Lilacs video tutorial
Posted: February 19, 2018 Filed under: lilacs, Tutorial | Tags: Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress stains, video 12 Comments
I am excited to share not only these pretty new stamps today but a video tutorial as well! I know, it is hard to believe.
I created this card using a technique I love to use with brushstroke stamps: watercolour with distress stains. I generally use the dauber topped distress stains but as they are being discontinued I thought I would try applying stain with a paint brush. It adds another step in application but the end result is just as pretty.
I filmed this video and a couple more with my son’s new camera which I am still getting used to so there are some focusing issues where the camera chooses to focus on my hand instead of the panel. I didn’t think it was enough of a problem to start again so I hope it isn’t too annoying. You get to see me drop my paintbrush with stain on it in the middle of the panel and come up with a quick fix too. I hope you enjoy the video and get to do some creating of your own.
Thanks for dropping by.
Supplies
Stamps: lilacs, grateful heart
Distress stains: shaded lilacs, wilted violet, bundled sage, peeled paint
Inks: Spanish moss versafine ink
Paper: hot pressed watercolour, neenah natural white
Tools: MISTI
Floral medley
Posted: February 16, 2018 Filed under: floral medley | Tags: Faber-Castell Albrecht Durer Watercolour pencils, Penny Black stamps, WOW embossing powders 7 Comments
Sweet Spring has arrived, on the Penny Black blog that is! Sweet Spring is Penny Black’s brand new release and as you can imagine it’s full of flowers. I’ve been having fun using some of my favourite techniques to colour those flowers so let’s take a look at today’s blooms. This big stamp is called ‘flower medley’ and I’ve paired it with a new sentiment from the ‘grateful heart’ set. (list and links below)
I embossed the flower medley stamp on hot pressed watercolour paper with white powder then used my watercolour pencils to paint in and around all the leaves and flowers. The embossing keeps everything contained so I was able to pick up colour from my pencils with a waterbrush, paint a petal or leaf then drop in more of the same colour for some depth or a different colour to create some blended areas. Once all the flowers and leaves were coloured I painted around them all with a grey watercolour pencil.
Next I used a trick I occasionally employ to flatten my watercoloured panels. I turned on my minc, popped the panel inside a folded piece of computer paper and ran it through the minc on a low heat setting. It ironed my panel nicely but also melted and removed some of the embossing. If I had used an embossing powder with some colour or shine then I wouldn’t have wanted it to disappear but clear or white embossing just masks the white paper underneath so melting it off didn’t change my design at all. The panel ended up very smooth so I was able to overlap the floral design with a sentiment stamped in versafine smokey gray ink. I matted the panel with co-ordinating pink cardstock and then added it to a square cream card base.
Now click on over to the Penny Black blog for the full reveal and a giveaway!
Supplies
Stamps
Inks: versamark, versafine smokey gray
Pencils: Faber-Castell Albrecht Dürer watercolour pencils
Paper: hot pressed watercolour paper, pink cardstock
Also: opaque white embossing powder, minc foil applicator
Good neighbours
Posted: February 13, 2018 Filed under: Coloured pencil, Good neighbours | Tags: Faber-Castell Polychromos Colour Pencil, Penny Black stamps 7 Comments
After teaching some colour pencil classes I am feeling inspired to use my pencils more often. I especially like the look on black cardstock but it is trickier to get a good photo. I used my Faber-Castell polychromos pencils for this card paired with the ‘good neighbors’ stamp from Penny Black.
I embossed the stamp with platinum powder then used a selection of coloured pencils to fill all the images. I wanted the sentiment to add some more interest to the black panel so I die-cut the top of my image panel with one of the PB stitched edges dies, used the same die to frame the sentiment then cut a little strip again with the same die to complete the rectangle again at the top.
The sentiment is embossed in platinum and then all the panels are attached to a cream card base. A little larger than my usual, hence the side fold. I’m teaching a coloured pencil technique class in Toronto in April; you can find the details on my upcoming classes page.
Supplies
Stamps: good neighors, spice of life
Die: stitched edges
Ink: versamark
Also: WOW metallic platinum superfine embossing powder, Faber Castell Polychromos pencils
Snow blooms
Posted: February 8, 2018 Filed under: a little secret, Effulgent | Tags: Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress inks 12 Comments
I sense a bit of a theme in this week’s cards; do you think maybe I’m thinking about spring? I am surrounded by gorgeous floral stamps in my workroom but by six foot snow banks outside. So today’s card started out as just a pretty pink magnolia but ended up caught in some flurries.
