Mastering the Art of Pencil Techniques on Kraft Paper – Unlock Your Creative Potential
Hi friends! Happy Monday! We’ve pulled this “oldie but goodie” blog post from the vault from a series we had with the oh-so-inspiring Debby Hughes to share some awesome tips and tricks for coloring on kraft cardstock for an unexpected POP of color! Read on and be sure to watch the video for even more information! Enjoy!
Hello, it’s Debby here with my Doodling With Debby series. Oh, it’s been a while since I got the colored pencils out! However, I really enjoyed painting the beautiful Mom’s Spring Flowers set the other day and wanted to use the pretty flowers again. And just so you know, all products used in my card today are listed and linked below for your convenience.
My previous card was all soft, muted watercolors and when I was thinking of how I could use the Mom’s Spring Flowers set again, I thought about the coloring medium and also the alignment of the stamp on the card. For today, I went for pencils on kraft and then offset the flowers to the right corner of the card front for a different perspective.
step by step how to
Stamp the flowers from the Mom’s Spring Flowers set in Pumice Stone Distress Ink on a piece of Neenah Desert Storm Card.
I find that fine details quickly lose definition when colored or painted and so I like to go over those lines with a black marker. Here I drew over the stamen of the flowers, but I would do the same, for example, with the features of the face of people or animals. It saves having to add those in at the end and try and guess where the original lines were.
Color with pencils, I used Faber Castell Polychromos, but there are a lot of options on the market – just use what you have.
I wanted the flowers to appear like white blossoms. You could add lots and lots of white pencil when coloring the flowers, but a quick and easy tip is to paint the petal with white gouache first before coloring on top.
I used the gouache again to add highlight interests around the coloring. I added dots for the tops of the stamens, a few swooshes on the petals where the light would catch them and even a little to emphasize the veins on the leaves.
Finally, I pulled out the black pen again and drew in the outline in a few places which would’ve been in the deepest shadow. Essentially, adding the white gouache and then the pen work at the end emphasized the lightest highlights and darkest shadows, bringing in contrast and interest.
Back to the white gouache, I tell you, it is essential in my kit! Splatter lightly over the flowers and onto the untouched kraft card around them. This simple trick helps the flowers to become a part of the card as a whole rather than stuck on one edge.
Stamp the ‘sending hugs’ greeting from the Clean Line Stacks set in Nocturne ink and trim out before adding to the colored panel with foam tape.
Use foam tape again to attach the panel to a card base cut and scored from Ivory card.
Embellish with enamel dots.
So, there you go, a pencil coloring on kraft of these lovely white flowers from the Mom’s Spring Flowers set and using white gouache as a base layer to get the white flowers really popping off the page.
Well, that’s me for this month. I hope you enjoyed this tutorial; you’ll find the video below. Thanks for joining me, and I hope to see you next time for Doodling With Debby.
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Thanks so much for stopping by, and thanks to Debby for being our guest!
A Mixed Media DELIGHT! Fringed Flowers from Bottle Brush Trees
Hi friends! Happy Sunday! Please join me in welcoming back special guest Anna-Karin Evaldsson to our blog! I just love the way she took supplies that were designed for the Winter and Christmas season and made this warm and floral looking tag that is giving me all the good Spring and Summer vibes! Read on to learn more and enjoy!
Hi everyone! It is a new year and I hope it will be filled with creative projects and adventures. I am happy to be back here today with a new tutorial. I enjoy thinking of new ways to use my dies and for this tutorial I turned bottle brush trees into fringed flowers.
When I first saw the Simon Says Stamp Exclusive Large Bottle Brush Trees and Small Bottle Brush Trees, I thought they were great shapes which could also be used for other things than trees. The trees work great for fringed flowers. Fringed flowers are dimensional and lots of fun to make and even more so if you don’t have to hand-cut all the fringes.
The tag has a mixed media background, but you can also use patterned paper or a stamped and inked background.
- For a subtle background texture, glued pieces of old dictionary paper to the tag with Distress Matte Medium. Add a layer of medium on top of the paper too.
- When dry, add a thin layer of gesso, but don’t cover all the text.
- Paint the tag with Mustard Seed, Carved Pumpkin and Abandoned Coral Distress Paint. Mist with plenty of water to blend.
- Let dry and stamp with Simon Says Stamp Crackle Background using Potting Soil Archival Ink. Don’t stamp everywhere.
- Draw a border with a white paint pen and splatter white paint on the background.
- To color the papers for the flowers, smear Distress Ink in two shades on a non-stick craft sheet. Mist with water and press watercolor paper into the ink. Let dry and repeat until you are happy with the colors.
- Die cut the Large Bottle Brush Trees and Small Bottle Brush Trees from all the colors. I made mainly large flowers.
- Fold the trees in half as shown and glue them together along the fold with Simon Says Stamp craft glue. The trees shown on this photo haven’t been glued yet. Off-set the trees slightly when gluing. You can also mix tree die cuts of different color.
- Use a pair of tweezers and roll the trees up. Start with the top of the tree, which has shorter fringes. My pair of tweezers come from Tim Holtz Shaping Kit.
- Glue the trunks of the trees to finish the roll. Add glue over the whole base and let dry.
- When the glue is completely dry, shape the flowers.
- Leaves were die cut with Simon Says Stamp Tattered Leaves from Tim Holtz Christmas Backdrops paper. Many of the Christmas Backdrops papers can be used also for non-Christmas projects.
- I wanted a little bit of glimmer on the tag too and die cut branches and leaves from Simon Says Stamp Tangerine and White Glitter Cardstock using the Simon Says Stamp Berry Stems die set.
- I really like using the Simon Says Stamp Pawsitively Saturated inks to dye ribbons. Pull the May Arts Wrinkled Faux Silk Ribbon across the ink pad, mist lightly with water and crunch up in a paper towel.
- The main sentiment is a Tim Holtz Quote Chip Labels, lightly sanded and inked around the edges.
- The combination of old book paper, Distress Paint, stamping and splattering makes for an interesting looking background, useful for many types of projects.
- I used trees die cut from two different colors for some of the flowers, while others were made from two trees of the same color. You can also try double-sided paper for a different effect.
- Glue the leaves, flowers and some sequins to the tag.
- The second sentiment comes from Simon Says Stamp Mixed Labels and was stamped with Sherbet Pawsitively Saturated Ink.
- The tag has quite a lot of dimension.
I hope this tutorial inspired you to look at your dies in new ways and see what ideas you can come up with. Thank you so much for looking! Happy crafting! –Anna-Karin
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Thanks so much for stopping by, and thanks to Anna-Karin for being our guest!
Psst! Sale alert this weekend only!
Create Beautiful Handmade Cards with Critter Stamps and Dreamy Blended Backgrounds: Amore Laurafadora
Hi friends! Happy Saturday! Leave it to Laura Bassen to brighten our weekend with this ULTRA-cute bright and happy card showcasing our brand new Hello There stamp and die set as well as some lovely Rainbow Splash Drops stickers, and a creamy dreamy blend of Tim Holtz Distress inks in Distress Oxide Saltwater Taffy, Distress Oxide Salvaged Patina, Distress Dried Marigold, and Distress Scattered Straw! Be sure to watch the video for all the details, and enjoy!
WATCH THE VIDEO:
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Thanks so much for stopping by, and thanks to Laura for being our guest!
Psst! Sale alert this weekend only!
