Watercolour daisies 2 ways

Posted: January 9, 2014 | Author: Heather | Filed under: Flower Festival, Watercolour | Tags: Fabriano Watercolour Paper, Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress stains, Tsukineko Memento inks | 21 Comments

These two cards demonstrate the difference between two watercolour techniques. (Sorry there is no video tutorial for these two) The top card was created using the ‘wet into wet’ technique and the bottom card the ‘wet into dry’ technique.

Wet into Wet card
I wet the whole panel of watercolour paper, inked the stamp in orange and green Memento inks then stamped it onto the wet paper. Immediately colour bled and spread. I waited a little while before restamping the image and painting more colour onto the petals and stems with distress inks. I blended with water and worked with the colours for a while before I was satisfied with the flowers. I dampened the background area again before adding some blue to blend with the colours from the flowers.

Wet into Dry card

I stamped the image once again with Memento inks but this time onto dry paper. I used a small paintbrush to paint distress stains onto the image. I blended colours and added water inside the lines but rarely let the colours bleed out into the rest of the panel. I flicked ink onto the panel when the flowers were complete.

I did both these panels as experiments and as I was doing them I did not think the ‘wet into wet’ would make it onto a card. It was just looking too messy. I kept going with the inks and background and finished it anyway but was not too hopeful. When I came back the next day and saw the two attempts dry I was quite happy with both. If you are interested in these techniques just play around with the water: a little more, a little less, sometimes you will be pleasantly surprised with the results.

Supplies:

Stamps: Flower Festival, Summer Fun, Friendship(Penny Black)
Inks: Distress stains Spiced Marmalade, Mustard Seed, Peeled Paint, Broken China, Vintage Photo & Memento inks Bamboo Leaves, Tangelo
Cardstock: Fabriano 100% cotton hot pressed watercolour paper, Mix and match Grand Canyon paper

Elegant Garden

Posted: January 6, 2014 | Author: Heather | Filed under: Watercolour | Tags: Fabriano Watercolour Paper, Penny Black stamps, Tsukineko Memento inks | 12 Comments

The latest Penny Black release features some elegant hearts and flowers in time for making Valentine cards. Visit the Penny Black blog for details of their latest challenge and chance to win stamps.

I had a scrap of watercolour paper covered with flecks of masking fluid. I dampened it then stamped the Corinthians verse as background. When the paper was a little drier I stamped the flowers inked with green and red. I used a paintbrush to add more ink to the leaves and petals. When it was dry I rubbed off the masking fluid and added the sentiment.

I recently changed my blog address; I am still with wordpress but the blog is self hosted now. If you are reading this you were probably redirected without any trouble but if you would like to update your reader or bookmark the new address is cards.heathertelford.com

Thanks for all the encouragement following my first watercolour tutorial. I am so glad you enjoyed it and appreciate the positive feedback.

Supplies:

Inks: Memento Rhubarb Stalk, Bamboo leaves (Tsukineko)
Stamps: Enchanted Garden, From the Heart, Love Chapter
Cardstock: Neenah Classic Cream, Fabriano 25% cotton hot pressed watercolour paper, Penny Black Mix & Match Olive Grove paper
Also: Winsor & Newton Masking Fluid

Winter Watercolour Tutorial

Posted: January 4, 2014 | Author: Heather | Filed under: Before the Snow, Stamped Landscapes, Tutorial, Watercolour | Tags: Fabriano Watercolour Paper, Penny Black stamps, Tsukineko Memento inks, Tutorial | 37 Comments

Here is the first of my watercolour tutorials. I have used only one image stamp and one basic technique. There are several different techniques I use when creating watercolour scenes and cards because different stamps lend themselves to different approaches. I plan to cover more techniques in future tutorials.

I stress in the video that watercolouring is never the same twice and you cannot predict how the colours will blend and bleed in each scene. It is worth playing around with for a while to work out the amount of water to add to the paper, how long to let it dry between stamping images and how much colour to add and blend when creating backgrounds.

Here is a list of other cards made using the technique shown in this tutorial. Noel, Watercolour Night Sky, Watercolour Snowstorm, Poppies in a Field, Watercolour Sympathy.

Thanks for dropping in.

Supplies:
Stamps: Before the Snow, Flourish Thank you (PB)
Inks: Memento Cottage Ivy, Danube Blue & Versafine Majestic Blue (Tsukineko)
Cardstock: Fabriano 100% cotton hot pressed watercolour paper
Also: Winsor & Newton Masking Fluid

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 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

Watercolour pine bough

Posted: December 18, 2013 | Author: Heather | Filed under: Needles and cones, Watercolour | Tags: CAS, Fabriano Watercolour Paper, Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress stains, Tsukineko Memento inks | 14 Comments

I have another watercolour card today created using a similar technique to this card. I had a piece of watercolour paper was already covered with little flecks of masking fluid so I wet the panel, inked the pine bough stamp with Memento markers and stamped it onto the wet paper. It bled quite a bit so I let it dry a little then re-inked and stamped again to give definition to the pine cones and needles. I painted the background with diluted distress stain which blended in some places with the stamping. Because I chose to mat my picture panel I did not want another border around the sentiment so I stamped the sentiment on a post-it note and cut out the centre text creating a window mask to stamp through.

My daughter made some cute cookies this week.

