It's a WAITING GAME......

I thought I would download a couple of more Black Magic with a White Twist cards since I just did the tutorial for them before this entry....just to show a couple of different things you can do with that technique. I was frustrated with the detail on the first card here....but overall when I got it done I liked it okay. :) I call Black Magic with a White Twist my "have faith" technique, cuz you work on it all the way through thinking, "Man THIS doesn't look like much....." and then when you add the white gel pen it sort of jumps off the page.....and says, "Well what do you think of me NOW???" Life is like that, so many times it's a waiting game. Seems like we are always waiting for something. Sometimes I listen to people and they seem to always want it to be Friday....so they can get to the weekend. It's kinda weird because Monday and Tuesday and Wednesday and Thursday all have something to offer too, but ever find yourself just waiting for them to be over, cuz Friday's comin'?? Isn't that WEIRD when you actually think about it- that's our LIFE we are wishing away......I guess the older I get the more I realize I want to embrace EVERY day, not just the weekends!! How did I get from Black Magic to waiting patiently?? Oh yes, waiting for the card to look good.....it's a work in progress just like us. I think a lot of times we think, "If I just get the right job", or if "I just lose some weight", or WHATEVER.....but it's cool to think God Loves us just the way we are.......and when we mess up HE is right there to forgive us and take us back again. HE knows we are a work in progress too, HE sees us whole, not all broken like we see ourselves. HE is just working away on us, chipping off the rough edges and smoothing us off.....making us soft and pliable....and someday, though we may not look so perfect now, HE will look at us and say, "Wow - I'm glad I stuck with that project"... ever see that little kids t-shirt that says, Be Patient, God isn't finished with me yet" - That's how I sometimes feel. Anyway, when you work with this technique try to hang in there till the end of your card because it will not look pretty when you first start. And remember, whatever you are waiting for in life is probably worth waiting for, but enjoy the journey too. I think the only thing harder then waiting for something is watching your children wait for something that they really really want. One of my children is going thru something like this now, and it breaks my heart. I wish with all my heart I could just give my child what she wants....but God is in control and so we wait. I have faith that in the end what she wants is going to come to pass, and what a day of rejoicing that will be.....but until then, we wait, we cry sometimes, and we trust in a loving God who sees the whole picture and says, "Wait my child, wait". And in the meantime, we are enjoying the journey. Have a blessed week, and remember that God sees you as perfect and loves you just the way you are. Happy Stamping until next time......

TUTORIAL - FINALLY- BLACK MAGIC WITH A WHITE TWIST!!

Happy Mother's Day everyone!! Here with my very first tutorial....I am kind of hopeful because I have gotten this far,,,a tutorial on this blog has to be built from the last part to the first part so I am almost done here!! If it just loads without wiping anything out I am going to do the dance of JOY! So here is the completed card you are going for....or at least here is the completed card that has the strip of Black Magic with a White Twist which is the technique you want to learn to do....I DO love this technique.....and I hope you have as much fun with it as I do! Gee, I am even blabby in tutorials.....anyway - here we go.........

Choose a solid image stamp and stamp it on dark cardstock with white craft ink. You can use black, brown, grey, or any other color. Way back in my blog I even experimented with some lighter colors like River Rock and that was also very striking! The technique is called Black Magic but you can really experiment and use it on any color cardstock - brown is one of my very favorites to use!! Once you start with this technique it gets kind of addicting and you find yourself buying all kinds of solid stamp images. Way back in my blog I even experimented with some outline stamps- it works if the image is more solid then not - like on the old Floral background stamp - I have one with that stamp way way back on my blog.....take a journey- you will see Black Magic all the way through my blog. I can only go so long without creating a new one - I just LOVE this technique!

Use your heat tool to dry your white craft ink stamped image - or you can let it sit out long enough to dry but it's much quicker with your heat tool!

See I have chosen two colors for each flower or leave. Make sure they are sharply contrasting. That is what makes the shading so dramatic and the colors pop is starting out with very pale pink and shading with red! Starting out with such a pale blue it's almost white and then shading with a bold, bright blue, and then using two very colors of green, one is a spring green that is bright and I used a hunter green to shade. If the colors are too close, you will not get the great contrast and shading that makes the Black Magic Technique so effective!! Experiment with your colored pencils. Make sure you are using a pigment pencil, like pure colored pencils or those other famous ones that artists use - I forget the name right now but make sure they are PIGMENT pencils! Do not be afraid to bear down when applying color- that's how you get it to POP by really bearing down.
You start by applying the colored pencils in a very light shade solidly to your entire image. You can see if you stopped here it's pretty bland...but that's where you start and then you build color on color- you can see in the leaves on the right that I started out with the light shade of green and then used a darker color of green to shade the leaves. See how they pop when you shade them? But you have to start with that very pale shade and then build onto it.

Here is how it looks after you have shaded - you can see the flowers on the left have NOT been shaded, (the blue ones I mean) and the flowers on the right have been shaded -this step is crucial to making the colors come alive - Note how the leaves pop after the second shade of green is added for accent - and don't forget to leave enough of your original color on there so that the contrast is evident. (don't get carried away with the second shade because it looks so much prettier because part of why it looks so much prettier is the contrast between the first layer of color and the second!! Control yourself with the shading and you will be so much happier with the final result of your masterpiece - it's just so pretty that writing about it makes me wanna go make another one!! You will love this technique once you get going with it - Trust me!!

After you have finished applying both the base layer of lighter colored pencil and then shaded with a darker shade of similar color, then you are ready to apply the white gel pen which will make your images POP!! This is the part I thought of on my own, (proud moment here) I always loved the Black Magic technique but sometimes it just looked DULL to me when I was finished and like it blended into the background too much. So I played around with a white gel pen, added a bit here and there and that is when I fell in LOVE with this technique - with the white gel on top for POP!! Try it - you will see what I mean - I call them my have faith cards, because all the way thru they look dull and boring and then POP! As soon as you add the white - they come to life and sing you a song!!

This background is just the small flower stamp from Simple Friendship repeated over and over and over and over.....I used the eyelet punch to make a lacey border, I paper pierced along the border of the main panel, I embossed Happy Mother's Day on the center of the card, and added a one hole bow with that yummy white satin ribbon in the spring mini catalog.....(which incidentally can be dyed to any color in our entire spectrum of gorgeous colors with just a sponge dauber and a well inked pad!!

So here you have it - the final card!! Once you start playing with this technique I promise you you will not be able to STOP!! It's one of my favorite things to do, and I can only go so long before I just have to come up with another Black Magic with a White Twist card! If you wander way back in my blog you will see gobs of samples using it, and there are lots on my SCS gallery too! I hope you have as much fun playing with this technique as I do!! Go make one now!! :O) Before you forget how!! I can't believe I finally got through my first tutorial!! Happy Stamping everyone!!