Let it snow
Posted: October 30, 2014 Filed under: Joyous Wishes, Prancers, Snow Drops | Tags: Penny Black creative dies, Penny Black stamps, Tsukineko Memento inks 14 Comments
Snow is in our weather forecast for the next few days; I don’t imagine there will be as much as in the card above but who knows?
I know I keep mentioning the “panels already splattered with masking fluid” that I have sitting around on my craft table. There are a couple of reasons I have extras on hand, one is that the fluid takes at least 20 minutes to dry properly so it is good to have one ready for when inspiration strikes. Also I have several different sizes of watercolour blocks now so when I splatter the masking fluid on a block I can end up with quite a few card-sized panels. This panel was generously splattered with masking fluid, both tiny dots and larger ones. I ended up working with just one ink, Memento Nautical blue. I brayered the ink over the masking fluid, a method which gives each dot softer edges, a different effect to that created with sponging ink or watercolouring. I brayered from one edge only and the blue faded out toward the opposite edge of the panel making it the perfect place to stamp some trees with first, second and third generation stamping. After stamping the trees I spritzed the bottom of the card once so there is a little bit of blur around the trees.
I decided on a die cut sentiment so it would stand out and ended up cutting two and stacking them together. When trimmed the panel was a bit narrower than my usual card size so rather than trim the card base I matted with white and popped the panel up over little die cut snow flakes from the Snow drops die.
Supplies:
Stamps: Prancers (PB)
Creative Dies: Joyous Wishes, Snow Drops (PB)
Inks: Memento Nautical Blue (Imagine Craft/Tsukineko)
Cardstock: Neenah Solar White 110lb cardstock,
Also: Winsor & Newton masking fluid
Ski Hill
Posted: October 24, 2014 Filed under: CAS, Prancers, World of Wishes | Tags: Penny Black creative dies, Penny Black stamps 6 Comments
This tall and narrow scene reminds me of a ski run, albeit a fairly narrow one! I created this on a scrap of watercolour paper already splattered with masking fluid. Once again I am not entirely sure of the inks I used but I will list what I think they were in the supply list below. I used a half inch punch to create a circle mask for the moon and masked the hills one by one as I went down the panel. After painting the sky in chipped sapphire and broken china distress stain I stamped dark blue trees onto the damp sky area to end up with very watery trees. I then moved my mask and stamped more trees then painted some diluted broken china stain around them to blur the images and extend the edge of the snow bank. I did the same for the last two tree sections. When I had finished the panel was very blue and did not have enough contrast or variety of colour so I added some brown ink to the trunks of the trees.
To finish I rubbed off the masking fluid, matted in Periwinkle mix&match cardstock and added the die cut sentiment. I think the sentiment is a bit too big for the narrow panel so I would use something smaller if I did a similar layout again.
Supplies:
Stamps: Prancers (PB)
Creative Dies: World of Wishes (PB)
Inks: Broken China, Chipped Sapphire distress stains & Chipped Sapphire, Vintage Photo distress ink (Ranger)
Cardstock: Periwinkle Mix & Match (PB), Neenah Avon Brilliant white 110lb cardstock, Fabriano 100% cotton hot pressed watercolour paper
Also: Grafix frisket film, Winsor & Newton masking fluid
Winter Song
Posted: October 22, 2014 Filed under: Watercolour, Winter Song | Tags: Faber-Castell Albrecht Durer Watercolour pencils, Fabriano Watercolour Paper, Penny Black stamps 10 Comments
It’s a winter watercolour week on the Penny Black blog and here is my contribution. This little scene works well as a watercolour with all that sky needing colour. I decided on a limited palette of blue, purple, black and grey with just a touch of mustard on the chickadee’s feet.
I started by stamping “Winter Song” on watercolour paper in versafine onyx black, a pigment ink which won’t bleed when I start adding water. Next I splattered some masking fluid on the paper and let it dry. Using an Indianthrene Blue #247 watercolour pencil colour I shaded all the sky area then blended the colour with a water brush. I tried to avoid colouring in the little white circles but some were too small. Next I started adding Delft Blue #141 by taking colour from the pencil tip with a waterbrush. Using the same colour and brush, I painted above the snow banks blending from dark to light up the panel. I also added both blues to the bottom of the panel with a brush. I painted the bird with colour from black #99, medium grey #97 and gold ochre #183 pencils. The trees on the left hand side looked too flat so I painted shading on one side of tree trunks with colour from medium grey # 97 pencil.
