A Spring Card and Coloring on the Go

Hi everyone!

I have a card to share today that goes back to my roots as a stamper.  I used watercolor pencils and a blender pen!  I'm using some Cougar white cardstock and the colors show up vividly and blend beautifully.  And they are so easy to use! Here's my card...

I used a sweet Flourishes stamp (retired) that I've had for a number of years as well as a little sentiment that came as a thank you gift in a Verve order.  The patterned paper is from Gina K Designs.

Challenges:

Come and Get It - Things with Wings

Retro Rubber - Anything Goes

Word Art Wednesday - Anything Goes

Paper Play Sketches - Sketch

Over Christmas I bought a small set of Faber Castell Polychromos Colored Pencils to try.  I wanted a pencil that sharpened to a point and didn't break, yet was still creamy.  I had this ideal pencil in my head and was trying to find it.  Unfortunately the FC pencils weren't quite it.  They were too big for my hand - they just weren't that pencil I was looking for.  Then a week or so ago I grabbed one of my Staedtler Karat Aquarelle watercolor pencils, that I've had for probably 20 years, to add some shading over a marker and it hit me.  Those were the pencils I was looking for!  My watercolor pencils sort of went by the wayside when copies came on the stage, and I could never find a paper that I really liked to use them on.  But the cardstock I have now is perfect and my pencils are going to see a lot of use in the future. 

I thought it would be fun to make a travel set to take with me when I am out and about this summer.  I spend a lot of time traveling here and there with my husband and might spend a couple of hours a week waiting in the car while he does this or that.  This will be the perfect way to get some images colored for cards while I'm out!

Here is the bag I found...

Kipling Kay Pencil Case

I linked to it on Amazon, but I got mine at TJMaxx for about $12.00.  This case holds about 36 pencils or so - stuffing it full.  Kipling has 100 pen cases, too.  I think I might ask for one of those for my birthday! Oh, and that little ape?  It the Kipling Trademark, I guess.  It comes on all the cases I saw. :)

Here's my set up...

I have --

...A little clipboard with a few pieces of patterned paper to help me choose colors.

...A stack of images stamped on 5 1/2" x 4 1/4" pieces of cardstock in VersaFine Black ink so I can use the blender pen and it won't smear.  I put these in a ziplock bag to take them along.  I have lots of different styles, from cute to fancy and big to small.  That way I can color whatever strikes my fancy at the moment.

...An assortment of watercolor pencils -- mostly old style Staedtler Karat Aquarelle with a few Prismacolor Watercolor pencils thrown in -- in my Kipling bag.  You can't really see it in the picture, but the bag has two pockets on the left, so I have two layers of colored pencils in there.  Here's an Amazon link to the new style of Karat Aquarelle pencils.  The old style is really hard to find now!
...A color swatch sheet of the pencils I have with me.
...A Marvy LePlume II blender pen which I love.  It has a brush tip that reminds me of a Copic sketch marker.  Not sure how long it will work til it dries out, so I've linked a set of 6.

So there you have it!  I am looking forward to many hours of happy coloring!! : )