May Flowers
Posted: May 5, 2015 Filed under: Gentle Whisper, Watercolour | Tags: Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress stains 15 Comments
April showers bring May flowers so they say. There are a few peeping up in my garden but not a lot to show for the April showers yet. The tulip festival starts in Ottawa next week so hopefully we’ll have plenty of flowers by then. I have been running by the canal where some of the tulip displays have been planted and last time I looked the bulbs had pushed up some green leaves but I couldn’t see buds. But enough about tulips I have orchids today stamped with the lovely big ‘gentle whisper’ stamp. I only stamped part of the image so I could fit in a second bloom and a bit of leaf.
The paper is cold pressed watercolour paper for a change. I know I always say it is best to stamp on hotpressed watercolour paper because it is so smooth but with a big brushstroke stamp like this one cold pressed worked just fine. I inked the stamp with distress stains, spritzed it with water then stamped on paper which already had a fine splatter of masking fluid over it. I blended some of the distress stain with water and a paintbrush adding some more colour here and there to create more dimension. I used a gold wink of stella to highlight the centres of the orchids then splattered a fine mist of green, purple and gold before adding the sentiment in black.
You will find May Flowers on the Penny Black blog all week as design team members share their projects.
Supplies:
Stamps: Gentle Whisper, Sprinkles & Smiles (PB)
Inks: Seeded Preserves, Worn Lipstick, Mowed Lawn, Bundled Sage distress stains (Ranger) Versafine Onyx Black (Imagine Craft/Tsukineko)
Cardstock: Canson cold pressed watercolor paper, PB Fuschia Fantasies mix & match paper, Neenah Natural White cardstock
Also: Winsor & Newton masking fluid, gold wink of stella pen
Bird on a branch
Posted: April 17, 2015 Filed under: Happy News, Watercolour | Tags: Faber-Castell Albrecht Durer Watercolour pencils, Fabriano Watercolour Paper, Kuretake Gansai Tambi watercolour paints, Penny Black creative dies 13 Comments
Last week I posted a card featuring negative painted leaves and mentioned a second card made at the same time. Both cards were inspired by gum leaves. This is the card I created using a negative mask cut from frisket film with the ‘happy news’ die. When I cut the bird and branch image out of the frisket film I used a piece that would cover most of my watercolour panel. I obviously didn’t think too much about where I was positioning it because I ended up with the bird balancing oddly on the diagonal branch. I think it would have been more natural if the branch was closer to horizontal but it still seems to work.
The frisket film works well masking watercolour paint but some does seep underneath. Fortunately on this panel the only seepage was around the leaves not the bird. I painted a layer at a time and let the colour dry in between to avoid getting the panel too wet. The paint is gansai tambi watercolour with some details done in watercolour pencils. I completed most of the painting before removing the mask. With the mask off I painted some extra leaves then worked with the green and blue seepage around the leaves to create the impression of more foliage in the background. Once the leaves were totally dry I scratched a spine into each leaf with a sharp knife.
At this point I wanted to create some contrast to make the bird pop a little more but I didn’t want to paint a fiddly background around all the edges. Instead I cut another ‘happy news’ mask from masking paper and positioned it directly over the painted bird (which was totally dry) I then sponged the golden colour using memento peanut brittle ink. Once I had good coverage I pressed a damp paper towel into the sponging to give it more of a watercoloured texture.
This is a technique I will play around with more because I have many dies and they make great outlines for watercolouring. Getting a negative and positive mask from each die cut means double the possibilities.
My dad celebrated his 80th birthday this week and hopefully this card has arrived in Australia and been opened by now. He and my mother check out the cards on my blog regularly and my dad drops hints from time to time that he would like to see some Australian scenes. I definitely had eucalyptus leaves in mind when I painted this scene but I can’t say that the bird resembles any particular Australian bird. (If the card hasn’t arrived yet Dad, you’re getting a sneak peak!)
Supplies
Creative Dies: Happy News (PB)
Inks: Memento Peanut Brittle ink (Tsukineko)
Cardstock: Fabriano 100% cotton hot pressed watercolour paper, Neenah Natural White 110lb cardstock, teal cardstock
Also: Kuretake Gansai Tambi watercolour paints, grafix extra tack frisket film, Faber-Castell Albrecht Durer watercolour pencils
Leaf negatives
Posted: April 6, 2015 Filed under: CAS, Happy News, Watercolour | Tags: Fabriano Watercolour Paper, Kuretake Gansai Tambi watercolour paints, Penny Black creative dies 18 Comments
I am enjoying my new watercolour paints and experimenting with different ways to use them. The panel above is part of a masking experiment. I used the ‘happy news’ die to cut a mask from frisket film. Frisket film is made of plastic so I ran the die back and forth through the machine a few times to make sure it cut well. I saved both the negative and the positive die cut image and worked on two panels at once so one could dry while I painted the other. For the one above I used just the positive leaf and branch portion of the die cut image.
