This simple technique walks you through a basic whitewash technique and shows you how to color your image with Prismacolor Pencils.

• Kraft Cardstock
• Black Memento Ink Pad

• VersaMark Ink Pad

• White Embossing Powder

• Heat Tool

• Love This Stamp Set

• 3x3 Acrylic Block

• Stamp Scrubber and Cleaner

• Prismacolor Pencils (or your favorite brand of colored pencils)

• Odorless Mineral Spirits

• Blending Stumps

• Paint Brush or Water Brush

• Plastic Palette or Discarded Plastic Packaging

• Water

• Paper Towel

• White Daisy Ink Refill

Make sure you pick out a rubber stamp image that has area in it that you can color!

I used the grid on my pink mat to align my saying stamp with my image.  I stamp both images at one time!

First I am using my VersaMark Stamp Pad with my image.  After stamping I have a watermarked image on my cardstock.  Using this pad also gives me more time to apply my embossing powder as the ink takes longer to dry.

TIP:  Make sure you use the white foam (shown under the kraft cardstock) when stamping.  Clear stamps do NOT have foam included on them so put this white foam under your stamping area and it acts just like foam would act on a wood mounted stamp.  Super easy!

Pour your white embossing powder onto your VersaMark stamped images.

Emboss the powder with your craft heal tool. 

TIP:  When the image shines it is done.  You can over emboss which causes the shiny image to dull.

You can use a paint brush BEFORE you heat set to remove little flecks of emboss powder that are stubborn and want to stick to your cardstock. 

TIP:  XStatic is a product that you can purchase and white over the surface of your cardstock before you emboss.  Emboss powder will only stick on the stamped image.

It's very important to clean your clear stamps with a clear stamp formulated cleaner after you use them - I only use the CTMH cleaner with mine!  The CTMH Stamp Scrubber is also made to clean the very fine images and grooves within your clear stamps.

Here I have images stamped with black ink and images embossed with white so you can see what an amazing technique this is and really have something to compare it to!

Are you ready for some fun?  I LOVE this part!  {smiles}

I use an old plastic container that my Memento Dew Drops came in ... but you can also use a plastic palette for this.

You will definitely want CTMH's White Daisy Reinker and a paint brush or a water brush like I have shown above.

First I did a drop of reinker and then remembered ... I should ALWAYS add my water first!  WHY?  Because I always add way too much water ... as you can see above!

TIP:  If you get too much water use the tip of a paper towel to absorb what you don't need!

As soon as I pull my White Daisy over to the water it all starts mixing together.

And then you start coloring!

There is no right or wrong ... although I do try to achieve some variation in tone so that it gives my final image more depth after completely colored in (with the pencils).

The image above is done with UNdiluted White Daisy Reinker.  As you can see it goes on very much like a primer vs. a whitewash. 

I colored in this image with reinker alone and no water added.

Then I took my damp paper towel and blotted it.  You can see that it lifted the reinker.  So if you make a mistake ... it's very easy to fix!

I continued to blot this image and lift off more ink.

If you take off TOO MUCH ink ... just apply more whitewash with your brush!

Then I grabbed 2 greens, 2 blues and my white colored pencil.

First I put down a layer of my lightest green ... somewhat haphazardly as you can see!

Next I dropped in some of the darker green for my shadows.

Next I drop in my lightest blue.

And finally my darkest blue for my shadows.

Now you'll need your Odorless Mineral Spirits and your stumps.  You can pick this up at any hobby store and it comes in smaller containers also.

TIP:  All of my stumps have a color coordinated ribbon I have added to them.  I like to keep each color family to itself and this makes them super easy to find!

You'll want to saturate the end of your stump with the mineral spirits.

And then it's time to start coloring!  You can see where I started on the left, lower wing as my mineral spirits have discolored my cardstock.  Don't worry ... it will all dry vibrant and beautiful!

ABOVE:  I have blended each of the colors and will now let this dry.

Forget letting it dry ... I added white highlights instead!

Blend with the stumps and NOW let dry.  {smiles}

While the other image is drying ... let's get this one ready for color!

FIRST:  Wipe over the image with a clean paper towel.  This will remove any ink sitting on top of the embossed image.

First add your lightest green.

Now add your darkest green.

Add your lightest blue.

Now add your darkest blue.

Using your stumps and mineral spirits ... blend each color together.

TIP:  Use a clean paper towel to gently remove colored pencil from the embossed image.

Isn't this an easy technique!?!  I LOVE it!  I also used 2 colors of brown to color the body of the butterfly and that really makes the contrast pop.  Remember you can always use your black journaling pen to pull highlights, such as the black dots on the body of the butterfly.

I hope you enjoy this technique as much as I do!