Crabby Blue Crab

Hello crafty friends!   Do you have a favorite caffeinated critter from the Rabbit Hole Designs?  I do, mine is the Caffeinated Crab!  I think he is so darn cute and today I am sharing my Crabby Blue Crab with you.

This photo shows I have stamped the crab image in a light brown ink.  You'll see there is not a stark of a contrast between the stamped crab image and the alcohol marker coloring. I call this soft-line coloring  This is very close to a no-line coloring technique.  A no-line coloring technique is when you stamp your image in a much lighter ink color and as you color your stamped image  you will not see the lines you initially stamped.  There are specific no-line ink colors on the market, you can use a clear pigment ink or light beige or tan that you can barely see. They will nearly disappear as you color the image.  You will find that it gives your stamped image a much soft blended look. 

Let's take a look at the images and the differences:

A - traditional stamped image / stamped in black ink and colored with alcohol markers 

B - No-line stamped image / stamped in a beige ink and colored with alcohol markers 

C - soft-line stamped image / stamped in a soft brown ink and colored with alcohol markers 

All very different looks you can create.

For the background, I use the Drop It stencil choosing muted green, muted red and muted purple oxide  inks to stencil the background.  Afterwards, I dried the stenciled card front using my heat-gun. I could then add my oval stenciled layer (you can create a simple oval stencil with paper and an oval die).  By drying the the oxide inks, you set the 1st layer and when you add your second layer you see first image peek through as a soft fade.  You need to use a lighter colored ink on top.

After the oval was dry (with the help of a heat-gun) I replaced the stencil masking off the top area.  I used clear pigment ink  with embossing powder to create the sandy beach.

I used the sentiment from the Perfectly Blended stamp set and added it to the card front just above the crabby blue crab, using  adhesive foam squares on both.  

Here are the products I use to create my card:

Drop It Stencil   6" x 6" stencil

Perfectly Blended   4"x 6" stamp set

 Caffeinated Crab  2" x 3" stamp set

I hope this inspires you to try a new stamp and color technique. Remember it does not have to be alcohol markers (that is my preference),  you can use any type of coloring medium such as colored pencils, watercolors, and other types of pigments to color your image.

Thank you so much for stopping by the blog!

Be Creative ~ Stay Inspired

Jenn Gross

@journeycoachjenn

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