Flower embrace
Posted: April 29, 2017 Filed under: Flower embrace | Tags: Faber-Castell Albrecht Durer Watercolour pencils, Kuretake Zig clean color real brush markers, Penny Black stamps, WOW embossing powders 13 Comments
I embossed this pretty new stamp from Penny Black so I could do some pencil colouring while I was away in Toronto a few weeks ago. The photo below is a little washed out on the gold embossing but I included it so you could see how the shiny gold contrasts with the pencil colouring. I used watercolour pencils as tiny palettes which is my usual method. I hold the pencil in one hand and a water brush in the other to pick up colour from the pencil lead.
My watercolour pencils are Faber Castell’s Albrecht Dürer. I’ve had a set of 36 since art school and recently I bought a bunch of colours I didn’t have. The floral wreath is embossed in gold powder after stamping in versamark.
The only other detail I added was a shadow of grey around all the embossing. I used a zig cleancolour brush marker then blended it with some water. Enjoy your day.
Supplies
Stamps: flower embrace, sprinkles and smiles (PB)
Pencils: Faber Castell Albrecht Dürer watercolour pencils 172, 168, 176, 108, 126, 225, 144
Ink: versamark
Also: WOW gold metallic rich fine embossing powder, gray zig cleancolor brush pen
Felicity
Posted: April 19, 2017 Filed under: birds and banners, Felicity | Tags: Brusho, Penny Black creative dies, Penny Black stamps, WOW embossing powders 17 Comments
Today’s card looks like it was created with a background stamp, which is practically the case, but not quite. I used the new slapstick cling stamp, ‘Felicity’ and stamped it twice to more than fill a card front. The stamp is actually longer than my average card but a bit narrower. The organic arrangement of the flowers made it easy to stamp it twice and make it look like one big image. I stamped in versamark ink then embossed in silver powder on hot pressed watercolour paper. I taped it down then spritzed all over the panel with water. It wasn’t soaking wet but it was wet enough that the brusho I sprinkled on next started reacting straight away. I picked up some more brusho colours the other day to expand my collection and three out of four on this card are new to me. I sprinkled orange, sandstone and rose red over the flowers, spritzed again, tilted the panel to move the water and waited to see if I needed more. I did this a few times then switched over to sprinkling the olive green brusho over the rest of the panel. The olive green was more intense and the leaves on the panel are small so some areas got very dark, very quickly. I used a folded paper towel to remove liquid and colour where there was too much. I also tilted the panel so colour would flow down towards the closest embossed barrier which makes for nice dark contrasting areas next to some of the silver embossing.
I let the panel dry naturally then trimmed it and matted with orange cardstock. I cut a curved banner from the new set ‘birds & banners‘ and embossed one of the co-ordinating stamps from the ‘banner sentiments‘ set in silver. The die cut banner looks folded so I used a marker to add a little shadow to the areas which appear to be behind the main section. I cut the same banner from orange fun foam so I could pop my sentiment up on the floral panel.
When I looked up the name of this new stamp, I was delighted to see it is called ‘Felicity’. I have a dear cousin called Felicity who I haven’t seen in many long years but I have fond memories of. I am going to try hard to actually send a ‘felicity’ stamped card to her, maybe this one.
Supplies
Stamps: Felicity, banner sentiments (PB)
Dies: birds and banners (PB)
Inks: versamark
Papers: hot pressed watercolour
Paints: orange, sandstone, rose red, olive green brusho
Added extras: Zing silver embossing powder
Flower medley
Posted: April 18, 2017 Filed under: birds and banners, flower medley | Tags: Nuvo crystal drops, Peerless Transparent Watercolors, Penny Black creative dies, Penny Black stamps, Tsukineko Versafine inks, WOW embossing powders 4 Comments
I’m sharing another card today made with products from the new Penny Black release ‘Celebrate.’ The flowers featured on today’s card were made with just one of the stamps from the new transparent set ‘flower medley’. I stamped it all over a piece of watercolour paper with black versafine ink then embossed in clear powder. I used my peerless watercolours to fill in all the flowers, buds and leaves.
The fancy little banner you see is a diecut from the new set, ‘birds & banners’ which has a co-ordinating stamp set of nineteen sentiments. I embossed one in white on the banner then popped it up over the floral panel.
When I had put the card together on the black card base I decided it needed little dots of black ebony nuvo crystal drops to fill in a few spaces and look cute!
