Forest – Casology 231
Posted: January 11, 2017 Filed under: tall trees | Tags: Penny Black creative dies, Penny Black stamps 29 Comments
My subtle forest is an experiment in masking. I painted the panel a month back and it was sitting in the pile of possibilities. When I saw what the Casology challenge theme was this week I thought of this panel straight away. To paint this misty forest I use the PB ‘tall trees’ dies to cut masks from frisket film. Frisket film is a removable plastic film used for masking when painting and drawing. I positioned the two tree masks then painted a pale blue wash over the trees, let it dry then repositioned the masks. I repeated this process numerous times to create my forest. With each wash the panel became a darker shade of blue and the previously masked trees received some colour also. Having two different tree dies added a little bit of shape and height variety.
I’m sorry once again that I can’t remember which paint I used. I don’t think it matters too much; I would use any of my watercolour mediums and keep it fairly diluted so I could keep adding layers. I was careful to let it dry thoroughly between each addition of paint so there would be no blurry edges. I also pressed the frisket masks down very carefully so the paint wouldn’t creep under the edges. I finished the card simply by adding a black sentiment and a natural coloured card base.
It’s an interesting technique which I haven’t finished playing with…
My blue forest works for the City Crafter challenge this week too.
Supplies
Stamps: Happy Snippets (PB)
Dies: Tall Trees (PB)
Ink: Versafine onyx black ink (Tsukineko)
Paper: hot pressed watercolour paper
Paint: watercolour paint of some kind??
Also: grafix frisket film extra tac
Magnolia
Posted: January 7, 2017 Filed under: The Unfolding | Tags: Penny Black stamps, Tsukineko Memento inks 20 Comments
I thought I’d share a spring bloom even though it will be a long time before we see any around here. We are experiencing serious winter weather right now; we’ve got plenty of snow, plenty of ice and plenty of cold! I’m sure I will be creating more wintry scenes in the weeks ahead because although cold outside, it is also beautiful.
To create this watercoloured magnolia I inked the ‘unfolding’ stamp with memento markers, spritzed the stamp and stamped on cold pressed watercolour paper. I used a brush to blend colour within the petals and stems and to splatter some ink over the stamped image. Creating such a loose print meant that the sepals on the stamp were lost so I drew them on after the stamping dried.
Supplies:
Stamps: The Unfolding (PB)
Inks: potter’s clay, espresso truffle, cantaloupe, rose bud memento inks (Tsukineko)
Cardstock: Fabriano 100% cotton cold pressed watercolour paper, coordinating cardstock for mats
New Year Landscape
Posted: December 31, 2016 Filed under: Skyward, Stamped Landscapes | Tags: Peerless Transparent Watercolors, Penny Black stamps, Tsukineko Versafine inks 15 Comments
The scene on today’s card is not unlike what I see around Ottawa. Sometimes the sky is bright blue; it usually means the temperature is very cold. The landscape is covered in white but the trees tend to be a mix of black, grey and sometimes brown, the deciduous ones that is. I splattered masking fluid over a piece of watercolour paper to create the look of falling snow; if the sky had been darker it could have looked like either snow or stars. I then used Peerless watercolours to add colour. I began by painting a line of water across my panel; that line became the edge of the background snowbank. I picked up grey paint and added it to the water then brown so the colours spread and feathered. I added more water above the grey and brown then started painting blue from the top of the panel slowly pulling it down and diluting it with water. I didn’t want the blue to mix with the grey and brown so I kept the edge of both colours diluted with water and tipped my panel towards the top so colour would move upward not down.
I positioned a mask lowered down the panel then stamped the bare branches in versafine onyx black. Once the ink was dry I removed the mask and painted colour behind the stamping extending to the right hand edge to look like another snow bank. To finish I removed the masking fluid, added a sentiment, matted the panel and attached it to a card base.
I wish you all a happy new year and look forward to sharing with you here in 2017. Thank you so much for dropping in to see what I’ve been creating.
Supplies
Stamps: Skyward, Holiday Snippets (PB)
Ink: Versafine onyx black ink (Tsukineko)
Paper: hot pressed watercolour paper, brown cardstock
Paint: cobalt blue, neutral tint, mahogany brown (Peerless watercolours)
Batik style background
Posted: December 29, 2016 Filed under: heart string, Peacock Feather | Tags: Brusho, Penny Black creative dies, Penny Black stamps, WOW embossing powders 4 Comments
The emboss resist method creates pretty backgrounds especially when painted in a rainbow of colour. I used three primary colours overlapping them to end up with the yellow, orange, red, purple, blue and green. I stamped the peacock feather pattern in versamark and embossed in clear powder on watercolour paper and the slight texture of the watercolour paper combined with the very fine detail of the stamp meant that I did not get a perfect impression. Once I added the colour over the top I noticed that it looks very much like a batik fabric print.
