"stamping" with your computer

First off, I have to say that I love my stamps. There's just something about opening up a drawer full and digging through them to find just what you need. But not too long ago I found myself loving all the digital art & doodles too. How cool to be able to "stamp" on my digital layouts and all available with a quick download.

If your like me and enjoy digital doodles or word art and even clip art then why not print them out and use them on your cards and tags too? Just think...a stamp in any size you want! It's as easy as opening up an image you like, sizing it and then simply printing it out on the paper you want.

On this card, I printed out the image from Talking in Circles by Sande Krieger. I just opened it in Photoshop Elements, sized it to fit my card front and then printed it out. I colored in the image with Prismacolor Pencils and a blender pencil....just like I would with a stamp!

supplies used:
Cardstock: Bazzill Basics, Eames
Digital Image: Talking in Circles by Sande Krieger (twopeasinabucket.com)
Colored Pencils & Blender: Prismacolor
Jewels: Carolees Creations Jewel Droplets
Ribbon: Creative Imaginations, Making Memories
Die: Spellbinders Nestabilites
Tool: Provo Craft Cuttlebug
Software: Photoshop Elements 3.0

On my second card I printed out a beautiful doodle created by Leah Riordan of Mommyish Designs. (seems my info is old and I couldn't find a current blog or site she sells at. If anyone knows where to find her, let me know so I can link it up. Thanks!) After printing this one out, I colored it in with Prismacolor Pencils and Stickles glitter.

supplies used:
Cardstock: Bazzill Basics
Pattern Paper: KI Memories Colorful
Quote Sticker: KI Memories Colorful
Digital Image: Leah Riordan of Mommyish Designs
Pencils: Prismacolor
Glittler: Ranger Stickles
Other: Baby oil for coloring
Software: Photoshop Elements 3.0

For this one I used a clip art image from Dover Publications. You can purchase their books that come with CD's and there are tons to choose from. If you sign up for their newsletter you can get a link to free clip art samples each week. That's how I got the beautiful rose image. It's a great way to try out their clip art. I wanted to test out my printer ink with various types of coloring to see if it would bleed. I used Prismacolor Watercolor Pencils and my water brush to color in the rose. My printer ink did bleed slightly, but honestly not enough to bother me. It seemed to have more bleeding where I colored lighter but I don't think it was anymore than certain dye inks.

supplies used:
Cardstock: Bazzill Basics, Eames
Pattern Paper: Creative Imaginations
Clip art: Dover Publications
Watercolor Pencils: Prismacolor
Waterbrush: EK Success
Stamp: Just Rite Stampers Monogram Circle
Rub-on: Making Memories
Software: Photoshop Elements 3.0

For the last one I did a walnut stain. The bird image is from Digicraftshop and after resizing it, I printed it just like above. But this time I inked it up with some Distress Walnut Stain, misted it with water and then used my heat tool to "move" the wet ink around to get the stained look. I was very surprised at how well my printer ink held up because I did quite a bit of misting! The image did soften a bit from the water, but I think it just adds to the aged feel.

supplies used:
Cardstock: Eames
Pattern Paper: Bo Bunny Romance
Clip art: Victorian Bird (digicraftshop.com)
Ink: Ranger Art Distress Walnut Stain
Mister: Judikins
Heat tool: Marvy Uchida
Die: Spellbinders Nestabilites
Tool: Provo Craft Cuttlebug
Software: Photoshop Elements 3.0

You can find lots of available clip art on the web along with many talented digital artists. So even though I love getting my hands inky with traditional stamps, I found that I love using my digital "stamps" too!

Celebration of Color - watercolor pencils

Miki here and I LOVE color! Color is fun to play with and makes our designs interesting. One of my favorite coloring techniques is using watercolor pencils. You can find watercolor pencils by Prismacolor, Derwent, Reeves and even Crayola has some great primary colors too. I have a bucket full of all these brands and I love adding new colors when I find them. I haven’t found a watercolor pencil that I don’t like!

You can easily grab a small paintbrush and cup of water but I am a big klutz. I don’t trust myself without a capped bottle of water in my scraproom! I suggest investing in a waterbrush. There are a few to choose from, but the one I have is the EK Success Zig. You simply fill up the end with water and brush away. I keep it right in my cup of watercolor pencils so I can easily grab it. No cups to knock over and no mess to clean up!

Coloring with watercolor pencils is pretty easy and there are lots of different techniques to use with them. I know everyone has their own style of coloring with them. But do you ever think of coloring ON different colors of paper? I know I am guilty of always pulling out the same white when I plan on coloring. But why not use some of the other colors on our shelves? I thought I would show how you can get a different look from the same colors of watercolors simply by using them on different colors of cardstock.

