No-line Watercolour with Karin brushmarkers
Posted: December 21, 2020 Filed under: frozen vista, Karin brushmarkers, Penny Black, poinsettia poem | Tags: Fabriano Watercolour Paper, Karin brushmarkers, Papertrey ink, Penny Black stamps, Tsukineko Versafine inks 8 Comments
I’m happy to be teaming up with the Foiled Fox again to bring you some more Karin brushmarker experimenting, this time I put them to work on no-line watercolour. I was pretty sure they would do a good job and I wasn’t disappointed. I also discovered that Papertrey Ink’s ‘soft stone‘ ink works well as a base stamping ink for no-line watercolour. To begin I stamped the same Penny Black poinsettia poem stamp on two pieces of hot pressed watercolour paper. On the design above I used only three Karin brush markers (red 209, teal 377 and henna 105) When colouring the leaves I inverted the red marker tip to tip with the teal before colouring to create the more browny green you see on the leaves.
I painted the petals one by one as is usually the case with no-line watercolour and I used the Red 209 marker. I used a slightly different methods for each card. On the above panel I barely touched the marker to the paper in each petal then blended the ink with water to fill the petal. On the panel below I painted a petal with water first then added a dot or two from the marker which flowed into the wet area. The effect is similar but the petals are paler where I applied water first and marker second.
On the second card I used magenta 170, lush green 228 and sepia 074. Once again I did a bit of tip to tip colour blending for the leaves and berries. It takes a bit of trial and error plus some scrap paper for testing to get the right mix of colour when doing the tip to tip blends. After adding ink to a marker tip the first strokes of colour will be the most intense and as you continue to apply ink to paper the intensity will decrease as the colour returns to its original tone. Make sure you visit the Foiled Fox blog where I provide even more detail about today’s projects.
I used a textured shimmer green cardstock to create a die-cut frame for the card at the top of the post. It is easy to cut a narrow frame by using two rectangle dies from the Waffleflower A2 layer dies. For the second card I used mulberry cardstock to create a co-ordinating mat and stamped with both versafine clair tulip red & chianti to stamp the sentiment in a matching colour. When I don’t have the exact ink colour for a sentiment I try a combination of two inks, something a stamp positioner makes quite straight forward. I stamped the sentiment on the first card with my beloved memento northern pine ink. The sentiments are from Penny Black sets, Christmas feeling and frozen vista.
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Bethlehem scenes with Karin brushmarkers
Posted: December 17, 2020 Filed under: Ink to Paper, Karin brushmarkers, lighting the way, Penny Black, three kings, Uncategorized | Tags: Ink to Paper, Karin brushmarkers, Penny Black creative dies, Penny Black stamps 2 Comments
I’ve continued to experiment with the Karin brushmarkers from the Foiled Fox, this time using them for watercolour backgrounds. These three backgrounds feature combinations of rosewood 272, cyan 207, royal blue 045 and black 030.
I tried different methods of applying the marker to the hot pressed watercolour paper and found that to achieve smooth transitions from one colour to the next it was better to touch the markers to wet paper. It still worked applying the marker first then the water but I prefer the very soft blends made when the paper was already wet. I don’t think I will often use the markers for backgrounds as it probably uses up ink at a faster rate but little scenes like the one above did not require much application.
The tiny star was masked by die cutting a star (PB Xmas tree border set) from frog tape (painter’s tape for delicate surfaces) then positioning it firmly on the panel before painting. I stamped the manger above in versafine clair nocturne once the panel was totally dry.
To get a soft image of the Bethlehem stamp I stamped it in chipped sapphire distress ink while the background was still slightly wet. On the panel above I took a wet paint brush and painted a hill shape across the lower part of the panel waited then painted another one even lower down. I didn’t need to add any ink the paint brush just dragged ink from the Bethlehem image. I popped up each panel with two pieces of cardstock, attached it to a white luxe card base then added sentiments from the Ink to Paper Be Merry Mini set.
The current Christmas card designs are looking minimal for two reasons, I still need quite a few cards and I like simple and elegant!
