Birds on Birches

Posted: December 9, 2025 | Author: | Filed under: beneath the birches, Dies, Penny Black, sennelier watercolours, winter trees | Tags: , , , | 3 Comments

In case you were wondering I have done some watercolouring for Christmas cards this year; it’s not all napkin art. I created a batch of cards for a friend which included either watercolour skies or watercolour trees.

I painted a blended sky with a couple of different blues then added hand-cut snowbanks and die-cut trees and birds from the Penny Black sets, ‘beneath the birches‘ and ‘winter trees‘.

This would be a simple card to make in multiples by painting a large sheet of watercolour paper to divide into sky panels then add the white and red elements. The greeting is from the PB ‘Christmas sentiments‘ set. How is your Christmas card sending going? I sat in a waiting room yesterday and wrote about eight cards instead of reading a book or scrolling so that advanced me through my list a little.

Sunset Grasses

Posted: May 7, 2025 | Author: | Filed under: Nature's Paintbrushes, Penny Black, sennelier watercolours | Tags: , , | 5 Comments

I have been away from my workroom, paints, stamps, papers and computer. I thought I might have shared a few blog posts while I was away but instead I took in the beauty of my surroundings snapping oodles of sunset photos along with other lovely scenery and dear faces. Now that I am back at home I will share some cards interspersed with occasional photos taken while away.

It’s been over a month since my last post which included snowflakes but before that one I was sharing cards made from watercolour panels. I ended last year and began this year wrapped up in colour mixing. I am still doing it and the result is quite the pile of panels ready to be stamped, die-cut or collaged into cards. This panel is an example of a gradation from one colour to another. I painted yellow from one end, deep pink from the other and blended them only slightly in the middle. When I picked the panel out of the pile I blended some darker yellow ink over the top through a circle post-it stencil then blended the edges once the stencil was removed.

The lovely Penny Black ‘nature’s paintbrushes’ was a simple addition along with a thin strip of cardstock and a tiny sentiment from the PB ‘snippets’ stamp set. Thanks for dropping by despite how quiet it’s been her lately!

Pile of Watercolour Possibilities

Posted: February 27, 2025 | Author: | Filed under: Classes, Hand painted, sennelier watercolours, Watercolour | Tags: , , , , | 7 Comments

After teaching a couple of watercolour classes lately I have amassed quite the pile of panels. They are full of potential for card making. As well as painting separate panels I’ve also been creating abstract or background watercolours in a couple of art journals.

The purpose of the exercise has been two-fold. The main plan was to revisit a range of watercolour techniques in order to share them with others in classes. Additionally I chose to work small so we could complete quite a few practice pieces during class leaving us with ‘card sized’ panels to turn into cards later if we wished.

I have enjoyed the preparation and the classes so much that I have almost 100 panels on hand! My next in person class is going back to basics in regard to card making. I will cover assembly tips and tricks as well as design principles in order to create balanced and beautiful card layouts. It is exciting to have all these panels around just waiting to be transformed into cards.

As you can imagine I also have piles of gel prints, alcohol ink panels, collages and patterned papers that could be turned into cards. It’s rather nice to have all these options…

Whimsy and Watercolour

Posted: February 24, 2025 | Author: | Filed under: Classes, Hand drawn, Hand painted, sennelier watercolours, Watercolour | Tags: , , | 3 Comments

As I mentioned in January I have been playing with watercolour techniques then adding whimsical doodles over the top. Today’s card is another example. I switched the order in the title of the blog post because the whimsy has over powered the watercolour in this panel even though both elements are still obvious.

I used only three paint colours to paint the squares on the watercolour paper, some touching while wet, resulting in soft blends. All the colours you see were mixed from the same three paints – a blue, a pink and a mustard. The doodling was done with a black fine tip pen and a gold gel pen.

