Sweet Visit
Posted: March 6, 2015 Filed under: Sweet Visit, Watercolour | Tags: Fabriano Watercolour Paper, Penny Black stamps, Tsukineko Memento inks 20 Comments
It is always a thrill to see a hummingbird suspended in mid-air to take some nectar. I have never been successful in getting a good photo so I’m settling for a stamped and painted one. I have played with this stamp three times now. The first time I was happy with result but in a momentary lapse of reason stamped a sentiment in such a way as to render it pretty unappealing (I’ve saved it in case I get a brainwave for fixing it). The second one worked fairly well and will be in the Dirty Dozen gallery later this month. But this one is my fave. The other two panels had one bird and one flower; I think it makes way more impact with one bird on a panel full of flowers. But, enough of the comparisons with cards you haven’t even seen.
I started with the flowers at the bottom keeping in mind that I wanted the bird in the top right hand corner so I had to leave space. The three main flowers were inked with Memento markers, as seems to be my current habit, spritzed with water then stamped on watercolour paper. I blended the stamping with a waterbrush adding extra colour here and there. When the flowers were dry I used a marker to define the veins in the petals and the stigma. To create the paler background flowers I spritzed the stamp again without re-inking, stamped on scrap then stamped the remaining watery ink on the paper. I blended with a waterbrush to make the images even less distinct than they already were. The bird was also inked with markers, spritzed, then stamped and blended on the paper. To finish I splattered some pink, orange and green around the flowers. Sometimes when I want a bit of splatter I grab a watercolour pencil the same colour as the ink I’ve used and splatter that for more intense colour.
To finish the card I popped it up on a textured watercolour paper card base. I tried a narrow blue mat but it wasn’t needed; the little sentiment in blue ties in with the bird. I am linking up with the Spring Blooms challenge at the Inspiration Journal and the Spring is coming challenge at the Artistic Stamper.
(Please don’t be mad but this one was almost a video…I just got all inspired and started creating without turning on the camera! Soon, I promise.)
Supplies:
Stamps: Sweet visit, snippets(PB)
Inks: Nautical Blue, Bahama Blue, Danube Blue, Paris Dusk, Olive Grove, Bamboo Leaves, Desert Sand, Rose Bud, Tangelo, Potter’s Clay Memento markers (Imagine Craft/Tsukineko)
Cardstock: Fabriano hot pressed watercolour paper, Demco cold pressed watercolour paper
Also: Faber Castell Albrecht Durer watercolour pencils
Warmth on a cold day
Posted: February 20, 2015 Filed under: Efflorescence, Watercolour | Tags: Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress stains 17 Comments
When it’s -25°C outside the best thing to do is stay inside and make pretty things. The weather here continues to be bitterly cold and I keep reading of places in the states where the kids have had a week of snow days. A week! No snow days here. My daughter caught the bus to work this morning and said if she kept her eyes open they froze but if she closed them the skin on her eyelids stung too much!
I used the rose from the new transparent set ‘Efflorescence’ to make this card and it will be a bit tricky to give you all the how-to details. I stamped and painted, left it, came back, spritzed it, left it, came back, stamped again…you get the idea. Basically I stamped with distress stains to give me a wet outline image from which I pulled in colour to fill the petals or leaves. I spritzed the painted images to let some of the colour bleed into the background. I let it dry before masking the first rose so I could stamp a second behind it plus some extra leaves. I wanted a little rosebud in there too so I painted my own. I created the border with a watercolour pencil then added a splatters of blue and orange before adding a little sentiment and a matching mat.
I don’t know about you but I have had to look up a few of the new PB stamp names in the dictionary. Efflorescence means the action or process of developing and unfolding as if coming into flower. Effulgence means radiant splendor. Ebullient means having or showing liveliness and enthusiasm. So there you go; stamping is expanding my vocabulary.
Supplies:
Stamps: Efflorescence, Snippets (PB)
Inks: Ripe Persimmon, Iced Spruce, Chipped Sapphire distress stains (Ranger), Memento Paris Dusk marker (Imagine Craft/Tsukineko)
Cardstock: Fabriano 100% cotton hot pressed watercolour paper, Navy paper, Neenah Natural White 110lb cardstock
Golden tones
Posted: February 19, 2015 Filed under: CAS, Flower sparks | Tags: Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress inks 16 Comments
Perhaps the extremely cold weather we’re having at present is making me reach for warmer colours. The last three cards I’ve posted have featured warm golden tones. This card was stamped with two stamps from the new transparent set ‘flower sparks’. It is the first time I have used the set and I discovered it’s a clever little set. There are ten flowers in the set and each one is on a long thin stem which you can bend this way or that before you stick it on your acrylic block. With that kind of flexibility you end up with way more than ten stamps! Cool huh?
