Our graduate
Posted: June 27, 2016 Filed under: Pastoral, Spread Cheer, Stamped Landscapes | Tags: Dr Ph Martin Hydrus watercolor paints, Penny Black stamps 14 Comments
A week ago we had the privilege of watching our older daughter graduate from university. She has worked very hard, achieved excellent results and is off to undertake a Master’s in September. I chose her card from a selection I made last year; it could be a sunset or sunrise and the bird is flying off into it. My first chick is leaving the nest! As you can imagine I am very proud of her but not looking forward to her being miles away. It will be a great excuse to travel and see her though.
The background sunrise was painted wet into wet so I could blend the pink and yellow. I lifted out some yellow in the centre to make it brighter to look like the sun. As you lift the colour out it is important to rinse your brush and remove some of the water; you don’t want to return colour to your panel or create a watermark by dropping in extra water. I waited for the background to dry before stamping grey and black foliage in the foreground and a bird in the sky.
Supplies:
Stamps: Pastoral, Spread cheer (PB)
Inks: Hydrus Watercolour (Dr Ph Martin) I can’t remember which grey and black inks I used?!?
Cardstock: Hot pressed Fabriano watercolour paper, grey cardstock, Neenah solar white cardstock
Pastel Poppy Gems
Posted: June 16, 2016 Filed under: Poppy Gems | Tags: Faber-Castell Albrecht Durer Watercolour pencils, Fabriano Watercolour Paper, Penny Black stamps 10 Comments
This week my colouring has grown softer each day. I changed mediums for this card and pulled out my tried and true watercolour pencils. I have added to my set lately but the originals are still the set I bought in university for my art subjects. I remember my parents thinking they were quite an expensive purchase then but I would say we got our money’s worth!
I embossed the poppy gems stamp in clear powder then painted each petal one at a time. I applied two pinks from the pencils and blended from dark to light, keeping some watermarks and blending others out. On yesterday’s card I kept the blending very smooth but sometimes I like to have a few watermarks here and there.
Colouring three times in a row is great practice for Kathy Racoosin’s upcoming 30 day colouring challenge. The next one starts on July 5th and lasts until August 3. I will share more details closer to the time but it is a great challenge, no pressure to colour every single day, plenty of wonderful inspiration from Kathy and some prizes along the way.
Supplies:
Stamps: Poppy gems(PB)
Inks: Versamark (Tsukineko)
Pencils: Pine green 267, Chromium green opaque 174, Dark red 225, Madder 142, True blue 148 (Faber Castell Albrecht Durer watercolour pencils)
Cardstock: Fabriano 100% cotton hot pressed watercolour paper
Bright Poppy Gems
Posted: June 15, 2016 Filed under: Poppy Gems | Tags: Fabriano Watercolour Paper, Kuretake Zig clean color real brush markers, Penny Black stamps, Tsukineko Versafine inks 15 Comments
I’m sharing some more colouring today and yes, more poppies too. Poppies just keep on popping up on this blog don’t they!? Believe it or not I used the same medium on today’s card as yesterday’s very bright and bold card. The colours today are still bright but are blended out to much paler shades.
I stamped the large ‘poppy gems’ stamp in versafine onyx black and embossed in clear then used zig clean color real brush pens. Yesterday I pretty much filled the petals with colour and blended one colour over another. On today’s card I started with a little pink at the centre edge of each petal and a little yellow at the outside edge and blended the two colours with water to create a softer effect.
I spied the raised panel layout on a couple of pretty cards recently and chose to do it on this one with a piece of orange fun foam. I have an even paler more pastel poppy card up next. See you soon and thanks for dropping by.
Supplies:
Stamps: Poppy gems, (PB)
Inks: Versafine Onyx Black (Tsukineko) Zig Clean Color real brush markers (Kuretake)
Cardstock: Fabriano 100% cotton hot pressed watercolour paper
Also: orange fun foam, spellbinders square die
Love art poppies
Posted: June 14, 2016 Filed under: CAS, Love Art | Tags: Kuretake Zig clean color real brush markers, Penny Black stamps, Tsukineko Versafine inks 12 Comments
My inspiration for this panel came from my garden. I only have one colour of poppy in my garden, orange. I didn’t quite capture the colour; but it was a good colouring exercise. To create the collection of poppies I had to mask several times then stamp over my masks. Fortunately the cutting required for a mask of this poppy wasn’t too fussy!
