Stitched and dotted blooms
Posted: July 10, 2018 Filed under: Anything but basic friendship, little lowercase letters, radiating half tone background, stitched blooms | Tags: Catherine Pooler inks, My Favorite Things, WOW embossing powders 3 Comments
Oh, Hi!
I am excited to have new cards to share and a WINNER to announce. I teamed up with the Foiled Fox to host a giveaway just two short weeks ago and I’m very happy to announce that Lagene is the randomly chosen winner of the $25 gift voucher to spend at the delightful Foiled Fox online store.
Congratulations LAGENE, you will be hearing from the Foiled Fox any minute now!
I’m on the Foiled Fox blog today featuring this new funky background stamp, delightful stitched flower dies, sweet letter dies and the oh-so-juicy Catherine Pooler inks. I’ve been planning to make a card layered with floral die-cuts for a while so when the MFT stitched blooms arrived I decided to cut out a whole bunch so I could do some ‘flower arranging’.If you look closely you can see the dots on the flowers and leaves are different sizes, that’s because I used the MFT Radiating halftone background stamp to create some patterned paper. I stamped three panels of hot pressed watercolour paper and embossed with white powder. I then used some Catherine Pooler ink to paint one panel in pink, yellow and orange (inks listed below) and the other two in greens and blue. Once the panels were dry I positioned the whole sheet of dies over the panel without separating any of them. I cut a whole set from both colour schemes then separated the dies so I could cut a few more individual flowers and leaves.
I arranged the pink, yellow and orange flowers with the green and blue leaves on a piece of white paper then, when I was happy with the layout I snapped a pic with my phone so I could recreate it and glue it all down in layers. I used liquid glue for the elements going directly on the white panel and two different thicknesses of dimensional adhesives to raise some of the flowers up higher. To create my little sentiment I adhered some white foam to pink cardstock then cut out the letters using the MFT ‘little lowercase letters’ dies. I used the same pink cardstock to mat the panel and my first flower arranngement was completed.
Because I had cut all the dies out of both colour schemes I had pink and yellow leaves left over along with green flowers. I decided to make a smaller arrangement on a narrow black panel and add a stamped sentiment from the MFT ‘Anything but basic Friendship’ stamp set. I stamped the whole sentiment in black on green cardstock then sliced it up to exclude those little words I didn’t need!
I used a white gel pen and a T-ruler to add dots to my panel. When I had finished these two cards I still had an uncut dotted panel in blue/green tones and the negative sheets I had cut the flowers and leaves from. I’ll share what I did with them later in the week.
Supplies
Stamps: MFT Radiating halftone background stamp, Anything but basic friendship set (MFT)
Dies: MFT stitched blooms, MFT little lowercase letters
Inks: Catherine Pooler’s bellini, shea butter, party dress, spruce, daydream, versafine clair nocturne
Paper: hot pressed watercolour paper, neenah black, neenah solar white, pink, green
Also: white embossing powder, mono aqua liquid glue, 3D dots foam dot adhesive, Kool tac clear foam roll, white gel pen, adhesive backed foam, T-ruler
‘Simply Sarah’ grevillea
Posted: July 5, 2018 Filed under: grevilleas | Tags: Darkroom Door stamps, Ranger Distress stains 11 Comments
My father is visiting from Australia at present; he has attended all three graduations with us. Before he left home I asked him to pick up some new stamps from Darkroom Door. It’s been pretty busy here but I finally found some time earlier this week to try them out. Grevillea is a plant native to Australia and some other southern hemisphere islands. There is a wide range of grevilleas with different shapes and colours. The new grevillea stamp set includes four different shaped flower heads and a couple of foliage stamps.
I searched for grevillea images on line and chose a couple of different colour schemes including this purple/burgandy one know as ‘Simply Sarah‘. I used both dusty concord and seedless preserves distress stains to ink the stamp, spritzed, then stamped on hot pressed watercolour paper. I spritzed again without reinking, stamped again and repeated a couple of times to get lighter images. I inked one of the foliage stamps with forest moss distress stain and stamped it a few times in and around the flowers. Finally I splattered some dots of scattered straw stain over the panel and added a sentiment from another new DD set, ‘thank you’. All the thank you sentiments are on one long strip so I masked with some post it notes to leave a space for just one sentiment.
When my dad first arrived he took a close look at the stamps he’d brought and came up with a challenge for me, but that will be a post for another day.
