Radiant Neon Inks are chillin' in the Studio!

Look what is coming your way... a new featured product:
Needless to say, everywhere you look in the Studio, something is stamped in these bright, happy colors.  We can't wait to share!


Out & About with Jill

I've ventured out of the Studio again... and today I'm hanging out on the Faber-Castell Design Memory Craft blog.
Click HERE for complete instructions and a short photo tutorial demonstrating the creation of this trio of springtime tags.

Out & About with Jill

The Penny Black blog continues to feature one-layer cards so I'm...
....sharing my take on the challenge.
CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE PB&J VIDEO TUTORIAL

Out & About with Elizabeth


This week on the Penny Black blog it's all about one-layer cards and today I have a quick 3-step tutorial.
CLICK HERE FOR THE STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUCTIONS.


Out & About with Elizabeth and Jill


Jill and Elizabeth have both been...
...on the Penny Black blog!

CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE DETAILS AND INSTRUCTIONS 
CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE PB&J VIDEO 


Tombow, 8 of 8: Elizabeth

One more segment of coloring flowers with Tombow Dual Brush Pens in the Studio today.

Additional Tombow Inspiration on their BLOG and FACEBOOK PAGE

My flower coloring was used to create a jar topper.

To create the flower layers, Penny Black's Botanical Notes was stamped several times on watercolor paper in Gothic Purple StazOn.  Rich hues of color (Tombow Dual Brush Pen colors: 055, 685, 703, 725, 761, 835, 985) were blended throughout the images. A combination of direct-to-paper and palette transfer techniques were incorporated into the coloring process. 
Segments of the flowers were trimmed and layered using Mono Aqua Adhesive.

Tip/Hint: Slightly offsetting layers adds to the visual dimension.

White seed beads adorn the center of the embellishment.  The flower was affixed to the jar lid with Tombow's Power Tabs.  The Power Tabs are really strong and add just a bit of dimension.

A fun way to create pretty packaging for a gift or store tiny craft baubles.

[Supplies: Tombow: Dual Brush Pens – 055, 685, 703, 725, 761, 835, 985, Mono Aqua Adhesive, Power Tabs; Imagine Crafts/Tsukineko: Gothic Purple StazOn; Penny Black: Botanical Notes 40-276; Other: White Seed Beads] 


Thank you for joining us in the Studio for this colorful Tombow feature!


Tombow, 7 of 8: Jill

For our final two days featuring Tombow Dual Brush Pens, both Elizabeth and I will be coloring flowers!
Additional Tombow Inspiration on their BLOG and FACEBOOK PAGE
I decided to keep things very clean and simple...
Today I used my pens without adding water.  Yep, you can also blend the Tombow Dual Brush Pens using the "clear" blending pen.  I created this card by stamping Penny Black 40-320 Charming in black ink onto white cardstock.  I colored the buds first with a warm yellow/orange color.  Next I added darker shading in red and then finally in burgandy.  To blend, I colored over the flower using the blending pen.  Easy peasy!
I finished off my card by stamping my sentiment (Penny Black 30-229 Special Wishes) in black, layering my floral panel onto a piece of black cardstock, and then mounting this onto my notecard using Tombow 3D Foam Tabs.

Tombow, 6 of 8: Jill

I'm loving our latest Dual Brush Pen technique-- wet and wild!
Additional Tombow Inspiration on their BLOG and FACEBOOK PAGE
For my interpretation of wet and wild, I went with loads of layers, water, and color on a white Inchie Arts ATC-size Art Square.


So let's get wet and wild; eh?  :) 
Note: The Tombow pens and Inchie Arts Art Square were a perfect match as I could add lots of layers of ink and water and stamping on the matboard square without warping or deterioration of the Art Square surface.
1. Color with Tombow Dual Brush Pens onto a large acrylic block.  Mist with water and press Art Square into ink.  Dry Art Square and repeat this step until desired effect is achieved.  
2. Color directly onto stamps (Penny Black 3860J Pointille and 40-204 Fleur De Lys) with Tombow Dual Brush Pens, coordinating colors to background inking, lightly mist stamps with water, and stamp onto Art Square.
3.  Stamp Penny Black 1999L Letter Background randomly onto Art Square background, inking stamp by coloring directly onto stamp using black Tombow pen.
4. Stamp butterfly (Penny Black 30-116 Social Butterfly) and cut out.  Cut butterfly in half so it can be positioned behind heart.
5. Color directly onto heart stamp (Penny Black 30-004 Heart Swatches) using Tombow pen and stamp onto white cardstock. Once dry, color in heart foliage using Tombow pen, coloring directly over the entire heart.  Cut out heart.
6.  Adhere butterfly wings, heart, and sentiment onto Art Square.  
7. Outline images with black Tombow pen then add water using a small paintbrush to blend. Use the fine tip end of the black Tombow pen to add small dots.

