Hummingbird treat
Posted: May 30, 2016 Filed under: Sweet Visit | Tags: Penny Black stamps, Tsukineko Memento inks 9 Comments
I went searching for my bird feeders yesterday but couldn’t find them. I have been a bit discouraged in the past when my bird feeders have doubled as squirrel feeders. The hummingbird feeder is a different deal to the seed feeders of course as it needs syrup. I do know where that is so perhaps I can tempt some hummingbirds to hover in my garden.
These hibiscus and the hummingbird were inked with memento inks, spritzed with water then a little blending added after stamping. You can see I added a generous amount of splatter around the leaves too.
Supplies:
Stamps: Sweet visit(PB)
Inks: Nautical Blue, Espresso Truffle, Cottage Ivy, Bamboo Leaves, Cantaloupe, Tangelo, Potter’s Clay Memento markers (Imagine Craft/Tsukineko)
Cardstock: Fabriano hot pressed watercolour paper
Spring in the city
Posted: May 29, 2016 Filed under: Prancers, Skyline, Stamped Landscapes | Tags: Dr Ph Martin Hydrus watercolor paints, Penny Black stamps, Tsukineko Memento inks 9 Comments
I created this card way back in the dead of winter when I was using the ‘soft whisper’ tree stamp to create snowy scenes. I set it aside and it got buried under other projects. I need to post it now as Ottawa seems to have had its 15 minutes of spring and marched straight in to summer.
There is a lot going on in the scene so I had to think through my order of operations. I used the MISTI to stamp the tree several times adding black, grey and pink ink separately. When the tree was finished I stamped again with versamark then embossed in clear so I could easily paint a wash over the tree. I kept the variegated wash in the top half of the panel merging from blue to pink to apricot then stamped a skyline of grey buildings below it. I filled in the space around the buildings with pale grey ink then added black trees in the foreground.
I hope you are enjoying some pretty scenery where you are.
Stamps: Soft Whisper, Skyline, Prancers (PB)
Inks: Memento Angel pink, London fog, Tuxedo black, Versamark (Tsukineko)
Paint: Dr Ph Martin’s Hydrus watercolours
Cardstock: Canson 100% cotton hot pressed watercolour paper, black cardstock
Also: clear embossing powder
Umbrellas
Posted: May 27, 2016 Filed under: April Showers | Tags: Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress stains 10 Comments
I love pretty umbrellas and umbrella motifs in general so when I created this card I wanted to give them all bright colours. I did some masking to get all my umbrellas in amongst each other then watercoloured each one a different colour. I painted the sky first wet into wet then splattered some blue stain over it when it was almost dry but not quite. The umbrella scene is framed in white from the initial taping with masking tape then matted in black and attached to a natural card base.
At present I only have a black umbrella but there are such lovely coloured ones as well as the cute ones with paintings and the like on them; I think it is time for a new one. Ideally I’d choose a red raincoat(with polka-dot lining), red boots and a red and white polka-dot umbrella. In actual fact I don’t have any of those things!
Supplies:
Stamps: April Showers, Sprinkles and Smiles ( PB)
Inks: Mowed Lawn, Festive Berries, Ripe Persimmon, Salty Ocean, Tumbled Glass, Scattered Straw, Seedless preserves, Spiced marmalade distress stains (Ranger)
Cardstock: Fabriano 100% cotton hot pressed watercolour paper, Neenah Classic Crest Natural White 110lb smooth, Neenah Epic Black
Sun and sea
Posted: May 24, 2016 Filed under: Brusho, Out to sea, Serenity | Tags: Brusho, Fabriano Watercolour Paper, Penny Black creative dies, Penny Black stamps 4 Comments
Over on the Penny Black blog this week ‘Father’s Day’ cards are the feature. My card could definitely be used for Father’s Day (if I remember to post it!) but it could be just as easily used for any friend or family member. The colour scheme and the lack of floral images does make it a good choice for a masculine card.
