Red Tulips

Posted: April 10, 2017 | Author: Heather | Filed under: gift card pocket, Hand lettered, Tulip Queue | Tags: Peerless Transparent Watercolors, Penny Black creative dies, Penny Black stamps | 10 Comments

I have planted quite a few tulips in our garden over the years and over 100 daffodils. Sadly I do not get to see that many when spring rolls around. I believe the squirrels dine out on the tulips; I’m not sure if they eat the daffodils too. I do get a few red tulips each year which have been blooming ever since we moved here so I can’t take any credit for keeping them alive!

I stamped this lovely outline stamp on hot pressed watercolour paper and coloured it with peerless watercolour paints. The deckled edge is left when I cut up the large sheets of watercolour paper I buy. Sometimes it makes a nice design detail.

I used a hand lettered sentiment tied on with some hemp twine and framed it all in red to make the tulips pop.

Supplies:

Stamps: Tulip Queue (PB)
Dies: gift card pocket set (PB)
Inks: versafine onyx black (Tsukineko) Dr Ph Martins bleedproof white
Cardstock: fabriano hot pressed watercolour paper, red and black cardstock

Wildflower field

Posted: April 7, 2017 | Author: Heather | Filed under: Hand lettered, Wildflowers Vol 2 | 12 Comments

Wildflowers again today because I love the way this stamp creates such a pretty image when wet and blurred. I left the blue out of the mix this time and stuck with purples. Before stamping the flowers I painted a pale sky on my watercolour panel by adding broken china distress stain to one end of a piece of wet hot pressed watercolour paper then tilting it so the colour drained down into the panel. This technique made some areas blue and others pale like clouds.

Once the sky was dry I inked only the tops of the flower stalks in milled lavender stain, added a few dabs of dusty concord and stamped half way up the panel. I inked again and stamped further down, then to fill the bottom of the panel I inked with the purples and green on the stems. I spritzed both the stamp and the paper lightly before stamping.

To finish it off I added a handlettered sentiment.

Supplies

Stamps: Wildflowers vol 2 (Darkroom Door)
Inks: milled lavender, dusty concord, forest moss distress stains (Ranger)
Paper: hot pressed watercolour paper (Fabriano)
Pens or pencils: handmade nib holder (Foiled Fox)

Spring blossoms

Posted: April 6, 2017 | Author: Heather | Filed under: CAS, Spring blossoms | Tags: Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress stains | 7 Comments

I’ve been wanting to watercolour this image ever since I stamped it as a black silhouette on an earlier card. The details are fairly small so I kept a light hand with the ink and used a stamp positioner so I could add colour little by little. On a piece of cold pressed watercolour paper I stamped first the blossoms in spun sugar distress stain, then added little dots of festive berries stain and blended with a small watercolour brush. I inked the stems with a gathered twigs distress marker then, after stamping blended on the paper, again with a fine tip brush. I added gathered twigs stain splattered around the blooms.

I chose not to add a sentiment but pulled out some ribbon to complete the card.

The technique for this one was almost the same but I used rough watercolour paper and more water so the blooms are more like blobs in some places. It’s more of an abstract look.

This one I finished off with bookbinding thread and a sentiment. Both cards are very simple but I felt that a delicate stamp called for a delicate card.

Supplies

Stamps: spring blossoms, spiritual snippets (PB)
Inks: spun sugar, festive berries, gathered twigs, milled lavender, dusty concord, distress stains (Ranger)
Paper: cold pressed and rough watercolour paper (Fabriano)
Also: bookbinding thread, red ribbon

Watercolour wildflowers

Posted: April 5, 2017 | Author: Heather | Filed under: Correspondence, Wildflowers Vol 2 | Tags: Darkroom Door stamps, Ranger Distress stains | 10 Comments

I have a couple more wildflower cards today using stamps from the Darkroom Door set, Wildflowers vol 2. I did some wet into wet watercolour stamping to create backgrounds which give the impression of more plants behind the ones featured in the foreground.

