More from the Garden

Posted: February 5, 2014 | Author: Heather | Filed under: Garden Letter, Hollyhocks, Interlocking, Watercolour | Tags: Fabriano Watercolour Paper, Penny Black creative dies, Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress stains, Tsukineko Memento inks | 3 Comments

This is my second post for today. I’m posting some of the same cards featured on the Penny Black blog today with a little explanation of my techniques. If you haven’t visited the PB blog yet this week make sure you do as there are giveaways and a new contest. All the new ‘Happy Everything’ release is available in the online store today.

Both the Hollyhock and Garden Letter cards were made using some watercolour techniques but not the same way I made the poppy cards in the previous poppies post. To create the Garden Letter collage card above I wet the paper first then stamped first in Memento Pistachio ink which bled enough to lose most of its definition but not so much that I couldn’t see where the images were. I used a paintbrush, Memento inks and Ranger Distress stains to add colour to the bird, butterfly and flowers. To finish I re-inked the stamp selectively in Memento Rich Cocoa and re-stamped the design.

Supplies:

Stamps: Garden Letter, Special Wishes (PB)
Inks: Memento Rich Cocoa, Pistachio, Pear Tart (Tsukineko)
Distress Stains: Victorian Velvet, Crushed Olive (Ranger)
Cardstock: Fabriano 100% cotton hot pressed watercolour paper

I used a similar technique to create the Hollyhocks panel, inking the stamp with green and pink markers and stamping it on watercolour paper. I spritzed the image taking card to direct the spray from left to right so the image did not bleed everywhere. I used a paintbrush to spread and direct the ink where I wanted it then re-inked parts of the stamp with markers then re-stamped to give the flowers and stems more definition. I coloured the flower centres with a watercolour pencil. The panel is popped up on a diecut mat cut with the new Interlocking die.

Supplies:

Stamps: Hollyhocks, Special Wishes (PB)
Pencils: Albrecht Durer Watercolour pencils (Faber-Castell)
Inks: Memento Rosebud, Bamboo leaves, Olive Grove (Tsukineko)
Creative Dies: Interlocking (PB)
Cardstock: Fabriano 100% cotton hot pressed watercolour paper

A Valentine wish

Posted: January 15, 2014 | Author: Heather | Filed under: Background Stamps, CAS | Tags: CAS, Fabriano Watercolour Paper, Penny Black creative dies, Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress stains, Tsukineko Memento inks | 10 Comments

In honour of Penny Black’s newest collection, Sending Hugs, there is a challenge on the PB blog and a chance to win stamps. The challenge is running all January so you still have plenty of time to play along.

The rose on my card today is just one of the beauties featured in the Sending Hugs collection. I created the background by sponging the rose twice through a die cut mask, then adding music, script and some perimeter sponging. The feature rose was diecut from watercolour paper then painted with distress stain.

Thanks for dropping by.

Supplies:

Stamps: From the Heart, Music Background, Letter background
Creative Dies: Rose
Inks: Memento London Fog, Lady Bug (Tsukineko) Distress Stains Barn Door, Peeled Paint ( Ranger)
Cardstock: Neenah Solar White, Fabriano 25% cotton hot pressed watercolour paper

Playing with the skyline 2

Posted: January 13, 2014 | Author: Heather | Filed under: CAS, Skyline, Watercolour | Tags: CAS, Fabriano Watercolour Paper, Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress stains, Tsukineko Memento inks | 4 Comments

Here are the third and fourth cards made with watercolour and the skyline stamp. Yesterday’s cards were done by stamping with Memento dye inks onto wet watercolour paper. Today’s cards were once again stamped with Memento dye inks but stamped onto dry watercolour paper. To create the top card I inked the top of the stamp and pressed it onto the panel at an angle to make sure I didn’t get more of the stamp than I wanted. I started with the blue stamping up the top and blended with a waterbrush immediately after stamping. I pulled the ink down blending with water to fade to no colour quickly. I then repeated the process with green ink then the other colours.

The lower card started out as wet into dry except for one swipe of water horizontally across the bottom of the panel. I inked the stamp with Memento markers, taking care not to ink to the bottom of the stamp. I stamped onto the panel so that the bottom of the stamp landed in the swipe of water then immediately pulled the ink down into the water. When I had blended the colour on the buildings and in the swipe it was fairly pale, not quite the impact I was after. I decided to add more colour to the buildings with distress stains so I swiped water horizontally again and then painted each building with a distress stain which was a similar colour to the ink I had first stamped with. I ended up with the basically the same design but the colour was more intense and the swipe was full of pretty blended colour.

