Two-step pastels

I don't know about you, but it's been quite a while since I've used my pastels. Once a staple of my stampin' repetoire, newer toys have taken the place of these oldie but goody. This week, I dug back through past convention notes and found this gem of a technique -- two-step pastels. It made me remember why pastels are a must for every stamper.

To get this look, apply a light color of pastels (I used Cameo Coral) to your dauber and rub it directly onto the card stock.
Ink your stamp using VersaMark and stamp image directly onto the pasteled area. Apply your color using a dauber. (Here, the solid part of the flowers are also done in Cameo Coral.) I took it one step further and did 3-step pastels. I stamped the detail stamps in VersaMark and then used a dauber to apply Ruby Red pastels.

And if you're wondering...this card is Ruby Red, Cameo Coral and So Saffron. The ribbon is the 5/8" So Saffron grosgrain that's part of SAB. If you look closely, you'll also see some dry embossing on the Cameo Coral portion of the card -- gotta' love the Big Shot and the Texturz Stampin' Up! backgrounds!