Blissful blossoms

Posted: January 18, 2019 | Author: Heather | Filed under: blissful blossoms, royal swirl | Tags: Penny Black creative dies, Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress inks | 14 Comments

It is hard to believe I haven’t inked this pretty stamp before now. I made up for it by repeat stamping on a large panel to make into a set of cards. I put the 10″x 7″ hot pressed watercolour panel in my stamp positioning tool and ended up stamping PB ‘blissful blossoms’ four times.

Each time I stamped I followed the same order. First I inked the whole stamp in scattered straw distress ink and dabbed some wild honey and abandoned coral ink here and there on the flowers, spritzed it with water. After stamping I cleaned the stamp, then inked all the stems and leaves in peeled paint ink, spritzed and stamped again. I kept partially inking with markers, spritzing and stamping until the flowers were well coloured. Before moving the panel and stamp to do another print I blended over the stamping with a paint brush and water.

I repeated the process three more times to fill the panel. I was able to orient the stamp so the stems and flowers filled the space and looked like one big patterned panel.

Once the panel was done I had to decide how to divide it for different designs. I could have done four of the same card but no, I wanted to come up with a few options. I pulled out a pretty PB die, a PB sentiment set and some green cardstock to create a set of five cards.

The decorative die does not cut right across, it cuts out the scroll work but scores either side for folding. On several of the cards I cut on the score line for a border instead of a fold.

By double matting and popping up the panel even the last scrap became a card. All the sentiments are from the handy dandy ‘happy snippets’ set.

Supplies

Stamps: blissful blossoms, happy snippets (PB)

Dies: pop on a fold -royal swirl (PB)

Inks: scattered straw, dried marigold, abandoned coral, peeled paint, versamark, shady line versafine clair

Markers: peeled paint, dried marigold, abandoned coral, ground espresso

Cardstock: hot pressed watercolour, neenah cream, olive green

Also: Stamp positioner, white embossing powder, linen twine

Christmas red or white

Posted: December 28, 2018 | Author: Heather | Filed under: Christmas red | Tags: Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress inks, Ranger Distress stains | 13 Comments

Ever since I received this stamp way back when the weather was warm, I wanted to try it as a ‘white poinsettia’ rather than the traditional red. The first card I made with it was red and when I used it in my Christmas class we stamped it red but now as a Christmas thank you I’ve made it white, or to be precise a yellowish, greenish white! I am sharing it over on the Foiled Fox blog today also. Make sure you pop over there to see enjoy all the beautiful wintry cards they have shared lately. Scroll back to see three gorgeous poinsettia cards made by Shauna Todd posted during December.

To create my ‘white’ poinsettia I stamped the whole ‘Christmas Red’ stamp from Penny Black in shabby shutters distress ink on hot pressed watercolour paper (which I had splattered with masking fluid earlier). With the stamp in the MISTI I inked the outer leaves with mowed lawn distress ink and stamped again. Shabby shutters ink is a pale green to start with so when I diluted it by blending with water I was able to make it a little paler. I blended one petal at a time and dabbed it with a paper towel while it was wet to remove more colour. Before the petals dried I picked up some extra shabby shutters ink off my glass mat and added some shadow where the petals were overlapped by another. I blended the leaves with water also and when they were dry added some definition with a fine brush and mowed lawn ink. I stamped the centre with mowed lawn ink and added some gold with a wink of stella pen.

Once the flower was dry I painted around the edges with water then dropped in weathered wood distress stain and blended it to surround the whole image. I also dropped in some green ink here and there while the background painting was wet. When everything dried I removed the masking fluid and added clear wink of stella to all the petals to give them some shimmer. I stamped the ‘thank you’ from the PB ‘banner sentiments’ set in versafine clair shady lane ink. I am very happy to be making thank you cards as I have close to thirty donors to thank so far in my Dressember campaign raising money for the fight against human trafficking.

I am adding my pink and green poinsettia to the post just for interest and comparison. I used a similar process to the one described above but kept the background white as a base from some gold embossing. Thank you for dropping in today.