I'm sure I will definitely be using my Tombow markers and Inchie Arts Art Squares together in the future!  I think both products liked getting wet and wild. LOL
Additional Inchie Arts inspiration and information can be found on their Facebook page and blog.

Tombow, 5 of 8: Elizabeth

For the next two days, things are going to get wet and wild in the Studio with Tombow's Dual Brush Pens.

Additional Tombow Inspiration on their BLOG and FACEBOOK PAGE

I separated our theme into two parts for my design.

First I went "wild" and created a splattered-filled background on the card base.  I scribbled a big puddle of ink (Tombow Dual Brush Pen 985) on a plastic palette.  Then a wet paintbrush was used to "scoop" up a big dollop of the ink so it could be "flicked" on to the card.

For the "wet" part, I colored Penny Black's Creative Die "Field of Dreams" die cut from watercolor paper with various hues of blue then misted the ink.  The wet die cuts were turned and tilted to allow the ink to move and blend.  


Once they were dry, the flowers were randomly dabbed with Liquitex Medium Gel Mat and sprinkled with Crystal Art Glitter.

A sentiment from Kind Words (Penny Black) stamped in black and turquoise was matted with a thin strip of Sea Breeze Cardstock which was adhered with Mono Aqua Adhesive.

For all the dimensional layering, Tombow's 3-D Foam Tabs were used.

Two small pearls added the final embellishment to the flowers.


[Supplies: Tombow: Dual Brush Pens - 133, 371, 373, 535, 985, Mono Aqua Adhesive, 3-D Foam Tabs; Art Glitter: Crystal; Imagine Crafts/Tsukineko: Onyx Black VersaFine, Blue Lagoon VersaFine; Liquitex: Medium Gel Mat; Mark Richards: Pearl Stickers; Penny Black:  Kind Words 30-226, Creative Dies “Field of Dreams” 51-030, Sea Breeze Cardstock 08-003]



Tombow, 4 of 8: Jill

Oh my, I loved how beautifully clean and simple Elizabeth's card was yesterday! I, too, reached for a Penny Black brushstroke stamp for our direct to stamp Tombow dual brush pen technique.

Additional Tombow Inspiration on their BLOG and FACEBOOK PAGE
For an extra fluid/watercolor effect, I stamped my background image (Penny Black 40-290 Poppy Parade) several times.  I colored directly onto my stamp using the Tombow pens, even adding shading by coloring with a darker color towards the center of the flowers and lighter towards the edge of the petals.  I then misted my stamp heavily with water for the first layer and stamped onto white cardstock.  Then I followed the same process, but for each consecutive layer, I misted with less and less water.  The final time I stamped the image (the 4th time), I did not mist the stamp with water at all.
I also wanted the background to have a watercolor look so I again, using the Tombow dual brush pens, colored with the pen on my acrylic block, added water with a paint brush, and then painted the light blue and tan colors around the flowers.

To finish things off, I stamped Penny Black 1999L Letter Background, coloring with my pen directly onto the stamp and then randomly stamping onto the background.  A few splatters of Gesso add additional movement to the background.  I stamped my sentiment (Penny Black 30-226 Kind Words) onto Penny Black Creative Die 51-027 Triple Banner.  Finally, I mounted the stamped pieces to pattern paper and embellished with ribbon, twine, and pearls. Tombow 3D Foam Tabs add height and dimension to my sentiment banner.

Tombow, 3 of 8: Elizabeth

For the next segment in our Tombow series we are using their colorful pens for a direct-to-stamp technique.

Additional Tombow Inspiration on their BLOG and FACEBOOK PAGE

The wide variety of Tombow's pens allow you to paint like Mother Nature!

To begin, a piece of watercolor paper was painted with white gesso and dried with a heat tool.  Promise Me (Penny Black) was inked with the Dual Brush Pens.  After the color was applied directly to the rubber, it was misted with water.  Stamping on the gesso painted paper kept the ink wet and I was able to blend and pull the color within the image.

