Companions & a winner
Posted: May 24, 2021 Filed under: Classes, companions, Karin brushmarkers, online class, Penny Black | Tags: Karin brushmarkers, online class, Penny Black stamps 5 Comments
I have a video and a prize winner to share today but first thank you for participating in the giveaway. I really enjoyed reading what your favourite flower stamps are and I’m planning to go back and read through again and feature some of them in upcoming posts. Several of you named stamps that have been on the blog recently, some of which feature in the new online class FLORAL FAVES. Others mentioned older classics which I hadn’t thought about in a while. Dancing Daisies came up several times so I pulled it out and made a sample for the class. But without further ado let me announce the winner of a registration in my new FLORAL FAVES class!
Denise Bryant
Gorgeous card! I love the design and colors! The effect of the layering to frame the design is so pretty!
My favorite flower stamp is Penny Black’s ‘Together’. It reminds me of the agapanthus plants my grandmother grew in her yard.
Congratulations, Denise, I will be in touch by email.
Another stamp mentioned among the favourites was PB companions which features in today’s card.
After watercolouring on bristol cardstock I can recommend it. I wouldn’t choose it over hot pressed watercolour paper but it worked well and is more of a bright white, if you like that for your stamping.
Flowers continue to my focus right now as I proof read for the 15th time and put the finishing touches on the lessons in the FLORAL FAVES class ready for Wednesday (when the lessons will be available). I also planted more flowers in the garden over the weekend. I transplanted the morning glories I grew from seed; they look rather spindly but they started out that way last year and ended up a big success.
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Captivating
Posted: May 21, 2021 Filed under: captivating | Tags: Fabriano Watercolour Paper, Peerless Transparent Watercolors, Penny Black stamps, Tsukineko Versafine inks 11 Comments
This gorgeous stamp from Penny Black is called captivating; it’s a single large stamp which fills a card front and lives up to its name. Before painting I did a quick search on my phone and used a reference photo as inspiration. Fuchsias can be a single colour or two toned; I chose pink and white using Peerless watercolours and a few no-line watercolour techniques.
Peerless watercolour paints blend beautifully; they actually advertise as ‘self blending’ so the soft transitions from dark to light on the leaves and petals shine with this kind of paint. After stamping in papertrey soft stone ink I used a couple of greens for the leaves and a single red for the lower petals which I diluted as I blended to add depth and variation. The upper petals have a little yellow, green and pink but not much as I wanted them to appear white.
I posted yesterday about my new online class Floral Faves. I use the Captivating stamp in the no-line watercolour lesson covering the process from beginning to end.
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Floral Faves – Online Class
Posted: May 20, 2021 Filed under: Classes, Concord & 9th, Darkroom Door, online class, Penny Black | Tags: Concord & 9th, Darkroom Door stamps, distress markers, Karin brushmarkers, online class, Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress inks, sennelier watercolours 1 Comment
After months of work behind the scenes and a few weeks of hints here on the blog I am happy to open registration to my new online class FLORAL FAVES. As the name suggests this one is all about flowers; stamping them, painting them, arranging them (on paper) and turning them into card sized works of art.
Once again my videographer son Ben has filmed and edited while I have designed, uploaded and scripted the content which is now hosted on the Podia platform.
I hope you are inspired to join me in pairing your floral stamps to work with watercolour techniques. Every project is taught through video along with downloadable instructions, photos, tips and complete supply lists. We will work with different styles of stamps including background, outline, silhouette and brushstroke. We will pair all the favourite stamps with all the favourite mediums; dye inks, watercolour markers and watercolour paints .
As summer unfolds I’m sure you will be spending plenty of time outdoors, maybe in your garden, but when you need a quiet creative hour or two I hope you will join me in creating some bright and beautiful floral cards.
Registration is open now. Once registered you will have access to the introduction and supply pages. All the lesson content will be accessible on Wednesday May 26.
Click here to register or find out more about FLORAL FAVES
Rose Dance & a Giveaway
Posted: May 19, 2021 Filed under: A2 layers, Additional A2 layers, Papertrey Inks, Penny Black, rose dance, Waffle Flower | Tags: Papertrey ink, Penny Black stamps, Waffle Flower dies 48 Comments
When I first posted a card with the PB ‘rose dance‘ stamp I mentioned I’d been putting it to work with several techniques. To create this card I worked on hot pressed watercolour paper with papertrey ink cubes.
