Crisp & cold
Posted: January 6, 2018 Filed under: dressed in snow | Tags: Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress stains, Tsukineko Memento inks 6 Comments
This seems an appropriate card to post right now while the weather is oh. so. cold. For this one I used a stamp postioner to stamp one colour at a time with the ‘dressed in snow’ scenic stamp. I used memento markers to ink the evergreens in northern pine, the deciduous in tuxedo black and the fence in rich cocoa inks. After I had stamped all the elements I added a mask for the moon and then painted a tumbled glass distress stain sky.
I spritzed the trees on the left very lightly to blend the colour and painted some tiny background trees on the horizon. Winter is very beautiful where I live but currently it is also rather bleak. Please forgive me the rather brief description; I created this one a while ago and the details are a little sketchy in my memory.
Supplies
Stamps: dressed in snow
Memento markers: northern pine, tuxedo black, rich cocoa
Distress stain: tumbled glass
Paper: hot pressed watercolour, olive green cardstock
Also: stamp positioner, frisket film
Peaceful Winter
Posted: December 5, 2017 Filed under: peaceful winter | Tags: Penny Black stamps, Tsukineko Memento inks 6 Comments
This week I am sharing some winter landscapes here and on the Penny Black blog. I created this wintry scene by combining two stamps from the ‘peaceful winter’ transparent set. I made use of my stamp positioning tool as I wanted to stamp in colour then over the top with versamark. (Jill has created several videos demonstrating this technique. You can find them on the Penny Black youtube channel)
I began by stamping the trees on the left hand side of a piece of watercolour paper in memento northern pine and London fog ink. I spritzed some water over the stamping which made the colours separate into brown, blue and green. I dried the stamping then stamped over the whole image in versamark before embossing it in clear powder to make it waterproof. Next I used the smaller landscape stamp from the same set to add the background trees and used the same technique and inks to stamp a coloured image then emboss it to make it waterproof.
With all the scenic stamping done and embossed I moved on to the watercolouring. I cut a circle of frisket film (clear adhesive film for masking) and stuck it firmly over the top of the left hand trees. I then painted water over the section of sky above the horizon. I pressed both my northern pine ink pad and a memento nautical blue ink pad onto an acrylic block to create a palette of two inks. I built up the sky colour by painting first with nautical blue then creating cloud effects with more blue or northern pine ink. Once the sky dried I removed the moon mask.
I used some diluted northern pine ink to give the foreground snow a bit of colour and shadow then dried the panel. I finished off the card with a sentiment from the ‘love & peace’ set stamped in versafine olympia green and a dark green mat before attaching the panel to a natural white card base.
Thanks for dropping by; I’ll be back tomorrow with another chilly scene.
Supplies
Stamps: love & peace, peaceful winter
Inks: memento northern pine & london fog, nautical blue inks, versamark
Paper: Neenah solar white cardstock, hot pressed watercolour paper
Also: stamping platform, frisket film, WOW clear gloss superfine embossing powder
A Dressember card
Posted: December 4, 2017 Filed under: 1920s Chic, Gazette | Tags: Darkroom Door stamps, Tsukineko Memento inks, Tsukineko Stazon inks 1 Comment
Today’s post is a little different to my usual; it’s more about a cause than a card. I have committed to wearing dresses everyday this month as part of the worldwide Dressember campaign to raise funds to end modern day slavery. This is the second time I have taken this challenge. In 2014 I wore a dress everyday in December and raised $1240. This year I have teamed up with my daughter Alexandra and my friend Nan and our target is $2500.
I would love it if you would support me in raising funds for this cause. If you want to find out more about the cause please click on the links provided earlier in this post. If you would like to donate then click over to my fundraising page.
If you would like to check up and see if I am really wearing a dress everyday in December I am documenting them on my instagram and pinterest feeds. (I’d love to send anyone who donates to Dressember a handmade card so use my contact button to let get in touch if you do)
If you would like to know more about these stunning fashion related stamps you can find them at Darkroom Door.
