You’re spectacular

Posted: April 6, 2018 | Author: | Filed under: Brusho, fantastic, Zigs & zags | Tags: , , , , | 6 Comments

Does that background look a little skewed to you? It’s that exact feature that made me use it for an ‘eye sight’ themed card, something you might have to look at with your head on the side.

I taped the zigs & zags stencil from Penny Black onto a piece of hot pressed watercolour paper then spread deco transfer gel over. I carefully removed the stencil and let the gel dry. Once dry I lay a piece of white foil over the panel and ran it through my minc foiling machine. The result was a white on off-white chevron panel. Because I had created it on watercolour paper I was able to use brusho and a spritzer to make a multicoloured pattern. Once the panel dried and I decided on the ‘spectacle & eyesight’ theme. I wanted the die cut glasses to look a little fancy so I added adhesive sheet to the back of black cardstock then cut three pairs of glasses. I was just going to emboss them with clear powder but thought sparkly clear powder might be even better. After adhering the three die cuts together in a stack I pressed the top layer onto my versamark ink then dipped it in WOW clear sparkle powder. Even though the powder is clear it ended with a slight green sparkle to it. It looks a little different depending what base colour you emboss over. I pressed the glasses onto my versamark again and embossed in clear powder over the top of the sparkle.

My sentiment is just one of the eyesight themed sentiments in the ‘perspective’ transparent set from Penny Black. To complete the card I matted the zig zag panel in a co-ordinating colour, attached the sentiment then the glasses and attached it all to a white card base. Not my usual style but I had a lot of fun putting it together.

Supplies

Stamps: perspective

Dies: glasses (PB), 2″ square die

Stencil: zigs & zags (PB)

Paint: colorburst turquoise, olive green, ultramarine

Ink: versamark

Paper: hot pressed watercolour, neenah epic black, neenah solar white, olive green

Also: clear sparkle embossing powder, clear embossing powder, double sided adhesive sheets, MINC, white foil, deco transfer gel
 

Painted Sunfire

Posted: April 4, 2018 | Author: | Filed under: cherry blossom, Foiling, Peerless watercolours, stitched square & circles, Sun fire | Tags: , | 11 Comments

When creating die cut cards I sometimes paint the watercolour paper first, as I did for the brusho card posted a couple of days ago. Other times I do the die cutting and paint each element separately. For today’s card I cut three lilies ( a Penny Black die named ‘sunfire’) from hot pressed watercolour paper then painted them with peerless watercolours.

I chose a pink, a red and an orange paint and used at least two of them on each flower which gave me variety in the blooms but a cohesive look overall. I let the petals dry before using the red paint to add dots and the yellow paint for the stamen. I used a blue-ish green on the stems and leaves. Once all the paint was dry I used a glue pen to add a vein down the centre of the petals and also dabbed the ends of each stamen. I let the glue sit and dry partially then pressed gold foil over it .

To create a floral arrangement I cut a circle and some cherry blossom from unpainted watercolour paper and glued down all the elements. It took me a while to work out a layout that looked balanced. The die cut lilies are quite large so I trimmed bits off in order to fit them all on the card front. I finished it off with a gold foil die cut sentiment.

Supplies

Dies: sunfire, cherry blossom, many thanks, stitched square & circles

Paper: cold pressed watercolour paper, gold foil cardstock

Paint: Peerless watercolour paints

Also: quickie glue pen, gold foil

Sparkle With Us challenge winners

Posted: April 3, 2018 | Author: | Filed under: Challenges | 3 Comments

Thank you to everyone who participated in our recent ‘Sparkle With Us’ challenge. I enjoyed seeing a bunch of new ways to add sparkle to my cards. The cards and techniques were wonderful. The Foiled Fox and I are thrilled to announce the winners of our recent challenge. The entries were all so inspiring and sparkly; it was a hard task to narrow it down to three winners.  In no particular order here are the stunning cards that totally nailed the challenge each in it’s own sparkly way:

Aileen’s sparkly die cut was the perfect supporting element to the flowers in their starring role.

Jessica kept her sparkle contained in five simple letters but wow, they packed a punch!

Joanna’s card was mostly white space which just made her gold leaf and iridescent flakes all the more eye catching.

