Farewell to summer: Beach
Posted: September 24, 2015 Filed under: A Pocket Full, Hand drawn, So Lucky | Tags: Penny Black creative dies, Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress stains 7 Comments
This hand-painted card depicts one of my favourite summer activities, sadly one that I rarely get to enjoy these days. Growing up we had a beach holiday every summer. I don’t live anywhere near the beach now but I did enjoy a couple of trips to the lake during July and August. One trip was to Sandbanks on Lake Ontario. The lake is so huge that it looks like an ocean beach but the water just doesn’t taste right! Apparently the wind does whip up waves most days but when we were there it was flat, flat, flat.
The card above is based on my memories of Australian beaches. We would walk over a little or large dune and reach the beach, usually a surf beach, and check out how good the waves were going to be that day. I painted with distress stains over some masking fluid ‘white caps’ and added some grass with a stamp from the ‘so lucky’ transparent set.
This is the last in my Farewell to summer mini series, it will be pretty much autumn and winter themed cards for a while now!
Supplies:
Stamps: So Lucky, Special Wishes (PB)
Creative Dies: A pocketfull (PB)
Inks: chipped sapphire, salty ocean, tumbled glass, broken china, pine needles, scattered straw, mustard seed, vintage photo distress stains, peeled paint, crushed olive distress inks (Ranger)
Cardstock: Fabriano 100% cotton hot pressed watercolour paper, Neenah avon brilliant white, green cardstock
Pumpkins aplenty
Posted: September 23, 2015 Filed under: Periscope, Pumpkins | Tags: Fabriano Watercolour Paper, Penny Black stamps, Periscope, Ranger Distress stains 14 Comments
Have you seen all the pumpkins lined up in the fields waiting for…well I’m not sure what they’re waiting for, to be bought I guess, or to be collected. It is a sign of autumn to see them all there in their orange glory. I have never been a fan of orange but the distress stain, spiced marmalade, has softened my opinions a bit, it is such a rich colour.
I have two very similar cards today because I watercoloured one as a practice and then broadcast on periscope the watercolouring of the other. I scoped it yesterday so it is still available to watch on the web here.
I used the same technique for both panels, inking the stamp directly with distress stains, spritzing it then stamping on watercolour paper. While the stain was still wet I used a waterbrush to pull colour from the outline into the pumpkins and leaves. Anywhere that I didn’t have enough stain to spread I picked up some extra from an acrylic block and painted it on.
Thanks for dropping by.
Supplies:
Stamps: Pumpkins, Snippets, Enjoy (PB)
Inks: Spiced Marmalade, Rusty Hinge, Ground Espresso, Peeled Paint, Forest Moss distress stains (Ranger) Versafine Olympia Green & Spanish Moss (Tsukineko)
Cardstock: Hot pressed watercolour paper, Neenah natural white cardstock, Kazazz textured cardstock
Also: gold embroidery thread
Farewell to summer: Rose
Posted: September 19, 2015 Filed under: Hand drawn, Watercolour | Tags: Fabriano Watercolour Paper, Ranger Distress stains 8 Comments
Another farewell to summer card, this time roses. We are enjoying the most beautiful weather at present so the farewell to summer is not too painful!
I painted this one myself with distress stains then added one little stamped sentiment. You cannot tell in the photo but the brown looking paper is actually black and gold glittery paper, not a shiny glitter a subtle glitter which works in well with the olive tones of the leaves. (If you like the look of handpainted roses check out Lydia’s recent roses with the artograph and brusho. It is a cool technique.) My plan for a while has been to be sketching and painting regularly but I am just not in the habit yet. I know a little every day is the way to improve. As my kids would say. “Just do it!”
Supplies:
Stamps: A Bunch (PB)
Inks: Aged mahogany, Victorian Velvet, Peeled Paint, Crushed Olive distress stains (Ranger), versafine Olympia green (Tsukineko)
Cardstock: Fabriano 100% cotton hot pressed watercolour paper, Neenah natural white
Astral defined with pencils
Posted: September 18, 2015 Filed under: Astral | Tags: Bister, Faber-Castell Albrecht Durer Watercolour pencils, Faber-Castell Polychromos Colour Pencil, Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress stains 2 Comments
The new release from Penny Black includes several negative space stamps, meaning stamps with a lot of solid rubber where the image is the part that does not stamp. This one, ‘Astral’ is the most solid of them all and I have been playing with ways to add colour and texture to the large solid area. I stamped the one above weeks back when I created this card, but it was cast aside. When I picked it up again I decided to add shadows to the sides of the trees with coloured pencils. The background colour is a mix of memento inks, distress stains and bister powder. When adding coloured pencil I used a bit of black but mainly chose colours already appearing the in the background. I used the pencils here and there to deepen the colour and define the edges.
