Frames in frames
Posted: March 24, 2025 Filed under: A2 layers, AALL & Create, Additional A2 layers, Echidna Studios, gel press, grafix, snowflake digital stamp set, Waffle Flower | Tags: digital stamps, Echidna Studios, gel press, Waffle Flower dies 3 Comments
As I write this post I realise that these cards feature snowflakes when probably all you want to see is flowers! Nevertheless I see snow falling outside this morning; it’s not over yet where I live. I used snowflake masks cut from Grafix matte duralar using my cricut and the digital snowflake set from Echidna Studios.
In my mind this post is more about the layouts than the images. I have featured the frame in frames idea before as a way to feature a large patterned panel but add some extra interest as you do so. I used the Waffle Flower A2 layer dies to cut my frames and cut all three rectangles at one time taping dies to panel to plate to keep everything in place.
On one card I kept the frames parallel to each other but on the one above I offset the two centre dies for a wonky look. The print is a gel print created with a white snowflake layer then lifted with a mixed layer of blue, turquoise and red paint. I expected the mixed layer to be much bolder but I’m happy the paints blended into a muted mix. The sentiments are from the AALL & Create ‘everyday sentiments’ set.
Gel Printed Cornflower & Grasses
Posted: August 21, 2024 Filed under: Darkroom Door, gel press, Waffle Flower | Tags: Darkroom Door stamps, gel press, gel printing, Waffle Flower dies 10 Comments
Arting and crafting has looked a bit different for me recently. This week I am ‘Professor Paint’ doing crafts each day with the children at our church day camp. There has been quite a bit of prep and experimenting going on over the past weeks. I made the sign for my ‘Art Lab’ at camp using gel prints but the crafts we’ve been doing haven’t involved gel printing at all. We have done some watercolouring with paint and water soluble markers though.
The two cards shown today were both made from one print. I don’t always take time to plan the layout of a botanical print so some prints look balanced and others don’t. I ended up cutting the cornflower image off the side of the full print to make the card below and left the grasses together to make the card above.
The print was definitely not perfect. You can see on the card above some odd texture from the paint. I thought it looked a bit like a spray of water above and below the cornflower.
I don’t remember which paints I used but it looks like either two blues or a blue and a black.
I’ve made a few cards lately using the framing technique above. I use three nesting dies to cut a large rectangle panel, then another inside and another inside that. I leave the middle frame out of the layout but could save it for another card or a strip on an envelope perhaps. The sentiments are from Darkroom Door. The printing technique used was the one shown in my last short video.
Totally Dotty
Posted: July 15, 2024 Filed under: AALL & Create, Foiled Fox store, nesting squares, Penny Black, The Foiled Fox, totally dotty stencil, Waffle Flower | Tags: AALL & Create, Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress inks, Waffle Flower dies Leave a comment
Yes, the stencil used for this card is called ‘Totally Dotty’! I mean what else would you call it? It is a large stencil from AALL & Create sent to me by the Foiled Fox so I could do totally dotty things with it. I blended inks through it for this card but I have also blended paint through it on gel prints and will no doubt use it with alcohol inks and art journals as well.
I blended wild honey, picked raspberry, salty ocean and evergreen bough distress inks through the stencil with blending brushes then, when I lifted it, blended more ink to soften the stark white background. This is a technique I’ve seen the blending wizards use.
Such a colourful background called for a contrasting sentiment so I stamped in black on white then matted in black using Waffle Flower square nesting dies. Nesting dies definitely cut down on the mistakes I make in creating very slim mats for panels. Did you see I added enamel dots; not a common embellishment for me but the water splatter just didn’t make enough impact so shiny black dots to the rescue. Make sure you pop over to the Foiled Fox blog and online store to be inspired and delighted. (Yes, there are affiliate links used in this post, no extra cost for you but a bonus to me!)
