Companions
Posted: April 21, 2021 Filed under: companions, Penny Black | Tags: distress markers, Papertrey ink, Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress inks, Tsukineko Versafine inks 6 Comments
Today’s jug of flowers is yet another lovely floral from the new Penny Black ‘Delight’ release. I went for something of a vintage effect with this one by painting the jug in muted brown and grey tones and adding some woodwork in the background.
To begin I stamped the whole image on hot pressed watercolour paper in papertrey soft stone ink. I chose mustard seed and abandoned coral distress inks to make colour blends to paint all the flowers and buds. I used a mix of pine needles and forest moss inks for the leaves and stems then stamped and painted the flower centres with gathered twigs ink. For the look of an old metal or ceramic jug I used pumice stone and gathered twigs inks doing some restamping and blending with both inks to define and fill the jug.
Once the jug and flowers were complete I painted a shadow underneath with pumice stone ink then dropped some of the flower and jug colours into the wet shadow. To ground the image I ruled both a base line then vertical ‘wood panel’ lines with a t-ruler in pumice stone ink. I used pumice stone ink to paint shadow and shading on the wood then realised I needed another colour to lift the whole vintage toned panel. I chose chipped sapphire ink to add some blue to the panels and the jug as it is the complement to yellow mustard seed ink used on the flowers. It definitely made a difference so I stayed with the blue in choosing a dark blue cardstock to frame the panel. (I demonstrate how I make colour choices for stamping and painting in my online class COLOUR CLUES) I finished the card with by adding splatter and a sentiment from the new PB ‘thinking of you’ set.
Supplies
(Compensated affiliate links used when possible)
Crossword
Posted: April 20, 2021 Filed under: alphabet medley, crossword, Darkroom Door, Gazette, gel press, Nature Walk, torn text, you are everything | Tags: Darkroom Door stamps, gel printing, Ranger Distress inks, Tsukineko Versafine inks 4 Comments
Darkroom Door added four new background stamps to their line up recently and I’ve shown you ‘handwoven‘ and ‘daisy delight‘ in previous posts. Today I have three very different cards featuring the ‘crossword’ background stamp.
On this first floral card I have used the crossword stamp as a background. I stamped it on scrap first with versafine clair morning mist ink then on a panel of watercolour paper to get a pale grey image adding interest behind the silhouette flowers stamped in different distress inks. I used the same grey ink to stamp words from the ‘you are everything’ set to pop up along the bottom of the panel.
In this second card the stamp functions as both a background and a crossword (of sorts). Although the stamped image is a solvable crossword which comes with printed clues in the packet I have populated it with coffee themed words to work on my coffee themed card. I feel like coffee and the crossword is not an uncommon past time. I stamped the background with fallen leaves versafine clair ink and stamped the sentiment and coffee cup in the same ink on a gel printed panel. I added some blending and ink splatter in both brown and gold before popping up the coffee and sentiment over some gold cord.
Although it took some time to stamp the background and foreground images the hardest part of the coffee card was definitely finding and arranging coffee themed words in the crossword!
My last card reminds me of the riddle, “what is black and white and red all over?” A newspaper!
Get it?
“Read all over!”
On both the second and third cards I used bristol cardstock for sharper stamped images as I wasn’t adding any water or waterbased inks. I stamped a strip of three different DD background stamps, blended the edges and attached them to a red panel then used the ‘alphabet medley’ set to stamp the words in versafine satin red ink. I’m thinking I can use this card for any exciting occasion and stamp another sentiment inside which is more specific.
Supplies
(Compensated affiliate links used when possible)
2021 BuJo – April daily record
Posted: April 17, 2021 Filed under: blissful blossoms, Bullet Journal, Dingbat notebooks, Penny Black, Uncategorized | Tags: Bullet Journal, Dingbats notebook, distress markers, Papertrey ink, Penny Black stamps 4 Comments
Here is my month at a glance record with the April blossom theme. If you look closely you will see I left no space for April 1st so I tacked it on at the end of the March page and moved on!
I used the same blissful blossom stamp from Penny Black that I used on the title page and to-do list. This time I masked some strips for blending pink before writing the days and the month title. You can see some evidence of bleed through in the top left corner but it’s just blossom so I like the shadowy effect.
Supplies
(Compensated affiliate links used when possible)
Florescence
Posted: April 16, 2021 Filed under: florescence, Karin brushmarkers, Penny Black | Tags: Fabriano Watercolour Paper, Karin brushmarkers, Papertrey ink, Penny Black stamps, Tsukineko Versafine inks 11 Comments
I hope you have already seen some of the gorgeous new stamps from the Penny Black ‘Delight’ release. I am thoroughly enjoying the large floral stamps and will be sharing projects here on the blog over the coming weeks. This beautiful hibiscus stamp is called ‘florescence’ and it is a joy to work with.