I pressed the frisket film leaves firmly onto hotpressed watercolour paper and painted some greens and blues around the leaves. The shape of the leaves reminds me of gum leaves (eucalyptus leaves) so I stuck with the muted blues and greens I remember from the gum trees in Australia. Some paint did seep under the frisket film in places but I didn’t worry as I knew I was doing several layers anyway. When the first layer was dry I repositioned the mask and repeated the process. I think I repositioned the mask three times; I’m not sure. By the time I had painted several layers the first white masked leaves were almost completely covered in paint but the outlines were still distinct. I added some splatter, a sentiment then matted in a co-ordinating teal cardstock.
The other panel I was working on used the negative frisket film mask and will be on the blog next week. Thanks for dropping by.
Supplies
Stamps: Snippets (PB)
Creative Dies: Happy News (PB)
Cardstock: Fabriano 100% cotton hot pressed watercolour paper, Neenah Avon Brilliant White 110lb cardstock, teal cardstock
Also: Kuretake Gansai Tambi watercolour paints, grafix extra tack frisket film
Happy News
Posted: March 23, 2015 Filed under: CAS, Happy News, Watercolour | Tags: Fabriano Watercolour Paper, Kuretake Gansai Tambi watercolour paints, Penny Black creative dies 19 Comments
Penny Black has a mini release out today and you can see projects featuring the new stamps and dies on the blog and facebook all this week. I have two cards for you featuring the rest of the faux marble watercoloured panel I made last week. It was inspired by Sandy Allnock’s video of her faux glass technique. I used a bird & branch die called ‘Happy News’ from the new release. Rather than use only the die-cut or the negative I wanted to use both so I didn’t lose any of the pretty patterned panel. To raise the bird and branch above the background I stacked six die-cuts out of navy cardstock then stuck the watercoloured die-cut on top. This panel has proved quite hard to photograph; I’m not sure why but it is hard to get the greens to look like they do in real life. I switched to a grey background which lessened the contrast but it still isn’t quite what I see. (blue, green, gold, white-who knows?) To make it easier to stack the die-cuts I stuck scrapbook adhesive sheets on the back of my cardstock before cutting. To finish I matted it on gold cardstock then on a deep blue panel.
With my last little scrap of the faux marble watercoloured panel I created a CAS card on a kraft base which picked up the gold details. The ‘thank you’ die is another from the new PB release. I stuck the die-cut words inside the card.
Thank you for all your kind words about my poppy series. Let me know if there is another PB stamp you would like me to play around with and I will see if inspiration strikes!
Supplies
Creative Dies: Happy News, Many Thanks (PB)
Cardstock: Fabriano 100% cotton hot pressed watercolour paper, Neenah Natural White 110lb cardstock, gold , navy and kraft cardstock
Also: Kuretake Gansai Tambi watercolour paints 38, 50, 55, 56, 62, 66, 91 and gold wink of stella brush
Deep Pink Poppies
Posted: March 20, 2015 Filed under: Blooming Garden, CAS, Watercolour | Tags: Fabriano Watercolour Paper, Penny Black creative dies, Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress stains 7 Comments
More poppies! I think this is the last for now. Maybe. As I mentioned in my last post, my poppy watercolouring has become progressively looser in the four cards I have recently created. This one might just be my favourite. It started out just like the last one; I inked the poppy stamp from Blooming Garden with distress stains (listed below). I stamped the image twice, spritzing the stamp with water before each impression but not re-inking. While the stain was wet I used a paintbrush to pull colour into the petals, adding stain or water here and there to make it lighter or darker. There was a bit of yellow left on the stamp from the previous card which ended up on the far left poppy and I quite like that happy accident. While the painted poppies were still damp I spritzed water over the images aiming from right to left so the poppy blow outs occurred in the same direction.
Even though this technique looks very loose and free it can go wrong very quickly. One of the keys to success is to spritz then wait to see what happens. If you spritz, take a quick look, think nothing has happened so spritz again, you can end up with water and colour everywhere but not in a very artistic arrangement. That kind of happened on the poppy under the die cut sentiment which, of course, is why it is under the die cut sentiment. Triple stacked die cut sentiment by the way. I really like the look of the stacked die cuts and I am getting better at lining them up so they look like one piece instead of multiples. I did try to incorporate some ribbon or embroidery thread but they just didn’t fit in so I resorted to simple mats to finish it off.
I’ve been inspired by Kathy Racoosin’s #thedailymarker30day colouring challenge. I haven’t coloured everyday but doing this poppy project has been like a mini colouring challenge. If you haven’t seen my first three, here are the links: Pink Poppies, Red Poppies and Orange Poppies. I don’t think I have ever done blue poppies but Penny Ward has in this beautiful card.