When all the watercolouring was dry I rubbed off the masking fluid and used a white gel pen to draw in any tiny branches or circles that were painted over. I matted with black, then periwinkle cardstock and attached it to a white card base to create a 5″x 5.5″ card. You can’t see in the photo but I did add a little shimmer to the snowflakes with a clear wink of stella pen.
Supplies:
Stamps: Winter Song (PB)
Inks: Versafine Onyx Black (Tsukineko)
Pencils: Albrecht Durer Watercolour pencils Indianthrene Blue #247, Delft Blue #141, Black #99, Medium grey #97 , Gold ochre #183 (Faber Castell)
Cardstock: Penny Black Periwinkle mix & match paper, Fabriano 100% cotton hot pressed watercolour paper, Neenah Natural White 110lb cardstock, Black
Also: Winsor & Newton masking fluid, Signo white gel pen, clear Wink of Stella pen
Moonlit Forest
Posted: October 20, 2014 Filed under: Nature's Friend, No Card Left Behind, Stamped Landscapes | Tags: Fabriano Watercolour Paper, Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress stains 16 Comments
As you can see I am still creating super moons! This time the moon is lighting up a snowy pass through the forest. I have only skied by moonlight once. It was beautiful, cold, but beautiful. This scene reminds me of that moonlit ski because there seems to be a pass between the trees. When I went the moon was nowhere near as big as the one above but it gave us enough light that we could see the trails without headlamps most of the time.
The moon for this panel was masked with frisket film but I have discovered that, for watercolouring, low tack film does not do the trick like extra tack frisket film. I have tried both now and extra tack seals better without damaging the paper. The brand I have tried is Grafix; I am sure there are other brands available but I was able to order both low tack and extra tack from DeSerres. I positioned the large moon mask on watercolour paper that already had some masking fluid flicked over it. I also placed a frisket mask across the bottom of the panel to cover the snowy foreground. I painted Victorian Velvet and Chipped Sapphire distress stains over the whole sky area and spritzed pearl-ex spray (interference gold) over the panel to blend the colours. When I peeled off the moon mask I discovered some of the stain had seeped under the mask (low tack frisket film) so the moon was no longer a circle. I decided to keep going regardless of my wonky moon and stamp the trees to reveal only part of the moon. The tree is from the “Nature’s Friend” set and is a solid silhouette. As you can see the trees are sharper over the moon area, which was dry, and more blended and watery where the paper was damp from the stain and spray. I inked just the top of the tree with a paint brush to stamp the shadowy tops of trees in the distance.
In the foreground I painted a couple of lines of stain then blended with water to make the colour fade out. I wish you could see the shimmery sheen from the pearl-ex spray over the whole sky and tree area. It is really rather pretty and has a gold tint which is why I chose a gold mat and thread to finish the card. The simple sentiment is from the same set as the tree.
Supplies:
Stamps: Nature’s Friend (PB)
Inks: Victorian Velvet, Chipped Sapphire distress stains & Chipped Sapphire distress ink (Ranger)
Cardstock: Navy Cardstock, Gold cardstock, Fabriano 100% cotton hot pressed watercolour paper
Also: Grafix frisket film, Winsor & Newton masking fluid, scanfil metallic gold thread, Interference gold Pearl-ex powder mixed with water to make a spray.
Harvest Moon
Posted: October 16, 2014 Filed under: Etched Branches, Nature's Gifts, No Card Left Behind, Stamped Landscapes, Watercolour | Tags: Fabriano Watercolour Paper, Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress stains 17 Comments
The lovely foliage stamps in the new Penny Black release are perfect for creating stamped landscapes. There are some new transparent sets as well as a couple of slapstick cling stamps that I will use winter, spring, summer and fall. Both these cards are very simple in design using only one foliage stamp to suggest the landscape.
The card above was a “no card left behind” project as it didn’t go quite as planned. I decided to paint a watercolour moon inside a negative mask cut from frisket film. The aperture was wider than the moon you see above. After I had painted the moon in golden orange distress stains I dried it completely (or so I thought). I swapped the negative mask covering the moon for the circle mask which left the rest of the sky to be painted in darker tones. When I started painting the darker distress stains onto the paper the colours seeped in under the mask. They didn’t spread over the whole moon just around the edges. When I removed the mask it did not look like a realistic moon any more. To save my scene I cut a smaller moon mask, stuck that over the watermarked moon then sponged a darker sky around it to cover the seepage. I finished the scene by stamping the branches from “Nature’s Gifts” several times across the bottom and tying on a little tag.