Supplies
Stamps: flower medley, banner sentiments
Dies: birds and banners
Paper: hot pressed watercolour paper, epic black neenah cardstock
Inks: onyx black versafine, versamark (Tsukineko)
Paints: peerless transparent watercolours
Also: ebony nuvo crystal drops, clear embossing powder, white embossing powder
Butterfly Border
Posted: March 14, 2017 Filed under: Butterfly garden | Tags: Darkroom Door stamps, Ranger Distress stains, Tsukineko Versafine inks, WOW embossing powders 10 Comments
I have a couple of cards today featuring the border stamp ‘Butterfly Garden’ from Darkroom Door. The stamp is quite large, as it was designed with scrapbooks and art journals in mind. It is such a lovely stamp I wanted to feature it on cards also. I used an emboss resist technique on both cards, stamping in black ink then embossing in clear powder. The embossing resists liquid when I add it over the top making it possible to paint and blend over the image to create a colourful background.
To create the warm toned card above I stamped the butterfly garden stamp in spiced marmalade ink beside the embossed image then added distress stains over and around the stamping. I left soft blends in most places but added extra stain inside the butterflies. Once the background was dry I splattered some water drops to create a few watermarks.
On this second card I wanted to feature as much of the large stamp as I could so I designed a wide card that would fit in a business envelope. I once again added distress stains over the embossed image trapping colour inside the butterflies and amongst the fern fronds. I die cut the panel into three squares then framed with before adding them to a natural coloured card base.
Supplies
Stamps: butterfly garden, happy birthday (Darkroom Door)
Cardstock: hot pressed watercolour paper, pale green, black and rust cardstock
Ink: versafine onyx black ink (Tsukineko), Spiced Marmalade distress ink & Spiced Marmalade, Barn Door, Rusty Hinge, Scattered Straw, Aged Mahogany, Broken China, Seedless Preserves, Salty Ocean, Peeled Paint distress stains(Ranger)
Also: clear embossing powder, gold cord
Floral on black
Posted: March 10, 2017 Filed under: Gladsome, Hand lettered | Tags: Finetec artist mica watercolour paint, Hand lettering, Penny Black stamps, WOW embossing powders 11 Comments
I’m sharing some shimmer today. Finetec artist mica pearl watercolours are very shimmery particularly on a black base. I worked on Neenah epic black cardstock and started by embossing the new outline image ‘gladsome’ in clear powder. The finetec pearl watercolour set has twelve colours so I chose a few and a small round watercolour brush to paint inside the lines.
It is hard to capture all the shimmer and shine in a photo but the mica pearl paint looks lovely as it catches the light. This is the type of card you need to tilt back and forth to see all its prettiness. I wanted to keep my sentiment co-ordinated so I used a nib pen and the same violet paint used on the petals. This is my second card with the ‘gladsome’ stamp; I like to get a range of different looks from one stamp. I think this one will be appearing again.
Supplies
Stamps: Gladsome (PB)
Pen: exclusive nib holder (Foiled Fox)
Ink: versamark (Tsukineko)
Paint: Finetec pearl colours
Paper: black cardstock
Also: WOW clear embossing powder
A new poppy to enjoy
Posted: February 16, 2017 Filed under: Dynamic | Tags: Faber-Castell Albrecht Durer Watercolour pencils, Penny Black creative dies, Penny Black stamps, WOW embossing powders 16 Comments
If you are familiar with Penny Black stamps you will know there are a lot of poppies to choose from. The one on my card above is a lovely new outline stamp called ‘dynamic’. I chose to heat emboss it in clear powder then colour with watercolour pencils. I used only five colours, varying the intensity of the red by adding more in the shadowed areas.(I also added a little sparkle to the petals with wink of stella) I used two greens for the stem and leaves, a black in the centre and a grey around the image.
Once my colour was complete I let it dry then ironed the embossing out of the paper. To do this you place the panel face down on some printer paper and iron with no steam over the panel until the embossing has melted into the paper underneath. It still looks embossed but it is no longer raised or shiny. I ended up giving the panel a wide red frame and a die cut sentiment from the same cardstock as the frame. Don’t forget to check out all the new loveliness in the new Bliss release.
