Dazzling

I have some happy flowers to share today. I stamped them with distress stains for a loose watercolour look.

Using a yellow and an orange stain I inked the petals and stamped one flower at a time. To overlap the flowers so that one appeared in front of the other I wiped stain off parts of the stamp before stamping next to the previous image. While the stain was still a little damp on the paper I inked only the centres of the flowers in brown and the stems in green then stamped over the yellow and orange. That way I was able to get soft blends but not lose too much definition.

You can see in my two examples I have varied the amount of colour and the amount of time between adding colours. When all the stain was dry I added some splatter around and over the flowers.

I added framed one panel with some orange cardstock and left the other filling the whole card base.

I think they are rather cheery.

Supplies

Stamps: dazzling, special thoughts (PB)
Stains: mustard seed, spiced marmalade, forest moss, vintage photo
Ink: versafine olympia green
Paper: hot pressed watercolour paper

Over the fence

Posted: September 10, 2017 | Author: Heather | Filed under: beneath the birches, picket fence | Tags: Penny Black creative dies, Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress stains | 13 Comments

This card was inspired by one included in my August class; that one was more of a lakeside silhouette where this one is a little less rustic. I began with a piece of watercolour paper splattered with masking fluid. Once it was dry I taped it down to prevent warping and painted the whole panel with distress stains. I wanted the sky to look star-filled but it could just as easily be snow-filled. I die cut birches and a picket fence and then a sad thing happened. My die cutting machine sits on top of a cube storage cabinet which is quite good because I don’t have to bend to use it and it makes me get up from my work table and move around. The cube storage cabinet houses a lot of my supplies and sits flush against the wall. Apparently not so flush that a die can’t fall down behind it. So let me just say you won’t be seeing those birch trees on a card any time soon. To retrieve the die I will need to empty a lot out of my cabinet and that’s just not going to happen right now!

Glad I got this little card made though.

Supplies

Dies: picket fence, beneath the birches (PB)
Stamps: just a note (PB)
Inks: scattered straw, chipped sapphire, worn lipstick distress stains (Ranger) versafine onyx black (Tsukineko)
Paper: hot pressed watercolour paper (Fabriano), epic black & solar white cardstock (Neenah)

Winter’s forest

Posted: August 30, 2017 | Author: Heather | Filed under: winter's forest | Tags: Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress stains, Tsukineko Versafine inks | 9 Comments

I have new tree stamp to introduce to you today. You know how I feel about tree stamps. I kept the technique quite straightforward for this card but I’m looking forward to trying a few more of my favourite mediums ie. distress stains, inks and markers, memento inks and my new favourite for photo paper – stazon. On this sunlit panel I used versafine onyx black with a clear embossing powder. Embossing the image first made it possible to keep all the trees are dark silhouettes when I painted the sunset behind. I used distress stains and a wet on wet technique to blend yellow into pink then blue. I kept the foreground white for snow then painted some shadows loosely on the watercolour paper.

The stamp is called ‘winter’s forest’ but I know it will be just as handy as spring, summer and autumn’s forest! I had a very relaxing time away last week and enjoyed painting a few pages from Kristy Rice’s Summer Cutting Garden watercoloring book. None of the pages are quite finished but I plan to share them with you soon.

Supplies:

Stamps: winter’s forest (Penny Black)
Inks: broken china, scattered straw, worn lipstick distress stains (Ranger) versafine onyx black (Tsukineko)
Cardstock: hot pressed watercolour paper, aqua cardstock
Also: clear embossing powder

Holly Sprig

Posted: August 18, 2017 | Author: Heather | Filed under: holly sprig | Tags: Penny Black creative dies, Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress stains | 9 Comments

I have another new brushstroke stamp to feature today and I’ve used one of my favourite mediums to colour it: distress stains. I began as in my previous card with a panel already splattered with masking fluid. I painted a pale yellow wash over the panel then dried it. I inked the ‘holly sprig’ stamp with peeled paint and festive berries distress stains, spritzed the water colour panel and stamped. Because the panel was wet the images bled into the surrounding area giving me blurry background images. I dried the panel before stamping the foreground images in the same colours along with pine needles stain for some variation in the leaf colour.

After the panel dried I added some definition to the berries and leaves with distress markers and some green splatter. Finally I removed the masking fluid, die cut ‘Tis the Season’ from red cardstock and framed the panel with a matching red mat.

