Trees at Sunset

There are quite a few cards on the blog using this lovely tree stamp Before the snow ; you can find them here.

How to create a layer of snow on branches: Winter Berry Branch tutorial
How to create snow banks: Snowy Tree Tutorial

Hark! the herald angels sing
“Glory to the newborn King
Peace on earth and mercy mild,
God and sinners reconciled!”

Supplies:

Stamps: Before the Snow, Yuletide Greetings (PB)
Inks: Memento Cantaloupe, Angel Pink, Summer Sky & Versafine Olympia Green, Versamark(Tsukineko)
Cardstock: Penny Black mix & match coral reef paper
Also: Clear Embossing Powder

Christmas Reds & Greens

Posted: December 22, 2013 | Author: Heather | Filed under: CAS, Christmas reds and greens, Stamped Landscapes | Tags: Penny Black stamps, Tsukineko Memento inks | 6 Comments

During these last few days before Christmas I have a few more cards to share. Some of them are similar to others I have already posted so I won’t go into great detail about the making process. Where possible I’ll direct you to any helpful instructions. This card was the precursor to this card: Berries in Snow. This one is a simpler design and the snowbank masks were torn not cut.

Supplies:

Stamps: Christmas Reds and Greens, Robin’s Wish (PB)
Inks: Memento Pistachio, Summer Sky, Lady Bug & Versamark (Tsukineko)
Cardstock: Penny Black mix & match olive grove paper
Also: Clear Embossing Powder

Watercolour night sky

Posted: December 20, 2013 | Author: Heather | Filed under: Before the Snow, Stamped Landscapes, Watercolour | Tags: Fabriano Watercolour Paper, Penny Black stamps, Tsukineko Memento inks | 24 Comments

Yes, another watercolour snowscape! This one is a great example of how the pigments in the ink separate into different colours when added to wet watercolour paper. I stamped the ‘Before the Snow’ stamp in Memento Northern Pine ink onto wet paper. The dark green ink separated into mustard and blue leaving the background trees mustard and adding another blue tone to the sky. The snow at the base stayed white as I did not wet that part of the panel before stamping and adding ink. Once the first trees were stamped I added blue ink to the sky The foreground trees were added when the paper was almost dry.

Joy to the World , the Lord is come!
Let earth receive her King;
Let every heart prepare Him room,
And Heaven and nature sing,
And Heaven and nature sing,
And Heaven, and Heaven, and nature sing.

Supplies:

Stamps: Before the Snow, Season’s Wishes (Penny Black)
Inks: Memento Summer Sky, Northern Pine, Danube Blue & Versafine Olympia Green (Tsukineko)
Cardstock: Fabriano 100% cotton hot pressed watercolour paper, Penny Black mix & match olive grove paper
Also: Winsor & Newton masking fluid

Tiny watercolour

Posted: December 15, 2013 | Author: Heather | Filed under: CAS, Stamped Landscapes, White Christmas | Tags: Fabriano Watercolour Paper, Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress stains, Tsukineko Memento inks | 7 Comments

Penny Black has a set of two slapstick cling stamps depicting sweet snowy scenes. One shows a church and decorated tree, the other is above. I used distress stains and Memento markers to colour this little snow scape after I had embossed it with clear powder. I added water as I coloured, to blend and spread the ink. I think the foreground ink blend makes the snow man look like he is standing on ice rather than snow. After a storm last night we have plenty of both snow and ice.

You might be interested to know that One Layer Wednesday is currently having a make-over. The team has some exciting new plans we will share when we kick off again in the new year.

Supplies:

Stamps: White Christmas, Silent Night (PB)
Inks: Distress stains Faded Jeans, Broken China, & Memento Markers Cottage Ivy, Lady Bug, Tangelo, Dandelion & Versamark
Cardstock: Fabriano 100% cotton hot pressed watercolour paper, Neenah Solar White

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

Berries in Snow

Posted: December 12, 2013 | Author: Heather | Filed under: Christmas reds and greens, Dancing Leaves, Stamped Landscapes | Tags: Penny Black creative dies, Penny Black stamps, Tsukineko Memento inks | 7 Comments

The snowscapes continue today and tomorrow on the Penny Black blog. Today’s card is the only one this week that does not feature “masking fluid snow”. This is the kind of scene you might see when the snow has stopped falling and the sun shines on the crisp white world.

To create this snowscape I first stamped the Christmas Reds & Greens stamp with versamark taking care to put a stamp positioner in place before I lifted it. I then inked the same stamp with dark green pigment ink, moved the stamp positioner slightly down and to the right and stamped again. I repeated the double stamping in the opposite corner and then embossed all in clear powder. The double stamping is a technique I use to make a thin layer of snow appear on a branch or tree. (I have a tutorial showing the steps of the technique here)

Next I positioned a circle mask and a hill mask, both cut from post-it notes, and then sponged the sky in blue dye ink. I cut another hill mask, positioned it lower and then repeated the sponging. I moved the mask and sponged two more times to create all the snow banks. When I removed the circle mask I positioned the negative circle mask so I could sponge some yellow to create a sun. To make a shadow I cut a mask using the co-ordinating Creative Die, Dancing Leaves then sponged through it below the stamping. The berries were painted on at the end.