I stamped and painted another one in green yesterday and filmed on periscope while doing so. (To watch me on periscope you can download the ap for your phone then search for me by name or watch on the web here. In both those places the videos are available for 24 hours.) On the green one I added detail with watercolour pencils and splatter with a white wink of stella pen. It is quite a large stamp; I cropped the panel for the blue and pink card to fit a 5.5’x4.25″ card base but kept the whole image plus a border for the green card.
Supplies for pink card:
Stamps: Astral, Snippets (PB)
Inks: Dusty Concord, Worn Lipstick, Salty Ocean, Stormy sky distress inks (Ranger), Memento Summer Sky, Versafine onyx black (Tsukineko)
Cardstock: Fabriano 100% cotton hot pressed watercolour paper
Also: Bister watercolour powder, Interference Blue pearl-ex spray, Faber Castell polychromos pencils
Supplies for green card:
Stamps: Astral, Snippets (PB)
Inks: Broken China, Salty Ocean, Crushed Olive, Pine Needles distress stains (Ranger), Memento Cottage Ivy, Northern Pine, Versamark (Tsukineko)
Cardstock: Canson 100% cotton hot pressed watercolour paper
Also: White wink of stella pen, white embossing powder, green machine embroidery thread, Faber Castell watercolour pencils
Poppies with love
Posted: September 14, 2015 Filed under: Efflorescence, Flourish, No Card Left Behind | Tags: Fabriano Watercolour Paper, Penny Black creative dies, Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress stains, Tsukineko Memento inks 16 Comments
I have another card featuring one of my favourite techniques, ‘watercolouring with distress stains‘. I worked on a panel of watercolour paper taped to a board and splattered with masking fluid. The stamp is an outline stamp which I inked with festive berries and ripe persimmon stain on the petals and peeled paint on the stems. I painted colour into the petals straight away so the outlines would blend with the colour in the whole petal. I drew a bud and a few leaves with a marker to fill the space more evenly. Once the flowers were almost dry I painted the background with desert sand ink and added some text also. I added black to the flower centres with a marker and blended with water to soften the edges a little.
When I removed the tape and the masking fluid I wasn’t entirely happy with the finished panel. Instead of trying to alter any part of the watercolouring I decided to add another element, the die cut flourish over the top. I tied the flourish in with a swirly sentiment and attached all the elements to a natural card base.
Supplies:
Stamps: Efflorescence, Footnotes (PB)
Creative Dies: Flourish, For You (PB)
Inks: Festive Berries, Ripe Persimmon, Peeled Paint Distress stains, Desert sand ink, Tuxedo Black, Northern Pine memento markers (Tsukineko)
Paper: Fabriano 100% cotton hot pressed watercolour paper, Neenah natural white cardstock
Also: Winsor & Newton masking fluid
Greatest of these
Posted: September 9, 2015 Filed under: Love Chapter, Soft Wings | Tags: Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress inks, Ranger Distress stains, Tsukineko Memento inks 7 Comments
Today’s card is an example of wet into wet watercolour with some stamping added later for definition and texture. I wet the taped panel of watercolour paper then stamped a pale butterfly to give me an outline to paint over. I painted in pinks and purples and added background colour in teal. When it was dry I restamped in dark blue and did some partial stamping with the text stamp from the ‘love chapter’ transparent set.
I love watching the colour blend and blur when I stamp onto wet watercolour paper. If you haven’t tried it you should; it’s fun and you can always stamp over it if it is just too loose and flowy for you! I mentioned Periscope in my last post; if you’d like to know more about it I found this helpful tutorial.
By the way the latest One Layer Simplicity challenge is up and running with Ardyth. It’s all about numbers; check it out.
Supplies:
Stamps: Soft Wings, Love Chapter (PB)
Inks: Pine needles, Chipped Sapphire, Aged Mahogany, Worn Lipstick distress stains and inks (Ranger) Summer Sky memento ink (Tsukineko)
Cardstock: Fabriano 100% cotton hotpressed watercolour paper
Also: Winsor & Newton masking fluid
Golden Woods
Posted: September 7, 2015 Filed under: Bister, Snowy Grove | Tags: Bister, Canson watercolour paper, Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress inks, Ranger Distress stains, Tsukineko Memento inks 14 Comments
Snowy Grove (used on the card above) is one of my favourite stamps from the new PB release. I have already used it for a fall and a winter look and plan to include it in one of my upcoming Christmas card classes. To create this scene I created the soft gradation of colour behind the trees first by brayering memento dandelion ink over the bottom half of the panel and memento cantaloupe ink over the top half. I then inked the stamp with forest moss, gathered twigs and dried marigold distress inks and stamped. For the more watery blended look I inked the stamp again with vintage photo and spiced marmalade distress stains and stamped a second time (with the help of the misti). Because the stains sit on the paper for a while without soaking in I was able to grab a paintbrush and paint over the large trunks to fill in the empty circles that suggest snow. I pulled some of the stain down into the ‘ground’ area and, with some extra stain, filled the forest floor with brown stain then sprinkled some brown bister powder over the panel for extra texture.
