Grid & Floral mix
Posted: August 30, 2021 Filed under: Background Stamps, contemporary, Dies, Penny Black, rosa | Tags: Papertrey ink, Penny Black creative dies, Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress inks 3 Comments
It was fun to pull out a floral and a background stamp for a new card design. I was planning to stamp the PB ‘rosa’ stamp a few times across the panel but ended up putting it snugly on the right hand side leaving room for the grid patterned ‘contemporary’ stamp on the other side.
Before any stamping I smooshed some salty ocean, scattered straw and mowed lawn inks on my glass mat, spritzed water then swiped watercolour paper through the mix of colour. I let the colours dry for a while then dropped water on top and then absorbed it with a paper towel leaving pale water marks all over the panel.
I stamped the flowers in a mix of canyon clay and raspberry fizz inks (Papertrey ink) and the leaves and stems in rustic wilderness and bundled sage. I added copper pearlescent paint to the centres of the flowers as well as splattering some on the panel. I also added some black to the centres to define the flowers a wee bit more.
I added the PB ‘contemporary’ stamp to complete the panel along with the ‘THANKS’ die-cut from copper cardstock. You can see the fall colours are easing their way in but the summer colours are not leaving just yet!
Supplies
(Compensated affiliate links used when possible)
Through the rushes
Posted: August 27, 2021 Filed under: mountain magic, Penny Black | Tags: Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress inks 10 Comments
I could say this is my last scenic post for now but it probably isn’t! It is the last one I have on hand but I’m sure there will be more soon, especially as I start using these stamps with autumn tones. I woke up to a cool morning today, the first time in a week; summer isn’t over but there are hints of changes to come
This one is definitely a summer by the lake scene. I watercoloured the sky first with salty ocean and scattered straw ink (technique shown here). Once that was dry I stamped the mountains in a combination of rustic wilderness, mowed lawn and rusty hinge inks. I added the rushes in the foreground stamped in rustic wilderness, rusty hinge and ground espresso.
Hope you have a happy weekend, maybe with time to relax and contemplate a pretty outlook like this one.
Supplies
(Compensated affiliate links used when possible)
Artful August Home Journal page
Posted: August 25, 2021 Filed under: Art Journal, basket weave, Darkroom Door, fragments, gel press, honeycomb, Paper Rose, Stencils | Tags: Art Journal, Darkroom Door stencils, gel press, gel printing, Paper Rose, Ranger Distress inks 2 Comments
The fun and inspiration continues in Rachel Greig’s Artful August challenge. I am so impressed and inspired by what I have seen. Rachel’s own art has been beautiful and unique every single day. As I mentioned in my last post I have not participated every day but I have definitely enjoyed the times I have followed the prompts. Today’s prompt is ‘Home’ and I decided to make an art journal page of a street.
Make sure you read to the end of this post to find out the winner of Summer Giveaway I hosted with the Foiled Fox.
None of these quirky houses look anything like my home but I have had thirteen different homes over the years so I wasn’t going for realism, instead I wanted to create more of a neighbourhood feel. Once again I cut up gel prints to make the houses, trees and flowers. I particularly like the gel print trees. The one on the left was printed with bubble wrap and the one on the right features texture from three different stencils which ended up giving me leaves and a branch to hang a swing on.
I began by masking the top and bottom edges then used blending brushes to fill the sky with blue distress inks and the road with black soot ink. I cut all the shapes by hand not worrying about perspective or scale and glued them on with multi matte medium. Once the glue dried I drew around all the edges and added detail with with a black ultrafine sharpie. I added markings to the road with a white sharpie paint pen.
Thank you to everyone who entered the Summer Giveaway by telling us your favourite summer activity. I enjoyed reading about beach walks, mountain hikes, picnics, porches and time spent with friends. I hope you are all still enjoying those pastimes. Summer is not over yet! Congratulations to Stephanie Clapper, check your email for your gift certificate to the wonderful Foiled Fox online store.
Supplies
(Compensated affiliate links used when possible)
Artful August
Posted: August 23, 2021 Filed under: bookworm, Darkroom Door, gel press, Hand drawn | Tags: Darkroom Door stamps, gel printing, Hand drawn 4 Comments
During August Rachel Greig from Darkroom Door has been hosting a challenge with prompts everyday to be interpreted in any artsy way you like. I haven’t managed to participate regularly but I have enjoyed making a few simple cards along with some gel prints and a journal page.
