Penny Black - Nature's Allure

Hi everyone.  Today I'm working with Nature's Allure (30-729) stamp set from the Season of Hope Release at Penny Black.  And boy, did I have fun! :)  I have three cards to share with you today.

First up, the card above using some of the smaller images to create a poinsettia spray at the bottom of an oval aperture.  Inside the aperature I've added a large sentiment (Christmas Moments 30-731).  The image and sentiment are stamped in black and clear heat embossed to create a strong black image.  The spray and poinsettia are watercoloured with zigs and distress inks before being fussy-cut; the background of the oval is a smoosh of distress inks done a long time ago (I believe it is Cracked Pistachio, but not positive).

Close-up ...

Next up is this sweet bird on pine branches image (again from the same Nature's Allure (30-729) stamp set).

The image is stamped in black ink and clear heat embossed; then watercoloured with distress inks.  I sponged Tumbled Glass ink randomly in the background and then used a water brush to move the colour around.  White diluted acrylic paint was splattered over top before I stamped the sentiment.  The image is framed with Square Frames (51-517) and popped up on a kraft card base.

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For the third card I used the pretty wreath from the set.

Stamped in black ink and heat embossed in clear before fussy-cutting and watercolouring with distress inks.  Clear wink of stella was added for a bit of sparkle, but doesn't show in the photo.  I took a piece of dark red card stock and cut it into three different widths to add to the bottom of the card.  The sentiment is die-cut three times in white card and layered together to create thickness.  I did perform a bit of surgery on the die-cut sentiment (Peace 51-392), which is "Peace on Earth".  Just wanted Peace for this card.  The final step was to splatter diluted white acrylic paint over the entire card.  

Close-up ...

I hope you enjoyed seeing my three cards from one stamp set.

Thanks for stopping by!

Penny Black Products

Nature's Allure (30-729)

Christmas Moments (30-731)

Square Frames (51-517)

Peace

Card #1: Poinsettia Spray

Stamps:  Nature's Allure (Penny Black); Christmas Moments (Penny Black)
Paper:   Mixed Media (Strathmore 140 lb.); White card base (Neenah 110 lb.)
Ink:   Black (Memento); Zigs; Distress Inks:  Forest Moss, Mustard Seed, Cracked Pistachio (Tim Holtz)
Accessories:   Oval die - retired (Spellbinders); Clear embossing powder, heat tool, water brush, water mister, White Posca Pen

Card #2: Bird on a Branch

Stamps:  Nature's Allure (Penny Black)
Paper:    Mixed Media (Strathmore 140 lb.); Kraft card base (unknown); White card stock (Neenah 110 lb.)
Ink:  Black (Memento); Distress Inks:  Brushed Corduroy, Gathered Twigs, Forest Moss, Crushed Olive, Walnut Stain, Candied Apple, Fired Brick, Tumbled Glass (Tim Holtz)
Accessories:  Clear embossing powder, heat tool, water brush, White Posca Pen, Square Frames (Penny Black)

Card #2: Christmas Wreath

Stamps:  Nature's Allure (Penny Black)
Paper:    Mixed Media (Strathmore 140 lb.); White card base (Neenah 110 lb.); Cherry Cobbler card stock (Stampin' Up!)
Ink:   Black (Memento); Distress Inks:  Mowed Lawn, Forest Moss, Fired Brick (Tim Holtz)
Accessories:  Clear heat embossing, heat tool, water brush, paint brush, Peace die (Penny Black), Clear Wink of Stella

Happy Birthday Susan!

My dear friend, Susan (Cardmaker's Garret) is celebrating a milestone birthday today.  I would like to celebrate along with her and hope that you do too!

HAPPY 70th BIRTHDAY SUSAN!!!

There is a linky birthday party below to honour Susan, which will be open for two weeks.  Please help make this a special day for Susan by joining in and sharing a birthday card for her.

I needed to make a second birthday card for her because I forgot to take a photo of the card I mailed Susan over a week ago, duh! :)  Seems like I do these kind of things more often now ... I'm blaming Covid, not the fact that I'm getting older. :)

Susan, I hope you enjoy this card just as much as the one I mailed to you!  I'll be sending the above card to you as well!

Susan's Linky Birthday Party is closed!