I dropped peeled paint, scattered straw and spiced marmalade distress stain onto a wet watercolour panel and let it move around and blend. When it was still damp I inked one of the wildflower stamps in spiced marmalade and peeled paint stain and stamped it on the panel. The image blurred a little but still looked like flowers. I let the panel dry completely before stamping similar but larger flowers in the same stains but with added rusty hinge stain at the base of the flower head.

To give the panel an aged look I added images from the ‘Correspondence‘ set in vintage sepia ink with water drops and splatters of stain over the top. I tied some vintage linen thread around the panel and matted with brown to finish it off.

Although I used some of the same techniques for the cattails card I didn’t add any vintage elements so it has a cleaner more modern look over all. I still started with a watery blend of distress stains (broken china, scattered straw and spiced marmalade) over the whole watercolour panel. I stamped the cattails stamp a couple of times into the damp background which gave it a bit of depth and movement I think. Once the stamping was dry I stamped again over the top to get sharper foreground images.

Thanks for dropping in today.

Supplies

Stamps: Wildflowers vol 2 , Correspondence (Darkroom Door)
Inks: Spiced Marmalade, Peeled Paint, Rusty Hinge, Scattered Straw, Vintage photo, Broken China distress stains (Ranger)
Paper: hot pressed watercolour paper (Fabriano) brown cardstock
Also: vintage linen thread

Dawn & Dusk

Posted: April 4, 2017 | Author: Heather | Filed under: cattail clique | Tags: Fabriano Watercolour Paper, Penny Black creative dies, Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress stains | 10 Comments

The star of today’s cards is the pretty cattails clique die from Penny Black. I cut it as a silhouette out of black cardstock for my dawn card and painted it for my dusk card later on in this post.

To create my dawn background I taped down some rough watercolour paper. More often than not I use hot pressed(smooth) watercolour paper but I decided this time to let the texture of rough paper add to my project. I taped across the panel about two thirds of the way down so I could paint the sky first. I used the wet into wet technique and painted first mustard seed, then worn lipstick, spiced marmalade and dusty concord distress stains onto the panel. In some places I blended the colours into each other but left one area lighter and more yellow to represent the sun. When that was dry I removed the tape and positioned it over the top section to reveal the lower section. I painted again with the same colours but blended it more to represent the reflection of the sky in the water.

I applied a double sided adhesive to black cardstock then die cut the ‘cattails clique’ out of it and attached it to the watercolour panel and added a sentiment in black ink.

For my dusk card I used cold pressed watercolour paper but this time started by splattering masking fluid over it. I then painted stormy sky and faded jeans distress stain over the panel diluting it with water towards the bottom. On separate pieces of cold pressed watercolour paper I painted gathered twigs distress stain across the top of each panel and mowed lawn distress stain over the bottom of the panel. Once they were dry I cut two more ‘cattails’ pieces to layer over my sky panel.

Before assembling the card I rubbed all the masking fluid off the blue painted panel to reveal ‘stars’ in the evening sky. I layered and offset my cattail die cuts, attached them at the bottom of the panel and matted the scene in dark blue cardstock.

I love creating scenes with stamps and dies so the cattails die makes me happy.

Supplies

Stamps: Spiritual snippets (PB)
Dies: Cattail Clique (PB)
Inks: mustard seed, worn lipstick, spiced marmalade, dusty concord, stormy sky, faded jeans, mowed lawn, gathered twigs distress stains, versafine onyx black ink
Paper: rough & cold pressed watercolour paper, black cardstock, blue cardstock
Also: masking fluid, double sided adhesive sheets

Wildflowers blue

Posted: April 2, 2017 | Author: Heather | Filed under: CAS, Wildflowers Vol 2 | Tags: Darkroom Door stamps, Ranger Distress stains | 10 Comments

This one is for my mother’s card stash. I try to keep her well stocked with cards but I know she is better than me at sending them so she goes through them faster than I do. As soon as I finished this one I knew she would like it; we both love flowers with blue in them, cornflowers, hydrangeas, delphiniums. I used one of the silhouette flower stamps from the Darkroom Door set, ‘Wildflowers vol 2’.