Supplies
Stamps: grevilleas, thank you DDSE002 (DD)
Inks: scattered straw, seedless preserves, dusty concord, forest moss distress stains, monarch versafine clair
Paper: hot pressed watercolour paper, neenah natural white cardstock
Flowers & Scrolls
Posted: June 28, 2018 Filed under: floral edger, scrolls half edger | Tags: Cutterpillar glass mat, distress oxide inks, Penny Black creative dies 8 Comments
I have a new glass mat on my work table and it’s been fun trying some of my favourite techniques on the glass surface. To create the backgrounds for these two cards I swiped distress oxide inks on the glass, spritzed some water over the ink then swiped hot pressed watercolour paper through it.
For this card the oxide inks were wild honey and lucky clover. I topped the panel with the scrolls half edger die cut and a stacked sentiment. I backed the white cardstock with adhesive sheet first before cutting to make it easier to attach.
The second background was made by swiping watercolour paper through wild honey, lucky clover and abandoned coral oxide inks then splattering some more ink and water over the top.
This one I decorated with the ‘floral half’ die cut edger. Both decorative dies cut all the intricate detail on one side and leave the opposite edge uncut
The cutterpillar glass mat worked beautifully for smooshing ink onto. I managed to spill half a bottle of glue on it while putting these cards together and ended up leaving it to dry for a day or two then peeled it off with ease. I have linked to the glass mat below so you can take a look (in the photo it is shown on top of the Cutterpillar Glow light pad). I really like the size as I can complete inky-painty projects on it but it doesn’t take over my whole work table. I will share more about it as I put it through its paces with other techniques.
Supplies
Dies: scrolls half edger, floral half, party for you
Inks
Papers: hot pressed watercolour, neenah solar white
Tools: stick-it adhesive, Cutterpillar Glow Tempered Glass mat
Soft pink poppies & a give away
Posted: June 25, 2018 Filed under: spontaneous joy | Tags: Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress inks, Ranger Distress stains 31 Comments
You can find me over on the Foiled Fox blog today sharing all the details about this soft summery card. It reminds me of one I made a couple of years ago with an all over poppy pattern. I used distress stains and markers to get a loose watery look then gold embossing powder for the sentiment and some gold splatter. You can read about my process on the Foiled Fox blog.
I have teamed up with the Foiled Fox today to not only share this card but also a GIVEAWAY! If you comment here or on the Foiled Fox blog you will be entered to win a $25 gift certificate to spend at the Foiled Fox online store. You have until the end of Sunday, July 8th to enter.
For extra entries you can follow Foiled Fox or me on youtube, instagram or pinterest. All the links are listed below.
Enjoy your summer days!
Supplies
Stamps: spontaneous joy 40-597, happy wishes 30-419
Paper: cold pressed watercolour, neenah natural white
Inks & Stains: versamark (tsukineko) spun sugar, tattered rose, forest moss distress stains, abandoned coral mini ink pad, black soot distress markers (ranger)
Also: metallic rich gold embossing powder (WOW), stamping platform
You are pretty fantastic
Posted: June 21, 2018 Filed under: Happy together, perspective | Tags: Kuretake Zig clean color real brush markers, Penny Black stamps 12 Comments
Our family is in the midst of a season of graduations as all three of our children are awarded diplomas or degrees. We enjoyed one last week, another yesterday and will attend one more next week. I will share some photos next week after our son graduates from high school. Today’s card is the one I made for my older daughter who has just received her Master of Teaching. As you can imagine I am exceedingly proud of her; I think she is pretty fantastic!
This card is also my only participation so far in Kathy Racoosin’s current 30 day colouring challenge. This month’s festivities have left very little time for colouring. I embossed the flowers from Penny Black’s ‘happy together’ transparent set in silver powder on hot pressed watercolour paper. I used four zig real brush pens for the petals colouring with a deep colour (purple or blue) near the base of the flowers and with a light blue near the tips of the petals. I then blended the two or three colours with a paintbrush and water until I had soft blends covering the flowers. I added a bit of violet to a few flowers for some extra depth and variation. I used light green and light blue for the leaves and sepals. To make the flowers pop a bit more I coloured around all the edges with a grey zig maker, blended it with water and a few dabs of light green. I was inspired by a few of Susie Lessard’s recent cards. (here’s the link to one on IG)
I completed the card with a purple mat and sentiment from the PB ‘perspective’ set also in purple.
