Autumn Dance
Posted: September 10, 2014 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Fabriano Watercolour Paper, Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress inks, Ranger Distress stains 7 Comments
The Fall 2014 reveal and giveaway continues on the Penny Black blog this week. The image above was created using one of the new Autumn stamps, a large whimsical array of leaves. I used watercolour paper and stamped the image twice, once in wild honey and again in frayed burlap distress inks . I then used wild honey, spiced marmalade, barn door, frayed burlap and dried marigold to paint inside the leaves and over the outlines. Using a waterbrush I blended the colour from the dots and lines into the background filling the spaces with pale yellow and olive tones. After finishing my colouring I restamped the outline image in vintage photo distress ink. Finally I added some gold pearl ex mixed with water over the top of a few leaves. You can’t see it in the photo above but on the actual card it adds a gold shimmer.
The whole image has a wavy border with leaves and swirls cutting through it here and there but I just kept the border at the top of my panel and trimmed the other three sides. I sliced the panel into three even sections and popped them up on dimensional squares. I knew I had a nice long sentiment for the narrow space but I had to hunt it out. It’s from the “…wishing you” set.
Supplies
Stamps: Autumn Dance, …wishing you (PB)
Inks: Mustard Seed, Barn Door, Spiced Marmalade, Vintage Photo distress stains & Wild Honey, Antique Linen(Ranger)
Cardstock: Neenah Natural White 110lb, Fabriano 100% cotton hot pressed watercolour paper
Also: 3D Foam squares (Scrapbook Adhesives)
Simply Leaves
Posted: September 8, 2014 Filed under: CAS, Lush & Lavish, Watercolour | Tags: Fabriano Watercolour Paper, Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress stains 4 Comments
I was working with new leaf stamps from Penny Black today; they are from the Fall 2014 release being featured on the PB blog all week. The panel I was making was more vibrant and bold than the one above (you will see it on the blog next week) but the images on the scrap paper beside me were muted and watery like these. I was using distress stain and stamping several impressions without reinking because the pigment is strong and a little spritz of water makes it go further. Before changing colour I stamped off on the scrap paper to clean the stamp. I decided to recreate the pretty pale leaf images on a card instead of a scrap.
For each leaf I applied a little distress stain to one side of the leaf image, spritzed with water and stamped on watercolour paper. The stain and water blended but not evenly. I didn’t clean the stamp between colours; that’s why there is a bit of yellow in each leaf. The little specks of colour you see on the panel were splats made as I lifted the wet stamp from the paper. Basically this prettiness just happened; I had very little to do with it. I was so happy with the simplicity of the three leaves I didn’t even add a sentiment. If I want one I can add it inside.
Supplies
Stamps: Lush & Lavish (PB)
Inks: Mustard Seed, Barn Door, Spiced Marmalade, Vintage Photo distress stains & Wild Honey(Ranger)
Cardstock: Neenah Natural White 110lb, Fabriano 100% cotton hot pressed watercolour paper, Fall Festival mix & match papers (PB)
Leaves and canvas
Posted: September 5, 2014 Filed under: Foliage Fancy, Textures | Tags: Fabriano Watercolour Paper, Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress stains, Tsukineko Memento inks 7 Comments
I am not anxious for summer to end but I am enjoying playing with autumn stamps and colours. The Foliage Fancy set I used for this card has solid leaf stamps and outline/vein leaf stamps. I started by applying two colours of distress stain directly to the solid leaf, spritzing it and stamping on watercolour paper. I changed the colour mix slightly for each leaf. While the stain was still a bit damp I inked the outline stamp with rich cocoa memento ink and stamped over the solid leaves. I painted tumbled glass distress stain around the leaves and when that was dry splattered a little of each leaf colour over the top.
Before cutting out the watercolour panel I ruled lines down either side of the panel letting the leaves cross the lines for added interest. I stamped the canvas background directly on the cardbase in rich cocoa ink then added a sentiment.
I must admit I am looking forward to autumn a little because I went thrift shopping this week and came home with a 100% cashmere sweater in great condition for $7.99! It will be cosy when the weather turns cold.
