See how using colored pencils on gray paper to color in images can create the most beautiful effect!

We’ve seen colored pencils on colored paper before, like here and here, and the look is just so pretty. Today Julie has taken that technique and used on on a soft shade of gray and we just can’t get over how ethereal and magical the effect is. The flowers appear as if they are emerging from the softest fog and popping one up over the layers pulls you right in. The fact that is is an easy look to achieve is a bonus! Let’s take a closer look.

Julie started by cutting her gray card stock using the second largest die from our Mini Slimline Nested die set. Julie says “By coincidence, this die is just the right size for a layer for an A2 card.” She then used her stamp positioner to stamp the flowers from our Warm Sunset stamp set, using the included mask to create a layered look. While she was at it, she stamped the large flower onto a scrap of lighter gray card stock.

For her magical colored in look, Julie used her Prismacolor pencils to color in her flowers. Here’s a photo where she’s listed the colors she used, in order from left to right.

Julie goes on to say “The pencils to the right of the white pencil are the ones I used on the single flower. The others were used on the flowers on the grey background. Those colors were too peachy to match when I colored in the single flower on the very light grey paper. Colors usually look totally different depending on what color you use for your background. For the bright white edges of the petals, I used the white gel pen & immediately softened it a bit w/ a water brush. The gel ink is pretty much water soluble (until it dries) & I wanted it to look a little softer & blend in more.”

Wow – a mini art class! Thank you for the tips, Julie!

After coloring her flower on the lighter gray card stock, Julie cut it out with our coordinating die and adhered them together using some foam tape for layered dimension. For her tag, Julie used the smallest tag from our Holiday Tags die to cut a piece of white card stock. She then moved the die up over the card stock a bit to recut the piece to make it shorter and then repeated that maneuver on both sides to make it narrower. She stamped her sentiment with Versaclair ink and heat embossed it with clear powder.

Julie cut more of the lighter gray card stock and some pink card stock with the same die from the Mini Slimline set and layered them onto her card front as shown. Before adhering her stamped and colored darker gray panel, she tied a length of pink ribbon around it and tied on her little tag. 

To elevate that single flower, Julie used the large flower die to cut a piece of white fun foam and adhered her flower to the top, popping it onto her card with glue dots.

That beautiful coloring with those soft pencils over the gray make this look so velvety and beautiful!