Mini Tree

Posted: December 21, 2022 | Author: Heather | Filed under: decorated holiday mini tree, Echidna Studios, Finetec paints, sennelier watercolours | Tags: digital stamps, Echidna Studios, Fabriano Watercolour Paper, Finetec artist mica watercolour paint, sennelier watercolours | 2 Comments

Another festive (digital) beauty from my daughter’s etsy store, Echidna Studios. Do you recognise the inspiration for this little tree? You probably see them in the grocery store; it’s a little pot of rosemary, shaped like a tree. The design is available already decorated or in a set with separate tree and decorations. It is only a few days before Christmas so of course I am featuring the already decorated one!

I printed the tree on hot pressed watercolour paper and painted the paper wrapping and tree with Sennelier watercolour paints. Several people asked me about printing on watercolour paper. Up until recently I had no success; I would manually feed it into the printer but the ink would smudge off. A friend told me about the preferences settings when clicking to print and now I choose ‘manual feed’ and ‘heavyweight paper’ and no more smudging!

I switched to Finetec pearlescent paints and a gold gel pen to do the decorations so they have a little shimmer and shine to them. I reached into my little box of pre-stamped, pre-cut sentiments and pulled out one to suit the colours and the recipient. It’s a tall skinny tree (a bit like our family) so the card isn’t my usual size. It’s a 6¼” x 4″ olive green card base.

My life size tree is also decorated in red and gold this year. I always pick a slightly different colour scheme so this year all the red baubles came out, the tartan ribbon and the individual decorations in red, gold or wood. Do you change your colours from year to year?

(Compensated affiliate links from Foiled Fox & Scrap n Stamp)

Sunlit Rivulet

Posted: December 20, 2022 | Author: Heather | Filed under: Penny Black, rivulet | Tags: Fabriano Watercolour Paper, Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress inks | 12 Comments

This is the second card made with the beautiful Penny Black ‘rivulet’ stamp. This time I wanted to create a pale sunrise and reflection so I painted some diluted scattered straw ink on the panel before stamping. The panel was already splattered with masking fluid in tiny dots to represent falling snow.

After the yellow ink dried I stamped the image in uncharted mariner distress ink and added a few shadows to the edge of the tree trunks with black soot ink. I blended the ink on the trees and around the snowy ground with a paintbrush but I didn’t want the blue and yellow inks to mix too much as I didn’t want any green hurricane sky!

Once the whole panel was dry I used blending brushes to apply a little more scattered straw ink to the sky and foreground as well as some blue to the sky.

(Compensated affiliate links from Foiled Fox & Scrap n Stamp)

Winter tree

Posted: December 19, 2022 | Author: Heather | Filed under: Echidna Studios, winter tree & bench | Tags: digital stamps, Echidna Studios, Fabriano Watercolour Paper, sennelier watercolours | 15 Comments

This sweet scene is based on a real tree and a real bench. It’s another design by my daughter and available as a digital stamp in her etsy store, Echidna Studios. I printed it twice on hot pressed watercolour paper. One image almost fills a 4¼” x 5½” card and the other is smaller leaving room to be framed by the snowfall embossed panel.

One of the nice things about digital stamps is the way they can be printed any size you want. I used Sennelier watercolour paints to paint the blue sky across the panel working my way around the bench but painting over the top of the tree. Once the sky was dry I painted the bench with brown and grey paint then the tree with black. Some of the branches are quite thin especially on the smaller version so I used a fine tip Pitt pen to colour them.

When the painting was all dry I coloured over the lights with a gold gel pen. Now that I have tried the image a couple of times I want to go more slowly and see if I can get those lights to glow a bit more. It is a calm pretty image but if I was trying to reflect the last few days of weather here in Ottawa both tree and bench would be covered in snow!

(Compensated affiliate links from Foiled Fox, Scrap n Stamp)

Stockings from Narnia

Posted: December 16, 2022 | Author: Heather | Filed under: Christmas stockings digital stamp set, Echidna Studios, sennelier watercolours | Tags: digital stamps, Echidna Studios, sennelier watercolours | 8 Comments

This set is simply called Christmas Stockings, but I definitely think you might see one of these hanging over Mr Tumnus’ fire place or maybe in the Beaver’s lodge. I have watercoloured two of the stockings from the set of three digital stamp my daughter designed and uploaded to her etsy store, Echidna Studios.

I printed the image on watercolour paper then used Sennelier watercolours paints and a gold gel pen to fill in the design. I took a little more time on the stocking above painting all the curly fronds whereas for the one below I blended a blue and a green paint to fill the patterned stocking.

