Watercolour butterflies
Posted: March 24, 2013 Filed under: CAS, Free Flight, Watercolour 40 Comments
I have more water colouring for you today but I didn’t use my pencils this time. I used three colours of Memento inks and a large acrylic block. I stamped the ink pad directly onto the acrylic block and then picked up ink with a aqua painter . The aqua painter already has water in it so the ink immediately diluted a little. Any way I am jumping ahead with my description.
Back to the beginning…I stamped the butterflies in versamark and and embossed in clear powder onto watercolour cardstock. At this point I hadn’t decided how to use the butterflies so I taped the panel down on my work table so it wouldn’t warp once I started painting. I worked on one butterfly at a time, painting it with water first then adding colour blue, green and purple to different sections of the butterfly and watching the ink blend. As the ink dried and the intensity of the colour decreased I added a bit more here and there with markers which I then blended with water.
Once I decided to cut around all three butterflies I knew I would not attempt to cut our their antennae ( you know I am not a “fussy cutter”). The Less is More challenge this week is to use beads so I found some tiny beads which matched and started searching for thin wire to thread them together. I ended up using a discarded violin string (not uncommon around here) but it was too thick so I unwound the very fine wire which is tightly wound around the inner wire. Too much information? Anyway it worked and I made little four-bead bodies with another bead for each antenna.
Supplies:
Stamps: Free Flight, In my Thoughts (PB)
Inks: Memento Elderberry, Cottage Ivy, Nautical Blue & Versamark (Tsukineko)
Cardstock: Fabriano Hotpress 25%cotton watercolour paper
Also: Clear embossing powder, tiny beads and wire from a violin D string
Golden blessings
Posted: March 14, 2013 Filed under: Blooming Garden, CAS, Penny Black, Watercolour 12 Comments
I have a bright spring card today made using a colouring technique which is quick and easy but really pops on coloured cardstock. I stamped the flowers in versamark and embossed in white powder on Summer Sun mix & match cardstock. I used watercolour pencils to add colour to the flowers and leaves. Blending them with water is very simple as it stays contained within the embossed outlines.
Thanks for visiting today.
Supplies:
Stamps: Blooming Garden, Treemendous PB)
Inks: Memento Cantaloupe & Versamark (Tsukineko)
Cardstock: Summer Sun mix & match cardstock
Also: Faber-Castell watercolour pencils, white e.p., orange grosgrain ribbon
Home sweet home
Posted: March 10, 2013 Filed under: CAS, Sweet Home, Uptown, Watercolour 14 Comments
I have another one layer watercolour card made on the Fabriano watercolour paper. This one combines watercolouring and sponging. I think the house ended up looking more like a “fixer-upper” than a sparkling new home but that’s ok. It’s still a home, sweet home.
I stamped the house in versafine smokey gray then used a mask to sponge a green hill. All the colouring is done with watercolour pencils blended with water and a little highlighting done at the end with the pencil dipped in water. To finish I cut a complete house mask so I could sponge the sky in blue.
Thanks for dropping by.
Supplies
Stamps: Uptown, Sweet Home (Penny Black)
Inks: Memento Summer Sky, Cottage Ivy & Versafine Smokey Gray (Tsukineko)
Cardstock: Fabriano 25% cotton hot pressed watercolour paper
Also: Fabercastell watercolour pencils
Watercolour one layer
Posted: March 9, 2013 Filed under: Blooming Garden, CAS, Watercolour 17 Comments
The watercolour cards I’ve been making lately have been several layers as I usually create them on a 5″x7″ pad then cut and mat them with co-ordinating cardstock. I recently bought a larger pad of watercolour paper so, for this card, I cut and scored a 4.25″ x 5.5″ card and taped it to my work desk before watercolouring. I taped it to the desk carefully to create the border you see on the card. The card warped slightly due to the watercolouring but, because it was taped down until it was completely dry, the warping is minimal.
I stamped the branch from Blooming garden on the right and the left then masked both branches so I could stamp the branch again between the two branches adding only two more flowers. The flowers are stamped in versafine onyx black which is waterproof so it did not bleed when I started adding the colour. I used watercolour pencils to add pink and purple to all the blossoms and blended it with water. The stems are coloured with two browns, the background with blue. While the paper was still wet I sharpened three pencils over the image dropping slivers and specks of pink, blue and purple pigment onto the damp paper. I spritzed with water too and sat back to watch the bits of pigment bleed colour.
