Hello NEON!

I know some of have negative feelings of neon colors (flashbacks of the big hair and bright colors of the 1980′s) but there is no doubt about it, neon is back! I just got to try the new Neon Markers from Letraset and I’m sold. I’ve had enough of brown and muted colors, how about you?

 

The thing is you can always tone down and “muddy” up a color but you can’t clean up a muted color. I love my colors pure, you have so much more versatility that way! These markers are fade resistant too which is important because neon colors are notorious for fading. Here is a video where I show you how easy it is to blend with these neon watercolor markers as well as some mixed media techniques with supplies you probably have already. I gab a bit about stencils and storage and who knows what else in the beginning so if you want to skip ahead 4 minutes and get straight to the stamping I don’t mind LOL! Also feel free to follow along with whatever watercolor markers you have!

 

Here is the piece we made in the video, I did not end up adding anything extra to it after all.

 

I wanted to show you a close up pic of the marker in the color spritzer tool. I did not have luck with this tool before, come to find out I was not pushing my markers through far enough! See how the nib of the marker extends past the tip of the spritzer tool. the color spritzer is made by Stampin up, I think they still sell it.

 

Here is my first attempt with the markers, I had such fun I made a video LOL! It was so fun to get in my studio and just play after a long summer home with the kids!

 

Thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!

Triple Time Stamping & WOYWW!

Howdy folks! This week on Oriental Stamp Art they challenged up to try the Triple Time Stamping technique. Here is a card I made using a huge Far East set of clear stamps I got on sale for $2.50 at oriental trading company, regularly $15, score!

 

So basically you stack up 3 panels of white cardstock and stamp a design over all three, then take apart the panels and mat them with color and stick them to a card base, yep folks, it is that easy! I saw a really cute tutorial for it on this blog, I love this lady’s French Canadian accent, she reminds me of my “Grammie”

 

On the above card I used SVG cutting files from Lettering Delights and SCAL software with my die cutter.  Using the Sizzix Eclips this week had really psyched me up to do some more cutting!

For the burst of color in the background I used a color Spritzer tool (Stampin’ Up!) I have had it for a while but it did not always work for me but then I found out I did not have my marker pushed through far enough, The nib of the marker should protrude father than the “blow-hole” on the spritzer. I have now used this with all of my brush tip watercolor markers with success!

 

Since it is What’s on Your Workdesk Wednesday here is a peek of my desk. The kids started school today so I have some real work laid out. I have artwork that needs to be framed in the tubes and lying flat on my workbench. I do not like to have other people’s artwork in my studio with the kids around. So all of my framing jobs have to wait until the kids are in school LOL!

 Well, I’m off to get my car’s oil changed and do a bit of shopping and have lunch with a stampin’ friend, til next time happy crafting!

Video Tutorial: Easy Blending with All Markers!

Happy Friday folks! I was playing with the new Framed Floral ATC stamps from About Art Accents (by the way, the set of 9 ATC size stamps are on sale for $16.99-regular $29.99 and you can save 10% more with my coupon code: Lindsay10%) and they are just perfect for coloring with markers! The card on the left was colored with Copics (alcohol markers) while the one on the Right uses a couple of watercolor markers. They both can be blended and a quick to color.

Here is a quick video to show you how easy it is to blend with either type of markers:

 

Here are my tips for using markers:

1. Pick the right paper for the project. I love super smooth cardstock (Neenah #80 Classic Crest in Solar White) for my alcohol ink markers BUT for watercolor markers watercolor paper works best. If you really want to work on cardstock with watercolor markers Stampin’ Up cardstock is the best uncoated cardstock I have tried…still, I’d choose watercolor paper.
2. Work dark to light, I know this sounds counterintuitive but trust me, it works and you can get by with fewer markers. When you work light to dark you need to work with colors that are just a hair darker than the previous but when you start dark and go over that with the middle value (like I did in the video) you can jump a few shades meaning you need fewer markers to get the same results.
3. Color a swatch on a scrap of the paper you are using to see if the colors really blend well together before you start coloring you picture, this will save a lot of time and wasted paper.
4. Relax, practice and have fun, after all it’s only coloring!

Thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!

Video tutorial: How to refill Waterbased markers and WOYWW

Edit: I added a typed recipe with exact measurements under the video

My obsession with wanting a new brand of water based markers (you all know of the ones of which I speak) had me looking at my tired old watercolor markers. Some were well-loved and drying out, others never seemed that juicy to begin with and some were still pretty darn great! So I decided to revive my tired old markers and show you how too. Here is an image I colored with my freshly reinked LePlume, Whisper & Tombow markers:

 

Not bad considering that I got many of them for 10 cents at a yard sale a few years ago LOL! Here is a quick 5 minute video on how you can do it too!

 

I got a lot of comments asking for the EXACT recipe so here it is! 1 Tablespoon water, 1 Tablespoon glycerin and one teaspoon gum arabic. If you don’t have the gum arabic you can leave it out and it will still refresh your markers. The gum arabic makes the ink glossier and more blendable like the Tim Holtz Distress markers Thanks to DeeAnn for that tip!

I am posting my workdesk a day early because I have a busy week. I am getting ready to go to a rubber stamp convention and I need to have a really condensed stamping-to-go bag. I was pulling some mini ink pads that I want to bring but I got distracted making bookmarks and reinking my markers. Still, not a bad way to spend a rainy day! I’ll have to pack tomorrow

You can see other creative folks’ desks over on the Stamping Ground blog, home of Whats on Your Workdesk Wednesday. Thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!

Watercolor Marker Tips!

Happy Sunday folks! I was over at the Creative Belli Challenge blog the other day and they issued a challenge to use water-based markers in a design, I have lots of these that I have forgotten about since discovering Bic mark-its so I thought it would be a good time to show them some love:

Stamps: The Rubber Cafe, Die Cut: Creativecutsandmore.com, ribbon: Target, ink: Versafine, Markers: tombow

I made this card with a die cut from Creative Cuts and More and new Halloween stamps from the rubber cafe called Pumpkin Face Mix and Match, take a look at this set:

Pumpkin Face Mix and Match from The Rubber Cafe

Yep they are clear! you can mix and match the faces for tons of variety and they are high quality clear meaning they stick well to the acrylic block and they hold the ink well! BTW I made the “magic Mesh” by swiping orange acrylic paint over drywall mesh I found at the hardware store. If you stick, creative cuts and more it to cardstock first you will have fun pattern paper after to peel up the mesh!

Watercolor marker tips:

1 Use waterproof ink to stamp your image or use pigment ink and emboss it in clear before you used the markers to prevent ink smears.

2. Work quickly: I colored the pumpkins yellow, added some light orange shading then dark orange around the edges.

3. My favorite way to use waterbased markers id to color on the rubber and stamp. A great way to may your stamp collection more versatile without buying more ink-pads! I used that technique on this project.

Thanks all for today, have a great Sunday and till next time Happy Crafting!