Stampsmith Challenge description: Spring colours and flowers. Using a Stampsmith stamp.
Here is my entry
Main Items Used
Silhouette Cameo Machine
Cuttlebug embossing folder
Kindy Glitz
Stickles
Aquarell watercolour pencils
I found a wonderful place that offers free designs for cutting machines and also some digital papers and stamps. Bird Cards 3D flowers were used in this but shrunk down quite small. I coated the leaves in Kindy Glitz. I believe Kindy Glitz is the same as Stickles except that it is an Aussie brand.
I stamped my image with Black Versafine. It is important when using the watercolour pencils that you use a permanent ink that wont run. I still allow a day or two for it to dry and set into the paper just to be sure. I did try the Bic Mark it pens but they re-wet this ink so they are not suitable. I think they are the same formula as copic pens so test before trying.
The watercolour pencils are a very cheap alternative to copics. I bought a 36 colour set for around $20 from Officeworks in Australia. I'm sure they are much cheaper in other parts of the world but that is a good price for here compared to Copics. However for this card I used an old 12 colour set. As you can see there are enough colours to do basic colouring. The 12 pack usually has 2 blues, 2 greens, etc so shading is easy. You can get a 12, 24 & 36 pack which has about 6 shades of blues, greens, reds etc. Here is a link to the pencil colour chart.
Watercolour pencils If you want to get really serious there are even larger packs out there with 100+ colours.
When colouring the stamp I used the lightest colour all over then the darker colour on all the shadows. Using a very small tip paintbrush just slightly damp, I blend the colours from the lightest into the darker colour. You can build up the colour and also use the pencils without water. Test your paper first too. The paper I use for photo stamps is a very smooth matt finish and it copes well with the water. (bought from an Aussie supplier and is stickybacked)
TIP: If the pencil tip breaks off, don't throw it out. You can crush it, add water and use it like paint.