Supplies:
Stamps: Foliage Fancy, …smiling, Textures (PB)
Inks: Mustard Seed, Barn Door, Spiced Marmalade, Vintage Photo, Tumbled Glass distress stains (Ranger) Rich Cocoa Memento ink (Imagine Craft/Tsukineko)
Pencils: Faber Castell Albrecht Durer watercolour pencils
Cardstock: Neenah Avon Brilliant White 110lb, Fabriano 100% cotton hot pressed watercolour paper
Double Holly
Posted: August 25, 2014 Filed under: CAS, Happy Holly, Holly Berries | Tags: CAS, Fabriano Watercolour Paper, Penny Black creative dies, Penny Black stamps, Tsukineko Memento inks 9 Comments
For the next little while at least I will be jumping between Christmas designs, autumn designs and last days of summer designs. I think some of you found the autumn theme of my last card a little much while it is still officially summer. I totally agree; I always hold onto summer as long as I can. I’m happy if I can wear shorts and summer dresses right through September!
Having said that here is another Christmas card. I created a little holly panel by stamping the “Happy Holly” stamp on damp watercolour paper. I inked the stamp with Memento markers then spritzed it and the paper before stamping. The ink bled into the paper straight away and I spread it even further with a water brush. When it was dry I restamped the holly image and painted the leaves and berries with ink from Memento ink pads. To finish I matted the panel in red, added a sentiment and popped it up over some holly die cuts. An adhesive sheet from Scrapbook Adhesives made it much easier to attach the die cut.
Supplies:
Stamps: Happy Holly, Joy Filled (PB)
Creative Dies: Holly Berries
Inks: Memento Rhubarb Stalk, Cottage Ivy inks & markers ( Imagine Craft/Tsukineko)
Also: 4×6 Adhesive Sheets (Scrapbook Adhesives)
Cardstock: Neenah Classic Crest Avon Brilliant White 110lb smooth , Fabriano 100% cotton hot pressed watercolour paper
Leaves and watercolour
Posted: August 22, 2014 Filed under: Hot Rod, Watercolour | Tags: Fabriano Watercolour Paper, Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress stains 6 Comments
Same stamp as yesterday but a totally different look. I built this panel in layers starting with the background canvas stamp in antique linen. After stamping that four times across the panel I inked the letter background stamp with spiced marmalade, spritzed with water and stamped on the left hand side. I stamped the leaf stamp, Wondrous, several times in vintage photo distress stain which bled nicely into the canvas stamping. For painting inside the leaves I used distress stains, barn door and spiced marmalade, varying the intensity by diluting the with water. As this point I was fairly happy with the panel but realised that a bit of contrasting colour would lift the design so I added some blue shadow to the side of some of the leaves. I trimmed the panel and picked out some paper to create a border then had to decide how to add a sentiment. The cute little note page stamp from Life’s Journals in the same broken china stain that I had used for shadowing fitted on the corner and provided a background for the ‘Thanks’ stamp in vintage photo ink.
So there you are, two very different looks with the same “Wondrous” stamp. Thanks for dropping by.
Supplies:
Stamps: Wondrous, Letter Background, Life’s Journals, Textures, Hot Rod (PB)
Inks: Antique Linen, Spiced Marmalade, Vintage Photo distress inks & Barn Door, Broken China, Spiced Marmalade, Vintage Photo Distess stains (Ranger)
Cardstock: Neenah Natural White 110lb, PB Fall Festival mix & match paper, Fabriano 100% cotton hot pressed watercolour paper
Most Wonderful
Posted: August 15, 2014 Filed under: Most Wonderful, Prancers, Stamped Landscapes, Watercolour | Tags: Fabriano Watercolour Paper, Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress stains, Tsukineko Memento inks 14 Comments
I was very excited to see some new tree stamps in the new “Season’s Greetings” release from Penny Black. I am always happy to have more tree stamps to create stamped scenes with. I will be using the new trees from “Prancers” to create winter scenes but I will probably keep stamping with them all year long. I used them as the main feature of the scene above and a shadowy suggestion of forest in the scene below.
Both scenes were done on watercolour paper but with different approaches and inks. For the scene above I started with a masking fluid flecked panel and positioned a circle mask for the sky. I then painted the sky in Memento Nautical Blue and Paris Dusk ink taking care to dilute the colour around the moon. I used the same two blues to paint the snow banks after I had stamped the trees in Memento Northern Pine.