I used zig clean color real brush markers and worked with one orange, one yellow and one red. The colours remained bold and bright because I blended with very little water and just worked with a combination of red and orange or orange and yellow. The centres are purple and black. The background is also zig markers, a mix of blue and light green with water marks to break up the brightness and give a little texture.
When I photograph my cards I sit them on a piece of glossy cardstock; I like the strong reflection I got this time.
I fully intended to add a sentiment in that big empty space in the top right corner but didn’t notice I hadn’t until I was editing my photos. I will wait and see who I send it to and add a sentiment later.
Supplies:
Stamps: Love Art (PB)
Mediums: Zig Clean color real brush markers(Kuretake) Versafine Onyx Black ink (Tsukineko)
Cardstock: Hot pressed Fabriano watercolour paper, Neenah Epic Black cardstock
Vintage sunbursts
Posted: June 10, 2016 Filed under: Nature's Paintbrushes, Sunbursts | Tags: Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress inks, Speedball elegant writer 9 Comments
I have two last cards to wrap up my vintage watercolour week. These differ from all the previous cards as they were stamped with solid or ‘silhouette’ stamps rather than outline stamps. The technique used on all my other cards involved pulling brown ink from the outline either into the image or into the back ground.
With a solid stamp the inside of the image is already full of ink so I adapted my technique in order to get the same vintage brown & black effect. Because there were no petals or wings to be filled I didn’t incorporate watercolour pencils into these designs. On the ‘sunburst’ stamp above I inked most of the stamp with vintage photo distress ink but left the flower centres and the base of the stems to be inked with the elegant writer pen. I spritzed the stamp so the brown and black would blend into each other and the pink and green tones would bleed out of the black. I moved the colour around a little with a paintbrush.
On the ‘nature’s paintbrushes’ stamp I inked first with vintage photo ink then added the elegant writer black on the seed heads of the grasses. I spritzed with water before stamping and also on the watercolour panel so the colour and image would bleed into the surrounding area.
When I was looking for some ribbon or twine to finish the cards I spied my black gingham and was surprised how much I liked it on the predominantly brown card.
Thank you so much for leaving me such kind comments this week; I glad some of you have tried the technique or plan to. I know many of you are not in my area but for those who are, I have a June class where we will be using similar techniques to make a poppy themed art square. (My first mixed media class!) All the details are on my upcoming classes page. I am also offering it at Crop A While in Orleans.
Supplies:
Stamps: Sunbursts, Nature’s Paintbrushes, Happy Snippets, Treasured Sentiments(PB)
Inks: Vintage Photo distress ink (Ranger) Elegant writer pen (Speedball)
Cardstock: Hot pressed Fabriano watercolour paper, black and natural cardstock (Neenah)
Also: black and white gingham ribbon
Vintage Flower Box
Posted: June 9, 2016 Filed under: Flower box | Tags: Faber-Castell Albrecht Durer Watercolour pencils, Fabriano Watercolour Paper, Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress inks, Speedball elegant writer 13 Comments
I’m continuing my vintage watercolour theme today with the square ‘flower box’ stamp. I completed this panel using the technique shared in my video tutorial. I stamped the image with vintage photo ink and added black here and there with the ‘elegant writer’ pen from speedball.
Most of the leaves and the centres of the large flowers have a black/green tinge to them; this is what happens when you add water to the elegant writer ink. I also spread it around the corners with a paint brush.
The orange and purple colouring is from watercolour pencils. I pulled colour from the pencils and filled the petals and flower shapes drawing in brown from the stamped outlines at the same time. I added splatters of colour from the pencil and water droplets for an aged look.
The word ‘smile’ is laser cut from matboard and glazed with crackle glaze. Thanks for joining me this week; I’m so pleased you are enjoying my vintage theme.
Supplies:
Stamps: Flower Box (PB)
Inks: Vintage Photo distress ink,Vintage Photo distress stain (Ranger) Elegant writer pen (Speedball)
Cardstock: Hot pressed Fabriano watercolour paper
Also: Albrecht Durer watercolor delft blue, raw umber, dark orange pencils (Faber-Castell), Rock candy clear crackle paint(Ranger)
Vintage Elegance
Posted: June 8, 2016 Filed under: Elegance in Motion, Life's Journals 8 Comments
Today’s vintage style card has a slightly different look to it because I gave the watercolour paper some colour before I began. While I was working with vintage photo ink and different stamps I just cleaned each stamp with a wet wipe. The wipe became quite ‘vintagy’ itself but before I threw it away, I tried wiping it across a piece of watercolour paper to see how much colour transferred. The result is the yellowed look on this card.