I attached both stockings to embossing folders, one with pine needles, the other bricks. I am very taken with embossing folders at present both for creating backgrounds and for making my own gel printing texture plates.

The handy dandy sentiments are from Taylored Expressions. At the beginning of my Christmas card making season I stamped the one stamp of 18 sentiments in a range of colours, cut them with the matching die and kept them in a little box which I have been able to reach into over and over. These two are among my last few Christmas cards but there will be more winter themed cards and Christmas thank you cards to come. My contents of my craft room are still spread around the house but I am making progress putting it back together!

(Compensated affiliate links from Foiled Fox, Scrap n Stamp)

Ransom Alphabet cards

Posted: December 14, 2022 | Author: Heather | Filed under: Brushed Christmas vol 1&2, Brutus Monroe, Darkroom Door, ransom alphabet | Tags: brutus monroe embossing powder, Darkroom Door stamps, WOW embossing powders | 6 Comments

Darkroom Door recently released the ‘ransom alphabet’; it looks like letters cut from random newspapers or magazines. I decided not to cut my stamp into separate letters yet, so stamped it as one large stamp containing both alphabet, a few symbols and numbers 1-10. I embossed one sheet in gold powder and another in silver. I also stamped again on some small strips of cardstock to get the extra letters I needed to complete the greetings.

Both cards and alphabets are neenah solar white cardstock. I stamped a tree and star from the Darkroom Door ‘Brushed Christmas vol 1’ set then blended three greens over the card front using blending brushes. I spritzed water over the panel then blotted it with a paper towel to get a twinkly effect. A pearlized spray would have been even better but my workroom is upside down and inside out at present so locating the shimmer spray was asking too much!

I used the same process to create the ‘O Holy Night’ card but used a blue and a purple ink for the blended background. I wondered if the ransom alphabet was perhaps a bit too funsy for such a theme but then I remembered Mark 10:45, ‘the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

I’m looking forward to putting this set to use in my art journal. I think it might be necessary to cut the rubber stamp into separate letters eventually but for now it is still one large stamp.

Darkroom Door has so much inspiration on their blog. They are currently featuring all the products from their new release one product at a time. So many styles, colour schemes and projects.

(Compensated affiliate links from Foiled Fox, Scrap n Stamp & Ecstasy Crafts)

Chipboard Decorations

Posted: December 9, 2022 | Author: Heather | Filed under: chipboard, christmas ornaments, gel press, grafix, Sizzix, Tutorial | Tags: collage, gel press, gel printing, grafix, Tutorial | 3 Comments

I have been creating collage panels with my many gel prints lately, most for Christmas cards. The striped and patchworked collages looked so pretty I decided to try the process on Grafix chipboard.

I collaged on both sides and love the way they turned out. I made a video of the process then made more chipboard decorations in different colours.

I used a serious chipboard cutting die to cut the ornaments. It is from Sizzix and I was pleased to see how clean the cuts were. If you have a digital cutting machine you would be able to cut the chipboard into any number of shapes.

After cutting out the shapes I used a gold gel pen to add stitching lines and gold paint to coat the edges. A crop-a-dile made quick work of punching holes so I could add ribbon to the shapes.

(Compensated affiliate links from Foiled Fox, Scrap n Stamp)

Just one more chapter

Posted: December 2, 2022 | Author: Heather | Filed under: book spines, Darkroom Door, gel press | Tags: Darkroom Door stamps, Fabriano Watercolour Paper, gel press, gel printing, grafix, Ranger Distress inks | 7 Comments

Just one more bookish card? Of course not; there will always be more bookish cards, especially as Darkroom Door keeps creating more bookish stamps! Today’s card, which of course can be sent to a fellow reader on any occasion, features the new ‘reading’ sentiment strip as a background wallpaper and as the sentiment. Darkroom Door has a range of sentiment strips each containing 9-10 sentiments. I could cut them up into individual stamps but I have kept them all as strips so I can stamp them all at once if I want to. I did so on today’s card to create a background in rusty hinge distress ink on watercolour paper. I painted water over the top of the stamping to blur it but you can still read most of the bookish mantras.

I also used the DD stamp ‘book spines’ to create my line up of books. I stamped it on three different gel prints and embossed each one in a different metallic ink. I cut up all the prints then rearranged the books to have green, blue, yellow and brown books across the shelf. Even though I chose random gel prints I love the way the texture of plastic lids and packaging has become aged leather on the book spines.

