Watercoloured snowflakes
Posted: August 29, 2015 Filed under: Soft Grace | Tags: Fabriano Watercolour Paper, Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress stains, Tsukineko Versafine inks 10 Comments
I just keep switching from winter to summer and back to winter again here on the blog. I might mix it up a bit more next week and throw in some autumn! This card features one of the new transparent sets from Penny Black called ‘Soft Grace’. I used three of the nine stamps in the set and embossed them on watercolour paper, hot pressed works best for intricate patterns like these because it is so smooth. After embossing I taped down my watercolour panel and added water then distress stains to create a blended pattern in a few of my favourite colours. I also sprinkled some salt for further patterning. I let it dry then brushed off most of the salt; some had adhered itself to the paper which gave it a twinkling effect. The sentiment is from the new transparent set, ‘Season’s Gifts’.
When this card was featured on the Penny Black blog someone noted that I had only used six-pointed snowflakes. I am a little fussy about my snowflakes as they are always six-pointed in real life. Since living in Canada I have had the delightful experience of seeing the intricate pattern of snowflakes when they have landed on my gloves and also taken a look with a magnifying glass. They truly are tiny works of art and never two the same! There are several eight sided ‘snowflakes’ in the set too which will make lovely stars and patterns 😉
Supplies:
Stamps: Soft Grace, Season’s Gifts (PB)
Inks: Chipped Sapphire, Salty Ocean, Seeded Preserves distress stains (Ranger), Versamark, Majestic Blue & Imperial Purple Versafine (Tsukineko)
Cardstock: Fabriano 100% cotton hot pressed watercolour paper
Also: Clear embossing powder
Holly Tweet
Posted: August 22, 2015 Filed under: Holly Tweet, Prancers | Tags: Fabriano Watercolour Paper, Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress stains 12 Comments
Today’s card is a larger than usual square card stamped with the new ‘Holly Tweet’ stamp. I only wanted one bird so I inked and stamped the holly part several times with distress stains taking care to wipe any water or stain off the bird part of the stamp before each impression. On the last impression I inked the bird as well. The stamp is a sketch style outline stamp so I pulled colour from the outline as well as adding colour with a brush. Once the stamping was dry I painted the snowy hills in the background and stamped some pale trees in the same colour as the sky. I added a few bars of music to frame the scene. A sentiment would easily fit in the top right corner but I decided to leave it blank; sometimes it is nice to send a little painting on the front, leaving all the words for the inside. To see the versatility of the stamp visit the PB blog and check out Pete Roven’s gorgeous card. I am in awe of her fussy cutting and the way she skillfully layers papers and dies to build beautiful scenes.
Supplies:
Stamps: Holly Tweet, Prancers, Music Background (PB)
Inks: Mowed Lawn, Pine Needles, Festive Berries, Chipped Sapphire, Tumbled Glass, Broken China, Frayed Burlap, Barn Door, Black Soot, Vintage Photo distress stains/markers(Ranger)
Cardstock: Fabriano 100% cotton hot pressed watercolour paper, Deep Green cardstock
Also: Winsor & Newton masking fluid
Snow Berries
Posted: August 17, 2015 Filed under: Stamped Landscapes | Tags: Fabriano Watercolour Paper, Kuretake Gansai Tambi watercolour paints, Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress stains 7 Comments
I have another snowy card for a sweltering day (here in Ottawa anyway!) Perhaps gazing at that frosty landscape will help you feel cooler??
The branches above were stamped with, ‘Berry Bevy’, a new stamp from the ‘Especially for You 2015’ collection currently being revealed on the Penny Black blog. I created a wintry moonlit scene by masking a piece of watercolour paper with both circular and hill shaped masks of frisket film. With the masks in place I painted a distress stain sky; the snowflakes you see were made by masking fluid splattered onto the panel before I began. I removed the moon mask before stamping the Berry Bevy stamp in versafine ink. Once the main image was stamped I removed the hill mask and painted a shadow for a foreground snow bank, masked it and added a few more twigs poking out of the snow. When it was all dry I painted each of the ‘berries’ with the pearly white paint from my gansai tambi watercolour set. It has a nice shimmer and looks silver or white depending on the angle of the card. There are more inspiring projects on the PB blog today including Mimi’s beautiful take on this stamp and some stunners from Jill.
