Paper Woods

Great news! Instructables.Com has awarded my Monica’s Wedding Cards project an Honorable Mention for it’s September Project Contest! Check it out here.

After much delay, the final installment of my four-part series is finally here! Part IV is dedicated to the tools used to write and/or add color to our creations. Color is a big part of what gets me excited about paper crafting – I don’t think I could ever have enough markers or ink pads to satisfy my craving for more color options when I’m creating!

Part IV: Writing and Coloring Tools

Pencil = keeping a regular pencil – not colored – on hand is always a good idea. You might be surprised how often you use it to mark or measure things, and nothing is more frustrating than not being able to find one when you need it! Use one that writes lightly and is easy to erase.

Eraser = a good, high quality eraser is also a must! Nothing spoils a good piece like going back to erase pencil lines once you’re finished, and smearing all your hard work or tearing the paper! There are a couple different styles of erasers that work well; currently in my drawer (hidden from my husband!) is a Magic Rub by Sanford.

Colored pencils = great for shading and filling in lettering or stamped images. Special watercolor pencils are great for blending and creating soft watercolor effects with special blending pencils, water brushes, or blender pens, or just a plain brush and a cup of water.

Pens and Markers = choose wisely for each purpose! Choose not only the color, but also the type of ink (permanent, watercolor, metallic, etc.), and nib (fine point, chisel, brush tip, etc.) Not all pens and markers are created equal! Some will not work at all on glossy surfaces, where others will “fan” out or bleed on heavier grained surfaces. Always test a pen or marker on an identical surface to your project before you use it, each time!

Chalk = chalk is really fun to use to add soft touches of color to your art work. It comes in as many colors as you can imagine, as well as metallic and “shimmer” varieties. It is easy to apply with cotton swabs or special applicators, and is also easy to blend. One word of caution: chalk on your art work will smear and rub off, even long after it’s been applied, so it’s necessary to seal it with a fixative, such as hair spray or a clear finish spray like Krylon offers. The advantage of using a finish spray like Krylon is that it will keep your art work acid free and archival safe.

Paint = paint can be a fun medium to explore. Basic acrylic paints are cheap and easy to find, and work great with foam stamps, as well as brushes and sponges. Acrylics are also great for blending to create just the right shade of color, and they wash up easily with warm water.

Ink pads = ink pads are the most commonly used coloring medium in rubber stamping, and thus are prevalent in the larger paper crafting world as well. There are two main types of ink found in ink pads: dye and pigment. Dye ink is a great all around ink; it dries quickly and works very well on most surfaces. Pigment ink, on the other hand, takes a long time to dry. This quality might not seem desirable in most situations, but the fact that it stays wet longer allows it to be used for heat embossing, where you sprinkle a powder over the stamped image while it is still wet, shake off the excess, and then heat the image with a heat gun to melt the powder, creating a raised image. Pigment ink can be used when you do not wish to heat emboss, but usually requires being “set” with a heat gun. There is one more type of ink worth mentioning, and that is solvent ink. The most popular brand of solvent ink is StazOn. It is specially formulated for use on non-porous surfaces, such as glass, ceramic tile, metal, shrink plastic, etc. I also recommend using StazOn when you want to stamp an image and then watercolor over it. Since StazOn is permanent, it will not bleed or blend when doing your watercoloring.

Dear Readers:

I’m so sorry I haven’t posted anything in the last month! Things got a little crazy for me as I decided to quit my job, and my husband and I also decided to try hosting our own blogs. So I will soon be directing you to a new site, but for now I wanted to get another post up about something new I just tried.

As a crafter, I am constantly seeing new exciting tools and products that I feel I absolutely have to have! The problem is that those new things often end up in a drawer somewhere, forgotten when the next best thing comes along. Well, I recently challenged myself to dig to the bottom of my drawers to find something I’ve never used – and to use it! What I found is this great product called Cow of Many Colors embossing powder. I bought it at the Auntie Amy rubber stamping convention last year from a vendor called CowTown Stamps. It’s an embossing powder that changes color the longer you heat it with your heat gun. It starts out as a purple/blue, then turns green, then yellow, then finally turns to orange. I thought it would be perfect for my sun image stamp. What do you think?