And, I almost forgot to add, this layout was inspired by CAS(E) this sketch #18
Supplies:
Stamps: Blooming Garden, Gratitude(PB)
Inks: Memento Elderberry & Versafine Onyx Black (Tsukineko)
Cardstock: Fabriano Hotpress 25%cotton watercolour paper
Also: Fabercastell watercolour pencils
Watercolour Dandelions
Posted: March 7, 2013 Filed under: CAS, Tweet Tweet, Watercolour 26 Comments
I am having a great time playing with watercolour and Penny Black’s flower and nature stamps. I definitely experience some frustration along the way but I feel like I am making progress all the same. At times I have gone too far in my watercolouring and the colours end up muddy but happily I also find sometimes I have not continued long enough and the addition of one more colour or a bit more colour intensity is all I need to complete my project. It is important to remember that watercolour paint(or pencils) always dry paler so if it already looks pale to you when it’s wet it is only going to get paler!
To create the row of dandelions I embossed four in a row with clear powder. I coloured the centres of the dandelions with dark grey pencils(all the pencils I used were watercolour), then around and below the dandelions with light green. I found the green needed to be much stronger so created a little green “paint” by mixing water and the lead of the green pencil. I painted this on blending with water as I went. I sponged the sky and dropped water onto it to create a cloudy effect. To make the dandelions pop a little more I coloured over them with orange and yellow pencils blending with water. At this point I noticed that the centres of the dandelions didn’t stand out enough so used a black marker to darken them. Last of all I added the music background but I am not sure that it was needed??
Both my recent watercolour cards have had no sentiment; there is a space for one on this card so I might add one when I decide who will receive it.
Speaking of sentiments there is a new One Layer Wednesday Challenge over on Susan’s blog.
Supplies:
Stamps: Tweet Tweet, Music Background (Penny Black)
Inks: Memento Summer Sky ink & black marker, Versamark (Tsukineko)
Cardstock: Fabriano 100% cotton hot pressed watercolour paper, Mix & Match cardstock
Also: Fabercastell watercolour pencils
Sweet Melody
Posted: March 6, 2013 Filed under: CAS, Sweet Melody, Watercolour 15 Comments
This is one of those cards which almost ended up in the discard pile but with some slicing and rearranging survived.
I began by embossing the music background stamp in clear powder but when I sprinkled the powder on I purposely missed some areas so the final image would be patchy. I then sponged Memento desert sand and rhubarb stalk over the panel. I stamped the bird cage in rhubarb stalk and immediately blended with water adding some ink droplets here and there. The bird, sentiment and flourishes around the perimeter are stamped in Versafine Deep Lagoon to create a contrasting colour scheme.
The panel I started creating was horizontal with the birdcage on the left and the sentiment on the right but when I’d finished stamping I didn’t like the layout. It was at this point I considered tossing it. Instead I sliced it in half and positioned one panel over the other, added a ribbon over the join and ended up with the layout you see here.
Thanks for visiting and thanks for leaving such encouraging comments. I am always happy to read that you have been inspired to try something you’ve seen here.
Supplies:
Stamps: Music Background, Eloquence, Sweet Melody
Inks: Memento Desert Sand & Rhubarb Stalk, Versafine Deep Lagoon, Versamark (Tsukineko)
Cardstock: Fabriano hotpressed watercolour paper,
Also: Navy satin ribbon, clear embossing powder
Watercolour Tulips
Posted: March 2, 2013 Filed under: Background Stamps, Blooming Garden, CAS, Penny Black, Watercolour 17 Comments
I have been having fun with watercolour techniques again. My inspiration for this panel came from at some beautiful paintings by Kristy Patterson where she has painted in watercolour over text. Often when I use the letter background stamp I use it only on sections of my panel or collage. This time I stamped it across the whole panel of watercolour paper first in Versafine Vintage Sepia which is waterproof. I switched to Memento inks for the tulips so I could blend the inks with as much water as necessary. My watercolouring method is a little different each time so it’s hard to describe. I started by painting water onto the panel then inking the tulip stamp in green and red before stamping it three times. I immediately blended some of the ink as it bled and pooled but also used red and orange watercolour pencils to add more colour and restamped the tulips a few times too. Once I was happy with the tulips I ran a nautical blue memento ink pad around the perimeter of the panel and immediately used water to pull the ink to surround the tulips.
