Winter Blooms

Posted: November 26, 2021 | Author: | Filed under: Penny Black, winter blooms | Tags: , , | 5 Comments

I am happy to be a guest on the Foiled Fox blog today so I hope you will pop over there and check out all the inspiration they share. I am also happy to tell you they are having a Friday – Monday sale, all the more reason to visit!

This lovely new floral arrangement from Penny Black is called ‘winter blooms’. I think the blooms are Helleborus; when I looked them up I discovered they come in many colours including pinks, reds and purples. I chose to stamp with juicy Catherine Pooler inks then blend the ink to fill the petals and leaves.

I inked all the elements except the dark centres before doing any stamping. To ink the petals and the leaves without getting ink in the wrong places I press the ink pad on the stamp then wipe the areas that don’t need that colour then do the next colour. Occasionally I end up with colours mixing or spaces with no ink. Neither of those issues cause a problem because when I spritz the stamp the inks move and dilute a little.

Once I had stamped I used water and sometimes extra ink to fill all the elements. I dried the panel before stamping the centres with dark brown ink (applied with a distress marker). I dried the panel again before blending ink over a post-it note mask to create a background and ground the vase. I added a sentiment from PB ‘festive snippets’ set stamped in both shady lane and rainforest versafine clair inks; sometimes I stamp one ink over another to match a colour in my design. As I look at these photos I notice I did not paint a shadow underneath the vase. I think I meant to…

Make sure you visit The Foiled Fox blog and store and use the code JOY2021 for a 15% discount at check out.

Three of my online classes are also on sale until the end of November. Use the code HTNOV to get a 25% discount on the Floral Faves class, Winter Wonder class and the Colour Clues class. Have a delightful weekend.

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Carmine – No Line Watercolour Video

Posted: November 16, 2021 | Author: | Filed under: carmine, Penny Black, sennelier watercolours, Tutorial | Tags: , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

I hope you enjoy today’s no-line watercolour video. When I first saw this stamp I knew it would be perfect for the technique. There are a few little petals but most of the image is made up of open leaves and petals which are easy to see while painting. I used soft stone ink for the initial image on cold press watercolour paper and Sennelier watercolour paints for all the painting.

If you don’t always have a plan for the background you will see how I added one after all the painting was done. Take a look at the video below to see my process.

This is such a pretty stamp and might get inked up again soon to keep my stock of Christmas cards growing. I think it would look good embossed in white on a coloured background. Stay tuned!

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Combining scenic stamps

Posted: August 16, 2021 | Author: | Filed under: farmland, homeward, Penny Black, Stamped Landscapes | Tags: , , , | 7 Comments

I’ve been playing with scenic stamps again, this time combining sections of two stamps to create a new scene. The Penny Black ‘farmland’ stamp forms the background scenery and the PB ‘homeward’ stamp makes up the foreground.

Out of habit (a successful one!) I used distress inks and markers to ink the stamps and add detail to the design. I kept the palette limited using two blues for the sky and several greens and browns for the rest of the scene. To see the process take a look at the video below.

I know some people find scenic stamps a bit daunting but the detail in the stamps themselves makes it possible to add a little or a lot of your own artistry. I hope you find the techniques shown in the video helpful.

You can see cards featuring the farmland stamp on its own here and to see the homeward stamp here.

I mentioned in the video that although I think the fields look authentic I have no idea what the crops might be. If you know of crops that would appear to be rust or olive coloured mention it below!

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Seashells

Posted: August 4, 2021 | Author: | Filed under: Catherine Pooler inks, seashells | Tags: , , | 8 Comments

Penny Black recently came out with new stamps that had me daydreaming of the beach. I was a shell collector as a child and still love wandering the shore looking for seashell beauty when I get the chance.

To bring these clear stamps to life I stamped initially in various colours of Catherine Pooler ink then blended out the colours to fill the shells. I smooshed the inks on my glass mat so I could use it as a palette and featured brown inks in all four shells but added different colours to make each one stand out a little. After blending colours for a while some of the initial detail was lost so I used a few distress markers to add some lines back in.

Once the shells dried I used a warm grey Karin brush marker to add shadows below the shells. I drew around the base of each shell in grey then blended it out with water before adding extra grey right beside the shell for depth.

I popped the panel up up an embossed background made with the ‘mod squares’ folder from Altenew.

Oh I would like to be beside the seaside!

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Fine Flowers watercolour video

Posted: August 3, 2021 | Author: | Filed under: Darkroom Door, fine flowers vol 2, Tutorial | Tags: , , , , | 6 Comments

This pretty outline flower is from the Darkroom Door set ‘fine flowers vol 2’. There are six flowers in the set and I am working my way through trying out each stamp. I began inking and stamping this zinnia/dahlia style flower and was so happy with the colour combination I stopped stamping and set myself up to film. You can see the process in the video below.

I’ve exclaimed about inks that colour separate before( and go into more detail in my online class Colour Clues ) but one of my favourites in this regard is chipped sapphire distress ink. You can see in the close up below grey blue, navy blue, pale blue and purply blue. Hardly any effort required!

All the stamps in the set have the same sketchy style and tiny dots so I did not add any further fanciness. It really was a minimal supplies card in the end even though I did not start with that plan in mind.

By the way Rachel Greig from Darkroom Door is running a challenge throughout August called #artfulaugust. If you check her instagram you can see a list of prompts. I am going to join in as often as possible as it is an open ended no pressure challenge. I have already missed one day but I am not going to dwell on that I will just dive in when I can. Kathy Racoosin is also running the Daily Marker colouring challenge during August, another low pressure, designed for fun and relaxation challenge. I hope to participate in that when I can too. Let me know if you are joining in.