Brushed Christmas Joy
Posted: November 21, 2017 Filed under: Brushed Christmas vol 1&2 | Tags: Darkroom Door stamps, Tsukineko Memento inks 4 Comments
I had some fun with small stamps and a stamp positioner to create this simple card. Darkroom Door has two ‘Brushed Christmas’ sets containing stamps with the brushed look you see in these images. There are big trees and little trees, bit and little stars and baubles as well. It was easy enough to stamp one image, slide my cardstock along and stamp the next and so on to reach across the panel. I centred the trees by starting with the middle tree but I wasn’t quite so particular with the stars or baubles.
The ribbon across the panel is velvet and the laser cut letters are left over from a mixed media class I did a while back. I think it’s cute that the ‘o’ on the velvet looks like a buckle on Santa’s belt (totally unplanned ofcourse)
Supplies
Brushed Christmas vol 1 & 2
Memento Inks: desert sand, rhubarb stalk
Papers: neenah natural white, burgandy cardstock
Tools: MISTI stamp positioner
Also: velvet ribbon, laser cut letters, memento rhubarb stalk marker
Season’s greetings
Posted: September 21, 2017 Filed under: Berry speckled | Tags: Fabriano Watercolour Paper, Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress inks, Ranger Distress stains, Tsukineko Memento inks, WOW embossing powders 4 Comments
I have yet more snow on the blog today with this wintry berry branch over a snow dusted sentiment. The look is a little vintage again but with muted colours rather than lots of brown. I have some old Christmas cards of my mothers tucked away somewhere I should pull them out because this look reminds me of some of them.
I began with a splattering of masking fluid over a piece of hot pressed watercolour paper. Once dry, I positioned the panel in a stamp positioning tool and stamped the ‘tree & greeting stamp’ from ‘A Festive Season’ set in memento northern pine ink. I removed the panel from stamp positioner but left the stamp in place. In the top left corner I stuck a circle of frisket film to mask a moon shape then painted over the whole panel with water. Colour bled out of the northern pine ink and started filling the panel; I added faded jeans distress stain so I could cover the whole piece with diluted blue/green colour. Once the panel was dry I removed the mask and placed the panel back in the stamp positioner away from the ‘tree & greeting’ stamp so I could place the ‘berry speckled’ stamp to overlap some of the moon. I inked and stamped one colour at a time with the following markers: berries – candied apple distress marker, needles – northern pine memento marker, and branch & twigs – espresso truffle and rich cocoa memento markers.To soften the look of the branch I spritzed it and let some colour bleed into the surrounding area. When dry I added shadows on the berries with the bullet tip of the candied apple marker.
Supplies
Santa’s Visit
Posted: August 21, 2017 Filed under: Santa's visit | Tags: Penny Black creative dies, Penny Black stamps, Tsukineko Memento inks 3 Comments
I think this quiet little scene is going to be a popular one this Christmas. It looks so peaceful and pretty, just like it does around here after a fresh snowfall (which will be welcome in four months time and not before!) I kept my colour scheme simple for this one and stamped first in Paris Dusk memento ink. I then did some blending with a wet brush over the scene to solidify the image a bit before adding black ink. I did some partial inking of the stamp to get shadows on parts of the trees and houses.
I wasn’t sure about the navy blue die cut sentiment because it does get a bit lost. In real life however it is popped up on a couple of white layers and sparkled with a clear wink of stella pen so I let it stay!
I am currently lakeside and away from my workroom and internet for a week. I decided to take only this book and these supplies for a little artsy down time.
Supplies
Stamps: Santa’s visit (PB)
Die: Blessed night (PB)
Inks: Paris dusk, Tuxedo black memento inks (Tsukineko)
Cardstock: hot pressed watercolour paper (Fabriano), navy cardstock
Also: clear wink of stella brush pen, stick it adhesive
Dressed in snow
Posted: August 10, 2017 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Fabriano Watercolour Paper, Penny Black stamps, Tsukineko Memento inks 14 Comments
Yes, it’s a snow scene, which means there are new Christmas stamps in the house! Penny Black is showing off their new collection ‘Be Merry’ over the next few weeks and giving away gift certificates to celebrate the new products. This lovely scene is a single stamp and I have inked it in a simple colour to show how easy it is to create a pretty snow scene.