I let the paper dry completely before stamping the ‘Elegance in motion’ stamp in vintage photo ink. Once again I used the elegant writer pen but only on a couple of leaves. The rest of the colouring was done with a blue water colour pencil, a pale first layer then more intense details.
I added some lines using the ‘library card’ stamp then splattered and blurred the stamping in a few places. I was happy to find some blue ribbon in just the right tone and some linen twine for a little accent on the side. You can find my earlier ‘vintage watercolour’ cards here:birdhouse, butterflies, tulips, jubilance, poppies.
Supplies:
Stamps: Elegance in Motion, Life’s journals (PB)
Inks: Vintage Photo distress ink,Vintage Photo distress stain (Ranger) Elegant writer pen (Speedball)
Cardstock: Hot pressed Fabriano watercolour paper, brown cardstock, Neenah natural white cardstock
Also: Albrecht Durer watercolor phthalo blue pencil (Faber-Castell), blue ribbon, linen twine
Vintage Jubilance
Posted: June 7, 2016 Filed under: CAS, Jubilance | Tags: CAS, Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress inks, Ranger Distress stains 17 Comments
More vintage flowers on display today with a slightly different technique to try. As with my previous vintage style watercolours (birdhouse, butterflies, tulips) I stamped the image in vintage photo distress ink. Other water based dye inks in brown would probably work but I like the ease with which I can dilute and spread the vintage photo ink or stain.
After stamping, instead of pulling ink from the outline into the flowers and leaves, I pulled ink out into the background leaving the flowers and leaves white. The contrast of brown with white makes the flowers pop and look whiter than they would if they were not surrounded by colour. It is a simple technique you could try with any colour ink.
I would love to hear if you try some ‘vintage style watercolour’. Thanks for dropping by.
Supplies:
Stamps: Jubilance (PB)
Inks: Vintage Photo distress ink,Vintage Photo distress stain (Ranger)
Cardstock: Hot pressed Fabriano watercolour paper, brown cardstock
Vintage tulips
Posted: June 6, 2016 Filed under: Flower Gala | Tags: Faber-Castell Albrecht Durer Watercolour pencils, Fabriano Watercolour Paper, Penny Black stamps 14 Comments
I have some more vintage style watercolour cards to share this week. Last month I posted a video tutorial showing a method for creating a vintage look with brown dye ink and watercolour pencils. I have created a few more cards along the same lines dreamed up some variations as well. To see the original card and video tutorial click here.
For this tulip card I used almost the same method as shown in the video but left out the elegant writer pen (as I did in this butterfly card). I stamped the original tulip images in vintage photo distress ink then blended the ink in the outline stamping with colour from both pink and brown watercolour pencils. I painted some distress stain around the edges of the watercolour panel and splattered some as well.
Thanks for dropping in; I hope you’ll come back each day this week for more vintage style designs.
Supplies:
Stamps: Flower Gala , Soar (PB)
Inks: Vintage Photo distress ink,Vintage Photo distress stain (Ranger)
Cardstock: Hot pressed Fabriano watercolour paper, brown cardstock, coral cardstock
Also: Albrecht Durer watercolor medium flesh, VanDyke pencils (Faber-Castell)
Stamping with alcohol inks
Posted: June 4, 2016 Filed under: Alcohol Ink, Autumn Jewels, Pinwheel | Tags: Penny Black creative dies, Penny Black stamps, Ranger Alcohol Ink 11 Comments
A few months ago I tried all sorts of fun techniques with alcohol inks and I am keen to get them back off the shelf to try some more. Today’s cards are all examples of stamping with alcohol inks, using die-cut felt as the ‘stamp’.
I did all the stamping on glossy photo paper which allows the inks to move and blend a little but nowhere near as much as the on yupo paper. Yupo paper is a synthetic paper which is totally waterproof so the ink does not soak into it at all but spreads across it as it dries. The photo paper does absorb ink even as the glossy surface lets it spread and blend a little.
By varying the amount of ink you drop on the felt die-cut you can get a lacy effect or a full print. By adding a little blending solution to the felt you can dilute the colour and get a blurry effect within the shape. The possibilities are extensive with this technique.
Supplies:
Stamp: Words of Kindness, Sentiment Collection, Happy Snippets (PB)
Die: Autumn Jewels , Pinwheel (PB)
Ink: Alcohol inks (Ranger)
Cardstock: Glossy photo paper, coloured cardstock, Neenah solar white & natural white
Heather Telford 