Butterfly Border
Posted: March 14, 2017 Filed under: Butterfly garden | Tags: Darkroom Door stamps, Ranger Distress stains, Tsukineko Versafine inks, WOW embossing powders 10 Comments
I have a couple of cards today featuring the border stamp ‘Butterfly Garden’ from Darkroom Door. The stamp is quite large, as it was designed with scrapbooks and art journals in mind. It is such a lovely stamp I wanted to feature it on cards also. I used an emboss resist technique on both cards, stamping in black ink then embossing in clear powder. The embossing resists liquid when I add it over the top making it possible to paint and blend over the image to create a colourful background.
To create the warm toned card above I stamped the butterfly garden stamp in spiced marmalade ink beside the embossed image then added distress stains over and around the stamping. I left soft blends in most places but added extra stain inside the butterflies. Once the background was dry I splattered some water drops to create a few watermarks.
On this second card I wanted to feature as much of the large stamp as I could so I designed a wide card that would fit in a business envelope. I once again added distress stains over the embossed image trapping colour inside the butterflies and amongst the fern fronds. I die cut the panel into three squares then framed with before adding them to a natural coloured card base.
Supplies
Stamps: butterfly garden, happy birthday (Darkroom Door)
Cardstock: hot pressed watercolour paper, pale green, black and rust cardstock
Ink: versafine onyx black ink (Tsukineko), Spiced Marmalade distress ink & Spiced Marmalade, Barn Door, Rusty Hinge, Scattered Straw, Aged Mahogany, Broken China, Seedless Preserves, Salty Ocean, Peeled Paint distress stains(Ranger)
Also: clear embossing powder, gold cord
Hey You
Posted: March 13, 2017 Filed under: Brusho, burst of blooms | Tags: Brusho, Penny Black creative dies, Penny Black stamps 8 Comments
Does this remind you of batik fabric? Having created and purchased batik fabrics over the years that’s what I immediately thought of when I finished this panel. There were a few techinques in play to get this effect. Maybe you find it a little messy, or maybe bright and happy. The main technique is emboss resist so I will just mention for any Toronto readers I will be teaching my Watercolour Resist class in Toronto on April 8th, the details are on my Upcoming Classes page.
I started by embossing the ‘burst of blooms’ stamp in clear powder on hot pressed watercolour paper. Next I sprinkled red, yellow and blue brusho (colours listed below) and spritzed water from above. Once the paint had activated and the colours spread a little I dabbed them with a paper towel to remove excess liquid and dried with a heat tool .
To mimic batik more closely I ironed the panel face down into a few pieces of printer paper to melt and remove the embossing powder but leave the white outlines. I mounted the panel on a navy card base but sliced a section off at the bottom to split the panel and make a line for the die cut sentiment to sit on. I haven’t used this card yet but I can make it a birthday, graduation or just hello card by adding the right words inside.
Supplies
Stamps: burst of blooms (PB)
Dies: you enjoy(PB)
Ink: versamark (Tsukineko)
Paint: lemon, prussian blue, scarlet brusho (Colourcraft)
Paper: hotpressed 100% cotton watercolour paper, Neenah patriot blue cardstock
Also: WOW clear gloss superfine embossing powder
Floral on black
Posted: March 10, 2017 Filed under: Gladsome, Hand lettered | Tags: Finetec artist mica watercolour paint, Hand lettering, Penny Black stamps, WOW embossing powders 11 Comments
I’m sharing some shimmer today. Finetec artist mica pearl watercolours are very shimmery particularly on a black base. I worked on Neenah epic black cardstock and started by embossing the new outline image ‘gladsome’ in clear powder. The finetec pearl watercolour set has twelve colours so I chose a few and a small round watercolour brush to paint inside the lines.
It is hard to capture all the shimmer and shine in a photo but the mica pearl paint looks lovely as it catches the light. This is the type of card you need to tilt back and forth to see all its prettiness. I wanted to keep my sentiment co-ordinated so I used a nib pen and the same violet paint used on the petals. This is my second card with the ‘gladsome’ stamp; I like to get a range of different looks from one stamp. I think this one will be appearing again.
