Potted Pretties in Pencil

Posted: May 24, 2023 | Author: | Filed under: Coloured pencil, how sweet, Penny Black, potted pretties | Tags: , | 4 Comments

This is the new ‘potted pretties’ stamp from Penny Black; it is pretty isn’t it? Although I love the soft blends of loose watercolour I also find pencil colouring very satisfying too, especially on kraft cardstock.

I use Faber Castell Polychromos pencils and chose a dark and a light pink along with white for the petals, two greens for the leaves and a tan with white for the pot. Once I had almost finished I added some more shadow to the centre of some flowers and the shadows of the leaves with a dark burgandy pencil – a trick I learned from Kathy Racoosin, colouring wizard.

If no-line watercolour is more your thing then I am colouring the same image in that style too. I’ll post it on the blog soon.

Don’t forget to check out my new online course if you haven’t already. The discount TEAMBLOG10 is still valid for a 10% discount at checkout. Thank you to those of you who have joined already. I am excited to hear from or see some prints once you’ve had a chance to dive in!

And another event you might be interested in if you are local is the Community Paper Crafting Garage Sale on June 10.

(Compensated affiliate links from Foiled Fox)

Spring Emerges

Posted: March 28, 2023 | Author: | Filed under: Coloured pencil, Penny Black, spring emerges | Tags: , , | 3 Comments

Spring is emerging around my place but not to the extent suggested in this stamp. I do have a daffodil plant that has broken through the soil and I can see a bud on it even though it is a couple of feet from the snow drifts! The stamp featured today is called ‘spring emerges’ and it is a small transparent stamp from Penny Black’s latest release.

It’s been a while since my coloured pencils were the stars of the show but after finishing this little panel I might keep them on my desk a little longer. I particularly like pencils on kraft cardstock. I often add either a base of white pencil or just highlights so the brown of the kraft doesn’t make everything too muted. On this card I blended white and reds for the tulips and added white highlights purple flowers. I layered a mix of yellows and oranges for the daffodil and two greens for the leaves and grass. I kept the panel and stamp in the stamp positioner in case I wanted to restamp over the top after colouring (which I did). With a stamp this small sometimes my colouring goes outside or over the lines, restamping just sharpened the outline. I used Gina K’s osidian amalgam ink.

I used A2 layer dies to cut the panel and the mat and added a sentiment from the PB ‘hope is…’ set. You can see some very pale white shading around the flowers too which was done with the white pencil.

Wishing you a hope filled day.

(Compensated affiliate links from Foiled Fox, Scrap n Stamp)

Autumn Harvest Scene

Posted: October 26, 2022 | Author: | Filed under: autumn harvest scene, chicken wire, Echidna Studios | Tags: , , | 1 Comment

This delightful scene was designed by my daughter and is available as a digital download for cardmaking or other harvest themed crafting or decorating. Her etsy shop is called Digitalis Designs and is launching with a selection of harvest and halloween designs. I have been giving her suggestions for future releases!

This is the first time I have created with a digital stamp so it’s just the beginning. I printed the ‘autumn harvest scene’ on kraft cardstock then coloured with polychromos pencils. I printed the scene to fit on an A2 card but the beauty of digital stamps is you can print them any size on many things!

I have had the cool chicken wire embossing folder from Taylored Expressions for a while waiting for a suitable time to use it. What could be better than a farm scene?

(Compensated affiliate links from Foiled Fox & Scrap n Stamp)

2022 BuJo – May theme

Posted: May 4, 2022 | Author: | Filed under: Bullet Journal, Coloured pencil, Dingbat notebooks, Hand lettered, Penny Black, springtide | Tags: , , , , | 5 Comments

It’s been a while since the last bullet journal feature. I gave the journal a break over April; I was in recovery and catch up mode. We have skipped to May which is the month of the tulip festival in Ottawa so the theme was an easy pick. Coloured pencils seemed to make sense too as I have been working with them a bit lately.

I drew all my calendar squares by hand purposely making them a little wavy with breaks and dots. The Penny Black clear stamp ‘springtide’ seemed to work with an outline theme so I stamped in jet black archival on each page then coloured with polychromos pencils.

For each tulip colour scheme I used at least two co-ordinating colours; for the yellow tulips I used four. I forgot that both Ranger archival inks and FaberCastell polychromos pencils are oil based so the first layer of pencil blending ended up dragging some black ink. As you can see it didn’t spoil the result but I probably should have stamped the outline in memento or distress ink.

I kept the titles simple with some hand drawn block letters. I know that to-do list is empty in the photo but believe me that is no longer the case! Visiting the Ottawa Tulip Festival will be on the list for sure!

Supplies

Pencil Daisies

Posted: May 3, 2022 | Author: | Filed under: Coloured pencil, daisy dream, Karin brushmarkers, springtide | Tags: , , , | 8 Comments

When I stamped the PB ‘brilliant’ stamp for my recent pencil poppy card I also stamped several other outline stamps on kraft cardstock for pencil colouring. This stamp is called ‘daisy dream’ and is coloured with Karin pigment decobrush markers, white gouache and Faber-Castell coloured pencils.

In my recent pencil poppies post I referred you to the talented Debby Hughes for a video tutorial about colouring with gouache and coloured pencils. I used some of the same tips for this card but ended up using the Karin pigment brushmarkers as well. I coloured the petals on the flowers above with the gold marker. The effect was very similar to painting gouache first but easier because the marker brush tip did such a good job on those narrow petals. I painted the centres with white and the leaves with the Karin ‘leaf green’ marker before using coloured pencils to add details and shading to the flowers and stems. The glass vase is coloured with a white and two grey pencils.

I added some shading below and behind the vase, a white embossed sentiment and some white gouache splatter before attaching the panel to a white card base.

