Wednesday, January 23, 2019

Watercoloring with Stampin’ Up products



Watercoloring can be lots of fun to use in cardmaking, but it can be challenging to figure out what Stampin’ Up products to use!  This post will give you some idea of what products you can start with.



The Stampin’ Blend Markers are an alcohol based ink, which means they color nice and smooth, and you can blend two tints of the same color, or even two different hues together, plus they dry quickly. 



 On the other hand, Stampin’ Write Markers are a water based ink. They have both a super-fine tip and brush tip (as with the Stampin’ Up blend markers), so they work wonderfully for coloring small areas, but for larger areas, they leave somewhat of a striped look. Because they are water based, they are best used for watercolor techniques (versus coloring in) and the amount of water used will make a difference in saturation on the paper, as well as affect the drying time. Better to start with a little bit of water, and let it dry a bit, then add more water if desired before it completely dries. Once they completely dry, trying to make changes will be challenging, and will result in a totally different effect.  You can try “blotting” some of the water with an absorbent item (paper towel, etc.) if you add too much.  I do find that the write markers are “darker,” in that they seem to lay down more color than the blend markers, so you want to use a light touch, or it can even make your paper soggy and sometimes shred.

The best paper for any watercoloring technique is Watercolor paper as it is a little thicker and “bumpier” and made to be used with water based markers…It absorbs water to keep paper flat for a high-quality finished look. I have found that regular cardstock just doesn’t hold up to much water. Using the watercolor paper, you just add just a little bit of water to each colored shape which makes the ink move around all on its own, giving you areas that are light and dark.  As with any watercoloring, water is somewhat unpredictable, so you have to be okay with letting the ink  get out of your complete control, but that is the beauty of watercolor; each painting will be different and never the same. 


An aqua painter brush is also very good for a watercolor effect/technique, as you can control the flow of the water more significantly. Another option for watercoloring with Stampin’ Up products are the watercoloring pencils. 

These are high-quality, smooth color pencils and perfect for watercoloring stamped images and used with Aqua Painters, Blender Pens, or alone. Pencils will give you the cleanest effect and you can stay “in the lines” for sharp non-blurry edges.  

Several other Stampin’ Up papers you can use for watercoloring besides the Watercolor paper, are the Shimmery white cardstock, Vellum paper, and Very thick cardstock. There are several other Stampin’ Up products that can be used for other watercoloring effects, but this is just a short article to get you started with this technique. If you check YouTube, you can find many explanations, descriptions, samples, and tutorials for each of these 4 watercoloring techniques.   

Purchase and see more about these products in my online store at:  Mary Noble; online Stampin’ Up store:  http://www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/marynoble/  (listed under “Ink” products, “Paper,” and “Coloring tools”)

References:
       http://www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/marynoble
       www.frenchiestamps.com - Coloring with markers and tip to use the Stampin'Up! writing markers to stamp and color 

Tuesday, January 22, 2019

Happy New Year with a new catalog and sale!

http://www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/marynoble/

Stampin’ Up! is offering 13 different FREE GIFTS with your purchase this year through 3-31-19 in its Sale-A-Bration promotion!  NO LIMITS!  There are 11 gifts available with a $50 Stampin’ UP! purchase, and 2 gifts available with a $100 purchase! 

 Check out the Sale-A-Bration flyer sale in my online store, as well as the current Occasions catalog!  BTW, Happy New Year!

http://www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/marynoble/