Fall Keepsake and an Ornament

I am on the Art Impressions blog today for their Watercolour Weekend post!

I have a couple of projects featuring some of the newly released sets today!  First is a card using the 6105 - Fall Keepsake Set:

I coloured the images with my N45 Tombow Dual Brush Marker, and stamped them on my Canson XL Watercolour Paper.  I started with the fox, then the toadstool, and added masks to both of them.  The pumpkin and pail followed, and finally the fall bouquet was added to the pail.  After pulling the colour out of the lines with a damp brush, I added a pale coat of #993 to the pumpkins and fox, followed by several layers of #947, and finally a mix of #947/977 to create the really dark areas.  Shades of #N55 were painted on his paws and to the bucket, layering to keep the sides of the bucket and bottom of his paws darker.

I wanted the leaves to be multicoloured, so did sections of #993/947/856/126/346/977, blending them together.  I added #346/126/977 to the stems of the pumpkins, and the stem of the toadstool, and painted shades of #856 on the top of it, touching the dots with a little 346.  I used the N55 to add shadows to the fox's white areas, and finally painted a wash of #126/346 for the grass, and stamped the small grass from 4051 - Foliage Set 1 in #126, and then I used the fine point of the 346 marker directly on the paper to add a few darker lines of grass.  A wash of #493 was painted in as the sky.  I used my Grey Twintone marker to colour in the eyes/features and redefine any areas that needed it.

My scene was die cut using the 5724 - Nested Rectangle Dies, and adhered to a brown mat with 3D foam adhesive.  The word 'hello' is from the 5718 - Mini Journal Template set, cut twice in brown and stacked to be a more stable die cut.  Both pieces of background paper are from the 5838 - Fall paper pack.

My second project is featuring the new 6117 - A Cozy Christmas Set, that creates a sweet little ornament!

I have a lot of photos for you today!  I tried to capture a few steps in the assembly process, but I highly recommend that you watch the Ai video by Kim to see how to assemble it.

In addition to the stamp set, you need to purchase the 6121 - Storybook Template die.  The die cuts out the box (at the top) and you cut three of the inner frame piece.  The images were stamped on Mixed Media paper with #N55, and painted in with #349/993/493/837/N55, and a few touches of gold ink.  Images were cut out using the coordinating dies that are included with the stamps.

I cut a piece of patterned paper from the 5838 - Fall Paper Pack at 3 1/8" x 2 5/8" to act as the background, and glued it to the back of the box.  I fussy cut the fireplace out, and glued it down so that it would appear behind all the other pieces.  Each of the stamped images is drawn along the curve of the oval opening, so each piece was die cut and glued under one of the frames (there is a tab where you can add the glue, see the photo below from the backside).

Each of the frames got pieces of 3D foam adhesive attached to the corners and in a few other spots, and then each of them is layered on top of each other starting with the tree.

After the tree comes the Mama bunny, and finally the baby bunny on the top layer.  *I used 2mm thick adhesive, but there is plenty of room to use a thicker adhesive if you prefer.  I'm happy with how this looks, though.  When you adhere the layers, you want to make sure that the openings are stacked directly over each other.

The Storybook die includes a tab piece which I cut out of some woodgrain paper from the 5812 - Christmas S2 Paper Pack.  I wanted the woodgrain on the outside of the box, so I used the inner frame piece to cut it out, then attached it to the front of the box.  I added pieces to cover the sides, top and bottom also.  The tab is adhered to the top back of the box after it's assembled.  Glue was added behind each of the tabs, the box was folded and attached to the other side, enclosing the scene.

Christmas Cars and Classic Truck Foundations

 I am up on the Art Impressions blog today for the Watercolour Weekend post.

I have one fall and one Christmas card to share with you today,  let's start with my favourite season:

This is the 6066 - Classic Truck Foundation set.  I went for the softer side of fall with this one.  I stamped my image with #N45 onto some Canson XL Watercolour paper, and pulled out the colour with a damp brush.  I used a wash of #177 with touches of #993 to paint in the hillsides, and shades of #992/969 for the dirt road, tree and fence.  The truck was painted with a mixture of #565/249 to create the washed out aqua shade, and all the trim was done in layers of #N45. The interior of the truck was painted with #565 to give a shadowed look.

