More Lovely Floral & Calligraphy Essentials

So I took the clean & simple card I made yesterday when I shared the Blender Pen Ombre Technique with you... and carried on colouring some of the embossed areas with my Marker Pens... in Soft Sea Foam and Lemon Lime Twist... 

But then I realised that I had packed my Balmy Blue ready for Monthly Training... so Coastal Cabana and the Blender Pen came to the rescue... as the blending of the Soft Sea Foam & Balmy Blue does look more Coastal Cabana....

Very pretty...

And then the Calligraphy Essentials "thank you" greeting came out... and the same techniques were used on this card... though I will admit that the Coastal Cabana marker pen direct onto the large embossed flower didn't make me 100% happy... 

So I quickly coloured over the whole flower using my trusty AquaPainter & Coastal Cabana ink pad (which I have to point out is a returning all time favourite colour of 90%+ of my crafty ladies!!)... which was better... though I warn you that there is a Part 3 to this tale... some time over the weekend me thinks...

Note that the small flowers are Balmy Blue (with Lemon Lime Twist centres) on this card... 

So here you go... a light bright marker pen blended & embossed duo set of calligraphy cards!

Which one do you prefer?

Stampin Markers... Blending Tips...

Ok... yes, you have seen this little card before... click here for the card fold details...

But 3 variants to show a quick comparison between the currently-not-available-for a few-weeks Stampin Blends... and Many Marvellous Markers (aka Stampin Markers)

First up... the original Stampin Blends version... click here for more details on the colouring...

Second up... straightforward Stampin Markers colouring... looks somewhat... flat! Lovely coral colour... but no colour variation at all...

Look in comparison to the Stampin Blends at the top... 

And lastly... after a bit of a Eureka moment in a class... the Blended Stampin Markers option...

Now isn't that better than the first marker version! Just a little bit of marker direct colouring... blended out with a Blender Pen... colour variation a go go... quicker than Blends... and nice and controllable if you do one flower/leaf at a time... and actually my preferred colouring method with the Springtime Foils papers... as they have a slight sheen to them... which allows the marker ink to be moved round brilliantly in this way...

Here are the Fully Marker (top) and Blended Marker cards side by side... what a difference...

Oh and the ribbon was also coloured using the Stampin Markers too... just had to wipe the ink off (particularly off the metallic silver edge)... and leave the ribbon to dry a bit longer... 

So grab your Blender Pens and Stampin Markers... and blend your inky heart out!

And I would love to start a new Stampin Markers Club if there is enough interest... £45 per month plus P&P for 2 months starting now (so you could get 1 Sale A Bration freebie with your March order too!!) OR £33 per month plus P&P for 3 months starting in April . So contact me by clicking here if you would be interested...

OR for anyone that can order all in one go by the end of March... so £99 now... and 2 free Sale A Brations... order direct online here... and I will refund you the £4.95 postage (by cheque) and send you a gift worth over £10 too...

OR as the best value option... you could sign up with Stampin Up! for £99... which pays for the markers... and select another £31 product... plus 2 free stamp sets (any value)  if you sign up by 31st March... Free P&P... And I would be very happy to send you that £10+ gift too... Click here for more information.... and /or Click here to join my Team...

Watercolor Pencils #1 - Inside the lines

This is one of the projects we created in my Watercolor Pencil Intro class I am running this month....

Just £20 for half day (£25 full day) including a pack of Watercolor Pencils (RRP £14.50) if you are interested in joining us... next session Wed 22nd March... and happy to arrange an alternative date for 3 or more..

The Sale A Bration Inside the Lines Speciality paper is perfect to try out your pencils and then have something lovely enough to cut up to make a card later. And you could make 9 of these from just one 12" Square piece of paper ... as the panel is a 4" Square... 

Though I couldn't bring myself to colour all the paper sheet in... and I don't think it is necessary...

And a few tips for you.... 

I don't use the Aqua Painter when I am colouring on paper... too much water means the paper will tear! But the Blender Pen works well... and the Wink of Stella pen works brilliantly. Adding that subtle touch of sheen as you blend the colour out....

Hard to see... but a very subtle shadow is added around the images using the Pacific Point watercolor pencil... but more on that technique another day...

After colouring  - and drying for a while!!! - the panel is cut down to 2" squares. ( It will tear if not dry!!! Which I was very good at demonstrating the other day!)

The big bee on the right is from Dragonfly Dreams... which is a great set for lots of Watercolor Pencil techniques!! Do remember to only add a very light touch of pencil on those wings though....

Remember that the Sale A  Bration exclusive Inside the Lines paper is free with a £45+ order until 31st March 

As indeed is this Glimmer Paper I used for the glittery Hello You hello... 

Right off now to make more Easter makes for my classes next week... too much fun!!

More Technique Video Tutorials–Watercolouring

Well seeing as you loved the Stampin Up! Video Technique  I shared yesterday... I have just had a look and here are a few more I have found to  to share…

Most of these are just 2 minutes to WOW! Simple but effective techniques that you will want to try too….

Watercolour Shadows & Highlights Techniques. Just posted. Guess what I will be trying out next!!

Now still on watercolouring.

The next few use stamps that were featured in the Sale A Bration promotion – so you will have to concentrate on the techniques rather than the images!! Though I do have a few spares if you would like to order £50+ product through me this month!

Watercolour with Blender Pens ( a must do technique as far as I am concerned!!)

Watercolour Wash Technique ( So Simple, Such Fun & So Effective!)

So there you have it – one technique for each day this weekend!! Enjoy!

I’ll be looking for more of these next week for you. Thank you for filming these Stampin’ Up!