Northwest Stamper

Tag: chalks

  • Watercoloring Techniques: Chalks and Markers

    If you saw my last post, I started sharing some of the cards we are doing in my watercolor technique class (if you haven’t seen it, check it out here).  These cards are meant as a way to introduce you to some of the different ways you can play with watercolor styles.  So, last time was Inks and Watercolor Crayons; and so today is Chalks/Pastels and Markers.  If you have any questions, leave me a comment or send me a note and I’d be happy to help you out.

    Watercoloring with Chalks

    Stampin’ Pastels are the chalks offered by Stampin’ Up! and they used to come by default in your Stampin’ Up! starter kit.  So, I had a big set for ages but kept forgetting to pull it out.  But that is when a class like this is great, it reminded me of the different ways you can use your chalks, including watercoloring.  In this example, we did one of the easiest methods which is just to pick up the chalk using a blender pen and then coloring your image.  The nice thing with this method is that you can get a rich color without it being as streaky or dark like you might with a marker.  The difference is that you are essentially picking up the physical chalk with the pen and smoothing that out on your image as opposed to just having some of the ink pigment soaking into the tip of your pen like when you are using inks.

    **If you are interested in chalks, there is a set in the Clearance Rack for a steal!  Its while supplies last so snag it while you can! **

    This is only one of the ways to use chalks.  I have a blog post on other technique ideas for using your Stampin’ Pastels – check out more Pastel Techniques here.

    Watercoloring with Markers

    So, this is a technique I LOVE because it is sooo easy and turns out beautifully.  For this technique, all you are doing is using the Stampin’ Write markers to outline a stamped line art image.  Then pull the color from the outline to wherever you want there to be color fill.  So, in the image below, I outlined the flower head in Rich Razzleberry marker and then used a blender pen to pull the Razzleberry color to fill out the petals.  You want to use the brush head of the marker when drawing your outline so there is enough ink on the paper to blend around.  Also, this technique really works well if your marker is a dye based ink.

    You can also use your markers to do watercoloring in other ways including using the marker to color onto a clear block, ink pad lid, etc and then picking up the color with your blender pen.  The one thing you do not want to do is to try to pick up the color off the tip of the marker using your blender pen.  If you do this, you may start diluting the color in your marker because you can have some of the water or alcohol base in your blender pen soak into the marker tip when you are trying to pull off color, which is no good.

    Card 5
    I’ll be back to post the last card at the end of the week.  Hope you stop back by to see!

    Interested in trying these cards & techniques out yourself?

    In Person
    Do to multiple requests, I’m running my class again on March 28th in the Mountain View, CA area.  I’d love to have you join us. Check out the full details on my meetup site.

    Online
    Or, if you are not local, purchase the supplies for these techniques from my online store and send me an email.  I’ll send you written tutorial instructions for these cards for FREE!  Not sure what you need, email me at jennifer@nwstamper.com and I’ll send you a basic supply list and you can see what you have in your stash and what you would still need.

  • Some Northern Hearts Card Candy

    I realized recently that while most people know what Blog Candy is (fun giveaways on a blog), that one of the things I gave away in my recent blog candy was “card candy” and that term may not be as familiar to some people.  Well, I wanted to share what I mean and the fun card candy I sent to Penny.

    I first heard the term “card candy” in reference to a swap at convention and when I read more, I learned that it means treats and embellishments for your cards.  In other words, the layered embellishments that you can put on simple card bases and layouts to add a fun touch.  So, in keeping with the theme I used for the box on the Royal Blog Tour, I did some more playing with the stamp set and other punches and embellishments to create some pieces that can be used on a card later.

    It was fun to play with the stamps, punches, and other elements to see what I could come up with that would be cute and could be used incorporated into another project.  I also tried out some new stuff and really liked how they turned out and so I wanted to share with you.

