Let's Get Lost - Cape York QLD Travel Layout for Scrap FX

Hi All

This month the Theme for Scrap FX creativity is Travel.

I chose to feature one of the most adventurous trips

my husband & I have been on through Cape York Peninsula in Queensland.

This double Layout is packed with photos as a reminder of our Adventures.

Never again have I seen so much water…

or corrugated dirt road!

And even no roads!

Lucky my husband is a Rally Driver & I chose to be the Navigator only.

Scrap FX has such a huge range of ephemera  to really help you to tell your story.

Cheers for now      Deb

The Scrap FX products I used were:

Australia Maps

Travel Transparency

Butterfly Transparency

  

QLD Theme Pack

 

Almond Leaves

 

Monstera Leaves 

Intersections Stencil

Gumnut Baby Bunch & Distress Ink Watercolouring Tutorial

I have made some sweet cards featuring the Gumnut Babies stamps

 paired with the beautiful new Thanks a Bunch stamp from Paper Rose.

The Thanks a bunch stamp was stamped in Black Archival ink
on Watercolour paper & clear heat embossed.
The ribbon & sentiment from the same stamp set were also heat embossed
but with Versamark ink & WOW white embossing powder.

I had previously stamped, coloured & die cut the gorgeous gumnut baby & ladybug.
 They came from both the Snugglepot & Cuddlepie Bush Babies stamp & die set
& the Bush Babies Accessories stamp & die set.

This inspired the colours used for the flower bunch.

All of the colouring was done with Distress inks & a watercolour brush,
with mixing of colours on the palette of the glass media mat.

After white heat embossing the stamp in two opposite corners of this card
I wet the paper & floated distress ink colours across the card in a rainbow pattern
allowing the colours to blend & pool within the embossed areas.

The Layered Awesome die cut & Awesome Words stamp set were used for the sentiment.
Both Snugglepot & Cuddlepie stamp & die sets used again.

Softer tones of Distress Ink were used for this Baby Welcome card.
Hard to see in the photos but I floated Biscotti Perfect Pearl spray
in the background & Wink of Stella was applied to the babies clothing.

The sentiment is from the Baby Sentiments 1 stamp set. #17907
I framed the edge of the card with Vintage Photo Distress ink
& mounted this on an archival reinker background that lifts the browns, greens & yellows
of the stamped images.

There have been a few requests for tutorials on colouring techniques
by members of the Paper Rose Community Facebook Group.
Following is some information on my way of colouring with Distress inks,
which is a looser style than the precise colouring using Alcohol markers or Pencils.

My Technique for colouring Gumnut Babies & stamped Florals:

Personally I have a wide variety of Distress Ink colours in my stash
so they are generally my go to for watercolouring techniques of these stamped images.

But the same techniques could be used with other brands of water colours
in palettes, sticks or other water based ink supplies.



I always apply my colours to a palette of some kind so the colours can be blended together
or with water before adding to the paper.
My favourite is just a clear plastic packet from packaging with a piece of white paper inside.
This is portable & can be easily wiped clean.
Of course I also like my Tim Holtz Glass Media mat but this is not essential.

You can apply distress ink colours directly to the palette from your distress markers,
mini or regular size distress ink pads
or for a more concentrated colour use distress reinkers.
I have my reinkers labelled in a Tim Holtz Palette tray.
I have to be careful not to tip this as the ink stays wet.  Disadvantage - not portable at all.

I always use a smooth(ish) watercolour paper
(egs. Ranger Distress Watercolor/Canson or Strathmore Cold Press/Mont Marte Premium)
I stamp with Black Archival Ink (which remains permanent when dry),
sometimes embossing this with Clear embossing powder
or with Versamark Ink if I want to white heat emboss the images.

I tend to stamp quite a few images at a time from a stamp set
& fill up a whole page of watercolour paper.
Doing multiple images especially of the Gumnut babies allows you to try
different colour combinations & make all the effort worthwhile.
That way you have left overs for future projects.

