LAST DAY to Save 15% Sitewide + Take a Trip to the Rainforest with Sandy Allnock!

Have you purchased your favorites from the new release yet? If not, make today the day! It's your last chance to save 15% sitewide, new release included, so take advantage now while you still have time!

Before we get to today's post, we have our randomly selected New Product Launch winners. Both lucky winners will receive a $100 MFT Shopping Spree.

from Marieke’s blog: Cat Craig

from Alberto’s blog: Nicole Nardi

Congratulations to you both! Please send an email to erica@mftstamps.com to claim your prize. Thank you to everyone that commented on our Design Team blogs — we appreciate every comment!

If you've been curious about the negative coloring technique, you're in for a real treat today! The lush foliage featured in the Something to Squawk About stamp set presents a perfect opportunity for creating a dense tropical scene. While the finished product is colorful and richly detailed, you'll be amazed by the simple step-by-step Sandy used to create it!

Hello coloring friends! Are you still creating amid a crazy busy summer? If not, I hope you’re saving a lot of blog posts and videos for when you have a rainy day — there’s been so much beautiful and inspiring work out there lately!

I hope this is one of those ideas you’ll save. I’ve had people ask me about this "negative painting” technique which I’ve talked about in a lot of videos. I thought this Something to Squawk About stamp set would be a good example to demonstrate the idea. This project is in watercolor, since it’s World Watercolor Month, but you can do the same kind of coloring with Copics or a lot of other mediums!

First off, negative painting is a positive thing! Objects are defined by the “empty” space around them, so learning how to color a negative shape around the main image is a great way to really make the subject of your drawing or card pop to the forefront!

To stamp this set in a really easy-to mask way, first stamp the four birds, and mask them. Only them. They’re easy to fussy cut! I promise there’s no other cutting!

Then lay down all the foliage stamps, some laying over the masked birds, some just floating around. Fill up as much of the space as you can with stamping, turning them different ways. THEN, take a sharpie and just draw in simple leaf shapes! No need to be able to draw fancy things. Just general leaf shapes, and, we’re ready to paint!

I love that when we use transparent watercolors, we can paint the whole foliage area first with light green, then cover it with darker colors. It makes it so easy, and hides any mistakes that we might make too!

You can use this technique with other stamp sets too, but foliage and flowers are a great match for this idea. Note that with florals, you might try a light yellow, and start going dark with a few greens and pinks — whatever it is has to be able to work atop the first layer of color.

I hope this helps you understand negative painting. Watching the birds pop forward and the leaves turn into layers of foreground and background as darker colors were added is so amazing to see!

Thanks for joining me today — I’ll see you again next month with more coloring fun!

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