I’ve mentioned before how much I like memento ‘northern pine’ ink for wintry tree scenes; when you add water to it, it separates into a teal blue and a brown. One colour becomes three and gives you green foliage, brown bark and the look of blue snow or sky. I stamped the large image on hot pressed watercolour paper with the help of a stamp positioner then spritzed carefully over the trees on the left and far right.
I wanted to preserve some white areas so I spritzed from quite a distance and covered the some areas with my hand as I did it so that I wouldn’t lose the look of snow on the lower branches. To finish off the scene I matted with dark green cardstock and attach to a white card base. I know I’ll be working with this stamp again!
Supplies
Stamp: Dressed in Snow (PB)
Ink: Memento Northern Pine (Tsukineko)
Paper: Hot pressed watercolour paper (Fabriano)
Poetic
Posted: July 5, 2017 Filed under: poetic | Tags: Brusho, Penny Black creative dies, Penny Black stamps, Tsukineko Memento inks 6 Comments
I think brusho paints are the perfect medium for autumn leaves. The variation in colour from even one little tub of brusho reminds me of the beautiful variation in autumn leaves. Brusho can be blended for smooth transitions from light to dark or left unblended which ends up looking like the blemishes found on many leaves. When deciding how to paint the new leaf stamp, Poetic, I knew brusho would help me achieve the look I wanted.
I started by stamping the leaf three times on hot pressed watercolour paper in Morocco memento ink. I overlapped the leaves but without re-inking the stamp so I ended up with one dark leaf (foreground) and two paler leaves as my guides for painting. I painted the leaves from left to right adding one colour of brusho to one leaf at a time. I sprinkled dark brown on the first leaf and used a waterbrush to blend it out to the edges of the leaf keeping some areas variegated. I dried the leaf completely before starting on the second one with terracotta brusho and following the same process. Again I dried the panel completely before doing the final leaf in sandstone.
After I had painted all the leaves I sprinkled a little of each colour of brusho over the corresponding leaf and spritzed with water from above. The result was some extra texture on the leaves and some colourful splatter over the edges. To add realism I used a fine brush to paint some veins on the leaves. Finally I created a stacked die cut of the word Grateful and matted in dark brown and the same rust as for the die cut.
Supplies
Stamp: Poetic (PB)
Die: words of gratitude (PB)
Cardstock: hot pressed watercolour paper, natural white cardstock (Neenah) dark brown and rust cardstock
Ink: Morocco memento ink (Tsukineko)
Paint: dark brown, terracotta, sandstone brusho (Colourcraft)
Roses three ways
Posted: June 7, 2017 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
Magnolia Rhapsody
Posted: February 20, 2017 Filed under: magnolia rhapsody | Tags: Nuvo crystal drops, Penny Black stamps, Tsukineko Memento inks 25 Comments
Penny Black has added more lovely brushstroke stamps to their collection including this beauty, Magnolia Rhapsody. I have several techniques I use with my brushstroke stamps; for this card I used memento markers, blending colour both on the stamp and on the paper. Using a stamp positioner I started by stamping the whole image in angel pink memento ink; this gave me a reference image which helped me apply the darker inks in the right places on the stamp. Next I inked all the petals with an angel pink marker then added lilac posies ink to the flower centres and petal tips. I spritzed lightly before stamping so the colour would mix a little then blended further on the paper with a damp brush. After finishing the petals I inked and stamped the leaves, then the branch and twigs.
To give a bit of a bokeh look to the scene I stamped again around the main image without applying more ink. The result was pale pink and green petals and leaves in the background. I tried out the morning dew Nuvo crystal drops on petals and leaves; you might be able to see my little dew drops in the photo below. I added a thin strip of cardstock to the bottom of the card base and balanced it with bit of sponged green at the top.
Thanks for dropping in today.
Supplies
Stamps: magnolia rhapsody, stitched flowers (PB)
Ink: angel pink, lilac posies, pistachio, olive grove, espresso truffle, tuxedo black memento markers & versafine onyx black ink (Tsukineko)
Also: Nuvo ‘morning dew’ crystal drops
Paper: hotpressed 100% cotton watercolour paper, olive textured cardstock
Heather Telford 