MM Black Magic Tutorial

Hello everyone, today I am going to show you how to do a fabulous technique....Black Magic, I was surprised when I used this technique on a card, how many people said they had never heard of it....well..today we are going to discover how it is done - move over David Copperfield!! LOL!

You are going to need:

*  A Silhoutte Stamp (Upsy Daisy is perfect for this)
*  A White Ink Pad
*  Watercolor pencils
*  Black or dark card stock
* Heat tool or hair dryer - optional

The first step is to stamp a copy of the image, as you can see I have used SU Whisper White Craft Ink, this is a very wet ink and you will need to dry it, either by a heat tool or leaving it to dry naturally - I cannot stress enough how important this is for a successful finish.  You may want to stamp two or three images at this time, just incase you are not happy with the way it goes when you first start - saves time and keeps the frustration level LOW - and we all need that!  You can click on any of the photos for a more detailed look.

Now you need to choose the colours you are going to use - I have used three colours going from lighter to darker.... we are going to apply the first colour, the lightest.  This does not have to be precision as you are building your layers of colour and can always adapt as you go!!  It does need to be Water Colour Pencils as these are soft, normal colouring pencils are too hard and the effect will not be the same AT ALL!!

It is time for the next layer, a darker share BUT not the darkest....over the lighter shade but NOT all the way to the edges of it.  The end result should be going from lighter on the outside to darker in the middle - just the way it is in when you look at a flower!  You can see how it works in the photo below.  I am showing you the colour of the pencils I am using with each photo, to give you an idea of the progression in the depth of colour each time - I hope this helps with your choices!

Finally the third colour - this one adds a lot more definition - I would advise that less is more - it is easier to add more colour than to try and remove it IF we get carried away and I am speaking from experience with that! LOL!

So there you have your three colours and now we are going to add a little bit of colour on the stems and leaves, just a little bit though.  You can leave these white and that looks fine too, but the added colour just brings that much more warmth - these touches make the difference for me as I create, it takes it that much further.

Okay - it is looking good now and this is where I really add those final touches...a little bit of dark green along the very edges of the stems, just to add a bit of depth and a TINY bit of black in the very center of the daisies, this part is optional, but I assure you that it makes a difference to the finished product!!

As you can see, this is not hard at all, infact the whole process probably took me 20 minutes all up and I have only used this technique about 4 times, it was taught to me by my friend, mentor and SU Demonstrator Ann.  It is so effective and makes a card quite dramatic.  I have made a card for this weeks challenge with this image, you will find it linked to the challenge but I will give you a SNEAK PEEK here:

Thank you for taking the time to look - I would love to see you give it a try.  It was so exciting for me to be looking through the Challenge cards after the Chalking Tutorial and see that some of you had tried the technique - and how beautifully you had done it.  Infact when I came across the first person that had tried in I yelled in delight and my poor DH nearly lept out of the chair with fright...I will warn him this time!.  This technique is just as easy - if not easier...so get out those Water Colour Pencils and  give it a try, we would love to see what you do - please drop iback in and show  me as well!!

Thank you MMSC DT for  this opportunity, it is both a privilege and a pleasure - I have discovered that after doing my first tutorial, I LOVE doing them - something else to get addicted to -does that 'skeer' you.....I am on the look out for more subject matter, please feel free to let me know if you find something that I can get my fingers inky with!!   Happy stamping and see you back here soon!  God bless you!