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).

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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.  

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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!

Please join Susan's Linky Birthday Party below!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

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..

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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. 

 

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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