Having learnt from experience I placed the mask on dry unpainted watercolour paper for the panel below. I painted the sky with distress stains and there was no seepage. (I will do more experimenting with the frisket film and let you know what I discover) When I removed the mask the moon was too white and flat so I painted and sponged some pale yellow and brown ink around it until it looked more realistic. I stamped the gorgeous etched branches across the base in black to complete my scene.
Both cards are around 5 inches square so I have been having fun with a friend’s envelope maker making custom envelopes out of pretty designer paper in my stash from long ago.
These cards make me think of one of my favourite songs, Helpless, by Neil Young. It’s the line, Yellow moon on the rise that keeps popping into my head. I have liked that song for many years. Little did I know as a teenager back in Australia I would one day live in Ontario (also mentioned in the song) and see Neil Young in concert twice. Do you ever get inspired by songs or performers? I know Ardyth has a thing for David Bowie but I’m definitely more of a Neil Young girl!
Supplies
Stamps: Natures Gifts, Etched Branches, Special Wishes (PB)
Inks: Ripe Persimmon, Spiced Marmalade, Mustard seed, Vintage Photo, Antique Linen distress stains & Wild Honey, Spiced Marmalade, Vintage Photo, Black Soot distress inks(Ranger)
Cardstock: Neenah Natural White 110lb, Fabriano 100% cotton hot pressed watercolour paper, rust cardstock
Autumn Collage
Posted: October 14, 2014 Filed under: Background Stamps, Lush & Lavish 5 Comments
This is one of those cards I began without a clear plan of where I was going. I had a piece of natural white cardstock with masking fluid already splattered on it. I inked several of the leaf stamps from the ‘Lush & Lavish’ set with distress stains, spritzed them and stamped them on the panel randomly. I then sponged Wild Honey, Spiced Marmalade and Vintage Photo distress inks over almost all the panel leaving a patch of light near the middle. I splattered a little ink around too. At this point it didn’t look finished so I stamped the branch from ‘Lush and Lavish’ twice then removed the masking fluid.
I decided to add only part of a sentiment stamp; I can stamp the rest of the sentiment inside the card. I was fairly happy with it after making the dark leaves the feature but it still wasn’t quite there. When a panel “isn’t quite there” there is one stamp I always reach for: Letter background! That was all it needed. I matted with a rust coloured card stock then attached it to a natural white base. I am surrounded by autumn inspiration at present; I’ve been out a couple of times with my camera taking photos of the gorgeous colours.
Supplies
Stamps: Lush & Lavish, Letter Background, Special Wishes (PB)
Inks: Ripe Persimmon, Spiced Marmalade distress stains & Wild Honey, Spiced Marmalade, Vintage Photo distress inks(Ranger)
Cardstock: Neenah Natural White 110lb, Fabriano 100% cotton hot pressed watercolour paper, brown cardstock
Winter Woodland Wonder
Posted: October 13, 2014 Filed under: Woodland Wonder | Tags: Penny Black stamps, Tsukineko Memento inks 13 Comments
Woodland Wonder is another gorgeous stamp from the new Penny Black release. It is lovely to use in a winter scene but, like ‘Etched Branches‘ in my last post, I will be using all year I’m sure.
I used sponging and embossing for this scene, stamping the image first in versamark then again in versafine onyx black ink before embossing in clear powder. I used a paintbrush to paint some masking fluid on a few branches and splattered a few spots here and there before moving on to the sponging. I started with the sky, sponging it in Memento Summer Sky ink then masked over both the sky and the foreground to sponge Memento Nautical blue mountains. I sponged over the edge of a curved mask a couple of times in the foreground to create the appearance of snow banks. To finish I removed the masking fluid and matted in both black and white cardstock. The little silver snowflake is a charm my friend Lorraine gave me last year when I was ‘shopping her stash’ in Washington. It is held in place by some silver cord.
Happy Thanksgiving to all my Canadian readers; we are enjoying some lovely sunny skies and beautiful autumn colours in Ottawa this weekend. Later today we will be enjoying some roast turkey. I have so much to be thankful for, not the least of which are my generous and faithful blog readers.
Supplies:
Stamps: Woodland Wonder, Amazing (PB)
Inks: Memento Nautical Blue, Summer Sky, Versamark, Versafine onyx black (Imagine Craft/Tsukineko)
Cardstock: Neenah Solar White 110lb cardstock, Neenah black 100lb cardstock
Also: clear embossing powder, silver cord, silver snowflake charm
Moon on the rise
Posted: October 10, 2014 Filed under: Etched Branches | Tags: Fabriano Watercolour Paper, Penny Black creative dies, Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress stains 18 Comments
‘Etched Branches’ is a beautiful new stamp from Penny Black`s latest release ‘Winter Wonderland’. I used it to make a ‘moonrise’ scene but I can see myself placing it in a snowy scene very soon.