Using the exact same 3 watercolor pencils on each card...

They come out nice and bright on white cardstock.

A bit more subdued on the Kraft.

On black they have almost a stained glass effect.

And don’t forget about using a pencil in the same color family of cardstock.

Supply list

Cardstock: Prism (Sunflowers Light, Desert Coral Medium, Nautical Blue Light, DMD (Kraft, Black, White)

Stamps: Autumn Leaves Nature, Papertrey Ink Mixed Messages, Paper Salon Just a Note

Ink: Tsukineko Versafine (black), Color Box Chalk (colors), Martha Stewart (white)

Watercolor pencils: Prismacolor, Reeves

Tools: Cuttlebug machine, Spellbinders Nestabilities, Zig Waterbrush

Other: Vellum, Glossy Accents

Pull out your scraps and see what you can come up with! I bet you will enjoy the results and at the same time use up some of those other colors of cardstock that we all collect.

I also have a little freebie for you! I started most of my watercolor pencil collections with a set, but I like to fill in with single pencils too. I needed a chart to take with me to the store so that I could see what colors I needed or wanted to fill in with. I couldn’t find anything online, so I made one for myself and thought I would share it with you. I hope you find it as useful as I do. I keep mine in my purse because you never know when you will find them on sale! I printed mine out on plain paper and colored them in dry, but you could easily print it on cardstock and then go over the colors with your waterbrush too. Then you have a chart with what your watercolors will look like!

Download Watercolor Pencil Chart

Happy coloring!

Celebration of Color: Stamping and Watercolor

When I heard we were having a "Celebration of Color" on the Pursuit of Craftyness blog for the month of May, I immediately knew I would be using watercolor. In my pre-scrapbooking/cardmaking days, I was a watercolorist. I just LOVE watercolor - the transclucency, the layering ability, and softness - I love it all. So I'm going to share a few of my watercolor and stamping techniques and I hope you try them when you are stamping.

In this tutorial, the watercolors I will be using are artist's quality watercolors - but only because that is what I have on hand. You can use any transclucent watercolor paints you have.

You will need:
- watercolor paper (140 lb.)
- watercolor paint
- watercolor paint brush
- stamp
- embossing ink and powder
- heat gun


For my first card, "Love Letter", I stamped my image with embossing ink onto watercolor paper, and heat embosssed with black embossing powder. Next, I washed over the image with various colors of watercolor paint. Note that you can put the colors next to each other without making the color muddy, but you have to leave the colors alone or they will turn dark if mixed on the paper. To speed up the drying process, I used my heat gun to dry the paper. After the paper was dry, I went back and added some more color in various places to make some of the objects "pop".

I trimmed my image, matted it and used on this card.


Supplies:
-Cardstock: Bazzill
-Patterned Paper: We R Memory Keepers
-Watercolor paint (Grumbacher)
-Watercolor paper (Canson 140 lb. cold pressed)
-Stamp: Hampton Art (Correspondence/Quill Collage & Love Struck)
-Ink: Ranger / Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Clear Embossing & Black Soot)
-Embossing Powder: Ranger (Black)
-Other: Jute

On my next card, I used the watercolors as you would colored pencils or markers - that is, adding color to specific places of the image and even outlining. On my "Forever & Always" card, I stamped the image with black pigment ink, then added paint to the background behind the doves. Again, I used the heat gun to dry the first wash of color. Next, I applied the same color but only closer to the birds, to darken the area closest to the birds.

Next, I used the fine tip of my watercolor brush and outlined the wings with blue, and outlined the banner with green. I added yellow to their beeks. For a bit of sparkle, I used white stickles on their wing caps and let dry. I trimmed the image and used on this card.


Supplies:
-Cardstock: Bazzill
-Patterned Paper: Fancy Pants, Dream Street Paper, Flair Designs
-Stamps: Hampton Art (Love Struck;Intention
-Watercolor Paint (Grumbacher)
-Watercolor Paper (Canson 140 cold pressed)
-Flowers, Felt and Button: American Crafts
-Ink: Brilliance Pigment Ink (Archival Black)
-Stickles: Ranger (Star Dust)
-Border Punch: Fiskars
-Other: Thread, Corner Rounder

I hope you enjoyed this little insight into the wonderful world of using watercolor paint and stamps together. I'd LOVE to see what you create, so please share. Have a wonderful day and check back in a few days for more colorful inspiration!