Shimmerz Highlights!

When I color any kind of image, I usually look for a light and dark compliment to color different parts of my image. With Shimmerz though, you can layer on lighter colors to add highlights and darker colors to add subtle shading. When you color your image with a base color and then add a darker or lighter color when the paint is still wet, it naturally blends together to perfection - no lines! Want to see what I mean? Here's a mini tutorial!

When I saw the fabulous new colors of Shimmerz for fall I knew I had the perfect stamp just waiting for the shimmzperation to use it! (Sorry, I couldn't resist!) I've had this berry stamp for a while now from Impression Obsession and it never saw an ounce of ink!

I started by inking up the stamp with Versafine Black Onyx ink and then heat setting it. I then outlined the entire left side of my image with a soft tan marker (Tombow) and painted the berries with Rustic Red Shimmerz.

Here's where you kind of have to act fast. Because Shimmerz dries somewhat quickly, I added a dot of the Beeswax to the areas that I wanted to highlight. Remember-- just a dot is all you need! I colored the leaves by coloring the body of the leaf with Sagebrush and then, before it was dry, I added just shadows of Evergreen to give the leaf some dimension.

You can see what I mean in the finished piece!

Want another fun tip? You know those Colorbox applicators that are used for applying ink to our paper? Well, dip these applicators in your Shimmerz and edge your paper to give it a little extra sparkle!
Here's what the finished product looks like!
After I finished my Shimmerzed elements, I matted my berries onto some green cardstock, did some paper piercing, edged pieces of my paper with some Distress Ink (Antique Linen), added a background stamp to my main card mat, added a sentiment, a little hardware and ribbon and done!

Here's a close up of the berries and leaves dressed in Shimmerz! Gotta love that sparkle!
I love the depth of color of these paints. They are so versatile. Paint then on a piece you already colored for a little sparkly pop, paint them on the stamps themselves, or, in this case, use the paint to bring out the best in your stamped creations!