By the way I have been enjoying watching a few amazingly artistic stampers create pretty things live or on replay using Periscope. I hope to film my first ‘scope’ some time this week. Maybe I’ll see you there. (If you haven’t heard of Periscope click on the link for a little overview)
Supplies:
Stamps: Snowy Grove (PB)
Inks: Memento Cantaloupe & Dandelion (Tsukineko ) Forest Moss, Gathered Twigs, Dried Marigold, Vintage Photo, Spiced Marmalade distress stains and/or inks (Ranger)
Cardstock: Canson 100% cotton cold pressed watercolour paper, brown cardstocks
Also: Brown Bister
Full Bloom
Posted: September 4, 2015 Filed under: Full Bloom | Tags: Fabriano Watercolour Paper, Penny Black creative dies, Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress stains 7 Comments
‘Full Bloom’, the stamp featured on this card, will be a great stamp to use year round. The hanging blooms could be flowers or berries just by varying the ink colour or details added. I chose to make it in fall colours with a contrasting background. I inked the stamp with distress stains, spritzed it, then stamped on watercolour paper. I inked the ‘ever useful letter background stamp’ with purple stain, spritzed with water, stamped then painted over the script to spread the colour and blur the letters. The masking tape holding the panel left a white border when removed; I added a purple mat and die cut sentiment.
Supplies:
Stamps: Full Bloom, Letter Background (PB)
Creative Die: For You (PB)
Inks: Spiced marmalade, Dried Marigold, Pine needles, Crushed Olive, Seedless preserves distress stains (Ranger)
Cardstock: Fabriano 100% cotton hot pressed watercolour paper & purple card
Also: Winsor & Newton masking fluid
Pumpkin Patch
Posted: September 2, 2015 Filed under: Pumpkin Patch | Tags: Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress stains 3 Comments
On the Penny Black blog this week you can find new fall and halloween stamps including the pumpkin patch cling stamp featured above. Before stamping the image I created a loose blue and yellow background by painting wet on wet with distress stains. When that was dry I inked the stamp with distress stains, spritzed it and stamped the image. I stamped the leaves a couple more times to fill the foreground. Once the stamping was dry I added some dimension and splatters with watercolour pencils then finished the card with mats and a die cut sentiment. I have noticed a few coloured leaves have fallen here and there but there are not yet pumpkins everywhere!
Supplies:
Stamps: Pumpkin Patch (PB)
Creative Dies: Deco Frame (PB)
Inks: Tumbled Glass, Crushed Olive, Dried Marigold, Vintage Photo distress stains (Ranger)
Cardstock: Canson 100% cotton cold pressed watercolour paper, brown & green cardstocks
Also: Faber Castell Albrecht Durer watercolour pencils, masking fluid
Friendship
Posted: September 1, 2015 Filed under: Demure, Swaying | Tags: Faber-Castell Albrecht Durer Watercolour pencils, Fabriano Watercolour Paper, Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress stains 9 Comments
Today’s card, completed back in February for a ‘Friendship’ themed challenge was stamped onto wet watercolour paper with stain making a ‘wet on wet’ image. I added colour with a paint brush and when the flowers dried a bit, painted the background colour as well. I also stamped a background stamp over the whole panel in pale brown for a vintage patterned paper look. Only when the panel was dry did I add splatter and shading with watercolour pencils. As I have mentioned before I don’t always think about the sentiment until the end. Stamping my sentiment on vellum meant that it could cover some of the panel without losing the bigger picture.
Supplies:
Stamps: Demure, Swaying, Special Wishes (PB)
Inks: Versamark (Tsukineko) Tumbled Glass, Wild Honey, Worn Lipstick, Victorian Velvet, Spiced Marmalade, Peeled Paint Distress stains(Ranger)
Cardstock: Fabriano hot press watercolour,Vellum, Neenah Natural White, burgandy cardstock
Also: Faber Castell Albrecht Durer watercolour pencils, Copper embossing powder
Heather Telford 