Baby, it’s cold outside
Posted: November 2, 2016 Filed under: Frosty day, What's in your cup | Tags: Fabriano Watercolour Paper, Penny Black creative dies, Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress inks, WOW embossing powders 7 Comments
I’m continuing my ‘Winter Warmth’ feature with a cup of hot chocolate and a steaming cup of tea. I had fun creating a couple more scenes with simple watercolour backgrounds and die cut focal images in the foreground. On today’s cards the background is rough watercolour paper so the ‘frosty day’ stamped images were speckled all over until I used a wet paintbrush to blend the ink over the sky area.
I die-cut the cup using the ‘what’s in your cup?’ die set. This set comes with the cup, cream, steam, teabag plus more detail pieces. I cut the pieces out of hot pressed watercolour paper, coloured them with distress markers and blended the colour with water.
I added a silver heart, cream and cinnamon to the pink cup then attached them all to the background panel. Because the die set comes with all the cute little extras I decided to make a second card this time with a cup of tea.
I stamped the background in black soot distress ink for this card and once again blended the sky area but left the rest textured.
I coloured the cup with red distress inks then added a sparkly embossed snowflake, a teabag tag and some rising steam.
I have one more ‘winter warmth’ card to share tomorrow.
Supplies
Stamps: frosty day, festive snippets
Dies: what’s in your cup?
Ink: Chipped sapphire, black soot, festive berries, old paper, gathered twigs, picked raspberry, vintage photo, hickory smoke distress inks/markers (Ranger) Versamark, versafine majestic blue, imperial purple & onyx black (Tsukineko)
Paper: hot pressed watercolour paper, rough watercolour paper
Paint: Finetec Artist Mica watercolour paint
Also: Clear gloss embossing powder, Clear sparkle embossing powder
Light a candle
Posted: November 1, 2016 Filed under: On the lake, Winter lantern 9 Comments
The second in my ‘Winter Warmth’ series again features a simple watercolour background with watercoloured die-cut images in the foreground. For yesterday’s card I stamped the background image on cold pressed watercolour paper so there would be a bit of texture showing through. It is even more evident in today’s card; stamping a solid image on cold pressed paper results in the speckled look of the lakeside scene. I inked the stamp in stormy sky distress ink all over and on a second stamping added chipped sapphire across both top and bottom. After stamping I used a wet brush to paint over the whole panel. This technique softens the scene and pulls colour from the stamped areas into the blank areas. While it was still wet I dabbed colour out of one area over the water so I could add a little yellow ink.
I used two separate die sets to create the lantern in the foreground. I cut the lantern using a die from the new set ‘winter lanterns’. I cut one from watercolour paper and one from black cardstock. The black one I painted with a thin coat of silver watercolour paint and clipped out the candle. The lantern cut from watercolour paper I coloured with distress markers then blended with water. I attached the black lantern over the watercoloured one so the candle appeared behind the black frame. I cut the lamp post from black cardstock using a die from ‘the gathering’ die set then trimmed it to fit the card base and overlap my painted background. Once again I used sentiments from ‘festive snippets’.
Thanks for dropping by.
Supplies
Stamps: on the lake, festive snippets
Dies: winter lantern, the gathering
Inks: Chipped Sapphire, Stormy Sky, Spiced Marmalade, Festive Berries distress inks (Ranger)
Paints:Finetec Artist Mica watercolour paint
Cardstock: hot and cold pressed watercolour papers, neenah epic black
Let it snow
Posted: October 31, 2016 Filed under: Skis 'n' sled, Woodland Beauty | Tags: Penny Black creative dies, Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress inks, Tsukineko Memento inks 11 Comments
I am writing this post from sunny warm Australia while my Ottawa family is sending me photos of the snow that has already fallen. I have a series of ‘Winter Warmth’ posts this week featuring dies and stamps from the latest Penny Black releases. I chose to pair watercoloured die-cuts with watercoloured backgrounds to make some indoor and outdoor winter scenes. You might think that sledding or skiing is not a particularly ‘warm’ activity but consider the trudge up the hill with the sled or the energy expended cross-country skiing; you can end up quite heated!
I created my background forest on cold pressed watercolour paper by doing first and second generation stamping with memento northern pine ink. I then tore a few snow banks from the same paper and layered them in front of the trees.
I die-cut the sled and skis from hot pressed watercolour paper then coloured them with distress markers, blending with water to get shadows and dimension. I added some die-cut greenery and a little twine bow to both the skis and the sled then tucked them in behind the torn paper snow banks. I added some clear wink of stella to the torn edges to make the snow banks glisten a little.
