Companions & a winner
Posted: May 24, 2021 Filed under: Classes, companions, Karin brushmarkers, online class, Penny Black | Tags: Karin brushmarkers, online class, Penny Black stamps 5 Comments
I have a video and a prize winner to share today but first thank you for participating in the giveaway. I really enjoyed reading what your favourite flower stamps are and I’m planning to go back and read through again and feature some of them in upcoming posts. Several of you named stamps that have been on the blog recently, some of which feature in the new online class FLORAL FAVES. Others mentioned older classics which I hadn’t thought about in a while. Dancing Daisies came up several times so I pulled it out and made a sample for the class. But without further ado let me announce the winner of a registration in my new FLORAL FAVES class!
Denise Bryant
Gorgeous card! I love the design and colors! The effect of the layering to frame the design is so pretty!
My favorite flower stamp is Penny Black’s ‘Together’. It reminds me of the agapanthus plants my grandmother grew in her yard.
Congratulations, Denise, I will be in touch by email.
Another stamp mentioned among the favourites was PB companions which features in today’s card.
After watercolouring on bristol cardstock I can recommend it. I wouldn’t choose it over hot pressed watercolour paper but it worked well and is more of a bright white, if you like that for your stamping.
Flowers continue to my focus right now as I proof read for the 15th time and put the finishing touches on the lessons in the FLORAL FAVES class ready for Wednesday (when the lessons will be available). I also planted more flowers in the garden over the weekend. I transplanted the morning glories I grew from seed; they look rather spindly but they started out that way last year and ended up a big success.
Supplies
(Compensated affiliate links used when possible)
Captivating
Posted: May 21, 2021 Filed under: captivating | Tags: Fabriano Watercolour Paper, Peerless Transparent Watercolors, Penny Black stamps, Tsukineko Versafine inks 11 Comments
This gorgeous stamp from Penny Black is called captivating; it’s a single large stamp which fills a card front and lives up to its name. Before painting I did a quick search on my phone and used a reference photo as inspiration. Fuchsias can be a single colour or two toned; I chose pink and white using Peerless watercolours and a few no-line watercolour techniques.
Peerless watercolour paints blend beautifully; they actually advertise as ‘self blending’ so the soft transitions from dark to light on the leaves and petals shine with this kind of paint. After stamping in papertrey soft stone ink I used a couple of greens for the leaves and a single red for the lower petals which I diluted as I blended to add depth and variation. The upper petals have a little yellow, green and pink but not much as I wanted them to appear white.
I posted yesterday about my new online class Floral Faves. I use the Captivating stamp in the no-line watercolour lesson covering the process from beginning to end.
Supplies
(Compensated affiliate links used when possible)
Floral Faves – Online Class
Posted: May 20, 2021 Filed under: Classes, Concord & 9th, Darkroom Door, online class, Penny Black | Tags: Concord & 9th, Darkroom Door stamps, distress markers, Karin brushmarkers, online class, Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress inks, sennelier watercolours 1 Comment
After months of work behind the scenes and a few weeks of hints here on the blog I am happy to open registration to my new online class FLORAL FAVES. As the name suggests this one is all about flowers; stamping them, painting them, arranging them (on paper) and turning them into card sized works of art.
Once again my videographer son Ben has filmed and edited while I have designed, uploaded and scripted the content which is now hosted on the Podia platform.
I hope you are inspired to join me in pairing your floral stamps to work with watercolour techniques. Every project is taught through video along with downloadable instructions, photos, tips and complete supply lists. We will work with different styles of stamps including background, outline, silhouette and brushstroke. We will pair all the favourite stamps with all the favourite mediums; dye inks, watercolour markers and watercolour paints .
As summer unfolds I’m sure you will be spending plenty of time outdoors, maybe in your garden, but when you need a quiet creative hour or two I hope you will join me in creating some bright and beautiful floral cards.
Registration is open now. Once registered you will have access to the introduction and supply pages. All the lesson content will be accessible on Wednesday May 26.
Click here to register or find out more about FLORAL FAVES
Rose Dance & a Giveaway
Posted: May 19, 2021 Filed under: A2 layers, Additional A2 layers, Papertrey Inks, Penny Black, rose dance, Waffle Flower | Tags: Papertrey ink, Penny Black stamps, Waffle Flower dies 48 Comments
When I first posted a card with the PB ‘rose dance‘ stamp I mentioned I’d been putting it to work with several techniques. To create this card I worked on hot pressed watercolour paper with papertrey ink cubes.