Supplies:
Stamps: Berry Bevy (PB)
Inks: Broken China, Tumbled glass, Seeded preserves, Dusty concord distress stains/inkpads (Ranger)
Cardstock: Fabriano 100% cotton hot pressed watercolour paper & black card
Also: Kuretake gansai tambi watercolour paints, Winsor & Newton masking fluid, Grafix frisket film
Winter Sunset
Posted: August 13, 2015 Filed under: Etched Branches, Prancers, Stamped Landscapes | Tags: Faber-Castell Albrecht Durer Watercolour pencils, Fabriano Watercolour Paper, Penny Black stamps 11 Comments
I have another wintry scene today created back in January when it really did look like this outside! I used painter’s tape to mask the edges of the watercolour panel then frisket film to mask the snow while I painted the sky with colour picked up from my watercolour pencils. I stamped some trees before moving the frisket mask down to create more snow banks. Before I moved the frisket film each time I added twigs and scrub in the snow banks by stamping parts of the ‘Etched Branches’ stamp. Frisket film is a plastic film which is waterproof and sticky on one side making it perfect for masking with wet mediums like watercolour.
Occasionally I am asked in classes what to do when paint seeps under the masking tape around the edges of a panel. You can see it did so in a few places on the one above. Often I will do nothing and it will have some uneven edges to add to its uniqueness. If it looks too messy or unbalanced I sometimes trim or add a die cut to cover the offending area.
Don’t forget to keep checking the PB blog if you are interested in the new products from the ‘Especially for You 2015’ release. There are new cards everyday and a chance to win some new stamps and dies.
Supplies:
Stamps: Etched Branches, Amazing, Prancers (PB)
Inks: Walnut stain distress ink (Ranger)
Cardstock: Fabriano 100% cotton hotpressed watercolour paper
Also: Faber Castell Albrecht Durer watercolour pencils, Graffix frisket film
A Very Merry
Posted: August 10, 2015 Filed under: A Very Merry | Tags: Fabriano Watercolour Paper, Penny Black creative dies, Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress stains 3 Comments
On the Penny Black blog for the remainder of August you can see one new product after another as the ‘Especially for You 2015’ release is revealed. This week is all about new dies and there are a whole stack of new word dies featured on the PB blog today. One of the new word dies happens to be ‘A Very Merry’ on my card above. The pine bough is a new stamp too but I can give you details about that another day. There is a giveaway to coincide with the new release too so pop over to the blog.
If you have visited here before you will know my watercoloured cards range from quite neat and controlled to rather free, watery and loose. This is one of those loose ones that almost didn’t make the cut. However there was something about it, just enough definition in a couple of pine needles and cones to keep me from tossing it. It is stamped and painted on watercolour paper splattered with masking fluid. Before I stamped any images I spritzed some water and some spots of distress stain over the panel. I painted some tumbled glass distress stain also to fill in parts of the background. I let it dry a little before inking the pinecone stamp with distress stains and stamping it three times. It was quite wet so I dropped some bister powder into the wet areas to give some extra depth of colour. When it was almost dry I stamped over the initial images to add more definition in a couple of places. To complete the card I attached the panel to a dark brown card base and die cut the sentiment out of the same colour.
Supplies:
Stamps: Brush Pines (PB)
Creative Die: A Very Merry(PB)
Inks: Pine Needles, Evergreen Bough, Vintage Photo, Tumbled glass, Black soot, Gathered twigs distress stains/markers/inkpads (Ranger)
Cardstock: Fabriano 100% cotton hot pressed watercolour paper & Brown card
Also: Blue and Green bistre powder, Winsor & Newton masking fluid.
Winter view
Posted: August 8, 2015 Filed under: Prancers, Skyline, Stamped Landscapes | Tags: Fabriano Watercolour Paper, Penny Black stamps, Tsukineko Memento inks 6 Comments
Here is another wintry scene I created back in January for Splitcoaststampers. My first month with the Dirty Dozen was January and all the projects had to be finished and uploaded by the 13th. When I was planning my time and projects I did not know our children had planned a trip for my husband and I to celebrate our anniversary and birthdays. They had purchased air tickets, broadway tickets and a hotel room in New York for four days! Some cards were finished before I left on January 6th and a couple, including the one above, were finished when I returned. Inspired by our trip I created this card for the ‘All Cooped Up’ theme and could not imagine a better place to be cooped up in winter than an apartment overlooking Central Park. As you can see from our photo we enjoyed walking through the park in bright sunshine. Freezing cold but sunny.
To create this scene I splattered masking fluid on watercolour paper with a spatter brush, then, when it was dry stamped partial imprints of the skyline stamp spritzing both the stamp and paper to make sure my colours blended. I used a brush to pick up and add more colour around the buildings to create the impression of a grey day. Before stamping the bottom buildings I added a snow bank mask so the base of the buildings and the trees would appear behind it.
