Postage Stamp Tulips

Posted: February 7, 2024 | Author: Heather | Filed under: Darkroom Door, Elizabeth Craft Designs, global postmarks, online class, Penny Black, postage stamps, splendiferous | Tags: Darkroom Door stamps, Elizabeth Craft Designs, Fabriano Watercolour Paper, online class, Penny Black stamps | 11 Comments

I’ve been inspired so many times by my talented friend Stamping Matilda, aka Godelieve Tijskens including her delightful faux postage stamps. I’ve wanted to make some for a while so I treated myself to a fancy die from Elizabeth Craft Designs. There are many ways to make faux postage stamps including with a clever tracing wheel usually use for sewing.

Once I had my die on hand I had to decide what to make my stamps from. I decided not to stamp something especially for the faux stamps. Instead I started using patterned papers and stamped panels that were sitting around looking pretty but not serving any other purpose. The two tulip panels featured on today’s cards were made for my online class Floral Faves. There is a lesson in the class where I show a range of methods for no-line watercolour. In designing and filming the class I created quite a few no-line watercolour panels that were never turned into cards…until now. I stamped the tulips using the Penny Black stamp, ‘Splendiferous‘.

The ‘postage stamps‘ die cuts a large panel of perforated stamps all joined together. There are also small dies in the set that cut rectangles to attach inside the perforated sections. Once I had my tulip sections attached I used Darkroom Door set, ‘global postmarks‘ to add postmarks. I popped up my faux postage stamps on one A4 card and one slightly smaller card. Of course I proceeded to search my pile of possibility for more panels to turn into faux stamps! Today’s post features an affiliate link to Scrap’n’Stamp. If you buy through this link I receive a small commission at no extra cost to you.

Roses on gel printed collage

Posted: January 25, 2024 | Author: Heather | Filed under: Echidna Studios, gel press, Mixed Media, Roses digital stamp set | Tags: Echidna Studios, gel press, gel printing, Mixed Media, Penny Black stamps | 3 Comments

Unsurprisingly I have built up quite a supply of gel prints. Recently I turned a bunch of them into collaged panels. You can see in the photo below the simple collage I created by gluing torn strips of three different prints in a brick-like arrangement. To make things easy I tore the strips the width of my ruler so they are all 1¼” wide.

Once I trimmed the collage panel to card sized pieces I chose a trio or roses that I designed for printing and cutting and cut it from blue cardstock using my cricut. It is one of three designs in a set called ‘Roses‘ which is available in the Echidna Studios etsy store.

When you cut a design on the cricut or with a die you often have inside pieces you can discard or use to fill in the cut out shape. I cut the rose trio from dark blue and from pink patterned paper then saved the inside pieces from the pink to inlay the blue outline.

I added embossed sentiments from the Penny Black set ‘ever thanks‘ and some embossing around one of the panels with Ranger rose gold embossing powder.

I was able to cut two smaller square panels which I also make into cards featuring the Penny Black die, ‘harmonious’. When you look at the gel prints themselves they don’t look all that fancy but when combined this way I really like the play of colours and textures.

I created a few more A4 panels from collaged gel prints and they are waiting for inspiration. I will share them here once I have a plan for them. Today’s post features affiliate links to the following companies. If you buy through these links I receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. The Foiled Fox & Scrap’n’Stamp.

Mini Festive Fragrance

Posted: December 28, 2023 | Author: Heather | Filed under: festive fragrance, Penny Black, Sizzix | Tags: Penny Black stamps, sizzix embossing folder | 5 Comments

Today’s card features ‘festive fragrance‘ a Penny Black brushstroke stamp, which I think could be used all year round especially if you choose colours accordingly. I used the following distress inks (either ink pads or markers) to ink the stamp: brushed corduroy, forest moss, rustic wilderness, mowed lawn, festive berries, aged mahogany, candied apple. I spritzed the stamp lightly before stamping on hot pressed watercolour paper. After stamping once I reapplied ink to the stamp if necessary to get more coverage but in some cases all that was needed was some blending with a paintbrush to fill the leaves or berries.

I definitely did more blending on the vases then ruled a thin line behind the vases to ground the image. You may have noticed on some of my recent cards I have embossed the panels after stamping and watercolouring. I did so on this one with the twiggy embossing folder from Sizzix/Tim Holtz (sorry I don’t know the name). I knew I was taking a risk embossing a perfectly good panel with a large non-symmetrical embossing folder but I think it worked.

You can’t tell from the photo but this is a smaller card than my usual A2 cards. This one is 5″x 3¾”, which is half an inch smaller in height and width. I’ve chosen to make some cards this size because I have some envelopes this size to use up and sometimes smaller is cuter. To see the image on an A2 card take a look at an earlier card here. Today’s post features affiliate links to the following companies. If you buy through these links I receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. The Foiled Fox & Scrap’n’Stamp.