Gel print city journal page
Posted: June 17, 2021 Filed under: Art Journal, gel press, Waffle Flower | Tags: Fabriano art journal, gel press, gel printing, gelli plate, Waffle Flower dies 5 Comments
Continuing my week of gel prints you might see a resemblance between yesterday’s projects and todays. I posted large cityscape projects yesterday made by masking areas of the gel plate with paper rectangles cut from stiff magazine paper. Some of the masks had little shapes cut from them with dies. I used the magazine masks over and over on several prints and experiments so by the end they were covered in paint and way more interesting than they started out.
Rather than save the masks or throw them away I turned them into a city scape art journal page. Once again my scraps are prettier than some of my prints! Every time I brayered a new colour onto the gel plate I lay the rectangle masks paint side down so they ended up picking up paint, pattern and texture while occasionally letting a bit of text or photo show through.
The background sky was done with distress sprays, a few blues and a black (listed below) spritzed over the open spread to cover the top half of both pages.
Once the sky was dry I arranged and rearranged the ‘buildings’ so I would have contrasting heights and colours across the scene. Some of the tiny shapes die cut from the masks also had paint on them so I used a few as doors on this scene. The windows are all cut outs revealing some of the prints underneath. I used matte medium and a Tim Holtz collage brush to glue everything down then decided to outline the shapes with gel pens to separate them a little more.
This art journal design was one of those rare ones that turned out as I imagined it might. Doesn’t always go that way!
I mentioned a couple of days ago I am appearing on Craft Roulette Live Improv show on Friday night. I’d love to see you there if you are free. You can hop on the chat and say hello. The details are here and here
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Rose Dance & a Giveaway
Posted: May 19, 2021 Filed under: A2 layers, Additional A2 layers, Papertrey Inks, Penny Black, rose dance, Waffle Flower | Tags: Papertrey ink, Penny Black stamps, Waffle Flower dies 48 Comments
When I first posted a card with the PB ‘rose dance‘ stamp I mentioned I’d been putting it to work with several techniques. To create this card I worked on hot pressed watercolour paper with papertrey ink cubes.
With the stamp and paper in the stamp positioner I inked the roses in ‘royal velvet’ and a few dabs of ‘pure poppy’ inks, spritzed then stamped. I used three different greens (listed below) for the leaves and stems. The papertrey ink cubes are fairly juicy to start with but with a spritz of water before stamping the ink is wet enough to blend into the petals and leaves.
When it came to putting the card together I decided to mix things up a little by cutting out the main image on an angle before adding some dimension with a few extra layers of cardstock. The Waffle Flower A2 layer dies and additional layer dies made it possible to cut the image from the panel, cut a scrap the same size to fit in the space and cut a slightly larger green mat before putting it back together. I pulled out an older PB sentiment set ‘kind words’ and stamped the message in dusty concord archival ink.
This technique is covered in lessons 2 of my new online class FLORAL FAVES. The lessons cover a range of my favourite techniques, some simple and elegant, others requiring more time and fine detail but all outlined clearly on video so they can become your favourites too! Registration opens tomorrow and I will have all the information in tomorrow’s blog post.
If you would like to win a place in the FLORAL FAVES class please comment below telling me one of your favourite flower stamps. I will randomly pick a winner and announce it here on the blog on Monday.
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Lemon Lush – pencil on kraft
Posted: March 26, 2021 Filed under: A2 layers, Additional A2 layers, Coloured pencil, floral notes, lemon lush, Pink Fresh studio, Waffle Flower | Tags: brutus monroe embossing powder, Faber-Castell Polychromos Colour Pencil, Pink Fresh studio, Waffle Flower dies 5 Comments
I have a second card featuring the pretty ‘lemon lush’ stamp from Pinkfresh Studio. Last time I used peerless watercolours for a bold, bright look. Today’s white on kraft combo is softer and subtler.
I stamped the large 6″ x 6″ stamp on kraft cardstock in Brutus Monroe alabaster ink then embossed in alabaster powder. I used polychromos pencils to colour all the elements. The whole lemons needed a few shades of yellow and orange but the rest of the design was completed with pairs of inks, two greens, two pinks or two yellows with sometimes the addition of white to soften or brighten.
