Shimmer on grey

I saw a beautiful card by Dawn Wolesagle featuring shimmer paint on a dark grey base and decided to try my own. I know mine do not have the impact of Dawn’s card but I like the simplicity of design and colour on these one layer cards. I’m going to try the technique again with an even darker background.

I used the textured grey luxe cardstock from the Foiled Fox and combined outline stamps from the Penny Black set {heart Christmas} to make a design with versafine clair nocturne ink.

I painted the leaves in moss green pearlescent paint from the Coliro ocean set and the flowers with rose from the vintage set then switched to gel pens to fill the berries with gold and dot white around the designs.

The sentiments are both from the Penny Black merry up set stamped in Brutus Monroe alabaster ink and embossed in alabaster powder.

The fundraising total on my Dressember campaign page continues to grow thanks to friends near and far including many blog readers and class participants. Thank you so much for getting involved in the fight against human trafficking. To learn more about the work being done visit the Dressember blog

Supplies

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From our house to yours

Posted: December 11, 2020 | Author: Heather | Filed under: birches, Karin brushmarkers, Penny Black, warm reception | Tags: Karin brushmarkers, Penny Black stamps | 6 Comments

I’m excited to tell you about today’s card. I teamed up with the Foiled Fox to do some experimenting with Karin brushmarkers and I’m so glad I did. The Foiled Fox sent me the pack of 26 and I plan to try them out on my favourite watercolour techniques. Make sure you visit the Foiled Fox blog today to read more about my thoughts and process.

I worked on Fabriano hot pressed watercolour paper in a stamp postioner to complete this inviting little scene. I thought I would stamp in a pale ink and colour with the markers but I decided instead to ink with the markers directly on the stamps. It worked brilliantly. The Karin brushmarkers are water-based, ink filled markers with a nylon brush-like tip. Water-based means they blend with water. They are made and inkfilled in such a way that you can see the ink in the barrel and right to the last drop the colours will have full intensity. Nylon brush tips tend to be stronger than felt tips so I was willing to try inking the stamps directly keeping in mind that I did not want to damage the tips. The inks are highly pigmented and flow generously from the tip so I did not need apply much pressure as I inked the stamps gently with the sides of the nylon tips.

After inking the PB birches in black and grey I blended them a little then covered them with masking tape before stamping the PB warm reception stamp bit by bit. I did the trees first, then the house, inking and blending to build up the whole scene. I explain the colours and technique in more detail over on the Foiled Fox blog. As I’d left it until the end to paint a sky I chose to clear emboss the warm reception stamp so it would resist ink when I added it all around the house and trees.

To finish it off I matted in a brownish red and added a little sentiment to look like it was tacked to the trees. Definitely stay tuned for more projects featuring the Karin markers.

Karin markers used: red 209, sepia 074, neutral grey 3 131, black 030, lush green, 228, arctic blue 264

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Tannenbaum Scene – video

Posted: December 10, 2020 | Author: Heather | Filed under: Penny Black, tannenbaum trio | Tags: Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress inks, Tutorial, video | 3 Comments

Last week I posted a card and video made with stamps from the Penny Black tannenbaum trio stamp set. I filled the scene with trees on the previous project making more of a forest. Today’s card features a different colour scheme and a painted sky.

As often is the case for my winter scenes I started with a panel of hot pressed watercolour paper splattered with masking fluid. I painted the sky first and stamped the trees last but the video gives you all the details so here it is.

We had a decent fall of snow yesterday so it’s looking a bit more like the video around here now. What’s it like where you are?

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Vintage Car

Posted: December 9, 2020 | Author: Heather | Filed under: 1920s Chic, classic cars vol 1, classic motorcycles, Darkroom Door, vintage car | Tags: Darkroom Door stamps, distress markers, Ranger Distress inks | 3 Comments

The new vintage car stamp pairs perfectly with one of the ladies from the classy 1920’s chic stamp set, both from Darkroom Door. I made two slimline cards and went with a rainbow colour scheme.

To position the car behind the woman I stamped her first, masked her with a post-it note mask I had cut out and then stamped the vintage car over the top. As both were stamped in nocturne versafine clair pigment ink I was able to emboss in clear powder to make it easier to paint a multicoloured background. I used distress inks smooshed on my glass mat but painted water around the images first so I could drop colour in and blend one colour with the next. On the card below I stamped the car three times in Memento London fog ink and once in a rainbow of distress inks. I applied the rainbow with a marker and spritzed the stamp before stamping so the colours began to blend before hitting the watercolour paper panel.

