Penny Black Dahlia’s in Watercolor

Hi there and welcome!  I’ve been working on a lot of cards and although I’m quick about photographing them and posting to social media, I’m a bit slower to get a blog post written to share the details!  Yesterday I decided to paint a watercolor using the beautiful Dahlias set by Penny Black.  I began by trimming a sheet of watercolor paper down to 6X8 inches then taping off one inch on all four sides, leaving me with a 5X7 space in which to paint!  I dusted the surface with my anti-static pouch then began to stamp, then emboss with Brutus Monroe’s Gilded powder, mask and stamp more blossoms and leaves until I had an arrangement I liked.  

Next, using my Kuretake Zig Clean Color Brush markers, I started laying in the background with black, then some shades of blue, moving the ink with a wet paintbrush.  I dried with a heat tool between each layer and built up a lovely, dark base of color.  Moving on to the largest dahlia bloom, I used several shades of red and orange markers, and also a lighter brown to fill in the petals, adding water to soften and blend the ink.  

I colored the rest of the flowers using shades of orange and yellow, a little brown for shading, then a little gray for shading.  I love how vivid they are against that background even though DO they look like flowers floating in space!  😀  To finish my panel, I spattered on droplets of water then patted it dry and finally a spattering of white craft paint.  This painting makes me very happy and I can’t wait to mat and frame it!  I may keep it, but it’s more likely to be sold!  Check my etsy shop to see if it’s there in a few days!  

Here’s a final peek at the finished painting; I’m really bummed that my paper tore a bit.  I don’t know why that happened; perhaps using the heat tool so much made the painters tape really adhere more than usual.  Thank you for visiting and I hope my post encourages you to get out your watercolors or Zig markers and have some fun with them!  

 

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Mixed Media Canvases

I’ve been on a mixed media kick lately after seeing the beautiful work done by Afia from CraftyMe!  Be sure to take a peek at the gorgeous mixed media projects on her blog!  I was so inspired to get messy and do some of my own!  This is the first I did in my series of four (so far!) and it was a 5X7 canvas stretched over a wooden frame.  I started the process while it was still on the frame, but then removed the canvas so I could lay it flat to work on.  

Sadly, I didn’t think to make a video of my process, so I’ll try to share the general idea of how I made this via the photos!  To begin, I prepped my canvas with a coat of plain ol’ white craft paint and dried it with my heat tool.  I then began to layer on stencils, using teal, black, rusty orange and white for the most part.  I tried to arrange the images in an eye-pleasing format.  I heat-embossed the floral spray (Demure by Penny Black)  in black onto the canvas then painted it in with Gansai Tambi watercolor paints.  

The last two steps were to stamp in Versafine Onyx Black ink the vintage-y styled word stamp, then I heat-embossed in white BLESSED onto the canvas.  I LOVE how this came out and jumped right into making my second one!  

Again, no video!!  DUH!  But I created this in much the same manner and removed it from the frame.   I coated the canvas with a layer of tan craft paint, dried with a heat tool then started layering on stencils, using gray, black, red, pink, teal and white craft paints.  I have a number of stencils which I collected a few years ago when I got into making Gelli prints .  The large blossom is from a stencil I made using a stencil cutter which my husband bought for me back then!  

This part is quite textured because I tried to add a stenciled design using Thermoweb’s Transfer Gel, then changed my mind and scraped off most of the Gel which had already begun to dry.  I don’t mind that it left some behind as it added great texture!  

I stamped this script stamp using Versafine Onyx Black ink.  I love the texture of the canvas!  

This is another script stamp which I stamped with Versamark then heat-embossed with clear powder.  I think it’s cool that it’s translucent!  I’m going to end this post here but watch for Part Two in my Mixed Media Canvas series!  Thank you for visiting!  🙂  

Copics and Penny Black Sweet Perfume

I’ve been using my new Copic alcohol markers and learning a little more each time about how they blend.  This image is called Sweet Perfume by Penny Black and after stamping it with gray ink I really enjoyed coloring it with Copics!  

Part of the fun of coloring these gorgeous flowers is to choose my color scheme!  I decided to leave to leave the smaller blossoms “uncolored” by just adding shades of gray.  I like how they recede into the background and let the larger blooms have the spotlight!  I’m still working on blending and need to add some lighter shades of markers to my collection in order to transition from light to dark more effectively.