Supplies:

Stamps: Christmas Reds and Greens , Yuletide Greetings (PB)
Creative Dies: Dancing Leaves
Inks: Memento Summer Sky, Dandelion & Versafine Northern Pine, Satin Red & Versamark (Tsukineko)
Cardstock: Mix & Match papers Fall Festival and Spring meadow

Winter Cityscape

Posted: December 10, 2013 | Author: Heather | Filed under: All is Bright, Skyline, Stamped Landscapes | Tags: Penny Black stamps, Tsukineko Memento inks | 9 Comments

Today is day 2 of Winter Wonderland on the Penny Black Blog. Make sure you check back each day for wintry inspiration.

Usually my snowscapes feature snowbanks, snow laden branches and gently falling snow flakes so this one is a bit of a departure from the norm. Living in Ottawa means that I get to see the city in snow which can be very pretty especially with Christmas lights and trees peeping out from under a fresh blanket of white.

The first step in making this scene was stamping the skyline stamp in versamark, then using a stamp positioner to move the stamp slightly lower and stamping it again in grey before embossing it in clear powder. By doing this I created a snowy edge on the top and sides of the buildings. Next I flicked some masking fluid over the panel and but not as I liberally as I would to make falling snow for a forest or woodland scene. The small drops that fell could just as easily represent stars as snowflakes. I also painted masking fluid over the buildings so that any sections that were not embossed would resist the sponging to follow. The sponged sky was done in yellow, pink and blue Memento inks mimicking the glow of the city at night. A few swirls suggest a snow storm is just beginning. The sentiment was stamped on a scrap that I trimmed from the top of the panel.

I’ll be back tomorrow with more snow!

Supplies:

Stamps: Skyline, All is Bright, Winter Magic (PB)
Inks: Memento Dandelion, Angel Pink, Summer Sky & Versafine Smokey Grey, Versamark (Tsukineko)
Also: Clear Embossing Powder, 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)

Snow Storm

Posted: December 3, 2013 | Author: Heather | Filed under: Berry red snow white, Nature's Song, Stamped Landscapes | Tags: Penny Black creative dies, Penny Black stamps, Tsukineko Memento inks | 20 Comments

This little scene ended up being considerably snowier than I first thought it would be, hence the title. I double embossed the branches using the method shown here. Extra embossing powder stuck on and around the masking fluid droplets creating the appearance of very fine snow over most of the panel. The moon and snow banks were masked after the embossing using post it note masks. I did all the sponging with one colour, Memento Paris Dusk, and knew when I had finished that I needed some red somewhere to add a little contrast. I played around with adding a little red bird but seriously, what bird would be out in the snow at night during a storm? The answer was to add the sentiment in red. After messing it up on the panel I restamped and punched the sentiment out with a tag punch and totally covered my mistake.

To finish the card I tried several positions for the panel. To position it up the top or at the bottom meant leaving a large empty white space. I don’t usually mind doing that but neither up nor down looked balanced. In the middle looked better especially with a little texture above and below the panel.

Supplies:

Stamps: Berry Red Snow White, A wish for Peace (Penny Black)
Inks: Memento Paris Dusk, Versamark , Versafine Onyx Black & Satin Red(Tsukineko)
Creative Dies: Nature’s Song
Also: Clear e.p., red ribbon

Scene by the sea

Posted: September 10, 2013 | Author: Heather | Filed under: Queen Anne's Lace, Stamped Landscapes | Tags: Penny Black stamps, Tsukineko Memento inks | 12 Comments

I have used my usual sponging and masking techniques to create this scene but by masking a straight line through the sky and sponging below it I was able to give the appearance of an ocean view.

I sponged blue on the top third of the panel, green on the lower third and yellow in the middle. I then cut a hill shaped mask and sponged green below the mask, re-positoned it and sponged a second paler hill behind. I stamped the Queen Anne’s Lace in two green tones then finally positioned the straight mask to create the ocean in the distance.

The current One Layer Wednesday in on Ardyth’s blog for a few more hours (sorry for the late notice) and the new one will be on Cheryl’s blog tomorrow.

Supplies:

Stamps: Queen Anne’s Lace, Every Happiness (PB)
Inks: Memento Summer Sky, Pistachio, Olive Grove, Dandelion (Tsukineko)
Cardstock: PB mix & match olive grove paper, Neenah Solar White and Cream
Also: olive grosgrain ribbon