Tranquil in watercolour
Posted: November 11, 2016 Filed under: Tranquil | Tags: Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress inks, Ranger Distress stains, Speedball elegant writer, Tsukineko Versafine inks 5 Comments
I’ve already posted two cards this week made with the scenic stamp, ‘tranquil’; this is my last one for now in a much looser watercolour style. On the previous two cards I stamped the image in versafine ink and it was sharp against a watercolour sky.
To create this scene I inked the tree in pine needles distress ink and the fence and ground in vintage photo distress ink and stamped it on cold pressed watercolour paper. I added shadows to the stamping with a black elegant writer pen then spritzed the panel with water to soften the whole image and let colours blend a little. I painted the sky with broken china distress stain to fill the rest of the panel, then added a sentiment in black ink.
Supplies
Stamps: Tranquil, Winter Joy (PB)
Ink: vintage photo, pine needles, broken china distress ink (Ranger) versafine onyx black ink (Tsukineko) elegant writer pen (Speedball)
Paper: cold pressed watercolour paper
Tranquil sky
Posted: November 9, 2016 Filed under: Tranquil | Tags: Dr Ph Martin Hydrus watercolor paints, Peerless Transparent Watercolors, Penny Black stamps, Tsukineko Versafine inks 6 Comments
I’m very happy to be guest blogging over on the Foiled Fox blog again today so please pop over there for the details.
Tranquil snowy sky
Posted: November 7, 2016 Filed under: Tranquil | Tags: Dr Ph Martin Hydrus watercolor paints, Peerless Transparent Watercolors, Penny Black stamps 12 Comments
As I post this I am still in Australia but my husband mentioned there could snow this coming weekend – a welcome home present for me! By the time I return to Ottawa I will have been away for just over a month. I don’t get to Australia often so it really isn’t worth the time or money to travel all the way to Australia for a shorter time. I have completed several cards with this stamp each using a slightly different technique. The technique for today’s card is the most straight forward. I painted a graduated wash with Peerless watercolour paint. I began with deep blue at the top and diluted it as I approached the bottom of the panel.
Once the background was dry I stamped the ‘tranquil’ stamp in versafine onyx black then let that dry. To finish it off I splattered white paint over the sky and painted some on the tree and fence posts.
Once again I grabbed some stamps from the new ‘festive snippets’ set to add a sentiment.
Supplies
Stamps: tranquil, festive snippets
Inks: versafine onyx black (Tsukineko)
Paper: hot pressed watercolour papers (Fabriano)
Paint: Dr Ph Martin’s Bleedproof white paint
Stockings were hung
Posted: November 3, 2016 Filed under: Brick wall, Christmas stockings, Diamond pattern, Textures, Winter lantern | Tags: Penny Black creative dies, Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress inks, Speedball elegant writer 8 Comments
…by the chimney with care. This is the last of my Winter Warmth series and the one that almost didn’t make the cut because I misjudged the size of the stocking! I created the whole background panel then pulled out the die to add the stocking only to find it was a tad larger than I’d remembered. My children assured me some stockings are so large they cover half the fireplace so I continued with the design.
I created the background by stamping on cold pressed watercolour paper with distress inks. I first masked a space where the fireplace would be and a positioned a post-it across the panel where the mantel would end up. I stamped the brick wall stamp in brown and added darker tones with an elegant writer before blending with water. Above the mantel I stamped ‘diamond pattern and softened it with water. When I removed the post-it from the fireplace I used yellow, orange and black brusho to paint my ‘fire’. The lantern was done in two pieces just like I did on the ‘lakeside card‘ and yellow ink was added on the panel behind to make it glow.
The swag over the mantel is a strip of watercolour paper painted with green brusho then dotted with siren smooches ink. I attached it over a strip of painted brown paper cut to look like a mantelpiece. The stocking was cut with one of the ‘Christmas Stocking’ dies then stamped with a texture stamp so it looked like fabric. This one had a higher fiddliness factor than most of my cards which increased my respect for those of you who create far more intricate die-cut cards on a regular basis.
Thanks for visiting this week as I shared my Winter Warmth cards. I’ll be back next week with some more snowscapes.
