Hi Everyone,
We have an awesome card design to share with you today. It is made by our friend and super talent, Heather Telford. For this stunning design she has used a Penny Black stamp called Snowy Settlement. Heather also used a unique technique that created this beautiful sky. Check out all the details below.
Hello Creative Friends,
Have you started making Christmas cards already? I am sure some of you have the helpful habit of making them all year round. I always plan to make them throughout the year but other than a handful before September I am rarely successful. This card features the new ‘snowy settlement’ from Penny Black
When a new Penny Black wintry scenic stamp arrives soon after a new blue distress ink then really what’s a girl to do? I was pretty sure I would like the new uncharted mariner distress ink as I love blue and the possibility of a deep sea blue was very appealing. I am not sure what the blue looks like on your computer or phone screen but in real life, it is indeed a deep royal blue with teal undertones or maybe a deep teal blue with royal undertones!
I created this panel in a stamp positioner and kept it in there for most of my process. This was fairly essential because I worked on the sky first. I imagine there are several ways you could get the same effect without a stamp positioner but I will describe my method for you. I inked the top edges of the stamp, (treetops, roofline, and horizon) in uncharted mariner distress ink. I stamped on hot-pressed watercolor paper and then blended the ink upwards to fill the sky with blue. I added water and sometimes smooshed ink from my glass mat to make sure I had enough depth of color. When I had the sky completely painted I sprinkled salt on it and let it dry. The result was the speckled (snowy) effect and a variation of blues.
As the stamp was still in the positioner I inked it again with the same ink and stamped the rest of the image. With a slightly wet paintbrush, I blended parts of the trees, track, and buildings to create colour variation and contrast with the white snow. Where the details were quite small as in the windows and doors I had very little water on the paintbrush and was able to achieve both pale blues or defined edges and lines.
I trimmed the finished panel to fill a whole card front and stamped the sentiment from the new PB set ‘jolly snippets’ in the same uncharted mariner ink. I don’t usually stamp sentiments in distress ink because they can be a bit patchy but I wanted the exact colour match without auditioning all my other blue inks!
Do you ever create cards with only one ink color? Some inks, like this blue, will give you a beautiful range of tones when diluted so it is a fun technique to try.
Learn more about Heather:
Goodies Used:
