Love to Hear From You with Lyra Rembrandt Polycolor and Distress Oxide Ink

When I saw this sweet little girl, I decided I would like to color her in soft colors. I chose a very girly pink. I used the new Distress Oxide inks to color the background, giving it some texture with drops of water. I also used Wink of Stella to give her dress and hairband some sparkle, plus Glossy Accents on the jar to make it look more like glass. The stamp Love To Hear From You is by Dreamerland Crafts.

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Making the Card

1. Cut Neenah Desert Storm cardstock to 5 1/2 x 8 1/2 inches. Fold in half to form a 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 inch card base.

2. Cut another piece of Desert Storm about the same size as the card front (4 1/4 x 5 1/2 inches). Stamp Love To Hear From You (Dreamerland Crafts) in the center using black ink (e.g. Memento Tuxedo Black). Note: if you use a stamp positioner, I recommend leaving the stamp in place - after coloring, many of the lines became dull. I used a black Copic Multiliner to go over all the lines but it would have been much easier to just stamp over it once the coloring was done.

3. Stamp the image on masking paper (I used Post-It Tape). Be sure it is dry before cutting around the image. Hint: cut on the black line so you won't have a ghost line around the image after blending. Place mask over image (ideally you should see some of the black line) and use an ink blending tool to apply Broken China Distress Oxide Ink around the girl, but don't go below the grass line. Be sure to soften edges as you move out. Cut grass off mask and replace mask over girl. Apply Peeled Paint Distress Oxide Ink over grass areas, softening edges. Spray and splatter with water. Let sit for a short time then dab with a clean paper towel to get a blotchy texture in the background.

4. Remove mask. Use a blending stump or small paint brush to apply blue under chair between the legs (you could also have cut this area from the mask with a kraft knife before applying Broken China but I find this easier). Shield image from bottom of chair up and lightly spray the area you just applied, dab. Note: don't worry if things aren't perfect - the pencils will can that.

5. Color image with colored pencils. I used Lyra Rembrandt Polycolor, which are oil based pencils. I have the full set but I found that I would have liked more colors, especially flesh colored. It was really difficult shading her skin. The medium and dark flesh colors are really fake looking so I ended up blending a multitude of colors including brown, gray, and light violet, going over each with flesh colors. I'm still not quite satisfied but the paper was becoming saturated (shiny). I used a little Sansodor (mineral spirits) on a stump to remove the shiny spots. You can fill in any blue or green areas that didn't enough ink, such as around the blades of grass. Use a light hand and it should fill in nicely. I colored the grass in various greens to give them more depth and shadow. Use a white gel pen to add highlights as desired.

6. At this point either re-stamp the image using your positioner or go over the lines with a black pen. I used a Copic Multiliner (size .2). Optional: add Wink of Stella to her dress and headband and Glossy Accents to the jar. Once these are dry, use a stitched rectangle die to cut out the image. I used the largest Lawn Fawn Small Stitched Rectangle Stackables die for this.

7. Cut a piece of pink cardstock a little bigger than the rectangle (step 6). Mine measures 3 7/8 x 5 1/8 inches. Adhere to card base.

8. Stamp "Thinking of You" in embossing ink (or VersaMark) on vellum. Emboss in white (hint: heat up your heat tool before bringing it to the vellum). Cut it as a strip (longer than card front). Wrap around card front as shown and adhere on back of card - leave a little more space on the right side for the bow. Use dimensional tape to adhere to card base.

9. Double up twine or jute if necessary, then tie a bow. Adhere to card where shown.

Supplies

• Dreamerland Crafts Stamp: Love To Hear From You
• Memento Ink: Tuxedo Black
• Distress Oxide Inks: Broken China, Peeled Paint
• Masking Paper (e.g. Post-It Tape)
• Ink Blending Tool
• Spray Bottle with Water
• Blending Stump
• Lyra Rembrandt Polycolor Pencils
• Neenah Desert Storm Cardstock
• Pink Cardstock
• Black Pen (e.g. Copic Multiliner)
• White Gel Pen (e.g. Signo White Uni-Ball)
• Wink of Stella (Optional)
• Glossy Accents (Optional)
• Stamp: Thinking of You
• Vellum
• Embossing Ink (or VersaMark)
• White Embossing Powder
• Dimensional Tape
• Twine or Jute

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