Supplies
Stamps: brick wall, textures, diamond pattern, season’s gifts (PB)
Dies: winter lantern, Christmas stockings, little ornaments (PB)
Ink: vintage photo, fired brick, blueprint sketch, scattered straw, spiced marmalade distress inks (Ranger)
Paper: hot pressed watercolour paper, cold pressed watercolour paper, black cardstock
Paint: scarlet, ost blue, yellow, gamboge, black, dark brown, emerald green brusho powder, Finetec Artist Mica watercolour paint
Also: elegant writer pen, siren smooches ink
Baby, it’s cold outside
Posted: November 2, 2016 Filed under: Frosty day, What's in your cup | Tags: Fabriano Watercolour Paper, Penny Black creative dies, Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress inks, WOW embossing powders 7 Comments
I’m continuing my ‘Winter Warmth’ feature with a cup of hot chocolate and a steaming cup of tea. I had fun creating a couple more scenes with simple watercolour backgrounds and die cut focal images in the foreground. On today’s cards the background is rough watercolour paper so the ‘frosty day’ stamped images were speckled all over until I used a wet paintbrush to blend the ink over the sky area.
I die-cut the cup using the ‘what’s in your cup?’ die set. This set comes with the cup, cream, steam, teabag plus more detail pieces. I cut the pieces out of hot pressed watercolour paper, coloured them with distress markers and blended the colour with water.
I added a silver heart, cream and cinnamon to the pink cup then attached them all to the background panel. Because the die set comes with all the cute little extras I decided to make a second card this time with a cup of tea.
I stamped the background in black soot distress ink for this card and once again blended the sky area but left the rest textured.
I coloured the cup with red distress inks then added a sparkly embossed snowflake, a teabag tag and some rising steam.
I have one more ‘winter warmth’ card to share tomorrow.
Supplies
Stamps: frosty day, festive snippets
Dies: what’s in your cup?
Ink: Chipped sapphire, black soot, festive berries, old paper, gathered twigs, picked raspberry, vintage photo, hickory smoke distress inks/markers (Ranger) Versamark, versafine majestic blue, imperial purple & onyx black (Tsukineko)
Paper: hot pressed watercolour paper, rough watercolour paper
Paint: Finetec Artist Mica watercolour paint
Also: Clear gloss embossing powder, Clear sparkle embossing powder
Let it snow
Posted: October 31, 2016 Filed under: Skis 'n' sled, Woodland Beauty | Tags: Penny Black creative dies, Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress inks, Tsukineko Memento inks 11 Comments
I am writing this post from sunny warm Australia while my Ottawa family is sending me photos of the snow that has already fallen. I have a series of ‘Winter Warmth’ posts this week featuring dies and stamps from the latest Penny Black releases. I chose to pair watercoloured die-cuts with watercoloured backgrounds to make some indoor and outdoor winter scenes. You might think that sledding or skiing is not a particularly ‘warm’ activity but consider the trudge up the hill with the sled or the energy expended cross-country skiing; you can end up quite heated!
I created my background forest on cold pressed watercolour paper by doing first and second generation stamping with memento northern pine ink. I then tore a few snow banks from the same paper and layered them in front of the trees.
I die-cut the sled and skis from hot pressed watercolour paper then coloured them with distress markers, blending with water to get shadows and dimension. I added some die-cut greenery and a little twine bow to both the skis and the sled then tucked them in behind the torn paper snow banks. I added some clear wink of stella to the torn edges to make the snow banks glisten a little.
Supplies
Stamps: woodland beauty, festive snippets
Dies: Sled ‘n’ skies, winter lantern
Inks: memento northern pine, tuxedo black (Tsukineko), festive berries, gathered twigs distress markers (Ranger)
Paper: hot and cold pressed watercolour papers (Fabriano), green cardstock
Also: clear wink of stella, linen twine
Christmas Joy (another brusho sky)
Posted: October 21, 2016 Filed under: Brusho, Woodland Beauty | Tags: Brusho, Penny Black stamps 14 Comments
I have one more brusho sky to share this week. For this one I took advantage of the way watercolour powders work to get make the sky a bit more dramatic than the last two more serene scenes. Brusho powders can be blended on or off the paper to create a smooth solid colour or they can be sprinkled onto wet paper and left to move and form patterns with variations in colour intensity. To create this sky I positioned a mask for the moon then painted water over the sky area. I sprinkled a couple of brusho powders into the damp area and let them spread and blend. The areas where I dropped the powder become the textured darker areas in the sky.
Once the sky dried I stamped the tree from Woodland Beauty several times in gray ink then added shadows on the branches in black marker. Brusho really is a great watercolour medium; it does so many clever things.
