Pink Majesty

Posted: November 4, 2024 | Author: Heather | Filed under: Finetec paints, Penny Black, Scarlet Majesty, Stampin Up, subtle | Tags: distress markers, Fabriano Watercolour Paper, Finetec artist mica watercolour paint, Papertrey ink, Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress inks | 10 Comments

Today’s cards feature the beautiful Penny Black stamp, ‘scarlet majesty‘ but as the title suggests, I have chosen pinks over scarlet for the ink colours. I worked on Fabriano hot pressed watercolour paper in my stamp positioner.

I inked most of the petals with a pink ink then added darker ink with more of a burgandy such as aged mahogany. I use a mix of small cube ink pads and markers to ink the stamp. The leaves were inked with peeled paint and the berries a purply blue such as chipped sapphire. Before stamping I spritz the stamp so the inks can move a little. I stamp the first impression then decide whether more ink is needed, more water or often some blending with a paintbrush and water.

I don’t remember fiddling much with this panel as I liked the watery blends and the paler veins showing through here and there. I painted the centre of the poinsettia with gold finetec paint and of course added some splatter.

The sentiment is from PB ‘jolly snippets‘ and the texture from the retired SU ‘subtle’ embossing folder.

I used the same technique on this second card but used darker inks for leaves, petals and berries. My guess is aged mahogany, forest moss and a dark brown which was possibly made by mixing the first two. (I don’t always take note of my ink colours)

I think ‘scarlet majesty’ is a stunning stamp; I like the curl at the ends of the petals. Here are a few more cards made with it. I will admit that it is tricky to ink because you can’t always see where to try and define edges. I have another post coming up where I handle this issue by adding lines after stamping. I’ll share that soon. The sentiment this time came from the PB set, ‘promise of hope’.

Today’s post features affiliate links to The Foiled Fox. If you buy through these links I receive a small commission at no extra cost to you.

Thunderbird Barbie Car

Posted: October 25, 2024 | Author: Heather | Filed under: Echidna Studios, Thunderbird Barbie car | Tags: cardmaking, cards, digital stamps, Echidna Studios, Fabriano Watercolour Paper, rubber-stamping, sennelier watercolours, stamping | 3 Comments

This cool car is the latest design in the Echidna Studios etsy store. The digital stamp set is called ‘Thunderbird Barbie Car‘ and includes the front view, which I chose to watercolour, and a side view; you can see that one in the etsy store.

I printed the image on hot pressed watercolour paper on an inkjet printer. In the past I have used only a laser printer to print the digital stamps but as my daughter has an inkjet printer I thought it would be interesting to compare the two methods. The ink from the ink jet printer did blur ever so slightly when I painted with watercolour paints but not so much that it spoiled the colour or line work.

I found a T-bird photo on line and used it as inspiration for this turquoise car. I used Sennelier watercolours and a fine tip Staedtler permanent pen to darken a few lines after painting. I decided not to turn the panel into a card at this stage, perhaps it could end up in a frame instead. The cheeky little ‘Relax’ on the license plate is from the Penny Black ‘Enjoy Builder’ stamp set

This is not the first car image in the Echidna Studios etsy store. My daughter has also drawn a fabulous Vintage Beetle design which I painted last year and a cool Vintage VW bus. This post includes affiliate links from Foiled Fox. If you buy through these links I receive a small commission at no extra cost to you.

Masked & Blended Leaves

Posted: October 24, 2024 | Author: Heather | Filed under: Echidna Studios, grafix, Leaves digital stamps and cut files, Spellbinders | Tags: Echidna Studios, Fabriano Watercolour Paper, grafix, Ranger Distress inks, Spellbinders | 5 Comments

It’s been a couple of weeks since I posted, sorry about the blog neglect. In my last post (which also featured leaves) I mentioned I had just started to see some reds and oranges along with the earlier yellow leaves. This week the colours have been stunning! So many deep reds contrasting with the remaining greens and still more yellows and oranges. Even crawling in traffic has had its upside as I gaze at the autumn leaves.

About a month ago I posted a video showing how I created a watercolour painting of leaves using masking (more leaves). Today’s card featured the same process using a maple leaf design from the Echidna Studios Leaves digital stamp set. Instead of painting the final dark layer over the masks, as shown in the video, this time I blended chipped sapphire ink using a blending brush. I think the navy edge around the leaves shows them off beautifully but because I didn’t blended too heavily you can still see the watercolour underneath. I finished this card off with a layered sentiment from the Spellbinders ‘serenade sentiments etched dies set‘

This post includes affiliate links from Foiled Fox. If you buy through these links I receive a small commission at no extra cost to you.