With the stamp and paper in the stamp positioner I inked the roses in ‘royal velvet’ and a few dabs of ‘pure poppy’ inks, spritzed then stamped. I used three different greens (listed below) for the leaves and stems. The papertrey ink cubes are fairly juicy to start with but with a spritz of water before stamping the ink is wet enough to blend into the petals and leaves.
When it came to putting the card together I decided to mix things up a little by cutting out the main image on an angle before adding some dimension with a few extra layers of cardstock. The Waffle Flower A2 layer dies and additional layer dies made it possible to cut the image from the panel, cut a scrap the same size to fit in the space and cut a slightly larger green mat before putting it back together. I pulled out an older PB sentiment set ‘kind words’ and stamped the message in dusty concord archival ink.
This technique is covered in lessons 2 of my new online class FLORAL FAVES. The lessons cover a range of my favourite techniques, some simple and elegant, others requiring more time and fine detail but all outlined clearly on video so they can become your favourites too! Registration opens tomorrow and I will have all the information in tomorrow’s blog post.
If you would like to win a place in the FLORAL FAVES class please comment below telling me one of your favourite flower stamps. I will randomly pick a winner and announce it here on the blog on Monday.
Supplies
(Compensated affiliate links used when possible)
Mixed Media-ish
Posted: May 17, 2021 Filed under: daisy delight, Darkroom Door, French Script, scratches, scripty, Stampin Up, you are everything | Tags: Brutus Monroe, Darkroom Door stamps, distress oxide inks, Stampin Up, Tsukineko Versafine inks 5 Comments
I have in my workroom a few new items to try but with one thing and another I haven’t had a chance. I recently bought two new pads of paper, one is rice paper and the other is mixed media paper from Fabriano, that’s the one I used for today’s cards. I’m very taken with Fabriano 100% cotton watercolour paper so I wanted to see what I thought of the mixed media.
It is quite a while since I’ve done anything with my oxide inks so I pulled them out to make a blended background. After blending I did some water-stamping with both the DD ‘daisy delight’ background stamp and the floral silhouettes from the DD ‘you are everything’ set. The paper worked brilliantly for both steps. After drying the panels I stamped again with versafine clair inks and, as I hadn’t moved the stamps, the inked images landed inside the watermark images.
I dried all the stamping with a heat tool before adding background stamps over the top for added texture. I used white ink for both the DD ‘French script’ stamp and the DD ‘scratches’ stamp. The daisy stamp ended up with a double dose of script when I embossed a white base layer with the SU ‘scripty embossing folder.
I gave both cards a little birthday label and pronounced the mixed media paper a success. Of course I will put it through it’s paces with gel printing and a few other processes but so far so good.
Supplies
(Compensated affiliate links used when possible)
Cow’s it going?
Posted: May 14, 2021 Filed under: Cow's it going?, Pink Ink Designs, Stampin Up, subtle | Tags: Fabriano Watercolour Paper, Pink Ink Designs, Stampin Up 18 Comments
How much do you love this big highland cow? I hope you don’t mind this departure from my usual subject matter but there is something about this cow (and some other beauties from Pink Ink Designs) that amuses and inspires me! When I saw this stamp I knew it would make the perfect birthday card for someone I know who finds highland cows adorable. Although confused by my behaviour, Crop A While here in Ottawa ordered it for me and I’m so glad.
This card is stamped and painted with dye inks, classic kraft papertrey ink as a base colour then four distress colours to highlight, shade and add personality to the beautiful face and hair-do. I worked in a stamp positioner so I could add the colours bit by bit to build up the image. I did some painting and blending with a paint brush but kept white areas also as they add so much to the design.
After I had completed the painting part I decided not to add anything more but instead ran the panel through the die cut machine inside the SU subtle embossing folder. If you look at the close up image you might just see the linen texture achieved. The ‘cow’s it going’ stamp set includes eleven smaller stamps along side this one including some distinctly Scottish ones so I’m looking forward to following that theme another time. My name is Heather after all, Heather McDonald originally!
Hope you are having a good hair day, like this cow obviously is!
Supplies
(Compensated affiliate links used when possible)
Lilac & Fern
Posted: May 12, 2021 Filed under: fresh ferns, Karin brushmarkers, lovely lilacs, Penny Black | Tags: Fabriano Watercolour Paper, Karin brushmarkers, Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress inks 10 Comments
I don’t think I am alone in calling this stamp set a favourite. The two lilac stalks are pretty alone but with a sprig or two of fern they are delightful. I stamped this panel a while ago so the exact process is no longer firm in my memory but I do remember a crucial step which I will share with you.
