Thinking of You - Eight ways with colour

"Thinking of You" began as something of a creative challenge: Could I colour an entire card using eight different techniques, without using the usual colouring mediums such as alcohol markers, pencils or watercolours?

The answer became this card.

Rather than treating every flower and leaf in the same way, I used different methods of applying ink to create variations in colour, texture and intensity. The palette of dusty pinks, mauves, deep plum, soft blue-green and touches of gold was deliberately kept quite restrained. With so many individual die-cut elements, too many competing colours could easily have overwhelmed the design.

The arrangement was built almost like a floral garland, beginning in the upper left corner, travelling down the side of the card and sweeping across the bottom. The large purple flowers provide the strongest areas of colour, while the softer pinks, small white flowers and foliage give the eye somewhere to rest. The gold details add just enough light and warmth.

At the centre is the simple message “Thinking of You.” I wanted the sentiment to remain the quiet focal point, surrounded rather than overwhelmed by the flowers.

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So, where are the eight colouring techniques?

Almost every part of the arrangement provided an opportunity to apply ink differently.

1. Blending Brush — used where I wanted a soft, graduated wash of colour. A blending brush allows colour to be built gradually from barely-there shading through to much stronger tones. This is particularly useful for giving otherwise flat die-cuts dimension. Ink blending is commonly used both for backgrounds and for colouring individual die-cut elements.

2. Dauber — used for smaller, more concentrated areas where I wanted greater control. By tapping or gently working ink into the cardstock, a dauber can create both soft colour and deeper shading around edges or particular details.

3. Brayer — rather than applying colour to one small area at a time, the brayer allowed ink to be rolled across a surface, producing a completely different quality of coverage. Depending on pressure and the amount of ink, brayering can produce anything from relatively even colour to beautifully imperfect variations.

4. Stamp Positioner and Ink Pad — the stamp positioner wasn't simply used for stamping an image once. Repeated impressions allowed colour and detail to be built in controlled layers while keeping everything precisely aligned. It is a useful way of increasing colour intensity without losing the registration of the image.

5. Stamp on Ink Pad — instead of taking the ink to the paper, I reversed the process and used the ink pad itself as part of the colouring method. Direct ink-pad techniques can create stronger, less uniform areas of colour and are particularly effective when you actually want some natural variation rather than a perfectly blended finish. Direct-to-paper inking is also used by cardmakers to pick up raised details and texture.

6. Finger — perhaps the least sophisticated tool in the craft room, but one we always have available! Applying and moving ink with a finger gives very direct control and creates subtle irregularities that are difficult to reproduce mechanically. On a card with an organic floral theme, those imperfections can actually make the colouring more convincing.

7. Heat Embossing — used not only as decoration but as another way of introducing colour, shine and contrast. Embossing powder melts to form a raised, glossy surface, giving the card a finish quite unlike ordinary ink.

The touches of metallic detail are especially effective against the muted pink and plum palette.

8. Blending Stick — finally, the blending stick provided another degree of precision, allowing colour to be worked into small areas and softened or intensified exactly where required.

So why use eight techniques on one card?

The purpose wasn't simply to demonstrate eight different tools. It was to see whether the method used to apply colour could become part of the design itself.

Look closely at the finished card and you'll notice that the colour isn't completely uniform—and deliberately so. Some elements are softly shaded, others more saturated; some have distinct edges, others fade gradually; and the embossed areas reflect the light rather than simply displaying colour.

That mixture is what gives a heavily layered card such as this its depth.

And perhaps that's the real answer to the challenge: you don't necessarily need more colours to create interest—you can change the way you apply the colours you already have.

Until next time, fgrom my craft room to yours.

Michael

Michael's Card Art — 28 September 2026