Supplies:
Stamps: Skyline, Summer Fun, Prancers (PB)
Inks: Memento London Fog, Tuxedo Black, Paris Dusk (Tsukineko)
Cardstock: Fabriano 100% cotton hotpressed watercolour paper, Epic Black & Solar White cardstock(Neenah)
Also: Winsor & Newton masking fluid, Kemper spatter brush
Cosy Cottage
Posted: August 4, 2015 Filed under: Christmas Cottage | Tags: Fabriano Watercolour Paper, Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress inks 11 Comments
From January to June this year I was honoured to be a member of the Dirty Dozen at Splitcoaststampers. My term on the team is over now but I will forever be a Dirty Dozen Alumni which brings its own opportunities and privileges. Right now there are all sorts of challenges going on especially for fan club members. Alumni have dreamed up wonderful projects and multiple challenges are being released each day.
While I was a member of the Dirty Dozen I created projects with a different theme each month. This is one of the first cards I shared; the theme was “All Cooped Up”. I made it during the bleak midwinter, a far cry from our current hot midsummer! I stamped with one ink then pulled colour from the stamped image with a small paintbrush to fill in the trees, cottage and path. I kept it clean and simple when finishing the card by matching the ink colour exactly with a cardstock mat.
Supplies:
Stamps: Christmas Cottage, Enjoy Life (PB)
Inks: Vintage Photo Distress Stains (Ranger)
Cardstock: Fabriano 100% cotton hot pressed watercolour paper, Neenah Natural White 110lb card stock, Tan cardstock
Color burst poppies
Posted: July 30, 2015 Filed under: Color Burst, poppy pair | Tags: color burst, Fabriano Watercolour Paper, Penny Black creative dies, Penny Black stamps 7 Comments
This watercolour powder experiment displays on one card some of the different effects you can get with color burst powders. Depending on how much water you add you can get fine dots of colour or very watery blends of colour. I sprinkled the powder on a piece of watercolour paper and spritzed lightly at one end but more generously at the other. The fine dots must have got hardly any water, the little irregular shapes a bit more water then the purple and blue areas were fairly saturated. All the purples and shades of blue came from only pink and blue powders.
I die cut poppies from the watercoloured panel and some from foam as well then attached them all together with stick it adhesive.
Supplies:
Stamps: Snippets (Penny Black)
Creative dies: Poppy Pair (Penny Black)
Inks: Color burst watercolour powders(Ken Oliver), Salty ocean distress (Ranger)
Cardstock: Fabriano cold pressed watercolour paper
Also: Stick it adhesive sheet (Ken Oliver)
Brusho in the garden
Posted: July 28, 2015 Filed under: Brusho | Tags: Brusho, Fabriano Watercolour Paper, Penny Black creative dies 6 Comments
I tried out yet another watercolour powder recently when I got together with some arty crafty friends. Brusho seems to be similar to Color Burst and has a lovely range of bright colours. The panel featured on the card above was cut from one of my first experiments. I sprinkled green, blue, orange and yellow brusho powders on watercolour paper then spritzed and tilted the paper to let the colours blend a little. I did walk away (to eat chips) and let it dry alone. You can see some sections of the paper remained without colour.
The multicoloured panel seemed a good match for the intricate garden die I had not used before now. I tried backing it with green and white but the contrast of the black card base was the most effective.
Supplies:
Stamps: Snippets (Penny Black)
Inks: Brusho watercolour powders
Cardstock: Fabriano cold pressed watercolour paper
Creative die: In the garden (Penny Black)
Poppy Painting
Posted: July 18, 2015 Filed under: Poppy Time | Tags: Bister, color burst, Fabriano Watercolour Paper, Kuretake Zig clean color real brush markers 14 Comments
More bister, this time in combination with color burst powder and zig clean color real brush pens. This panel of poppies was almost tossed because at one point it looked a mess. I stamped two poppies using a pink zig pen to ink the stamp. I filled the outline in using both the pen and some pink colour burst powder. I also painted the stems in green but it all looked a bit dull and I wasn’t sure how to add interest. I decided to lose some of the definition by spritzing the whole thing with water. The poppies bled in all directions and it really wasn’t an improvement at all! I set it aside and worked on something else while it dried. When I came back to it I decided to add another partial poppy as well as the bud and seed head. I painted loose leaf shapes and added green and blue bister powder around the bottom and top of the panel. To sharpen the poppy images a little I painted darker colours below the edges and added the veins back in.
Those poppies keep finding their way onto my cards; I don’t know how it happens…
Supplies:
Stamps: Poppy Time (Penny Black)
Inks: Color Burst & Bister watercolour powders
Cardstock: Fabriano cold pressed watercolour paper
Also: Zig clean color real brush markers
Heather Telford 