Let’s learn how to color a variegated yarn heart with Copic Markers —but first I need to ask: are you ready to start writing “2020” yet!?!? Yikes!

Supplies for this project are linked at the end of this post. Compensated affiliate links may be used at no cost to you.

I bought the You Warm My Heart stamp set by Paper Rose what feels like eons ago – and I have so many ways I want to color it! Watch out on Instagram for a short video with another idea! (I’ll link it at the end of this post once that goes live!)

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STAMPING TIPS

I wanted to keep this looking soft, which meant not using a black ink…so I put the stamp in my Mini Misti, and stamped it second-generation in grey ink. That means I inked the stamp, put in a scrap piece and stamped lightly, then followed that immediately by stamping on the piece of Neenah I wanted to color on; that made it lighter, which worked out great for this. I then let it DRY COMPLETELY – CP inks aren’t generally considered Copic-safe, but if you stick to a light color and let it air dry (heat setting will warp the paper so just give it an hour to dry.)

COLORING TIPS

With most coloring, I put down the main color first – whatever the base color of the yarn is – then adding a dark and medium to add dimension. In this case, thought, it’s just the opposite. Since I want to have consistent shading across all the variegated colors, I put the greys down to shade FIRST – rather than trying to shade each strand of yarn individually. Here’s where I put my shading, in case you want to try it once you get the stamp set:

I used neutral grays for the shadows but in all honesty – you can use whatever you like. If you’re using all warm colors, you can even use warm greys! I used the light E colors for the wood table.

For color selection, I found I startled myself with colors that were stronger; that made sense when I realized yarn is a natural fiber, so the strong bright colors will be a little jarring.

FINISHING TIPS

To complete my card and still keep it simple so as to feature the coloring and not embellishments – I trimmed the colored panel to 4″ x 5-1/4″ and popped it on some dimensional adhesive. I then stamped the sentiment in the same grey as I had stamped the image, and cut a banner edge with scisssors and popped it up too.

So if you were coloring yarn, how would you color it? Would it be variegated yarn or a single color? In Copic Markers or another medium? Let me know in the comments what your plans are, maybe I’ll try that sometime!

SUPPLIES

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• You Warm My Heart, Paper Rose Clear Stamps
• Twilight, Catherine Pooler Ink Pad
• Copic Markers: EH – Blick
• Jet Black Lawn Fawn Ink Pad
• Neenah Cardstock, Solar White: 25pk – 250pk
• Scotch Foam Mounting Tape
• MISTI Stamping Tool, My Sweet Petunia