Masked Autumn Leaves – Video

Posted: September 23, 2024 | Author: Heather | Filed under: Echidna Studios, grafix, Leaves digital stamps and cut files, Tutorial | Tags: Echidna Studios, Fabriano Watercolour Paper, grafix, video | 4 Comments

I recently completed an autumn painting using Grafix extra tack frisket film to mask autumn leaves. I began by painting the whole panel in yellows, oranges, reds, browns and greens. I used watercolour paints and did some mixing on my palette and also on the hot pressed watercolour paper.

Once I had a multicoloured panel I added maple leaf masks cut on my Cricut from Grafix extra tack frisket film. I used the maple leaf image from the new Echidna Studios Leaves digital stamp and cut files set. The set includes six different leaves: Hickory, Maple, Honey Locust, Linden, Sumac, and Oak. I cut maple leaves in a variety of sizes. Watch the video below to see the whole process.

I liked using this method rather than painting one leave at a time because it was quicker and resulted in more random colour patterns on the leaves.

I left my panel as an 8.75″x11.25″ painting but you could also cut a panel up into several pieces to make autumn or thanksgiving cards.

Gone Kayaking

Posted: September 11, 2024 | Author: Heather | Filed under: Echidna Studios, Gone Kayaking | Tags: Echidna Studios, Fabriano Watercolour Paper | 7 Comments

Not only is this a delightful digital stamp from Echidna Studios, it could also be a depiction of what I am doing as you read this post. Even though I am writing this post before I leave home, when it is published I will be camping and could be kayaking, biking, hiking, reading or snoozing in the hammock, who knows?

This two-person kayaking image is one of the digital designs in the ‘Gone Kayaking‘ set designed by my daughter. The other image features a single kayak. I printed the image on hot pressed watercolour paper then painted it with Sennelier watercolour paints. I sometimes finish off a watercolour with a finetip marker adding fine lines or definition which might have got lost in the painting process.

Thanks for dropping in, I’ll be back with more art when I return from my camping get-away.

Window Box

Posted: August 8, 2024 | Author: Heather | Filed under: Echidna Studios, Finetec paints, Stampin Up, Window box | Tags: Coliro paints, digital stamps, Echidna Studios, Fabriano Watercolour Paper, Finetec artist mica watercolour paint, Staedtler watercolour brush pens, Stampin Up | 4 Comments

Don’t you just want a window like this? With blooming flowers not wilting in the heat! This digital stamp is called ‘Window Box’ and it is new from Echidna Studios. My daughter designed it and there are three files to play with in the set, the image you see here as well as a separate window image and a separate window box image. I’m looking forward to trying the window box image by itself enlarged to fill a card front.

I printed the image on hot pressed watercolour paper and used Staedtler watercolour brush markers to colour the flowers, leaves, box and window frame. The window panes I painted with Coliro pearlcolors from Finetec. Some pearl or metallic paints are ‘interference’ paints which look very different on black paper as compared to white. The blue pearl paint I used from the ‘Ocean’ set looks very blue on black paper but looked silvery grey on white even with a touch of cream depending on the way the light hits it. This was exactly the effect I wanted so the panes appear like old leadlight windows where each pane reflects the light differently.

I coloured the leaves with two greens, blending them together with water and a paintbrush. I used the same technique for the flowers with a coral and a peach coloured marker. The planter was painted with a terracotta colour and the frame with black, diluted to appear grey in places. I wasn’t planning to cut this image out but it really needed to be attached to an embossed panel of aged brick. I’m sure you understand. The embossing folder is ‘exposed brick’ from Stampin Up. This post includes affiliate links from Foiled Fox. If you buy through these links I receive a small commission at no extra cost to you.

Bikes, old & new

Posted: July 11, 2024 | Author: Heather | Filed under: AALL & Create, city bike, Echidna Studios | Tags: AALL & Create, Echidna Studios, Fabriano Watercolour Paper, sennelier watercolours | 8 Comments

The green bike above is a new digital bike stamp designed by my daughter. As with many of her digital designs, she snapped a photo, then turned it into a ‘storybook style’ outline drawing. It’s called City Bike and is available in the Echidna Studios etsy store as a digital stamp (not cutting file).

I printed the bike in two sizes on hot pressed watercolour paper so I could paint it and turn it into two cards, one landscape orientation and the second, a portrait-oriented close up of the front of the bike.

I did some of the painting with Sennelier watercolour paints but I also used a silver gel pen for the spokes and rims, metallic brush markers for the blue bike and a very fine tip black marker to go over some of the little details.