Supplies
Stamps: Dynamic (PB)
Dies: You enjoy(PB)
Ink: versamark (Tsukineko)
Pencils: 174, 199, 233, 225, 155 Albrecht Dürer watercolour pencils (Faber Castell)
Paper: hotpressed 100% cotton watercolour paper
Also: WOW clear embossing powder, wink of stella clear marker
Falling florals
Posted: February 15, 2017 Filed under: Brusho, Gladsome | Tags: Brusho, Penny Black stamps, WOW embossing powders 22 Comments
Today’s card features one of the new colouring book style images from Penny Black. I chose to let brusho powders do the colouring for me. I embossed the stamped image off the top of the watercolour paper using versamark and clear embossing powder. I taped down the top and sides of the panel to prevent warping when I added water to it. With brusho you can add water first or powder first. For this panel I started by sprinkling powder over the embossed panel; I was selective in where I sprinkled it so I would get purple flowers and green leaves but I knew there would be soft blending between the colours anyway. I spritzed from above and from the side to spread the colour down beyond the stamping.
I did do a little touching up with a paintbrush where the colour hadn’t completely filled a section but I really didn’t need to alter much.
Once the panel was dry I trimmed it and added a sentiment then attached it to a cardbase. I also added a print of the stamp inside the card in violet ink and on an envelope as well.
The new release from Penny Black is appropriately called Bliss and is now available in the online shop and browsable in the online catalogue. There are so many gorgeous new stamps and dies in this release; drop in again tomorrow when I share some more.
Supplies
Stamps: Gladsome, All great things (PB)
Ink: versamark, versafine imperial purple (Tsukineko)
Paint: purple, ultramarine, emerald green, violet brusho (Colourcraft)
Paper: fabriano hot pressed watercolour paper
Also: WOW clear embossing powder
Effulgence note
Posted: February 7, 2017 Filed under: Color Burst, Effulgence | Tags: color burst, Penny Black stamps, WOW embossing powders 13 Comments
When I was making my pink and gold love card last week I had two panels on the go. I created both using the emboss resist method along with colorburst powders. I didn’t do too much blending on this one so the patterns the powders made after I’d spritzed them remain, especially on the left hand side of the panel.
I embossed the ‘Effulgence’ stamp on hot pressed watercolour paper in clear powder then sprinkled ultramarine and violet colorburst powders over the panel. I spritzed the panel from above and watched the colour move before adding any more powder or water.
I wanted the area around the flowers to be completely covered in paint so I blended some areas with a paintbrush. Around the edges I left it abstract. The panel was very tall and thin so I ended up with a tall thin card finished with a sentiment popped up over the flower stems.
Supplies:
Stamps: effulgence, sentiment collection (PB)
Paint: violet & ultramarine Colorburst watercolor powder (Ken Oliver)
Cardstock: hot pressed watercolour paper
Ink: versamark (tsukineko)
Also: clear embossing powder
Stillness
Posted: February 2, 2017 Filed under: Stamped Landscapes, Winter Ledge | Tags: Penny Black stamps, Tsukineko Memento inks, WOW embossing powders 12 Comments
After a week of balmy temperatures hovering around zero, we are back to real winter weather again and bright scenes like this one. Winter here is often prettiest when it’s the coldest.
I stamped and embossed this scene using ‘winter ledge’ and a stamp positioner so I could get the thin layer of snow on the branches. The trick to this is to stamp first in versamark then move the cardstock up ever so slightly then stamp in pigment ink, in this case versafine onyx black. Once the panel is stamped twice you can emboss both images at once. The embossing resists ink once you sponge or paint over the top. I sponged this scene in memento Danube blue ink creating snowy hills behind the branches with post-it note masks.
I hesitate to say that I hope you are all staying warm as I know our family in Australia have been wishing for a little respite from the heat. I hope you are enjoying the weather, whatever the weather, whether you like it or not!
Supplies
Stamps: winter ledge, snippets (PB)
Inks: versamark, versafine onyx black, memento danube blue (Tsukineko)
Papers: Neenah solar white
Also: clear embossing powder
Gold love
Posted: January 31, 2017 Filed under: Color Burst, Effulgence, Guest design | Tags: color burst, Penny Black stamps, WOW embossing powders 12 Comments
I’m thrilled to be a guest on The Foiled Fox blog today. If you have never visited The Foiled Fox you absolutely should; their blog is full of delightful projects and their shop is stocked with all the good stuff, paints, inks, stamps, markers, tools…and so much more. To find out more about this card just pop over to The Foiled Fox where there are some more pics and details.
Supplies:
Stamps: effulgence, all about love(PB)
Paint: Merlot & Tangerine Colorburst watercolor powder (Ken Oliver)
Cardstock: hot pressed watercolour paper, gold shimmer
Ink: versamark (tsukineko)
Also: gold embossing powder
Heather Telford 