After attaching my books to the background I stamped just one phrase from the sentiment strip by masking above and below the words then added it to the card. A little shading along the top of the books give a bit of dimension.

This turned out to be the perfect card for today because I have been part of the Coptic Challenge at ‘The Handmade Book Club‘ this week. Today is the last day of instruction which covers sewing the book together. When I have completed my book I will post it on the blog. It is the second time I have participated in the five day challenge; both experiences have been very enjoyable and the instruction is fabulous.

So, read one more chapter and have a great weekend.

(Compensated affiliate links from Foiled Fox, Scrap n Stamp)

Merry Berries

Posted: November 29, 2022 | Author: Heather | Filed under: merry berries, Penny Black | Tags: Fabriano Watercolour Paper, Penny Black stamps | 8 Comments

As I was stamping and painting this panel it hadn’t occurred to me that these berries are mistletoe and maybe shouldn’t have been red! The stamp is called Merry Berries from Penny Black and it’s stamped three times. I picked a red and a purple for the berries and a couple of greens for the leaves. I used both distress inks and distress markers to get everything inked.

With this many small leaves and berries I work in a stamp positioner and sometimes ink the stamp with one ink pad and then remove ink where I don’t want it. I stamp that first colour or in the case of the leaves, the mix of forest moss and mowed lawn and, because I had wiped ink off the berries, they will be unstamped (ideally!). I switched to markers to ink the berries, stamping a couple of times to build up shadow and depth. Once all the leaves and berries are inked I blend with a paintbrush and water to fill the shapes.

The little white dots on the leaves are the result of splattered masking fluid on the hot pressed watercolour paper. I splatter the masking fluid on several panels of watercolour paper ahead of time and let them dry so I can grab one when I need one. When all the stamping and painting is completed and dry I rub the masking fluid off with my fingers or with adhesive eraser. To finish the card I stamped a sentiment from the PB ‘promise of hope’ set.

(Compensated affiliate links from Foiled Fox, Scrap n Stamp & Ecstasy Crafts)

Let’s Skate

Posted: November 22, 2022 | Author: Heather | Filed under: birds and banners, Brutus Monroe, Dies, Echidna Studios, Foiling, layered Xmas wreath die set, let's skate, Penny Black, silver sketch deco foil, snowflake digital stamp set, stocking stuffers | Tags: Brutus Monroe, brutus monroe embossing powder, digital stamps, Echidna Studios, Foiling, Penny Black creative dies, Penny Black stamps | 4 Comments

Don’t let that blog post title trick you. I won’t ever be the one saying, “Let’s Skate”! I will happily say, “Let’s make cute cards with skates on them.” My less than stellar skating experience ended when my children became proficient and I realised I didn’t have to get out on the ice and wobble around any more.

These lovely skate dies are from Penny Black and I was thrilled when I saw them. I have been using them in the Christmas card class I’ve been teaching but decided to make a few vintage looking pairs with various pieced layers. Quite unusual for me to piece layers but I do like how they turned out. On card above I filled them with die-cut foliage.

Both pairs of skates are popped up on snowflake backgrounds printed then foiled from my daughter’s snowflake designs available in her Etsy store. I printed the file on kraft paper on my laser printer then foiled in white on the piece above and Brutus Monroe silver foil on the design below.

The vintage style cream colour I used for the boot is a gel print, black cardstock for the heel, silver for the blade and some burgandy for the trim. Fiddly but worth it in the end.

These skates look really cute cut from patterned or collaged paper too. Not cute enough to make me want to skate though!

(Compensated affiliate links from Foiled Fox, Scrap n Stamp & Ecstasy Crafts)

Christmas Elegance

Posted: November 18, 2022 | Author: Heather | Filed under: christmas elegance, gel press, Penny Black | Tags: gel printing, Penny Black creative dies, Penny Black stamps | 6 Comments

You might recognise the type of background I used for today’s card. It is one of my gel printing clean up sheets. I think this one looks a bit like plaid. I used the Penny Black ‘Christmas elegance’ die to cut the tree from the panel and splattered with gold paint.

I attached the die cut panel to an embossed piece of white cardstock, also plaid. The sentiment is a little tricky to see; I think it might have been better to stamp it in navy ink rather than emboss those tiny words. All in all the card is simple and elegant and I like that combination!

By the way I have updated the classes page with my final in-person class for the year. I wish I could tell you the new online class is also ready! I’m working on it!