Winter Berry Branch tutorial

Posted: February 4, 2012 | Author: | 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 | Author: | Filed under: Penny Black | 14 Comments

I 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 | Author: | Filed under: Berry Branch, CAS, Rollers | 19 Comments

Here 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 | Author: | Filed under: Berry Branch, Penny Black | 12 Comments

I 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 | Author: | 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 | Author: | 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 | Author: | 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

Penny Black Snow Dust

Posted: December 14, 2010 | Author: | Filed under: CAS, Penny Black, Snow dust, Stamped Landscapes, Wondrous Gift | 7 Comments

It is not quite as snowy as this card just yet, but it won’t be long.  When I bought the Penny Black wreath stamp, I also bought this PB stamp called Snow Dust.  I did my masking with post-it notes as I usually do, both to frame the scene and to create the snowy hills.  I stamped the trees in versmark with a base of black and then embossed in clear before sponging in the sky and the hills.  Once all the sponging was done I realised that my tree bases were too black compared to the white branches so I used a super fine black marker to draw a line under several branches so that they appeared to be snow laden not made out of snow.

I noticed that the technique lovers challenge at Splitcoast this week is to use sponging, so I will be participating with at least this card, but probably more.

Supplies:

Stamps: Snow Dust(Penny Black),
Inks: Versamark, Bashful Blue, Pretty in Pink, Brocade Blue, Going Gray
Cardstock: Flourishes classic white
Also: Clear e.p.


Penny Black wreath

Posted: November 24, 2010 | Author: | Filed under: Adornment, CAS, Penny Black | 5 Comments

If you have been visiting here for a while you would know that 99% of my stamps have always been Stampin’ Up.  Not much has changed there;  I still love the range and images at Stampin’ Up, but I have discovered a whole world of beautiful stamps from other companies.   A year or so ago some gorgeous images from Flourishes started appearing once in a while on the blog because they were simply too hard to resist.  I was browsing Sharon Johnson’s lovely blog the other day and saw a couple of beautiful stamps by Penny Black.  After a little research I discovered I could buy those stamps not far from here.  That’s right, no shipping, no waiting.   So what I have to show you today are my first two cards made with the Penny Black stamp “Adornment”.

What I do not have to show you is my first attempt.  I did think about photographing it and showing you what not to do, but camera issues continue around here so I didn’t bother.  I will tell you that it looked considerably like a tumbleweed blowing across the prairie!

In the card above I inked the stamp with three different green markers and then spritzed it with water before stamping.  I think those little circles almost look glittery – but, in fact no bling was applied to this card.  On the card below I was a little more intentional with my markers, applying red on the bow and dots before creating some blur with the spritzer.

Supplies:

Stamps: Adornment (Penny Black), All Year Cheer, Best Yet
Inks: Wild Wasabi,  Handsome Hunter, Garden Green & Real Red Markers
Cardstock: Flourishes classic white,  Wild Wasabi

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