Penny Black - Cozy Cabin and Season's Tweetings

Hi everyone.  Two cards for you today using two of the Season of Hope release at Penny Black.  Both images are slapstick/cling stamps, Cozy Cabin (40-760) and Season's Tweetings (40-761).

I started by sponging the sky (upper third of the card front), gradually getting lighter and lighter.

Inked up the stamp, spritzed lightly with water and stamped onto my mixed media card front.  Moved the ink around with a waterbrush and added some ink as needed.  Added some pencil work outlining the cabin and adding the ground to anchor the image.  Added some clear wink of stella to add shimmer to the snowy roof and snowhill.  Finished by splattering lots of white acrylic paint and then adding the sentiment Christmas Moments (30-731), which is stamped in black and heat embossed in clear so it stands out better against the blue sky..

Close-up ...

For my second card, I used Season's Tweetings (40-761).  I had some trouble with this image.  Not sure why, it happens to me once in a while where I can't seem to get a good watercoloured image.  After several tries, I felt I needed help and lo' and behold, there was an on-line course starting up by Heather Telford (cards.HeatherTelford.com).  Heather is an amazingly talented watercolourist.  I signed up and watched her video on how to watercolour the slapstick/cling images from Penny Black.  I found it immensley helpful.  

Click HERE for a link to Heather's blog post about her on-line course - Winter Wonder.

This image was place in my Misti and inked up with distress inks, spritzed with a little water and stamped.  I have done this technique a lot of time, but the biggest thing I learned from Heather was to add a very light inking to get more of a watercoloured look.  I know I need a lot of practice, but I'm happy with my first attempt using Heather's watercolouring tips. 

 

Close-up ...

Thanks for stopping by!

Penny Black Products

Cozy Cabin (40-760)

Christmas Moments (30-731)

Season's Tweetings (40-761)

Believe (30-310)

Card #1 - Cozy Cabin

Stamps:  Cozy Cabin (Penny Black); Christmas Moments (Penny Black)
Paper:   Mixed Media (Strathmore 140 lb.); White card base (Neenah 110 lb.)
Ink:   Distress Inks:  Tumbled Glass, Salty Ocean, Mermaid Lagoon (Tim Holtz); SU! markers:  Old Olive, Always Artichoke, Really Rust, Early Espresso, Basic Gray (Stampin' Up!); Zig - light gray
Accessories:  Sponges, water mister, water brush, clear wink of stella, white diluted acrylic paint, splattering paint brush

Card #2 - Season's Tweetings

Stamps: Season's Tweetings (Penny Black); Believe (Penny Black)
Paper:   Mixed Media (Strathmore 140 lb.); White card base (Neenah 110 lb.)
Ink:   Stampin' Up Inks:  Old Olive, Not Quite Navy, Early Espresso, Really Rust, Lost Lagoon, Smoky Slate, Real Red; Distress Inks: Tumbled Glass, Candied Apple (Tim Holtz)
Accessories: water mister, water brush, sponge

November Rudolph Days

Hi everyone.  Today's card is for November's Rudolph Days Challenge.  I believe this is the last challenge for the year.  Thanks to Maureen and her team for helping me to build my stash of Christmas cards thorughout the year with their fun challenge!

Won't be long now before the Christmas cards need to be in the mail.  This year has just flown by.

This is a beautiful Penny Black image I have watercoloured with distress inks.  I first heat embossed in white and added a background of light blue.  Watercoloured the poinsettias, leaves and berries and stamped a sentiment in dark red.

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* * * * *

Jessie with her new glove toy and her Covid hair

Stamps:  Poinsettia Poetry (Penny Black);  Season's Gift (Penny Black)
Paper:  Mixed Media (Strathmore 140 lb.)
Ink:  Distress Inks:  Tumbled Glass, Mowed Lawn, Candied Apple, Fired Brick, Aged Mahogany, Mustard Seed, Wild Honey (Tim Holtz)
Accessories & Tools:  White embossing powder (Ranger), heat tool, water brush

Challenges:
November Rudolph Days

Penny Black - {Heart} Christmas

Hi everyone.  I'm back today to share two cards using a new stamp set from Penny Black's Season of Hope Release called {heart} Christmas (30-759).

For the card above I used the main heart image, heat embossing in Princess Gold (yellow gold) embossing powder before die-cutting.