Supplies
Stamps: happy together, perspective
Markers: zig clean color real brush markers (blue, purple, light grey, violet, light green, light blue)
Inks: versafine clair monarch, versamark
Paper
Also:
Speaking my Language
Posted: June 19, 2018 Filed under: Bister, friend duo die, Nuvo shimmer powder, typewriter text | Tags: Bister, My Favorite Things, Nuvo shimmer powder 4 Comments
After the interest and kind comments expressed yesterday about the bister & emboss resist combo I thought I’d show you another done with the same ingredients. I embossed the typewriter text stamp on hot pressed watercolour paper and created two different looks with two brands of paint powder. The blue one features blue bister, like yesterday’s card and the tones are muted and earthy. The pink card features Nuvo cherry bomb shimmer powder and the tones are bright and sparkly.
Once again the paint powders created a range of shades and pooled in different places trapped by the embossing. I thought it was particularly clever the way the letters trapped dark colour at times and white space at other times.
I cut the ‘friend’ die cut in blue card and black foam to make a stacked word then added the embossed sentiment strip underneath.
The pink card features the same steps but there is shimmer here and there over the panel. I also added sparkle to the die cut ‘friend’ by embossing the whole word with versamark and clear sparkle powder.
I doubt I will ever tire of playing with paint powders; the results are different every time!
Supplies
Stamps: Anything but basic friendship, typewriter text (MFT)
Dies: friend duo
Inks: versamark, versafine clair charming pink
Paints: blue bister, cherry bomb nuvo shimmer powder
Papers: hot pressed watercolour paper, Neenah solar white, Neenah natural, Neenah black, pink, blue
Also: clear sparkle embossing powder, white embossing powder (WOW), black foam
Happy Together
Posted: June 18, 2018 Filed under: Bister, Happy together, Tranquility | Tags: Bister, Penny Black stamps 19 Comments
I am quite happy with the way these little cacti turned out using only one colour of bister paint powder. Bister can create surprising results. I used blue bister powder on hot pressed watercolour paper over clear embossing.
Bister paint powders have an earthy tone to them which you can see clearly on this panel. I sprinkled blue bister over the panel and spritzed with water until the paint activated. I tilted and turned the panel until the paint pooled in certain places. Where there was very little colour I used a paint brush to transfer some from a darker area. Once there was good coverage I let it dry partially then picked up some brown from the panel and painted shadows below each of the pots. I matted the panel in brown and added the sentiment in vintage sepia versafine ink.
I thought it was very cool the way all those leaf shapes in the second from left cacti turned out different colours. This is why I love playing with paint powders.
Supplies
Stamps: happy together, tranquility
Paper: hot pressed watercolour, neenah natural white, brown
Inks: versamark, vintage sepia
Paint: blue bister (available in USA from ‘I Brake for Stamps’ and in Ottawa from ‘Crop A While’)
Also: clear embossing powder
Shimmery Summer Glow
Posted: June 6, 2018 Filed under: Nuvo shimmer powder, summer glow | Tags: Nuvo shimmer powder, Penny Black stamps 13 Comments
I was lucky enough to be in my local scrapbooking store, Crop A While, recently when they were unpacking the Nuvo shimmer powders. I jumped at the chance to give them a little test drive, after all they are watercolour powders! I used the summer glow iris from Penny Black and three colours of shimmer powder. I made one sample at the store then played around with the same image and three powders at home.
I embossed ‘summer glow’ in clear powder on two hot pressed watercolour paper panels and one cold pressed panel. My experiments moved from careful ‘stay inside the lines’ painting to free flowing colours all over the panel. The most controlled one I completed by dropping a little violet brocade, blue blitz and solar flare powders on my craft mat so I could pick some up with a damp brush. As with most powders the colour is intense; I was able to pick up a tiny bit, paint it into a petal then blend with water to get the depth I was after. I used violet brocade for the petals and ended up with some pink and blue sections as well as deep purple. To colour the stems and leaves I mixed the blue and yellow, adding more blue where I wanted shading.
I used the cold pressed paper for a looser style and sprinkled some powder directly on the panel. It is tricky to sprinkle tiny amounts at a time but I tried to drop some violet brocade into the flowers and buds. I held my hand over the stems while I spritzed the flowers. The paint activated straight away, some inside and some outside the petals. I used a paintbrush to fill any petals that were too pale but tried not to alter the ‘random magic’ too much. Next I sprinkled the blue blitz and solar flare powders over the stems and leaves and spritzed with water. Again I moved the paint a bit with a paint brush to fill the areas enclosed by embossing.