I used the same two stamps over and over but bent the stems different ways each time. I began with a piece of white cardstock flecked with masking fluid. Over that I stamped several flowers in antique linen distress ink. I chose a position for my light source and sponged antique linen, wild honey and vintage photo distress inks over the panel. When the sponging was done I added more flowers with the two darker inks. I grabbed a couple of watercolour pencils to flick spots of brown and honey colour in a few places before removing the masking fluid. It is matted in a textured brown cardstock then popped up on a natural card base.
Hope you’re staying warm.
Supplies:
Stamps: Flower Sparks, Heartfelt, Footnotes (PB)
Inks: Antique Linen, Wild Honey, Vintage Photo distress inks(Ranger)
Cardstock: Neenah Natural White 110lb cardstock, Neenah Solar White 110lb cardstock, Brown textured cardstock
Also: Winsor & Newton masking fluid
Gentle Whisper
Posted: February 18, 2015 Filed under: Gentle Whisper, Geometrics | Tags: Penny Black creative dies, Penny Black stamps, Tsukineko Memento inks 5 Comments
If you have browsed through the new Penny Black release you would have scene some lovely Asian motifs in both the stamps and the dies. In this card I was trying to create an Asian themed card by using the ‘geometrics’ die and the gorgeous large orchid stamp, ‘gentle whisper’. I began by stamping a very subtle background pattern using Memento Desert Sand ink and the ‘Oh Spring’ brush stroke stamp from years ago. I then inked the orchid stamp with markers, spritzed it, stamped on the watercolour panel and then spritzed the panel. I blended the colour here and there with a brush, adding a little more in a few places. To create the gold details and mat I cut up a couple of envelopes that had shiny gold linings. I stuck scrapbook adhesive sheets to the back of the gold paper then die cut my word and circle motifs. With the adhesive already attached I was able to adhere them easily onto the watercolour panel. I cut a gold mat to completely cover the front of my card base then attached the panel.
The stamp is quite large so I think I made this card a bit bigger than my usual A2. I hope you have been checking out all the wonderful projects on the PB blog lately. The designers are still showcasing the many new products from the new release, ‘Bring on the Happy’. Last week there was all sorts of clever paper cutting and piecing from the incredible Peet Roven. This week it’s all about the new creative dies.
Supplies:
Stamps: Gentle Whisper, Oh Spring!(PB)
Creative Dies: Envision, Geometrics(PB)
Inks:Cantaloupe, Tangelo, Olive Grove, Bamboo Leaves, Desert Sand Memento inks and markers(Imagine Craft/Tsukineko)
Cardstock: Fabriano hotpressed 100% cotton watercolour paper, Shiny gold paper, Neenah Natural White cardstock
Also: Scrapbook Adhesive sheets
Summer birthday
Posted: February 17, 2015 Filed under: Sprigs, Stamped Landscapes, Watercolour | Tags: Penny Black creative dies, Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress inks 23 Comments
My husband and I both have February birthdays which meant hot summer days for the first 35 years of our lives. Now we celebrate in the bleak mid-winter!
For his birthday card this year I have gone with the warm tones of summer for inspiration. I managed better with this card than the anniversary card; I wrote in it and gave it to him before posting it here on the blog. To create this scene I started by flicking masking fluid onto my small watercolour block. Even though this isn’t a wintery scene some little flecks of white add interest and dimension to the scene. After the masking fluid dried I wet the whole panel and painted the trees and reflections in the distance, the sky and the water with brushes. In the foreground I stamped several stamps from the ‘sprigs’ set onto the wet paper and let them bleed into the surrounding area. When the paper dried a bit I stamped a couple more sprigs which stayed more distinct. I die cut a tag and splashed some of the same colour over it before adding a sentiment and ribbon.