I watercolour the image using distress inks and then die-cut using the matching die, {heart} Christmas cut out (51-690).  Stamped and heat embossed the sentiment (from the same stamp set) onto my card front and then popped up the heart die-cut for added dimension.

Close-up ... you can see the real shimmer of this yellow gold embossing powder.

For the second card I used some of the smaller stamps to create a Christmas spray.

I stamped in black ink, heat embossed in clear and then cut out the images using the matching die set.  The images were watercoloured with Distress Inks.  Stamped the sentiment from Christmas Moments (30-731) in black and also heat embossed in clear to match. 

Close-up ...

Thanks for stopping by.

Penny Black Products

{heart} Christmas (30-759)

{heart} Christmas cut out (51-690)

Christmas Moments (30-731)

Card #1:  Tis the Season

Stamps:  {heart} Christmas (Penny Black)
Paper:   Mixed Media (Strathmore 140 lb.); White card base (Neenah 110 lb.)
Ink:   Versamark; Distress Inks:  Evergreen Bough, Pine Needles, Candied Apple, Fired Brick (Tim Holtz)
Accessories:   {heart} Christmas cut out (Penny Black), Princess Gold embossing powder (Ranger), heat tool, water brush, fine paint brushes

Card #2:  Be Merry Be Bright

Stamps: {heart} Christmas (Penny Black); Christmas Moments (Penny Black)
Paper:   Mixed Media (Strathmore 140 lb.); White card base (Neenah 110 lb.)

Ink:   Black (Memento); Zigs:  Deep Green, Geranium Red (Tsukineko)
Accessories: {heart} Christmas cut out (Penny Black), clear embossing powder, heat tool, water brush

Penny Black - Jingle Friends

Hi everyone.  Today I'm sharing my first card made with the Christmas Release from Penny Black - Season of Hope.

I started out with a fun image called Jingle Friends (30-739), which is die-cut cut with matching Jingle Friends cut out (51-687).

I stamped in black ink and heat embossed in clear.  Then used Distress Inks to watercolour Santa and Rudolph. :)  I added sparkle to Santa's "fur" trim and also Rudolph's scarf.  Crystal glaze gives Rudoph a shiny nose and also adds shine to his hoofs.

The pair are popped up on foam over top of a background of softly sponged blue ink with snow falling.  I added a torn piece of white card stock at the bottom.

To finish, I used a new sentiment set (Christmas Moments (30-731) stamped in black and clear embossed to match the image.

Close-up ..

I'll be back with lots more cards using this wonderful Christmas Release in the coming days.

Thanks for stopping by!

Penny Black Products

Jingle Friends (30-739)

Jingle Friends cut out (51-687)

Christmas Moments (30-731)

Stamps:  Jingle Friends (Penny Black); Christmas Moments (Penny Black)
Paper:   Mixed Media (Strathmore 140 lb.); White card base (Neenah 110 lb.)
Ink:   Black (Memento); Distress Inks:  Brushed Corduroy, Gathered Twigs, Frayed Burlap, Mowed Lawn, Fired Brick, Antique Linen, Black Soot, Aged Mahogany, Broken China, Pumice Stone (Tim Holtz)
Accessories:   Jingle Friends Cut Out (Penny Black), clear embossing powder (Ranger), heat tool, water brush, red chalk, White Posca pen, Clear Wink of Stella, Crystal Glaze (Nuvo), sponge, White acrylic paint

Two New-to-Me Techniques

Hi everyone.  Had a Zoom call with my Crafty girls a few days ago.  One of the techniques we tried was colouring stamps with powdered inks.  The card above is the second of the three prints I got from this technique.  

Used Hot Press Watercolour paper for the card above with the beautiful image Bejeweled - Penny Black).  Inked up the stamp with Versamark and then lightly brushed on Magical powders.  Spritzed with a light spray of water and stamped onto the watercolour paper.

It's a great technique.  One of the girls from our zoom call got eleven prints off one colouring of a stamp.  Amazing!

The second technique for this card is using that same stamp that still had a bit of colour on it, but not enough for a full print.  I spritzed the stamp with water and randomly stamped all over the background  to create a print background.  Have done with with die-cuts before, but not stamps.  Got a little carried away and wished I had not added so much to the background --- less is more! :)

Even though this is not a Christmas stamp, I thought the colours made it so.  Added a simple Christmas sentiment and voila!

