Guest tutorial author Ana Reese takes us through the steps for creating a vintage style card, from background to embellishments.

Inks

Stencils and stamps

Embossing powder

Embellishments

Focal piece or panel

Precision measurement plus precision cutting makes for beautiful projects with the Cut-Align™ tool from My Sweet Petunia.

View the complete product focus at Splitcoaststampers

Q: Jo wants to know: "I wanted to ask about coloring with colored pencils on stamped images. Very often, I get lines where I've stopped and started coloring, especially in larger areas. Is there a technique I can use to avoid doing this?"

A: If you're getting lines with your pencils, you might try lightening up on your pressure - the best way I've found to do that is to grip my pencil back further from the point. A friend describes light pressure as 'tickling the paper' - that helps me remember just how much pressure to use. For large areas, too, you can do a base layer with alcohol markers, and then shade with pencils over the top. There's more information about coloring techniques and pressure in the Pencil Monochrome tutorial HERE.

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Fern shares a tip for the Spring Card tutorial: "Great card and I really like the idea of using it for a placecard. My son is getting married next spring, and I'm going to show it to him and his future wife. I'm also going to try and use it as a way to display some pictures of my grandchildren. "

Spring Card tutorial
Spring Card gallery

You'll need a stamp positioner for next week's tutorial.