I wanted a white barn, so only painted light shades of #N45 on the shadowy sides of the barn, and a darker layer of grey on the roof.  I used a pencil to add in the vertical barn boards.  The doors were painted in #837, and #565 was used to shade in the windows and under the eaves.  A wash of #493 was painted in the sky, leaving negative white space to suggest clouds, and I added in some areas of #N45 to add some shading to them.  I drew in the trees along the hillside directly with my #177 and 933 markers, and even though I used a tiny foliage stamp for the tree in the foreground, I wasn't happy with the look so used the markers directly on my paper to add in the leaves. 

The image was die cut with the stitched/rounded corner die from the 5809 - Decorative Journal Page 2 set which fits the Foundations perfectly!  I added a blue mat underneath it, and mounted it onto this pretty plaid from the 5832 Gnome Paper Pack.  I wanted to accent the barn door colour, so used the Fall word die from 5770 - Farm FB Fence Set, cut out three times from some warm pink cardstock, and layered on top of each other to create a nice thick word.  I offset my panel slightly to the right of my card.

My second card is the start of my painted holiday cards!  

I used the sweet little truck from 5823 - Christmas Cars set, and stamped it in #N45 onto some Canson XL Watercolour paper.  After pulling out the colour, I painted the truck with several layers of #837 to build up the darker areas, leaving the rounded parts of the truck much lighter.  I masked off the back of the truck, and used my stamp positioner to stamp the tree from 5826 - WC Large Tree Set 2 in #249.  After touching it with a damp brush, I stamped it a second time to add some of the detail back in.  I wanted a wreath on the front of the truck, and the little half wreath from 5830 - WC Mini Wreath Set worked perfectly!  I used #249 and my stamp positioner to get it in the right spot.

I used #565 to paint in a wintry sky wash, and also added the 'suggestion' of a person in the truck, and added a shadow under it.  I used white paint and a #1 brush to dab on some snow on my scene.  I used my red Twintone marker to draw a bow on the wreath.

My image is small!  So I made a busier background using the 5812 - Christmas S2 Paper Pack.  I used the 5724 - Nested Rectangle Dies to cut it out, and matted it with black cardstock.  I cut the 5132 - Tag Stitched Die from the woodgrain paper, and adhered it down to my background.  The sentiment is from 5566 - Christmas Sentiments Set stamped in Versafine Onyx Black ink.

Hello Fall Wreath & a Fall Scene

 I am on the Art Impressions blog today for their Watercolour Weekend post!

Painting fall scenes are among my favourite things to paint!  Another thing I love to do is to use multiple stamp sets to create my scene, which is what happened with my first card:

This was the first time I've used the Canson XL Mixed Media paper that is available in the shop, and it wasn't bad to paint on!  It's very lightweight, and fairly smooth, but took the colour well.  I started by stamping the large birdhouse from 5925 - Honey Bee Set in N45, leaving off the lower right corner as I knew that I was going to stamp the single pumpkin from 5595 - Harvest Pumpkin Set beside it.  After masking the birdhouse, I stamped the two pumpkins from 5059 - WC Harvest Set in N55, and put the mouse from 5599 - Mini Mice & Squirrel Set in front.  I really love the line of leaves from 5598 - Harvest Set, and stamped it in front of the pumpkin, as well as just small parts of it on either side of my scene.

With all the elements in place, I started painting in #993 and #312 on the house, and to get the colour of blue that I was looking for, I used Stormy Sky Distress ink for the roof and wooden base.  On the two lighter pumpkins, I used #312/N45/565, and for the orange one I used #993/933/947/899.  The mouse was painted with layers of #899, and my black Twintone marker filled in his eye and feet.  The leaves were done in a multi-coloured fashion, using #126/933/993/899.  The sky was added using a wash of #565, and a wash of #126 was painted in as the ground.  I used my #565 to add shadows under the house and objects, and darkened up different areas with my grey Twintone - or redrew lines that had disappeared.