I stuck with London fog ink for the first two sentiments from DD classic cars vol 1 and switched back to the markers when stamping the birthday sentiment from DD happy birthday set. In keeping with the rainbow car I blended the same inks over the card base with blending brushes. The sentiment on the first card is from the DD classic motorcycles set

Speaking of dresses, but none quite so chic as the stamped one, I am continuing to wear dressed every day during December as I fundraise for the Dressember campaign which fights against human trafficking. My fundraising total has reached $795. If you would like to contribute just click over to my Dressember page. Thank you, thank you to those who have already done so.

Supplies

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Wise Men

Posted: December 8, 2020 | Author: Heather | Filed under: lighting the way, Penny Black, three kings | Tags: Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress inks | 5 Comments

I have two more one-layer ink blended cards today created using exactly the same technique as yesterday’s cards. I masked the edges of the neenah solar white card front with painter’s tape then used blending brushes to build up colour to fill the inside space.

On both cards I placed a tiny circle post-it mask in the sky to be the star then blended the lightest colour over the whole panel. On the card above I started with antique linen distress ink; on the single wise man card below I started with speckled egg distress ink. Once the base colour was in place I positioned a hill shaped post-it note to mask the land area while I worked on the sky. On the card above I used worn lipstick then chipped sapphire. On the card below I blended pine needles followed by chipped sapphire.

For both cards I completed the sky blending then removed the tiny circle mask and blended over the top of the white dot so it would still be the brightest spot but without the crisp edges that would make it look too much like the moon.

Before removing the mask over the land area I stamped the Bethlehem stamp from PB lighting the way set along the edge of the mask in the lightest ink (antique linen or speckled egg). With the sky complete I placed the other half of the curved mask over the sky and removed the lower mask so I could blend the darker colours along the base of the design.

On the portrait oriented card I added one wise man from the PB three kings set in versafine clair nocturne ink while the tapes were still in place around the edges. On the card with three wise men I stamped one king with the tapes in place then removed the tapes to stamp two more kings overlapping the masked edge. I used sentiments from the PB set promise of hope.

I’ve mentioned my brother David’s videos a couple of times this year. He has created quite a few series since churches went online in March. Even though many churches are meeting in person again he is still creating short, thoughtful bible talks. You might be interested in his current series, God’s plan for Christmas. He is posting a new video everyday from Dec 1 -25 explaining the Christmas back story. There was nothing last minute about the birth of Jesus; it was planned from the beginning. As we prepare for a Christmas which will probably look a little different than usual you might enjoy taking a few minutes each day to think about the birth of Christ and what it means for us. You can find his God’s plan for Christmas series here

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Lighting the way

Posted: December 7, 2020 | Author: Heather | Filed under: lighting the way, Penny Black, Uncategorized | Tags: One-Layer cards, Papertrey ink, Penny Black stamps | 11 Comments

If you have been visiting my blog for a while you might remember I used to create a lot of cards using sponging techniques. I’ve been returning to those techniques lately but putting my blending brushes to work instead.

To create the one layer card above I masked off four sides of my neenah solar white card base then blended papertrey ‘berry sorbet’ ink over the panel. I switched to papertrey ‘Americana’ ink next but avoided blending the top middle area then finished the perimeter of the space with ‘enchanted evening’ ink which is a blue ink. Blending the dark blue over the brownish red made a dark brown, perfect for the night sky. I stamped the Bethlehem stamp from Penny Black’s lighting the way set in versafine clair nocturne ink.

The second colour scheme is also a combo of papertrey ink cubes: lemon tart, lilac grace, plum pudding and royal velvet. I finished both cards with a sentiment from the PB holiday snippets set and stars drawn with a white gelly roll pen. I enjoyed doing these so much that I looked through my stamps and did more with a different silhouette stamp set. I’ll have them ready to show you soon. I don’t know that the blending brushes are any quicker than sponging but I find them easier to use and the results are very smooth.

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Tannenbaum Forest – video

Posted: December 4, 2020 | Author: Heather | Filed under: Penny Black, tannenbaum trio, Uncategorized | Tags: Fabriano Watercolour Paper, Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress inks | 11 Comments

Funny story about this card, I realised last night that, although I had written in it, addressed it and even added the stamp to the envelope, I hadn’t taken the photos to go with today’s video tutorial. I pulled it out of the envelope, took some photos, did a little editing magic so you couldn’t see my handwriting on the inside then popped it back in the envelope. It’s mailed now, on its way to Australia.

This is one of two videos I’ve made featuring the tannebaum trio set from Penny Black. I’ll post the other one soon. I did generational stamping in a few colours to get the background trees to appear to be in the distance. It’s a fairly speedy technique which you could mass produce once you got into the swing of things.

As I’ve said before ‘you can never have too many tree stamps’ and the three in this set are no exception. You have already seen me pop them in a few cards on their own to add a foreground tree to a snowy scene or to be a single focal point on one of the mini cards I posted yesterday.

Thank you again for your interest in and support of the Dressember campaign. A couple of close friends I have made through card making helped move my fundraising total along yesterday. Thank you so much!

