Leaf negatives
Posted: April 6, 2015 Filed under: CAS, Happy News, Watercolour | Tags: Fabriano Watercolour Paper, Kuretake Gansai Tambi watercolour paints, Penny Black creative dies 18 Comments
I am enjoying my new watercolour paints and experimenting with different ways to use them. The panel above is part of a masking experiment. I used the ‘happy news’ die to cut a mask from frisket film. Frisket film is made of plastic so I ran the die back and forth through the machine a few times to make sure it cut well. I saved both the negative and the positive die cut image and worked on two panels at once so one could dry while I painted the other. For the one above I used just the positive leaf and branch portion of the die cut image.
I pressed the frisket film leaves firmly onto hotpressed watercolour paper and painted some greens and blues around the leaves. The shape of the leaves reminds me of gum leaves (eucalyptus leaves) so I stuck with the muted blues and greens I remember from the gum trees in Australia. Some paint did seep under the frisket film in places but I didn’t worry as I knew I was doing several layers anyway. When the first layer was dry I repositioned the mask and repeated the process. I think I repositioned the mask three times; I’m not sure. By the time I had painted several layers the first white masked leaves were almost completely covered in paint but the outlines were still distinct. I added some splatter, a sentiment then matted in a co-ordinating teal cardstock.
The other panel I was working on used the negative frisket film mask and will be on the blog next week. Thanks for dropping by.
Supplies
Stamps: Snippets (PB)
Creative Dies: Happy News (PB)
Cardstock: Fabriano 100% cotton hot pressed watercolour paper, Neenah Avon Brilliant White 110lb cardstock, teal cardstock
Also: Kuretake Gansai Tambi watercolour paints, grafix extra tack frisket film
Birds, blooms and balloons
Posted: April 4, 2015 Filed under: CAS, Tweet Thing, Uplifting | Tags: CAS, Fabriano Watercolour Paper, Penny Black creative dies, Ranger Distress stains 10 Comments
The theme at CASology this week is “Spring” and the sketch at CAS(E) this sketch is a 2×3 array. I had fun combining the two in the card above.
The watercolour panels were left over from my last class so I die cut little birds and flowers using dies from the ‘tweet things’ set to fit with the spring theme then arranged them according to the sketch.
I don’t know that balloons are a spring thing but they do work perfectly for the sketch so I die cut some circle and heart balloons using dies from the ‘uplifting’ set, spent way too long tying six tiny bows of machine embroidery thread around the balloons then popped them up on dimensional tape. The embroidery thread is very shiny so I found the shiniest red cardstock I had and die cut the word celebrate from the ‘doodles’ set which works in well with the curls in the thread.
We had amazing spring weather yesterday; my girls and I went for a run in beautiful 15°C sunshine. This morning we woke up to fresh snow so my husband skied this afternoon. Happy Easter everyone.
Supplies:
Stamps: Snippets (PB)
Creative Dies: Tweet Things, Uplifting, Doodles (PB)
Inks: Barn Door, Mustard Seed, Chipped Sapphire Distress Stains (Ranger) Satin Red versafine ink (Tsukineko)
Cardstock: Fabriano 100% cotton hot pressed watercolour paper, Neenah solar white cardstock
Centrepiece
Posted: March 27, 2015 Filed under: CAS, Centerpiece | Tags: Fabriano Watercolour Paper, Kuretake Gansai Tambi watercolour paints, Penny Black creative dies, Penny Black stamps 18 Comments
Have you visited the Penny Black blog this week? Jill Foster has been sharing gorgeous projects all week to showcase the new ‘Time to Celebrate’ release. There is a giveaway too, so make sure you drop in. This lovely vase of flowers is one of the new stamps and I pulled out my new watercolours to paint it. I started by inking the stamp with memento angel pink on the flowers and desert sand on the vase which gave me a pale outline for my painting. I used a small round watercolour brush and worked one petal or flower section at a time. I started by painting water onto a petal, added pale color to the watery area and spread it, then added darker colour on the section closest to the centre of the flower or to any areas that would be in shadow behind another petal. As I painted I dabbed excess paint and water away with a paper towel or dry paintbrush. I worked on sections that were not adjacent to each other so the paint could dry before I painted the petals next door. I used both paint and markers for the stems, leaves and flower centres.
When the flowers were dry I painted the vase and finally a pale shadow below it. I picked out some co-ordinating pink and green cardstock to mat the panel and die cut a green sentiment from the new 2 die set ‘Many Thanks’. Thanks for dropping in.