The sentiment is from the Pinkfresh set ‘floral notes’ embossed in white then cut and framed with the help of my ever-useful Waffle Flower A2 layer dies.
Wishing you a bright and happy day!
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Flower truck…is coming
Posted: February 8, 2021 Filed under: ...is coming, A2 layers, Additional A2 layers, buckets of flowers, hanging planters, Penny Black, pretty picket, silver linings, Waffle Flower | Tags: Penny Black creative dies, Waffle Flower dies 3 Comments
Not my usual style, you know I don’t often take the cute route (pun intended) but this little truck really appealed to me. As I worked on this card and looked through my dies for flowers I realised I could also turn it into an icecream truck or a pumpkin truck and maybe a postal delivery truck.
My initial plan was to die cut everything from kraft cardstock except for the flowers but once I’d done the truck and flowers I decided to add more colour with a picket fence and some clouds on a bright blue background. I used a blending brush to add ‘brushed corduroy’ distress ink around all the pieces of the truck and ‘mermaid lagoon’ around the blue panel. I’ve listed all the dies below; as you can imagine the fiddliness factor on this card was high but I persevered and the satisfaction factor is also high.
I haven’t added a sentiment but feel that it could be good for many occasions so I will wait and see. I’d be happy to see a truck bursting with flowers in my driveway right about now when everything is covered in snow.
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Moving Alcohol Inks with Air – Video
Posted: February 3, 2021 Filed under: Alcohol Ink, Brutus Monroe, CAS, Dies, grafix, light as a feather, nesting squares, Penny Black, polar bears, Tutorial, Waffle Flower | Tags: grafix, grafix craft plastic, Penny Black creative dies, Penny Black stamps, pinata alcohol ink, Ranger Alcohol Ink, Tutorial, video 16 Comments
I’ve had the alcohol inks out recently and spent some time trying to get soft wavy patterns on craft plastic. I have seen several artists who do this technique beautifully but I am very much still a beginner with it. I have a few cards to share today along with a video showing my process for two of the panels. I worked on white craft plastic from Grafix which is heavyweight and totally opaque. For most of the panels featured today I used only two alcohol inks plus plenty of 99% rubbing alcohol; each panel was created with a metallic and a non-metallic ink.
This first panel was made with turquoise AI and gilded alloy AI; I love the range of blues when diluted with rubbing alcohol. The ‘for you’ Penny Black die cut is two layers of turquoise cardstock topped with one layer of pale gold.
This warm toned card was made with honeycomb AI and mined alloy AI then die cut with a WaffleFlower square nesting die. I used the WaffleFlower additional square dies to cut a larger copper square then added the PB ‘light as a feather’ die cut and a PB birthday sentiment embossed in Brutus Monroe penny embossing powder.
You can see the process for both cards above in the video below.
As I am working on alcohol ink panels I am evaluating my process and working out what I want to try next. I just bought a cheap lazy susan to work on the blown flowers and I’m pretty sure I don’t need to use as much coloured ink when I make the initial drops. You can be sure I will let you know what I discover.
I have a couple more cards made off camera using the same technique shown in the video. The card above features juniper AI and statue alloy AI with the PB ‘many thanks’ die cut from antique gold cardstock and stacked twice.
When this panel was finished it reminded me of photos of the artic and far north where the icebergs and glaciers are made up of beautiful shades of blue. It’s kind of a cross section perspective where we can see below and above the ice the bears are walking on. I did use two blue inks plus a silver for this one, ranger turquoise and stream with pinata silver. The bear die is ‘polar bears’ from Penny Black.
We’ve been watching Cecilia Blomdahl’s youtube channel about her life on Svalbard, an island off the north coast of Norway. She lives in the world’s northern most town. Polar bears are definitely around so you don’t wander outside the village without your weapon!
