Snowy Hillside

Posted: August 11, 2015 | Author: Heather | Filed under: Tannenbaum | Tags: Penny Black creative dies, Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress stains | 9 Comments

The fun continues on the Penny Black blog today with more new dies on display. I have another new die featured on today’s card; ‘Joyous Season’ will be available along with the remainder of the new release on August 25th.

I made my little scene with the Tannenbaum stamp again, inking with both green and blue stains and painting the sky and snowdrifts with lighter blue stains. My watercolour paper was splattered with masking fluid before I began and then rubbed off when all the ink was dry. Because I was mounting the panel on a dark blue card base I decided to die cut the sentiment straight out of the panel. It is barely noticeable in the photo but I went over the revealed blue letters with a clear wink of stella marker to give them a little sparkle.

Supplies:
Stamps: Tannenbaum (PB)
Creative Dies: Joyous Season (PB)
Inks: Chipped Sapphire, Pine Needles, Tumbled Glass, Broken China, Vintage Photo distress stains(Ranger)
Cardstock: Canson 100% cotton hot pressed watercolour paper

Tannenbaum trio

Posted: August 6, 2015 | Author: Heather | Filed under: Stamped Landscapes, Tannenbaum | Tags: Bister, Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress stains | 10 Comments

I had a look through my supply of Christmas stamps this week to find some tree stamps to experiment with. I love the ‘before the snow’ tree but it is nice to mix things up a little. Someone said at my class tonight, “You can never have too many tree stamps,” an opinion I entirely agree with. The tree stamp above comes with a decorative topper which I surgically removed ( don’t worry, I kept it in case I need it). I stamped each tree with distress stain first then painted over the stamping with a paintbrush. Next I added some bister and stamped again with water. I did the other trees the same way but varied the original stamping colour so the trees would all look a bit different. The bister moves differently each time which makes the trees more interesting. I painted some water below the trees and added bister powder to create snow banks. Often I will add blue for the sky and a sentiment but I was happy with this one the way it was so I didn’t risk messing it up with further stamping or painting.

By the way there is a brand new challenge on One Layer Simplicity hosted by our talented team member, Karen Dunbrook. It is called Strip Down, you had better check it out to find out exactly what’s required!

Supplies:
Stamps: Tannenbaum (PB)
Inks: Evergreen Bough, Forest Moss, Vintage Photo, Gathered Twigs distress stains/marker (Ranger)
Cardstock: Canson 100% cotton hot pressed watercolour paper & Green card
Also: Blue and Green bistre powder

Merry! Already?

Posted: August 5, 2014 | Author: Heather | Filed under: A Pocket Full, Flourish Holly, Footnotes, Shades, Tannenbaum, Textures | Tags: Fabriano Watercolour Paper, Penny Black creative dies, Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress inks | 5 Comments

I know. It’s only August but I imagine many of you have been creating Christmas cards since… well, Christmas! I have only just started and believe me I find it hard to stamp snow in summer. There is however a very good reason for this little bit of merry. Penny Black is releasing their new Christmas Collection next week so the team are getting you in the mood for Christmas stamping by pulling out a few favourites from last year.

This tree was definitely a favourite of mine last year. (it’s here, here and here). For this little trio of notebook pages I inked it with distress inks, stamped it on watercolour paper, spritzed the image to make the colour bleed and added a little music in the background. I did the same with the holly stamp but added canvas in the background. The third notebook page and the sentiment banner repeated the colours in the two picture panels to tie it all together.

The sentiment banner is my first attempt at inlaid diecuts. (There is one in yesterday’s card but this was my first go) I cut the word merry from light green and a dark green piece of cardstock. I placed a piece of tape behind the dark green negative piece then ran it through the diecut machine again with the banner die. Because the tape was in place it held together. I then pressed the light green “Merry” onto the tape and snipped the exposed tape from above the ‘M’ and the loop of the ‘y’.

How is your Christmas card pile going? Have you started? Have you finished! Counting this one I think I might have thirteen completed.