(surprised and pleased to see my card when browsing Ellen Hutson’s instagram from CHA today http://instagram.com/p/jFTJZkjj6X/)

Supplies:

Stamps: Skyline, Summer Fun, Sweet Wishes (PB)
Inks: Memento Rhubarb stalk, Potter’s Clay, Danube Blue, Cottage Ivy, Dandelion, Cantaloupe, Rich Cocoa (Tsukineko)
Distress Stains: Barn door, Faded jeans, Spiced marmalade, Vintage photo, Mustard Seed (Ranger)
Cardstock: Fabriano 100% & 25% cotton hot pressed watercolour paper

Watercolour daisies 2 ways

Posted: January 9, 2014 | Author: Heather | Filed under: Flower Festival, Watercolour | Tags: Fabriano Watercolour Paper, Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress stains, Tsukineko Memento inks | 21 Comments

These two cards demonstrate the difference between two watercolour techniques. (Sorry there is no video tutorial for these two) The top card was created using the ‘wet into wet’ technique and the bottom card the ‘wet into dry’ technique.

Wet into Wet card
I wet the whole panel of watercolour paper, inked the stamp in orange and green Memento inks then stamped it onto the wet paper. Immediately colour bled and spread. I waited a little while before restamping the image and painting more colour onto the petals and stems with distress inks. I blended with water and worked with the colours for a while before I was satisfied with the flowers. I dampened the background area again before adding some blue to blend with the colours from the flowers.

Wet into Dry card

I stamped the image once again with Memento inks but this time onto dry paper. I used a small paintbrush to paint distress stains onto the image. I blended colours and added water inside the lines but rarely let the colours bleed out into the rest of the panel. I flicked ink onto the panel when the flowers were complete.

I did both these panels as experiments and as I was doing them I did not think the ‘wet into wet’ would make it onto a card. It was just looking too messy. I kept going with the inks and background and finished it anyway but was not too hopeful. When I came back the next day and saw the two attempts dry I was quite happy with both. If you are interested in these techniques just play around with the water: a little more, a little less, sometimes you will be pleasantly surprised with the results.

Supplies:

Stamps: Flower Festival, Summer Fun, Friendship(Penny Black)
Inks: Distress stains Spiced Marmalade, Mustard Seed, Peeled Paint, Broken China, Vintage Photo & Memento inks Bamboo Leaves, Tangelo
Cardstock: Fabriano 100% cotton hot pressed watercolour paper, Mix and match Grand Canyon paper

Merry Christmas with holly

Posted: December 21, 2013 | Author: Heather | Filed under: A Wish for Peace, CAS, Dies | Tags: Fabriano Watercolour Paper, Penny Black creative dies, Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress stains, Tsukineko Memento inks | 6 Comments

These two cards are the result of some playing around with distress stains on watercolour paper. For the one above I stamped the holly (in memento ink) and coloured it(with distress stain) first, added the background (distress stain) with a paintbrush and stamped the letter background (memento ink) over everything. For the ornaments below I painted a wash of blue first and stamped the holly and music over the wash. Because the distress stain and the memento ink are both dye inks the colour intensified when I painted green over the blue background. The baubles were cut using the Penny Black die “ornaments.”

I finally sat down yesterday and wrote in 90% of my Christmas cards. I still have a few to write. Yes, I know there are only a few days before Christmas Day, but there are twelve days of Christmas aren’t there?

(the card above has balance issues; can you see them?)

Supplies:

Stamps: A Wish for Peace, Music Background, Letter Background, Dear Friend (PB)
Creative Dies: Ornaments, Love & Joy (PB)
Inks: Memento Pistachio, Summer Sky, Lady Bug (Tsukineko) Broken China & Peeled Paint Distress Stains (Ranger)
Cardstock: Penny Black mix & match olive grove paper, Fabriano 100% cotton hot pressed watercolour paper
Also: Red ribbon from Lorraine’s stash

Watercolour pine bough

Posted: December 18, 2013 | Author: Heather | Filed under: Needles and cones, Watercolour | Tags: CAS, Fabriano Watercolour Paper, Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress stains, Tsukineko Memento inks | 14 Comments

I have another watercolour card today created using a similar technique to this card. I had a piece of watercolour paper was already covered with little flecks of masking fluid so I wet the panel, inked the pine bough stamp with Memento markers and stamped it onto the wet paper. It bled quite a bit so I let it dry a little then re-inked and stamped again to give definition to the pine cones and needles. I painted the background with diluted distress stain which blended in some places with the stamping. Because I chose to mat my picture panel I did not want another border around the sentiment so I stamped the sentiment on a post-it note and cut out the centre text creating a window mask to stamp through.