The card above was made for the silhouette prompt. I painted a watercolour background, sprinkled salt and then drew the silhouette flowers after the watercolour dried.
This one was for the words prompt. I am such a reader these days I thought of books when I saw the prompt. Once again I did a watercolour background then add the Darkroom Door book stamp and drew a book at the bottom.
The next prompt I followed was birds. I cut body, wings and beak shapes from gel print pages then glued them over a pale watercoloured background
All these three cards began with the same masked and painted background. I found it was a simple way to start the projects and they are all one layer on hot pressed watercolour paper.
The prompts featured here are all from last week. I haven’t participated over the last few days but I plan to jump in again today with the butterflies prompt. If you are interested in seeing the wide range of projects hop over to instagram and check out the #artfulaugust and #rachelgreigartfulaugustchallenge
See you soon.
Supplies
(Compensated affiliate links used when possible)
Mountain Farm
Posted: August 20, 2021 Filed under: farmland, Penny Black, picturesque, Stamped Landscapes, Uncategorized | Tags: Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress inks 3 Comments
More mountains, this time the ‘picturesque’ stamp is paired with the ‘farmland’ stamp, once again in a blue and brown colour scheme. I began by making a smooshed ink background with faded jeans and fossilized amber inks.
Once the background was dry I inked the mountains in vintage photo, faded jeans and ground espresso inks taking care not to ink to the bottom of the stamp but instead leaving the lower edge unevenly inked. I did some blending with a paintbrush after stamping to make the mountains less defined.
I inked the farmland stamp in faded jeans along the top then fossilized amber, forest moss and vintage photo in the fields. Again I did a little blending with a paintbrush. Once finished I ran the panel through my die cutting machine with the ‘subtle’ embossing folder from SU to give it a canvas look; you can see the texture in the close up photo.
I hope you have enjoyed all the scenery on the blog lately. What are you hoping to see next? I won’t promise to deliver straight away but I’d love to know what interests you.
Supplies
(Compensated affiliate links used when possible)
Mountain moonrise
Posted: August 19, 2021 Filed under: mountain magic, Penny Black, picturesque, Stamped Landscapes | Tags: Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress inks 8 Comments
Here is the mountain stamp again, this time paired with the rushes and hills from the mountain magic set. Blue and brown is a favourite colour combo for me at present which works well as long as there are some pale tones or white in the mix.
Once again I began by creating the watercolour background (you can see the technique in the video here). I used diluted faded jeans, mowed lawn and gathered twigs distress inks. Once the background dried I stamped the mountain stamp in faded jeans ink taking care not to ink to the base of the stamp. At the foot of the mountains I stamped the smaller mountain stamp from ‘mountain magic’ set. I blended over both the tall and the short mountains in blue and brown inks.
Before stamping the rushes I blended water along the base of the low mountain image to soften the edge into the lake. Once that was dry I stamped the rushes in faded jeans, gathered twigs and mowed lawn. I created the soft moon image by placing a large drop of water on the panel to sit and dilute the ink. I carefully absorbed the droplet with paper towel and repeated the step.
Although not the brightest and prettiest colour scheme I am loving the moodiness of the scene. I feel like this is the kind of vista I might come across one day if I’m lucky!
Supplies
(Compensated affiliate links used when possible)
Mountain Sunset
Posted: August 18, 2021 Filed under: Penny Black, picturesque, Stamped Landscapes | Tags: Catherine Pooler inks, Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress inks 7 Comments
I’ve been enjoying this new mountain stamp from Penny Black, it’s aptly named ‘picturesque’. Although it works beautifully behind other stamps I wanted to show it alone first because when paired it with a sunset sky it really didn’t need more.
The wonder of mountains and sunsets reminds me of the mighty God who made and sustains this earth so I chose a sentiment that gives me the same encouragement.
To create this card I swiped a piece of watercolour paper through faded jeans, kitsch flamingo and scattered straw distress inks. While it dried I sprinkled salt on it to add some texture and pattern.