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Cabin by the lake
Posted: December 16, 2020 Filed under: cozy cabin, Penny Black, quietude, Stamped Landscapes, tannenbaum trio | Tags: grafix, Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress inks, Ranger Distress stains 6 Comments
I’ve been trying to make some smaller panels and one layer cards over the last few days as I still need quite a few cards so how exactly did this happen!? Not smaller and not quicker but definitely satisfying. I was thinking about some of the scenic cards released by Penny Black this year and wanted to combine them into new scenes. I made the left side of ‘quietude’ + ‘cosy cabin’ + 1/3 ‘tannenbaum trio’ = a cabin by a frozen lake.
I worked on hot pressed watercolour paper with masking fluid splattered on it and began by stamping the small trees and horizon from the quietude stamp in iced spruce, forest moss and chipped sapphire. I blended over the trees with a paint brush but came back to them later to do more. I stamped the cozy cabin stamp next, forest moss and chipped sapphire on the trees, hickory smoke and black soot on the cabin. I remembered to colour inside the windows with a mustard seed marker before I got carried away with blending this time so it looks cozy inside. To add more trees behind the house I made a cabin post-it mask then stamped one of the tannenbaum trio stamps twice on the right hand side of the cabin.
Before adding the sky I made sure everything was dry then positioned a frisket film circle mask over the trees. I used speckled egg distress stain to paint the sky initially then when I had covered it all dropped in some chipped sapphire. Green ink did bleed out of the stamped trees but I kept a paper towel on hand to dab it dry before it could move too far.
The lake area is mainly iced spruce and stormy sky to keep it paler and frozen looking but I added chipped sapphire and forest moss at the bottom where the lake is in shadow behind the snowbank. The snowbank looked too large and stark in the left hand corner so I stamped just the tips of the branches from the single tree in the cozy cabin set to look like a bit of foreground foliage. ( hot tip for my Ottawa people, all three sets featured on this card are listed in the Crop A While online store, just saying…)
Quick update on Dressember: my card making friends keep pushing the fundraising total higher and I am so very appreciative. As I write this it has reached $1190.25. Thank you so much. Here is a photo from day 12 as I decorate gingerbread. Decorating the gingerbread is my favourite part of the process or maybe equal first place with eating it. This first batch unfortunately spread while baking to such an extent that the tree and mitten shapes were unrecognizable so the decorating was the only clue to what they were meant to be!
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Shimmer on grey
Posted: December 14, 2020 Filed under: Coliro paints, Finetec paints, Penny Black, {heart} Christmas | Tags: Coliro paints, Penny Black stamps, Tsukineko Versafine inks 3 Comments
I saw a beautiful card by Dawn Wolesagle featuring shimmer paint on a dark grey base and decided to try my own. I know mine do not have the impact of Dawn’s card but I like the simplicity of design and colour on these one layer cards. I’m going to try the technique again with an even darker background.
I used the textured grey luxe cardstock from the Foiled Fox and combined outline stamps from the Penny Black set {heart Christmas} to make a design with versafine clair nocturne ink.
I painted the leaves in moss green pearlescent paint from the Coliro ocean set and the flowers with rose from the vintage set then switched to gel pens to fill the berries with gold and dot white around the designs.
The sentiments are both from the Penny Black merry up set stamped in Brutus Monroe alabaster ink and embossed in alabaster powder.
The fundraising total on my Dressember campaign page continues to grow thanks to friends near and far including many blog readers and class participants. Thank you so much for getting involved in the fight against human trafficking. To learn more about the work being done visit the Dressember blog
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From our house to yours
Posted: December 11, 2020 Filed under: birches, Karin brushmarkers, Penny Black, warm reception | Tags: Karin brushmarkers, Penny Black stamps 6 Comments
I’m excited to tell you about today’s card. I teamed up with the Foiled Fox to do some experimenting with Karin brushmarkers and I’m so glad I did. The Foiled Fox sent me the pack of 26 and I plan to try them out on my favourite watercolour techniques. Make sure you visit the Foiled Fox blog today to read more about my thoughts and process.