Supplies:
Stamps: Blooming Garden(PB)
Creative Dies: For You (PB)
Inks: Peeled Paint, Aged Mahogany, Festive Berries distress stains (Ranger)Cardstock: Fabriano 100% cotton hot pressed watercolour paper, Neenah Classic Crest Natural White 110lb smooth, burgandy and green cardstock
Also: Stick it adhesive sheets, dimensional adhesive
Imagine
Posted: March 15, 2015 Filed under: Dies, Watercolour | Tags: Fabriano Watercolour Paper, Kuretake Gansai Tambi watercolour paints, Penny Black creative dies 57 Comments
I am enjoying my new watercolour paints and have watched some recent watercolour videos by the very talented Sandy Allnock. She has been playing around with the same paints (Kuretake Gansai Tambi) and posted a video last week where she created a faux glass panel inspired by vase she saw. I used some of the same techniques and made a faux marble panel. I painted blues, greens and purples on a piece of watercolour paper and let them blend. I dried them with a heat tool then added more layers leaving some pale and others dark and intense. When I was happy with the colours I painted some thin lines of gold onto the panel and blended them out on one side with a very wet paint brush. This gave me a soft edge and a hard edge I also splattered some gold paint over parts of the panel. The piece on the card above is less than half the watercoloured panel so I have some more to play around with another day.
For the sentiment I stacked four diecuts of the word ‘imagine’ each with ‘stick it’ adhesive on the back to make them easier to stick together. The gold cardstock I used was slightly duller than the gold paint so I brightened it up with my gold wink of stella pen. I did the same with the sides of the card base so it would all match. I am thinking it might make a good graduation card.
Supplies
Creative Dies: Envision (PB)
Cardstock: Fabriano 100% cotton hot pressed watercolour paper, gold cardstock
Also: Kuretake Gansai Tambi watercolour paints 38, 50, 55, 56, 62, 66, 91 and gold wink of stella brush
Red Poppies
Posted: March 11, 2015 Filed under: Blooming Garden, Watercolour | Tags: Kuretake Gansai Tambi watercolour paints, Penny Black stamps 9 Comments
More poppies. I thought it might be fun to try a few different techniques with the same stamp, especially such a pretty stamp. In some ways outline stamps such as this one are more versatile than brushstroke or silhouette stamps. On my previous card I used the outline of the poppy as a guide for my watercolour painting. On this card the embossed outline is a fence to contain the watercolouring. I have a new set of Gansai Tambi watercolour paints that I am experimenting with so painting within the lines seemed to be a safe way to start.
I stamped in black and embossed in clear powder on watercolour paper. I chose a pinky red and an orange red for the petals, laying down the pinky red first over the whole petal then adding the orange red from the centre. I used an olive green and a brown to fill the seed pods. I decided to paint over the flowers with masking fluid while I painted the blue panel which was probably not necessary considering I had the embossing to fence in the colour. Once the masking fluid was dry I ruled a rectangle around the image letting a few petals extend over the edge. My pencil lines were my guide for painting the blue background. When it was all dry I peeled the masking fluid off and discovered it had absorbed a lot of the colour from the petals. I’m not sure why this happened so I will experiment further with paper, paints and different masking fluids. But for this panel I just added more colour and carried on. To finish I added a little sentiment on the side and popped up the panel on a cream card base.
I have created a few projects with the new watercolours now and I am really enjoying both the choice and the richness of the colours.
I’m not sure if I will follow this post with another poppy project; I have been wanting to play along with the current One Layer Simplicity challenge so we will have to see where the inspiration hits first.
Supplies:
Stamps: Blooming Garden, Snippets (PB)
Inks: Versafine Onyx Black (Tsukineko)
Cardstock: Fabriano 100% cotton hot pressed watercolour paper, Neenah Classic Crest Natural White 110lb smooth
Also: Kuretake Gansai Tambi 36 Watercolor Set
Sweet Visit
Posted: March 6, 2015 Filed under: Sweet Visit, Watercolour | Tags: Fabriano Watercolour Paper, Penny Black stamps, Tsukineko Memento inks 20 Comments
It is always a thrill to see a hummingbird suspended in mid-air to take some nectar. I have never been successful in getting a good photo so I’m settling for a stamped and painted one. I have played with this stamp three times now. The first time I was happy with result but in a momentary lapse of reason stamped a sentiment in such a way as to render it pretty unappealing (I’ve saved it in case I get a brainwave for fixing it). The second one worked fairly well and will be in the Dirty Dozen gallery later this month. But this one is my fave. The other two panels had one bird and one flower; I think it makes way more impact with one bird on a panel full of flowers. But, enough of the comparisons with cards you haven’t even seen.
