A tutorial on Mail-able dimension and Alcohol Coloring

I love cards with dimension!  You will see cards on Pinterest and designers blogs

 that look like they took a week to make and should be on top of a wedding cake!

 I admire the designers that create these paper confections - how do they even think them up?

While I love these masterpiece cards, they are not on my to-do list, why?  Because you really can't mail them without going to a whole lot of trouble to package them safely.  I do use foam tape and that gives cards an extra pop that is mailable.   What I am going to show you today is one of  my favorite techniques  for creating a mail-able dimensional card colored with alcohol markers. today's how-to is more focused on the dimension than coloring.  I used alcohol markers, but you can use your favorite coloring system.

You can use a digital image or a stamped image, just make sure you use the ink that works with your coloring medium. For today's card, I used this beautiful Magenta Stamp:

You will need two of the same images

For markers, I used only 7.

Here are the colors that I choose

For each of the flowers, I put down a layer of the light red ( FS8 in this case)

I did the whole flower with the base shade

and then worked on each petal , using another layer of the FS8 then worked in the darker red DR1 blended with the FS8

I color both flowers and then fussy cut each one.

                Using the blender pen really give the petals a painterly look, something I strive for

Here they are cut out

 Color the back of the flowers with a light shade of what you are coloring with. I used the darker read and had some bleed through.  It wasn't too bad but I did have to work on the top side to "fix" it a bit.

For the top flower, I cut  the leaves off and set them aside and then separate the flower petals down to the center of the flower.  I gently rolled the petals in my fingers.  Nothing fancy, I just worked them until I was happy with their shape 

I shaped the leaves and added the cut out one back in.
I glued this flower together with Lineco glue, mounted it on a framing layer of
 card stock and added to my base.

When I mail this card I will place  a 4x6 piece of light card stock over the flower.
It does get pressed down a bit in the mail, but they hold up pretty good and does not need to be "packaged".

This is not a new technique by any means, but one that helps me achieve a look
I really like in my card making!  I hope you give it a try, it is a little addictive!

Thanks for stopping by!

Ginny M