Supplies
Stamps: Centerpiece (PB)
Creative Dies: Many Thanks (PB)
Inks: Memento Angel Pink, Desert Sand, Bamboo Leaves, Grape Jelly, Tuxedo Black (PB)
Cardstock: Fabriano 100% cotton hot pressed watercolour paper, Neenah Natural White 110lb cardstock, pink and green cardstock
Also: Kuretake Gansai Tambi watercolour paints
Spring Things
Posted: March 25, 2015 Filed under: CAS, First Dance, Sun fire | Tags: Fabriano Watercolour Paper, Penny Black creative dies, Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress stains 17 Comments
I pulled out one of last year’s floral stamps for this card and tried the co-ordinating die from this year’s release. I painted a pale background first and let it dry before I did any stamping. I inked the stamp directly with distress stains, spritzed, stamped then blended with a waterbrush and a clear wink of stella pen. The petals were inked in seedless preserves and dusty concord so there would be some light and dark purple to blend. On the main panel I added a few wink of stella highlights once I had blended the petals but on the die cut lily I did all the blending with a clear wink of stella so it has a subtle shimmer when it catches the light. The dots on the petals and the filaments get a bit lost when inked with distress stain so I went over them with a marker once the petals were dry.
I completed the card by matting the main panel in green and popping up the die cut lily over the top. I added a simple sentiment but I am realising now that this would have made a nice easter card. I guess I can stamp an easter sentiment inside.
Believe it or not I still have a few snowy scene card ideas bouncing around in my head. How about you – are you just stamping all things spring these days?
I’ve never entered Darnell’s cool NBUS challenge but I am eligible with my never before used ‘sun fire’ die so I will link up over there and at the Work it Wednesday Challenge on the Simon Says Stamp blog.
Supplies:
Stamps: First Dance, Snippets (PB)
Creative Dies: Sun fire (PB)
Inks: Dusty Concord, Seedless Preserves, Spiced Marmalade, Tumbled Glass, Ripe Persimmon, Forest Moss Distress Stains (Ranger)
Cardstock: Fabriano 100% cotton hot pressed watercolour paper, green cardstock, Neenah Natural white cardstock
Happy News
Posted: March 23, 2015 Filed under: CAS, Happy News, Watercolour | Tags: Fabriano Watercolour Paper, Kuretake Gansai Tambi watercolour paints, Penny Black creative dies 19 Comments
Penny Black has a mini release out today and you can see projects featuring the new stamps and dies on the blog and facebook all this week. I have two cards for you featuring the rest of the faux marble watercoloured panel I made last week. It was inspired by Sandy Allnock’s video of her faux glass technique. I used a bird & branch die called ‘Happy News’ from the new release. Rather than use only the die-cut or the negative I wanted to use both so I didn’t lose any of the pretty patterned panel. To raise the bird and branch above the background I stacked six die-cuts out of navy cardstock then stuck the watercoloured die-cut on top. This panel has proved quite hard to photograph; I’m not sure why but it is hard to get the greens to look like they do in real life. I switched to a grey background which lessened the contrast but it still isn’t quite what I see. (blue, green, gold, white-who knows?) To make it easier to stack the die-cuts I stuck scrapbook adhesive sheets on the back of my cardstock before cutting. To finish I matted it on gold cardstock then on a deep blue panel.
With my last little scrap of the faux marble watercoloured panel I created a CAS card on a kraft base which picked up the gold details. The ‘thank you’ die is another from the new PB release. I stuck the die-cut words inside the card.
Thank you for all your kind words about my poppy series. Let me know if there is another PB stamp you would like me to play around with and I will see if inspiration strikes!
Supplies
Creative Dies: Happy News, Many Thanks (PB)
Cardstock: Fabriano 100% cotton hot pressed watercolour paper, Neenah Natural White 110lb cardstock, gold , navy and kraft cardstock
Also: Kuretake Gansai Tambi watercolour paints 38, 50, 55, 56, 62, 66, 91 and gold wink of stella brush
Deep Pink Poppies
Posted: March 20, 2015 Filed under: Blooming Garden, CAS, Watercolour | Tags: Fabriano Watercolour Paper, Penny Black creative dies, Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress stains 7 Comments
More poppies! I think this is the last for now. Maybe. As I mentioned in my last post, my poppy watercolouring has become progressively looser in the four cards I have recently created. This one might just be my favourite. It started out just like the last one; I inked the poppy stamp from Blooming Garden with distress stains (listed below). I stamped the image twice, spritzing the stamp with water before each impression but not re-inking. While the stain was wet I used a paintbrush to pull colour into the petals, adding stain or water here and there to make it lighter or darker. There was a bit of yellow left on the stamp from the previous card which ended up on the far left poppy and I quite like that happy accident. While the painted poppies were still damp I spritzed water over the images aiming from right to left so the poppy blow outs occurred in the same direction.