The Brushstroke Binge – Christmas 2023

Posted: December 22, 2023 | Author: Heather | Filed under: Penny Black, winter gem | Tags: Penny Black stamps, video | 2 Comments

During my brushstroke stamping binge over the last few months I stamped this Penny Black stamp, winter gem, a few times, both the full stamp and just a portion as shown here. I made four cards very similar to this one changing only the colours in the pinecone and they were pretty but needed a little extra something. It just so happens I had uncharacteristically bought something sparkly after watching Tim Holtz say it reminded him of formica tables! It is a texture paste with sparkle in it but smooth, not at all gritty like glitter can be. I swiped it across all the little pinecone panels and they were pretty as can be. I did stamp the pinecone in distress inks so when I spread the texture paste across the panel the distress inks bled a bit but not so much as to spoil anything.

I made a short video of most of this year’s brushstroke Christmas cards and because it is short and not the usual Youtube orientation I can’t seem to embed it in this blog post but you can click over to watch it here. You’ll see the other versions of this card on the short video.

Most of the cards in the video have been featured on the blog but there are a few that didn’t appear here. I hope you enjoy my collection of brushstroke stamped. Thank you for dropping in to see what I have been creating. I hope your Christmas is full of joy and peace.

Today’s post features an affiliate links to Scrap’n’Stamp. If you buy through this link I receive a small commission at no extra cost to you.

Bauble Beauty – video

Posted: December 20, 2023 | Author: Heather | Filed under: bauble beauty, Penny Black, Tutorial | Tags: Penny Black stamps, video | 7 Comments

I have mentioned more than once my ‘brushstroke binge’ on this year’s Christmas cards. The Penny Black ‘bauble beauty‘ stamp was one I used several times and decided to make a video of my simple dye-ink watercolour technique. Keep in mind I worked on hot pressed watercolour paper; the inks don’t react the same way on regular cardstock.

Brushstroke stamps are so called because they appear to be stamps made from painted images. I often use dye inks when stamping them so I can add some water to the stamping and get a watercolour look. On the cards featured here I used a range of different inks but also vary the amount of water added on the stamp and at the blending stage. The card below features only one ink for the foliage, the magical northern pine memento ink. All the rest of the cards were stamped with the blue and green distress inks.

You can see on the two cards below I was more generous with water on the left hand card blending the ink over the whole tree shape. On the right hand card I left patchy areas unblended which kept the green inks more separate and made the tree slightly see through.

I painted pearlescent baubles on all the trees after the ink had dried. As the video shows some of the baubles disappeared at the stamping stage when the diluted ink spread over most of the tree shape. In those cases I filled the baubles I could see and added pearlescent circles on top of the blended tree where I thought more baubles should go.

The finishing touches on all the cards included die-cutting then embossing with the retired stampin up ‘subtle’ embossing folder. It creates a nice linen/canvas look; maybe there are other folders available that do a similar thing. I chose small sentiments from Penny Black sets, some stamped directly on the watercolour panel; others on little die-cut strips.

Today’s post features affiliate links to the following companies. If you buy through these links I receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. The Foiled Fox & Scrap’n’Stamp.

Peaceful Conifers

Posted: December 18, 2023 | Author: Heather | Filed under: Coniferous Silhouettes, Echidna Studios | Tags: Echidna Studios, Foiling, Penny Black stamps | 10 Comments

This digital tree stamp from Echidna Studios is definitely a favourite of mine so here is another version of a masked moonlit winter scene. I printed the detailed ‘Coniferous Silhouettes‘ image on neenah solar white cardstock and foiled the print with black foil for extra blackness.

I punched a moon mask from a post-it note and tore snow masks from painters’ tape then used blending brushes and speckled egg, uncharted mariner and spun sugar distress inks to create the moonlit scene.

Looking at it as I write this blog post I realise there should be tree shadows in the foreground…a challenge for another day. 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. Peace & Joy everyone.

Holly Leaves – framed

Posted: December 12, 2023 | Author: Heather | Filed under: Echidna Studios, holly leaves, Karin brushmarkers | Tags: Echidna Studios, Fabriano Watercolour Paper, Karin brushmarkers, Penny Black stamps, sennelier watercolours | 1 Comment

This is my second pair of cards featuring the new ‘holly leaves‘ digital stamp set from Echidna Studios. In an earlier post I shared the foiled cards which were overfoiled by accident but came out looking very shimmery and still accepted watercolour. For today’s cards I printed the holly images larger and didn’t foil them. I once again used Fabriano hot pressed watercolour paper and Sennelier watercolours to paint the two images.

If you remember the foiled post you might notice I made the same colour choices, an unrealistic blue-green and a more realistic green-green! A little hint if you are painting berries, it is always nice to have a darker and a lighter side to suggest dimension but even without that a little black or white dot can make them immediately more realistic.

I chose to mat these panels and found a suitable blue green but ended up blending mowed lawn distress ink over a piece of light green cardstock to create a matching green for the card above. Blending ink to create matching mats is something Ardyth does all them time. She is full of clever strategies. I chose to add a shadowy background around the blue-green leaves using a grey Karin marker and water to dilute and spread the ink. The sentiments are from PB ‘jolly snippets‘ and ‘light of Christmas‘ sets.