With the stamp and paper in the stamp positioner I inked the roses in ‘royal velvet’ and a few dabs of ‘pure poppy’ inks, spritzed then stamped. I used three different greens (listed below) for the leaves and stems. The papertrey ink cubes are fairly juicy to start with but with a spritz of water before stamping the ink is wet enough to blend into the petals and leaves.
When it came to putting the card together I decided to mix things up a little by cutting out the main image on an angle before adding some dimension with a few extra layers of cardstock. The Waffle Flower A2 layer dies and additional layer dies made it possible to cut the image from the panel, cut a scrap the same size to fit in the space and cut a slightly larger green mat before putting it back together. I pulled out an older PB sentiment set ‘kind words’ and stamped the message in dusty concord archival ink.
This technique is covered in lessons 2 of my new online class FLORAL FAVES. The lessons cover a range of my favourite techniques, some simple and elegant, others requiring more time and fine detail but all outlined clearly on video so they can become your favourites too! Registration opens tomorrow and I will have all the information in tomorrow’s blog post.
If you would like to win a place in the FLORAL FAVES class please comment below telling me one of your favourite flower stamps. I will randomly pick a winner and announce it here on the blog on Monday.
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Lilac & Fern
Posted: May 12, 2021 Filed under: fresh ferns, Karin brushmarkers, lovely lilacs, Penny Black | Tags: Fabriano Watercolour Paper, Karin brushmarkers, Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress inks 10 Comments
I don’t think I am alone in calling this stamp set a favourite. The two lilac stalks are pretty alone but with a sprig or two of fern they are delightful. I stamped this panel a while ago so the exact process is no longer firm in my memory but I do remember a crucial step which I will share with you.
I inked then stamped the lilacs with a mix of distress inks and Karin markers and the ferns with peeled paint distress ink. It looked ok but not the soft blended bunch I was after. I did like the combo of lilacs and ferns though so I thought I would dilute it all and see what happened. I didn’t spritz it; I drowned it. I dipped the whole panel in a bucket of water (the laundry is right beside my workroom) and watched a lot but not all of the colour drain away. The brightness of the peeled paint ink washed out but the olive stain remained. The lilacs washed out to a paler version of themselves and it was rather nice.
I re-inked the lilac stamps with the royal blue, lush green, henna and gold markers and stamped darker more distinct lilacs over the top. I have a friend who has had many successes with what she calls the ‘drowning’ method. It’s worth a try if your panel is not going in quite the direction you wanted; what have you got to lose? It’s only paper!
Although it is not quite ready yet my new online class, Floral Faves, is getting closer every day and I will be teaching techniques using your floral stamps to create card sized art works like the one above. I can’t wait to open the class and of course I will let you know as soon as it happens. Stay tuned!
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Pathway
Posted: May 7, 2021 Filed under: Karin brushmarkers, pathway, trailing | Tags: Karin brushmarkers, Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress inks, Tsukineko Versafine inks 6 Comments
I’ve taken a moody path for today’s card using the new PB ‘trailing’ stamp for some overhead foliage and the scenic PB stamp ‘pathway’ for the background image.
I inked both stamps with Karin brushmarkers, a brown, a green and a blue. I added a spritz of water before stamping both images and then did more blending with a brush of the pathway image on the panel. To add some background colour I blended stormy sky distress ink with a blending brush.
To complete the card I stamped the scripty thank you from PB ‘million thanks’ and a separate phrase from the PB ‘ever thanks’ both in versafine acorn ink.
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Simple Delight
Posted: May 5, 2021 Filed under: delight, Karin brushmarkers, Penny Black | Tags: Fabriano Watercolour Paper, Karin brushmarkers, Penny Black stamps 7 Comments
The colour scheme you see above is one of my favourites; I love pinks and blues and combinations of pink and blue. I also like green way more than I used to especially when paired with blue. I am talking about more than art and cardmaking; the clothes in my closet are blue, pink, burgandy, navy, white and combinations of the above!
I used Karin brushmarkers to both stamp and colour this panel featuring the PB ‘delight’ stamp; it’s a technique I often use and one that I teach in my new online class, Floral Faves. At the risk of boring you I am going to keep talking about my new class because I am very excited about it and very busy getting ready to launch it.
