Snowy Birches

Posted: December 17, 2015 | Author: | Filed under: Stamped Landscapes, Winter Song | Tags: , , , , | 13 Comments

Snowy birches Heather Telford

Do you recognise these trees? They are part of a larger stamp, ‘Winter Song’ and even though the whole stamp is beautiful I often just want to use that stand of trees on one side. I began by painting a sky over a moon mask using brusho blues. Once it was dry I decided to add these trees and the snow banks. Because the sky was already painted I had to paint the trees in white paint to block out the blue on the trunks. I used the Gansai Tambi white paint and kept it quite thick and opaque. Once I had white trunks to work with I painted some grey shadows on the trunks and added some black spots and twigs with a marker. I used the ‘to the world’ from Holiday Snippets and then hand lettered some joy.

I have lights and greenery around the window now and one ornament on the tree! Little by little…

Supplies:

Stamps: Winter Song, Holiday Snippets (PB)
Paints: Brusho, Gansai Tambi
Inks: Tuxedo Black (Imagine Craft/Tsukineko) Micron fine tip black marker
Cardstock: Fabriano 100% cotton hot pressed watercolour paper, Strathmore cold pressed watercolour paper, burgandy cardstock

Warm wishes for a cold winter’s day

Posted: January 3, 2015 | Author: | Filed under: CAS, Stamped Landscapes, Watercolour, Winter Song | Tags: , , | 35 Comments

Birch trees Heather Telford

These birch trees are my favourite element of the intricate Winter Song stamp so I decided to isolate them for a scene of their own. I inked them with a weathered wood distress marker and left the rest of the stamp uninked. Weathered wood is a pale grey which is perfect for painting and drawing over the top. As usual I stamped on Fabriano hot pressed watercolour paper. The background colour is distress stains painted on with a waterbrush. I defined the edges and markings on the trees with a black marker, painted some grey shading on the trunks then added the sentiment in black. I am fussy about the cardstocks matching so I mounted this panel on a thin burgandy card then made the card base from cold pressed watercolour paper which is the same colour as the panel but adds some texture.

Thank you for the kind Christmas wishes left on my blog and in my inbox. I appreciated them all. I hope your new year is off to a good start; mine has been pretty busy with a bunch of stamping and creating I can’t share with you just yet!

Supplies:

Stamps: Winter Song, Joy Filled (PB)
Inks: Barn Door, Dusty Concord, Victorian China, Aged Mahogany, Weathered Wood distress stains (Ranger) Tuxedo Black memento marker (Imagine Craft/Tsukineko)
Cardstock: Fabriano 100% cotton hot pressed watercolour paper, Strathmore cold pressed watercolour paper, burgandy cardstock

A little bird

Posted: December 9, 2014 | Author: | Filed under: CAS, No Card Left Behind, Winter Song | Tags: , , , | 11 Comments

Birds on trees Heather Telford

Do you recognise this little scene? It is a portion of the large “Winter Song” scenic stamp. I was experimenting with ways to the colour the stamp back when I made this card. I wasn’t happy with the whole panel but cropping it gave me a smaller scene I could work with. Coming up with a layout that worked I’m sure took me as long as the original painting. I tried portrait but really wanted landscape orientation. A partial red mat didn’t overwhelm the panel and the words provide balance and carry the red highlights across the card. It wasn’t until I was searching for a sentiment that I realized that these three word stamps positioned in the right order have built in framing. It only took me about ten practices off the card base to get the positioning right!. I embossed them in clear powder so they have a pretty shine.

I guess I should mention how I coloured the panel. It was weeks ago so I am guessing a bit. I stamped the whole scene in memento summer sky first; you can see it at the base of the panel looking a bit like a shadow. The summer sky ink served as a guide so I could paint the scene with distress stains. I selectively inked the stamp to restamp after the painting, adding brown to the lower branches and black for the birch trees.

Thanks for dropping by.

Supplies:

Stamps: Winter Song , Joy Filled (PB)
Inks: Memento Summer Sky, London Fog, Rich Cocoa, Versafine & Satin Red (Tsukineko) Barn Door, Broken China, Peeled Paint
Cardstock: Fabriano 100% cotton hot pressed watercolour paper, Neenah Avon Brilliant White 110lb, Neenah Chili Red 100lb 

Winter Song

Posted: October 22, 2014 | Author: | Filed under: Watercolour, Winter Song | Tags: , , | 10 Comments

Winter Song Heather Telford

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