I now have three daffodils blooming in my garden so there should be at least 47 more coming! I did plant 50 daffodil bulbs a year and a half ago and they are supposed to multiply aren’t they?

Supplies

Pencil Poppies

Posted: April 29, 2022 | Author: | Filed under: brilliant, Coloured pencil, Gouache, Penny Black | Tags: , , | 10 Comments

Today’s pencil and gouache technique was inspired by a beautiful card recently posted by Debby Hughes. Debby did a video of her process so if you are interested you can pop over to her youtube channel and follow her directions like I did.

I used a different stamp, ‘brilliant’ from Penny Black but the other supplies and technique are the same as Debby’s. I stamped on kraft cardstock with pumice stone ink, painted inside the petals with white gouache then did all the colouring with Faber Castell Polychromos pencils.

When I first stamped the ‘brilliant’ poppy stamp I used Papertrey ink soft stone ink which is my current favourite for no-line watercolour techniques. It stamped well on the kraft cardstock but when I looked at it ten minutes later it had faded quite a bit. It would be fine for someone whose eyesight is perfect but mine is not so I stamped in pumice stone distress which gave me a bit more contrast.

Debby’s technique included painting the petals in white gouache then colouring over the top. I hadn’t tried it before but I will do it again in the future. It worked very well and took the place of my previous method which was colouring in white pencil first then adding colours over the top before blending again in white. Painting with gouache first gave me a base which happens to also be a nice matte surface to colour over. I finished the design with some white gouache splatter as Debby did. So basically I am saying, ‘ do what she did!’ Thank you Debby for a great technique tutorial.

The polychromos pencils I used were: white, medium flesh, medium cadmium red, raw umber, emerald green, pine green, naples ochre and walnut brown.

Supplies

2021 BuJo – November theme

Posted: November 2, 2021 | Author: | Filed under: all natural, beautified, Bullet Journal, Coloured pencil, Dingbat notebooks, Hand lettered, Penny Black | Tags: , , , , | 1 Comment

And just like that it’s November! I’ve been stamping and painting wreaths for the last few months while creating my new online course so it seemed natural to add one to my bullet journal.

I used stamps from the Penny Black ‘all natural’ and ‘beautified’ sets to create a wreath with dye inks and coloured pencils.

For the calendar page I stamped the same grass stamp in a different colour for each week day and added coordinating labels at the top of each column.

The same stamps from the wreath popped up again on the to do list page springing out of a masked corner and once again coloured with polychromos pencils.

No snow yet in Ottawa I’m happy to say. Still quite a few leaves to fall and collect. I have planted some bulbs and done a bit of garden clean up but I am hoping the weather stays nice long enough for me to finish the job!

Supplies

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Puppy’s Quilt in Pencil

Posted: July 9, 2021 | Author: | Filed under: Colorado Craft Company, Coloured pencil, puppy's quilt | Tags: , | 6 Comments

More pencil on kraft cardstock, this time Faber Castell polychromos pencils and a black stamped image from the Colorado Craft Company. My first card with this stamp, ‘puppy’s quilt‘ featured watercolour and lots of blue. This time I have included more white which is always eye catching on kraft along with blue, green and burgandy.

A bonus when colouring an animal on kraft cardstock is using the light brown of the kraft as a colour in the fur or feathers. I have coloured the dog with white and grey but there are light tan areas that show through the shading.

I used archival jet black ink for the outline stamping, I like the way it dries quickly before I have a chance to smudge it! Having used both the inktense and the polychromos pencils on kraft I think I would say the inktense are a little brighter and chalkier, the polychromos more muted and creamier. Not sure how helpful that comparison is but you can compare the two looks if you go back to Monday’s floral card.

Supplies

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Animal cards – pencil on kraft

Posted: June 7, 2021 | Author: | Filed under: Cow's it going?, Lion, Pink Ink Designs, Sea Turtle, whale | Tags: , | 19 Comments

Recently I put together a set of animal themed cards as a gift for an animal lover I know. I did not realise how much I would enjoy colouring these animal images from Pink Ink Designs. I own five of these large stamp sets featuring animals and have only watercoloured them up until now. (the one not featured in today’s post is the dragon). Coloured pencil on kraft turned out to be quite effective for the beasts! I used Faber Castell Polychromos pencils and will always recommend them.

The artist who designs these stamps is very talented and as you can see on the whale there are some whimsical details added to the otherwise realistic image. I stamped the whale in cobalt archival ink then coloured with blue, white and black pencils before adding white dots over the top with a gel pen.

The highland cow is a beauty, no added whimsy but plenty of personality. She’s been on the blog before. I stamped the image with papertrey weathervane ink and rusty hinge distress then added colour with pencils (Faber Castell polychromos).

I don’t remember ever colouring a lion before so I had a reference photo in front of me to work out where the shadows were and where the colours of the fur changed. The stamp has a crown on the lion which I didn’t want for this card so I left it un-inked and filled the gap with more of his mane.

The image is stamped in Papertrey ‘classic kraft’ ink and all the colouring is once again pencil. As I worked on these animals I saw again and again the impact of white pencil highlights.

The turtle has also been on the blog before, in watercolour and pearlescent paint. As with the other animals she looks good in pencil on kraft. She has plenty of whimsy in her patchwork shell. Choosing dark blue for her shell was not so realistic but her underbody and fins were inspired by a photo I found.

I’m sure you are wondering what is next for these amazing animal stamps ( or maybe you’re saying enough already, where are the flowers and trees?!) I think each of these animals deserves it’s own art journal feature at the very least, so yes, they’ll be back.

Supplies

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Rain or Shine

Posted: April 9, 2021 | Author: | Filed under: Coloured pencil, Penny Black, rain or shine, Uncategorized | Tags: , , , | 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

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