On the Grow

I am doing the marker technique with Stampin' Up markers again to get shading, shadows, and depth.  I have discovered this process only works with small spaces but look at the results! I promise I know nothing about shading and making shadows. You can't tell me to pretend to shine a light from one direction and color darker in the places the light hits because I have no idea what that means. If I can do it YOU can do it. All you need are markers in the same color family that go from light to dark. The great thing about Stampin' Up markers is that you know they will match each other as well as our cardstock, ribbon, designer series paper, brads, buttons, the list goes on. The white gel pen is a must to add depth. A sahara sand marker gives shadow and even more depth.

Remember to start with you lightest color, add the next color over that, then add a dot of the deepest color. For this card I found it easier to color the leaves first so I knew which ones they were. The ground is a bit of of celery and wasabi markers with sahara around it. For the water I used the white gel pen and scribbled back and forth over bashful blue where the water should be then I colored over the gel pen with bashful blue.

Sets: on the grow, sincere salutations
Cardstock: whisper white, marina mist
Ink: black stazon, marina mist
Accessories: big shot, lattice embossing folder, scallop square duo die, 21/2 circle punch, neutral brads, mat pack and poker, white ribbon, marina mist designer paper (subtles collection), sponge, dimensionals, white gel pen, markers in pink pirouette, pretty in pink, melon mambo, certainly celery, wild wasabi, bashful blue, marina mist, and saharah sand

This card is for SU Only Challenges. Come and play along!

Every Moment

Love, love, love this card!! These colors are gorgeous together. Crumb cake and pool party. Look around the image. Do you see the new embossing folder image? It is a WOW! I colored this with our watercolor paper with an aqua painter. The trick is to go around the entire image with sahara sand and an aqua painter before you add any color. It creates a slight shadow and helps the colors pop out. If you do it after you add the colors they bleed. Stamp, color, emboss. Sponge all the edges with crumb cake, too. Our new lace punch is a wonderful addition to our punch family.

Sets: every moment, curly cute
Cardstock: crumb cake, pool party, watercolor paper (31/2x21/2)
Ink: crumb cake. pool party, old olive, chocolate chip, black stazon
Accessories: big shot, designer frames embossing folder, dotted embossing folder, vanilla taffeta ribbon, crumb cake marker, sponge, aqua painter

Nature Walk

Guess what my new favorite stamp set is? Nature Walk!!! I finally got out my watercolor paper and learned how to color with markers and an aqua painter. Why was afraid of water coloring? All you do is stamp the images in staz-on, draw on a line of color with a marker, then move the color around the image with the aqua painter. This is my very first try at it! Well, I did throw away several butterflies. It was hard to come up with colors that look good on her wings. The other tools I used here were my Big Shot, lattice embossing folder, scallop square punch, 1 1/4 square punch, corner rounder punch, word window punch, modern label punch, boho blossom punch, hemp twine, pearl, glue dots, dimensionals, and subtle brads. The colors are old olive, riding hood red (marker), rose red (cs), tempting turquoise, daffodil delight, chocolate chip, and early espresso. It took me three days to design this one. So worth the time!