My plan was to build up colour step by step, keep it controlled and neat (not loose and watery). I stamped the whole stamp in worn lipstick ink then coloured the darker areas of the petals with a festive berries marker, the sepals in forest moss marker and the twigs in gathered twigs marker. I then blended the colour with water on a small brush so it was still fairly neat.
I wanted some extra foliage in the background and that’s when things started to go a little freestyle. I masked the flowers with a post it and stamped the ‘a little secret’ stamp a couple of times in stormy sky ink. The two stamps did not really look like they belonged together so I left behind my ‘neat’ plan and started spritzing the water around. The background softened but not quite enough so I painted some stormy sky into the background also. As I painted stormy sky right up to the edge of the branch the brown bled into the blue, things got loose and watery and, in my opinion, more appealing. I added some aged mahogany ink to the the centres of the flowers and some gold gel pen highlights. Then I wanted some snow as well so I splattered white gesso over the petals. I found a co-ordinating blue to frame the panel and kept it without a sentiment for now.
Supplies
Stamps: effulgent, a little secret
Distress inks and markers: worn lipstick, festive berries, forest moss, gathered twigs, stormy sky, aged mahogany
Paper: hot pressed watercolour paper,
Paint: white gesso
Also: gold gel pen
Graceful whisper
Posted: February 7, 2018 Filed under: graceful whisper | Tags: Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress stains, Tsukineko Memento inks 14 Comments
This branch has been waiting patiently for some ink so I went rather non-traditional and pulled out some purples to create this card. I splattered a few panels of hot pressed watercolour paper with masking fluid yesterday so I would have them on hand for future projects. The effect is subtle on this one but you can see little white dots in the sky and foliage if you look closely.
I used a couple of teardrop memento inks and a marker to ink the stamp. With the teardrops it is possible to apply ink somewhat strategically. I started with the lighter grape jelly ink and dabbed it here and there over the stamp. My panel was in my stamping platform so I was able to do grape jelly ink first, then add some dabs of the darker elderberry ink second. I went back and forth with the two inks and occasionally a spritz of water until I was happy with the image. I coloured the stems with a memento tuxedo black marker, stamped to complete the image then moved the panel to stamp a second branch the same way.
Once all the stamping dried I used mustard seed and salty ocean distress stain to paint the sky. I kept it fairly diluted and dabbed with a paper towel if I had too much water or stain. To finish it off I stamped the sentiment from the PB ‘sentiment collection’ set in versafine onyx black ink then matted the panel with black and attached it to a white card base.
Supplies
Stamps: graceful whisper, sentiment collection
Inks: grape jelly, elderberry, tuxedo black marker
Stains: salty ocean, mustard seed
Paper: hot pressed watercolour, neenah epic black, neenah solar white
Also: masking fluid
In my heart
Posted: January 24, 2018 Filed under: Tree heart, Triple Banner | Tags: Kuretake Gansai Tambi watercolour paints, Penny Black creative dies, Penny Black stamps, WOW embossing powders 4 Comments
This stamp is called ‘tree-heart’ but I always think of it as a family tree. After all what better to have on a family tree but a whole bunch of hearts? I stamped the tree in versamark and embossed with clear powder on hot pressed watercolor paper. Next I painted water over the top section of panel and added pink and blue watercolour paints. Keeping it loose I painted a heart shape over tree with both pink and blue. I filled in the heart leaves with more intense pink and blue paint then painted diluted pink over base area.
I grabbed a scrap of watercolour paper, painted diluted blue over it and stamped a sentiment from ‘happy hearts’ in versafine majestic blue ink. I die cut a banner to contain the sentiment and painted shadows on the ends of banner with blue paint.
To finish I attached the banner to the tree panel with very low profile adhesive dots and matted the panel in blue cardstock before attaching to a white cardbase.
Supplies
Shimmer heart
Posted: January 22, 2018 Filed under: Sweetheart | Tags: Finetec artist mica watercolour paint, Penny Black stamps 16 Comments
I don’t often stamp on directly on black but maybe I should more often, the effect is quite striking. I stamped the ‘sweetheart’ stamp and a sentiment in versamark on neenah epic black cardstock and embossed them in platinum embossing powder. I then used a small watercolour brush to fill all the hearts and flowers with finetec pearlescent paint. The finetec paints are watercolour so I added a drop of water to the colour and mixed it in the palette before painting.