I generally like to use a fine tip watercolour brush with a fillable water reservoir.
For my backgrounds or larger areas I tend to use a soft larger round brush
so I can apply lots of water before floating on the colours.
I like to dry between layers with a heat tool,
this gives the blotchy watercolour look that I like.
Always finish with some splatters of dilute colours or water only.
Blot off with paper towel while drying again with the heat tool.
Shine can be added with Perfect Pearl, Biscotti or other shimmer spray colours.

I coloured my images of the Gumnut Babies before diecutting as I find this easier.
I also noted near the images what colours I used for later reference.
This was especially useful for skin colours.

I have staged the colouring to explain the process. 

Just remember use a very light application of colour. You can always add more.

Skin colours used were Antique Linen, Spun Sugar & Tea Dye. 

Only small amounts required of each with water for blending.

Make a blend of the 3 colours (Antique linen, Spun sugar & Tea Dye)
on your palette with water
continuing to go back and forth until you get the depth of colour you like.
(photo shows abandoned coral too but it was used for the flower)

Shading in creases, under the hairline & on lower sides of limbs & feet.
Imagine the light hitting your image from above.
Choose petal & gumnut colours last.

Then you will be confident about larger projects & colouring these to match.
My advice for the florals is to apply a light colour to top OR bottom
of each petal/stem/leaf
then use a deeper or contrasing colour
to fill in the rest of each shape with just a random swipe of colour.
Not intense colouring in.
Use watered down Iced spruce or a neutral colour for shading.
The more colours added the better & more natural the finish.

Hope this has helped those asking for information on colouring.
Please ask any questions if you have any & I will respond ASAP.
My preference is for this less exact look.
Cheers for now
Deb Adams

Awesome, Beautiful Sunshine & Stars

Hi today I want to share some cards I made featuring fabulous die cuts & stamps from Paper Rose.

I wanted to use up some of the many left over background papers in my stash.

These were made in a previous creative session using my gel press plate

 with Dina Wakley heavy body acrylic paints & these mixed media stamp sets.

All these papers measure 6 x 6 inches to make the full card front of my cards.

For this card I die cut the Native Birds Border die down the centre of the background.

The Layered Beautiful die & the infill card set were simply cut out 

of textured gum green cardstock & yellow gel printed paper scraps.  

I added another shadow layer in black to help it stand out from the background.

The sentiments are from the Beautiful Words stamp set. 

Stamped with Black Archival ink & clear heat embossed.

This bright cheerful card features the Gum Leaf Border die & the

Layered Sunshine die & the Sunshine Words Stamp set.

Once again I have featured the Native Birds die.  This time with a black background.

The sentiment is from the Scribble Stars stamp set.

Finally another colourful card featuring the Gum Leaf Border die again.

The sentiment combines the Layered Awesome die & the Awesome Words stamp set.

Hope this gives you some inspiration to use diecuts to feature the 

beautiful arty backgrounds that you create.

Wanderlust Layout

Today I want to share a double layout with a Vintage Travel theme

featuring chipboard titles from Scrap FX.

The focal point on these layouts are copies of original postcards from a private collection.
I scanned & printed them with my ink jet printer onto heavy card stock.
I sealed both sides of each card with Judikins Microglaze to protect the ink.

They hint at a pretty cool story about a brave & adventurous woman,
Auntie Ria (Victoria) who left Australia from Fremantle, WA on the ship shown below.

The other postcard shows she had reached Colombo, Ceylon.

I would have loved to have read her full letters sent home,

but unfortunately do not have those.

I continued the Indian theme through to the other page with Elephant stamps from Graphic 45,
real Sari cloth strips, gold & jewels.

The 12 x 12 papers used here are cotton rag paper which is very textured.
I used acrylic paints and my gel press plate to add layers of colour to the background.
Birgit Koopsen's new range of India inspired texture plates from Carabelle studios
made a soft pattern over the textured paper.

The Moroccan tile stencil brings out the blue in the exotic girls clothing & ties the pages together.

This image is another original postcard from that era.

The Vintage map includes both Australia & Ceylon.

The Journey & Wanderlust chipboard titles are painted with Turquoise Art Alchemy paint.

I am sure she had a grand adventure.

Her handwritten postcards are so inspiring even 115 years on!

Thanks for taking the time to read.  Cheers for now   Deb