I trimmed the panel then used the heart string die to cut the piece in two. With the same die I cut a string of red hearts then attached the panel to a card base inlaying the red hearts but attaching the die cut word on top of the panel.
Supplies
Stamps: Peacock Feather (PB)
Dies: heart string, love expression (PB)
Ink: versamark (Tsukineko)
Paint: yellow, prussian blue, crimson brusho (Colourcraft)
Paper: hotpressed 100% cotton watercolour paper, red cardstock, Neenah solar white cardstock
Also: WOW clear embossing powder
The Yellow House
Posted: December 28, 2016 Filed under: Brusho, Victorian home | Tags: Brusho, Faber-Castell Albrecht Durer Watercolour pencils, Penny Black stamps, Tsukineko Versafine inks 3 Comments
I painted the yellow house a while ago using brusho watercolour powders for both the background and the house. In the background I let the brusho do what it does so well, blend from colour to colour. The house I was more finicky about. I stamped the house in vintage sepia versafine ink, a pigment ink that would not bleed when I started adding watercolour paints over it. I used a small paintbrush and brusho in a palette to paint the house in yellow and grey. After it dried I used watercolour pencils to add shading to columns, steps, roof tiles and bricks. I let that dry before adding a circle mask in the top right corner to create the moon in the blended blue sky. By dampening the paper before adding colour I was able to blend softly from blue to green to grey.
I matted in yellow and grey just like I might if framing a painting . The stamp is long and thin so the card is too. When I was making this panel a friend of mine was making one too. She didn’t end up with such a tall thin card because she added a car beside the house which looked very cute!
Supplies:
Stamps: Victorian Home (PB)
Ink: vintage sepia versafine ink (Tsukineko)
Paper: 100% cotton hot pressed watercolour paper, co-ordinating cardstock for mats
Paint: brusho ultramarine, lemon, emerald green, black (Colourcraft)
Pencils: sepia, pine green, cold greyIV Albrecht Durer watercolour pencils (Faber Castell)
Joy
Posted: December 24, 2016 Filed under: Into the sky, manger | Tags: color burst, liquid metals, Penny Black creative dies, Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress stains, WOW embossing powders 13 Comments
Joy to the world! The Lord is come;
Let earth receive her King;
Let every heart prepare him room,
And heaven and nature sing.
No more let sins and sorrows grow,
Nor thorns infest the ground;
He comes to make his blessings flow
Far as the curse is found.
He rules the world with truth and grace,
And makes the nations prove
The glories of his righteousness,
And wonders of his love,
And wonders of his love,
And wonders, wonders, of his love.
Supplies
Stamps: Into the sky, Joy filled (PB)
Die: manger (PB)
Paints: indigo, terre verte colorburst & Platinum liquid metal(Ken Oliver)
Ink: Encore gold ink(Tsukineko) evergreen bough, pine needles, crushed olive, forest moss distress stains ( Ranger)
Paper: hot pressed Fabriano watercolour paper, shimmer gold paper
Also: metallic rich embossing powder (WOW)
Winter Cheer
Posted: December 23, 2016 Filed under: Nature's Silhouettes, Stamped Landscapes | Tags: Kuretake Zig clean color real brush markers, Penny Black stamps, Tsukineko Versafine inks, WOW embossing powders 4 Comments
I used the versatile birch trunk stamps from the ‘Nature’s Silhouettes’ set for this card stamping them over a hill shaped mask at the bottom and bending them this way and that so no two trees looked the same. After stamping them I positioned a circle mask for the moon and painted masking fluid over all the tree trunks. I used zig clean colour real brush markers for the blue sky and green foliage in the background; I rarely use the zig markers but whenever I do I resolve to get them out more often. The colours are so vibrant and the blending so easy. Once the sky was completed I removed all the masks and added grey to the trunks.
I wanted shadows in the snow but with paler tones than the background so scribbled some colour on a palette and diluted it to paint a shadow for each tree. There is a little line of sparkly embossing along the snow banks to make them glisten. The sentiment may or may not be positioned where it is to hide something; I’ll let you draw your own conclusions!