Thanks for visiting.  Stay safe!

Stamps:  Bejeweled (Penny Black); Christmas Greetings - retired (Tim Holtz)
Paper:   Mixed Media (Strathmore 140 lb.); Watercolour (Arches Hot Press 140 lb.)
Ink:   Versamark; Lindy's Magicals:  Drop Dead Gorgeous Green, Bells of Ireland Green, Rambling Rose, Maple Autumn Crimson; Distress inks for Sentiments:  Twisted Citron, Mowed Lawn, Fired Brick
Accessories:   Misti, Soft brush, water mister

Stay Cozy

Hi everyone.  Don't you just love Gerda Steiner images??  This one is Coffee Hedgehog.  I HAD to buy this cute hedgie all bundled up for winter.  He is watercoloured with distress inks and then fussy-cut.  

The background starts with a debossed frame (Fine Frames Square Die Set - Altenew), using the frame through my embossing machine with a silicone mat.  Then some pretty patterned paper with the hedgie popped up on top for added dimension.  Sentiment (Merry Up - Penny Black) is stamped in red to match his scarf (dotted with an acrylic paint pen) and finally, red chalk for his cheeks.  :)

Close-up ...

This was so much fun to make! :)

Thanks for stopping by!

Stamps:  Coffee Hedgehog (Gerda Steiner); Merry Up (Penny Black)
Paper:   Mixed media (Strathmore 140 lb.); White card base (Neenah 110 lb.); Patterned paper (gift)
Ink:   Black (Memento); Distress Inks:  Antique Linen, Brushed Corduroy, Rusty Hinge, Fired Brick, Aged Mahogany (Tim Holtz)
Accessories:   Clear embossing powder (Ranger), Waterbrush, Fine Frames Square Die Set (Altenew),  Red chalk, White Posca pen

CAS Challenges November Reminder

Hi everyone.  We are half way through November, which means it's time for the CAS Challenges reminder cards.  Two very fun challenges this month.

First up, CAS Mix Up - Off the Edge (Watercolouring), hosted by Bonnie.  Watercolouring is the technique this month and Bonnie wants to see images Off the Edge.  It's a great way to have a different look with your stamps, stencils or dies.  Make sure that your main image is watercoloured and design is CAS (clean and simple).

Bonnie is our host.

I'm using a favourite stamp of mine, Perfect Peonies (Clearly Besotted).  I love this sweet stamp and die.  I stamped onto mixed media paper and then watercoloured.  I kept changing my mind about the colours I wanted to add so started with a soft peach, then layered on top with fired brick and seedless preserves distress inks, and finally added a layer of wilted violet distress ink.  The paper couldn't take any more layers before it would start pilling, so I had to stop. :)  Bright green for the leaves.

I die-cut the card front with a pretty corner die from AliExpress.  Then added my die-cut peonies so that they went off the edge, trimming away the excess.  Final step was to stamp the sentiment 'Love you" (Cosmos - retired: Technique Tuesday).

Close-up ...

Heading over to NBUS #20 to add the above card.

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Trina is our host.

CAS Christmas Reminder.  What do you think of purple poinsettias??!!  Turns out there is such a thing, although I've never seen one in real life.  I started by created an angled panel from my main panel.  It's a layout that I rarely use, but it just seemed right for this design.  I white heat embossed the simple sentiment at the bottom of the black panel which gives a lot of contrast to all the white space.  The poinsettias - Holiday Bouquet (Avery Elle) were stamped on to mixed media paper and die-cut using a matching die Holiday Bouquet Elle-ments (Avery Elle).  The image was watercoloured with distress inks.  Sparkle was added to the flowers with a clear Wink of Stella pen.  Crystal drops were added to the berries and the whole thing was splattered with white to lighten the image a bit.

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I hope you'll check out the challenge blogs to see the amazing cards from our Designers, Guest Designers, and participants.  If you haven't had time to play along, there's over a week left before both challenges close on 24th at midnight PST.  Come join us!

This is the final challenge for CAS Mix Up and CAS Christmas for 2020.  Thanks to all my followers for supporting me over the past year.  

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

CAS Mix Up Reminder - Love you

Stamps:  Perfect Peonies (Clearly Besotted); Sentiment: retired (Technique Tuesday)

Paper:  Mixed Media (Strathmore 140 lb.)