To create this large 4½”x 6¼” card I used Karin brush markers to both stamp and paint the image. With the hot pressed watercolour panel in a stamp positioner I stamped first in Papertrey soft stone ink so I could see the outline image then inked the flower and buds with the magenta and magenta red markers. When I am inking a stamp with a marker I always turn the marker tip on its side to protect the point. I inked the leaves and stems with both lush green and henna markers to create more of a muted green. When painting the leaves and flowers I drew ink from the stamped lines as well as adding it to the panel directly with the brush markers. I also dabbed ink away to create water marks and gradation in the petals and leaves. I stamped and painted the anther and filament (yes I looked that up) in magenta and canary markers. To finish the flower painting I strategically placed some large and small water droplets on the leaves and petals. After letting them sit for 30 seconds or so I dabbed them up with a paper towel to reveal pale dots here and there.
To fill the top of the panel I stamped and painted the buds a couple more times leaving a blank space bottom right for the large thank you sentiment from the new ‘ever thanks’ set. I stamped in versafine olympia green; I’ve heard the original versafine inks are being phased out so I will keep stamping with them while I have them but buy the versafine clair inks from now on.
Both the Foiled Fox and Penny Black are hosting giveaways right now so click on the links I created for a chance to win.
Supplies
(Compensated affiliate links used when possible)
Garden Delight
Posted: April 14, 2021 Filed under: delight, Penny Black | Tags: distress markers, Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress inks, Tsukineko Versafine inks 30 Comments
It’s a doubly exciting day today! Not only have a I teamed up with the Foiled Fox for a giveaway, I am also sharing the first of my posts featuring new Penny Black stamps.
The new release is called ‘Delight’ and the stamp on this card is called ‘delight’! And I am delighted to tell you more about this garden card.
You can probably tell that I painted the background first; it’s a smoosh, spritz, swipe background! I smooshed broken china, worn lipstick and wild honey distress inks on my glass mat, spritzed water on the inks and the hot pressed watercolour paper then swiped the paper through the inks. I tipped and tilted the panel to get the colours to mix and move then let it dry standing on its edge.
Once it was totally dry I put the panel in a stamp positioner to do all the stamping and painting. I stamped the base of the stamp with rustic wilderness, the larger flowers with worn lipstick and the rest of the stamp with antique linen. Using the glass mat as a palette I smooshed the distress inks already mentioned so I could add water and pick up ink with a paintbrush. To create white petals on the daisies I used a white gel pen then added little white dots here and there around the panel.
The ‘delight’ stamp is fairly large so this card ended up being 6¼”x4½”. I finished the card with a sentiment from the new PB ‘thinking of you’ set stamped in twilight versafine clair ink. To enter the giveaway The Foiled Fox is hosting let me know in the comments what is on your crafty wishlist right now. I am wondering about trying some gouache paints so that is top of my list. What are you hoping and saving for?
Make sure you pop over to the Foiled Fox blog to see all the beautiful cards they have been sharing and browse around their lovely store; you might find your wish list growing while you’re there.
Supplies
(Compensated affiliate links used when possible)
Alcohol ink gel print
Posted: April 12, 2021 Filed under: Alcohol Ink, gel press, Penny Black, Taylored Expressions | Tags: gel press, gel printing, Penny Black creative dies, Penny Black stamps, pinata alcohol ink, Ranger Alcohol Ink, Taylored Expressions 5 Comments
I tried a technique this week that I’ve seen demonstrated by gel printing wizards but never tried myself. In some ways it’s not that different from making abstract alcohol ink patterns on yupo or craft plastic but I found that I ended up with more of a distressed look which is rather nice.
I started with a not entirely clean gel plate and three or four alcohol inks, I’m not sure exactly which ones I used as I was very much in experimenting mode. Obviously there was a green and some blues in there and in real life you can see I also had a silver. I dropped dots of the different colours on the gel plate added rubbing alcohol and blew it all around with the air blower. It dried quite quickly so it took several additions of inks and rubbing alcohol before I was happy with the coverage. Once the AI had dried completely I brayered white acrylic paint over the painted area and took a print on some white cardstock. You can see the usual overlapping patterns of alcohol ink blobs but also some white patches and ‘grazes’ from the acrylic paint.
I trimmed the panel and added a three layer PB die cut sentiment along with an additional sentiment strip. I will definitely be trying this technique again.
Supplies
(Compensated affiliate links used when possible)
2021 BuJo – April theme
Posted: April 10, 2021 Filed under: blissful blossoms, Bullet Journal, Dingbat notebooks, Papertrey Inks, Penny Black | Tags: Bullet Journal, Dingbats notebook, distress markers, Papertrey ink, Penny Black stamps 10 Comments
April’s bullet journal pages do not feature snow! I haven’t seen any blossoms yet but I’m sure I will before April is over so I chose blossoms for this month’s theme. As I’ve done for January, February and March, I masked a shape in the middle of the page with a large piece of post-it paper and did all my stamping and blending inside the masked area.
This is the first page I’ve used stamps for in my bullet journal so there was some experimenting involved. The stamp I chose is a ‘brushstroke’ stamp designed to look painted and I never use these stamps without adding some water and blending. Stamping ‘blissful blossoms’ on the non-watercolour paper meant minimal water so as to not get too much bleed through to the back of the page.
