Hello, I hope you are doing well! This card is a special card as I made this card for my niece who turns three today. I don’t usually make stamped cards for children, but I want to challenge myself, to see if I could make a card for a child within my style. As soon as I saw this little elephant from Avery Elle I knew I could! I’m not an expert when it comes to pencil colouring and I still learning a lot. I tried out a different paper for today’s card. It is the Faber Castell sketch pad which says it is ideal for graphite, coloured and watercoloured pencils.
When colouring with pencils you need some tooth to the paper in order to be able to lay colour down, for the paper to grip the pencil and then to add layers and blend colours. Therefore, a smooth paper or card will not work. My first attempt at this card….was awful. I was using the wrong card, it is poor quality to use for pencil colouring.
I immediately swapped to this paper and the difference was amazing. However, all though it was good, I got more texture showing through then I would like, so I think I will be experimenting a little more to find my perfect paper for pencil colouring. Though this will certainly do for the mean time.
Faber castell sketch papd paper card details
To start off, as this ended up being no line colouring, stamp the elephant in a soft grey ink onto a trimmed down piece of Faber Castell Sketch pad paper. Using a selection of polychromos greys (see below for colours), start to colour the elephant in.
Start off with the darkest colour and add a small amount to the cast shadow areas – around the chin, the base of the elephant, to the left side as I imagined my light source was over on the right. Next mover to a medium grey, going over the darker area and building the colour outwards. Next, using your lightest grey, add colour over where the medium grey lies and build inwards to the rest of the elephant. Leave a highlight area white or using a white pencil to add the highlights. Repeat this process, starting off with the darkest colour until you have a nice smooth blend. Repeat this with the balloon.
For the background, mask off the elephant and balloon, and using the Itsy Bitsy stamp from Concord and 9th, stamp and heat emboss 4 four times, rotating the stamp as you go. Add a stamped sentiment in black and mount onto a black card base with an 1/4″ border.
Faber castell sketch pad paper card details



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Materials used for Faber castell sketch pad paper card*:
- Ellie – St-15-09: Avery Elle
- Bitty Burst Turnabout: Concord & 9th
- Pure Platinum, Metallic Gold Rich Pale and Silver WOW! Embossing powder.
TO SEE ANOTHER project like this, CHECK OUT THIS POST HERE.
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Till next time,

*this post was NOT sponsored, requested, or paid for; I have written it because I wanted to. The information provided is based on my own personal experience. I’m not an expert and I don’t work for these companies.