Category: Watercoloring

Penny Black: Just Relax

Although I can tell fall is in the air and Labor Day is just around the corner (the unofficial end of summer), I wanted to create another card with the Penny Black Summer Fun 30-107 stamp set.

Penny Black: Just Relax

I stamped the lawn chair with Versafine and heat embossed it with clear powder. Using Derwent Inktense watercolor pencils and Ink Potion No. 9, I colored the chairs in bright colors. In my previous card with this set, I used circles of different sizes to create variety. In this case, I used repetition to strengthen the design.

Have a terrific week and enjoy these last few weeks of summer!

Penny Black Homemade

Cute mice in the kitchen!? What? The one time I did have mice in the kitchen, in a Victorian home in Cambridge, Massachusetts, there was nothing cute about it. But with the Penny Black Homemade (30-119) stamp set, which is part of the Margaret Sherry Collection, there’s nothing but fun!

Penny Black Homemade

I watercolored the mice, stamped with Versafine ink and heat embossed with clear powder, with both Prismacolor and Derwent Inktense watercolor pencils. The patterned paper is from the Echo Park Sweet Girl collection.

Hello, Friend

I purchased the Mama Elephant Tree Friends stamp weeks ago and have just now gotten a chance to play with it.

Hello, Friend

I was inspired by the way that Mariana Grigsby used this set on her card, and set out to replicate it. However, I struggled with adding the Distress Ink with embossing brushes (it might be because I don’t own the same brushes she used). After admitting failure (and restamping the tree!), I decided to watercolor the tree image with Distress Inks using a water brush. Rather than use water, I used the Ink Potion No. 9, which seems to help with warping. I added a few glossy accents like Mariana did. I like the effect and it definitely adds some texture and shine. I’ll have to remember to use them in the future on similar projects.

I’d like to revisit this stamp set with a different set of colors for the flowers. Maybe something in an autumnal color palette. 🙂

Penny Black Sunny Days

I absolutely adore the stamp images in the Penny Black Sunny Days set. I’m sharing a card in which I have paired the soccer-playing dog with a sentiment from the Friendship set.

Penny Black Sunny Days

After stamping with Versafine ink and heat embossing, I colored the dog and soccer ball with Derwent Inktense watercolor pencils (there’s just a bit of white pencil on the soccer ball). With advice from Elizabeth Allan, I used Ink Potion No. 9, rather than water, to blend the watercolor pencil. I stamped the image on cardstock, rather than watercolor paper, as I didn’t want my cardstock to pill. I’m happy to report that the Ink Potion did the trick. I also tried a version with my Prismacolor pencils, but I preferred the vividness that I achieved with the Inktense pencils.

I finished the card off with some clouds cut with Memory Box dies and adhered the blue panel to a woodgrain-cardstock card base.

Stretch Your Stamps – Distress Ink Watercoloring

I’m sharing another card from the Stretch Your Stamps Online Card Class. This is my version of one of the cards created for that class by Jennifer McGuire using the Hero Arts Hearts and Flowers stamp set.

Stretch Your Stamps - Distress Ink Watercoloring

I watercolored the flowers with a combination of Distress Inks. The card background is stamped with the Out of Print stamp. I used Bubble Gum shadow ink on Punch cardstock. I initially tried stamping with Versamark ink, but it barely showed up. Then I tried stamping with the Punch chalk ink, but that was too dark. The Bubble Gum was just right!

Have a fabulous day!

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