For both the title page and the to-do list page I inked the blossoms with pink ink cubes then added the rest of the colour with distress markers. I spritzed the stamp ever so lightly with water before stamping and blended the flowers and leaves ever so lightly on the page with a blender pen.
There was some bleed through but it wasn’t bad and I stamped over the top of it with the same blossoms when creating my April month spread that I’ll share another day.
Hope April is off to a good start for you. We have had gorgeous sunshine all week but I have seen there is rain coming. But you know what they say, “April showers bring May flowers”!
Supplies
(Compensated affiliate links used when possible)
Rain or Shine
Posted: April 9, 2021 Filed under: Coloured pencil, Penny Black, rain or shine, Uncategorized | Tags: Faber-Castell Polychromos Colour Pencil, patterned paper, Penny Black stamps, Ranger archival inks 10 Comments
Paper piecing? Fussy cutting? Cute teddy bears? What is going on? I can’t honestly say other than I was inspired by the April CAS mix up challenge and my current enjoyment of pencil colouring on kraft.
I stamped the PB ‘rain or shine’ stamp on kraft cardstock and Madison patterned paper in jet black archival ink. I started cutting the umbrella out of the patterned paper and realised my (lack of) fussy cutting skills would not do a good job of cutting around the bear’s heads. Instead I cut just the front of the umbrella out and coloured the stamped inside part of the umbrella with a white, a blue and a pale blue pencil. I used two browns for the bear on the left and the lighter brown plus a mustard for the bear on the right. A little pink and white on the faces and I completed my first pencil coloured PB bears!! Do you think cute might be a new direction for me 😉
The sentiment is from the same set, stamped in the same ink. To add rain I taped the panel onto my glass mat and positioned a piece of post it tape along the top edge to mask as I ruled lines with a fine white gelly roll pen. Taping the panel to my glass mat and using a t-tuler made the rain pretty straightforward. As I mentioned at the top of the post I’m entering the CAS mix up challenge with this one.
Supplies
(Compensated affiliate links used when possible)
Pansy Gaze
Posted: April 8, 2021 Filed under: pansy gaze, Penny Black | Tags: Fabriano Watercolour Paper, Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress inks, Stampin Up 4 Comments
Today’s little card features a sweet stamp from Penny Black. I did the stamping and painting on a thin strip of cardstock thinking I might make a bookmark but as I filled in the background decided to just make a smaller than usual card. This one is 3¾” x 4¾” cut to frame the pansy panel evenly.
I stamped the pansy stamp in weathered wood distress ink then painted the petals with seedless preserves and blueprint sketch ink which was smooshed on my glass mat for convenient pick-up. I painted the leaves with a mix of forest moss, lucky clover and peeled paint. I added wild honey and black soot to the centres after painting all the petals and wish I’d achieved a bit more of a pop with the yellow but continued anyway.
I smooshed the weathered wood ink pad on the glass mat several times to make plenty of the grey-blue ink available for painting a background and then proceeded to paint water first then ink as I went round the image. I was not after a seamless look (obviously!) but more of a rough sketchy look so there are some watermarks, hard edges and bleeds from the green ink. I ran the panel through the big kick with the ‘subtle’ embossing folder from SU for a canvas look; you can see it on the close up.
I saw the first flower in my garden today; it’s a little white star flower…happy sigh.
Supplies
(Compensated affiliate links used when possible)
Vintage layers
Posted: April 5, 2021 Filed under: Darkroom Door, French Script, global postmarks, mesh, Nature Walk, Papertrey Inks, scratches, you are everything | Tags: Darkroom Door stamps, Dr Ph Martin Hydrus watercolor paints, Fabriano Watercolour Paper, Papertrey ink 12 Comments
Today’s cards developed bit by bit over a week or so. I worked on flower panels one day, middle layers another day, let them sit a few days, searched for ribbon another day and finally a week later put them together still adding stamping, splattering and blending right up until I called them finished!
I featured the silhouette floral stamps from the new Darkroom Door ‘you are everything’ set. There are four floral stamps along with eighteen word stamps I mentioned in a previous post. The flowers above are stamped on cold press watercolour paper with papertrey inks. I used pale peony and pure poppy on the petals and olive twist on the stems. I spritzed lightly before stamping then blended further with a paintbrush on the paper. I used the same technique on the purple flowers in the second card but worked on hot pressed watercolour paper.
For the vintage and collage details on the card I above I used olive twist and fine linen inks to add painted areas, stamped text, splatter and blending with a brush.
The flowers above are stamped in pale peony, royal velvet and olive twist and I stuck with fine linen and royal velvet as the inks on the layered areas also.
I’ve listed all the stamps I used to add texture and interest to the floral panel and the layers underneath. You can see some of my favourite ‘filler’ stamps including French script and global postmarks. I also splattered water and white paint for some watermarks and subtle blots!
To finish both cards I punched a couple of holes in the top to thread some fabric through. I didn’t have a cream silk or sheer ribbon so I ripped some strips of what might be silk but I can’t remember. The ripped edge worked fine with my vintage layered look.
Supplies
(Compensated affiliate links used when possible)
Heather Telford 