Enjoy Christmas Eve.
Supplies:
Stamps: Nature’s Silhouettes, Yuletide wishes (PB)
Markers: Zig clean color real brush markers green, blue, light gray (Kuretake), Versamarker
Inks: Versafine onyx black ink, Majestic blue(Tsukineko)
Cardstock: hot pressed watercolour paper
Also: clear sparkle embossing powder
You warm my heart
Posted: December 22, 2016 Filed under: CAS, crystal trio, What's in your cup | Tags: Brusho, Penny Black creative dies, Penny Black stamps 4 Comments
This message is definitely for you my blog readers; you really do warm my heart with all the kind encouragement you leave in the comments. I have been working on a Valentine themed class for January 2017 and the cute little die-cut cup is one of the stars of the new class. I settled on classic red & white for the Valentine class but not before painting quite a few cups in other colours. This little blue cup with its snowflakes is just right for a day which started with snowfall and ended with a blue sky.
I die cut the cup out of watercolour paper then painted it with blue brusho watercolour paint. To give the cup some shape I painted some purple over the blue on the left hand side. Once it was dry I embossed the snowflakes over the top and added the whipped cream die cut piece. I attached the cup to a textured white panel and painted a pale shadow beside the cup then added snowflakes, a sentiment and a purple mat to frame it.
I’ve been making gingerbread today following my usual pattern of burning the first tray and half the second before settling on a shorter cooking time.
Supplies
Stamps: season’s gifts (PB) note: I printed the sentiment on my computer; it’s not a stamp
Dies: crystal trio, what’s in your cup (PB)
Inks: versamark (Tsukineko)
Paper: hot pressed watercolour papers (Fabriano),white linen textured cardstock, purple cardstock, black cardstock
Also: brusho watercolour crystals (Colourcraft), white embossing powder
Misty Mountains
Posted: December 20, 2016 Filed under: Prancers, Stamped Landscapes | Tags: Brusho, Penny Black stamps 6 Comments
I was happy to read in the comments that I am not the only one who hasn’t sent all their Christmas cards yet. I am making progress; I’ve written 67, sent 60 and have 12 left to write. The card I’m sharing today shows a little sentiment splicing; I’ve taken the ‘wishing you’ from the festive snippets set and added it to half of a stamp from the festive cheer set. The lettering in the two sets combine nicely along with the small capitals on the little words. You can get more from your stamps if you take a look at which sentiments might mix and match with each other. A stamp positioning tool makes this kind of thing easier but partial inking and masking works if you don’t have a handy dandy tool.
The landscape for this card was definitely a brusho experiment. I sprinkled blue and green brusho on my watercolour panel then moved water around with a paintbrush to create some hard edges and feather out other areas. After I’d created my misty mountains I did partial inking on the little tree stamp from the prancers set to fill in some forest on the mountain sides.
Supplies
Stamps: prancers, festive snippets, festive cheer
Inks: versafine onyx black (Tsukineko)
Paper: hot pressed watercolour papers (Fabriano),green linen textured cardstock
Also: brusho watercolour crystals (Colourcraft)
Lake Reflections
Posted: December 18, 2016 Filed under: On the lake | Tags: Kuretake Gansai Tambi watercolour paints, Penny Black stamps, Tsukineko Versafine inks 7 Comments
The stamp ‘On the Lake’ is a such a lovely stamp, a whole scene in itself. I featured it with a sunset behind it here keeping the stamped image all black. Once again I stamped in black on today’s card but used a limited blue palette to create a moonlit sky with reflections in the lake.
I began by using the MISTI to stamp the ‘on the lake’ image in versafine black on hot pressed watercolour paper. I used the MISTI so I could restamp a couple of times to make sure the image was solid; watercolour paper has some texture, even the hot pressed, so the first stamped image is not always complete. Once the the ink was dry I positioned a frisket film circle mask on the left hand side and painted the sky, lake and reflections in blue watercolour paint. I kept the colour diluted around the moon and in the lake under the moon.
Another way to use this stamp is by inking sections in different colours. To see this technique check out Jill Foster’s beautiful card and video here.
Supplies
Stamps: On the lake (PB)
Ink: Versafine onyx black ink (Tsukineko)
Paper: Fabriano hot pressed watercolour paper , Neenah epic black cardstock, solar white cardstock
Also: gansai tambi water colour paint, grafix frisket film, MISTI
Heather Telford 