Four different painted panels were cut up then layered to create my sunny seascape. The background blue panel is one piece of cold pressed watercolour paper; I taped masking tape across the horizon about 2/3 of the way up then painted some masking fluid in lines to suggest waves and light on the sea. Once the masking fluid was dry I painted the sea with cobalt blue and turquoise brusho. Once that dried I repositioned the tape to mask the edge of the sea so I could paint the sky with turquoise brusho.
All the remaining pieces were painted on hot pressed watercolour paper. For the tree and grass I used three greens (listed below) and dark brown brusho. I used a large piece of watercolour paper adding brown just in the area where I would die cut the tree. After die cutting the tree I used a craft knife to cut a hill from the rest of the green area. To keep the tree sitting flat on the background I used the bottom of the tree die to cut into the green hill then inserted the tree in the space when assembling the scene.
I used the ‘Out to Sea’ die to cut a yacht from a yellow brusho panel then painted red over the hull of the boat. The only other piece to cut was the sun which came out of a piece I painted with yellow and a sprinkle of red.
To make assembly a bit easier I applied ‘stick it’ adhesive to the tree panel before cutting it out. I embossed the little sentiment in white before putting it all together. My husband just walked past and was surprised that this was one of my cards; it is a bit of a departure from my usual.
Supplies
Stamps: Happy Snippets
Dies: Out to sea, Serenity
Paints: leaf green, sea green, emerald green, cobalt blue, turquoise, yellow, ost. red, dark brown brusho
Ink: Versamark ink
Paper: hot & cold pressed Fabriano watercolour paper
Also: white embossing powder, masking fluid
Venetian Summer
Posted: May 23, 2016 Filed under: Venetian Summer | Tags: Penny Black stamps, Tsukineko Memento inks 10 Comments
The sun is shining and although it is not technically summer yet, it finally feels like it is. I made this card over a year ago, during my stint on the Dirty Dozen. It is not vintage style in the same sense as my recent ‘sepia toned’ cards but it does have a bit of an old b&w photo feel. Just as it is possible to highlight one part of a b&w photo, it is fun to do the same with watercolouring. I inked my stamp in London Fog but avoided the hat so I could ink that in red. I added shading to the buildings and the woman by picking up ink with a small watercolour brush. I chose for the sun to be coming from the left hand side of the scene and kept my darkest shading on the right of the buildings, hat and body. You can see where I taped the watercolour panel to begin which left a frame around the picture. Sometimes when I am teaching I am asked what to do about those little areas where the ink seeps under the masking tape. If it is only in a few places or a small area I do not worry about it; I think it makes it look like a watercolour sketch. If it really does detract from the design, I trim the whole border off and frame it with another colour or by popping it up on foam tape to create a ‘shadow border’.
We have had a long weekend in Ontario and the weather has been beautiful. I’ve been bike riding a couple of times and enjoyed the tulips planted by the canal for the tulip festival which is currently happening in Ottawa. I have also been outside planting flowers in my garden and pots. It is hard to believe just over a week ago we were bundled up in multiple layers watching my son play soccer while it was 3°C!
Supplies:
Stamps: Venetian Summer(PB)
Inks: London Fog, Love Letter memento ink (Imagine Craft/Tsukineko)
Cardstock: Fabriano 100% cotton hot pressed watercolour paper
Lilac Roses – a tutorial
Posted: May 19, 2016 Filed under: Scented Beauty, Tutorial | Tags: Penny Black creative dies, Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress inks, Ranger Distress stains, Tombow dual brush pens, Tutorial, video 20 Comments
The new scented beauty rose stamp from PB is such a pretty stamp. I have tried a variety of mediums and styles with it so far and will share a few different cards at the end of this post. First let’s talk about this card. Can you believe this is my second video this month? I’m hoping to continue this pattern, but I know I’ve said that before.
