Using the Northern Lights Kits with Lisa Spangler

Hello! It's Lisa Spangler here, and today I'm sharing a watercolor pencil technique that's so easy to do and gives you nifty results. I'll be using the "Northern Lights" Merry digital stamps, but this technique works with regular stamps, as well.

I started out by opening Photoshop and sizing my document to 4" x 5.25". Next, I chose a light peachy pink color and "stamped" the joy. You'll want to use a light color for this technique that goes with your project. I printed it out on watercolor paper, but a thick cardstock will work, too.

If you're using traditional stamps for this, look for bold stamps and use a light colored ink or do a second generation stamping—that's where you ink up your stamp, stamp it off on scratch paper, and then without reinking, stamp it on your project.

I was going for an ombre effect here, so I started out by coloring over the printed image with a light pink.

Next, I added the middle color, allowing some of this lightish red to fade into the light pink. Once that was done I went in and colored the bottom portion of the joy with a dark red.

Now for the fun part! Grab a brush and get it nice and wet, then tap a little off on a paper towel. You'll want it to be fairly wet but not dripping wet. You can use a water brush for this technique, too.

Then, starting at the lightest pink color at the top and working your way down, go over your coloring to blend it in. It's like magic! The key here is to start with the lightest color and work away from it. This will preserve the lights so that the dark color doesn't blend in and overpower it.

To finish up the card, I printed out two holly leaves from the "Northern Lights" Merry digital stamp set on watercolor paper. This time, I just added a line down the middle with a green watercolor pencil to give some interest. Then I adhered them to the card with foam tape.

I couldn't stop there! I had to make an envelope liner using some of the paper from the "Northern Lights" 4x6 paper pad. And that was that!

I wanted to wish each of you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Thank you so much for joining me and for all your kind comments over the years. They really do mean so much.

xo, Lisa