Even though this technique looks very loose and free it can go wrong very quickly. One of the keys to success is to spritz then wait to see what happens. If you spritz, take a quick look, think nothing has happened so spritz again, you can end up with water and colour everywhere but not in a very artistic arrangement. That kind of happened on the poppy under the die cut sentiment which, of course, is why it is under the die cut sentiment. Triple stacked die cut sentiment by the way. I really like the look of the stacked die cuts and I am getting better at lining them up so they look like one piece instead of multiples. I did try to incorporate some ribbon or embroidery thread but they just didn’t fit in so I resorted to simple mats to finish it off.
I’ve been inspired by Kathy Racoosin’s #thedailymarker30day colouring challenge. I haven’t coloured everyday but doing this poppy project has been like a mini colouring challenge. If you haven’t seen my first three, here are the links: Pink Poppies, Red Poppies and Orange Poppies. I don’t think I have ever done blue poppies but Penny Ward has in this beautiful card.
Supplies:
Stamps: Blooming Garden(PB)
Creative Dies: For You (PB)
Inks: Peeled Paint, Aged Mahogany, Festive Berries distress stains (Ranger)Cardstock: Fabriano 100% cotton hot pressed watercolour paper, Neenah Classic Crest Natural White 110lb smooth, burgandy and green cardstock
Also: Stick it adhesive sheets, dimensional adhesive
Imagine
Posted: March 15, 2015 Filed under: Dies, Watercolour | Tags: Fabriano Watercolour Paper, Kuretake Gansai Tambi watercolour paints, Penny Black creative dies 57 Comments
I am enjoying my new watercolour paints and have watched some recent watercolour videos by the very talented Sandy Allnock. She has been playing around with the same paints (Kuretake Gansai Tambi) and posted a video last week where she created a faux glass panel inspired by vase she saw. I used some of the same techniques and made a faux marble panel. I painted blues, greens and purples on a piece of watercolour paper and let them blend. I dried them with a heat tool then added more layers leaving some pale and others dark and intense. When I was happy with the colours I painted some thin lines of gold onto the panel and blended them out on one side with a very wet paint brush. This gave me a soft edge and a hard edge I also splattered some gold paint over parts of the panel. The piece on the card above is less than half the watercoloured panel so I have some more to play around with another day.
For the sentiment I stacked four diecuts of the word ‘imagine’ each with ‘stick it’ adhesive on the back to make them easier to stick together. The gold cardstock I used was slightly duller than the gold paint so I brightened it up with my gold wink of stella pen. I did the same with the sides of the card base so it would all match. I am thinking it might make a good graduation card.
Supplies
Creative Dies: Envision (PB)
Cardstock: Fabriano 100% cotton hot pressed watercolour paper, gold cardstock
Also: Kuretake Gansai Tambi watercolour paints 38, 50, 55, 56, 62, 66, 91 and gold wink of stella brush
Sweet Visit
Posted: March 6, 2015 Filed under: Sweet Visit, Watercolour | Tags: Fabriano Watercolour Paper, Penny Black stamps, Tsukineko Memento inks 20 Comments
It is always a thrill to see a hummingbird suspended in mid-air to take some nectar. I have never been successful in getting a good photo so I’m settling for a stamped and painted one. I have played with this stamp three times now. The first time I was happy with result but in a momentary lapse of reason stamped a sentiment in such a way as to render it pretty unappealing (I’ve saved it in case I get a brainwave for fixing it). The second one worked fairly well and will be in the Dirty Dozen gallery later this month. But this one is my fave. The other two panels had one bird and one flower; I think it makes way more impact with one bird on a panel full of flowers. But, enough of the comparisons with cards you haven’t even seen.
I started with the flowers at the bottom keeping in mind that I wanted the bird in the top right hand corner so I had to leave space. The three main flowers were inked with Memento markers, as seems to be my current habit, spritzed with water then stamped on watercolour paper. I blended the stamping with a waterbrush adding extra colour here and there. When the flowers were dry I used a marker to define the veins in the petals and the stigma. To create the paler background flowers I spritzed the stamp again without re-inking, stamped on scrap then stamped the remaining watery ink on the paper. I blended with a waterbrush to make the images even less distinct than they already were. The bird was also inked with markers, spritzed, then stamped and blended on the paper. To finish I splattered some pink, orange and green around the flowers. Sometimes when I want a bit of splatter I grab a watercolour pencil the same colour as the ink I’ve used and splatter that for more intense colour.