I am fairly new to tombow dual brush pens; I bought a few for lettering but recently I added to my collection and started using them for stamping as well. They blend nicely with each other and with water on watercolour paper. For this card I only used two colours but managed to vary the intensity of colour by diluting with water. As is often my habit I didn’t think about the sentiment until the end and felt that a stamped sentiment messed up the balance of the design too much. Instead I settled on one of the thinnest die-cut sentiments I have which stretched across the base of the card keeping things balanced left to right but maybe a little bottom heavy!
I used tombow dual brush pens in the video but you could use stamp pads or distress markers for similar results.
Supplies:
Stamps: Scented Beauty (PB)
Dies: Many Thanks
Inks: Light Olive-126, Dark Plum-679 Dual Brush pens (Tombow)
Cardstock: Fabriano 100% cotton hot pressed watercolour paper, olive green cardstock
Below are a few more cards featuring ‘Scented Beauty’. The technique is similar to that shown in the video but with different mediums. I varied the amount of water added and did not always ink the whole stamp.
Supplies:
Stamps: Scented Beauty, Treasured Sentiments (PB)
Inks: Dried Marigold, Pine Needles distress stain (Ranger)
Cardstock: Fabriano 100% cotton cold pressed watercolour paper,green cardstock
Supplies:
Stamps: Scented Beauty, Treasured Sentiments (PB)
Inks: Picked raspberry distress marker (Ranger) Versafine onyx black (Tsukineko)
Cardstock: Fabriano 100% cotton cold pressed watercolour paper, black cardstock
Supplies:
Stamps: Scented Beauty, Treasured Sentiments (PB)
Inks: Mowed Lawn, Ripe Persimmon, Spiced Marmalade, Forest Moss, Spun Sugar, Weathered wood distress stains (Ranger)
Cardstock: Fabriano 100% cotton cold pressed watercolour paper, purple cardstock
Folk Flower
Posted: May 17, 2016 Filed under: Alcohol Ink, CAS, folk flower | Tags: Penny Black creative dies, Penny Black stamps, Ranger Alcohol Ink 7 Comments
Having so many alcohol ink experiments on hand is helping with my resolve to try new layouts and sketches. The colours and patterns that appear almost magically when working with alcohol inks need little or no adornment. This panel was mainly aqua with some splotches of coral pink here and there until I added silver and scraped it across the panel with the coffee stirrer. I ended up with the rock formation style patterns which were kind of cool but the silver had taken over.
I played around with several ideas for using the panel including tossing it but finally settled on a layout inspired by this card on JJ Bolton’s blog. I chose the coral coloured cardstock for the die cut to bring out the few patches on the panel. The assembly of this layout did not go smoothly for me, (there is more than one reason I stick to the portrait gallery layout!) I cut a piece of light weight cardstock to stick behind the circle to keep everything together. When I ran my finger over the edge of the circle to press it firmly onto the backing, the silver ink smudged onto my clean white card base. I managed to transfer silver ink via my die cutting plates also. The metallic alcohol inks sit on the surface and therefore need some sort of fixative; (I have watched a tutorial about this just haven’t looked into whether I have the right fixative) Rather than make the same mistake three times I decided to polish the patterned circle with a paper towel as someone had done successfully in class to see how much silver would come off. I removed quite a bit which revealed more aqua and left the panel less smudgy. The rest of the assembly was more straight forward; I used ‘stick it’ adhesive on the back of the folk flower die cut and embossed the sentiment on black cardstock for contrast.
When I visited JJ Bolton’s blog to look at her card layout I read about the clever wax crayon technique she used on her card…something to try another day.
