Ferns

Posted: January 16, 2018 | Author: Heather | Filed under: ferns, Leaves, Stencils | Tags: Darkroom Door stamps, Darkroom Door stencils, Ranger Distress inks, Tsukineko Stazon inks | 4 Comments

Darkroom Door has a wonderful range of stencils that co-ordinate with quite a few of their stamps. I used the ferns stencil to create a soft background for the fern stamps from the ‘leaves’ set. I used neenah natural white paper and sponged with the antique linen distress ink through the stencil. I did it three times to create a few soft background images.

Over the top I stamped both the large and small ferns from the leaves set in stazon ganache ink. I have been pulling out the stazon inks whenever I’m working with the fine details of some of the Darkroom Door stamps. Initially I bought the stazon inks to pair up with my alcohol ink backgrounds but they are very good for fine detail stamping.

Once I had stamped quite a few ferns in ganache ink I stamped one large fern and one small in versamark then embossed them in gold. The sentiment and ferns on the envelope are stamped in stazon ganache. I added a narrow dark brown mat and a wider brushed gold mat also and attached it all to a natural white card base.

Supplies

Stamps: Leaves, Thank you

Stencil: ferns

Paper: neenah natural white, brushed gold, textured brown
Inks: antique linen distress, stazon ganache, versamark
Also: metallic gold rich embossing powder

Dressember update

Posted: December 21, 2017 | Author: Heather | Filed under: Hello Gorgeous | Tags: Brusho, Faber-Castell Polychromos Colour Pencil, Penny Black stamps, Tsukineko Stazon inks | 5 Comments

As we are over half way through December I thought I’d give you an update on Dressember. If you didn’t see my post earlier in the month I am participating in a campaign raising funds to end human trafficking. The campaign is called Dressember and participants all round the world commit to wear a dress every day of December while raising funds and awareness about the fight against modern day slavery.

We are now three weeks into Dressember and I have worn a dress every day. It doesn’t have to be a different dress, some advocates challenge themselves to wear the same dress all 31 days. The first week of December was relatively mild for Ottawa but it has since got cold, cold, cold. I am wearing my dresses but often with sweaters and woolly tights.

I have been very encouraged by the support I have received from the cardmaking community. Blog readers and instragram followers have donated to the cause, as have friends I know through my classes. Thank you so much! I am approaching my goal of $1000 but I’m not there yet. If you would like to donate to this worthy cause please click this link to go to my campaign page.

I have been sending one of my cards to each donor (if they share their address with me privately) and it has been exciting to send them locally to Ottawa and Toronto, to several locations in the States, to North Wales and to Melbourne, Australia.

I don’t often include people in my cards, the skin colour gives me trouble. I decided to sidestep that problem on these cards by keeping the girls black and white so it’s all about the dresses! The top dress was painted with purple brusho; I painted on a separate piece of watercolour paper then cut it out and attached it over the black stamped image. I also gave dimension to her necklace and bracelet with nuvo drops. The second dress is coloured with Faber-Castell polychromos pencils then given some shimmer with a clear wink of stella pen. It isn’t obvious in the photo but the fur trim is embossed with diamond white embossing powder to make it sparkly.

They’re simple cards I know, but I’d be happy to own either of those dresses.

Supplies

Stamps: hello gorgeous, relax & enjoy

Paper: neenah solar white, hot pressed watercolour, purple cardstock

Ink: stazon jet black, versafine imperial purple, versamarker

Paint: brusho purple

Pencils: Faber Castell polychromos
Also: WOW diamond white embossing powder, clear wink of stella pen

A Dressember card

Posted: December 4, 2017 | Author: Heather | 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.

The goal of Dressember is to make an impact in the lives of individuals who have had their freedom taken away. The money raised goes to rescue, protect and restore the lives of trafficking victims. Dressember partners with International Justice Mission, A21 and the McMahon/Ryan Child Advocacy Center to achieve their goals.

