Sunday, January 3

Tutorial - 4 in 1


Today I want to show you a handy technique for creating four hand-coloured cards from one large image. Perfect for card sets, invitations or just to build up your ready-made stash so you always have something on hand for a special occasion. 


You'll need a large image printed in the centre of a sheet of A4 paper. I used digital stamps, which can easily be enlarged, flipped and layered for techniques such as this one. I found it easiest to open the images in MSWord where they could be moved and stacked and then printed in a very light shade of grey. Although the layout looks a little odd, I had the end result in mind when I layered the flower, leaves and sentiments in the grouping you can see above.


I coloured the images and background with a combination of alcohol markers and coloured pencils. If you prefer, you could start with a pre-coloured image to save time.


The next step was to cut the A4 sheet into four pieces, taking care to centre the image so that each piece had an even share of the flower.


After trimming some of the excess card stock, I mounted each piece onto a card base and added a couple of borders to create four, fabulous, hand-coloured cards!


Although you might feel a little daunted by such a large image, it's actually a lot easier to colour a bigger picture because there are no tiny spaces in which to negotiate your brush markers and the details don't get lost when you add multiple layers of colour. If you're still feeling unsure, perhaps you could try the technique with a pre-coloured digi first. And remember, you can add as many elements to the centre of the card as you like, it doesn't have to be a single flower with a few leaves. Have fun!

Stamps:

17 comments:

Liz said...

Love this Beccy, a very effective technique. xx

Colinda said...

Ohh, this is so much fun and so pretty!
Have a great day,
Colinda

Jennifer said...

Brilliant idea, Beccy, especially as you say, for card sets!

Jennifer. x

Sandra H said...

This is so lovely and creative what a wonderful idea x

Lori m said...

Thank you Beccy, your tutorial is perfect as I'm starting to make multiple sets of cards for gifts and for myself. Fantastic tutorial and it will save me a lot of time, hugs, Lori m

Faith A at Daffodil Cards said...

Gorgeous Beccy.
Faith x

terrie said...

Oh I like this idea and the large flower made 4 lovely cards....TFS

Donna Ellis said...

love it!

KathyA. said...

Love this technique. And, since I just got this digi set... I plan on CASEing your card in the near future!

Jackie T said...

Hi Beccy this is such a good idea. I love those cards. Take care. Hugs Jackie

Crafting Queen said...

Wonderful, must give this a try. Hugs Anesha x

Tracy said...

These are lovely and such a clever idea thank you :)

Marilyn said...

What a great idea! Love this technique
Have a great day!
Marilyn❤️

Teresa said...

OH! I will have to try this!! Thank you!

lyn said...

Have never worked with digital stamps. Where can you get them from.

Beccy said...

Hi Lyn. There are lots of digital stamp stores on the internet, including my own at www.beccysplace.com. However, before you start purchasing them, may I suggest you try downloading some of the many freebies that are available here on my blog. Just click the link at the top of the screen, just under the banner. Enjoy!
Cheers,
Beccy

Suzanne H said...

Thanks so much for this idea. I'm definitely going to try it.