Hey hey! Elaineabella here with your usual dose of Marker Geek Monday colouring fun, except…it’s Tuesday! Don’t ask – Monday was a blur.

There is no Crazy Tuesday this week – the warehouse are working flat out getting all the new release orders out to you, that’s all the crazy they can handle!

Before all the NEW RELEASE shenanigans last week, I shared a little waffle about colouring mediums for colouring stamped images: Marker Geek Monday Colouring Mediums for Colouring Stamps. In that post I promised I would do a little more with watercolour/water based supplies, and here I am! I’ve got a few fun cards to share, hopefully showing that you can create beautiful, fun cards with whatever you have!

In my last post – Marker Geek Monday Colouring Mediums for Colouring Stamps – I showed some of the watercolour/water based supplies I have on hand. I don’t often reach for these, because I often feel like I don’t have the time/energy to really get into them and figure out what I’m doing. After giving myself a stern talking to, I sat down and just PLAYED. Because at the end of the day, that’s what this is all about – having creative fun. Don’t worry about doing things “the right way”, or having just the right supplies/brushes/papers etc. It doesn’t have to be perfect.

Let’s take a look at the cards I created following my play session! All of the images were stamped and coloured on Fabriano Classico Hot Pressed Watercolour Paper.

Zig Clean Color Real Brush Pens:

I coloured the adorable unicorn on this card using Zig Clean Color Real Brush Pens. I’ve covered these a couple of times before on Marker Geek Monday:

• Marker Geek Monday Colouring with Zig Clean Color Real Brush Pens featuring Thinkingofyouabella
• Marker Geek Monday Colouring Rudolph with Zig Clean Color Real Brush Pens feat Rudolph the Skating Reindeer

and over on my own blog:

• Colouring a Pumpkin using Zig Clean Color Real Brush Pens
• Colouring with Zig Clean Color Real Brush Pens ft. Stamping Bella

As you will see, I usually use these pens without water, blending the colours using the pens themselves. This time I decided to use them with water, and had great fun with the process. I scribbled the pens on a little plastic palette and picked up the colour with a wet brush from there (you can also use an acrylic stamp block for this, or a plate).

Stamp Used: Stamping Bella Set of Unicorns & Coordinating Dies

I created the background for this card, and the rest of the samples below using Distress Ink pads and a blending tool, along with some water to create some interest, since Distress Inks react with water. Keep your eyes peeled – I may just feature this in a Stamp It Saturday post!

NeoColor II Crayons & Faber Castell Gelatos:

For this card I had a little fun playing with two different types of water soluble crayon. The red dragon was coloured using NeoColor II crayons, and the green one was coloured using Faber Castell Gelatos. I picked up the colour directly from the crayons using a water brush.

I happened to have these on hand having originally purchased them for art journal backgrounds (something I’m hoping to do more of again when I get the time/mojo, but in the mean time I’m happy to find another use for them). I would say that the NeoColor II seem more pigmented and easier to use – the consistency is creamier, but as you can see, nice results can be achieved with the Gelatos too!

Stamp Used:Stamping Bella Set of Dragons & Coordinating Dies + Stamping Bella Dragon Sentiments set

Gansai Tambi Watercolour Paints:

This is probably one of the first times I’ve used these paints since buying them last year, aside from creating a colour chart when they arrived. I know, I’m terrible, but I just never seem to make the time to really play! I had so much fun doing this though. At this point I think I was starting to loosen up a little (only a little, mind you) and let the watercolour/water do its thing. Love how this little cutie turned out.

The Gansai Tambi paints are beautiful and creamy, I found them quite easy to use and they gave great results.

Stamp Used: Stamping Bella Set of Unicorns & Coordinating Dies

ColourArte Twinkling H2Os:

I mentioned in my last post that Twinkling H2Os were one of the original colouring mediums I used when I started stamping years ago, and I still have my original set plus a few extra purchased a few years ago.

I still love them! They are really easy to use, and the shimmering effect is so pretty. Perfect for magical images like these unicorns!

Stamp Used: Stamping Bella Unicorn Sentiment Set & Coordinating Die

There you go! Dust off old supplies you forgot you had, repurpose supplies you bought for other projects. PLAY and have fun, you might be surprised by the results!

Over To You!

Let’s talk colour! Chip in with your personal recommendations and thoughts on water based colouring media in the comments section.

I’d also love to hear which mediums you would most like to see some posts on? Would you like to see more of my adventures (or more likely misadventures) with watercolour, more coloured pencil, etc? Let me know! Would you like more in depth info on any of the above supplies?

If you are posting your images online, we would love to see them on Instagram and all the platforms mentioned above.  To make it easier for us to find you just use #markergeekmonday and/or #stampingbella as a hashtag. Even better tag me @markergeek and @stampingbella . We love it when you connect, so don’t be shy!

If you’re on Facebook join us in our private chat group Stamping Bella Sistahood to share your creations there and chat all things Stamping Bella related!

Until next time, HAPPY COLOURING!

MWAH

Elaineabella