 

Once I finished coloring, I trimmed down my panel with a Gina Marie Designs Stitched Rectangle die, then dug around in my paper stash and found this zig-zag paper which is from a Simon Says Stamp package!  I often save bits from my mail and this piece coordinates perfectly with my card!

The final touch was to heat-emboss the sentiment from Brutus Monroe‘s set, Super Sentimental (which by the way is SUPER versatile with SO many sentiments!!) onto a scrap of the packaging paper, add a layer of the gray card stock behind it, then lift it with a piece of foam tape and add a little green jewel!  I think the colorful flowers are balanced nicely with the soft gray card stock, don’t you?

Penny Black Gentle Whisper & Blooming Garden

I love it when I try something new and it works!  This die coordinates with a beautiful stamp called Gentle Whisper by Penny Black.  The problem is that the stamp is much larger than the die, so they don’t really coordinate at all!  I sold the stamp but hung onto the die in order to try this new-to-me technique of coloring on the die cut!  As always, I used Zig markers and a water brush.  After the image dried, I sprinkled droplets of water for that speckled effect.  

Next I cut a black oval using Gina Marie Designs Stitched Oval dies, then placed it into an embossing folder for added dimension.  Another oval of fuschia brings out the purples in the flower.  I stamped Stampin Up’s Dictionary in black onto a white card base; I like how the type is a cool contrast to the organic/nature feel of the rest of the card!  Lastly, I lifted the flower with bits of white foam tape, but in retrospect, I should have used black fun foam!  🙂  Nevertheless, I think this card is stunning and I’m glad I kept this die!  

I just love this die which coordinates with the poppy in Penny Black’s Blooming Garden set!  I cut this from watercolor paper then colored with Zig markers, blending the colors with a water brush.  Again, I die-cut the oval in black then embossed it in a folder and added an orange layer beneath it for contrast.  

I took photos of these cards in the early morning because the light is so great and casts wonderful shadows!  

More Penny Black Poppy Pattern!

I just love this wonderful background stamp (Penny Black Poppy Pattern) and the pretty detail in it!  When I made my card last week for a challenge on my Facebook stamping group, I created several panels using this stamp and just finished them up!  This card features a brand new set by Simon Says Stamp called Mom Flowers in their Fluttering By series. 

 After stamping a script stamp over the background panel in brown, I mounted it onto a layer of brown card stock, then onto a white base card.  I stamped out MOM and the sentiment in brown ink onto a strip of vellum, then attached it with two jeweled brads in green. 

For this panel, I taped the four edges of my Bristol Smooth paper then smudged distress oxide inks (Carved Pumpkin/Picked Raspberry/Peeled Paint) directly on the Poppy Pattern stamp!  It was a little tricky but I love the velvety look of the oxides!  I spritzed the stamp with water then stamped it onto my card stock.  I dried with a heat tool, then used a black Sharpie to enhance the centers.  

An interesting twist re: my sentiments!  I received Big Word Thanks from Stampendous recently and just LOVE the big words!  But there are no dies so with the help of my friend, Lynne Bunn, I used my Scan N’ Cut machine to create the YOU image, cut out several of them from black card stock and layered them for added dimension!  Voila!!  😀  

Finally, I removed the tape which leaves a satisfyingly crisp border, and completed my card!  I like this one best of all the versions I made!  

Penny Black Poppy Pattern

Poppies are my favorite flower and these in Penny Black’s Poppy Pattern background stamp are GORGEOUS!  I made this card today for a Faux Watercolor challenge in my Facebook stamping group!  To create this look, I pretty much just scribbled with Zig Clean Color Real Brush markers markers onto the stamp itself, starting with my lightest shades (yellows) then adding the darker ones (orange and red).  I tried to color “strategically” by using darker colors where I thought the shady parts of the blossoms would be but really, I just ended up putting color everywhere!  😀

After my stamp was colored in, I spritzed with a mist of water and stamped it onto a piece of Bristol Smooth watercolor paper.  The water moves and blends the ink to mimic the look of “real” water-coloring!

I’ve had this lovely verse sentiment for ten years or more, and thought it would be the perfect addition as I yearn for springtime and flowers and birds!  I don’t recall where I got the stamp or who makes it, unfortunately.  Lastly, I attached the vellum with two green brads, layered the watercolor panel onto a piece of light green card stock and then onto a white base card.  I hope you enjoy the bright colors and hopeful sentiment!  🙂