I inked the top half of the stamp in blueprint sketch distress stain, spritzed it lightly and stamped several times across the panel. Next I inked the stems in the lower half of the stamp, and a few dots above that, with forest moss distress stain and again stamped across the panel. For some variety in colour I dabbed some dusty concord distress stain on the flower sections and stamped than over the floral area. You can see in the closeup, the stamping is quite loose but the overall effect is a garden of blue flowers. Just what I wanted.

I’ll be getting this one and some others in the mail to you soon, Mum 🙂

Supplies

Stamps: Wildflowers vol 2 (Darkroom Door)
Inks: blueprint sketch, dusty concord, forest moss distress stains (Ranger)
Paper: hot pressed watercolour paper (Fabriano) olive green cardstock

Cherish

Posted: March 29, 2017 | Author: Heather | Filed under: Delicate silhouettes, first blush | Tags: Penny Black creative dies, Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress inks, Ranger Distress stains | 23 Comments

I have featured this stamp on cards a couple of times already but it is going to be one of those stamps that I reach for again and again. The flowers are perfect for a range of colouring techniques but pretty as an outline as well and the way the branch reaches across the panel is just so lovely.

I pulled out some distress products for this design and the stamp positioner so I could build it up colour by colour. I started by stamping the flowers in Victorian velvet distress stain, then the leaves with peeled paint distress stains and finally the stems with gathered twigs distress marker. Once the design was all stamped I blended colour into the petals, some I was able to pull in from the outline stamping, but if it was too pale I picked up some stain on my brush and added it. I did the same with the leaves and used a very fine brush to paint over the stamped stems and twigs. I let everything dry thoroughly before painting the background in faded jeans distress stain ( I think ). I also splattered a little blue stain around the flowers.

I wanted a little more foliage around the branch so I inked the leafy spray from ‘delicate silhouettes’ set in mowed lawn and pressed it around the spray then softened the stamping with a wet brush. I was in two minds whether to add a sentiment or not; I’m still not sure if I should have. But to keep it subtle I added it in the same watercolour paper with just a shadow of dark blue peeping out the side. If you have blossoms where you are I’m sure you are enjoying them; mine will appear eventually, I know!

Supplies

Stamps: delicate silhouettes, first blush
Inks: Victorian velvet, mowed lawn, peeled paint, mustard seed, faded jeans distress stains, gathered twigs distress marker
Die: forever friends
Paper: hot pressed watercolour paper (Fabriano), blue cardstock

More Matelasse

Posted: March 28, 2017 | Author: Heather | Filed under: A blizzard, bird flower doily, Brusho, CAS, Dies, Metropolitan, No two are alike, the gift | Tags: Brusho, CAS, Penny Black creative dies | 5 Comments

I have a few more cards made with matelasse style backgrounds topped with bright brusho elements. I once again chose intricate dies for the backgrounds. In the cards above and below I embossed watercolour paper with the no two are alike die. For focal elements I die-cut the city skyline, some snowflakes and a couple of words from a panel painted with turquoise and cobalt blue brusho.

The background below was embossed with the bird flower doily then matted with the same painted paper I die cut the dove from. All the dies I used for these three cards are listed and linked below.

I used my big shot/big kick to emboss these panels and my ‘sandwich’ was:

multipurpose platform with one tab showing and one flipped open out of the way
cutting plate
silicon mat
watercolour paper (damp)
die
cutting plate

Supplies

Dies: a blizzard, no two are alike, metropolitan, bird flower doily, love & joy, greetings, the gift

Paint: turquoise & cobalt blue brusho (colourcraft)

Also: Tombow adhesive dots, zig two way glue pen

Paper: hot and cold pressed watercolour paper

Matelasse cards & a winner

Posted: March 27, 2017 | Author: Heather | Filed under: Brusho, CAS, layered flower, Leaflets, the garden | Tags: Brusho, Fabriano Watercolour Paper, Penny Black creative dies | 8 Comments

I have a couple of cards made using die cuts today but first the winner of last Monday’s giveaway from The Foiled Fox. Thank you to The Foiled Fox for the gift certificate and thank you to everyone who participated. I enjoyed reading what is on your wishlists.

