Wednesday Trends / TSG Tips & Tricks : Alex

What is Wednesday Trends / TSG Tips & Tricks? Every Wednesday the featured Trendsetter will either share a stamping trend that they love or will show you new ways to use their favorite TSG stamp sets! I hope you are inspired by this tutorial, and that you will try it out for yourself! :)

Hello Sugarbunnies!! It's Alex here with you sharing a fun little technique I have recently been playing with - I call it Copic "Watercoloring"   I'm sure I'm not the first person to do something like this, but the first time I tried it I totally fell in love with the look, and I thinks it's something everyone can easily do so I'm excited to share my little "technique"tutorial with you today!

For my card today I used my Season's Greetings stamp set.  I think this technique looks especially nice on fine, detailed images that don't necessarily need to be perfectly colored - besides, sometimes you just want to make something pretty and quick right?? 

First, choose a couple of markers for your image, and for this, less is more!  Stick to  2 or 3 colors at most, since you want them to blend - remember you want a "watery" look - lightly color directly on your stamp with your markers, and no need to be neat on this one!!

Once you have loosely colored your image, grab an watercolor brush or aquapainter filled with household rubbing alcohol, and quickly brush over your stamp enough so that you can clearly see the alcohol sort of puddling and the color looking wet.

Then stamp your image onto your paper - I used watercolor paper for this sample, but I have done this on my "usual" white smooth CS, and it works the same, so don't be afraid to try it on whatever you have on hand!  Once you stamp your "alcohol image"  do not be alarmed - it's not exactly the prettiest!! :)  It may also be a little overly wet, so you can just give it a quick little blast with your heat gun to dry!

Next, ink up your stamp with your favorite black ink (or any other dark color of your choice) and stamp your image directly over your "Alcohol stamped" image, lining it up as best as you can, and don't worry it doesn't need to be perfect, it will look pretty no matter what! Look at the difference in the image when you stamp over it:

 

Isn't it pretty?  and voila! you're done!  you can then finish your image and your card as desired!!  I added some sponging to my image panel and then added a metallic gold mat.  Love the rustic look this creates:

and there you have it!  Isn't this a great look, and not a lot of time spent coloring either!! Just the perfect, elegant look for a simple Holiday card!

I hope you like this simple technique, and that you give it a try!!

Hugs!!

Alex