Even though the gold details from the gel pen are a minor part of the design they were the catalyst for choosing a gold mat and sentiment. In my upcoming in-person class I am teaching design principles and assembly techniques for card making and this thank you card is one of my examples. ( I wish I could remember who makes that pretty thank you die, but I’m not sure)

A New Handmade Book

Posted: February 7, 2025 | Author: | Filed under: Finetec paints, Hand painted, Handmade book, sennelier watercolours | Tags: , , , | 6 Comments

I’ve completed another challenge with Ali Manning in her Handmade Book Club. I have written before about Ali’s wonderful teaching. The most recent class was no exception. It was called ‘Valentine Palooza’ as a nod to the February timing and the cute heart binding on the spine of the book. The Handmade Book Club offers some free classes, some short challenges open to non-members (I have now done four of these) and a monthly or yearly membership ( something I would like to join at some point).

For this most recent challenge I chose to use cold pressed watercolour paper for the cover and hot pressed watercolour paper for the signatures. I watercoloured the cover in a loose abstract style over the top of some masking fluid words and squiggles. As I write this I realise I didn’t take any photos of the inside cover. Both the back and front covers fold over to make the cover more sturdy so my watercolour patterns continue inside.

This cover was inspired by Tiffany Sharpe’s lovely stitched and watercoloured cover. I made my book 7″x7″ which was different to the rectangular examples in the workshop but all the steps are the same once you work out your dimensions. I have now made three 7×7 watercolour journals and like the page size for art journalling.

I’m playing with watercolour techniques a lot at present in preparation for my upcoming in person class on Watercolour Techniques. You will see some of the technique samples turned into cards eventually and some will be the base for future journal pages. You can see the other books I have made here: Mixed Media Journal, Coptic Journal, a second Coptic Journal, and Scrappy Journal.

Standing Ducks

Posted: March 12, 2024 | Author: | Filed under: Echidna Studios, sennelier watercolours, standing ducks | Tags: , , , | 5 Comments

Introducing ‘standing ducks‘, a lovely digital stamp set from Echidna Studios. The weather has turned much warmer round here so there are puddles instead of snow to be seen; the type of weather where you might see ducks standing or swimming around. It is too early for ducklings but in the past we have had to slow down and stop for duck families on the busy road behind our house.

I printed both ducks from the set on hot pressed watercolour paper then painted them with Sennelier watercolour paints. I added some finishing touches with coloured pencils. I also printed the left facing duck on some pastel paper as I received a set of pastel pencils for my birthday and have started learning how to use them. As you can imagine pastel is very soft so it is fun to blend but easy to smudge. When I have done a little more learning and practicing I hope to share some pastel pencil colouring.

This card is another ‘larger than usual card’ measuring just over 5″ x 7″. The piece of watercolour paper I printed on had one deckled edge so I tore the other three edges to keep a deckled look round the whole panel.

Tulips & more tulips

Posted: February 21, 2024 | Author: | Filed under: Echidna Studios, sennelier watercolours, tulip background, tulip set, Watercolour | Tags: , , , , , | 11 Comments

If there are tulips already blooming where you live you must let me know in the comments! It will be another two or three months before they bloom around here. All the more reason to have some blooming here on the blog. The group you see on the card above are part of a new digital stamp called ‘tulip background‘ from Echidna Studios. The whole image is a landscape oriented design and I printed it on hot pressed watercolour paper to be 8½” wide which gave me plenty of choice when deciding which part to use on a portrait oriented card.

I used Sennelier watercolours to paint the design using various mixes of four different reds and pinky red paints. I also used one of the reds to give the green paint a more muted realistic tone. Once I had painted all the tulips and stems I used polychromos pencils to add extra shading and shadow. This is a technique I learnt from Kathy Racoosin and it always adds to the finished panel. I ruled a narrow black line around the panel to frame it.

The flowers below are from a co-ordinating digital set simply called ‘tulip set‘ also from Echidna Studios. The set includes three individual tulips. I didn’t paint this one, my daughter did, using watercolour pencils. She also fussy cut each of the three tulips to create a pretty layered arrangement.  This post includes an affiliate link to The Foiled Fox, if you use it I receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. 

Seedlings

Posted: March 2, 2023 | Author: | Filed under: Echidna Studios, seedlings, sennelier watercolours, Simply Graphic | Tags: , , , , | 8 Comments

If you are a plan ahead – plant ahead person then you might have some seedlings growing somewhere in your house or green house. These are the only seedlings I have at this point but I must say they are looking quite healthy.

