When I counsel new stampers I tell them that the most economical way to start is to get a multi pack of cardstock so they can try all the colors, a pack of Basic White, some clear envelopes, a Tuxedo Black memento ink pad, watercolor pencils and the soft pastels assortment. The Soft Pastels Assortment is a box of 8 different tightly compact pieces of chalk in 8 of our coordinating colors! The eight colors are: Coastal Cabana, Daffodil Delight, Flirty Flamingo, Gorgeous Grape, Granny Apple Green, Mossy Meadow, Night of Navy and Poppy Parade.
Today’s card describes a watercoloring technique with these great chalk stick!

Measurements:
BASE: Granny Apple Green 5 1/2″ x 8 1/2″
scored at 3 1/4″ and 4 1/4″
scrap for the bough punch
DSP: 3/4″ x 5 1/2″
Basic White: layer 3 3/4″ x 5 1/2″
scrap for the circle die

Place adhesive on the inside strip in between the two score marks, close the card and burnish the smaller panel to set the adhesive to create a book bind fun fold.
Adhere the 3/4″ DSP piece onto the outside of the card on the book bind smaller panel.

Run the Basic White layer through the Stampin’ Cut and Emboss maching with the Zinnias 3D embossing folder.

Using the spatula end of the Take Your Pick Tool scrape powder from one end of the desired colors of Soft Pastel sticks onto the flat surface of the F acrylic block. You will not need alot of powder. Squeeze a few drop of water from a Water Painter onto the bloc at the edge of the powder pile. Slowly incorporate the powder into the water a little at a time – these are hyper-pigmented powders and will get dark quickly – less is more! You can keep adding until you reach the desired hue.

I used one color at a time and started with the granny Apple Green and painted the leaves.

Using one color at a time, I painted the flower petals alternating flowers so that the flowers next to each other were different colors. When you are done with one color and want to move on to your next color. squeeze water out of the barrel of the painter pen and rub the brush onto a cloth or paper towel until the brush water runs clean and clear!

Adhere the Basic White panel to the larger panel on the card front – this is a close up of the watercoloring.

I stamped the hello sentiment onto a Everyday Details circle die in Granny Apple Green ink from the Layering Leaves stamp set and punched the bough punch with scraps of Granny Apple Green cardstock.

I attached the leaf punches to the back of the sentiment piece using Stampin’ Dimensionals.

I adhered the sentiment circle die to the card front over the water coloring. Make sure that the leaves do not protrude outside of the dimensions of the card so it still fits into a standard envelope!

I added the Parakeet Party colored Pearls from the 2022-2024 In Color Pearls embellishment pack – these will be retiring soon. I am so sad because of the iridescent quality the colors coordinate with more than just the 2022-2024 In Colors as shown here with the Granny Apple Green! Buy some before they sell out!
I made two samples with each side of the Flowering Zinnias DSP for the book bind “spine”

Now it’s your turn to try the Pastels! Go and create some art of your own – one stamp at a time!

Happy Stampin’
Natalie