On the final panel I sprinkled the powders in the same areas and spritzed water liberally over the top so the colours filled the background as well as the embossed iris.
I know the messiness of this one won’t be to everyone’s taste but I think it turned out a little fun and funky.
I popped up the panels with foam on cream card bases.
What you don’t see in the photos is the pretty shimmer in the paint when it dries. ( Since my first experiments I have bought a couple more colours so the fun will continue)
Supplies
Stamp: summer glow 40-610 (PB)
Ink: versamark
Paper: cold pressed watercolour paper, hot pressed watercolour paper, Neenah natural white
Paint: Nuvo shimmer powders blue blitz, violet brocade, solar flare
Also: clear embossing powder
Summer Dream
Posted: May 30, 2018 Filed under: summer dream | Tags: Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress inks, Tsukineko Memento inks 3 Comments
Penny Black has a selection of magnolia stamps including ‘Summer Dream’, featured on today’s card. I used a memento inkpad and distress markers to colour it, making use of a stamp positioning tool to let me add colour little by little.
I inked the whole stamp with memento angel pink ink and stamped on hot pressed watercolour paper. Angel pink is a very pale ink so it is good for layering over. I used worn lipstick, picked raspberry and aged mahogany distress markers to build up detail and shading on the flowers then peeled paint and forest moss markers to create two toned leaves. I finished off the flowers by drawing the stamen with a black marker. I added gathered twigs and black soot marker to the twigs and stems to complete the image. When I ink with dye based markers I spritz the stamp lightly before stamping so the colour begins to blend on the stamp. I sometimes use a damp brush to blend on the paper also.
The sentiment from ‘Smile today!’ is stamped in versafine clair nocturne and the panel popped up on foam over a natural coloured card base.
Supplies:
Stamps: summer dream, smile today
Distress markers: worn lipstick, picked raspberry, aged mahogany, gathered twigs, peeled paint, forest moss, black soot
Ink: angel pink memento, nocturne versafine clair
Paper: hot pressed watercolour paper
Also: white foam
Knock knock
Posted: May 28, 2018 Filed under: Art Impressions WC stamps, border edgers | Tags: Art Impressions watercolor stamps, Kuretake Zig clean color real brush markers, My Favorite Things, Penny Black creative dies, Ranger Distress inks 11 Comments
I’m collaborating with the Foiled Fox team today so you can read more about these cards on their blog. These are my first cards created with Art Impressions ‘Watercolor’ stamps. The stamps are designed for creating scenes; there are a lot of little stamps depicting stems, branches, foliage and flowers. The stamper can combine them however they wish, use a water soluble ink then blend with a little water to turn all the stamping into ‘watercolor paintings’.
I used a combination of foliage and flower sets to decorate two cards featuring doors from the Art Impressions ‘Door’ set. It was fun to create little scenes around the doors. One ended up being a rustic cabin type door and the other a simple white door at the end of a garden path.
I chose frayed burlap distress ink to stamp one of the doors and grey zig clean color real brush marker to ink the other door. I also used the zig markers for the floral and foliage stamps. I learnt on the Art Impressions youtube channel that the best way to stamp the flowers and leaves is to ink them, then stamp several times just slightly offset each time. That way you create more volume and variety in colour. After you have done your stamping (with watersoluble inks like distress and zig clean color) you can blend all the images with a damp brush to create the watercolour look.
I added some elements with the zig markers and watercolour pencils to fill out the scenes. front path, bricks and planks around the doors and a hand drawn window. Pop over to the Foiled Fox blog to read about my method in more detail.
I really enjoyed playing with these stamps to create my own scenes. The stamps are tiny but you can fill a garden quickly by stamping a mass of flowers and foliage then blending it every so lightly with water. I would love to hear from you in the comments below if you have already done some creating with the Art Impressions watercolour stamps or if you are feeling inspired to give it a try. I will definitely be back with more scenes.
Supplies
Art Impressions Stamps: WC Foliage set 3, WC Flower set 3, WC door set, WC Foliage set 1, Flower
MFT Stamps: Anything but Basic Friend set
Inks: frayed burlap distress ink, versafine sepia, versafine olympia green
Dies: Penny Black border edgers
Papers: cold pressed watercolour paper, neenah natural white, green cardstocks
Also: zig clean color real brush pens, watercolor pencils
Heather Telford 