I worked on Fabriano hot pressed watercolour paper in a stamp postioner to complete this inviting little scene. I thought I would stamp in a pale ink and colour with the markers but I decided instead to ink with the markers directly on the stamps. It worked brilliantly. The Karin brushmarkers are water-based, ink filled markers with a nylon brush-like tip. Water-based means they blend with water. They are made and inkfilled in such a way that you can see the ink in the barrel and right to the last drop the colours will have full intensity. Nylon brush tips tend to be stronger than felt tips so I was willing to try inking the stamps directly keeping in mind that I did not want to damage the tips. The inks are highly pigmented and flow generously from the tip so I did not need apply much pressure as I inked the stamps gently with the sides of the nylon tips.
After inking the PB birches in black and grey I blended them a little then covered them with masking tape before stamping the PB warm reception stamp bit by bit. I did the trees first, then the house, inking and blending to build up the whole scene. I explain the colours and technique in more detail over on the Foiled Fox blog. As I’d left it until the end to paint a sky I chose to clear emboss the warm reception stamp so it would resist ink when I added it all around the house and trees.
To finish it off I matted in a brownish red and added a little sentiment to look like it was tacked to the trees. Definitely stay tuned for more projects featuring the Karin markers.
Karin markers used: red 209, sepia 074, neutral grey 3 131, black 030, lush green, 228, arctic blue 264
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Tannenbaum Scene – video
Posted: December 10, 2020 Filed under: Penny Black, tannenbaum trio | Tags: Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress inks, Tutorial, video 3 Comments
Last week I posted a card and video made with stamps from the Penny Black tannenbaum trio stamp set. I filled the scene with trees on the previous project making more of a forest. Today’s card features a different colour scheme and a painted sky.
As often is the case for my winter scenes I started with a panel of hot pressed watercolour paper splattered with masking fluid. I painted the sky first and stamped the trees last but the video gives you all the details so here it is.
We had a decent fall of snow yesterday so it’s looking a bit more like the video around here now. What’s it like where you are?
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Wise Men
Posted: December 8, 2020 Filed under: lighting the way, Penny Black, three kings | Tags: Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress inks 5 Comments
I have two more one-layer ink blended cards today created using exactly the same technique as yesterday’s cards. I masked the edges of the neenah solar white card front with painter’s tape then used blending brushes to build up colour to fill the inside space.
On both cards I placed a tiny circle post-it mask in the sky to be the star then blended the lightest colour over the whole panel. On the card above I started with antique linen distress ink; on the single wise man card below I started with speckled egg distress ink. Once the base colour was in place I positioned a hill shaped post-it note to mask the land area while I worked on the sky. On the card above I used worn lipstick then chipped sapphire. On the card below I blended pine needles followed by chipped sapphire.
For both cards I completed the sky blending then removed the tiny circle mask and blended over the top of the white dot so it would still be the brightest spot but without the crisp edges that would make it look too much like the moon.
Before removing the mask over the land area I stamped the Bethlehem stamp from PB lighting the way set along the edge of the mask in the lightest ink (antique linen or speckled egg). With the sky complete I placed the other half of the curved mask over the sky and removed the lower mask so I could blend the darker colours along the base of the design.
On the portrait oriented card I added one wise man from the PB three kings set in versafine clair nocturne ink while the tapes were still in place around the edges. On the card with three wise men I stamped one king with the tapes in place then removed the tapes to stamp two more kings overlapping the masked edge. I used sentiments from the PB set promise of hope.
I’ve mentioned my brother David’s videos a couple of times this year. He has created quite a few series since churches went online in March. Even though many churches are meeting in person again he is still creating short, thoughtful bible talks. You might be interested in his current series, God’s plan for Christmas. He is posting a new video everyday from Dec 1 -25 explaining the Christmas back story. There was nothing last minute about the birth of Jesus; it was planned from the beginning. As we prepare for a Christmas which will probably look a little different than usual you might enjoy taking a few minutes each day to think about the birth of Christ and what it means for us. You can find his God’s plan for Christmas series here
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Lighting the way
Posted: December 7, 2020 Filed under: lighting the way, Penny Black, Uncategorized | Tags: One-Layer cards, Papertrey ink, Penny Black stamps 11 Comments
If you have been visiting my blog for a while you might remember I used to create a lot of cards using sponging techniques. I’ve been returning to those techniques lately but putting my blending brushes to work instead.
