Stencilled Trees

You know I have said before, ‘You can never have too many tree stamps!’ Well if you find yourself running short you can always make a few tree stencils to help you through that difficult time. I was happy to see some new tree dies in the latest release from Penny Black and decided to make my own stencil by die-cutting a row of trees using two different sized tree dies.

I used a piece of Plaid stencil plastic and cut a row of trees with the die from ‘Nature’s Beauty’ set and a smaller tree from the ‘Tiny Tree‘ set. I sponged a gradated sky with two blue inks then sponged two greens through the stencil. I was going to spritz the images quite generously to make the colours bleed together but I decided to stop after a couple of spritzes because the watermarks and texture from the paper already looked interesting. I diecut a single tree from the stencil plastic also so I could sponge isolated trees then painted the shadows of the snow drifts around them. The foreground tree was sponged and spritzed the same way then die cut and popped up on some die cut fun foam for added dimension.

I decided to inlay the word Joy which was not a brilliant idea because I had already attached the thick watercolour paper to the green cardstock mat and die cutting an intricate word ended up being rather tricky.

Supplies:
Dies: Nature’s Beauty, Tiny Tree, Greetings (PB)
Inks: Memento Northern Pine, Cottage Ivy, Summer Sky, Danube Blue (Imagine Craft/Tsukineko)
Cardstock: Cold Pressed Canson, Green cardstock
Also: fun foam, Plaid stencil blank

Sunset Tree

Posted: October 28, 2015 | Author: Heather | Filed under: Joy to All | Tags: Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress stains, Tsukineko Versafine inks | 14 Comments

Last week Penny Black released the Winter Romance collection of stamps and dies. I went for a romantic sunset look on today’s card and used the new tree from the transparent set ‘Joy to All’. (At the same time I stamped the tree on several different panels and used different colouring techniques so you will be seeing it again before too long.)

I began with a panel splattered with masking fluid taped to a board to prevent it from warping once it got wet. I stamped the tree stamp with brown ink then, when it was dry, painted some masking fluid above some of the branches where snow would accumulate. I used pink and blue distress stains to paint both the sky and snow drifts then stamped the trees on the horizon while the sky was still wet so they would be look soft and distant. Some of the brown ink did bleed into the sky as I painted which doesn’t bother me but if you wanted to prevent that you could stamp the tree with pigment ink .

Supplies:

Stamps: Joy to All, Season’s gifts (PB)
Inks: Tumbled Glass, Worn Lipstick distress stains, Vintage Photo, Stormy sky distress inks (Ranger) Vintage SepiaVersafine ink (Tsukineko)
Cardstock: Canson 100% cotton hot pressed watercolour paper, Kazzazz blue cardstock
Also: Winsor & Newton masking fluid

Snowy Stamping

Posted: October 26, 2015 | Author: Heather | Filed under: Snow time, Winter moments | Tags: Penny Black creative dies, Penny Black stamps, Tsukineko Memento inks | 8 Comments

Last week Penny Black released ‘Winter Romance’, a sweet new collection of snowy stamps and dies. I have featured both a new stamp and a fresh die sets on today’s card. I chose to use a technique I haven’t done in a while to make a crisp wintry scene. If you look closely you can see a dusting of snow on top of the hedge. To create this look you need a stamp positioning tool. I used the MISTI (of course) but when I first dreamed up this technique I used a stamp-a-ma-jig.

I stamped the hedge first in versamark on white cardstock then, with the help of the MISTI I stamped the hedge again ever-so-slightly lower in green ink. Next I embossed the hedge with clear powder. I brayered the sky with two blue inks, first the lighter ‘Summer Sky’ then the darker ‘Nautical Blue’. The embossed hedge resisted the ink revealing the fine snowy edge. I splattered white wink of stella over the sky to look like snow or stars then added the four snowflakes cut with the new ‘snow time’ set.