I used the following markers; magenta, lush green, henna, lilac, black, royal blue varying the greens with the help of the ‘henna’ marker to add more yellow tone. The stamp is a large one but I extended the edge of the ground even more with a few dots and dashes of green marker blended underneath with water. I kept this card design very clean with plenty of white space, the only added texture being the subtle border of the painted panel over a slightly larger card base in the same colour. I just felt the pretty colours were enough. To see a different look with the same stamp check out this card.
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2021 BuJo – May title page & to-do list
Posted: May 4, 2021 Filed under: Bullet Journal, Dingbat notebooks, Penny Black, Promise Me | Tags: Bullet Journal, Dingbats notebook, Penny Black creative dies, Ranger Distress inks, Staedtler watercolour brush pens 1 Comment
Each month I plan to post the theme for the next month just before the month starts. I even managed to finish this page a week before May 1st but didn’t get it photographed until this morning! Last month blossom was my theme and I am yet to see blossom in my garden, tulips however, have appeared. I only have one tulip that has survived the critters, it is a yellow-red mix and it is blooming at the moment.
To create my tulip panel I masked above and below with large post-it notes then die cut the tulips from masking paper using the PB ‘promise me 2’ die. Like my own tulip these ones are a mix of red and yellow.
I blended distress inks with blending brushes and got better at protecting the leaves while blending the flowers by the time I did the wish/to-do list page. I drew little stems in green then used the brush tip end of the staedtler brush pen to make the yellow tulip petals.
Just for interest I looked back over my Jan-April wish/to do lists to see how if I am managing to get things done. Most months I check off more than I don’t but never all. I have had my next online class as an item on every list this year and some months I made progress, others I didn’t due to how I was feeling and what other commitments I had. But great progress has been made in April and May so ‘FLORAL FAVES’ is coming!
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Tropical florescence
Posted: May 3, 2021 Filed under: Brutus Monroe, florescence, Penny Black | Tags: brutus monroe embossing powder, Fabriano Watercolour Paper, Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress inks 8 Comments
This is the second appearance of the beautiful hibiscus stamp from Penny Black (it’s called Florescence and it’s a stunner) and I’ve been working with it behind the scenes as I complete my next online class. To create this tropical look I smooshed worn lipstick and wild honey inks on my glass mat and spritzed water over them until they ran together then took a piece of hot pressed watercolor paper and swiped it through the diluted inks. To get good coverage and blends I tilted and spritzed more water on the panel then left it to dry.
With the panel in a stamp positioner I inked the large hibiscus and buds with worn lipstick ink stamped then inked the rest of the stamp with antique linen so I could see the whole image for some no-line watercolour. I painted one petal at a time with worn lipstick ink adding more towards the center of the flower. For the buds I used a mix of worn lipstick and wild honey.
For the leaves I stamped and painted with rustic wilderness distress and sometimes added worn lipstick to the blend so I’d have variation in the leaf colours.
That little sentiment seemed to lend itself to the tropical, surf shop vibe so I stamped once in worn lipstick, then moved the panel ever so slightly down so I could stamp again in white to create a drop shadow look. I definitely dried it and used an anti static tool before sprinkling the white embossing powder over the words otherwise it could have all ended up white.
I’m so excited to have another online class in the works; the projects are all filmed so it’s editing time, supply list creating time and intro filming time. I’ll have more details, dates and sneak peaks for you soon!
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Garden fresh
Posted: April 28, 2021 Filed under: garden fresh, scripty | Tags: distress markers, Fabriano Watercolour Paper, Papertrey ink, Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress inks, Stampin Up 7 Comments
Inspiration for today’s card came from a watercolour artist I saw on Instagram. Her name is Garima Srivastava and she paints loads of florals sometimes in cute little jars and vases. I saw one of her paintings then pulled out the new Penny Black ‘garden fresh’ clear set to create my own little trio.
I stamped on hot press watercolour paper with Papertrey soft stone ink, a pale grey that works well for no line watercolour. To paint inside the outline images I used a mix of distress inks and markers, sometimes picking up smooshed ink off my glass mat, other times inking the stamp with a marker to add some definition.
To finish the panel I stamped a sentiment from the new PB ‘ever thanks’ set in versafine clair morning mist ink then popped it up over the embossed mat made with one of my new embossing folders. (SU ‘scripty’). I’m looking forward to filling jars and jugs with flowers. Right now the daffodils are making a fine effort but a little too sparse to cut any for indoors.
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Heather Telford 