I just so happen to have a new bike of my own which means bikes are on my mind. I picked it up a few days ago and it’s definitely more modern than the one of the cards. I am pretty excited; it’s been a while since I’ve had a bike of my own and I’ve never had a new one. I have to tell you the colour is ‘sea sparkle’ which made me smile, sounds like an ink pad colour!

Back to the cards – I cut both panels with WaffleFlower A2 layering dies then added an extra panel of thick cardstock underneath to lift the picture panel a bit. I added the Penny Black ‘cool one’ sentiment and the beautiful day sentiment from the AALL & Create set ‘Everyday Sentiments’. You’ll be seeing more of the AALL & Create sentiments as they are a quirky typewriter font which I love.

Are you a bike rider? Let me know what your favourite outdoor activity is. As you may have guessed this post includes affiliate links from Foiled Fox. If you buy through these links I receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. Click over to the Echidna Studios store to see more delightful designs like this sweet bike.

Cornflowers

Posted: June 20, 2024 | Author: Heather | Filed under: AALL & Create, cornflower, Foiled Fox store, The Foiled Fox | Tags: AALL & Create, Fabriano Watercolour Paper, Ranger Distress inks | 7 Comments

I have cornflowers growing in my garden but they are still quite small seedlings so no signs of flowers at this stage. I am hoping they will bloom some time this summer. Meanwhile I’ve been stamping some, in blue of course. I had blue cornflowers in my wedding bouquet and flower crown so they are quite special to me.

I’ve teamed up with the Foiled Fox to bring you this post and it is wonderful to be collaborating with them again. The stamps featured on today’s cards are from AALL & Create; the set is called ‘Cornflower‘ and includes two flower stamps and two sentiments.

I’ve stamped the solid cornflower stamp repeatedly to create these two cards using a couple of techniques to make the flowers look different. The stem on the stamp is thin and bendable so I was able to make the flowers lean left or right and even have a wiggle in the stem! I inked the petals with both prize ribbon and salty ocean distress inks, spritzing the stamp before pressing it on the hot pressed watercolour panel so the inks blended. I also did some second generation stamping to get paler impressions of the flowers.

You might know that I love typewriter font so I was very happy to see a couple of word stamps in a slightly distressed typewriter font. I added them with versafine clair nocturne ink because it is such a crisp reliable ink. Thanks for dropping in; I hope you will go and check out the wealth of inspiration on the Foiled Fox blog and have a browse around their lovely online store while you’re there. (Naturally this post includes affiliate links, feel free to use them.)

Dancing Pink Daisies

Posted: April 24, 2024 | Author: Heather | Filed under: dancing daisies, Penny Black | Tags: Fabriano Watercolour Paper, Papertrey ink, Penny Black stamps | 4 Comments

April showers bring May flowers I’ve heard so the showers we’re having today should only help bring some colour to the garden in the coming weeks. The dancing daisies stamp from Penny Black is such a beauty and I love to create a sense of movement with layered stamping.

I created this panel on hot pressed watercolour paper a few years back as added inspiration for my Floral Faves online class but it was sitting in a folder not being enjoyed. I recently trimmed the ends off, turned it into a card and it is on it’s way to a friend for her birthday.

I only used three ink colours and relied on water to dilute their intensity along with second generation stamping for paler background hues. I used sweet blush, scarlet jewel and new leaf inks from Papertrey ink but you could do something similar with any watersoluble inks you have. This post includes affiliate links from Foiled Fox. If you buy through these links I receive a small commission at no extra cost to you.

Standing Ducks

Posted: March 12, 2024 | Author: Heather | Filed under: Echidna Studios, sennelier watercolours, standing ducks | Tags: Echidna Studios, Faber-Castell Polychromos Colour Pencil, Fabriano Watercolour Paper, sennelier watercolours | 5 Comments

Introducing ‘standing ducks‘, a lovely digital stamp set from Echidna Studios. The weather has turned much warmer round here so there are puddles instead of snow to be seen; the type of weather where you might see ducks standing or swimming around. It is too early for ducklings but in the past we have had to slow down and stop for duck families on the busy road behind our house.

I printed both ducks from the set on hot pressed watercolour paper then painted them with Sennelier watercolour paints. I added some finishing touches with coloured pencils. I also printed the left facing duck on some pastel paper as I received a set of pastel pencils for my birthday and have started learning how to use them. As you can imagine pastel is very soft so it is fun to blend but easy to smudge. When I have done a little more learning and practicing I hope to share some pastel pencil colouring.

This card is another ‘larger than usual card’ measuring just over 5″ x 7″. The piece of watercolour paper I printed on had one deckled edge so I tore the other three edges to keep a deckled look round the whole panel.