Congratulations winners, the wonderful crew at The Foiled Fox will be in contact with you to make sure you get your $40 prize coupon to the Foiled Fox online store. Please feel free to attach the winner’s badge below to your blog.

 

 

Classes here and there

Posted: April 2, 2018 | Author: | Filed under: Classes, Darkroom Door, Penny Black | Tags: | Leave a comment

If you live in the Ottawa or Toronto area this post is for you. I’d like to draw your attention to my upcoming classes page. I teach art and card making classes each month in Ottawa, a few times a year in Toronto and occasionally in other places. All my classes are listed on my Upcoming classes page but I thought I would mention them here on the blog and highlight one you won’t find listed on my class page.

On April 7 I will be in Toronto teaching a Coloured Pencil Technique class

and my Watercolour Wings class.

In Ottawa on April 12, 13, 14(already full) & 16 and in Toronto on May 26th I am excited to be teaching my Galaxy Art class.

In Ottawa on May 10, 11, 12 & 14 and in Toronto on May 26 I will be celebrating spring with my Floral Focus class.

You will find all the details on my Upcoming Classes page. You can sign up for most classes through the links on the class page but to attend the ones held at Crop A While in Ottawa you will need to contact the store directly. Crop A While scrapbooking store is hosting a “Hello Spring Super Crop” on April 28 where I will be teaching a mini class (one card). To register for the crop and my mini class you will need to contact Crop A While. If you have any questions please use the contact me link.

 

 

Bodacious brusho

Posted: April 2, 2018 | Author: | Filed under: bodacious, Brusho, CAS | Tags: , , | 8 Comments

 

This week I have a couple of painted die cut cards to share. To create this one I first sprinkled leaf green, sunburst yellow and rose red brusho over a piece of hot pressed watercolour paper and spritzed with water to activate the paint. The colours did blend together a little but I was able to keep some distinct red, yellow and green areas. Once dry I used the ‘bodacious’ die from Penny Black to cut several flowers. I also cut white flowers with the same die. When creating my layout I glued down a few white diecut flowers first then coloured ones over the top. I trimmed stems and buds so I could arrange the flowers at different heights and facing different directions.

I embossed a sentiment from the ‘smile today’ set in platinum, trimmed the white background panel and attached it to a white card base.

Supplies

Stamps: smile today!

Die: bodacious

Paper: hot pressed watercolour, neenah solar white, white linen texture paper

Paint: leaf green, sunburst yellow, rose red brusho

Also: platinum embossing powder

Tulip Sympathy card

Posted: March 29, 2018 | Author: | Filed under: Alcohol Ink, Tulips | Tags: , | 1 Comment

I have used an alcohol ink background to add colour to this tulip card. Deciding on a colour scheme and image for a sympathy card can be difficult but flowers are given and appreciated at times of joy as well as sadness. Out of interest I looked up what meaning if any, has been assigned to yellow tulips. Apparently the meaning has changed over time but yellow tulips now stand for hope and cheerful thoughts.

To create the yellow, orange and green panel I dropped alcohol inks on a craft mat then swiped photo paper through the colours. Sometimes it is necessary to swipe several times or add a bit of rubbing alcohol to get coverage over the whole panel. I inked the Darkroom Door tulip stamp with jet black stazon ink then pressed the photo paper panel down onto the stamp. To finish the card I wrapped some black ribbon around a textured white mat and added a sentiment also in black.

Supplies

Stamps: tulips, bright blossoms vol 2 (DD)

Ink: alcohol inks by Ranger, jet black stazon

Paper: neenah solar white, photo paper, textured white paper

Classic garden

Posted: March 27, 2018 | Author: | Filed under: Flower garden | Tags: , | 3 Comments

A few weeks back I created two fairly glamorous cards with this fancy stamp, glamorous because of the platinum and gold embossing I paired with the very detailed stamp. Today’s card is simply stamped in one colour and embellished with another colour creating this classic navy, red and white combo.

I stamped on neenah solar white cardstock in chipped sapphire distress ink; it is a very detailed stamp so using a stamping platform helped me get good coverage.

