Farm Fever

I needed a get will card this weekend. I haven't had much time to play with this adorable set! I laugh every time I read the words on this one. "You Cured Yet?" Too funny!

For this card I used Apricot Appeal but it looks more peachy here. I also stamped the background with the linen stamp using Apricot Appeal ink. I had some fun with decorative paper as well. I have tons of it but rarely use it. I'm not sure why. Either I'm hording it or I'm afraid of it. It is a bit out of my comfort zone to use decorative papers on cards. Aren't they suppose to be used on altered projects??? But after making this card and a couple others last week I'm finding that the decorative paper is saving me some time stamping. And what does that mean? It means it will give me more time to stamp something else!!!

Ok, moving on here. I stamped the image on watercolor paper using Staz-on ink. When ever you are going to use a blender pen it's best to use Staz-on ink. I prefer to use watercolor paper when I use a blender pen too. The paper is designed to allow you to work an area a bit longer than regular card stock will. And there have been times that I was able to blot out an area of color I didn't like on the watercolor paper. That would NEVER happen with card stock! I also used markers here. When I use my blender pens I take a piece of plastic, actually it's a sheet of Shrinky Dinks (cut into quarters). I scribble the pen on the plastic and I pick up the color with the blender pen. When coloring like this make sure your plastic is on a piece of white paper so you get a clear view of the color and where you have picked up color off it. Any bits of color left behind on your plastic is now mixed with the blender pen solution and is diluted.

TIPS: When coloring any project it is important to know where your light source is coming from. For example, look at the bucket. Notice how the color is lighter on the left side of the bucket than the right? More light is hitting that area so you need to keep that area light. Where the bucket is closer to the ground there is a shadow under there so you need to make that area darker.

I also start out my freshly loaded blender pin in the darkest areas and work my way out. That is another reason why I prefer watercolor paper.

I hope these tips are useful to you.

Thanks for looking!

I'm not very fond of the way the colors came out in the scan to tomorrow I may take a photo of it and edit this post.

Ok, I just got a look at the final product here and I'm DEFINITELY taking a photo of it tomorrow. The scan is not doing it justice. Squint when you look at it for now, maybe that will help!!!!!