Supplies:
Stamps: Happy Snippets (PB)
Dies: Folk Flower (PB)
Ink: Alcohol inks, Versafine ink (Ranger)
Paper: glossy photo paper, Neenah Epic Black 100lb cardstock, Neenah solar white cardstock, coral cardstock
Also: stick it adhesive, white embossing powder
Blue bird houses
Posted: May 16, 2016 Filed under: Good neighbours | Tags: Penny Black creative dies, Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress stains, Tsukineko Versafine inks 13 Comments
It’s all about blue on my card today. I used chipped sapphire distress ink for all but the sentiment and managed to get different blues by diluting some areas more than others. I inked the stamp with distress stain which made the print very juicy and perfect for the watercolour effect. I used a wet paintbrush to pull the colour in from the stamped outline. I also stamped the music in chipped sapphire ink and splattered a few drops of water to soften the notes and staff. To frame the panel I sponged around the edges. I stamped the sentiment in versafine majestic blue because versafine does sentiments so very nicely. I had some polka dot ribbon on hand so cut the sentiment strip and ribbon ends to match and layered them with a die cut flower on top.
The colour scheme reminded me of the willow pattern china bowl my mother often used for fruit salad (probably still does) I wasn’t sure whether I owned any willow pattern but I checked my tea cups and saucers and found one which I popped in the background of the second photo.
Supplies:
Stamps: Good Neighbors, Happy Snippets, Footnotes (PB)
Dies: Layered Flower (PB)
Inks: Chipped Sapphire distress stain and ink (Ranger) Majestic Blue Versafine ink
Cardstock: Fabriano 100% cotton cold pressed watercolour paper, Neenah patriot blue cardstock
Also: Polka dot ribbon
Alcohol ink backgrounds
Posted: May 14, 2016 Filed under: Alcohol Ink, In the Garden, Love Art, Serenity | Tags: Penny Black creative dies, Penny Black stamps, Ranger Alcohol Ink 2 Comments
Yesterday I shared some alcohol ink abstract panels; today I have more abstract panels but these ones have become backgrounds for dies or stamps. The one above looked so forest-like I had to pair it with trees. It is a fairly dark mix of colour so I think it must be dusk or dawn. The ‘in the garden’ die was perfect for turning the blue-green panel into a scene and the new ‘serenity’ tree die just added to the woodland feel.
Supplies:
Dies: Serenity, In the Garden (PB)
Ink: Alcohol inks (Ranger)
Paper: glossy photo paper, Neenah Epic Black 100lb cardstock, blue cardstock
The colours in this panel again determined what I would add. Orange, yellow and green patterns seem an appropriate background for a daisy. I used archival ink which gave a crisp fast drying print. There was another card made from this background but I made the mistake of laying a stamp on top of the panel for positioning before inking the stamp. The natural stickiness of the stamp on the glossy paper lifted the surface off the paper removing the alcohol ink (not in a cool resist type way!). It didn’t happen on the daisy card because I just inked, stamped and hoped for the best.
Supplies:
Stamps: Love Art, Special Thoughts (PB)
Ink: Alcohol inks, Jet black archival ink (Ranger)
Paper: glossy photo paper, Neenah Epic Black 100lb cardstock, Neenah solar white cardstock
Abstract alcohol inks
Posted: May 13, 2016 Filed under: Alcohol Ink | Tags: Ranger Alcohol Ink, Yupo Paper 13 Comments
During my recent adventures with alcohol inks I enjoyed creating abstract panels. Some of them I turned into backgrounds or scenes by adding stamps and die cuts but others I left alone because I liked the pattern and colours just as they were. The one above reminds me of a geological cross section. There is an example of some type of cross section down the road from us and a few times a year I see a class of students on a field trip climbing around taking photos. The blues in the design above are particularly pretty in real life and there are threads of copper here and there also.
This abstract reminds me of a waterfall but several people saw icebergs and crevices in it. Both these designs were done on yupo paper. I started as I often do by just dropping three colours of ink on the yupo; the sharp edges and lines were achieved by dragging the inks across the paper with a coffee stirrer. I don’t remember the ink colours I used other than the copper in the top one.
Heather Telford 