My daughter made some cute cookies this week.

Supplies:
Stamps: Needles and cones, Glad Tiding (PB)
Inks: Memento Cottage Ivy, EspressoTruffle & Distress Stain Broken China (Tsukineko)
Cardstock: Fabriano 25% cotton hot pressed watercolour paper
Also: Winsor & Newton Masking Fluid

Tiny watercolour

Posted: December 15, 2013 | Author: Heather | Filed under: CAS, Stamped Landscapes, White Christmas | Tags: Fabriano Watercolour Paper, Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress stains, Tsukineko Memento inks | 7 Comments

Penny Black has a set of two slapstick cling stamps depicting sweet snowy scenes. One shows a church and decorated tree, the other is above. I used distress stains and Memento markers to colour this little snow scape after I had embossed it with clear powder. I added water as I coloured, to blend and spread the ink. I think the foreground ink blend makes the snow man look like he is standing on ice rather than snow. After a storm last night we have plenty of both snow and ice.

You might be interested to know that One Layer Wednesday is currently having a make-over. The team has some exciting new plans we will share when we kick off again in the new year.

Supplies:

Stamps: White Christmas, Silent Night (PB)
Inks: Distress stains Faded Jeans, Broken China, & Memento Markers Cottage Ivy, Lady Bug, Tangelo, Dandelion & Versamark
Cardstock: Fabriano 100% cotton hot pressed watercolour paper, Neenah Solar White

Snowy Fantasy

Posted: December 14, 2013 | Author: Heather | Filed under: Fantasy, Watercolour | Tags: Fabriano Watercolour Paper, Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress stains, Tsukineko Memento inks | 18 Comments

I know my Winter Wonderland week on the Penny Black blog is officially over, but I do have a snowscape or two still to share.

This panel was done on water colour paper with a mix of Distress stains and Memento inks. I positioned a hill mask first before I stamped the tree in Versamark then inked only the trunk and branches in dark brown and stamped it again a little lower. I filled the rest of the sky with snow by repeatedly inking and stamping only a corner of the Fantasy stamp in versamark. I then embossed the tree and snow in clear powder. To create the sky I wet the top of the panel with water and started blending dusty concord and broken china distress stains. I stamped the flourish several times in Memento sweet plum while the paper was still damp. I then removed the mask and painted shadows with diluted distress stains to create the snow banks in the foreground.

Apparently another snow storm is heading our way tomorrow so it will continue to look like a winter wonderland around here!

Supplies:

Stamps: Fantasy, Dancing Deers, White Christmas (Penny Black)
Inks : Memento Sweet Plum, Espresso Truffle, Versamark (Tsukineko) Dusty Concord, Broken China Distress Stains (Ranger)
Cardstock: Penny Black Mix & Match Papers Fuschia Fantasies, Fabriano 100% cotton hot pressed watercolour paper
Also: Clear embossing powder

Watercolour pointsettia

Posted: December 4, 2013 | Author: Heather | Filed under: Warm Wishes, Watercolour | Tags: Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress stains | 23 Comments

I do not have another snow scene for you today but my pointsettia does feature masking fluid “snowflecks”. I used a watercolour block for this panel and flicked masking fluid over it with a tooth brush. I used distress stains for the first time along with some memento greens. The pointsettia is stamped with Barn Door distress stain. The impression was pale and incomplete at the tips of a few petals which was perfect for what I planned to do. The stamped image was my guide for watercolouring but I didn’t want it the outline to dominate. As I wanted to paint with the distress stains I pressed the bottle’s sponge top down several times onto an acrylic block which I was using as a palette then picked up the ink with a paintbrush. I painted the lower petals with barely diluted stain and the top petals with a blend of water and stain. After I had painted them all red I realised I wanted some green outer ones so I stamped one lightly with memento pear tart ink and drew the others with a pear tart marker. I added brown ink to the areas I wanted to be shadowed and used a marker to redefine the centre of the flower. To create a background I painted water around the poinsettia then painted Broken China stain into the wet areas. The card is 5.5″ x 5.25″.

Thanks for all the lovely comments about my snow storm card. For those who are new to Bits & Pieces you can find all the tutorials I have done here: https://cardz.wordpress.com/category/tutorial/

Supplies:

Stamps: Warm Wishes, Hello Winter (PB)
Inks: Distress stains Barn Door, Peeled Paint, Broken China, Vintage Photo & Memento inks Bamboo Leaves, Pear Tart & Versafine Vintage Sepia
Cardstock: Fabriano 100% cotton hot pressed watercolour paper, Mix and match Grand Canyon paper
Also: Winsor & Newton masking fluid