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Work & Relax

Posted: July 30, 2021 | Author: | Filed under: paws and relax, Peerless watercolours, zooming by | Tags: , , , | 2 Comments

Are you surprised to see another critter post? Regular programming will resume I promise but first let’s enjoy Scooter and her friends working from home and pampering themselves!

Once again I stamped the images with Papertrey ink’s soft stone. It is great for no-line watercolour. I used Peerless watercolours to paint the little scenes concentrating on a few main colours for each card. For the hedgehog I switched to brown distress markers, easier for getting all those spikes!

If you didn’t read it in my earlier post, Penny Black is donating some of the proceeds from the Scooter release to Muttville a rescue program for senior dogs.

Hope you get to ‘paws & relax’ this weekend. It’s a long weekend here in Ontario!

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Hot Diggity

Posted: July 29, 2021 | Author: | Filed under: doggone great, hot diggity dog, Peerless watercolours, Penny Black | Tags: , , , | 4 Comments

I have another cute Scooter card for you today. Once again I watercoloured, this time with distress inks. I think this is my favourite set from the release; what’s not to like about a canine mariachi band?

I stamped some images with soft stone ink then painted with distress inks. Other images, including the hedgehog I stamped in brown distress inks and blended them to fill the image. I painted the background with distress inks smooshed and diluted on my glass mat.

The second card I stamped in antique linen distress inks and stamped on masking paper also so I could create the scene with cacti in the background and one musician behind another.

I painted with peerless watercolour paints and added gold details with a gel pen. I used the masks a second time so I could blend ink over the background.

These Scooter scenes were definitely a departure from my nature (and book) themed projects but as a friend said to my yesterday, ‘always good to step out of your comfort zone!’

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Desert Sky

Posted: June 23, 2021 | Author: | Filed under: desert dream, Stamped Landscapes | Tags: , , , | 7 Comments

After creating some gel printed landscapes I was inspired to return to another technique I enjoy: creating landscapes with scenic stamps. Sometimes I combine scenes to create a new landscape or stamp additional elements, other times I stamp a single complete landscape as shown in this ‘desert dreams’ stamp. It was released a few years back but this is the first time I’ve inked it. Before getting to the stamping I created the painted background which included a two tone blue sky and two toned desert floor. I smooshed distress inks on my glass mat, spritzed water over the ink and swiped the watercolour panel through to pick up colour.

Once the panel dried I did the stamping in a stamp positioner so I could build up the colour and picture bit by bit. I started by inking the cacti with crushed olive and peeled paint markers, the distant foliage with rusty hinge and the foreground foliage with peeled paint and forest moss. I spritzed the stamp but also used a paint brush and occasional spritz on the panel.

You can see my finished design doesn’t contain fine details but the overall feeling is a hot day in the desert day among some bold contrasting scenery. I finished the card with a sentiment from the PB ‘Faith.Hope.Love’ set.

To see more scenic stamping take a look at these posts: Arbors, Pumpkins, Fields of gold and Beloved view.

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Craft Roulette

Posted: June 21, 2021 | Author: | Filed under: garden variety, Penny Black | Tags: , , , | 10 Comments

I had the opportunity to participate in Craft Roulette on Friday night. If Craft Roulette is new to you (as it was to me until a month ago) it is a live crafting improv game show hosted by Mary Gunn every Friday night on Youtube. She has a different guest each week, sometimes more than one, and they craft together. Every week the parameters for the card are different as the wheel is spun four times, once for type of card, then colour choices, a theme and finally a random element.

I was delighted to see familiar names from this blog pop up in the live chat; thank you so much for joining in. Although I could not respond to all the chat I went back and read through it yesterday and was so encouraged by your kind words. I know some of you stayed up very late to watch!

The wheel was pretty kind on Friday night and none of the parameters took me too far out of my comfort zone. The card style was MATCHBOOK ( I needed a refresher on that), colours were RED +2, theme was MORNING and the random element was SPLATTERS! You know I love splatters.

I chose to create a background sunrise, add some red and green flowers (PB garden variety) then add splatters with water at the end. My three colours were red + green and yellow. The evening was very enjoyable; Mary is a hoot, the viewers on live chat were the loveliest and being live on the interwebs was not as daunting as expected. I might just attempt my own live creating on youtube from time to time.

As the challenge unfolds, viewers are encouraged to make a card following the same parameters. Some viewers watch and create as the show progresses but most make and post their cards after watching the show. Everyone has until Sunday evening to submit their creations. The cards are all shared during the show the following week. Contributors are entered into a few prize draws at the end of the show. So you see, Craft Roulette is a happening place, full of fun and inspiration and worth checking out on a Friday night. To see how I created this card you can watch the replay here.

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Daisy Sunshine

Posted: May 28, 2021 | Author: | Filed under: dancing daisies, Penny Black | Tags: , , , , | 11 Comments

Last week I asked what your favourite floral stamp was and several people mentioned PB ‘dancing daisies‘. That was all the motivation I needed to get it inked up. I used the same technique for today’s card as I did for a recent lilac card. I inked the stamp with three ink colours (listed below), spritzed and stamped on hot pressed watercolour paper. Without re-inking I spritzed the stamp again and stamped another print then another spritz, another pale watery print. I dried the panel a little then dipped it in a bucket of water. The result was the background you see in pale colours.

I made sure the panel was totally dry before putting it in a stamp positioner to do a bold focal print. I used the same colours berry sorbet for petals, orange zest for centre and prairie grass for leaves and stems. I stamped a second time adding aged mahogany shadows on the flower centre and abandoned coral definition on the petals. I did some blending with a paint brush but not on all the stamping.

I finished the panel with a sentiment from PB ‘thinking of you’ in acorn versafine clair ink. I’m glad to have been reminded about dancing daisies; it’s a lovely stamp which I’ve used a few times over the years.

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