Supplies:
Stamps: Sprigs , Sprinkles & Smiles (PB)
Creative Dies: Tagged (PB)
Inks: Dried marigold, forest moss, frayed burlap, crushed olive distress inks (Ranger) Versafine Spanish Moss (Imagine Crafts/Tsukineko)
Cardstock: Fabriano hot pressed watercolour paper, Olive green cardstock & ribbon
More fresh poppies
Posted: February 15, 2015 Filed under: Fresh | Tags: Fabriano Watercolour Paper, Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress stains 14 Comments
When I posted the first card made with the ‘fresh’ stamp I mentioned another watercolour panel where I painted the same stamped poppies but had created a different effect. Once again I stamped the image with several different distress inks and then painted inside the petals by pulling colour from the outline as well adding extra stain with a paintbrush. I worked a petal at a time so I could preserve some of the stamped outlines of the image. If I had spritzed with water at this point I could have ended up with a loose image like the pink one I posted first, but who knows; watercolour is an unpredictable technique. I painted the blue background after the poppies had dried to restrict the bleeding from the petals and stems into the background.
CAS-ual Fridays has a ‘Must Love Watercolor’ challenge at the moment so I will link there and also at the Crafting Cafe where the challenge is to use your favourite technique. Not too hard to guess what that is…
Have a great week
Supplies:
Stamps: Fresh , Snippets (PB)
Inks: Peeled Paint, Barn Door, Spiced Marmalade, Scattered Straw, Tumbled Glass, Broken China distress stains (Ranger), Memento Tuxedo Black, Bamboo Leaves inks (Imagine Craft/Tsukineko)
Cardstock: Fabriano 100% cotton hot pressed watercolour paper
Also: Winsor & Newton masking fluid
Sweet, fresh poppies
Posted: February 14, 2015 Filed under: CAS, Fresh | Tags: Fabriano Watercolour Paper, Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress stains, Tsukineko Memento inks 17 Comments
‘Fresh’ is one of the new slapstick cling stamps from the Penny Black “Bring on the Happy” release. I have been chasing deadlines all week so yesterday after getting all my ‘dirty dozen’ projects finished I pulled this nbus stamp out. I created two separate panels in different colour schemes using slightly different techniques. I started both the same way by stamping on watercolour paper in distress stain. Because distress stain is a liquid the stamp does not always ink up evenly but once stamped it does stay moist for longer than it would with the average dye ink. This gives me longer to pull colour from the stamped outline in to fill the petals, stems and buds (or whatever image I’m stamping). As you see in the stamp image below this is an outline stamp and I began by painting each petal, blending the colour with water to create light and dark shades within the petals. Although you wouldn’t know it to look at it now all the colouring was inside the lines!
At this point I chose to go for a much freer look and spritzed the flowers with water several times. I waited until the image was almost dry before adding a little yellow and finally black to the poppy centres. You have probably guessed already that the white specks and spots were made by splattering masking fluid on the paper before I began.
I trimmed the panel so all that white at the top could to balance all that colour at the bottom. The current sketch from CAS(E) this sketch helped me position my sentiment and then I played around with the pink mat for a little while before settling on a very narrow strip on each side. I will turn my other panel into a card in the next few days so you can see the more controlled ‘inside the lines’ approach.
Supplies:
Stamps: Fresh , Sprinkles and Smiles (PB)
Inks: Worn Lipstick, Peeled Paint, Festive Berries, Scattered Straw distress stains (Ranger), Memento Tuxedo Black, Bamboo Leaves inks (Imagine Craft/Tsukineko)
Cardstock: Fabriano 100% & 25% cotton hot pressed watercolour paper, Coral Reef mix & match paper (PB)
Watercoloured Sprigs
Posted: February 11, 2015 Filed under: Deco Frame, No Card Left Behind, Sprigs, Watercolour | Tags: Penny Black creative dies, Penny Black stamps, Tsukineko Memento inks 8 Comments
I had a card idea in my head yesterday and I did several trials and variations with the stamps from the transparent set ‘Sprigs’ but my original idea did not end up working. I set the experiments aside and designed a totally different card. Today when I looked at yesterday’s experiment I came up with the card you see above. The problem with the panel before I die cut dragonflies and a sentiment out was that is did not really have a focal point. The colours were pretty and some of the watercolour effects were pretty (others were messy) but it all looked too similar. By cutting the dragonflies to reveal the blue cardstock behind, the focus is taken away from the watercolour panel and transferred to the bold images and letters. I could have just as easily popped dragonflies on top but I like the cut-away look. The features I liked in the original panel are no longer trying to be the stars, they work better as back up. Next time you cast aside a stamped panel because it’s not working the way you thought consider whether it just needs to be in the background and let another element take centre stage.