On the card below I created a three coloured panel with Chipped Sapphire, Evergreen Bough and Tumbled Glass distress stains. I applied the stains to the watercolour paper then spritzed the panel with my homemade Pearl-ex sprays. When it was all dry I embossed the snowflake and sentiment stamps with Memento Luxe Wedding Dress ink and embossed with white powder. I added trees at the bottom with Chipped Sapphire distress ink and then splattered white gesso over the whole panel with a splatter brush. Both panels are framed by very narrow frames and attached to white card bases.
We had quite unseasonably cold weather yesterday, not quite the snowy scenes you see here but definitely chilly enough to sit by the fire in the cottage where I was visiting friends for the day.
Supplies:
Stamps: Most Wonderful, Prancers, Beauty of the Season (PB)
Inks: Chipped Sapphire, Evergreen Bough, Tumbled Glass distress stains (Ranger) Memento Nautical Blue, Paris Dusk, Northern Pink inks & Memento Luxe Wedding Dress ink (Imagine Craft/Tsukineko)
Cardstock: Fabriano 100% cotton hot pressed watercolour paper, Neenah Solar White 110lb cardstock
Also: Winsor & Newton masking fluid, White embossing powder, White Gesso, Three separated Pearl-ex sprays comprised of water mixed with Interference Gold, Interference Blue and Interference Green.
Snow Covered Berries
Posted: August 14, 2014 Filed under: Happy Berries | Tags: Fabriano Watercolour Paper, Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress stains 4 Comments
I have another berry stamp from the new “Season’s Greetings” release to feature today. Once again I used some watercolouring but the main technique on this card is embossing. I began with a panel splattered with masking fluid as I like to do with winter scenes. Once the masking fluid was dry I stamped the large berry stamp in versamark taking care to place a stamp positioner beside the stamp before I lifted it. I then re-inked the stamp in versafine onyx black, moved the stamp positioner down and to the right ever so slightly and stamped in black. I embossed the image in clear powder some of which also stuck to the masking fluid which just ended up giving the impression of even more tiny snowflakes in the sky.
With the embossing done I positioned a circle mask and painted the sky. I started with chipped sapphire distress stain and water. I painted water in the area I wanted blue then added the stain. When I was happy with the coverage I used a dry brush to take some of the colour out around the moon. I added some dusty concord distress stain to the sky also to vary the colour a little. To create the snow bank I painted a diluted mix of dusty concord and chipped sapphire in the hill shape and immediately blended it upwards with water to fade the colour out. I did the same a second time to create another snowbank near the base of the panel. When it was all dry I added a tag and a red ribbon. It was crying out for a bit of red.
Don’t forget to check the PB blog and Facebook page if you are interested in seeing more Christmas stamping.
Supplies:
Stamps: Happy Berries, Joy Filled (PB)
Inks: Chipped Sapphire, Dusty Concord distress stains (Ranger) Versamark & Versafine Onyx Black (Imagine Craft/Tsukineko)
Cardstock: Fabriano 100% cotton hot pressed watercolour paper, Neenah Solar White 110lb cardstock
Also: Winsor & Newton masking fluid, Clear embossing powder
Berry Merry Christmas
Posted: August 13, 2014 Filed under: Berry Merry Christmas, Watercolour | Tags: Fabriano Watercolour Paper, Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress inks, Ranger Distress stains 10 Comments
I think these berries might be one of my favourite stamps from the new “Season’s Greetings” release from Penny Black. I opted once again for a watercolour design when creating this card starting with a piece of hotpressed watercolour paper splattered with masking fluid. I inked the stamp with barn door distress stain on the berries and vintage photo distress stain on the stems. I spritzed the inked stamp and stamped it twice on the panel. Using brush and some water I added fired brick ink to some of the berries to give them a bit more dimension. I added water here and there to blend and spread the colours. I added some peeled paint in the background but decided to primarily use broken china stain to paint the sky. I painted around the images with water and broken china stain letting some of the berries and stems bleed into the blue. When it was almost dry I added some yellow highlights with a watercolour pencil and splattered some undiluted broken china distress stain over the sky areas.
To finish off the card I removed the masking fluid then added the sentiment in walnut stain distress ink and matted with blue before attaching to a deep red card base.
