Poppies That Pop off the Background

I designed a colorful background with depth, combined with PanPastels to make these lovely  poppies from Sheena  pop off the page.

To make the background I spritzed a full sheet of cardstock with water, then spritzed a variety of colors- mini ministers filled with inks, Perfect Pearls and water - a recipe I learned from Tim Holtz . I picked up the cardstock and tilted it to make the colors blend.   The ink colors I used are pretty in pink, night of navy and tempting turquoise.   NOTE:  The paper will curl up when it's wet. When you dry with heat tool, in a future step, it will flatten back out. Another tip I learned from Tim, use the heat gun on the front and back to dry it completely.

Next, I laid another piece of cardstock on top to share the colors - two for one! :o)  After I pulled them apart, I blotted with paper towels and dried with heat tool.

I spritzed color through a stencil and dried with a heat gun. I repeated to cover the complete sheet.  NOTE: you'll need to protect the other parts of the cardstock if you only want the color through stencil.

Next, I used a blending tool and stencil randomly on the the sheet to add some depth.

I cut the sheet into A4 sizes to have a few backgrounds to use as it is, or to add more colors later - depending on design I want.  For this card, I stamped the poppies and drew in the stems. I colored with PanPastels.   The PanPastels are easy to use and are so vibrant. They are a dry medium and very forgiving. If you accidentally color where to don't want to, you can just erase with a clean eraser.  When you are finished coloring, you will need to spray with a fixative to keep the color in place.  NOTE: After the fixative is sprayed, the PanPastels are permanent and cannot be erased.

 

Shout Out:  The techniques I used to design this background were inspired by Dyan's videos. You can see them here.

Crafter's Companion has several beautiful images. For more ideas, be sure to pop over to the Crafter's Companion Information Blog, as well as visit the Crafter's Companion DT members. Their latest designs are showing on the side of my blog.

Thank you for visiting!!

Take care and STAY POSITIVE!

InLinkz.com

Art Impressions-"CHECK us out!" Plaid/Gingham/Checkerboard on paper or image

This week's Art Impressions Blog challenge is "CHECK us out!" Plaid/Gingham/Checkerboard on paper or image.

 This style of furniture just says plaid to me. :o) I stamped the Living Room (Sku#T1347) onto Cryogen and also onto design paper.  

Next, I colored with Copic Markers, adding shading to the plaid furniture with C3 and C5.   

I drew in the baseboard with a multiliner and filled in color for the carpet. For a final touch, I added some bling to the flowers and mountain tops with glitter pens.

Please pop over to the Art Impressions challenge for this week to see a bunch of inspirational "CHECK us out!" Plaid/Gingham/Checkerboard on paper or image ideas!  You can enter for a chance to win a coupon!!

Thanks for visiting!

Take care and STAY POSITIVE!

InLinkz.com

Ready for Fishing

I'm thinking about warmer weather and working on scenes that show it.

We have way too much snow around our house for March.  It's starting to melt - but not fast enough for me. :o) This little Boy with Frogs (Sku#K1206) is ready for warmer weather too.

I stamped him, the Creek (Sku#i1492) and Barbed Fence (Sku#G1216)  onto white cardstock and colored with Copic Markers.

Next I trimmed the images down to fit on the card and layered on themed design paper.   Many times when I color any image, I will color two while I have all my markers out - I'll color the same or similar colors.  I'll make a card right away, or save the image to have ready when I need a quick card.  Today, I finished a second card with the cute design papers.

Thanks for visiting!

Take care and STAY POSITIVE!

InLinkz.com

Building Color with Distress Inks

Today, I'm sharing a one of Sheena Douglass's new images! I just love her style and have become a huge fan of hers.

The key to this technique is building color by blending with a light touch, leaving highlight in some part(s) of your scene .  I stamped my image onto white cardstock and selected my color pallet.

I noticed that the lightest shade I chose - milled lavender, looked more like scattered straw. Well that's because I used the wrong pad - oops. :o) For me this was ok, I just continued to build on top of it.

As I added the darker shades, I did not go in as far.

On the bottom, I used a mask of torn paper to create hills in the distance with the darkest shade of blue.

 My final ink color was black for the ground and edging .

I stamped  a sentiment from the new set and blended blue and black around the edge. For final touches, I blended some dark blue and black along the horizon line and darkened the tree trunk applying black soot with a cotton tip swab.  You can still see the bottom of the tree image, which looks like shading.

Sheena's Scenic silhouette images are perfect for this technique.  Crafter's Companion has had several new beautiful images. For more ideas, be sure to pop over to the Crafter's Companion Information Blog, as well as visit the Crafter's Companion DT members. Their latest designs are showing on the side of my blog.

Thank you for visiting!!

Take care and STAY POSITIVE!

InLinkz.com