Ink:  Black (Versafine); Distress Inks:  Ripe Persimmon, Fired Brick, Seedless Preserves, Wilted Violet, Mustard Seed (Tim Holtz)

Accessories & Tools:  Corner die (AliExpress); Perfect Peonies die (Clearly Besotted), waterbrush

CAS Christmas Reminder - Purple Poinsettias
Stamps:  Holiday Bouquet (Avery Elle); Snowglobe Sentiments - retired (MFT)
Paper:  Mixed media (Strathmore 140 lb.); White card base (Neenah 110 lb.); Black card stock (Stampin' Up!)
Ink:  Distress Inks:  Twisted Citron, Mowed Lawn, Fired Brick, Wilted Violet (Tim Holtz); Versamark
Accessories & Tools:  Holiday Bouquet Ellements (Avery Elle); white embossing powder, heat tool, White Posca acrylic paint pen

Challenges:
CAS Mix Up November Challenge - Off the Edge (Watercolouring)

CAS Christmas November Challenge - Non-traditional Colours
NBUS Challenge #20

The Flower Challenge #50 Reminder

Hi everyone.  We are half way through November so it's time for The Flower Challenge #50 Reminder.  

I started with a beautiful image sent to me by a good friend.  I do love this beautiful image (Hellebores from Power Poppy Stamps) and will definitely buy this set for myself once it's back in stock.  Hellebores is also called a Christmas Rose because it blooms this time of year.  It comes in many colours ... white, pink, red, purple and more).  I used distress inks to watercolour.  Added highlights using zigs and watercolour pencils.  The sentiment is retired (Stampin' Up!).

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There's still 10 days left before the challenge closes, so lots of time to join in the fun!

Stamps:  Hellebores (Power Poppy); Painted Petals - retired (Stampin' Up!)
Paper:   Mixed Media
Ink:   Distress Inks:  Worn Lipstick, Twisted Citron, Mowed Lawn, Tumbled Glass); Shadow Grey (Archival)
Accessories:  water brush, zigs, watercolour pencils  

Challenges:

The Flower Challenge #50 Reminder

Christmas Wreaths

Hi everyone.  Playing with a new-to-me Christmas Wreaths stencil from STAMPlorations.  I masked off the berries on the stencil and then placed my wreath off the edge of the card front.  Used distress inks with my blending tools to add two shades of green ink to the leaves (Twisted Citron, Mowed Lawn ... then Twisted Citron again to blend).

Next, masked off the leaves and used distress inks and my blending tools to colour the berries (Candied Apple, Aged Mahogany ... and then Candied Apple again to blend).

Removed the stencil and when the ink was dry, stamped a Tim Holtz sentiment that fit perfectly in the opening of the wreath.

To finish I used a white Posca acrylic paint pen to add details to the leaves and berries as well as adding some "snow" on the leaves.

Close-up ...

I wanted to try doing a second one using clear heavy gel over top of the stencil.  Same masking, ink blending and then the heavy gel.  I got a few streaks of gel onto the background of my card front which makes the card stock shiny and there's no way to get rid of it.  I fussy cut the wreath and put it onto a clean card base.

I adhered the straight edge of the wreath flat to my card base; added pop dots along the outer (rounded edge) of the wreath.  Love the little bit of dimension and shine this design has.  LOVE happy accidents!  Added the white pen details at the end.

Close-up ... shows some of the shine from the gloss gel ...

This is an awesome stencil that has a smaller wreath on the same stencil.  Hope to play with that soon!

I'm entering this second card into the November Stencil Challenge at STAMPlorations.

Since this is my first time using this wreath stencil, I'm sending this card over to the NBUS #20 Challenge.

Stamps:  Deco Christmas - retired (Tim Holtz)
Paper:   White card stock (Neenah 110 lb.)
Ink:   Distress inks:  Twisted Citron, Mowed Lawn, Candied Apple, Aged Mahogany (Tim Holtz)
Accessories:   Christmas Wreaths stencil (STAMPlorations), ink blending brushes, White Posca paint pen, Heavy Gloss Gel (Golden); palette knife

Challenges:

STAMPlorations November Stencil Challenge - Anything Stencil Goes

NBUS #20 Challenge