Sunday, June 15, 2008

Hey Olive!


I have had a request from Olive in Springfield on how to use Lyra crayons.
Well Olive there are lots of techniques! A smooth watercolor paper works best for most of these tips!
1.If you simply scribble them (hard) onto any watercolor paper and spritz them with water they blend beautifully.
2. you can use a damp paintbrush or waterbrush and pickup color directly from the crayon or scribble the crayons onto any heavy paper or cardboard like those old fashion kids paint & color books then pick up the color from the surface of the board.
In altered books I put a palette of the crayons on the back cover then when I am done just blend the leftovers together.
3.You can use them to color all your stamps. Apply the crayons (dry )to a dry rubber stamp. Lightly spritz them with water just a couple of mists should do,then apply to any uncoated paper.Try several colors together. Remember the crayons work best when the stamp is dry but do not clean it just blot off the wetness when reapplying colors.If you have shadow or palette stamps use these stamps to create your own rainbow stamp pads by putting bands of color together then lightly spray with water.This will create a surface to pick up color with stamp designs or sponges!
4. Use the crayons dry like you would any crayons. they work exceptionally well on canvas board and gessoed surfaces.
5. Use these crayons to emboss solid areas or words by applying the crayons heavily then use a heatgun to melt the waxand immediately pour on clear embossing powder and reheat. It takes a bit of practice but well worth the effort.
I am sure you will come up with a few ideas yourself and if you get stuck for inspriration my book Greeting Card Magic( see the Amazon Link) has many of these techniques with step by step photos.

2 comments:

helen said...

Darn Mary Jo I thought I was flagging your blog for my home page!!! Not Content!
And now kutz that I am, could you show the Copic marker tricks you use?
I'll stop before I do something dangerous.
Helen in New Mexico

Marva Plummer-Bruno said...

Oh how cool! Now I'm going to have to buy some! :) Marva