Faux Oil Painting

I was looking at an oil painting the other day and noticed how the colours weren’t fully blended, but instead sat side by side to create the illusion of shadows, highlights, and depth. It made me wonder whether I could recreate that oil-painted look using stamps and alcohol markers... and since I love a challenge, I thought I’d give it a whirl!

Here are some photos of the process I used to colour my stamped images:

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Starry Night

Who doesn't love a starry night, with a blanket of sparkling gems high overhead, a balmy breeze scented with tropical flowers and the gentle lull and hush of the ocean?

It's amazing what a difference the background can make to a project. Don't forget to try out different techniques with your markers, paints and inks... you'll be surprised by the impact you can have on the mood and design of your creation.

Stamps:Lakeside clear stamps

Lakeside digital stamps

Watercolour & Pencil

A couple of days ago I showed you the painted and coloured image of my three boats, which I have since made into a card. I decided to keep things relatively simple by trimming the watercolour card into a square with lots of white space at the top. A sentiment and partial border frame everything nicely and the deep blue card is a nice calm base to display my boats.

Stamps:Lakeside clear stamps

Lakeside digital stamps

Watercolour + Pencils

After colouring my boats with watercolour paints, I noticed they were a little too "light" in the water and needed some anchoring. It's surprisingly dark between the bottom of a real boat and the top of the water, so I really needed to deepen the shadows, which I did with Prismacolor pencils. I also added some depth to the inside of each boat and highlighted the ropes a little more.

Stamps:
Lakeside clear stamps

Lakeside digital stamps

Lakeside with Jackie

Today, we're off on a sailing adventure with the lovely Jackie Trinder. She has a fabulous collection of cards to share with us using the new clear stamp set titled Lakeside. 

This first awesome project is called a Step Panel card. Jackie has shared a few views so that you can get an idea of how the card is assembled. As you can see, it stands up beautifully for display, but then also folds nice and flat for postage. Jackie has included a colour chart with this project for anyone who's interested in what was used.

Check out the fabulous patterned paper Jackie made for the next couple of cards. This is another great way to use your stamps and inks, or your digis if you prefer.

I've saved this card and tag till the last because it's my favourite. The darker colours make me think of stormy seas, and I really love the stark contrast of the white embossing. Gorgeous!

Jackie's Blog

A Day with Deanne

Deanne is taking us to the lake today, with three fabulous cards she created using the new Lakeside set of digital stamps. For her first card, she merged the pre-coloured fishing boat with one of the sentiments and printed the entire topper ready to use. The coarse twine and little chipboard anchor really add to the nautical flavour of the design.

The set also includes three little rowboats - one on it's own and the other two in a single image. They are designed to be the same size so that you can use all three together if you prefer.

Deanne has created a set of two cards using the two images separately, and she has shared a handy colouring guide for both projects so you can follow along at home!

Deanne's Blog