Supplies
Stamps: woodland beauty, festive snippets
Dies: Sled ‘n’ skies, winter lantern
Inks: memento northern pine, tuxedo black (Tsukineko), festive berries, gathered twigs distress markers (Ranger)
Paper: hot and cold pressed watercolour papers (Fabriano), green cardstock
Also: clear wink of stella, linen twine
Holly Stencilling
Posted: October 27, 2016 Filed under: CAS, Holly medley | Tags: Brusho, Penny Black creative dies, Penny Black stencils 4 Comments
I have a couple more stencilled and watercoloured cards to share today. I used the same technique to create these panels as I did to make the ‘stained glass‘ panel shared earlier in the week.
I began with the stencil taped to a piece of watercolour paper then spread molding paste over the stencil to fill all the little holly leaves and berries. While the paste was still wet I sprinkled brusho powder over the stencil then spritzed lightly with water. The water activates the brusho which spreads, blends and soaks into the paste. I removed the stencil and let the paste dry for quite a while before handling it. On the panel below I used a pearl paste instead of white to achieve a shimmery appearance. Water and colour did seep under the stencil in a couple of places but I trimmed the panel to utilise the best portion.
I finished the cards with die-cut sentiments and mats. To make the ‘Joy to the world’ sentiment pop I traced around it with a gold gel pen. You can see in the photo below the shimmer from the pearl paste. When I sprinkled the brusho over and spritzed, it really did not look good; it was more of a dirty mustard colour. Once it dried, though it looked pearly with shades of yellow, green and gold peeping through.
I apologize if I did not answer your questions about the last post; I’ve been travelling around a bit this week and visiting family in Canberra and Newcastle. When the choice was computer time or duplo with my delightful three year old great nephew, well really, there was no choice!
Supplies
Dies: Joy to the World, Rejoice(PB)
Stencil: Holly Medley (PB)
Paints: Red and green Brusho (Colourcraft)
Paper: Fabriano watercolour paper, red cardstock
Also: molding paste, texture luxe pearl paste, gold gel pen
Stained glass
Posted: October 24, 2016 Filed under: Hypnotic | Tags: Brusho, Penny Black stencils 20 Comments
A month or so ago I spent some crafty hours playing with stencils, texture paste and brusho powders. I was spurred on by a friend who had achieved some beautiful results. This panel, which reminds me of a stained glass window, is one of my favourites from that day.
I taped the stencil to a piece of watercolour paper so part of the design would be exposed and framed. I spread a thin layer of paste through the stencil then sprinkled brusho paints over the top. With the stencil still in place I spritzed the whole thing so the brusho would react. The result is the blurry, spotty patterns you see below. Once I’d spritzed I carefully removed the stencil and let the panel dry; it took quite a while.
Because I had framed the pattern with tape I was able to trim the border to about 1/4″ and then pop it up on a card base and add a sentiment. I am still enjoying my time in Australia with family; I’ve posted a few photos on my other blog, Sentient.
Supplies
Stamps: Festive Snippets(PB)
Stencil: Hypnotic (PB)
Paints: Brusho (Colourcraft)
Ink: Versafine onyx black (Tsukineko)
Paper: hot pressed Fabriano watercolour paper
Also: molding paste, not sure which brand
Christmas Joy (another brusho sky)
Posted: October 21, 2016 Filed under: Brusho, Woodland Beauty | Tags: Brusho, Penny Black stamps 14 Comments
I have one more brusho sky to share this week. For this one I took advantage of the way watercolour powders work to get make the sky a bit more dramatic than the last two more serene scenes. Brusho powders can be blended on or off the paper to create a smooth solid colour or they can be sprinkled onto wet paper and left to move and form patterns with variations in colour intensity. To create this sky I positioned a mask for the moon then painted water over the sky area. I sprinkled a couple of brusho powders into the damp area and let them spread and blend. The areas where I dropped the powder become the textured darker areas in the sky.
Once the sky dried I stamped the tree from Woodland Beauty several times in gray ink then added shadows on the branches in black marker. Brusho really is a great watercolour medium; it does so many clever things.
Supplies
Stamps: Woodland Beauty, Joy filled (PB)
Paints: Purple, Turquoise, Ultramarine brusho (Colourcraft)
Ink: Versafine onyx black, Smokey Gray ink and black marker (Tsukineko)
Paper: hot pressed Fabriano watercolour paper, blue cardstock
Snow tipped twigs
Posted: October 19, 2016 Filed under: Brusho, Into the sky | Tags: Brusho, Penny Black stamps 10 Comments
I have another brusho sky to share today. On Monday I explained how sometimes I paint the sky first, other times the images are done first. To create the appearance of snow on these twigs I had to stamp the twigs first. I used the misti and stamped the ‘into the sky’ stamp in versamark first then moved the watercolour panel up ever so slightly and stamped the twigs again in versafine onyx black. I then embossed with clear powder so the images would resist the paint when I added the sky over the top.
