As part of my Christmas craft I’ve bought a lovely set of Country Companions stamps. Anyone that follows my blog will know that I tend to ‘colour’ using chalks as they are less permanent. I decided it was time to take the leap and use pens, a much deeper level of commitment. I’m no artist, in fact when choosing subjects for GCSEs I was told ‘anything except art’ which demonstrates how lacking I am in that department. I have however purchased pens in the past and dabbled with their use (mainly the fine tip end to add faux stitching to the edge of panels on cards). I was really tempted to stamp the images then just go for a splash of colour, for example just adding it to a hat or a present. In the end I came to the conclusion that was cheating and I’d better try and do it ‘properly’.
I stamped my image and used the picture on the stamp set as a guide to where shadows should be. I began with the lighter colours, going over them again to add depth and using some darker colours too. My pens are from 3 different sets, so it was hard to blend and match them, hence why the red stands out so much. It was quite good fun, a more ‘serious’ version of adult colouring in. I won’t be doing this for every card though as it’s very time consuming. (If you get a Christmas card from me and it only has a die cut decoupage shape added, it doesn’t mean I love you less!)
I’m glad I tried it out and I will be doing it more. I may still use the chalks on days when it’s all going wrong-sometimes it takes long enough to get a ‘perfect’ stamped image and messing it up with an errant pen mark would finish me off!
For now, though, I’m branching out into the far more boring task of sewing name labels into school uniform. I know how to party on a Saturday night!
How do you colour your stamped images? Do you have any tips for doing it well? (Other than ‘give up and buy some cards from Poundland’!)
I think we had the same art teacher! She couldn’t wait to see the back of me. I must have made her feel like her life’s work was all for nothing…. Well done with the colouring – you are way braver than me and you did a great job!
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Oh dear lol! I had many disasters. Thank you, I love your cards, your art teacher knew nothing!
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No, she knew her stuff. I can’t draw and wait until you see my pottery post, coming soon!!
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Haha! Mine looked a bit like Mr Tumnus from the lion, the witch and the wardrobe. Pottery was never my finest point either! 😂
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I hope it was a male teacher then?! Double unfortunate otherwise….
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Actually made me laugh, yes he was a male teacher, he got eaten alive in an all girls school!
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Cute mouse! I use water colour pencils mainly, although I do more sketching than anything else. I don’t use chalk at all…don’t like the way they feel-lol!
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Ooh, I used watercolour pencils once but bought a really cheap set and they all broke so I gave up. Thanks 😊
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They blend beautifully, it’s worth trying again. You can get some nice ones for a reasonable price…caran d’ache are the most expensive, I aspire to owning a set one day 🙂
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I may do that, I bought one of those watercolour blending brushes that you fill with water at a craft exhibition once. It’s looking
sadly unused in my pencil case!
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That sounds interesting..I generally just use a little glass of water..shall have to look into one of those..thank you!
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Wonderful Job! I love the little Mouse 🙂
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Thank you, I thought he was a sweet picture to begin my quest on! 😊
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I love your Christmas posts!
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Thank you! I’m making the most of being motivated, at least for now. 😊
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Gorgeous colouring!! Super cute and worth the effort. Well done!! *clapping & cheering at this end*
With every school uniform label, another step closer to the return to normality. 🙂 Sooo glad it’s you and not me…been there, done that, couldn’t afford the postcard. 😉
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Thank you! I got the flipping tags done but we haven’t bought PE kit yet so I’ll have to do that quickly when we’ve finally got it. 😊
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🙂 😉
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I use Letraset Promarker pens for colouring stamped and embossed cards, they are a bit pricy but they are excellent – they have two ends – one thicker and one fine, Ive never tried chalks – I might have to do that 🙂
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I had one set of promarkers about 6 years ago but didn’t have enough shades to make it possible to do a good job so I sold them. I’ve seen lovely effects created with them though.
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I colour very badly and totally agree that using a pen chances ruining a good stamp. I might try the chalk though. Any excuse to buy more craft products!! Loving the Christmas posts , please keep them up I need the motivation!
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I’ll try my best! 😊 Chalks are a great investment as they are fab for the edges of layers to add depth too. I use cotton wool buds to apply them as they are good for small areas.
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I havent got up the courage yet to colour my stamps with pens. I feel like an errant pen mark would also push me over the edge! If i want to add volour to a stamp, I usually just stamp it a few times on different coloured paper and cut out the desired shapes from each sheet and layer it up!
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I love the effect you can create with that too. Especially a bit of tartan paper for a Christmas hat on a stamped teddy. 😊
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