Supplies:
Stamps: Tannenbaum, Flourish Holly, Textures, Footnotes (PB)
Inks: Antique Linen, Forest Moss, Salty Ocean, Barn Door Distress Inks (Ranger)
Cardstock: Fabriano 100% cotton hot pressed watercolour paper, Olive Grove mix & match papers, Neenah Natural White 110lb card stock
Creative Dies: A Pocket Full, Shades, Love & Joy

Noel

Posted: December 24, 2013 | Author: Heather | Filed under: Stamped Landscapes, Tannenbaum, Watercolour | Tags: Fabriano Watercolour Paper, Penny Black stamps, Tsukineko Memento inks | 22 Comments

I would like to wish you a wonderful Christmas. Thank you for visiting here and encouraging me with your comments. I appreciate all the kind words, I am happy to answer questions when I can and yes, I am hoping to make some tutorials in the new year! I have met many lovely people through blogging, most only in the virtual world but some I have been privileged to meet in person. I hope to get to know more of you in the year to come.

I pray that you will know the peace that Jesus can give this Christmas and that you will experience God’s blessing in your life in the new year.

Then let us all with one accord
Sing praises to our heavenly Lord,
That hath made heaven and earth of nought,
And with his blood mankind has bought.
Noel, Noel, Noel, Noel,
Born is the King of Israel.

Supplies:
Stamps: Tannenbaum, Noel (PB)
Inks: Memento Cottage Ivy, Summer Sky, Danube Blue, Love Letter & Versafine Majestic Blue (Tsukineko)
Cardstock: Fabriano 100% cotton hot pressed watercolour paper
Also: Winsor & Newton Masking Fluid

Instructions for a similar scene

Watercolour Snowstorm

Posted: December 13, 2013 | Author: Heather | Filed under: Stamped Landscapes, Tannenbaum, Watercolour | Tags: Fabriano Watercolour Paper, Penny Black stamps, Tsukineko Memento inks | 16 Comments

Today’s card is the last day of Winter Wonderland cards on the Penny Black blog and I created it using one of my favourite techniques: wet into wet watercolouring. I hope you have enjoyed the wintry scenes I shared this week. I love creating stamped landscapes, especially snowy ones so don’t be surprised if you see a few more while I still have snowy inspiration outside.

This scene was stamped and painted on watercolour paper starting once again with a generous amount of flicked masking fluid. After letting the masking fluid dry for at least twenty minutes I painted water onto the top three quarters of the panel leaving the area which would become foreground snow dry. I stamped the Tannenbaum stamp twice in green dye ink on the right hand side of the panel. The colour bled into the water creating the “background forest”.This happened as the green ink separated into blue and a mustard green. While the paper was still damp I stamped the tree again, this time on the left and then again on the right. These images have more definition. I added colour to the left hand tree with markers. Working with water colour techniques will never give you the same result twice, but that is part of the fun of it.

To create the snow banks I worked with blue ink and water, blending as I painted so that the blue became gradually lighter. When the whole panel was dry I sponged a little blue ink at the top and gently rubbed off all the masking fluid revealing “falling snow” over the scene. I added the sentiment before matting in green. This card is 4 1/2′ x 5 7/8′ to accommodate the scene created on a 5″x7″ watercolour block.

Supplies:
Stamps: Tannenbaum, Season’s Wishes (PB)
Inks: Memento Cottage Ivy, Northern Pine, Summer Sky, Danube Blue, Love Letter & Versafine Onyx Black (Tsukineko)
Cardstock: Fabriano 100% cotton hot pressed watercolour paper
Also: Winsor & Newton Masking Fluid

Tannenbaum – the candy cane edition

Posted: December 5, 2013 | Author: Heather | Filed under: Stamped Landscapes, Tannenbaum | 7 Comments

Another snow scene for you today but somewhat simpler than the storm from earlier in the week. I started once again, with a panel that had masking fluid flicked on it. After positioning a hill shaped mask I brayered Memento summer sky ink over the top of the card. Before moving the mask I stamped the Tannenbaum stamp several times with Cottage Ivy ink. I removed the mask and repositioned it to sponge a hollow in the snow for the feature tree also stamped in Cottage Ivy. I repositioned the mask one more time and sponged a small section to create one more little hollow then add the sentiment in Versafine Satin red and the balls with a Memento Lady Bug marker. I gently rubbed off the masking fluid to reveal the falling snow.

The pretty baker’s twine from The Twinery matched perfectly and reminds me of candy canes.

Supplies:

Stamps: Tannenbaum, Season’s Wishes (PB)
Inks: Memento Summer Sky, Cottage Ivy, Lady Bug & Versafine Satin Red (Tsukineko)
Also: Winsor & Newton Masking Fluid, Baker’s Twine Maraschino, Peapod (The Twinery)