I started with the flowers at the bottom keeping in mind that I wanted the bird in the top right hand corner so I had to leave space. The three main flowers were inked with Memento markers, as seems to be my current habit, spritzed with water then stamped on watercolour paper. I blended the stamping with a waterbrush adding extra colour here and there. When the flowers were dry I used a marker to define the veins in the petals and the stigma. To create the paler background flowers I spritzed the stamp again without re-inking, stamped on scrap then stamped the remaining watery ink on the paper. I blended with a waterbrush to make the images even less distinct than they already were. The bird was also inked with markers, spritzed, then stamped and blended on the paper. To finish I splattered some pink, orange and green around the flowers. Sometimes when I want a bit of splatter I grab a watercolour pencil the same colour as the ink I’ve used and splatter that for more intense colour.
To finish the card I popped it up on a textured watercolour paper card base. I tried a narrow blue mat but it wasn’t needed; the little sentiment in blue ties in with the bird. I am linking up with the Spring Blooms challenge at the Inspiration Journal and the Spring is coming challenge at the Artistic Stamper.
(Please don’t be mad but this one was almost a video…I just got all inspired and started creating without turning on the camera! Soon, I promise.)
Supplies:
Stamps: Sweet visit, snippets(PB)
Inks: Nautical Blue, Bahama Blue, Danube Blue, Paris Dusk, Olive Grove, Bamboo Leaves, Desert Sand, Rose Bud, Tangelo, Potter’s Clay Memento markers (Imagine Craft/Tsukineko)
Cardstock: Fabriano hot pressed watercolour paper, Demco cold pressed watercolour paper
Also: Faber Castell Albrecht Durer watercolour pencils
Warmth on a cold day
Posted: February 20, 2015 Filed under: Efflorescence, Watercolour | Tags: Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress stains 17 Comments
When it’s -25°C outside the best thing to do is stay inside and make pretty things. The weather here continues to be bitterly cold and I keep reading of places in the states where the kids have had a week of snow days. A week! No snow days here. My daughter caught the bus to work this morning and said if she kept her eyes open they froze but if she closed them the skin on her eyelids stung too much!
I used the rose from the new transparent set ‘Efflorescence’ to make this card and it will be a bit tricky to give you all the how-to details. I stamped and painted, left it, came back, spritzed it, left it, came back, stamped again…you get the idea. Basically I stamped with distress stains to give me a wet outline image from which I pulled in colour to fill the petals or leaves. I spritzed the painted images to let some of the colour bleed into the background. I let it dry before masking the first rose so I could stamp a second behind it plus some extra leaves. I wanted a little rosebud in there too so I painted my own. I created the border with a watercolour pencil then added a splatters of blue and orange before adding a little sentiment and a matching mat.
I don’t know about you but I have had to look up a few of the new PB stamp names in the dictionary. Efflorescence means the action or process of developing and unfolding as if coming into flower. Effulgence means radiant splendor. Ebullient means having or showing liveliness and enthusiasm. So there you go; stamping is expanding my vocabulary.
Supplies:
Stamps: Efflorescence, Snippets (PB)
Inks: Ripe Persimmon, Iced Spruce, Chipped Sapphire distress stains (Ranger), Memento Paris Dusk marker (Imagine Craft/Tsukineko)
Cardstock: Fabriano 100% cotton hot pressed watercolour paper, Navy paper, Neenah Natural White 110lb cardstock
Summer birthday
Posted: February 17, 2015 Filed under: Sprigs, Stamped Landscapes, Watercolour | Tags: Penny Black creative dies, Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress inks 23 Comments
My husband and I both have February birthdays which meant hot summer days for the first 35 years of our lives. Now we celebrate in the bleak mid-winter!
For his birthday card this year I have gone with the warm tones of summer for inspiration. I managed better with this card than the anniversary card; I wrote in it and gave it to him before posting it here on the blog. To create this scene I started by flicking masking fluid onto my small watercolour block. Even though this isn’t a wintery scene some little flecks of white add interest and dimension to the scene. After the masking fluid dried I wet the whole panel and painted the trees and reflections in the distance, the sky and the water with brushes. In the foreground I stamped several stamps from the ‘sprigs’ set onto the wet paper and let them bleed into the surrounding area. When the paper dried a bit I stamped a couple more sprigs which stayed more distinct. I die cut a tag and splashed some of the same colour over it before adding a sentiment and ribbon.
Supplies:
Stamps: Sprigs , Sprinkles & Smiles (PB)
Creative Dies: Tagged (PB)
Inks: Dried marigold, forest moss, frayed burlap, crushed olive distress inks (Ranger) Versafine Spanish Moss (Imagine Crafts/Tsukineko)
Cardstock: Fabriano hot pressed watercolour paper, Olive green cardstock & ribbon
Heather Telford 