny Tiny Wishes(SU)
Inks: Regal Rose, Bashful Blue, Always Artichoke
Cardstock: Flourishes classic white
To create both cards I inked the stamp with the lighter colour and added darker highlights with marker. I also masked and sponged but you know that; it is what I do!
Supplies:
Stamps: Berry Branch (Penny Black),Hugs & Wishes(SU)
Inks: Certainly Celery, Old Olive, Bashful Blue, Always Artichoke
Cardstock: Flourishes classic white
Mix and match
Posted: June 30, 2011 Filed under: Berry Branch, Collage cards 23 Comments
I’m not sure what to call this style of card but I have been trying to successfully create one for a while. I like the mix of image with text and a little texture. I have seen several superb examples where different textures and images are mixed very cohesively, sometimes with several layers, other times with one.
I started by working on one layer but decided a mat and an extension of the stamping would work best. I stamped the branch first after inking it with regal rose, using marker to add choc chip twigs and branch colour. I find this stamp quite frustrating although I love the design, as I always want it in two colours but it is very hard to ink it successfully with markers. What I ended up doing here was drawing with choc chip marker over a lot of the twigs after I had stamped them.
I don’t own a large text stamp so I stamped a sentiment stamp repeatedly to give the impression of a page of text. I also inked my large canvas background stamp but stamped it off first so I would only get a faint impression. Finally I sponged the parts of the panel and flicked some water droplets around. The panel is popped up ever so slightly.
Thanks for dropping in; I’ve enjoyed reading the comments you have kindly left here lately.
Supplies:
Stamps: Berry Branch (Penny Black), Canvas (SU), Ageless Adornment (SU)
Inks: Certainly Celery, Regal Rose, Choc Chip, Pretty in Pink
Cardstock: SU Whisper White, Mellow Moss
Less is More ‘Off Centre’
Posted: April 23, 2011 Filed under: Berry Branch, CAS 39 Comments
It has been a few weeks since I managed to play along with the Less is More challenge so it is nice to be involved again. Whether you play along or not the blog is an excellent source of inspiration with hundreds of entries every week. This week the challenge is to create an off centre layout. I really like assymmetrcial layouts so this asymmetrical branch stamp from Penny Black was the perfect choice for the challenge.
I inked the stamp with cherry cobbler and then inked the branches on the stamp with early espresso. By stamping once and then stamping again twice more without re-inking I created a shadowy effect. I added a little fold of riboon too as it needed something extra but not much more.
Supplies:
Stamps: Berry Branch (Penny Black), Taglines (Flourishes)
Inks: Cherry Cobbler, Early Espresso
Cardstock: SU Confetti White, Whisper White, Chocolate Chip
Also: Chocolate grosgrain ribbon
OLW 49: Green, Pink and Never Seen Ink
Posted: April 18, 2011 Filed under: Berry Branch 9 Comments
I haven’t had a chance to play along in any challenges lately as we have been very busy with violin related activities. Both my girls competed in the local Kiwanis Music Festival last week. On Saturday most of their ensemble came to our place to make truffles for a fundraiser. We rolled 2000 truffles in 2 hours and then they all left to play at a concert Saturday night. When Sunday afternoon arrived I took a little time to play with a new stamp from Penny Black. It was the perfect stamp to use with Pink and Green as Jennifer challenged in the One Layer Wednesday challenge this week.
I inked the whole stamp with Pretty in Pink then added Old Olive to the branches and twigs with a marker. I used a mask and sponging to create the bottom left corner. It shouldn’t be too long before I see blossoms like this on some of my trees.
Supplies:
Stamps: Berry Branch (Penny Black), Eastern Influences (SU)
Inks: Old Olive, Pretty in Pink
Cardstock: SU Confetti White
Heather Telford 