Supplies

Stamps: Christmas Red, banner sentiments (PB)

Inks: shabby shutters ,mowed lawn distress inks, versafine clair shady lane ink

Stain: weathered wood distress stain

Paper: hot pressed watercolour paper, neenah natural white

Also: gold wink of stella, clear wink of stella, masking fluid

Tools: MISTI, glass mat

Pine cones

Posted: November 30, 2018 | Author: Heather | Filed under: pine cones, yuletide greetings | Tags: Darkroom Door stamps, Ranger Distress inks | 5 Comments

I just cracked open this set from Darkroom Door yesterday and I’m so happy with these lovely images. The set contains three pine cones, two pine needle stamps and six sentiments yet to be inked. I worked on cold pressed watercolour paper and used distress inks to stamp and paint.

I splattered masking fluid over this panel first then, when it was dry used my MISTI for the stamping. I stamped the pine cone first with vintage photo and ground espresso distress inks (not oxides). I stamped several impressions because of the texture of the paper then stamped the pine needle stamp around the pine cone in forest moss and pine needles ink. I didn’t use careful masking but did position a post it note over the pine cone while I stamped the needles that appear to be behind the cone. With all the stamping done I blended some of the pine cone with water and spritzed over the pine needles.

To fill the background I painted shabby shutters and pine needles ink with plenty of water to dilute and move it around. After removing the masking fluid I added a sentiment from the Yuletide greetings set in shady lane versafine ink.

For the second card I switched pine needle stamps but kept the same pine cone. I stamped the needles first in mowed lawn and pine needles distress ink. Again I didn’t want to cut some fiddly masks so I did partial inking instead to position the pine cones in amongst the needles. I blended them with a fine tip paint brush then splattered some green and brown inks over the panel. I wanted a splash of gold so I embossed a sentiment from Yuletide greetings in ultra high gold embossing powder which is chunkier than some.

I also splattered some embossing fluid on the panel and tipped the same powder on to the splatter and heated it. Some of my blobs of embossing fluid were a bit big so I ended up with squishy gold dots on the panel. (definitely one for hand delivery!)

Supplies

Stamps: pine cones, yuletide greetings (DD)

Inks: pine needles, forest moss, vintage photo, mowed lawn, shabby shutters & shady lane versafine clair ink

Markers: gathered twigs, ground espresso

Paper: cold pressed watercolour paper

Also: masking fluid, embossing fluid, WOW metallic gold rich ultra high powder

Tree Trio

Posted: November 29, 2018 | Author: Heather | Filed under: Christmas background, trio of trees | Tags: My Favorite Things, Ranger Distress inks | 14 Comments

Today’s cards are made with a cute set from My Favorite Things and some oxide inks. I didn’t set out to make watercolour cards but it seems I just can’t help it! I stamped the little tree skeleton stamp in versamark then embossed in clear powder. Next I inked the triangle tree stamp in peeled paint and peacock feathers oxide inks and stamped over the top of the skeletons. Then, not willing to leave the trees, I gave them a watercolour look by blending the two colours within the triangle with water.

I used the same two inks to create a blended sky over the embossed MFT Christmas background stamp. I painted the snow banks in amongst the trees by picking up ink off my glass mat.

I followed a similar process to create this blue card. I inked the triangles with blue print sketch and stormy sky distress oxide inks, blended them and stamped the tree skeleton over the top with blueprint sketch. The background is once again embossed then swiped through some diluted blue print sketch and stormy sky distress oxide ink on my glass mat.

The final card is a very simple design but again I started with two tone blended trees (a different tree stamp). This time my colours were bundled sage and lucky clover oxide inks. Once the trees were dry I stamped the dot stamp over the top with candied apple oxide ink and added a sentiment in the same ink.

I decided to make the sentiment shiny by embossing in clear powder, then restamped all the dots so I could emboss them too.

These cards are a bit different from my usual style but reminded me how much fun can be had with the oxide inks.

Supplies

Stamps: Christmas background, trio of trees (MFT)

Inks: versamark & peeled paint, peacock feathers, stormy sky, blueprint sketch, bundled sage, lucky clover, candied apple distress oxide inks

Papers: hot pressed watercolour paper, red cardstock, olive cardstock, blue cardstock

Also: clear embossing powder, glass mat

Winter Tree

Posted: November 28, 2018 | Author: Heather | Filed under: xmas poinsettia cut out | Tags: Penny Black creative dies, Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress inks, Ranger Distress stains | 15 Comments

It is hard to believe I haven’t shared this beautiful tree stamp already. It is a large rubber cling stamp called winter tree and it looks snow laden when stamped. It is a very detailed tree but my treatment has it looking a little more impressionistic. To create the card above I lay the tree stamp on my cold pressed watercolour paper and positioned masking paper around the edges of the stamp. When I lifted the stamp there was a tree shaped space exposed.