To create the one layer card above I masked off four sides of my neenah solar white card base then blended papertrey ‘berry sorbet’ ink over the panel. I switched to papertrey ‘Americana’ ink next but avoided blending the top middle area then finished the perimeter of the space with ‘enchanted evening’ ink which is a blue ink. Blending the dark blue over the brownish red made a dark brown, perfect for the night sky. I stamped the Bethlehem stamp from Penny Black’s lighting the way set in versafine clair nocturne ink.
The second colour scheme is also a combo of papertrey ink cubes: lemon tart, lilac grace, plum pudding and royal velvet. I finished both cards with a sentiment from the PB holiday snippets set and stars drawn with a white gelly roll pen. I enjoyed doing these so much that I looked through my stamps and did more with a different silhouette stamp set. I’ll have them ready to show you soon. I don’t know that the blending brushes are any quicker than sponging but I find them easier to use and the results are very smooth.
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Tannenbaum Forest – video
Posted: December 4, 2020 Filed under: Penny Black, tannenbaum trio, Uncategorized | Tags: Fabriano Watercolour Paper, Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress inks 11 Comments
Funny story about this card, I realised last night that, although I had written in it, addressed it and even added the stamp to the envelope, I hadn’t taken the photos to go with today’s video tutorial. I pulled it out of the envelope, took some photos, did a little editing magic so you couldn’t see my handwriting on the inside then popped it back in the envelope. It’s mailed now, on its way to Australia.
This is one of two videos I’ve made featuring the tannebaum trio set from Penny Black. I’ll post the other one soon. I did generational stamping in a few colours to get the background trees to appear to be in the distance. It’s a fairly speedy technique which you could mass produce once you got into the swing of things.
As I’ve said before ‘you can never have too many tree stamps’ and the three in this set are no exception. You have already seen me pop them in a few cards on their own to add a foreground tree to a snowy scene or to be a single focal point on one of the mini cards I posted yesterday.
Thank you again for your interest in and support of the Dressember campaign. A couple of close friends I have made through card making helped move my fundraising total along yesterday. Thank you so much!
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Mini Snowscapes
Posted: December 3, 2020 Filed under: Nature's Friend, Penny Black, quietude, tannenbaum trio | Tags: Papertrey ink, Penny Black stamps 5 Comments
I found myself needing a few more Christmas cards this week so I spent a pleasant couple of hours creating mini snowscapes with a handful of stamps. I taped a piece of hot pressed watercolour paper that was already splattered with masking fluid in quarters and kind of worked on the four panels at the same time. I used some of the techniques featured in my new WINTER WONDER online class but on a smaller scale.
The snowscape above features just a fraction of the PB quietude stamp stamped over a painted ink sky. I painted deep snowbank shadows in front of the small trees and then added a bigger tree from PB nature’s friends set in the foreground.
For the mini snowscape above and below I cut circle masks from painter’s tape and positioned them in the top right corners of my quarters before painting inky blue, purple and grey skies. The mini snowscape above features a tree of PB tannenbaum trio set and the one below is from nature’s friends.
Again on the panel below I painted the sky first and stamped the tree over the top. I’ve listed all the inks I used in the supply list below.
Once all the panels were dry I removed the tape and masking fluid, trimmed them all neatly and popped them up on a couple of pieces of cardstock to create a little distance and shadow from the luxe white card bases. I pulled out an old favourite sentiment set, holiday snippets for greetings in the perfect size.
Thank you for your encouragement yesterday as I announced my involvement in this year’s Dressember campaign to raise funds for ending slavery and human trafficking across the world. If you would like to learn more about the campaign or the International Justice Mission please click the links provided to find out what it is all about. As a Dressember Canada advocate the money I raise will be used by IJM in their work around the world investigating trafficking crimes, fighting legal battles against offenders and creating safe places for the recovery of survivors. Click here to donate
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Heather Telford 