Supplies
Stamps: Gladsome (PB)
Pen: exclusive nib holder (Foiled Fox)
Ink: versamark (Tsukineko)
Paint: Finetec pearl colours
Paper: black cardstock
Also: WOW clear embossing powder
Simple Pleasures
Posted: March 9, 2017 Filed under: first blush | Tags: Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress inks 4 Comments
I’m back with a simpler take on the ‘first blush’ stamp. Sunday’s card incorporated masking and several colours, this one is the single stamped image inked and painted in two inks. I started with different inks at opposite ends of the stamp but once I started blending colour I decided to blend the blue and green over the whole image. I inked the stamp with peacock feather and salty ocean distress inks then painted inside the outline with water and a little additional distress stain. I have received a few questions recently asking why I use stain instead of ink. Painting with stain is like painting with liquid watercolour paints, the stains blend well with each other and with water. The ink refills are more concentrated and would need diluting before being used as paint. I often stamp with stain and blend the stamped image on the watercolour paper. I have a video showing the technique here
I found some co-ordinating cardstock to frame the panel and added a black sentiment.
Supplies:
Stamps: first blush, happy wishes (PB)
Cardstock: cold pressed watercolour paper, teal cardstock
Ink: versafine onyx black ink (Tsukineko) salty ocean, peacock feather distress inks (Ranger)
Love never gives up
Posted: March 8, 2017 Filed under: Garden Charmers | Tags: Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress inks, Ranger Distress stains 4 Comments
I`m happy to have some more colouring to share and another new PB stamp. I haven`t managed daily colouring for Kathy Racoosin’s 30day colouring challenge but I am enjoying it whenever I get the chance.
To begin this panel I splattered spun sugar and old paper distress stains over a piece of hot pressed watercolour paper, spritzed it, then dried it. Next I flicked droplets of spun sugar distress stain over the panel and dried them. I was after a vintage, slightly stained look. I used vintage photo distress ink to stamp the branch from the ‘garden charmers set’ then painted the flowers and leaves with the distress stains listed below. The vintage photo ink mixed with the pink and green stains to make it look aged. I then stamped the branch again but with second generation stamping to get paler images around the painted one. Finally I stamped and embossed the 1 Corinthians verse from the ‘All Great Things’ set.
I finished the card with a dark brown mat and a piece of French hemp twine from the 1800’s!
Supplies:
Stamps: Garden Charmers, All Great Things(PB)
Inks: vintage photo distress ink, spun sugar, old paper & worn lipstick distress stains (Ranger) vintage sepia versafine ink (Tsukineko)
Cardstock: Hot pressed Fabriano watercolour paper, Olive Green cardstock
Also: clear embossing powder, vintage hemp twine
Purple Poppies
Posted: March 7, 2017 Filed under: A moment in time | Tags: Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress stains 4 Comments
I am a guest of the lovely Foiled Fox team today so please head over to their blog to read about this card. If you haven’t visited The Foiled Fox before I encourage you to do so today. Not only will you find an inspirational blog, there is also a delightful online store full of all things art and craft.
A Sweet Friendship
Posted: March 5, 2017 Filed under: CAS, first blush | Tags: Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress stains, Tsukineko Versafine inks 12 Comments
I hesitate to call this a ‘no line watercolour card because I can see the outline stamping quite clearly in most places. The technique is one I regularly use where I stamp with either distress stains or distress inks then blend colour out of the stamped image with a damp paint brush to fill the interior shapes, in this case petals and leaves.
I stamped the ‘first blush’ outline stamp from Penny Black in wild honey ink on cold pressed watercolour paper then stamped it on masking paper also. Believe it or not I cut a fiddly mask adequately enough to mask my first stamped image so I could stamp another overlapping the first. That is how I managed blossoms behind blossoms. With all the stamping done I picked up a small round watercolour brush (probably a size 2 or 3) and started painting worn lipstick stain into the petals. The pink stain blended with the wild honey stamped ink to make a coral colour. While the petals were still damp I dropped some spiced marmalade distress stain into the petals to give me light and dark areas. I filled the stems and leaves with forest moss stain then, when all was dry, drew some centres in the blossoms with a spiced marmalade distress marker.
To finish the card I stamped the scripture sentiment about friendship in versafine ink and coloured in the word ‘sweet’ to make it solid like the rest. I have a simpler design with this same sweet blossom stamp to share another day. I’m joining in with Kathy Racoosin’s 30 day colouring challenge again as I imagine many of you are too.
