City Buildings gel print

Posted: January 10, 2025 | Author: | Filed under: city buildings, gel press, The Crafters Workshop | Tags: , , , | 3 Comments

Quite a simple gel printed card but the freshness of blue and white seems to lend a brightness to it. I used the TCW ‘city buildings’ stencil on a gel plate with blue paint.

My most used technique with stencils on the gel plate is to lay the stencil on the paint covered plate, remove paint from the spaces in the stencil with tissue paper then pull the print with another layer of paint.

When I looked through my tray of sentiments I found this one already stamped in blue on a circle. The colour is a perfect match so I was pretty happy. The circle is a nice contrast to all those angles and lines. The sentiment comes from the Penny Black ‘better with age‘ sentiment 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.

Winter Wedding cards

Posted: January 6, 2025 | Author: | Filed under: cricut, Gilding Flakes, Penny Black, Skyward | Tags: , , | 6 Comments

We attended a New Year’s Eve wedding last week and a couple of days before I realised I had no wedding cards on hand. I went to the ‘pile of possibility’ which is a shoebox full of panels yet to be made into cards. There are watercolour, alcohol ink, collage and stamped panels in the box.

The galaxy style alcohol ink panel above caught my eye along with what I think is a stamped and gilded panel which you’ll see below. Both seemed fancy enough for wedding cards…but how to use them?

The gilded panel below was very pretty alone so I didn’t want to add much to it. The alcohol ink panel was also pretty but worked well with die-cut silver snowflakes.

The panel on the card above features the Penny Black stamp ‘skyward‘ stamped on vellum with sticky glue ink and gilded either with foil or gilding flakes( sorry I can’t remember which.) It looked quite magical so I might just have to try and gild a stamped image again to see what happens. I hunted for a font that was similar to the one featured on the wedding stationery then cut initials using the cricut. The font I chose (which is not an exact match) is Linotype Rowena Pro Medium. I had a gold envelope which matched and a pearly silver one for the other card.

The wedding was lovely, ceremony at the church in the morning, party to ring in the new year at night!

Although it would have been good to have wedding cards on hand already I enjoyed customising these two for the bride and groom. And speaking of weddings, it is my wedding anniversary today. My husband and I were married on a summer’s day 35 years ago in Canberra. We looked a bit older and colder at last week’s wedding!

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.

Feathered Edges

Posted: December 23, 2024 | Author: | Filed under: holly berry branch, Penny Black, poinsettia poem | Tags: , , , | 2 Comments

I had fun recently experimenting with a feathering technique to add background to embossed line images. This pretty stamp from Penny Black is poinsettia poem embossed in silver powder on Fabriano hot pressed watercolour paper.

Before adding any colour I spritzed the embossed panel with water. I then picked up chipped sapphire distress ink from a mat where I had smooshed the ink pad. Carefully I touched the tip of the inky brush to the area outside the embossing; the ink spread wherever there was water around the image.

I let the whole panel dry before moving on to painting the flowers, berries and leaves using watersoluble brush tip markers.

Above and below is another image that worked well with this technique; it’s holly berry branch from Penny Black. This time I used faded jeans ink for the background which is a lighter, less purply blue resulting in paler blues overall.

This is definitely a technique I will continue to experiment with; the feathery patterns that appear when ink flows across the wet paper are my kind of watercolour!

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

Cozy Knitted Mittens

Posted: November 22, 2024 | Author: | Filed under: cricut, Echidna Studios, mittens, my designs | Tags: , , | 1 Comment

More mittens! To see mini mittens click over to yesterday’s post. I cut the mittens for today’s cards using the ‘Mittens’ digital stamp & cut-file set I designed for Echidna Studios etsy store. It’s the same set I featured yesterday but with a digital file I can cut whatever size I like. The large mitt is 4″ long and the two green mitts are 3″ long.

I cut them all from Neenah natural white cardstock along with some buttons. I cut the cuff and Charlie Brown style zig-zag from burgandy cardstock.