Maybe you are already seeing tulips where you live; it will be a couple more months before we do!
Supplies:
Stamps: Blooming Garden, Letter Background, Edge to Edge (PB)
Inks: Memento Nautical Blue, Cottage Ivy, Love letter & Versafine Vintage Sepia, Majestic Blue (Tsukineko)
Cardstock: Fabriano 100% cotton hot pressed watercolour paper, Spring Meadow Mix & Match Papers
Also: Faber-Castell watercolour pencils
Watercoloured poppies
Posted: February 8, 2013 Filed under: Background Stamps, Blooming Garden, Penny Black, Watercolour 29 Comments
I love poppy images so I was excited to see two poppy stamps in the new Penny Black catalog. One is a wood-mounted stamp and the other, shown above, is part of the transparent set, Blooming Garden. I have painted poppies several times with watercolour paints so to try watercolouring with the stamp was my first thought.
I wet the watercolour paper, then stamped the poppy flowers in red and the stems and seed pods in green. The ink immediately ran and I blended and spread it with a brush adding a little more ink here and there with markers. When I was happy with the colour I sponged blue and green around the flowers and started playing with the layout.
It took me a while to come up with the layout you see above as I initially thought I’d mat the panel and put it on a white card base with a sentiment. I tried both portrait and landscape orientations but it wasn’t quite right. So, when in doubt reach for your absolute favourite background stamp! I inked the background with blue and green then added sponging and water droplets in the colours of the poppy panel.
The fun continues with inspiration galore on the Penny Black Blog. They are five days into the 20 consecutive days of inspiration, featuring stamps from the Take Flight catalog! The designers and contributors have LOTS in store for you. And since they’re featuring 20 days of inspiration, they’re also giving away 20 NEW stamps to one lucky reader.
Supplies:
Stamps: Blooming Garden, Letter Background (PB)
Inks: Memento Summer Sky, Cottage Ivy, Lady Bug stamp pads and markers (Tsukineko)
Cardstock: Fabriano 100% cotton hot pressed watercolour paper, Spring Meadow Mix & Match Papers
Venetian Summer
Posted: January 23, 2013 Filed under: CAS, Penny Black, Venetian Summer, Watercolour 15 Comments
I have another new stamp from the Penny Black 2013 Take Flight Catalog today. This whole scene is quite appealing when the weather is white and -26°C (-15°F) outside. A sun hat, a sundress, a walk around Venice sounds rather nice.
To watercolour this scene I first stamped it on watercolour paper in Versafine Majestic Blue ink. I then stamped it again on a post-it note so I could make a mask of the girl. I positioned the mask over the girl while I coloured and blended the background with watercolour pencils and water (I sponged the sky, as I would). After removing the mask I coloured the girl also with watercolour pencils and blended my colouring with water.
For a chance to win this stamp and four other new stamps visit the Penny Black blog today and leave a comment.
Supplies:
Stamps: Venetian Summer (PB)
Inks: Versafine Majestic Blue, Memento Summer Sky (Tsukineko)
Also: Faber-Castell watercolour pencils
Cardstock: Fabriano 100% cotton hot pressed watercolour paper, Clear Skies and Grand Canyon Mix & Match Papers
Watercoloured Background
Posted: January 21, 2013 Filed under: Background Stamps, Penny Black, Watercolour 3 Comments
There is a new catalog from Penny Black out today. Pop on over to the Penny Black blog this week to check out the new stamps and maybe win some too. I am featuring one of the new background stamps, Roman Surround, in my card today with another watercolour method.
In yesterday’s card I wet the watercolour paper first before stamping. For this card I embossed the background image first and then wet the watercolour paper before adding and blending pinks, blues and purples. My inspiration came from this lovely card by Jennifer McGuire. Once again I was so happy with the background that I added very little, casing Jennifer’s layout to make a birthday card.
Supplies
Stamps: Flourish Birthday, Roman Surround(PB)
Ink: Versamark (Tsukineko)
Also: white and clear embossing powder, Faber Castell watercolour pencils, grosgrain ribbon
Cardstock: Purple Mountain mix & match cardstock
Heather Telford 