The winner is pansy47 who commented:

“I can’t seem to pick a favorite, but if I could it would be a die of some sort….background, words, scalloped rectangles, etc.”

Congratulations Pansy47, I will email you with the details and you will need to pick a favorite or two!

I came across a card recently with a completely embossed background like the one above. I was reminded that I can use my dies for embossing as well as cutting. After playing around with several dies I’ve decided the most impressive for this technique are the intricate ones that I don’t always reach for when cutting because of all the tiny pieces that have to be pressed out of the cardstock or die. As an embossed background I think it looks just like a matelasse quilt with all the quilting done on one colour fabric in the same colour thread. I added to my background a collection of flowers and leaves cut from a watercolour panel painted with scarlet brusho. If you haven’t embossed with your dies before just search ’embossing with dies’ to see how to do it with your particular die cut machine. To get a good impression I spritzed water on my watercolour paper first before putting it through the machine.

Supplies

Dies: layered flower, leaflets, the garden, flower bunch

Paint: scarlet brusho (colourcraft)

Also: Tombow adhesive dots

Paper: hot and cold pressed watercolour paper

Bible journalling

Posted: March 24, 2017 | Author: Heather | Filed under: Bible journaling, Fragrant Flowers | Tags: Bible journaling, Faber-Castell Albrecht Durer Watercolour pencils, Penny Black stamps, Tsukineko Versafine inks | 9 Comments

I have recently started some bible journalling. When I first saw the trend I decided I wouldn’t venture down that path but a couple of things changed my mind. The pastor of our church challenged us to read through the New Testament this year, a challenge I am enjoying and even managing to keep up with! I started jotting things down in a notebook as I read. Also I began taking notes during the sermons more carefully; there is usually an outline on the back of the weekly bulletin provided for notes. The problem was, even after I took the notes I brought them home and they piled up and eventually I tossed them out. Rather than continue that practice I decided to buy an interleaved bible which has a blank page after every printed page, and transfer my notes into that. I have been doing it for a month or so and it makes a difference for me to read the bible passage, hear the sermon, take notes, then come home and read through it all again as I add notes to my journalling bible. Most of the pages I’ve written on do not include colour illustration but I enjoy having the option of lettering, writing, drawing or stamping on the blank pages. The page I am sharing today has plenty of blank space left for notes on the passage highlighted in the stamped verse.

Now onto my process. I printed out a lined page to both guide my stamping and protect the page underneath.

I stamped the 1 Corinthians verse from the set, ‘Faith’, in versafine smokey gray on the blank bible page and and on a post-it note to use as a mask.

With the mask in place I stamped the floral bouquet from the ‘Fragrant Flowers’ set, also in smokey grey but a second generation impression. I did this three times to surround the verse.

I decided to use my Albrecht Dürer watercolour pencils to colour my page but kept them dry. (you can click on the photo to view larger version) There are two types of leaves on the floral stamp so I chose two pairs of green pencils, yellow greens (apple green 170, moss green 168) and blue greens (Hookers Green 159, Juniper Green 165) I coloured with the lighter hue first then added shadow and definition with the darker.

For the yellow flowers I chose two oranges and coloured all the petals with canary yellow (108) then added shading with cadmium orange (111). In the centre of the flowers I switched to browns (Venetian red 190, sepia 175)

Purple and yellow are complementary colours so I chose blues and purples for the remaining flowers knowing it would give some visual impact to the page. (blue violet 137,Delft blue 141, sky blue 146)

Once all my colouring was done I shaded around the edges of all the leaves and flowers with cold grey IV 233 and added some colour around a few of the letters in the verse.

I balanced out the page with a section of the stamp coloured in the lower corner and will add journalling to the page some time in the future.

Supplies

Stamps: Faith, Fragrant Flowers (PB)
Inks: versafine smokey gray (tsukineko)
Pencils: Albrecht Dürer watercolour pencils (Faber-Castell)
Bible: ESV journaling bible interleaved (Crossways)