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.

Peace & Love

Posted: September 5, 2017 | Author: Heather | Filed under: Brusho, dressed in snow | Tags: Brusho, Penny Black stamps, Tsukineko Stazon inks | 7 Comments

I have another brusho sky to share, this time a backdrop for this lovely new scenic stamp from Penny Black. I was playing with this stamp all morning as I worked on designs for my October class. We won’t be making this card but the stamp is in the line up. I used three colours of brusho powder on photo paper and the speckly, spotty effect of the brusho did all the work in creating a snowy sky. I used jet black stazon to stamp the image and sentiment. I have found it easier to ink the stamp and lay the photo paper down onto the stamp and press the back of the paper rather than the other way round. It is also possible with such a large stamp to peel one side of the panel up to check ink coverage, re-ink if necessary, then press down again without moving the other half of the panel. (thanks, Liliuska for that tip).

When I was making this card it was easy to make a few and of course each one is different; some have quite stormy skies, other more serene. I finished off the card with a thin black mat and a simple black sentiment.

Supplies

Stamps: dressed in snow, peace and love (Penny Black)
Paper: glossy photo paper (Kirkland) epic black cardstock, solar white cardstock (Neenah)
Ink: black stazon (Tsukineko)
Paint: turquoise, violet, cobalt blue brusho (Colourcraft)

Blue sky birthday

Posted: August 2, 2017 | Author: Heather | Filed under: Brusho, Wildflowers Vol 2 | Tags: Brusho, Darkroom Door stamps, Tsukineko Stazon inks | 9 Comments

Here is another ‘wildflower’ card from the bunch I made last week. Sometimes it is fun to get out one set of stamps and play around with colours and techniques to create a range of looks. The flower is from the Darkroom Door ‘Wildflowers vol. 2″ set and the sentiment from the DD “Happy Birthday” set. I created this background with brusho paints on glossy photo paper using an impermeable mat. I sprinkled some turquoise and violet brusho on the mat, spritzed it, then swiped the photo paper through the paint to pick up the colour.

I chose a grey ink rather than black to stamp but after the final result after a few impressions looks almost black.

Supplies

Stamps: Wildflowers vol 2 Happy Birthday (Darkroom Door)
Inks: Cloudy Sky Stazon ink (Tsukineko)
Paper: Neenah solar white, Kirkland glossy photo, texture blue cardstock
Paint: violet, turquoise brusho (Colourcraft)

Ferns

Posted: July 20, 2017 | Author: Heather | Filed under: Alcohol Ink, CAS, Wilderness Vol.2 | Tags: Darkroom Door stamps, Ranger Alcohol Ink, Tsukineko Stazon inks, Tsukineko Versafine inks | 5 Comments

Here ends a week without internet at home! I think some internet free time is definitely a good thing but I’d rather it be planned than thrust upon me. One happy outcome is the stack of edited photos I have ready to slot into blog posts.

This one is an alcohol ink on yupo panel. The abstract panel has been sitting in my ‘pile of possibility’ for some time so I don’t remember which colours of ink I used. Just guessing though, I would say pool and juniper but I might be wrong about juniper. There’s a blue and a green for sure, possibly two blues. I used opaque yupo paper but it is still worthwhile to back it with white cardstock to keep the colours bright so I did that before matting it with teal.

I stamped the fern from Darkroom Door’s Wilderness Vol 2 set. It is a lovely delicate image. I used stazon ink on the yupo and it spread ever so slightly but as you can see not enough to lose the fine detail of the stamp. At first I didn’t have a sentiment but the white space below the panel did look a bit empty so I added a simple thank you. Stamps and inks are linked below.

Supplies:

Stamps: wilderness vol 2, thank you (Darkroom Door)
Inks: pool & juniper alcohol inks (Ranger) blue Hawaii stazon, deep lagoon versafine (Tsukineko)
Papers: opaque yupo, neenah solar white cardstock, teal cardstock