Today’ we’ve got a cool new tip for how to use Color Burst powders!

Leave it to Melinda to show us a new and very fun method for how to use Color Burst powders to get even more looks using this coloring medium! Melinda created this card inspired by the mountains where she’s lived for 30 years. We all know that Melinda has a stunning garden – she talks about being inspired by her own flowers – and we can only imagine how beautiful the setting must be this time of year.

Today Melinda is using her Color Bursts powders in two different ways, one that she came up with just out of the blue. In her words “It’s fun to play with no expectations and sometimes we create something that makes us happy.” This card makes us ALL happy! Let’s dive in and learn her secret tip!

She started with two pieces of watercolor paper. She took one and, using the traditional way of activating her Color Bursts, sprinkled some green, blue and yellow powder onto her paper randomly and spritzed with water until the colors blended in a way that she liked. PRO TIP: Using a fine mist spritzer will make “smoother” blends and less fine will give you a splattered look.

Then – and here’s where an artist’s mind is so fun! – Melinda had the idea to use her large acrylic block as her surface to create a different blend. She sprinkled her block with purple, dark blue, green and yellow Color Bursts, spritzed the block and then stamped the other piece of paper with this mixture, letting the block sit for a few minutes to push the color into the paper.

You can see that there is not a huge difference between the two applications of the Color Bursts, except the one “stamped” with the acrylic block is ever so slightly more blended and the colors melt into each other a little more. The difference is subtle but makes for a lovely, ethereal airy effect, perfect for Melinda’s background.

Melinda cut her mostly-green panel with our Pine Tree Forest die and the other piece with the second from smallest of the dies in our Nested Rectangle With Pierce set.

She then used foam squares to adhere her trees to her background panel, trimming any overhang.

Now she took her white card base and using our Sun Burst stencil applied some yellow and orange shades from Color Fuse Sets #1 and #2 to create a glowing sun and then added a little of the lighter shades all over the card front for even more warmth.

And last, Melinda stamped her choice of words from our Thanks set along the left side of the trees with VersaFine Clair Nocturne ink using her stamp positioner to get everything lined up just right.