To finish the card I popped it up on a textured watercolour paper card base. I tried a narrow blue mat but it wasn’t needed; the little sentiment in blue ties in with the bird. I am linking up with the Spring Blooms challenge at the Inspiration Journal and the Spring is coming challenge at the Artistic Stamper.
(Please don’t be mad but this one was almost a video…I just got all inspired and started creating without turning on the camera! Soon, I promise.)
Supplies:
Stamps: Sweet visit, snippets(PB)
Inks: Nautical Blue, Bahama Blue, Danube Blue, Paris Dusk, Olive Grove, Bamboo Leaves, Desert Sand, Rose Bud, Tangelo, Potter’s Clay Memento markers (Imagine Craft/Tsukineko)
Cardstock: Fabriano hot pressed watercolour paper, Demco cold pressed watercolour paper
Also: Faber Castell Albrecht Durer watercolour pencils
More fresh poppies
Posted: February 15, 2015 Filed under: Fresh | Tags: Fabriano Watercolour Paper, Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress stains 14 Comments
When I posted the first card made with the ‘fresh’ stamp I mentioned another watercolour panel where I painted the same stamped poppies but had created a different effect. Once again I stamped the image with several different distress inks and then painted inside the petals by pulling colour from the outline as well adding extra stain with a paintbrush. I worked a petal at a time so I could preserve some of the stamped outlines of the image. If I had spritzed with water at this point I could have ended up with a loose image like the pink one I posted first, but who knows; watercolour is an unpredictable technique. I painted the blue background after the poppies had dried to restrict the bleeding from the petals and stems into the background.
CAS-ual Fridays has a ‘Must Love Watercolor’ challenge at the moment so I will link there and also at the Crafting Cafe where the challenge is to use your favourite technique. Not too hard to guess what that is…
Have a great week
Supplies:
Stamps: Fresh , Snippets (PB)
Inks: Peeled Paint, Barn Door, Spiced Marmalade, Scattered Straw, Tumbled Glass, Broken China distress stains (Ranger), Memento Tuxedo Black, Bamboo Leaves inks (Imagine Craft/Tsukineko)
Cardstock: Fabriano 100% cotton hot pressed watercolour paper
Also: Winsor & Newton masking fluid
Sweet, fresh poppies
Posted: February 14, 2015 Filed under: CAS, Fresh | Tags: Fabriano Watercolour Paper, Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress stains, Tsukineko Memento inks 17 Comments
‘Fresh’ is one of the new slapstick cling stamps from the Penny Black “Bring on the Happy” release. I have been chasing deadlines all week so yesterday after getting all my ‘dirty dozen’ projects finished I pulled this nbus stamp out. I created two separate panels in different colour schemes using slightly different techniques. I started both the same way by stamping on watercolour paper in distress stain. Because distress stain is a liquid the stamp does not always ink up evenly but once stamped it does stay moist for longer than it would with the average dye ink. This gives me longer to pull colour from the stamped outline in to fill the petals, stems and buds (or whatever image I’m stamping). As you see in the stamp image below this is an outline stamp and I began by painting each petal, blending the colour with water to create light and dark shades within the petals. Although you wouldn’t know it to look at it now all the colouring was inside the lines!
At this point I chose to go for a much freer look and spritzed the flowers with water several times. I waited until the image was almost dry before adding a little yellow and finally black to the poppy centres. You have probably guessed already that the white specks and spots were made by splattering masking fluid on the paper before I began.
I trimmed the panel so all that white at the top could to balance all that colour at the bottom. The current sketch from CAS(E) this sketch helped me position my sentiment and then I played around with the pink mat for a little while before settling on a very narrow strip on each side. I will turn my other panel into a card in the next few days so you can see the more controlled ‘inside the lines’ approach.
Supplies:
Stamps: Fresh , Sprinkles and Smiles (PB)
Inks: Worn Lipstick, Peeled Paint, Festive Berries, Scattered Straw distress stains (Ranger), Memento Tuxedo Black, Bamboo Leaves inks (Imagine Craft/Tsukineko)
Cardstock: Fabriano 100% & 25% cotton hot pressed watercolour paper, Coral Reef mix & match paper (PB)
Heather Telford 