Supplies:
Stamps: first blush, faith (PB)
Cardstock: cold pressed watercolour paper, olive green cardstock
Ink: versafine olympia green & vintage sepia (Tsukineko) forest moss, worn lipstick, spiced marmalade distress stains, wild honey distress ink (Ranger)
CAS watercolour challenge: Spring
Posted: March 2, 2017 Filed under: CAS, First waltz | Tags: CAS, Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress inks 13 Comments
Back in January I was honoured to be ‘top pick’ of the CAS watercolour challenge. Today I am excited to be back as a guest designer for their March challenge.
Apparently spring has sprung in some places! I don’t expect to see tulips for a couple more months but that didn’t stop me from using the new ‘first waltz’ stamp from Penny Black to create my CAS project for the challenge.
This tulip panel was created at the end of a morning of experiments. I wasn’t particularly happy with any of them but before I moved on to a different stamp I tried again with some second and third generation stamping and came up with these soft pink impressions. I inked my stamp with distress markers then stamped it on a piece of paper. Without reinking I spritzed the stamp and pressed it onto a hot pressed watercolour panel, again without reinking I spritzed and stamped again. The spritz of water was enough to dampen the ink remaining on the stamp and create a soft watery image. I did keep the original ‘first generation’ stamped image so that might turn up on the blog another day.
Make sure you check out the CAS Watercolour design team ‘Spring’ cards and you have 24 days to add one yourself
Supplies:
Stamps: First Waltz, Spiritual Snippets(PB)
Inks: worn lipstick, spiced marmalade, peeled paint, ground espresso distress markers (Ranger) versafine Spanish Moss (Tsukineko)
Cardstock: neenah natural white cardstock, fabriano hot pressed watercolour paper
Gold colouring
Posted: March 1, 2017 Filed under: burst of blooms, Hand lettered 10 Comments
It’s colouring time! Kathy Racoosin has launched a new 30 day colouring challenge which is running for the whole of March. To find out more about it check out her Youtube or her blog. This is her 7th colouring challenge; there is no pressure to colour every day, but you can if you want. I never manage all thirty days but I like to participate as often as possible.
The new release from Penny Black just happens to have a whole bunch of ‘colouring book’ style stamps; ‘Burst of Blooms’ is one of them. I chose to go dramatic with gold on black. The gold paints are from the Gansai Tambi Starry Colors set which has five different golds and a pearly silver. I embossed the image in clear powder on black cardstock then painted with three different golds.
I also added some tiny gold dots around my image and used the same gold paint to hand letter a sentiment.
Supplies
Stamps: Burst of Blooms
Ink: versamark (Tsukineko)
Paint: gansai tambi starry colours light gold, yellow gold, red gold (Kuretake)
Paper: epic black cardstock, natural white cardstock
Also: WOW clear embossing powder
Pens: Exclusive Calligraphy nib holder (Foiled Fox)
Happy Bliss
Posted: February 28, 2017 Filed under: happy bliss, Peerless watercolours, Uncategorized | Tags: Peerless Transparent Watercolors, Penny Black creative dies, Penny Black stamps 6 Comments
The colour scheme and style of today’s card is inspired by the amazingly talented and colour savvy Jill Foster. I painted the circle flowers in two blues and saw them sitting on the paper looking pale and weak. When I decided to mix things up with a yellow background they were happy again. I could imagine myself painting the flowers yellow and the sky blue but swapping things around was a bit of jump for me. Jill does these clever things all the time with beautiful results so maybe I will step out of my colour comfort zone more often.
I used Peerless watercolour paints to paint the birds and flowers, then, when it was dry and a bit sad, I decided to dive back in with some orange and yellow peerless paint to fill in the background. I kept things dark on one side and light on the other (like yesterday’s card) which suggests a light source. To complete the card I splattered some black ink and added a handlettered sentiment on a die cut banner.
What you can’t see because I forgot to photograph it (and believe it or not I cannot find this card right now) is the die-cut circle flower inside the card.
Hope your day is bright!
Supplies
Stamps: Happy Bliss (PB)
Dies: Illuminate(inside the card), Triple Banner(PB)
Pens: Exclusive Calligraphy nib holder (Foiled Fox)
Paint: Peerless transparent watercolours
Papers: hot pressed watercolour paper, Neenah epic black cardstock
Inks: versafine onyx black ink for stamping (Tsukineko) DrPh Martins bleedproof white for calligraphy
Heather Telford 