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Woolly Wishes
Posted: January 18, 2021 Filed under: A2 layers, Additional A2 layers, Darkroom Door, Karin brushmarkers, knitting, Penny Black, Waffle Flower | Tags: Darkroom Door stamps, Karin brushmarkers, Penny Black creative dies, Tsukineko Memento inks, WOW embossing powders 6 Comments
This is the first knitting project I have done in years! I keep meaning to pull out some needles and wool to see if it hurts my hands to knit. I have a little stash of wool and plenty of different sized needles and I used to knit while watching tv. My last project was never finished then my hands became quite sore so I haven’t tried again.
When I first saw this Darkroom Door knitting stamp I couldn’t believe how realistic it looked when stamped and coloured. I stamped with versamark and embossed in clear powder on hot pressed watercolour paper for both cards. On the panel above I used Karin brushmarkers (amber, lilac, violet blue, magenta) to colour random shapes over the panel just like you get when you knit multicoloured yarn. I spritzed lighlly over the panel with water to get the colours to blend just a little.
I knew just the dies to use to complete the card. Penny Black has a set of looped frame dies which look a little like knitting stitches and the PB warmest wishes die is made of small curly letters that look like loops of wool. I cut both from purple cardstock with double sided adhesive on the back.
The second card features a simple pattern painted over the embossing with nautical blue and cottage ivy memento inks smooshed on my glass mat. I wanted to do a fancy snowflake pattern but decided I should start with something simple. Just as well as I missed a whole line of the pattern I was trying to do. This time I matted the panel with dark blue cardstock and stacked three layers of the ‘hello’ from the Penny Black ‘doodles’ die set which also looks a bit like yarn.
I had to make the knitting panel smaller to fit on the matching piece of blue cardstock so I re-cut it with the WaffleFlower A2 layer dies and saved the slim outline to glue inside the card. I will definitely be playing with the DD knitting stamp again because I want to colour a fancy fairisle type pattern. It will also show up in a small role on a card coming up later in the month.
I am happy to be back blogging again after my short break; I’ve missed chatting with you. I wish I could say I achieved all my planning and preparation goals but that is far from the truth. I think maybe my expectations were set a bit too high! Today’s cards feature the knitting stamp that had been sitting waiting patiently for some ink for months. I could have continued to stamp and play this image for days but I limited myself to one day so I could move onto other things. Is your year off to a good start, have you had some creative time already?
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All the Birthdays
Posted: October 7, 2020 Filed under: A2 layers, Additional A2 layers, all the birthdays, CAS, Concord & 9th, nesting squares, Waffle Flower | Tags: Concord & 9th, gel press, gel printing, Ranger archival inks, ranger embossing powders, Tsukineko Versafine inks, Waffle Flower dies, WOW embossing powders 4 Comments
I made a short stack of birthday cards yesterday with a new Concord & 9th set, ‘All the Birthdays’. I pulled out several prints from earlier gel printing sessions and chose some which would work as panels for birthday cards.
On the card above I used ranger blue embossing powder and the card below versafine tulip red was the perfect match for my printed background.
Some were printed using the petite set A gel presses so they were already shaped as squares. Others I cut from larger prints. I used stencils and lace to make the prints and a range of acrylic paints.
One of the stamp combinations from the C&9 ‘all the birthdays’ is a pair of stamps that overlap to spell ‘happy birthday’; there are outline stamps that frame the solid letters also. That is what I used on the card below with gold and brown inks then clear embossing powder.
I also added some texture to a few of the card bases or mats with embossing folders and stencils.
The printed panel below included such pretty blues and purples I wanted to match them in the sentiment so I stamped with archival dusty concord and faded jeans then, before the ink dried embossed in clear powder.
The card below features rose gold embossing powder; it looks a little darker than expected on this panel, maybe because of the depth of colour in the print.
I really enjoyed pairing sentiments from the C&9 set with my leftover gel prints. I did have some embossing challenges though; I’m just not an embossing champion. Stray powder, over heating, underheating, even when I use a powder tool and preheat the heat tool I still make mistakes. This lot took me all afternoon but I am very happy with them and I’m pleased to have boosted my birthday card stash. Now if I can just remember to send them…
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Heather Telford 