    First, I thought it would be fun to use the Northern Flurries embossing folder but once I had embossed the Bashful Blue paper it looked a bit plain.  I suddenly thought of my Stampin’ Pastels (chalks) that I hadn’t pulled out in ages and started experimenting with them.  Then I decided to add some bling to the center and then a little more Dazzling Diamonds glitter just to make sure there was some extra sparkle.  I really liked using chalks with the embossing folder and will have to play more with this.

     

    Then I started playing with the snowflakes as background images and wanted to add a little pop, so I stamped the snowflakes on Whisper White, punched out the centers, and added them to the edges of the paper, trimming what hung over the edge.  Then I punched two holes in the top to make a faux bow.  I LOVE how this ribbon looks when you make this bow.  The satin center shows in the middle and you still get the organza showing on the bits that hang out the side.  I’m definitely going to have to do this again.

    Finally, the last one I thought I’d talk about specifically is my little tag.  It was so cool to me when I realized that the birds fit perfectly in the Extra Large Tag punch.  So, I used my markers to only color in the birds and part of the vine on the bottom.  Then, I wanted to try something different with the ribbon and so grabbed the Whisper White Organza and this time colored the center part only using my Always Artichoke marker.  It went really fast and turned out so much nicer than I expected!

    I hope Penny enjoys using these in her projects!  And now you know what I mean when I say “card candy” too. Smile 

    Just a note that if you’ve been enjoying these Northern Hearts projects, this is a hostess set that is only going to be available while the Holiday Mini is here (so until mid-January.  So, if you are enjoying these projects and this set, I’d be happy to help you earn this set for free.  Just send me a note at jennifer@nwstamper.com and I’ll see what we can do!

  • Playing with Pastels

    ahhh… it feels good to back at the blog.  I just getting over a yucky cold and just in time because my technique night was last night.  We were playing with pastel chalks and between my cold and my half-cleaned craft room, I got a bit of a late start preparing for it.  However, I’m happy to report that I’ve made huge progress on my craft room (you can now fit chairs at the table and the table is cleaned off for the first time since moving here last fall :))!  Of course, in the process of prepping for the class last night, my craft table is a mess… so I get that straightened up and share it with you.

     

    But in the meantime, I thought I’d share what I whipped up as samples for some different techniques.  This was actually my first time in a long time that I had used my chalks and I discovered they are a lot more fun than I remembered.  And the girls did some awesome work with them – I just need to remember to take pictures of what they create!

    pastels_tt_wm2

    The techniques we focused on were popping pastels (the cupcake and the butterflies), coloring an embossed image (the blue scalloped flower), coloring ribbon (the blue ribbon), chalkboard technique (the red flower), and using chalks directly on the stamp to color a stamped image (some of the background flowers on the heartfelt card).

     

    pastel_ribbon_wmThe flower started out as clear embossing powder over versamark on whisper white paper. After you have embossed your flower, you can take a sponge to your chalk to pick up some color and then rub the sponge over the embossed image to color it. I recommend using brighter colors though because my first attempt with a light blue barely showed up. This card was made using the brilliant blue chalk. And with chalks it is very easy to layer colors. One person, used orange as a base color and then used rose red to color the edges.

     

    And yes, this is a white ribbon! Use the same sponge to apply color to your ribbon by rubbing along the white ribbon.  You can use sealent afterwards to keep it from rubbing off on your hands but it doesn’t rub off much if you don’t.

     

    chalkboard_heartfelt_wm This card used the chalkboard technique where you stamp with white craft ink on a dark paper and then pick up the chalk color using a q-tip or applicator.  Once you have the color, you want to tap your stamped image to apply the chalk.  Don’t rub or you will have a lovely smear of white and chalk in places you may not want. 🙂  Once you have applied your colors.  I tapped off excess power and then use a paper towel to lightly wipe off the excess color.  It turns out with a very lovely effect.

     

    Well, I’ll be back later with hopefully some new goodies to show you (my occasions mini preorder is supposed to arrive today!)  Have a happy wednesday!