I used three colours of brusho to create the gradated sky leaving a bit of white at the bottom like a cloud. I finished the card by adding a simple sentiment and popping it up on a white card base.
Supplies
Stamps: Into the sky, Holiday snippets (PB)
Paints: Purple, Turquoise, Ultramarine brusho (Colourcraft)
Ink: Versafine onyx black ink(Tsukineko)
Paper: hot pressed Fabriano watercolour paper
Sunset Rendezvous
Posted: October 17, 2016 Filed under: Brusho, Rendezvous | Tags: Brusho, Penny Black stamps 8 Comments
When making scenes like this one I sometimes create the background first then decide what to add to the foreground. Other times I stamp my images and add the sky after. For this one I positioned a moon punched from masking tape on a piece of watercolour paper then painted colour over the whole panel using brusho powders. I can’t remember but it is likely that I intended the panel to be portrait orientation with the moon in the top right corner.
I decided instead to make the masked circle appear to be the sun going down so the light around it is yellow and pink with blue on the far left. Once the paint dried I stamped the tree stamp in versafine onyx black ink to complete the sunset scene.
I didn’t add a sentiment as it is the kind of card I could use for any number of occasions. Once I pull it out to use it I can add a small sentiment in the bottom right corner if I wish.
I’m in Australia at present visiting my family; I’ll be posting some photos from time to time on my other blog, Sentient and on instagram
Supplies
Stamps: Rendezvous (PB)
Ink: Versafine onyx black ink, (Tsukineko)
Paint: crimson, yellow, cobalt blue, turquoise brusho (Colourcraft)
Paper: hot pressed Fabriano watercolour paper, Neenah Epic black cardstock, blue cardstock
Also: masking tape
Peerless skies
Posted: October 11, 2016 Filed under: Chapels, Woodland Beauty | Tags: Peerless Transparent Watercolors, Penny Black creative dies, Penny Black stamps, WOW embossing powders 8 Comments
Yesterday I posted the first card painted with my new Peerless Watercolour paints along with a video showing how I organized my paints into a palette. The cards I have today feature deep blue skies also painted with Peerless watercolours.
Peerless watercolours are unusual as the paint is concentrated in a dry sheet of cardstock. To use it you have to add water to the cardstock. I am only just beginning to use mine but I am already impressed by the intensity of the colour and the ease with which they blend. For both these cards I used a mix of blues and purples and blended them on the watercolour panel. I was happy with the mix of colour as I painted but was even more impressed when I returned to the panels after they had dried and saw how they colours had continued to blend resulting in soft smooth variations.
I kept the design simple as far as elements were concerned but fancy when it came to texture and sparkle. I embossed both the sentiment and church with WOW Diamond white embossing glitter giving a second coat to the church for maximum bling. I can’t imagine the circumstances under which a church would be so sparkly but it looked so pretty against that sky I had to let it bling!
I was far more traditional with this card adding a sentiment and tree in black ink.
I added a little interest by stamping the tree on both the card base and the feature panel which is popped up on a layer of foam.
I received my peerless watercolour paints from the kind people at The Foiled Fox online store. The store has a wonderful mix of art, paper craft and calligraphy supplies and in my opinion they are carrying all the cool stuff! They also have a blog showcasing their own design team and guests from around the world.
Supplies
Stamps: Woodland beauty, Holy Night (PB)
Dies: Chapels, O Holy Night
Ink: Versafine onyx black (Tsukineko)
Paint: Peerless watercolours
Paper: hot pressed Fabriano watercolour paper
Also: WOW diamond white embossing glitter
Peerless Watercolours and a video
Posted: October 10, 2016 Filed under: Grateful, Peerless watercolours | Tags: Peerless Transparent Watercolors, Penny Black stamps, WOW embossing powders 16 Comments
I have something new to share today, new to me that is. The Peerless paints have been around since 1885! Shauna from The Foiled Fox sent me the Peerless watercolour paints and they are beautiful. As the trees outside are turning stunning colours it seemed the perfect theme for my first peerless project. To read all the details about this card pop over to The Foiled Fox blog and read my guest post. Scroll down below to see how I set up a palette for my peerless paints.
Peerless watercolours are embedded in dry sheets. You touch the dry paint with a wet brush to pick up colour. To see how I set up my paints so I could access all the colours on one fold out palette, watch the video below.
Supplies
Heather Telford 