To create the panel I inked up three of the ‘sprigs’ stamps with a mix of blues and greens. I inked each stamp with one colour using a large stamp pad then added another colour with a marker. I spritzed each stamp, stamped them on watercolour paper then, when I had stamped all the images, spritzed the paper.
I can’t always turn my experiments into finished cards, often the watercolour panels just get turned over so I can use the other side. Sometimes I wonder if the recipients of my cards ever see the backs of some of my panels, hopefully the adhesive holds and the rejected side stays hidden!
Supplies:
Stamps: Sprigs (PB)
Creative Dies: Deco Frame, Flutters (PB)
Inks: Nautical Blue, Teal Zeal, Cottage Ivy, Bamboo Leaves Memento ink (Imagine Craft/Tsukineko)
Cardstock: Fabriano hot pressed watercolour paper, Blue cardstock
Love, love, love
Posted: February 6, 2015 Filed under: Heartfelt, Poise | Tags: Fabriano Watercolour Paper, Penny Black creative dies, Penny Black stamps, Tsukineko Memento inks 5 Comments
I have another brushstroke stamp featured on today’s card coloured in a loose watery style using Memento markers. To begin I taped a piece of watercolour paper to a cutting mat with painter’s tape. I inked the ‘Poise’ stamp with Memento Northern Pine, Rhubarb Stalk and Love Letter markers, spritzed it and stamped it onto the watercolour panel. I stamped two more flowers to fill the panel then spritzed lightly to let the colour bleed and blend.
For added texture and background I applied Memento Love Letter ink to the heart stamp from ‘So Very Much’ set and stamped down either side of the panel to create partial imprints of text. With a waterbrush I added some diluted Love Letter ink to the edges of the panel, blurring some of the text as I went. For a darker red I diluted Rhubarb stalk ink in the same way.
On a scrap of watercolour paper I painted Rhubarb Stalk and Love Letter ink, spritzed it to blend then dried it with a heat tool so I could cut three “loves” using the die from the ‘Heartfelt’ set. The watercolour panel is matted with Coral Reef mix & match paper then attached to a Neenah Natural White card base. Once again I stamped parts of the heart stamp in Wheat versamagic ink down both sides of card base front.
Supplies:
Stamps: Poise, So Very Much(PB)
Creative Dies: Heartfelt (PB)
Inks:Memento Northern Pine, Rhubarb Stalk, Love Letter markers & Versamagic Wheat chalk ink (Imagine Craft/Tsukineko)
Cardstock: Fabriano hotpressed 100% cotton watercolour paper, Coral reef mix & match paper, Neenah Natural White cardstock
Pop pop poppies
Posted: February 5, 2015 Filed under: Pop pop poppy | Tags: Fabriano Watercolour Paper, Penny Black creative dies, Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress stains 12 Comments
Today’s card features the new brushstroke stamp ‘Pop Pop Poppy’. All this week the new brush stroke stamps are the stars on the PB blog. Yesterday Jill Foster shared a video showing how to make her gorgeous watercolored card with this stamp.
I began by masking the watercolour panel with painter’s tape to create a border. I then painted water over the whole panel and inked the poppy petals with seeded preserves distress stain and the leaves with peeled paint distress stain. When I stamped it on the wet paper the colour bled into the surrounding area. I added tumbled glass distress stain with a paintbrush. I dabbed away a few dark areas of colour to leave areas of muted purple, blue and green on the panel as background colour. When the stain was almost dry I re-inked the petals with seeded preserves, and stamped again for a defined image. Using a stamp positioning tool I stamped the petals then the leaves with peeled paint and finally the flower centres with memento tuxedo black ink. I splattered a little seeded preserves stain over the panel as I like to do.
The little tag was cut using a die from the ‘flower tags’ set. I sponged the edges with seeded preserves ink then stamped a sentiment from ‘pretty petals’ in the same ink. To finish it all off I tied some ribbon around the panel and a bow on the tag before popping up the whole panel on a watercolour paper card base.
Supplies:
Stamps: Pop Pop Poppy, Pretty Petals (PB)
Creative Dies: Flower tags
Inks: Seedless Preserves, Dusty Concord, Bundled Sage, Tumbled Glass distress stains (Ranger), Memento Tuxedo Black ink (Imagine Craft/Tsukineko)
Cardstock: Fabriano 100% & 25% cotton hot pressed watercolour paper
Also: Green satin ribbon
Heather Telford 