Getting To Know Spectrum Aqua Pens

 

Good morning, happy Monday, Kirsten here. As you know if you attended last Friday's classes, or have seen the blog posts over the weekend, we're all about Spectrum Aqua pens this month. My card today was one of my first attempts & I tried two techniques; watercolouring an image & stencilling.

 

**Please note; I will add website links to this post on Tuesday, once the stock updates have been completed.**

 

 

 

My focal image was the Stampendous Blossom Bunch stamp. I stamped it with Onyx Black Versafine ink on to the smooth side of a piece of watercolour card, applied WOW Clear Gloss embossing powder & heat set.

 

 

 

 I stamped again onto post-it notes, cut out the flowers & placed them on top of the embossed image.

 

 

 

On top of the post-its I placed the Imagination Crafts Diamonds stencil & secured it with stencil tape.

 

 

 

 

I scribbled Meadow & Wildflower pens from the Floral set of Spectrum Aquas onto my blending mat - I found that this is a much better surface for the pens than a heat resistant craft sheet. The ink stays wet for a long time  even when it does dry, it can be reactivated with a spritz of water.

 

 

 

I used a piece of Cut & Dry foam to apply the inks through the stencil, a little at a time.

 

If you apply too much ink with too much pressure, it will bleed under the stencil. I don't mind a little of that, but I didn't want a splodgy mess, so I tried to be careful.

 

 

 

Remove the stencil...........

 

 

Remove the post-its.............

 

 

 

I then began colouring the flowers with more Orchid.

 

I have to say that I am a very poor colourist & my blending leaves a lot to be desired, but the great thing about these pens - apart from the highly pigmented & gorgeous colours - is how easy they are to use. You can apply & remove colour so easily, over & over, until you're happy.

 

I used a paintbrush to apply the colour from the blending mat. For me, that was easier than applying the pen directly to the card, as I was able to build up thin layers of colour.

 

If you're a more confident colourist you could put the pen to he card & blend with a clean paintbrush & water.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I finished the card with some doodled dots, a smidgen of Soft Purple Sparkle Medium in the centres of the flowers, Vintage Photo distress ink around the edges & a Penny Black sentiment.

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for visiting the blog today. The new blog challenge began yesterday, all the details are HERE.

 

Until next time, happy crafting.

 

Kirsten