To get the knitted look I stamped the mitts in antique linen distress ink using the Darkroom Door ‘knitting’ background stamp and the cuff and zig-zag in aged mahogany ink. For some depth I blended ink around the edges.

The little buttons continue to delight me so I embossed them with clear embossing powder then coloured some thread with distress markers and threaded it through the little holes.

I found Christmas patterned paper from a Graphic45 pad and cut frames using the Waffle flower A2 layer dies. For the green cuffs and snowflakes on the pair of mitts below I used some textured polka dotted cardstock along with an embossed dotted background.

Once again the ‘warmest wishes’ sentiment from ‘Merry Up‘ seemed the best choice and could work any season mitts are worn!

As you can see I am struggling to move on from making mitten cards. Thanks for dropping by.

Mini Mittens

Posted: November 21, 2024 | Author: | Filed under: cricut, Echidna Studios, mittens, my designs, ski lodge embossing folder, Spellbinders | Tags: , , , | 9 Comments

I do like an alliterative title but I restrained myself from calling this post Many Mini Mittens! I designed these mittens and accessories as cutting files for the cricut and I’m having so much fun with them. The Mittens digital stamp & cut-file set is available in the Echidna Studios etsy store. When I taught my bookish Christmas card class recently I had a cool stocking to cut from vintage papers but no mittens. To begin with I just designed the mitt and the cuff but I couldn’t stop so now the digital set has a heart, a poinsettia, diamond pattern, a zig-zag pattern, a snowflake, two cuffs and a little button. The buttons are too sweet.

This colourful card started as an experiment to see how small the cricut would cut the mitts without tearing them. These little mitts are 1¼” in length; everything else is obviously smaller and cut just fine.

I had fun arranging the elements on the mittens so there wasn’t too much of one colour or repetition of the same coloured patterns. I did create them in pairs because who wants a whole bunch of unmatched mitts? I’ve experienced that in our own mitt basket – why so many right mitts and no left mitts?!

And because I couldn’t stop I cut some matching pairs the same size but using linen textured pink and burgandy cardstocks. I used a clear wink of stella brush pen to make all the burgandy bits sparkle but as I write this I see it didn’t show in the photo. Trust me it adds to the cuteness. ( I had forgotten about my wink of stella pens)

For both cards I used Spellbinders ‘ski lodge’ embossing folder to make a background because ❄! I found suitable Penny Black sentiments from the ‘Merry Up‘ set. Come back tomorrow and I will share the larger, knitted mitten cards I also made with this digital set.

2 for 1 with Delicate Pines

Posted: November 20, 2024 | Author: | Filed under: delicate pines, Finetec paints, Penny Black | Tags: , , , | 4 Comments

Although I don’t tend to make exactly the same card in large numbers I do like a quick and simple way to make a few similar cards at the same time. To create these pine needle cards I started with a watercolour panel larger than an A4 card. It was about 5¾” x 6″ and I placed it in the stamp positioner with the long side tucked right against the long side of the positioner.

Using the two of the three Penny Black ‘delicate pines‘ stamps positioned to stamp along the top edge of the panel I inked them with a few green and blue distress inks. Before stamping I spritzed the stamp lightly so the different greens would blend on the stamp and then on the paper. I then moved the stamps around so I could use the third stamp and get some overlapping branches. Without moving the stamps I turned the watercolour panel 180° and repeated the stamping steps. The panel ended up with a border of pine branches on each side. I cut the panel in half and trimmed the sides so I had two 5½” x 3″ panels to add to card bases.

I finished off both panels with a sentiment from the PB ‘jolly snippets‘ set and some green and gold splatter. Simple yet pretty. 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.