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.

Berry Branches

Posted: December 11, 2023 | Author: Heather | Filed under: a berry branch, Penny Black | Tags: Fabriano Watercolour Paper, Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress inks | 10 Comments

It’s another old favourite, maybe I say that a lot but when it comes to Penny Black brushstroke foliage stamps need I say more? This one is called ‘a berry branch‘ and I’ve featured it once a few years back on two different cards. How is that possible? I know it did turn up in classes a few years back and it was definitely part of this years ‘Painting with Stamps’ in-person class. Some of my previous posts have shown first and second generation prints from the same ‘inking’ and the two cards above are another example.

I keep the stamp in the stamp positioner and after stamping one panel I place another one in the same corner, spritz the still inky stamp and then stamp a paler more diluted impression. Often the second one ends up being my favourite. I used distress inks which work so well with added water.

When using this technique you can’t always control where the colours will blend into each other but I don’t let that worry me. I quite like the areas where green blends into brown into red.

Some of the panels got the splatter treatment, all were embossed with the canvas embossing folder and I added small PB sentiments either to the panel or just underneath it. Just one stamp but definitely a pretty one! 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.

Pines and Pinecones

Posted: December 4, 2023 | Author: Heather | Filed under: Brush Pines, Penny Black, treasured pine | Tags: Kuretake Gansai Tambi watercolour paints, Penny Black stamps | 9 Comments

I have a couple more simple one stamp cards to share today. This style has been the main contributor to my stack of Christmas cards this year. I love brushstroke stamps and always enjoy using watercolour techniques with them. The stamp above is from Penny Black and is called ‘brush pines‘. It is a small stamp so you could stamp it more than once to fill a card front or combine it with a berry stamp. I chose to position it in the corner of a watercolour paper panel, ink the stamp with a couple of green and a couple of brown distress inks, spritz the stamp then press it onto the paper. The ink moves and blends a little and if I want more blending I use a paintbrush and water.

Because it is a simple design I embossed the little panel (after stamping the sentiment) with a woodgrain embossing folder. I like the differentiation between the panel and the card base not by colour, but by texture.

By the way, on Friday I posted a card that is part of the Scrap’N’Stamp Christmas Critters blog hop. There is a prize to be given to a commenter as well as some discounts and a free gift to read about. Make sure you pop back to my post to comment yourself into the draw.

I gave the same treatment to the PB ‘treasured pine‘ stamp which is larger but still a simple cone and needles design. After stamping I added some pearlescent white paint to the design where there might be snow sitting on the pine cone. I used the same Stampin Up ‘woodgrain’ embossing folder to add texture after the sentiment from PB ‘Christmas sentiments‘ was added. (PB treasured pine is available at both Foiled Fox and Scrap’N’Stamp)

Today’s post features affiliate links to the following companies. If you buy through these links I receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. The Foiled Fox & Scrap’n’Stamp

Christmas Critters blog hop

Posted: December 1, 2023 | Author: Heather | Filed under: Penny Black, robin's christmas | Tags: Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress inks | 17 Comments

I am happy to be participating in Scrap’N’Stamp Christmas Critters Inspiration Hop today. You will be able to find oodles of critter inspiration on the blogs included in this hop. With eleven different stops on the hop there is sure to be something for everyone. Be sure to leave comments at each stop along the way- a winner will be randomly selected from those comments to win a $50 gift certificate to the SNS online store & announced on the SNS blog December 26. If you are looking for critters of any kind make sure you check out the 20% off Critters Sale.

When invited to a Critters themed hop I knew I would be stamping a bird and this sweet Penny Black robin was just the thing. The stamp is called Robin’s Christmas and you get the whole scene in one lovely stamp. Kind of similar to a one a one pot meal – always a winner in my book!

I stamped the bird on hot press watercolour paper first with speckled egg distress ink which is a nice pale blue which I could easily stamp over with darker colours. With the outline image stamped I used speckled egg ink from a re-inker to paint the sky behind the bird. Once that was dry I continued to work in a stamp positioner with one or two ink colours at a time stamping all the other elements. I used evergreen bough and rustic wilderness for the leaves, tea dye and walnut stain for the wood, candied apple for the berries and feathers and weathered wood and tea dye for the bird’s feathers.

The sentiment is from the PB set ‘feeling of Christmas‘. To finish the scene I used an embossing pen and white embossing powder to add snow here and there.

Thanks for visiting my stop on the hop. If you want to start from the beginning click over to the Scrap’N’Stamp blog. If you are looking for the next stop after me click over to the incredibly talented Dina Kowal.

Of course there’s also a SALE 20% off Critters until December 7, so have fun shopping after you hop! As a bonus, while supplies last you can get a Christmas Critter stamp for FREE with any purchase over $50! Just look for this cute penguin stamp and add it to your shopping cart!