Quite a versatile stamp I think…

Supplies

Stamps: flower garden, botanical script

Ink: chipped sapphire distress ink

Paper: neenah solar white, textured red

Also: stamping platform, red & white gingham ribbon

Wings & things

Posted: March 23, 2018 | Author: | Filed under: Wildflowers Vol 1, Wings | Tags: , , | 11 Comments

This is one of those cards that just evolved. I’ve had the butterfly stamps at hand while teaching a class with them. I did not have a definite plan; in fact, you may be surprised to hear it started with three butterflies stamped in rusty hinge distress ink. The panel sat around for a while then I decided to paint turquoise brusho and metallic sky liquid metal inside each of the brown butterfly outlines. I didn’t love that so I spritzed interference blue pearl-ex spray over all three butterflies to make the colour bleed into the surrounding area. Still not right, so I employed a technique one of my friends calls ‘drowning’ and spritzed the panel thoroughly. The result was a sparkly blue panel with muted butterflies now looking like background images.

I used pine needles and mermaid lagoon distress inks to stamp foreground images, more butterflies and some flowers. I framed the panel by sponging pine needles ink around the edges then splattered a little white gesso over it. As often happens with my cards I started thinking about a sentiment once there was no room left for one. Vellum to the rescue with an phrase embossed in silver.

Supplies

Stamps: wildflowers vol 1, wings

Inks: rusty hinge, mermaid lagoon distress ink, pine needles, versamark

Paper: hot pressed watercolour paper, vellum, neenah solar white cardstock

Paint: turquoise brusho, white gesso, metallic sky liquid metal

Also: silver embossing powder, interference blue pearl-ex powder mixed with water in a mister

Poppy blessing

Posted: March 21, 2018 | Author: | Filed under: Parade of flowers | Tags: , , | 4 Comments

This is the second card I’ve posted featuring the ‘parade of flowers’ stamp from Penny Black. To create this one I used just a section of the stamped image and worked with the emboss resist method. I stamped in versamark and embossed in clear powder on hot pressed watercolour paper.

The painting is all done with watercolour pencils. I use a waterbrush or wet paintbrush to pick up colour from the pencils. I used 2-3 pinks to fill the flowers, a green for the stems, a brown for the seed pod and black for the poppy centre. I painted the background with a grey watercolour pencil, added a sentiment in versafine smokey gray ink, a pink mat and a little twist of twine.

Happy Spring!

 

Supplies

Stamps: parade of flowers, choose happy

Inks: versamark, versafine smokey gray

Pencils: Faber-Castell Albrecht Dürer watercolour pencils

Paper: hot pressed watercolour paper, pink cardstock

Also: clear embossing powder, twine

Tea time?

Posted: March 19, 2018 | Author: | Filed under: Cup of tea | Tags: , , | 3 Comments

This card was practically complete weeks ago including a handlettered sentiment written with pen and ink. Unfortunately after leaving the ink to dry overnight I brushed my hand across the lettering only to see it smudge across my one layer card! I cut the strip of teacups out of the ruined card front and set them aside as I had other projects to complete. When I pulled them out again I decided to create an embossed mat to frame the teacups top and bottom then stuck the teacup panel on the embossed panel and then onto a new cardfront. I added a sentiment from the ‘cup of tea’ stamp set and finally finished my card.

The teacups are stamped in versamark and embossed in platinum powder. After embossing one cup, I stamped and cut a tea cup mask, positioned it over the first cup then stamped a second and a third cup. I did all the colouring with tombow markers. When finishing the card a while later I tried my new versafine clair ‘monarch’ ink. I have always been happy with my versafine inks so I wondered what might be different about the new versafine clair inks. I have bought five colours to start with and so far I am very impressed with the sharp detailed stamping and no need for a second impression.

 

And by the way if you like a little sparkle, perhaps with embossing powder or something bolder, please check out the ‘Sparkle With Us’ challenge I’m hosting with The Foiled Fox. We’ve stretched it out for a wee bit longer so you still have a couple of days to join in.

Supplies

Stamps: Cup of tea

Inks: versamark, monarch versafine clair

Tombow markers: 679, 772, 515, 451, N75, N00

Paper: hot pressed watercolour paper

Also: WOW metallic platinum embossing powder

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