Supplies
Stamps: Woodland Beauty, Joy filled (PB)
Paints: Purple, Turquoise, Ultramarine brusho (Colourcraft)
Ink: Versafine onyx black, Smokey Gray ink and black marker (Tsukineko)
Paper: hot pressed Fabriano watercolour paper, blue cardstock
Snow tipped twigs
Posted: October 19, 2016 Filed under: Brusho, Into the sky | Tags: Brusho, Penny Black stamps 10 Comments
I have another brusho sky to share today. On Monday I explained how sometimes I paint the sky first, other times the images are done first. To create the appearance of snow on these twigs I had to stamp the twigs first. I used the misti and stamped the ‘into the sky’ stamp in versamark first then moved the watercolour panel up ever so slightly and stamped the twigs again in versafine onyx black. I then embossed with clear powder so the images would resist the paint when I added the sky over the top.
I used three colours of brusho to create the gradated sky leaving a bit of white at the bottom like a cloud. I finished the card by adding a simple sentiment and popping it up on a white card base.
Supplies
Stamps: Into the sky, Holiday snippets (PB)
Paints: Purple, Turquoise, Ultramarine brusho (Colourcraft)
Ink: Versafine onyx black ink(Tsukineko)
Paper: hot pressed Fabriano watercolour paper
Sunset Rendezvous
Posted: October 17, 2016 Filed under: Brusho, Rendezvous | Tags: Brusho, Penny Black stamps 8 Comments
When making scenes like this one I sometimes create the background first then decide what to add to the foreground. Other times I stamp my images and add the sky after. For this one I positioned a moon punched from masking tape on a piece of watercolour paper then painted colour over the whole panel using brusho powders. I can’t remember but it is likely that I intended the panel to be portrait orientation with the moon in the top right corner.
I decided instead to make the masked circle appear to be the sun going down so the light around it is yellow and pink with blue on the far left. Once the paint dried I stamped the tree stamp in versafine onyx black ink to complete the sunset scene.
I didn’t add a sentiment as it is the kind of card I could use for any number of occasions. Once I pull it out to use it I can add a small sentiment in the bottom right corner if I wish.
I’m in Australia at present visiting my family; I’ll be posting some photos from time to time on my other blog, Sentient and on instagram
Supplies
Stamps: Rendezvous (PB)
Ink: Versafine onyx black ink, (Tsukineko)
Paint: crimson, yellow, cobalt blue, turquoise brusho (Colourcraft)
Paper: hot pressed Fabriano watercolour paper, Neenah Epic black cardstock, blue cardstock
Also: masking tape
Peerless skies
Posted: October 11, 2016 Filed under: Chapels, Woodland Beauty | Tags: Peerless Transparent Watercolors, Penny Black creative dies, Penny Black stamps, WOW embossing powders 8 Comments
Yesterday I posted the first card painted with my new Peerless Watercolour paints along with a video showing how I organized my paints into a palette. The cards I have today feature deep blue skies also painted with Peerless watercolours.
Peerless watercolours are unusual as the paint is concentrated in a dry sheet of cardstock. To use it you have to add water to the cardstock. I am only just beginning to use mine but I am already impressed by the intensity of the colour and the ease with which they blend. For both these cards I used a mix of blues and purples and blended them on the watercolour panel. I was happy with the mix of colour as I painted but was even more impressed when I returned to the panels after they had dried and saw how they colours had continued to blend resulting in soft smooth variations.
I kept the design simple as far as elements were concerned but fancy when it came to texture and sparkle. I embossed both the sentiment and church with WOW Diamond white embossing glitter giving a second coat to the church for maximum bling. I can’t imagine the circumstances under which a church would be so sparkly but it looked so pretty against that sky I had to let it bling!
I was far more traditional with this card adding a sentiment and tree in black ink.
I added a little interest by stamping the tree on both the card base and the feature panel which is popped up on a layer of foam.
I received my peerless watercolour paints from the kind people at The Foiled Fox online store. The store has a wonderful mix of art, paper craft and calligraphy supplies and in my opinion they are carrying all the cool stuff! They also have a blog showcasing their own design team and guests from around the world.
Supplies
Stamps: Woodland beauty, Holy Night (PB)
Dies: Chapels, O Holy Night
Ink: Versafine onyx black (Tsukineko)
Paint: Peerless watercolours
Paper: hot pressed Fabriano watercolour paper
Also: WOW diamond white embossing glitter
Heather Telford 