In My Stash - Pentel Aquash Water Brushes

Disclaimer - these are products I buy myself, I have not been given any form of reimbursement for writing about these products.  Also, I definitely haven't tried everything that's out there!  This is just what I use.  :-) 

In My Stash

Pentel Aquash Water Brushes

When I first started watercolouring stamped images, I used the Aqua Painters from Stampin' Up!, which are made by Pentel. They're a nylon brush with a 10ml water reservoir, which means you don't need a container of water nearby to watercolour your images.  I always favoured the smaller nib as I found I could control it a lot better for smaller areas.  So I was pretty excited to discover that Pentel actually make an even smaller nibbed water painter!  Straight from Pentel, they're called Aquash Water Brushes, and you can buy them individually.  I bought mine on ebay HERE, although I've seen them in art stores since.

Although I have all 3 sizes, I predominantly use the smallest nib (fine), purely for more control.  For large areas though, the bigger nibs are brilliant.  I always have a few sheets of paper towel nearby so I can quickly clean and dry the nib if I want to change colours or the flow of water, which is often!

Honey Summer

I know, it's been a week since I last posted.  I've been very uninspired.  I've still been colouring images, just not managing to get them onto cards!  When I saw the latest Deconstructed Sketch, I finally managed to get one finished. Phew!

This gorgeous stamp is CC Designs Honey Summer, and she's available from Craft-A-Lot.  The patterned paper is Crate Paper Portrait, and it's also available from Craft-A-Lot.

This luscious Jade Satin Ribbon is from Sew Sweet...  I think I'm in love!  It's such a beautiful quality ribbon to work with.  And I adore the colour!

Here are the challenges I'm entering.  :-)

The Deconstructed Sketch #12

Paper Sundaes Challenge #79 - Beachy or Summer

Paper Pretties Wednesday Challenge - No Markers

Thanks for stopping by!  :-)

Materials:

Stamp sets - CC Designs Honey Summer (Craft-A-Lot)

Cardstock - White Cambric Linen, Basic Black, Watercolour paper Crate Paper Portrait (Craft-A-Lot)

Inks - Bermuda Bay, So Saffron, Blush Blossom, Blushing Bride

Accessories - Jade Satin Ribbon (Sew Sweet), Black embossing powder, heat tool, Aqua painter, dimensionals

Aussie Cards For Sale

Have you been to check out Aussie Cards For Sale?  It's an online store for handmade cards by Australian designers, and boy are they some stunning cards for sale!  It's run by Alicia McNamara, and she's currently looking for some new designers for the site.  So I thought I'd throw my hat in the ring!  You never know!  :-)

So, here are some cards I'm submitting for sale (fingers crossed).

 

So... what do you think?  Do you think anyone would be interested in buying these?  Are there any cards you've seen on my blog that you think I should be submitting?  I'd love your feedback.  :-)

Head on over to Aussie Cards For Sale to check out the fabulous designers already on the site.  You can also find Aussie Cards For Sale on their facebook page.  AND there's a great competition running for the month of July...

Sunshine And Smiles - Avocado Arts Challenge

I've had a play with a new stamp set that Colleen from Craft-A-Lot sent me recently - Sunshine and Smiles by Avocado Arts, it's such a cute set!  So I made this card to enter into the Avocado Arts Sketch Challenge.

And I'm loving the Natural Kraft Button Twine from Sew Sweet... it's available in some pretty gorgeous colours too.  :-)

Here's the Avocado Arts Sketch Challenge:

Thanks for visiting!

Materials:

Stamp sets - Avocado Arts - Sunshine and Smiles (Craft-A-Lot)

Cardstock - Crumb Cake, White Cambric Linen

Inks - Memento Black, Prismacolor pencils

Accessories - Natural Kraft Button Twine (Sew Sweet)

Art Journal - Spread Your Wings

When I saw there was an Art Journaling project being run over at Splendid Stamping with The Greeting Farm, I just had to sign up.  This week's assignment is to create a 2 page spread with the theme Spread Your Wings.  I've decided to challenge myself in other ways along the journey, and the first thing I wanted to tackle is this obsessive habit I have of re-doing things when they're not exactly right.  I don't mean to say that my final products are perfect, far from it!  I just mean that I usually colour an image several times before I settle on one final attempt to add to a card.  I've learnt a lot over the past year or so just by doing this, but it's definitely time to break the habit!

I also wanted to practice using Prismacolor pencils on kraft (Crumb Cake) cardstock.  I've never really been too good at getting skin tones right, so I was thrilled to come across these fabulous tutorials by Annika Ryan.  I've used a simplified version, but I'm thrilled with the results!

It was such a struggle to not start again!  I have to say that I'm thrilled with the final result though.  :-)

Overall, I had hoped my art journal would take on a more creative flourish-y feel to it, but alas I'm stuck with CAS for now!

And here are some challenges I thought I'd enter:

DYSU #29 - Wings

Colour Throwdown #151

Materials:

Stamp sets - Gorjuss - Flying Above It All, Unity - Becoming Butterfly (both from Craft-A-Lot)

Cardstock - Crumb Cake

Inks - Black Memento, Crumb Cake, Prismacolor pencils

Gorjuss Little Foxes

Good morning!  I have another Gorjuss card to share with you today... I love these stamps!  You can get yours from Craft-A-Lot, and the pretty seam binding is available here from Sew Sweet.

I was so happy with how this card came out recently that I decided to follow the same colour scheme to create this one...