The greeting from 5600 - Harvest Sentiments Set was stamped in Versafine Onyx Black, and the scene was matted with a blue decorative rectangle die, and mounted on paper from the 5606 - Harvest Journal PP.

My second project was started with the intention of it being a wreath, but as I got painting, I stopped at a half-wreath since I liked the way it looked.

I started with the veggies from 5426 - WC Veggies, stamping them in N55, masking where needed (can you tell that's some broccoli peeking out??).  Then I began building my design with the ferns from 5830 - WC Mini Wreath Set, done two-toned in 126/993 and 126/158.  The vines from 5007 - WC Foliage Set were coloured in #565/177, stamping one in each direction, on each side.  This is the point where I decided that I didn't want to do an entire wreath, so I added the leafy branch from 5126 - WC Foliage Set 4 in 933/993 on either side to finish it off.  I decided that my wreath needed a little something beside the veggies, so I used the small sprig from 5830 - WC Mini Wreath Set in a bit of a rainbow fashion using #565/685/933/993.  After painting in the veggies with (orange) 933/947/969 (brown) 899/947 (yellow) 993/899/933 and (green) 249/177/126, I touched everything with a damp brush, and pulled out a bit of the colour.

After looking for a sentiment to add, I found the Hello Fall die in the 5592 - Harvest Journal Die Set.  I first painted it in an ombre style on watercolour paper, but it looked a little bold.  Knowing that I intended to add a metallic gold mat under my square, I tried adding a gold diecut layered over the painted one, and loved the look!  A few dots with my gold pen added a little more sparkle.  The square was cut using the 5061 - Square Double Stitched Dies, and was mounted onto paper from the 5838 - Fall PP with 3D foam adhesive.

Foxes and Wild Buck Foundation

 I am on the Art Impressions blog today for the Watercolour Weekend post!

Since fall is such a short season for card makers... now that it's August, I'm sharing my first fall cards!  This is the 6067 - Wild Buck Foundation.

I coloured the image with Tombows #969/565 and stamped it onto my Canson XL Watercolour Paper.  After pulling out the colour with a damp brush, I started by adding a wash of #493 to the water and sky, and adding shades of #969/899 to the tree.  I used the warm brown #947 to start adding layers of colour to the deer, keeping it lighter on his back and under his belly.  Now that my main elements were defined by at least a first layer of colour - I found it easier to plan the rest of my painting.  I used #991/126/177 to paint the grassy hill areas, wanting them to look a little faded/dry like they would in the fall.  I wanted my cabin to look like cedar shakes, so I painted it with #N49, and used 969 to give it wood trim.  I used a pencil to sketch in the suggestion of the shakes.  #837 was painted on the roof, and the windows were shaded with #565.  The rocks were painted with #N49, and hints of the browns used in the scene.  #899 was used for the deer's antlers, and to add some darker areas on his legs.

I used the small twig cluster stamp from 5059 - WC Harvest Set to stamp in the shrubs around the cabin and rocks.  Then with the foliage stamp from 5372 - WC Mini Foliage, I added the leaves in #993 and 837.  The small grass from Foliage Set - 4051 was stamped in #992 to add dry looking grass to the scene.  One of the trees from 5010 - WC Tree Set 1 was stamped to add a pine tree beside the cabin in #247.  To finish things up, I used #565 to paint the edges of the stream, and to add shadows where needed - especially on the mountains, rocks and the darker sides of the cabin.

I die cut my scene with the A2 Stitched Rectangle dies, and used 3D foam adhesive to adhere it over a brown mat, onto my subtle plaid paper from 5606 - Harvest Journal PP.  I wrapped some plain twine around the card base several times.

My second project features the KH5951 - Foxes Set.

I stamped the fox and stump from the set in #N49 onto my Canson XL Watercolour paper, masking the fox so that the stump would appear to be behind him.  I painted shades of #947 on the fox, along with N47 on his paws.  Using several browns - #992/969/899, I painted streaks of colour on the stump.  Masking both the stump and the fox, I used both ferns from 5830 - WC Mini Wreath Set coloured in three colours - #076/126/373 which gave them an interesting appearance!  The two leafy stems from 5476 - WC Foliage Set 5 were also added, being coloured up in #373/565.  The Daisy Bunch stamp from 4052 - Flower set were stamped repeatedly in #991/703 to add some two-toned flowers along the ground. 