I splattered masking fluid over the panel so there were lots of drops in the shape of a tree. When I removed the masking paper I splattered a few more drops of masking fluid around the tree. I placed the panel and stamp in my stamp positioner and dotted distress stain on the stamp. For this tree I used mustard seed, mermaid lagoon, pine needles and blueprint sketch. I stamped a couple of colours at a time until the tree was completely stamped albeit in a loose and watery way. To fill in the background I wanted the same colours but more diluted so I put stain on my glass mat so I could pick it up with a paint brush.

I painted around the tree with water touching the edges of the tree with the paintbrush so the colour would bleed into the sky. To fill the sky I picked up extra colour from my glass mat. When all the paint was dry I removed the masking fluid and added a die cut sentiment and a matching mat.

I followed the same process for the second card but used hot pressed watercolour paper and more colours of distress stain. I also stamped a few trees in the background using a tree from the ‘prancers‘ set and peacock feathers distress ink.

When snow completely covers our Christmas lights the colour does look a bit blurry shining through the snow. That’s what these cards remind me of.

Not that there are any Christmas trees or lights up around here yet. There are members of this family with strong feelings about Christmas decorations!

Supplies

Stamps: winter tree, prancers

Stains: mustard seed, blue print sketch, peacock feathers, pine needles

Die: merry Christmas (PB)

Paper: cold pressed watercolour paper, deep blue cardstock

Tools: MISTI, T ruler, stick-it adhesive, glass mat

Pretty Paper Neighbourhood & a Wreath

Posted: November 16, 2018 | Author: Heather | Filed under: Alexandra Renke, neighbourhood border, starry night, whirl wreath | Tags: Alexandra Renke cardstock, Penny Black creative dies, Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress inks, Tsukineko Versafine inks | 6 Comments

It’s all soft and subtle on the blog today. I have two projects featuring the beautiful Alexandra Renke cardstock the Foiled Fox recently started carrying in their store. The weight of the cardstock is somewhere between a good quality printer paper and a piece of cardstock. There is definitely enough weight to die cut nicely.

I chose the elegant ‘whirl wreath’ by Penny Black and cut one out of ‘pink dots’ cardstock. I attached it around the centre circle with adhesive but left the branches unattached ( so I will be careful putting it in a envelope) The background is ‘rose stripes’ which matches the pink dots perfectly. I cut the bow out of a piece of cardstock from my stash and layered a few together to give it some extra weight. I blended around the edge of the striped panel with tattered rose distress ink and attached everything to a cream cardbase.

I chose to add a natural twine bow to the die cut bow then had to co-ordinate the sentiment with antique linen distress ink.

For my little neighbourhood card I use three patterns of Alexandra Renke cardstock, the rose stripes, gray stripes and medium mud watercolour. I know it is hard to see the details of the die cuts in my photo but in real life the pink striped neighbourhood is clear against two lines of gray striped trees in front of a gray mud starry sky.

I have been wanting to try a white on white layered die cut scene and I probably still will but chose to try it with these pretty papers first. The neighbourhood is layered over two layers of trees cut with the ‘trees and hills’ dies which are layered over a gray piece cut with the starry sky night die attached directly to a white card base.

I featured some of the subtle colours and patterns from Alexandra Renke today but I do have some bold patterns and solids to share another day.

Have a great weekend.

