Mother's Day Collection

Today I am bringing you Mother's Day cards I made this weekend. What I'm most excited about is the coloring on my flowers. A few weeks ago I attended a scrapbook expo and was introduced to Dove blending pens. I thought, "What a great new tool!" to only learn the next day, they have been around probably longer than I have been papercrafting! I'm not very good at using Copic markers, so though the blending pen would be my answer. 

However, I found I have much the same problem with Copic markers as I do with the blending pen - I have always used hard pressure when writing....and I've just had so much difficulty using a lighter touch needed with Copics. My most-used markers have nibs that are all feathered...and replacing nibs can be expensive. I also haven't had a lot of luck filling Copics and replacing nibs....pens just don't seem to work the same.

So I came home from the expo with three new blending pens in hand....and a container of nibs (knowing myself). It probably wasn't a half hour before I was dissatisfied with the pen's nib...so once again on the search for something different. I think I may have found my answer today.

I purchased three cheap water pens commonly used with water colors. At Hobby Lobby, the Art Department have three aqua pens for just about the same price as one in the Papercrafting Department - and each has a different-sized brush. I made a batch of the refill for the Dove pens (given at the end of this post) and filled the aqua pens the solution. All the flowers and shading on the cards below were colored with Memento Ink Pads and the aqua pens. 

I would squeeze the aqua pen to get the brush nice and damp - then dab at the ink pad and paint until I got the color I wanted. I'm very pleased with my results...no nibs to replace - and short of losing the aqua pens, they literally should last forever. Oh, another plus? No need to always have to replace the cap - very difficult task at my age! LOL!

So enjoy today's samples and we'll see you right back here tomorrow.

"Recipe" for blending solution:

   1 oz. Glycerine

   2 oz. Distilled Water

   3/4 teaspoon Rubbing Alcohol