I inked then stamped the lilacs with a mix of distress inks and Karin markers and the ferns with peeled paint distress ink. It looked ok but not the soft blended bunch I was after. I did like the combo of lilacs and ferns though so I thought I would dilute it all and see what happened. I didn’t spritz it; I drowned it. I dipped the whole panel in a bucket of water (the laundry is right beside my workroom) and watched a lot but not all of the colour drain away. The brightness of the peeled paint ink washed out but the olive stain remained. The lilacs washed out to a paler version of themselves and it was rather nice.
I re-inked the lilac stamps with the royal blue, lush green, henna and gold markers and stamped darker more distinct lilacs over the top. I have a friend who has had many successes with what she calls the ‘drowning’ method. It’s worth a try if your panel is not going in quite the direction you wanted; what have you got to lose? It’s only paper!
Although it is not quite ready yet my new online class, Floral Faves, is getting closer every day and I will be teaching techniques using your floral stamps to create card sized art works like the one above. I can’t wait to open the class and of course I will let you know as soon as it happens. Stay tuned!
Supplies
(Compensated affiliate links used when possible)
Patina peacock pattern
Posted: May 10, 2021 Filed under: Altenew, dancing peacock embossing folder | Tags: Altenew, delicata inks, Ranger Distress inks 7 Comments
After creating a very colourful panel with the dancing peacock embossing folder I was happy to come up with a more muted and aged looking panel. Like most crafters I am always pleased to use my supplies in many different ways.
Once again I worked with hot pressed watercolour paper in case I wanted to add water but as it turned out I other than a small spritz to stop the paper from tearing in the folder I didn’t use water. This card turned out to be very much a ‘limited supplies’ card as the green ink (bundled sage) was applied in the embossing folder and then more with a blending brush after embossing. The gold ink (delicata golden glitz) was applied direct to paper so it just landed on the raised sections. Simple but effective definitely describes this technique.
I played with a sentiment strip but ended up embellishing with only green embroidery thread and two brass toned butterflies given to me by a friend quite some crafty time ago. I am hoping for another day of simple but effective creating today!
Supplies
(Compensated affiliate links used when possible)
Pathway
Posted: May 7, 2021 Filed under: Karin brushmarkers, pathway, trailing | Tags: Karin brushmarkers, Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress inks, Tsukineko Versafine inks 6 Comments
I’ve taken a moody path for today’s card using the new PB ‘trailing’ stamp for some overhead foliage and the scenic PB stamp ‘pathway’ for the background image.
I inked both stamps with Karin brushmarkers, a brown, a green and a blue. I added a spritz of water before stamping both images and then did more blending with a brush of the pathway image on the panel. To add some background colour I blended stormy sky distress ink with a blending brush.
To complete the card I stamped the scripty thank you from PB ‘million thanks’ and a separate phrase from the PB ‘ever thanks’ both in versafine acorn ink.
Supplies
(Compensated affiliate links used when possible)
Simple Delight
Posted: May 5, 2021 Filed under: delight, Karin brushmarkers, Penny Black | Tags: Fabriano Watercolour Paper, Karin brushmarkers, Penny Black stamps 7 Comments
The colour scheme you see above is one of my favourites; I love pinks and blues and combinations of pink and blue. I also like green way more than I used to especially when paired with blue. I am talking about more than art and cardmaking; the clothes in my closet are blue, pink, burgandy, navy, white and combinations of the above!
I used Karin brushmarkers to both stamp and colour this panel featuring the PB ‘delight’ stamp; it’s a technique I often use and one that I teach in my new online class, Floral Faves. At the risk of boring you I am going to keep talking about my new class because I am very excited about it and very busy getting ready to launch it.
I used the following markers; magenta, lush green, henna, lilac, black, royal blue varying the greens with the help of the ‘henna’ marker to add more yellow tone. The stamp is a large one but I extended the edge of the ground even more with a few dots and dashes of green marker blended underneath with water. I kept this card design very clean with plenty of white space, the only added texture being the subtle border of the painted panel over a slightly larger card base in the same colour. I just felt the pretty colours were enough. To see a different look with the same stamp check out this card.
Supplies
(Compensated affiliate links used when possible)
Heather Telford 