When I first started stamping, it was weeks and weeks before I even bought a ink pad, yet by the time I did order that first pad, I had loads of stamped creations all over my house. The stampin’ write markers by Stampin Up! really are one of the necessary tools of stamping. They do the job of ink pads, you can watercolour with them, use them to directly colour your rubber stamps and are just so versatile.

Did you ever see a stamped image where multiple colours have been used? It is not possible to get the colour variations with inkpads that you can with markers. The markers are dual ended, having both a ‘pen’ tip and a ‘brush’ tip. Using the brush tip, run the marker along the parts of the image you want to colour in. Try not to use the tip to colour in so it is kept nice and firm, allowing you to get into very small areas.

Use your second marker (or more!) to colour in the other areas (above). If you have spent a bit of time colouring, don’t panic that the marker will dry, just give it a little ‘huff’ to moisten the stamp. Don’t ask me to take a photo of me doing this step - eek!!

Now stamp your image. You can stamp up to 3 times to get 3 shade variations as well.

The wonderful thing about markers is that they allow you to be selective about what parts of the image you stamp. In this image I have omitted the second ‘friend’ word as I don’t think the sentiment needs it.

What if you wanted a flower to match perfectly to your marker? There are lots of ways to colour in silk flowers, using ink pads and reinkers, however if you have markers, just colour directly in to get a perfect match. Let them dry for a few minutes otherwise the colour will transfer.

And here we have a layout completed only with embellishments and flowers made using the markers.

And here is a card that was made using the same technique...

Watercolouring is another wonderful technique. Simply scribble the marker on some non absorbent surface such as plastic – I usually use the marker box - then using a blender pen or aqua painter, pick up the ink and then start colouring. Of course you can always colour in your image directly with your marker, which looks great as well.

The stamp sets used in these ideas are from the new Stampin’ Up mini catalogue which is out on the 1^st August, but I have them in my hands already! If you would love a copy or any more information, please email me on ymcampbell@bigpond.com.au or for more examples, visit my blog www.campbellcreations.net.