The sentiment (Special Wishes by Penny Black) was stamped on vellum and wrapped around the edges of the design before it was matted with gold paper.  Tombow's Mono Aqua Glue was perfect for matting the gold paper to the stamped design.  It allowed me plenty of "open" time to center and position the pieces before it dried and there was no warping.

A little piece of May Arts ribbon was used as an accent piece.  

Tip/Hint: Mounting ribbon to cardstock provides sturdiness for an elevated element.  Xtreme Permanent Adhesive created a strong bond between the ribbon and cardstock.

Lastly, the layered artwork was attached to the card base with Tombow's 3-D Foam Tabs.


[Supplies: Tombow: Dual Brush Pens – 098, 173, 856, 985, Xtreme Permanent Adhesive, Mono Aqua Glue, 3-D Foam Tabs; Canson: Watercolor Paper; Imagine Crafts/Tsukineko: Tuxedo Black Memento Luxe; May Arts: Ribbon; Penny Black: Promise Me 4384K, Special Wishes 30-229; Sakura: Glitter Pen; Other: Gesso, Vellum, Gold Paper.]



Stay tuned for Jill's direct-to-stamp magic!  


Tombow, 2 of 8: Elizabeth

Our emboss and watercolor technique continues today in the Studio.  

Additional Tombow Inspiration on their BLOG and FACEBOOK PAGE

In our previous post, you saw Jill's amazing cards embossed in white.  Today I am heat embossing black pigment ink with clear powder to prepare my image for watercoloring.

For this “happy hello” I have stamped Penny Black's Blooming Tags on an Inchie Art square in black pigment ink and heat embossed with clear powder.  Heat embossing creates wonderful little "fences" that help keep the color contained in small areas.  After trimming, the image was colored with Tombow’s Dual Brush Pens.  
Two types of coloring were used for this technique.  The first application of color was transferred from a plastic palette.  Puddles of ink were created by scribbling the Dual Brush Pens on an acrylic block and then the ink was transferred to the image with a damp paintbrush.  To add deeper highlights, the Dual Brush Pens were then used direct to paper.

Elevated layers were created with white cardstock embossed with Interlocking (Creative Dies - Penny Black) and strips of Summer Sun cardstock.  

Tombow’s Xtreme Permanent Adhesive and 3-D Foam Tabs were fantastic for adhering the elements together and creating the dimensional layers.

A sentiment (Nature’s Wishes by Penny Black) and antique button add fun accents to the design.

[Supplies: Tombow:  Dual Brush Pens - 025, 055, 098, 133, 195, 491, 606, 755, 757, 815, 909, 985, 990, Xtreme Permanent Adhesive, 3-D Foam Tabs; Imagine Crafts/Tsukineko: Onyx Black VersaFine, Clear Embossing Powder; Inchie Arts: 3” Art Square; Penny Black: Blooming Tags 30-228, Nature's Wishes 30-109, Creative Die “Interlocking” 51-029, Summer Sun Cardstock 17-002]


We will see you tomorrow with a new segment for our 8-part Tombow series.


Tombow, 1 of 8: Jill

To kick off our 8 straight days of Tombow marker inspiration, we're beginning with an emboss and watercolor technique.
Additional Tombow Inspiration on their BLOG and FACEBOOK PAGE
I'm particularly loving the watercolor look lately so I've got a couple of cards for ya today.

To create each of these cards, I began by stamping my image onto watercolor paper, stamping several times for a repeated design, using VersaMark ink and heat embossing in white.  (Images by Penny Black: 4376 Hollyhocks, 40-312 Sunny Pair)  I then colored with my Tombow markers directly onto the stamped image, coloring only where I wanted the color to be darkest.  Next, using a small paintbrush, I added water to blend the marker ink, starting by adding a layer of water in the uncolored area and then working up to the colored portion.  This allowed the marker ink to "bleed" and blend naturally into the water.  I followed this same process to color the background.  I colored first with the Tombow markers around the outer edge of the flower images then added water to blend, starting first in the open "white" areas and then moving up to the edges.  I just love that with these markers, the color stays bold and vibrant, and can easily be wiped off the embossed areas using a baby wipe!  To finish off my cards, I simply added May Arts ribbon and twine and mounted the watercolor pieces using dimensional adhesive.

I wonder what Elizabeth will be embossing and watercoloring tomorrow...  :)