Supplies

Stamps: Christmas sentiments, winter days (PB)

Dies: whirl wreath, neighbourhood border, starry night die, trees & hills die set (PB)

Cardstock: Alexandra Renke medium mud watercolor, gray stripes, rose stripes & Neenah solar white, cream, pink

Inks: tattered rose, antique linen distress ink, smokey gray versafine ink

Also: hemp twine

Mittens

Posted: November 13, 2018 | Author: Heather | Filed under: Christmas mittens | Tags: Faber-Castell Albrecht Durer Watercolour pencils, Faber-Castell Polychromos Colour Pencil, Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress inks, WOW embossing powders | 7 Comments

I have mentioned Kathy Racoosin’s 30 day colouring challenge a few times lately. It is definitely a no stress, no fuss, no obligation challenge which I have participated in before. Kathy, would be the first one to tell you there is no preparation necessary and I agree. However, I am enjoying it more this time around because I did do a little stamping in advance. I sat down at my work table a few days before the challenge began and stamped a bunch of images. I embossed some, stamped some in waterbased dye ink and a few in waterproof black ink. I basically created a little stack of images I could reach for and colour when I had the chance. It has helped me to be more involved this time. Sometimes I work on a panel until it is finished, other times, as in the case of these mittens, I colour it bit by bit or mitt by mitt!

I stamped the red mittens on hot pressed watercolour paper in worn lipstick distress inks and the cord in rusty hinge distress ink. I painted over the stamping with water to blend the pink ink to a smoother colour and to soften the stark white of the stripes. I added shading and little lines on the edges of the mittens and texture to the cord with watercolour pencils.

I decided the red mittens would be hanging against a wall or fence outside so I stamped and cut a mask of the mittens, covered them and stamped the woodgrain stamp from the PB set ‘tall timbers’ first one way then again at right angles in weathered wood and frayed burlap distress inks. As with the mittens I blended over the stamping with water and added extra colour from watercolour pencils especially around one side of the mitts to look like shadow. To finish the panel I stamped some snowflakes on the mitts, a sentiment and also splattered some embossing fluid before embossing it all with white powder.

I followed a similar process with the blue mittens but stamped them initially in three blue distress inks (broken china, salty ocean and chipped sapphire). I blended the stamping with water then, when it was dry, added details with coloured pencils. I wanted them to look knitted so I drew a pattern to look like rib at the cuffs then some lines and shading on the rest of the mitts.

Once again I added a woodgrain background this time by masking the lower portion of the panel before stamping the woodgrain from the PB ‘inspiring’ set then more masking to stamp it horizontally across the card. The sentiments for both cards are from the PB ‘smile all season’ set.

Warm & cosy wishes everyone!

Supplies

Stamps: Christmas mittens, inspiring, tall timbers, smile all season

Paper: hot & cold pressed watercolour paper, neenah cream

Inks: worn lipstick, rusty hinge, broken china, salty ocean, chipped sapphire, frayed burlap, weathered wood, hickory smoke

Also: white embossing powder
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Pencils: Albrecht Durer watercolour pencils, Polychromos pencils (Faber Castell)
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Lantern

Posted: November 9, 2018 | Author: Heather | Filed under: winter branches, Xmas sprigs | Tags: Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress inks, Ranger Distress stains | 8 Comments

This little light of mine is the ‘lantern’ stamp from Penny Black paired with the ‘Xmas sprigs’ and ‘winter branches’ for added interest. I worked on this panel over several days leaving it in the MISTI the whole time so I could add a bit anytime I was waiting for something else to dry. I definitely made use of the MISTI to build up colour without loosing much detail from the stamp.

The panel is cold pressed watercolour paper; you can see a bit of texture in the yellow areas. I began by stamping the whole lantern in scattered straw distress ink. Next I stamped all but the very centre around the flame with wild honey ink, after than spiced marmalade ink and finally rusty hinge ink, each time leaving more of the centre of the stamp un-inked so the brightest ink was central and the darkest around the edges. At this point I hadn’t done any blending, it was all just stamped. I switched to a chipped sapphire marker and began stamping the details of the lantern and blending them with a wet paintbrush. Dark blue over all the orange tones looked almost black. I stuck with the chipped sapphire marker and kept adding detail, blending, then letting it dry before doing any more. I added detail and shadow to the lantern by painting with chipped sapphire ink then dried the panel before blending the warm tones inside the lantern.

I stamped some foliage around the lantern after positioning a mask over it. I stamped a leaf stamp from the Xmas sprigs set in mowed lawn and pine needles distress inks then dotted some small berries with a candied apple distress marker. I added some winter branches stamped in versafine black then coloured with a fine black micron pen.