This is a digital stamp designed by my daughter and available in her etsy store Echidna Studios. I printed it so that it just fitted on an A2 card front but I think it might be nice to print it larger and feature only one or two pots on a card front with the shoots and leaves coming off the edge of the panel.

I printed on hot pressed watercolour paper and used my Sennelier pan paints for all the colouring. I used a mix of greens for the greenery and a mix of blue and brown for the pots. I really like blue and brown combos these days, something that I wouldn’t have imagined a few years back.

The sentiment is from Simply Graphic’s ‘English Sentiments’ set; I like the handwritten look and the size of the words. I know I could be handwriting a few sentiments myself here and there but I always add the sentiment last and by that time I don’t want to mess up a otherwise completed card with a crooked or uneven sentiment. That being said I think I should try a few handwritten sentiments on upcoming cards…

(Compensated affiliate links from Foiled Fox, Scrap n Stamp)

Old Stone Doorway

Posted: February 3, 2023 | Author: | Filed under: Echidna Studios, old stone doorway, sennelier watercolours, Simply Graphic, Watercolour | Tags: , , , , | 12 Comments

Isn’t this a sweet front path and door? It makes me want to head inside or wander around the garden. This digital stamp is another design by my daughter which is available in her etsy store, Echidna Studios. I printed it on Arches cold press watercolour paper. You know I generally use Fabriano hot press watercolour paper but I am trying to ‘use what I have’ so I pulled out the Arches for a change. I like how the texture of the paper adds texture to the front of the house.

Using my Sennelier watercolour paints I painted a wash of brown over the brickwork, blue over the door and grey for the stonework. I also mixed a bluey green for the hedges. Next I switched to watercolour pencils and added shading to the bricks and stones, coloured the leaves and painted from the tip of my pencils to make the window and door frames grey and the reflections light blue. The sentiment is from Simply Graphic and is stamped in prize ribbon sketch archival ink

I almost stopped a couple of times as I wasn’t happy with the colours I had chosen and the lack of detail in the washes. I did keep going though and it pulled together. One thing that helps is that I didn’t use too many colours and I like the way the watercolour fades away at the edges. There are little white patches where I didn’t touch up the painting and I think they work too in adding a highlight here and there. I have printed another one out because a red brick house might also be fun to do.

The designer of this stamp is coming over for dinner tonight so I will ask where this door is in real life…

(Compensated affiliate links used when purchasing from Foiled Fox)

Mini Tree

Posted: December 21, 2022 | Author: | Filed under: decorated holiday mini tree, Echidna Studios, Finetec paints, sennelier watercolours | Tags: , , , , | 2 Comments

Another festive (digital) beauty from my daughter’s etsy store, Echidna Studios. Do you recognise the inspiration for this little tree? You probably see them in the grocery store; it’s a little pot of rosemary, shaped like a tree. The design is available already decorated or in a set with separate tree and decorations. It is only a few days before Christmas so of course I am featuring the already decorated one!

I printed the tree on hot pressed watercolour paper and painted the paper wrapping and tree with Sennelier watercolour paints. Several people asked me about printing on watercolour paper. Up until recently I had no success; I would manually feed it into the printer but the ink would smudge off. A friend told me about the preferences settings when clicking to print and now I choose ‘manual feed’ and ‘heavyweight paper’ and no more smudging!

I switched to Finetec pearlescent paints and a gold gel pen to do the decorations so they have a little shimmer and shine to them. I reached into my little box of pre-stamped, pre-cut sentiments and pulled out one to suit the colours and the recipient. It’s a tall skinny tree (a bit like our family) so the card isn’t my usual size. It’s a 6¼” x 4″ olive green card base.

My life size tree is also decorated in red and gold this year. I always pick a slightly different colour scheme so this year all the red baubles came out, the tartan ribbon and the individual decorations in red, gold or wood. Do you change your colours from year to year?

(Compensated affiliate links from Foiled Fox & Scrap n Stamp)

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