Supplies:

Stamps: Winter moments (PB)
Dies: Snow Time (PB)
Inks: Versamark, Memento Northern Pine, Summer Sky, Nautical Blue (Imagine Craft/Tsukineko)
Markers: White Wink of Stella (Kuretake)
Cardstock: Neenah Solar White 110lb
Also: clear embossing powder

Filigree Tree

Posted: October 24, 2015 | Author: Heather | Filed under: Christmas story, Filigrees | Tags: Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress stains | 8 Comments

It’s time to break the blog silence with some emboss resist and a pretty filigree tree. I created this card quite some time ago and it has been sitting around waiting its turn. The filigree tree was embossed with clear embossing powder on watercolour paper. The surrounding colour is distress stain painted on and tilted to blend. Once it was dry I added some clear wink of stella to the central sections of the tree for a little sparkle. I then ironed the panel which both flattened it and melted the embossing powder into a piece of printer paper. It doesn’t look that different to an embossed image but surface is smooth so it looks deceivingly clever 😉 To complete the card I added a white mat and a purple border. I also used a large Christmas word background to stamp a tone on tone pattern on the purple cardstock.

If you have been thinking about Christmas cards already you might be interested in participating in the Caring Hearts Card drive. You can find the relevant details here. There are contact details for getting involved in USA, Canada and Australia on Vera Yate’s blog.

Thanks for dropping in; have a great weekend.

Supplies:

Stamps: Filigrees, Christmas Story (PB)
Inks: Salty Ocean, Pine Needles, Dusty Concord distress stains inks (Ranger) Versafine ink (Tsukineko)
Cardstock: Canson 100% cotton hot pressed watercolour paper, Neenah solar white, purple cardstock
Also: clear embossing powder, clear wink of stella

Warm toned leaves

Posted: October 16, 2015 | Author: Heather | Filed under: Bister, Lush & Lavish | Tags: Bister, Fabriano Watercolour Paper, Penny Black creative dies, Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress stains | 4 Comments

Here are the warm toned leaves I promised in contrast to the cool toned ones I posted a few days ago. Ottawa is enjoying fabulous colours this year; the yellows appeared first but now the orange and reds have joined in and they really are amazing.

Today’s loose and somewhat messy card reminds me of a leaf pile; we have had some pretty impressive ones over the years. Once again I created my panel in a couple of layers, starting with some orange toned leaves stamped onto wet watercolour paper. The leaf images bled in all directions creating the blurry shapes you see in the background. When they were dry I stamped with reds and browns and used a brush to fill in the leaves. I also sprinkled brown bister which ended up separating into black and brown with a few red and blue spots as well. When it was all dry I splattered some gold dots over the panel with a wink of luna pen. To complete the card I cut the ‘thank you’ sentiment out of both the panel and a piece of red cardstock so I could do an inlay to match the mat.

Are you raking leaves or have you yet to start like us?

Supplies

Stamps: Lush & Lavish (Penny Black)
Dies: Stylish Gratitude (Penny Black)
Inks: Rusty Hinge, Mustard Seed, Spiced Marmalade, Barn Door distress stains (Ranger)
Cardstock:Fabriano hot pressed 100% cotton hot pressed watercolour paper
Also: Gold wink of luna pen, brown bister powder

Fancy Foliage

Posted: October 14, 2015 | Author: Heather | Filed under: Foliage Fancy | Tags: Kuretake Zig clean color real brush markers, Penny Black stamps, Periscope, Tsukineko Versafine inks | 7 Comments

I can’t leave the leaves alone! I am very much a seasonal stamper when choosing my themes, colours and images. Of course I do stamp Christmas and winter images before the season arrives and spring designs are needed before the snow melts but when looking for inspiration I often choose what I see outside.

I embossed these leaves and watercoloured inside with Zig clean color real brush markers, two different reds and a brown. I coloured randomly and roughly then blended the colours with a waterbrush. I also added gold wink of stella to the mix and blended that with water. This gave the leaves a warm shimmery sheen which you can just see in the photo. (I shared the colouring and blending on a periscope here)

When it was all dry I coloured round the edges of the leaves with a grey clean color marker and blended that out with water also. To finish the card I matted with burgandy and added some gold thread and a sentiment.

Thank you for the kind words about my wrist; it turns out it is arthritis at the base of my thumb so I will be looking for ways to work smarter with both time and tools to ease the stress on the joint 😦

Supplies:

Stamps: Foliage Fancy, Sprinkles and Smiles (PB)
Inks: Versafine Crimson Red (Imagine Craft/Tsukineko)
Markers: Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers, Gold Wink of Stella (Kuretake)
Cardstock: Neenah Natural White 110lb, Canson 100% cotton hot pressed watercolour paper, textured burgandy cardstock
Also: clear embossing powder, gold embroidery thread

Cool tone leaves

Posted: October 13, 2015 | Author: Heather | Filed under: Bister, Filigree Foliage | Tags: Bister, Fabriano Watercolour Paper, Tsukineko Memento inks | 10 Comments

As you can see I haven’t put away the Filigree Foliage set. This time I didn’t paint out the filigree pattern as I have on previous cards; I kept it for a more decorative look. These colours reflect what is in my yard right now. There are plenty of yellow leaves floating down but the deep red ones are holding back.