I wasn’t sure whether to try adding background colour at this point; It can be a bit risky. I painted scattered straw stain around the lantern and chipped sapphire stain around the edge of the panel then blended some water in between the colours because I didn’t want the yellow and blue mixing to create a strange green light! And it worked better than expected. The final detail was a sentiment in dark blue from the ‘holy night’ set.

Thanks for dropping in today. Enjoy your weekend.

Supplies

Stamps: lantern, Xmas sprigs, winter branches, holy night (PB)

Inks: scattered straw, wild honey, spiced marmalade, rusty hinge, mowed lawn, pine needles, chipped sapphire distress inks & nocturne versafine clair, majestic blue versafine

Markers: chipped sapphire, candied apple distress markers, micron pen

Paper: cold pressed watercolour paper, neenah cream cardstock

Stains: chipped sapphire, scattered straw

Also: MISTI, masking paper

Oh What Fun!

Posted: November 7, 2018 | Author: Heather | Filed under: elf stocking, holly sprig | Tags: Alexandra Renke cardstock, Faber-Castell Albrecht Durer Watercolour pencils, Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress inks | 11 Comments

I was surprised how much fun I had colouring this stocking stamp. I worked on it on Saturday afternoon when it was wet and dreary outside; I lit a fire in my fireplace and brought colouring supplies up from my workroom so I could have a comfy cosy afternoon of colouring inspired by Kathy Racoosin’s 30 day colouring challenge.

Before colouring I’d used a stamp positioner to stamp the holly sprig stamp first in pine needles, mowed lawn and festive berries distress ink. I blended the leaves with a wet brush and let them dry. I cut a mask to cover the holly branch then stamped the stocking over the top in worn lipstick distress ink. Other than painting the leaves straight after they were stamped, all the other stamping was a base for watercolour pencil colouring.

Because my base stamping was pink I decided to stay with a red and white colour scheme. I used a couple of red watercolour pencils and a paint brush to do half the stripes and the decorative top of the stocking. Rather than colour with the pencils straight on the watercolour panel, I picked up pigment from the pencils with a wet brush and painted over the stamping. I toyed with the idea of red and purple stripes but I’m glad I chose a very pale earth green which blended with the pink ink to look pale pink. I messed up a stripe at the top but I’m hoping the recipient won’t notice that!

For the berries I used darker red pencils and the bells a mustard and a rusty brown pencil. I added a background by ruling a few lines in medium grey watercolour pencil then blending and painting more grey below each line. I painted a grey shadow to the left of the stocking and leaves.

As usual I gave no thought to a sentiment until all my painting was completed and then of course I wasn’t sure where to put a sentiment or whether to have one at all. I hadn’t really paid attention to the size of my panel either so I had to do some creative matting to turn it into a card that would fit into the size of envelope I had. So as you can see, no, I don’t plan all the details of my cards in advance!

Supplies

Stamps: elf stocking, Christmas sentiments

Paper: Neenah cream, hot pressed watercolour, red, Alexandra Renke mud

Inks: pine needles, mowed lawn, worn lipstick distress inks, festive berries distress marker & smokey gray versafine ink

Pencils: Faber Castell Albrecht Dürer watercolour pencils

Tools: MISTI, T-ruler, masking paper

Winter Joy

Posted: November 6, 2018 | Author: Heather | Filed under: Winter Joy | Tags: Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress inks, WOW embossing powders | 3 Comments

More poinsettias to share today. These ones are from the Penny Black transparent set ‘winter joy’. I embossed several poinsettias in gold and did some loose colouring with distress inks inside the poinsettias then decided to paint a warm antique linen background with a little red added in.

Distress inks are easy to use as watercolour paints. I just press my ink pads onto my glass mat or an acrylic block then pick up the ink with a paint brush. I can add water to make a paler colour or work with undiluted ink.

You can see in the close up how loose I kept the painting both inside and outside the petals. What you can’t see so well is the pretty shine of the gold embossing and the gold twine. I’d like to try painting a white poinsettia for a change; it is a bit more of a challenge though to work out how to add colour even though I want it to appear white. If I have success I’ll be showing you.

Supplies

Stamps: winter joy, Christmas sentiments

Inks: versamark, forest moss, antique linen, barn door, wild honey, tulip red versafine clair

Paper: hot pressed watercolour, neenah cream

Also: metallic gold rich embossing powder, glass mat, gold cord