Today I'm presenting my card for the 5th Mystery Challenge, BUT I'm including a tutorial and comparison since I made the card twice. I wanted to show two different techniques.
This is the Bright Wishes stamp set, and the cardstock color is Perfect Plum - you'll see that later.
In the picture above, I used a burnishing technique. This takes only a little bit of practice. Take a sponge dauber, dip it in your ink, and (**starting off the edge of the paper) rub in gentle circles to add color as a background. This will give you a soft effect of color. Start off the edge. If you don't, you'll get round spots on your piece.
You can also see on the wood and stone above, I've taken the watercolor pencils and just lightly traced some of the lines of the wood, and then just lightly colored over the entire surface. You only need to use a light hand. Click on the picture to see a larger image.
I did the same for the stonework.
In this picture above, you can see the result of the watercolor technique using a blender pen since I've used regular Whisper White cardstock. The blender pen will take the color, smooth it out and fill in the spaces, leaving texture and light/shade areas.
Use a light hand with the blender pen as well. Notice in the first picture there are blank spaces where I didn't use the water color pencil. In the second picture, all the spaces are filled in and the wood texture remains. (So cool!) I used the same technique with the gray for the stones.
Below: Here is the finished card. I added color using the blender pen with the ink pads to add in the greenery and flowers. In the pictures above, the grass isn't finished, but I used the same technique I described able to make the grass look like a carpet, and not just the lines you saw in my work-in-progress.
Here is the same exact card, using watercolor paper and the aqua painters. I also used a combination of the watercolor pencils and ink pads to get the colors I wanted for the wishing well. I did not using the burnishing technique on the watercolor paper, just the water pens.
I believe this is a pretty clear example of the differences between using a blender pen on regular Whisper White cardstock, and using the aqua painters on watercolor paper. Find the one you like best!
Here it is again! Happy Birthday from Celebrate You!
The next challenge is: Stamp set - Balloon Celebration and the Cardstock: Elegant Eggplant.
NOTE: I'm going to present this one before July 2nd. I'm going back to doing my Christmas in July series, and I'll drag the Mystery Challenges into it as well.
Stay tuned.....
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If you don't currently have a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator, I'd be thrilled to talk with you about furthering your crafting pursuits!