Sketching over Scarlet Majesty

Posted: November 13, 2024 | Author: | Filed under: Penny Black, Scarlet Majesty | Tags: , , | 4 Comments

When I posted cards made with the scarlet majesty stamp last week I mentioned a technique I had used to define the petals a little more. Today’s cards feature the sketched outlines I added after stamping. As with my previous cards I inked the stamp with distress inks or other water-based dye ink. I spritzed the stamp before stamping which creates a loose watercolour look on the image. I like the loose image but admit that some of the definition of the petals is lost. With the image on the stamp (and packaging) as my guide and some artistic license I drew around petals, berries and leaves with a gold gel pen. I didn’t try to stay exactly on the edge of the stamping but close. For the red poinsettia I also drew a rough frame around the image.

I added a small sentiment below the panel in a matching ink. On the red panel above I didn’t try to keep leaves green and petals red; everything is red. On the pink poinsettia below I used a few more distress inks in my initial loose watery impression.

Once again I stamped on hot press watercolour paper inking the stamp with small distress ink cubes and markers. Once the image was dry I used the gold gel pen to sketch the outline. If you look too closely you will see blobs and ink outside the lines but I quite like the overall gold edged effect.

One tip if you try this technique but find yourself trying to be too precise. Hold the gel pen further down the barrel than you normally would and move faster than usual drawing your lines. That way you should achieve a loose sketchy style that pulls the very watery stamped image into better focus.

Hope you’re having a great day. I now need to write some international Christmas cards; it is time to put them in the mail!

Berry Full & Split

Posted: November 12, 2024 | Author: | Filed under: Berry kissed, Penny Black | Tags: , , | 5 Comments

I posted a card made with this Penny Black ‘berry kissed‘ stamp last year under the title old favourites. Here it is again, still a favourite! In the hope of swelling my Christmas card stash in a timely manner I’ve made some cards out of half a stamped image. It doesn’t work with all stamps but I thought I could make it work with this one.

Once I had stamped the berry kissed stamp using a stamp positioner, hot pressed watercolour paper and a mix of blue, green, pink and brown dye inks I placed a ruler down the middle so I could see what would fill each side if the panel was divided. The right hand side of the image contained plenty of soft pink berries and three leaves. The left hand side looked a bit sparse with three leaves but only one full berry and a couple of partially covered ones.

To make the left hand side a bit fuller and more interesting I inked and added two more berries. Both sides got the splatter treatment, a teal mat and a simple sentiment from the PB set, ‘jolly snippets’

I also completed a panel which I didn’t slice in half. Because I used cold pressed watercolour some of the edges of the images are not as smooth. It all depends on how much water I spritz on the stamp after inking, a bit too much can result in the wiggly edged berries you see below.

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.

Pink Majesty

Posted: November 4, 2024 | Author: | Filed under: Finetec paints, Penny Black, Scarlet Majesty, Stampin Up, subtle | Tags: , , , , , | 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.

Leaf Print Sympathy cards

Posted: August 6, 2024 | Author: | Filed under: gel press, Penny Black | Tags: , , | 10 Comments

I’ve been collecting leaves, flowers and grasses over recent weeks for botanical gelprinting and thought I would try some damaged leaves eaten by beetles. The holes in the leaves leave a lacy pattern on the print which is delicate alongside the leaf veins.

I applied black and green paint to a 5″x7″ gel plate and lay the leaves vein-side down in the paint. I used printer paper for this print and pressed it down on top of the leaves.

After pressing the paper firmly over the whole surface I lifted one corner to remove a leaf then pressed it down again and repeated on other corners to remove all three leaves. By lifting just a corner at the time the paper stayed in the same place to pick up the texture print left by the leaf on the plate. You can see the process in the short video below.

I decided to make a couple of sympathy cards using a small Penny Black sentiment. To add a bit of interest around the gel prints I scored criss-crossing lines on the background panel using my scor-pal. So don’t bypass those imperfect leaves when looking for gel printing elements; the intricate patterns are quite beautiful. This post includes affiliate links from Scrap’n’Stamp . If you buy through these links I receive a small commission at no extra cost to you.

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