This type of background is one of the easiest techniques to pull off. All you need is a Versamark pad, and some sort of pastels.... 

When I was in Canada I splurged and got the metallic PanPastels and they don't have a lot of pigment but add the most beautiful and subtle shine and shimmer. It's amazing how it clings to the VersaMark ink... Magic!

Supplies: 

Stamp set: Technique Tuesday Today Flower

PanPastels

Black Sequins

Vellum

Bazzill Cardshoppe Cardstock

Versamark Pad

I tried and tried to find some papers that matched the colour-scheme, but it was no good... So I went about finding some PanPastels that worked.. I don't have a lot of them so I had a compromise on a couple of the colours, but that's ok, right? Instead of using regular cardstock I used Ranger's "Specialty Stamping Paper." It's basically a low-gloss glossy paper. It was interesting to try to get the PanPastels to show up (the blues didn't like it at all) but once I found some colours that worked it ended up looking kind of like marble... 

I used stamps from the Holly Jolly Christmas set and used a little wire twine to string them together. Do you like the glitter paper?? I can't resist using it around the holidays.. 

Want to play along with the challenge?

You know I love playing around with backgrounds and Silhouetted images, right?! This background was made with PanPastels. When I showed my son he said, "Oooooo, ombre!" Have I raised him right, or what?! 

This technique was different from what I thought it would be. When you lay down the pastels on paper and paint on top of them, the pastels actually prevent the paint from fully gripping the paper. So, once the paint has dried I took a baby wipe and started wiping away the paint from the raised portions. I don't get much of the PanPastel colours I used coming through (metallics) but it's a nice effect.

Once I was done fiddling with the paints I added more Metallic PanPastels on top. They are a gorgeous way to highlight embossed pieces and so vivid. I love how the gold deepens all of the colours around it. There are spots on the page that have the coolest colour combos - and they're all spontaneous!! 

Once I was happy with the background, I started doodling the vines. I used a Stabilo All Pencil and went over the lines with a waterbrush. The verse was written with big Pitt Pens and I gotta say, I love my handwriting with them! They are big markers to hold but somehow everything always comes out so nice and smooth. 

There are so many ways to apply PanPastels and using VersaMark as a bonding agent is a fun way to use the pastels with stamps. 

So head over to the Annabelle Stamps Blog to see the tutorial. Have an awesome day! 

I used two new sets: Timeless and BBD8. For the background I stamped the chevrons in Versamark then rubbed PanPastels over the cardstock. The Versamark grabbed on to the Panpastel colour and made the chevrons a lot more visible that if it was just Versamark alone. 

We'd love for you to play along! Check out the post here for more details!