I used frisket film to mask the moon on watercolour paper. The film is new to me but I will be using it when I’m watercolouring and getting the paper quite wet. Post-it notes and masking paper can get too soggy if I apply a lot of water to the edges. After positioning the moon mask I painted the sky in stripes of pink and purple using the distress stains listed below. I let them dry a bit then painted more water and stain over the colours this created the watermarked edges which look a bit like clouds. I removed the mask and painted a few wisps of cloud over the moon area. I stamped ‘Etched Branches’ in Versafine Onyx black ink then sponged the land below the coloured sky in purple grey and black. To complete the card I matted in white and added branches in purple and black cut with the ‘Natures Song’ die.
I was up a bit earlier than usual this morning to start on a birthday breakfast for my 14 year old and the sky was very pretty in pink and orange. The view from my kitchen is obscured by branches like those in the scene above but also by power lines which are not quite so picturesque.
Stamps: Etched Branches (PB)
Creative Dies: Nature’s Song (PB)
Inks: Victorian Velvet, Spiced Marmalade, Dusty Concord distress stains & Dusty Concord distress ink (Ranger) Memento London Fog, Tuxedo Black (Tsukineko)
Cardstock: Neenah Black 100lb, Neenah Avon Brilliant White, Fabriano 100% cotton hot pressed watercolour paper
Time Out Challenge
Posted: October 9, 2014 Filed under: Wishes, Wondrous | Tags: Penny Black creative dies, Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress stains 28 Comments
I am honoured to be a guest at Time Out Challenges today. The card above is the inspiration for their current challenge. When I designed this card over a month ago I was not seeing such lovely colours in the local leaves, but now they are looking beautiful. To created the blended mass of leaves above I stamped with distress stains and distress inks on watercolour paper. I used yellow, orange and green and each time I stamped repeatedly without reinking the stamp. Once I had a tangle of leaves stamped I then spritzed the paper and watched the clean edges of the image blur and blend. I used a waterbrush to fill in some of the leaves with the stain they were stamped in. When all was dry I sponged orange and yellow around the edges leaving a white area to look like the light shining through. My sentiment is three die cuts glued together, a process I find fiddly but I like the 3D result.
I hope you do take time out to visit the Time Out Challenge Blog to see what their design team came up with and to get inspired to participate yourself. I am looking forward to visiting through out the next two weeks while the challenge lasts.
Stamps: Wondrous (PB)
Creative Dies: Wishes (PB)
Inks: Mustard Seed, Spiced Marmalade, Peeled Paint distress stains & Spiced Marmalade distress ink (Ranger) Memento Dandelion ink (Tsukineko)
Cardstock: Neenah Avon Brilliant White 110lb, Fabriano 100% cotton hot pressed watercolour paper
Square snowscape
Posted: October 6, 2014 Filed under: Prancers, Stamped Landscapes | Tags: Penny Black stamps, Tsukineko Memento inks 15 Comments
I don’t create many square cards but the symmetry can be very pleasing. I made this little snow scape on a scrap of cardstock which I had previously splattered with masking fluid. The panel was Neenah solar white cardstock not watercolour paper so I refrained from watercolouring and created my night sky and snowy hills and gullies by sponging instead.
I cut a post-it mask for the horizon and punched a little circle mask for the moon then sponged both summer sky and nautical blue memento inks across the sky. Before removing the horizon mask I stamped a row of trees on the left hand side. I cut and positioned a different mask, stamped a couple more trees and then sponged over the edge of the mask. For the last two trees I just used part of a mask to create a few dips in the snow. (I have a tutorial here showing now I create snowscapes with sponging and masking fluid)
To finish I ran the nautical blue sponge around the edge to frame the panel, added some highlights to the edges of a few snow banks and trees with a clear wink of stella pen and stamped my sentiment in nautical blue. When the ink was dry I rubbed the masking fluid off to reveal little white snowflakes.
Thanks for your encouragement to keep on stamping with the Prancers set. You know I will!
Supplies:
Stamps: Prancers, Joy Filled (PB)
Inks: Memento Nautical Blue, Summer Sky (Imagine Craft/Tsukineko)
Cardstock: Neenah Solar White 110lb cardstock
Also: Winsor & Newton masking fluid, Clear wink of stella pen
Heather Telford 