The effect is very shimmery, more so than is apparent in the photos. I wanted the same colour and amount of shimmer on the mat to frame the panel so ended up painting a border of pearlescent purple on a square of black cardstock to frame my panel before attaching both to a black card base.
Supplies
Vintage Rose
Posted: January 17, 2018 Filed under: Red blush, Textures | Tags: Brusho, Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress inks, Tsukineko Versafine inks 8 Comments
I am over on The Foiled Fox blog today sharing this vintage rose card. You have seen me work with this sort of colour scheme before; I enjoy painting with the ink from a stamped image. In this case the stamp is the Penny Black, ‘red blush’. Although I worked mainly in vintage photo distress ink, I did give it a red blush with some Ost. Red brusho watercolour paint. You can read my whole process over on the Foiled Fox blog. 
Supplies
Stamps: red blush, textures, forever & always
Inks: vintage photo distress ink, versafine vintage sepia
Paint: brusho
Paper: hot pressed watercolour paper, neenah natural white, brown cardstock
Winter sky
Posted: January 12, 2018 Filed under: dressed in snow, peaceful winter, snowy village, Stamped Landscapes | Tags: Brusho, Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress inks, Tsukineko Memento inks 8 Comments
It’s taking me a while to get back into gear here on the blog but I have been busy planning my next class. Living as I do surrounded by winter beauty I often look a the sky or the landscape and wonder how I can turn it into a card. This is one such attempt. I looked at the sky one afternoon, because the sun sets in the afternoon around here, there is no waiting for evening! There was a pale pink glow above the horizon, a little blue then grey reaching up. I was managing to create some subtlety with this scene right up until the brusho shook out of the bottle rather more generously than intended! No matter, a lot of water and paper towel calmed things down again.
I started with a panel of hot pressed watercolour paper splattered with masking fluid. I painted some water across the panel where the horizon would be then sprinkled a little ost. red brusho above and blended it in with a paintbrush. Next I added grey brusho and blended that to fill the sky and finally some ost. blue brusho for some blue tones. I kept adding, blending and diluting until I was happy with the soft gradation of colour. While the sky was still damp I pressed just the small tree part of a landscape stamp out of the PB peaceful winter set repeatedly across the horizon inked with memento London fog ink.
I used the stamping platform to stamp and restamp the trees on the right from the PB snowy village set in black soot distress ink. As distress ink is water soluble I was able to paint over the stamping with water to make the image bolder and darker. I added a little blue brusho as I painted to give the tree some light and shadow. I dried the panel before painting another line of water, this time across the panel in line with the base of the tree trunk. Again I added the same brusho colours but got a bit more blue than I’d bargained for.
After drying that section I stamped just the left hand trees from the PB dressed in snow stamp again in black soot ink. I used a paintbrush to darken the stamped image and extend the trees a little more on the right. To finish I rubbed off the masking fluid and mounted the panel onto a white card base. All the supplies are linked below. I hope you have had a great week.
Supplies
Stamps:
Inks: black soot distress, London fog memento
Paint: brusho
Paper: hot pressed watercolour, neenah solar white
Also: masking fluid
Crisp & cold
Posted: January 6, 2018 Filed under: dressed in snow | Tags: Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress stains, Tsukineko Memento inks 6 Comments
This seems an appropriate card to post right now while the weather is oh. so. cold. For this one I used a stamp postioner to stamp one colour at a time with the ‘dressed in snow’ scenic stamp. I used memento markers to ink the evergreens in northern pine, the deciduous in tuxedo black and the fence in rich cocoa inks. After I had stamped all the elements I added a mask for the moon and then painted a tumbled glass distress stain sky.
I spritzed the trees on the left very lightly to blend the colour and painted some tiny background trees on the horizon. Winter is very beautiful where I live but currently it is also rather bleak. Please forgive me the rather brief description; I created this one a while ago and the details are a little sketchy in my memory.
Supplies
Stamps: dressed in snow
Memento markers: northern pine, tuxedo black, rich cocoa
Distress stain: tumbled glass
Paper: hot pressed watercolour, olive green cardstock
Also: stamp positioner, frisket film
Heather Telford 