Supplies

Stamps: holly sprig (PB)
Die: tis the season
Inks: festive berries, peeled paint, pine needles, scattered straw distress stains & candied apple, peeled paint distress markers (Ranger)
Paper: hot pressed watercolour paper, red cardstock
Also: masking fluid

Berry Speckled

Posted: August 16, 2017 | Author: Heather | Filed under: Berry speckled, Uncategorized | Tags: Fabriano Watercolour Paper, Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress inks, Ranger Distress stains | 9 Comments

This branch, ‘berry speckled’, is definitely one of my favourites from the new Penny Black release ‘Be Merry‘. It is pretty on its own but will combine well with other Christmas foliage I’m sure. I decided to watercolour with it, and used a stamp positioning tool to help me add colours one at a time. I worked on hot pressed watercolour paper with masking fluid lightly splattered over it. First I inked the berries in festive berries distress stain and stamped them, next I did the pine needles in peeled paint distress stain and finally the twigs in gathered twigs distress marker. I dried all the initial stamping then added the background blue by painting water close to the edges of the stamping then adding stormy sky distress stain to the wet areas.

Once all the ink and stain was dry I added definition to the berries with a candied apple distress marker. I removed the masking fluid to reveal little white dots, added the sentiment in smokey gray versafine ink and matted the panel in red.

Supplies

Stamps: berry speckled, peace & love (PB)
Inks: festive berries, peeled paint, stormy sky distress stains & candied apple, gathered twigs distress markers (Ranger) smokey gray versafine (Tsukineko)
Paper: hot pressed watercolour paper, red cardstock
Also: masking fluid

Wildflowers blue

Posted: August 7, 2017 | Author: Heather | Filed under: Bright Blossoms vol 1&2, Brusho, French Script, Wildflowers Vol 2 | Tags: Brusho, Darkroom Door stamps, Ranger Distress inks, Ranger Distress stains, WOW embossing powders | 7 Comments

I have a couple more cards that came out of my session with the Darkroom Door Wildflowers vol 2 stamps recently. I began by making blue watercolour backgrounds with brusho paints on hot pressed watercolour paper. Rather than apply the paint directly to the paper, I sprinkled it on a craft sheet, spritzed, then pressed the paper into the paint. I was able to pick up paint that was almost in crystal form as well as soft blended sections.

In the Wildflowers vol 2 set there is a large and a small version of the same flower so I used the small stamp on the panel above to create a base of flowers in chipped sapphire and stormy sky distress inks. I shook water droplets onto the panel to create pale watermarks here and there. Once the panel was dry I wiped an anti-static powder pillow across it and embossed the flowers and a sentiment from Bright Blossoms vol 1 in silver over the top of the blue. The silver catches the light depending on the angle but is tricky to capture with the camera.

On my second card I created the painted background the same way then stamped the flower three times in different distress stains. Once again I embossed over the top with silver, this time using a partial stamping of the French Script background stamp. I framed both panels in silver cardstock and added silver thread around the second panel before attaching to white card bases.

Supplies

Stamps: Wildflowers vol 2 , French Script, Bright Blossoms vol 1 (Darkroom Door)
Inks: chipped sapphire, stormy sky distress inks & blueprint sketch, seedless preserves, aged mahogany distress stains (Ranger) versamark (Tsukineko)
Paper: Neenah solar white, hot pressed watercolour paper, brushed silver cardstock
Paint: prussian blue, cobalt brusho (Colourcraft)
Also: silver cord, silver embossing powder

Red flowers

Posted: July 26, 2017 | Author: Heather | Filed under: Bliss, light touch | Tags: Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress stains, Tsukineko Versafine inks | 5 Comments

I planted red and white flowers in tubs for my front door and back door this year and the impatiens at the front door have bloomed up a storm. The petunias at the back are doing well too but I think the constant rain earlier in the summer knocked them about a bit. I used distress stains to stamp the flowers on today’s cards and let the colours blend together on the stamp for some softness in the images.

On the card above I painted the background around the images after stamping; on the card below I painted a blue sky first then stamped over the top. To achieve extra definition on my butterfly and petals I used a stamp positioner so I could add details after the first loose watery stamping had dried.

Supplies:

Stamps: bliss, light touch, happy snippets, special thoughts (Penny Black)
Inks: distress stains (Ranger) versafine onyx black (Tsukineko)
Cardstock: hot pressed watercolour paper, black, red and natural cardstock

Dusk reflections

Posted: July 21, 2017 | Author: Heather | Filed under: African Trees, Stamped Landscapes | Tags: Darkroom Door stamps, Ranger Distress inks, Ranger Distress stains | 18 Comments

As I have said before, you can never have too many tree stamps! The African trees set from Darkroom Door not only has four lovely tree stamps but also five animals and a flock of birds. It’s a beautiful set that I am really enjoying trying with different colours and mediums. This time I wanted the feeling of dusk around the waterhole. I almost added an African deer to this scene but I had achieved the look I was after and didn’t want to risk spoiling it at the last minute (as I did with a new card yesterday. grrr)

The scattering of stars was created with by splattering masking fluid on hot pressed watercolour paper before I started painting. Once it was dry I painted the sky and water in chipped sapphire, broken china and tumbled glass distress stains. I kept the panel wet so I could blend from colour to colour but dabbed up excess liquid at the sides. While the panel was still damp I painted two areas of grass with forest moss distress stain. I let the panel dry a bit more but not too much before stamping the reflections of both trees. To achieve the mirror stamped image I stamped it on a piece of acetate then pressed it onto the damp panel. When I was happy with all my soft edge images I dried the panel completely before adding the trees and grass that I wanted sharp. I used a stamp positioner to stamp the trees several times in forest moss distress ink then painted grass with a fine tipped brush.

