Let's get coloring!

Hello & welcome to Craftin Desert Divas CREATIVE CHALLENGE!

Now... I am a pencil colorist - I just love working with pencils! But not so long ago I became a happy owner of Arteza Real Brush Pens. And, honestly, I had them laying on my desk for a while...

I guess after so much time spent with DRY pencils - watercolor pens were a bit scary for me.

After trying to color few times (and those times were awesome as I managed to win a contest with one of the images, lol) I feel like from now on I want to share my experiences with you!

So let's get coloring!

Here's a card I made with new Craftin Desert Divas "YOU" stamp set (which was illustrated by me) using embossing technique. And for coloring media - I picked watercolor pens.

This card is so simple in making that most of the time will take the coloring process.

First thing to do - I stamped the mandala image on to watercolor card stock using VersaMark ink.

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TIP 1. Use the thickest watercolor card stock you can find. It can do a lot of magic! The paper will remain flat when doing embossing technique and using watercolor media on it.

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Then I applied embossing powder (white) on top and used hitting tool to melt it.

After that it was time for coloring. As I've mentioned before on this card I am using Arteza Real Brush Pen, and honestly they did really good on giving gorgeous watercolor look to the image!

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Tip 2. Real Brush Pen LOVE water! The more water you give to the colors - the coolest effect you may get, whether you wanna have splashy look or pick up some colors or make "this looks like real" image.

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Tip 3. To make the image look dimentional - use grey color around it. Brush it out to make it more real.

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Tip 4. To pick up some colors or make an ombre look - use paper towels, the work as magic!

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After coloring was finished - I decided to add a bit of interest to the main piece. So I die cut it using 2 different dies. And attached the inner part using double dimention tape.

For the final touches I added sentiment from the same set. I wanted to keep it as simple as possible, so I used only one word "loved" (here's the close up look of the finished card).