Magic Colored Pencil / Gamsol Magic Technique

I have had some questions regarding this technique. Here are some links to explain it more:

Debbie Gimbel's Tutorial at " A Lifetime of Color"

Gina K Designs Blog - Prismacolor Pencil Tutorial - love this one - simple and clean

Gina K Video Tutorial - Wonderful!

Inky Antics - where you can find all your supplies! On front page there is a tutorial link in PDF format

Anna Wright's blog - I love this image and the shading! Her stamp designs are awesome!

Where the fascination all started for me at Splitcoast Stampers:

Splitcoast Stampers: Gamsol Magic


Notes from me: ( BEWARE my personal opinion and a bit of rambling - don't read further if you don't want to LOL!) - for the people who are very interested or have tried this technique.

-I bought my supplies in Canada and I am using Odorless Paint Thinner from an online art supplies store. A less toxic alternative is Zest-It, you can use rubbing alcohol/surgical spirits ( I tried it and my paper began ripping! but it did blend) or baby oil ( good when you are working on an area with a good lay-down of color, you must be careful in white/open areas - you can get oily spots). I am pretty sure I am using the "wrong" made in China stumps. They are working for me. In the future, I will try the Made in Taiwan stumps and see if they blend better.

-just about any waxy/or oil based pencil will work, the OMS breaks down the wax/oil to move the pigment around (NOT WATERCOLOR or AQUARELLE pencils). I shelled out for the 48 Prismacolor Premier Artist-grade pencil set - they are good but are soft and you must be very careful with sharpening - they break easily. THE SCOOP! I already had a 60 set of the Berol Prismacolor Scholar grade pencils ( Canada - less than $25 at Walmart or Staples) and the pencils and numbers pretty much coincide with their more expensive siblings! ($56 CAD for my 48) I tested the colors and blending.... almost identical! ( OK red was less intense - but not horribly so - I tend to blend several colors together and after this I found no real noticable difference) AND they didn't break nearly so much when sharpening - ok I don't remember them breaking LOL. ANOTHER SCOOP! If you are in Canada, we have a brand called Laurentien that is the brand we all bought in grade school to color with. I found my son's remnants from a 60 set we purchased, and I found they were also good and had great colors to supplement my stash like Kahki, Raspberry ( very vibrant) and some nice reds ( cherry red and crimson - very vibrant) and blues ( great variety). I have priced the 60 Laurentien set and it is well under $14 CAD! My personal opinion? I would have just bought a Laurentien Set ( great well rounded choice of colors) or a Prismacolor Scholar Set ( if I wanted the same colors as the expensive ones). Guess what? They are both made by Sanford! (company that makes the Prismacolor Premier) I have added a quick scan of a comparison in the reds ( the laurentien also has a crimson red but much darker).

Poor Fred needs a new counter... wahhhh

For the past few days, I have noticed an error on my visitor counter. I may have to get a new one - any recommendations? LOL. I think the counter was just a hair over 31, 500 the morning it died. That is amazing! :)) Have a great day all!

EDIT: I subscribed to a new counter service and started it at 31,500. I hope that is kosher LOL!

Magic Colored Pencil & New Designs

Fred is happy! Fred will have new rubber designs available soon. Here is a one of the designs ( printed but same size ). I will show the sheet soon ;)

Did you know that you can colour inkjet prints with colored pencils and odorless mineral spirits - and the inkjet print will not smear! heehee.

The blossom, oval and spikey oval are all black and white and colored with the Gamsol Magic or Magic Colored Pencil technique, the purple and beige oval and backgrounds are digital and printed. I love the prismacolor pencils and OMS... they are so vibrant in RL and create a nice sheen against the matte CS ( you blend the pencil with blending stumps dipped in OMS). I also moulded the petals and leaves for a more 3d effect. The white and pink dots are Sakura Souffle Pens.

Yes, I know

...the New Year has begun.... where is Fred? My husband's parents BOTH ended up in the hospital, and my SIL's (boss) husband's father passed away. It has been a stressful time and is still ongoing. I had to run the outdoor ed kitchen for my SIL ( sink or swim - but she left me good "notes"LOL!) last week while her family was away and preparing for a funeral. I am currently trying to create designs for stamping ( and dealing with artist's block LOL) but I hope to be back to blogging soon.

Sweet Colleen

Back in the summer I was asked to take photos of a lovely Golden Lab named Colleen. Colleen was up there in years and the pet's family feared they wouldn't have her much longer. They tried to get professional portraits done but Colleen would get completely stressed out on the ride to the photographer. So I took photos at the front of their home.... over 200! I got a little trigger happy... but she is a beautiful dog and I wanted to make sure I got a special shot. Colleen passed away recently, I was commissioned to make this portrait as a Christmas gift to them. I tried to capture her spirit, soft and lovely...just like Colleen.