Supplies:
Stamps: Berry Merry Christmas, Festive Wishes (PB)
Inks: Barn Door, Peeled Paint, Vintage Photo, Fired Brick, Broken China, Walnut Stain distress stains and inks (Ranger)
Pencils: Albrecht Durer watercolour pencils Lemon 107 (Faber Castell)
Cardstock: Fabriano 100% cotton hot pressed watercolour paper
Also: Winsor & Newton masking fluid
Poinsettias
Posted: August 11, 2014 Filed under: Exultation, Festive Florals, Red Star, Watercolour | Tags: Fabriano Watercolour Paper, Penny Black creative dies, Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress stains 8 Comments
Are you ready for a week of Christmas designs? Penny Black’s new “Season’s Greetings” release is available today so I will be featuring some of the new stamps here on Bits & Pieces during the week and the PB blog and Facebook will be full of projects made with the new stamps, dies and stencils too.
I have two poinsettia cards for you today. Poinsettias pop up at least five times in the new catalog on stamps and dies. I have watercoloured both these cards but my methods were different for each one. The top stamp, Red Star, is a slapstick cling stamp with textured petals so I inked the whole stamp with distress stains and spritzed both the stamp and the watercolour paper. The pigment in distress stains is quite intense so I spritzed with water after the first impression, then stamped again to achieve a slightly paler image. The panel is splattered with gold “Wink of Stella”, distress stains and masking fluid. The masking fluid was of course splattered on the panel before I started stamping and removed when all the ink was dry.
Supplies:
Stamps: Red Star (PB)
Inks: Victorian Velvet, Pine Needles, Crushed Olive, Mustard Seed, Barn Door Distress Stains (Ranger)
Cardstock: Fabriano 100% cotton hot pressed watercolour paper, Olive Grove mix & match papers, Neenah Avon Brilliant White 110lb card stock
Creative Dies: Exultations (PB)
Also: Gold Wink of Stella pen, Winsor & Newton masking fluid
The second poinsettia image is also a slapstick cling stamp but a line art image from the set Festive Florals. I inked the components of the design separately in distress inks and stamped on dry watercolour paper. I painted diluted distress stains onto the image and used a couple of watercolour pencils for the berries and stems. Again I added splatter and started with masking fluid splatter. The background is a pale wash of Memento summer sky and rich cocoa inks.
Supplies:
Stamps: Festive Florals, Peace on Earth (PB)
Inks: Memento Summer Sky, Rich Cocoa (Imagine Craft/Tsukineko) Barn Door, Peeled Paint, Vintage Photo distress stains and inks (Ranger)
Pencils: Albrecht Durer watercolour pencils Dark Red 225, VanDyke Brown 176 (Faber Castell)
Cardstock: Fabriano 100% cotton hot pressed watercolour paper, Sticks & Stones mix & match papers, Neenah Avon Brilliant White 110lb card stock
Also: Winsor & Newton masking fluid
The Cool One
Posted: August 8, 2014 Filed under: CAS, Uplifting | Tags: CAS, Fabriano Watercolour Paper, Penny Black creative dies, Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress stains 16 Comments
You wouldn’t believe how long this “simple” card took me! It all started because I had a piece of watercoloured paper all sparkly and blue which wasn’t working in the way I needed it to for a project I no longer remember. I couldn’t let that pretty sparkly blue panel go to waste so I stamped something on it in black, again can’t remember what. That didn’t work either but I wasn’t prepared to throw the sparkly blue away so I die cut as many balloons as I could without getting black stamping on them. Most that I cut ended up with a little stamping so I tried 3021 different arrangements where one balloon would overlap another to cover little bits of black ink. Finally I realized I was going round in circles so instead I cut balloons out of plain but co-ordinating colours and decided on the design above. It took me three attempts to get the above card made without inky fingerprints and failed inlaid diecuts. Even this one is a little unbalanced; the balloons should be higher.
I like the sentiment and of course the sparkly blue that started it all.
Supplies:
Stamps: Amazing (PB)
Creative Dies: Uplifting (PB)
Inks: Versafine Onyx Black (Tsukineko) Chipped Sapphire, Tumbled Glass, Broken China Distress Stains (Ranger)
Cardstock: Fabriano 100% cotton hot pressed watercolour paper, Periwinkle & Clear Skies Mix & Match Papers (PB)
Also: Pearl Ex
Heather Telford 