 After touching everything with a damp brush to pull out the colour, I added the small grass from 4051 - Foliage set in #126, then did a wash with it on the ground.  #565 was painted in as the sky, and used to add shadows under the fox and stump.

My scene was die cut with the Stitched Oval die, and added to my base with a brown mat.  The background paper is from 5973 - Fall S2 PP.  For a little extra decoration, I added multi colour die cut pieces from Spellbinders Holiday Blooms, a wax seal and a few gems.  Hope you'll pull out those fall sets and get painting!

Lakehouse Foundation

Art Impressions has recently released a bunch of products that are great for masculine cards, so to make my Dad a Father's Day card, I pulled out 6065 - Lakehouse Foundation.

I stamped it using Shadow Gray Archival ink from Ranger onto my Canson XL watercolour paper, then painted it using my Tombows.  I sewed the finished painting onto some warm brown cardstock with my sewing machine, then adhered it to my cardbase that was created with two patterns from the 6072 - Father's Day paperpack.

On the inside of my card, I used the 5927 - Father's Day Die Set cut from the same warm brown.

Lillies in a Teacup and a Birdbath

  

I am up on the Art Impressions blog today for their Watercolour Weekend post!

I love the sweet new 6024 Tea Time Set, and wanted to fill the largest teacup with some flowers...

I stamped the cup in N57, leaving the top rim and the motif uncoloured.  I searched through my stash for some flowers to fill the top, and realized that the bouquet from the recently released 6029 Easter Lilies Set fit perfectly!  So I coloured up just the blooms and foliage in N57, and since it is a clear stamp, I was able to position them where I wanted in the cup.

To keep the lilies white, I just added some shading down the center of each petal using #533/565, and outlined the stamens with my orange Twintone pen.  For the leaves, I did layers of #126/177, and added a touch of green to the bottom of the unopened buds.  I mixed #249/565 to create my aqua shade that I painted onto the cup and saucer, created a grey/green shade for the table, and added #533 to the background.  Thinking of my Grandma's teacups... I used my gold gel pen to add a gold rim to the saucer, and coloured in the leaves... then also added touches of gold the stamens in the flower centers.

I die cut my image with a stitched oval die, and put a metallic gold mat under it.  A slightly larger oval was cut out of patterned paper from the 6033 - Inspirational Easter PP, and was attached to my card base with 1/16" foam adhesive - you can see just a hint of the blue card base below it.  The image is raised on a thicker foam adhesive so there is a lot of fun dimension on the card!  To echo the gold touches, the sentiment from the Tea Time Set was gold embossed at the bottom.

My second card features Kim's 5980 - Song Birds and Feeders set.  

I stamped the birdbath in #N57, then using my stamp positioner, added the branch and birds.   The mountains and hillsides were sketched in with a pencil.  I mixed shades of #565/177 to create the blue green colours of the mountains and hills, then added a wash of #177/126 to the foreground.  #565 was painted in as the water and shading contours on the birdbath. I brushed in #476 as the sky, being sure to leave some fluffy white areas to suggest clouds.

I made my birds into robins, as they're a sure sign of spring in my neck of the woods!  I added layers of #947 to their bellies, and shades of N45 to their head, back and feathers.  My black Twintone marker was used to dot their eyes.  There is a small bit of greenery included in the stamp set, so I used it along with #177 to stamp in the foliage, which I touched with a damp brush.  Since I wanted it to be a flowering spring tree, I used white paint to create blossoms in the tree, and dotted their centers with the fine point of my #933 marker.  I used the long grasses from 5126 - WC Foliage Set 4 in #565/177 to stamp some grass around the base of the birdbath, and added a few white paint flowers there as well.

After die cutting my scene with an oval die, I adhered it with 3D foam adhesive over a dark grey mat, and attached it all to my background made with two papers from the 5835 - Mini PP.  I finished off my card with some grey enamel dots.  The finished card size is 4 3/4" x 6".