This week the team is focusing on four of the new stamp sets, four of the new dies, the new ink pads, and the Let's Polka in the Dark paper collection. The subject of today's post? The adorable Booya stamp set!
I will have two layouts to share later in this Inspiration Week, but I also jumped in and made several cards this round! Lawn Fawn sends their design team so much awesome product to work with, and I wanted to make sure I showcased each stamp set somehow, even if I didn't have photos that would coordinate with it on a layout.
Ever since switching to 8.5x11 layouts I've found cards easier to design, and I'm definitely still a clean and simple crafter on either type of project! For this card I stamped the three ghosts and a few accessories from the Booya set onto some Strathmore Bristol paper, then colored them with my Zig Clean Color markers before cutting them out with the coordinating die set.
Oh, and a quick tip on cutting apart die new die sets, especially ones with lots of little parts- go to Harbor Freight and get a set of these 5 inch Micro Flush Cutters. They're only $3.99, which is a lot less expensive than the snips that are specifically marketed for crafting. They are a lifesaver for sets where there are little bitty nested pieces that have to be separated!
Before making this card I'd been using watercolor paper with these pens, but, after watching one of Catherine Pooler's videos and seeing how well the Bristol paper worked for her, I decided to give it a try. Both the Bristol and the watercolor paper react differently (of course!), and this is what I found in my (non-artist-trained) experimentation:
Watercolor Paper - Watercolor paper is perfect when you want to use the Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers along with a waterbrush or a wet paintbrush. My go-to is to lay down color with the Zig pen in the areas that I want it to be darkest, then use the waterbrush to blend it out until it fills the rest of the area. The color lifts easily when water is applied. Watercolor paper often has a heavy texture that may not look great against some card backgrounds, though, which is the biggest reason I chose not to use it here.
Bristol Paper - Bristol paper is a drawing paper that is usually reserved for dry mediums or markers. The color goes on very smoothly and blends well straight out of the marker, but it doesn't really lift out of the paper and move when water is applied. I'll be using Bristol paper when I want to do marker blending without water (that is, using two or more shades of Zig markers to get a Copic-like effect). Bristol paper has a very smooth surface and looks great against my Neenah Solar White card background.
Speaking of Copics, I have to warn you that the Zig Clean Color markers have been a gateway drug for me. I never really got into Copics before I bought the Zig pens, but I just bought my first set and love them!
All of the images and the sentiment on this card were stamped with Versafine Onyx Black and then covered with clear embossing powder and heat-set. This is definitely one of my favorite ways to stamp for watercoloring since the slightly raised edge of the embossing powder helps keep me inside the lines, and I love the raised effect that it gives to sentiments.
The Lawn Fawn team has put together a whole post full of awesome projects featuring this stamp set, so be sure to hop on over to the Lawn Fawn blog to see what they have in store for you!
Thanks so much for stopping by- I hope you have an awesome day!
If you are interested in the products that I used in this post, you'll find them linked up below. I do participate in affiliate programs and use those links where possible. If you make a purchase after clicking on one of these links I do earn a small commission, but it doesn't cost you anything extra. Some product that I use is provided to me in exchange for design work, and some of it I purchase. I will point out product that was provided to me when I use it.
