Creating Dramatic Layers Of Color on Dark Cardstock

Do you ever wonder how to obtain vibrant and saturated colors when coloring on dark cardstock? I did too. You’ll be surprised at the answer because it is so easy! I used the Poinsettia stamp set to create this dramatic Christmas card and simple blends of colored pencils and absolutely love how it came out. I hope you give this card a try!

Isn’t this Poinsettia absolutely gorgeous? I love traditional Christmas cards and decorations, which translates to me as rich burgundy, hunter green and gold, so that was my inspiration for this project. I wanted the colors to pop off of dark cardstock so it was only natural to add layers of colored pencils on top of a white underlay. I started off by stamping and embossing the Poinsettia with Embossing Ink and fine detail gold powder. I followed that by coloring the image with a white colored pencil and then added the colors.

For the petals I chose a combination of a maroon pencil, a tomato red, and a vibrant pink to create the the vibrant colors. For the leaves I layered navy, a jade green, and a turquoise pencil over the white creating the multizonal foliage. To make the flowers more dramatic I added hints of navy to them to create the cast shadow the three dimensional effect. Be sure to check out the video to see the process.

I used the same egg plant cardstock to create the front card panel and card base, but added more dimension by blending Sugar Plum Color Hive ink along the edges to create a vignette. I just love how the gold and purples make the floral pop. I also stamped a greeting on the inside of the card to finish it off!