Lastly I removed the masking fluid to reveal the little stars then mounted my panel on a piece of natural coloured cardstock.

Supplies:

Stamps:   African Trees (Darkroom Door)
Inks:  Distress tumbled glass, broken china, forest moss stains and inks (Ranger)
Cardstock:  hot pressed watercolour paper
Also: Pebeo masking fluid

Daisy thank you

Posted: July 6, 2017 | Author: Heather | Filed under: dancing daisies, Feathery, thank you squares | Tags: Penny Black creative dies, Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress stains | 5 Comments

I have summer flowers to share again today. The autumn card I posted yesterday won’t be needed for months. I want way more summer before I see autumn leaves! I used distress stains not markers for today’s card so the images are looser and less defined.

I still worked with a stamp positioner so I could add a colour at a time. I began by inking the petals in scattered straw distress stain, stamped then inked more of the petals in spiced marmalade, spritzed the stamp and finally while the petals were still damp in places I added ground espresso for the flower centres. I inked and stamped the stems and leaves in mowed lawn distress stain. When the daisies were dry I stamped some extra grasses with the ‘feathery’ stamp in forest moss and mowed lawn distress stain.

I was undecided about adding ribbon or a sentiment until I remembered this clever little die that cuts the negative space around the word ‘Thank you’ but does not separate it from the panel. It just added the interest I needed while showing more of the orange card stock I matted the panel with.

Supplies

Stamp: dancing daisies,Feathery (PB)
Die: Thank you squares (PB)
Inks: scattered straw, spiced marmalade, ground espresso, mowed lawn, forest moss distress stains
Paper: hot pressed watercolour paper, orange cardstock

Roses three ways

Posted: June 7, 2017 | Author: Heather | Filed under: Bright Blossoms vol 1&2, Roses | Tags: Darkroom Door stamps, Ranger Distress stains, Tsukineko Memento inks, WOW embossing powders | 5 Comments

I love to use distress stains applied with the sponge dauber so I had to try them with this stamp from Darkroom Door. I tried two other techniques shown further down in the post and taught a couple more techniques in my most recent class. For the card above I used a stamp positioner so I could add one colour at a time. I inked the Roses stamp with Victorian velvet and stamped on hot pressed watercolour paper. I then dabbed the Aged Mahogany stain on the centres of the Roses in the stamp and and stamped again. The colours blended as both were wet. I chose to make all the accents black, adding an embossed sentiment from Bright Blossoms vol 1, a black mat, b&w gingham ribbon and three dots of black crystal drops.

I stuck with the same two distress stains for the next card but adding them over the embossed image created the negative of the one above.

I painted Victorian velvet stain over the whole embossed image then added aged mahogany with a paintbrush here and there to create darker roses or just darker accents. I finished it off again with a ribbon and embossed sentiment, framing the sentiment by swiping the crimson red ink around the edges of the panel then embossing in clear powder.

My third technique was done with Memento ink but would work well with any dye based water soluble ink. I covered the stamp with memento love letter ink then darkened the centres of the roses with a rhubarb stalk marker, spritzed the stamp lightly and stamped it on hot pressed watercolour paper.

I used a small round watercolour brush (or water brush, can’t remember) to blend the stamped ink. This gave the petals a soft pink colour, left the stamped areas as dark shadows and in a few places where I didn’t blend at all there are some contrasting white areas.

I finished it off with gold accents running the versamark pad around the edges of the sentiment panel, rose panel and card front then embossing those edges in gold powder.

The stamp itself is very detailed so it doesn’t need too much in the way of colouring but I was happy to come up with techniques that gave me the option of sharper images or softer blended images.

Supplies

Stamps: Roses, Bright Blossoms vol 1 & 2 (Darkroom Door)
Inks: versamark, versafine onyx black & crimson red, memento love letter ink, memento rhubarb stalk marker (Tsukineko) Victorian Velvet & Aged Mahogany distress stains (Ranger)
Papers: hot pressed watercolour paper, neenah solar white & epic black cardstock
Also: gold & clear embossing powder, gingham ribbon, burgandy satin ribbon, nuvo black ebony crystal drops, gold cord