I created this panel in layers starting by wetting the paper and stamping a few green leaves which then blended into the background laying down colour without leaving distinct shapes. When that had dried a little I stamped again in greens and mustard, spritzed some more water and also sprinkled some bister powder. Finally I stamped with water to create a few very pale impressions which picked up some of the bister lying around. I realise some of my stamped images are incomplete, some are distinct, others are blurred which is not everyone’s preference. I like to let the water and inks bleed and blend a little for some unique effects.

I’ll be back soon with some warm toned leaves. Thanks for dropping by.

Supplies

Thanksgiving mini cards

Posted: October 12, 2015 | Author: Heather | Filed under: Filigree Foliage | Tags: Canson watercolour paper, Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress stains, Tsukineko Versafine inks | 9 Comments

Happy Thanksgiving to all the Canadians; chances are you are enjoying leaves in pretty colours like I am these days. I keep reaching for the filigree leaves set at the moment because it has six lovely leaves which can be stamped simply to feature the pretty filigree patterns or used as I have here to stamp an outline which can be painted for a more realistic leaf look.

My process for creating these three mini cards was as follows. I masked a square on cold pressed watercolour paper then inked the leaf stamps with two or three distress stains. I stamped then used a paintbrush to blend the colour and fill the leaf. Where necessary I added water but I worked quickly enough to mainly just move the stain. When the leaf dried I splattered some stain over the top and once that dried sponged a little ink around the perimeter to frame the leaf. (I did film myself on periscope using this technique and these stamps. Please be aware that the quality on periscope is not like youtube but you can get the idea of this process at the beginning of the broadcast)

Each card is 4″x4.5″ and the squares have 2 7/8″ sides and are popped up on fun foam.

I stamped the sentiment with versafine inks rather than distress because they do such a good job with fine lines.

I hope you are having a wonderful day; thanks for visiting.

Supplies

Color Burst Birthday

Posted: October 10, 2015 | Author: Heather | Filed under: Color Burst, Oodles of Love | Tags: color burst, Penny Black creative dies | 15 Comments

It was my son’s birthday yesterday so I wanted to make a card he hadn’t seen rather than reach into the stash. Unfortunately I am dealing with a sore wrist/hand/thumb at present and of course holding pens, paintbrushes, scissors seems to be the worst thing for it. I needed a technique which didn’t require me to over use the right hand. Working with color burst powder was great because it creates its own magic with the help of some spritzed water. I should have stamped a single sentiment instead of stacking die cuts though.

I created the coloured panel one powder colour at a time by spritzing water, then dropping powder. I tried to take it slowly so I could see how much each colour was going to react before I added the next spritz or sprinkle. I love the way the larger drops of water have their own darker border and then there is a fine splatter of colour around them.

Supplies:
Creative dies: Oodles of love (Penny Black)
Inks: Color burst watercolour powders(Ken Oliver)
Cardstock: Canson hot pressed watercolour paper, Neenah epic black cardstock
Also: Stick it adhesive sheet (Ken Oliver)

Brush Pines tag card

Posted: October 9, 2015 | Author: Heather | Filed under: Brush Pines | Tags: Penny Black creative dies, Penny Black stamps, Tsukineko Memento inks | 5 Comments

The Penny Black designers are playing with tags again and have added them to cards this time. I chose the ‘brush pines’ stamp and some cold-pressed watercolour paper for my layered pinecones card. I stamped the pine cones several times so I would have extra images for the tags. I also stamped a few times without re-inking to create paler impressions. The ink was applied with Memento markers and blended with water to soften and spread the colours. I die cut the tags with the smaller die from the ‘tagged’ set popped them up over the stamped panel.

Supplies:
Stamps: Brush Pines, Believe (PB)
Dies: Tagged (PB)
Inks: Memento teal zeal, cottage ivy, rhubarb stalk, rich cocoa markers, versafine vintage sepia ink (Tsukineko), gathered twigs distress markers (Ranger)
Cardstock: Canson cold pressed watercolor paper
Also: green grosgrain ribbon