I'm really having fun trying out this fabulous technique called Cheatin' Chalks by Kim Teasdale.  I definitely have a lot of practising ahead of me before I manage to do this even half as well as Kim!

Here are the challenges I'm entering:

Wee Memories #62 - Clean And Simple

The Play Date Cafe Challenge PDCC91

Thanks for visiting!  :-)


Materials: 
Stamp sets - Gorjuss - Little Foxes
Cardstock - White Cambric Linen, Watercolour paper
Inks - Versamark, Blush Blossom, Blushing Bride, Going Grey
Accessories - Black embossing powder, heat tool, Caviar Seam Binding (Sew Sweet), Antique Brad, Aqua painter, Black chalk pencil

In My Stash - Prismacolor Pencils

Disclaimer - these are products I buy myself, I have not been given any form of reimbursement for writing about these products.  Also, I definitely haven't tried everything that's out there!  This is just what I use.  :-) 

In My Stash

Prismacolor Pencils

Using Prismacolour pencils feels kind of like colouring in to a certain degree.  They're great for getting the shadowing right the first time, and they give a lovely texture that's completely different to watercolouring and using Copics.  I bought the set of 48 pencils, because I wasn't sure whether I'd really like them or not.  I love them!

The Art Shop is an Australian online store that sells sets of Prismacolor pencils as well as the pencils individually, which is great for the colours that you use constantly. 

Prismacolor pencils are fabulous for blending without any medium at all.  You use the lightest shade to blend the colours.  Another fabulous way to use them is with Odourless Mineral Spirits.  You might see it referred to as the Gamsol Technique, but I couldn't find Gamsol in Australia, so I use Art Spectrum Odourless Solvent, which I got at Artery.  Paper blending stumps are relatively easy to find as well.  Your local art store should have them.

Check out my Colouring Tutorials board on Pinterest for a few fabulous Prismacolor tutorials.  Also, check out my Prismacolor on Kraft board for extra inspiration.  These pencils are perfect for using on kraft cardstock!

On a side note, I primarily use Stampin' Up! Whisper White cardstock with Prismacolor pencils.  It just happened to be what I had on hand when I started, and I've found it quite good.  But there are a lot of people who swear by different cardstocks.  I think it's a good idea to give a few a try.  :-)

In My Stash - Watercolour Paper

I often get emails about what products I use for making my cards, and now that I'm not restricted from sharing where I buy products, I thought I'd start a little feature on my blog showcasing them.  I want to be very clear - these are products I buy myself, I have not been given any form of reimbursement for writing about these products.  Also, I definitely haven't tried everything that's out there!  This is just what I use.  :-) 

In My Stash

Watercolour Paper

I love watercolouring.  I find it very therapeutic and it helps me to stop over thinking (which I do a lot!).  

Unfortunately, I'm a perfectionist.  So I go through a lot of watercolour paper trying out colours, practising and a lot of it ends up in the bin.  Because I go through a lot of it, it just wasn't economical to purchase the smaller pieces that are marketed at crafters.  So I went to my local art store, Artery, and I bought this...  

Canson Montval Aquarelle 200 g/m2 (100 lbs) 100% cellulose - Cold pressed - Maxi Pack

I get it in a pad of 100 sheets, 24cm x 32cm and it costs me $39.10, ($0.39 per sheet).  Basically I took in a piece of Stampin' Up! watercolour paper and got what I thought matched it. I'm really happy with it. It is slightly thinner, but about the same texture. It's a lot more economical and you can work with bigger pieces too. When I started watercolouring, I was throwing out a lot of images that I wasn't happy with - I'd hate to be doing that with really expensive paper.

Hope that helps!

Birthday Gretel - PDCC90

Okay, so I'm not terribly happy with this card.  I couldn't get it to come together in the way I wanted and still meet the deadline for the Play Date Cafe Challenge #90.  So this will have to do!

This gorgeous CC Designs stamp, Birthday Gretel, is sold out from Craft-A-Lot at the moment, but check out these other beauties!  :-) 

Here are the challenges I'm entering:

The Play Date Cafe Challenge #90

Simon Says Anything Goes

Wee Memories #62 - Clean And Simple

Materials:

Stamp sets - CC Designs - Birthday Gretel 

Cardstock - Watercolour paper, White Cambric Linen

Inks - Versamark, Elegant Eggplant, Perfect Plum, Melon Mambo, Rose Red, So Saffron, More Mustard, Blush Blossom, Blushing Bride, Going Grey

Accessories - Black embossing powder, Heat Tool, Big Shot, Nestibilities, Melon Mambo ribbon, Aqua Painter

Flying Above It All...

Evening all.  I have another card for Craft-A-Lot to share with you, using one of the NEW Gorjuss stamps.  I made this card specifically for the Ribbon Carousel Inspiration Challenge (details below).

How beautiful is that stamp?  It's called Flying Above It All.  I love how it's worked with these subtle colours.  :-)

And here are the details of the challenges I'm entering:

RCC11 Inspiration Challenge with Laurel

Simon Says Anything Goes

TCP167 - Watercolouring

Wee Memories #62 - Clean And Simple

Simply Scrapping Crafts July Challenge - Embossing

Thanks for visiting!


Materials:

Stamp sets - Gorjuss - Flying Above It All

Cardstock - White Cambric Linen, Watercolour paper, Going Grey

Inks - Versamark, Blush Blossom, Blushing Bride, Going Grey

Accessories - Black embossing powder, heat tool, Big Shot, Cuttlebug embossing folder, Caviar Seam Binding (Sew Sweet), Antique Brad, Aqua painter, Black chalk pencil