Supplies:
Stamps: Needles and cones, Glad Tiding (PB)
Inks: Memento Cottage Ivy, EspressoTruffle & Distress Stain Broken China (Tsukineko)
Cardstock: Fabriano 25% cotton hot pressed watercolour paper
Also: Winsor & Newton Masking Fluid

Snowy Fantasy

Posted: December 14, 2013 | Author: Heather | Filed under: Fantasy, Watercolour | Tags: Fabriano Watercolour Paper, Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress stains, Tsukineko Memento inks | 18 Comments

I know my Winter Wonderland week on the Penny Black blog is officially over, but I do have a snowscape or two still to share.

This panel was done on water colour paper with a mix of Distress stains and Memento inks. I positioned a hill mask first before I stamped the tree in Versamark then inked only the trunk and branches in dark brown and stamped it again a little lower. I filled the rest of the sky with snow by repeatedly inking and stamping only a corner of the Fantasy stamp in versamark. I then embossed the tree and snow in clear powder. To create the sky I wet the top of the panel with water and started blending dusty concord and broken china distress stains. I stamped the flourish several times in Memento sweet plum while the paper was still damp. I then removed the mask and painted shadows with diluted distress stains to create the snow banks in the foreground.

Apparently another snow storm is heading our way tomorrow so it will continue to look like a winter wonderland around here!

Supplies:

Stamps: Fantasy, Dancing Deers, White Christmas (Penny Black)
Inks : Memento Sweet Plum, Espresso Truffle, Versamark (Tsukineko) Dusty Concord, Broken China Distress Stains (Ranger)
Cardstock: Penny Black Mix & Match Papers Fuschia Fantasies, Fabriano 100% cotton hot pressed watercolour paper
Also: Clear embossing powder

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

Watercoloured Holly

Posted: December 9, 2013 | Author: Heather | Filed under: Flourish Holly, Holly Berries, Watercolour | Tags: Fabriano Watercolour Paper, Penny Black creative dies, Penny Black stamps, Tsukineko Memento inks | 7 Comments

A week of Winter Wonderland on the Penny Black blog starts today featuring the snow scapes I love to create.

The first snow scape is a watercolour featuring holly in the foreground and shadowy trees in the background. All but one of the cards this week feature falling snow made by flicking masking fluid onto the cardstock or watercolour paper before beginning any stamping or watercolouring. The masking fluid stays on the panel until all ink is dry at which point it is easy to rub off.

To make today’s cards I created one watercoloured panel which I then cut into two for a wintry scene and a holly background. I flicked masking fluid over the watercolour paper with a toothbrush and let it dry completely. I then wet the whole panel before stamping the holly stamp several times to fill two thirds of the area. The ink bled into the wet paper losing most of its definition. I added berries with a red marker then reinked parts of the holly stamp in green to stamp over the blended green of the first impression. To complete the snowscape I painted a blue watercoloured background stamping a little branch stamp to create a blurred distant wooded area behind the holly and snow. When I want to paint with Memento ink I press the ink pad onto an acrylic block so I can add water and pick up the ink with a paintbrush. Finally I removed the masking fluid, matted both panels and added die cut holly to the card below.

Supplies:

Stamps: Flourish Holly, A better world, Glad Tiding, Season’s Wishes (PB)
Creative Dies: Holly Berries die 51-019
Inks: Memento Cottage Ivy, Danube Blue, Love Letter & Versafine Onyx Black (Tsukineko)
Cardstock: Fabriano 100% cotton hot pressed watercolour paper, Penny Black mix & match Spring Meadow
Also: Winsor & Newton Masking Fluid

Watercolour pointsettia

Posted: December 4, 2013 | Author: Heather | Filed under: Warm Wishes, Watercolour | Tags: Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress stains | 23 Comments

I do not have another snow scene for you today but my pointsettia does feature masking fluid “snowflecks”. I used a watercolour block for this panel and flicked masking fluid over it with a tooth brush. I used distress stains for the first time along with some memento greens. The pointsettia is stamped with Barn Door distress stain. The impression was pale and incomplete at the tips of a few petals which was perfect for what I planned to do. The stamped image was my guide for watercolouring but I didn’t want it the outline to dominate. As I wanted to paint with the distress stains I pressed the bottle’s sponge top down several times onto an acrylic block which I was using as a palette then picked up the ink with a paintbrush. I painted the lower petals with barely diluted stain and the top petals with a blend of water and stain. After I had painted them all red I realised I wanted some green outer ones so I stamped one lightly with memento pear tart ink and drew the others with a pear tart marker. I added brown ink to the areas I wanted to be shadowed and used a marker to redefine the centre of the flower. To create a background I painted water around the poinsettia then painted Broken China stain into the wet areas. The card is 5.5″ x 5.25″.

Thanks for all the lovely comments about my snow storm card. For those who are new to Bits & Pieces you can find all the tutorials I have done here: https://cardz.wordpress.com/category/tutorial/

Supplies:

Stamps: Warm Wishes, Hello Winter (PB)
Inks: Distress stains Barn Door, Peeled Paint, Broken China, Vintage Photo & Memento inks Bamboo Leaves, Pear Tart & Versafine Vintage Sepia
Cardstock: Fabriano 100% cotton hot pressed watercolour paper, Mix and match Grand Canyon paper
Also: Winsor & Newton masking fluid