Pastel Challenge by Judi Kauffman

Judi Kauffman is back with another guest designer project. She gave herself an interesting challenge – using soft colors that are not what she usually chooses.

That’s right, Joset. I decided to limit myself to pastels, rarely the palette I pick. And instead of my favorite black outline peel-offs I used gold, another way to dial things down a notch.

Sticking to the parameters I set for myself wasn’t easy! I couldn’t resist sneaking in a sliver of Dark Pink Iris Shimmer Sheetz and some Pink/Silver Glitter Dots for one of the Flower Circle Happy Birthday cards. And even though I picked the lightest pens I own for the shades of purple and yellow, blue and green, I found myself adding an almost-bright bubblegum pink. The result is definitely offbeat, not at all what I tried to do! I guess it shouldn’t surprise me that if I like quirky combinations when I’m using exclusively bright colors the same would be true with pastels.

Instead of step-by-step instructions, I’m going to simply offer guidelines, my design strategies.
This way, ANY outline peel-offs can be used for the same kind of cards.

*Give yourself a challenge! Pick a palette of pens that is not your usual go-to assortment.
(If you usually use pastels, go for the bright end of the spectrum.)

*Put outline peel-offs onto smooth white cardstock or watercolor paper.

*Use the extras from your peel-off sheet(s) in unexpected ways. Example: The Flower Cuties “scenes” on my cards have little butterflies and flower clusters made from leftover pieces
(leaves that were intended for layering, thin lines from daffodil stems, water droplets).

*Experiment with the pens on a scrap of white cardstock or watercolor paper before working on your project. Give yourself some time to decide which pens look good together, trust your eye.

*Color inside the lines. Use flat colors the way I did, or do some blending. Another option: Go for Silk Microfine Glitter in Warm or Cool Diamond and color or blend on top of the sparkling surface. (See Els van de Burgt’s YouTube video for a tutorial on the glitter technique)

*Cut around the peel-offs as shown or as you prefer (close to the outline for the circles, leaving a rectangle for the “scenes”).

*Layer onto plain cardstock or a mix of plain cardstock and embossed and sanded Shimmer Sheetz. Use foam squares for dimension (as shown), or keep the cards flat. Allow the card sizes to vary or stick to standard sizes. Four of the six cards shown are standard A2 (4.25” x 5.5”). The Flower Cutie with watering can is 4.5” x 6.25”, the Flower Circle is 5” x 6”.

*Add gold peel-off greetings or die cut greetings in a coordinating color. (Tip: Velvet Adhesive Sheets work well for die cut greetings)

SUPPLIES

Elizabeth Craft Designs –

2566 Flower Cuties 1 Peel-offs in Gold

2530 Flower Circle Frames Peel-offs in Gold

7018 Glitter Dots Peel-offs in Pink/Silver

390 Happy Birthday Peel-offs in Gold

Double-sided Adhesive Sheets

Shimmer Sheetz in Purple, Green, Yellow, and Pink Iridescent

Letraset – ProMarkers

WorldWin Papers – ColorMates Smooth & Silky 90# cardstock in White

Fiskars – Micro Tip Scissors

Other – For layering and card bases, 3-5 colors of cardstock to coordinate with the pens used for coloring (any manufacturer); foam dots, squares or tape (any manufacturer)