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Mini Snowscapes

Posted: December 3, 2020 | Author: Heather | Filed under: Nature's Friend, Penny Black, quietude, tannenbaum trio | Tags: Papertrey ink, Penny Black stamps | 5 Comments

I found myself needing a few more Christmas cards this week so I spent a pleasant couple of hours creating mini snowscapes with a handful of stamps. I taped a piece of hot pressed watercolour paper that was already splattered with masking fluid in quarters and kind of worked on the four panels at the same time. I used some of the techniques featured in my new WINTER WONDER online class but on a smaller scale.

The snowscape above features just a fraction of the PB quietude stamp stamped over a painted ink sky. I painted deep snowbank shadows in front of the small trees and then added a bigger tree from PB nature’s friends set in the foreground.

For the mini snowscape above and below I cut circle masks from painter’s tape and positioned them in the top right corners of my quarters before painting inky blue, purple and grey skies. The mini snowscape above features a tree of PB tannenbaum trio set and the one below is from nature’s friends.

Again on the panel below I painted the sky first and stamped the tree over the top. I’ve listed all the inks I used in the supply list below.

Once all the panels were dry I removed the tape and masking fluid, trimmed them all neatly and popped them up on a couple of pieces of cardstock to create a little distance and shadow from the luxe white card bases. I pulled out an old favourite sentiment set, holiday snippets for greetings in the perfect size.

Thank you for your encouragement yesterday as I announced my involvement in this year’s Dressember campaign to raise funds for ending slavery and human trafficking across the world. If you would like to learn more about the campaign or the International Justice Mission please click the links provided to find out what it is all about. As a Dressember Canada advocate the money I raise will be used by IJM in their work around the world investigating trafficking crimes, fighting legal battles against offenders and creating safe places for the recovery of survivors. Click here to donate

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Winter Quietude

Posted: December 2, 2020 | Author: Heather | Filed under: Penny Black, quietude, Stamped Landscapes, tannenbaum trio | Tags: Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress inks, Stonehenge watercolour paper | 10 Comments

When I posted a card stamped with the PB ‘quietude’ stamp recently I mentioned I would be making a more wintery looking version. Today I have two different colour schemes featuring snow and an extra tree from the tannenbaum trio set.

In this snowscape inspired by my friend Liz’s love for all things purple, I used speckled egg, dusty concord and black soot distress inks to paint a sky, a lake and snowbank shadows. I stamped the top of the scene first in speckled egg so I would know where to paint the sky then used a paintbrush and smooshed ink to fill the area above the horizon. I dried that then painted the lake area with speckled egg and dusty concord before stamping the trees in dusty concord and black soot inks.

For the colour scheme below I again used speckled egg but with pine needles and chipped sapphire distress inks.

The falling snow on both cards is a result of splattered masking fluid on hot pressed watercolour paper. I splattered it ahead of time and did all the stamping and painting before rubbing it off to reveal all the white dots.

If you have been reading this blog for a while you will know I have participated in the Dressember campaign in the past to raise awareness and funds to fight human trafficking. I’ve signed up again and will be wearing a dress every day in December while I share information about the work being done around the world to end modern day slavery. To support this cause please visit my fundraising campaign page https://dressemberijm-2020.funraise.org/fundraiser/heather-telford where you can donate. I will be posting the daily dresses on my instagram account with occasional updates here on the blog. (Please note I have signed up with Dressember Canada this time so tax receipts will be sent to Canadian donors only.)

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Shells

Posted: November 30, 2020 | Author: Heather | Filed under: Darkroom Door, seashell filmstrip, seashells | Tags: Darkroom Door stamps, Ranger Distress inks | 9 Comments

Let’s take a break from the snowy scenes I’ve been serving up lately and instead spend some time at the beach. If only I could! I’ve always been a shell collector, even last year when I was walking along Soldiers Beach on the NSW Central Coast with my dad I collected shells for the fun of it. I didn’t end up bringing them home but it was fun to look along the sand and in the rockpools. This card features shells from the Darkroom Door Seashells set and a background stamped with the new DD filmstrip stamp seashells.

I stamped the large shells first making a mask for each one out of a post it note so I could before stamping a second or third shell and mask all three when I stamped the repeated filmstrip background. The large shells I stamped first in archival ink then over the top in distress ink which I blended to fill and add shading to the shells. The background I stamped in tea dye distress ink using the MISTI to keep the stamp in place and move the watercolour paper panel. After stamping the background I blended over the top with a paintbrush and water and dabbed away liquid to halt the blurring so I could still see the shell images.

Once I’d trimmed the panel to size I blended vintage photo ink around the edges with a blending brush and painted shadows under the large shells with dark browns and black. As usual the supplies are all listed below.

Have a great day even if you can’t collect seashells and definitely if you can!