Tutorial - Quick and Easy

Need a handmade card but don't have a lot of time to create one?

This might be the tutorial you're looking for!

1. You'll need a white card blank, a set of stamps, and two complementary, water-based ink pads.

2. Apply both ink colours to your stamps and stamp the entire card front, allowing some of the images to extend beyond the edges of the card.

3. Swipe the same ink pads over a non-porous surface, like a glass plate or an acrylic block. Use a water brush to pick up a mixture of the colours and quickly paint your images. Don't worry if you have white spaces, or if the paint appears darker in some areas, that adds to the watercolour effect.

4. Choose a contrasting colour in the space around the images. Again, don't worry about complete coverage or getting the colour even. 

5. Add some extra colour for areas that need definition. I added some dark red marker to the eyes of my fish - black would have been too much contrast.

6. Stamp a sentiment using one of the inks you used to colour your images, then attach it to your card. Remember to keep it simple.

7. Add a little glitter, some rhinestones, or drops of liquid mediums if desired.

Products:

Card Collection

Anesha has created a gorgeous collection of cards using the new Card Panels set of digital stamps. She combined rich, warm tones with shades of orange, yellow and green cardstock to bring a decidedly autumn feel to her first card, which was embellished with beautiful die cut ivy. She went on to create a set of four goldfish cards that would be suitable for a wide variety of occasions. Three of them feature the pre-coloured image from the set, and the fourth was coloured by Anesha using orange and yellow markers.

 

Goldfish Panels

Today we're doing a mixed media project. Now before you scroll by, there's not a lick of paint, paste, chipboard, wax, or inky spray. "Mixed media" just means a number of different colouring or art mediums used on one project, and in our case, that will be water based inks (Distress Ink cubes), alcohol markers (Copics) and coloured pencils (Prismacolor)... nothing scary at all!

I printed the goldfish panel onto blending card with light grey ink, which will give me a no-line look once I've finished the colouring. I also collected three shades of blue distress ink, which I will brush into the background, a collection of orange, yellow and red markers for my fish, and a white, grey and black pencil for added highlights and shadows.

Brush or blend the water-based ink onto your panel, directly over the fish. Spritz lightly with water and immediately place a paper towel over the top to absorb the water. This will leave tiny white dots that resemble little bubbles.

Now spritz again with water, but this time allow the card to air dry rather than using a paper towel. This will leave watery rings of colour.

Once your card is completely dry, start colouring the fish with alcohol markers. Since there are "layers" of fish, you'll want to have several different colours so that each one is discernible. I have some orange fish, some red fish and some that are yellow.

Use a black, fine point pen to add some detail to the eyes of the fish. 

Here they are all coloured.

Now use your coloured pencils to deepen shadow areas and lighten the highlights. This will help bring back some of the detail that may have been lost during the colouring process as well as give the image depth. Don't forget to add a dot of bright white to each eye to really bring them to life!

Highlights:

Shadows:

Repeat for all the fish in your project. You can even add tiny scales using the white pencil, but try to keep it to the uppermost fish to boost the illusion of depth.

Stamps:

Life On The Reef

The dazzling colours of the coral reef are showcased beautifully on Judy's cards, and she's even managed to describe the movement of the water by colouring rippling shadows and textured backgrounds. The base cards are colour coordinated with the markers used on the images, which gives a harmonious look to the overall design.

Judy's Blog

Monochromatic Reef

Last week it was all about colour... this week I'm sticking to a single hue for a much more refined look. 

You can try this with whatever colours you have in your stash (remember that you can colour white card using inks or markers for a coordinated look). Don't forget to add neutral mediums such as glossy accents, stickles or Wink of Stella for a little bit of sparkle and shine.

Stamps:

 

Tutorial - The Colourful Reef

A quick and easy way to add lots of colour to your project is to stamp with multiple colours at once. Although you can purchase multi-coloured stamp pads that give awesome rainbow effects, using water-based markers is a little more precise.

Apply the markers directly to the stamp, colouring each area with a different colour. You can get some fabulous results by mixing the colours a little bit or by adding a fine mist of water to the stamp or onto the paper. Experiment with different techniques to see what you come up with.

I ended up with a sheet full of colourful fish and coral, which I fussy cut and loaded onto a double z-fold card for an awesome underwater scene!

Stamps:

 

New Releases

We're kick starting the New Year with an underwater theme!

Limited Edition

digital stamps

In Store Now

Coral Reef

digital stamps

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Coral Reef

clear stamps

In Store Now