This is a larger card than my usual but the mountain stamp is also large so it spanned the 6¼” width. I stamped in Catherine Pooler juniper ink and decided not to blend over the stamping. The pinks of the watercolour looked like the sunset reflecting on snow so I kept the mountain crisp and added the sentiment from PB ‘inspirational sentiments’ in the same ink.
Tomorrow’s post will include this stamp paired with other scenic stamps for a moonlit farm view.
Supplies
(Compensated affiliate links used when possible)
Combining scenic stamps
Posted: August 16, 2021 Filed under: farmland, homeward, Penny Black, Stamped Landscapes | Tags: distress markers, Fabriano Watercolour Paper, Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress inks 7 Comments
I’ve been playing with scenic stamps again, this time combining sections of two stamps to create a new scene. The Penny Black ‘farmland’ stamp forms the background scenery and the PB ‘homeward’ stamp makes up the foreground.
Out of habit (a successful one!) I used distress inks and markers to ink the stamps and add detail to the design. I kept the palette limited using two blues for the sky and several greens and browns for the rest of the scene. To see the process take a look at the video below.
I know some people find scenic stamps a bit daunting but the detail in the stamps themselves makes it possible to add a little or a lot of your own artistry. I hope you find the techniques shown in the video helpful.
You can see cards featuring the farmland stamp on its own here and to see the homeward stamp here.
I mentioned in the video that although I think the fields look authentic I have no idea what the crops might be. If you know of crops that would appear to be rust or olive coloured mention it below!
Supplies
(Compensated affiliate links used when possible)
Farmland Views
Posted: August 13, 2021 Filed under: farmland, Penny Black, Stamped Landscapes | Tags: Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress inks 5 Comments
On Monday I posted a video featuring a new scenic stamp set from Penny Black. Today I’ve used the new ‘farmland’ stamp. I have two different colour schemes showing off the single stamp. In future posts I will combine it with other stamps for more detailed landscapes.
I created the background first using faded jeans, fossilized amber and vintage photo, colours I would use again in the stamping. (to see how I created the background check out Monday’s video)
Once the background was dry I put the stamp in a positioner so I could stamp one colour at a time. The farmers fields are vintage photo, crushed olive and mowed lawn. I used rustic wilderness for the trees on the horizon. A mix of stamp pads and markers made it possible to add detail to the house and trees. Spritzing and splattering over the fields gave them the texture which suggests crops.
On this second card I used a reference photo of farm fields including lavender alongside another crop. The colours are perhaps a little bold but I love trying to recreate a photograph with stamps. The background is paler this time (scattered straw and salty ocean) and the fields a mix of seedless preserves, dusty concord, rusty hinge, fossilized amber, peeled paint, rustic wilderness and vintage photo.
Once again I used markers to add final detail back into the trees and house. Can you picture the lavender fields of Provence? I have visited a lavender farm in Tasmania and you smell it before you see it!
Supplies
(Compensated affiliate links used when possible)
At Ease
Posted: August 11, 2021 Filed under: at ease, Penny Black | Tags: Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress inks 21 Comments
Wouldn’t you love to have a sweet beach hut like this one? To be honest I would love to be at the beach, hut or not! Instead I am enjoying a great summer with just the perfect mix of hot and warm days. The garden is growing and it is great to be outdoors. To celebrate the joys of summer I have teamed up with the Foiled Fox to host a Summer Giveaway.
If you like this beachy theme make sure you pop over to the Foiled Fox blog. I am blogging there today but you can also catch the cute starfish card Shauna posted recently.
I kept things clean and simple for this beach hut card, it wasn’t my first go with the PB ‘at ease’ set; I completed a couple of other panels using more colours and elements in the scene. I think this simple approach is my favourite.
I stamped the hut in soft stone ink and did further stamping with distress inks. I used the salty ocean, rusty hinge and chipped sapphire distress inks to paint the hut, roof and railings as well as the fish decorations.
To add a background I placed some post-its over the hut so I could blend some ink for the sand and water. I used the torn edge of a post it to mask while blending. As I often do I popped up the panel on the same colour cardstock for a subtle ‘shadow’ frame. I added the sentiment from PB ‘enliven’ set because nothing says ‘great day’ to me like a beach themed card!
Make sure to leave a comment below telling me your favourite summer activity. I’ll put you in the draw to win a little spending spree at The Foiled Fox store!
Supplies
(Compensated affiliate links used when possible)
Heather Telford 