i {heart} papers Design Team challenge!

It's design team challenge day for our i {heart} papers team, and this month we are doing a product focus on Tsukineko's Fireworks! Thank you, Tsukineko (specifically, Mr. Petersen!), for working with me to arrange todays challenge, and for providing our team with Fireworks to play with!  We are so grateful for your generosity!

Here's what Tsukineko says about Fireworks, one of several new Tsukineko products released at CHA Summer 2011.

• Creates colorful, sparkly, shimmery effects on both light and dark papers
• Available in 24 colors, all complimentary to Memento colors
• Easy to use, quick-drying on most paper surfaces
• Water-based, acid-free and non-toxic
• 0.5 fluid ounce spray bottle

I love using Memento inks and coloring with Copic markers, so I chose one of Marianne Walker's newest images, Katie's mermaid, to do a test run with Angel Pink and Summer Sky blue Fireworks.  I printed the digital image onto Copic blending paper, then colored her with Copic markers...if you recently participated in the Swimming for Katie three day blog hop, you might think these colors look familiar!  I studied cards by Marianne and Debbie Olson and shamelessly CASED their beautiful coloring while trying to add a little twist of my own!

I printed a second mermaid on regular copy paper so that I could make a mask to cover her torso, arms, and face...then I sprayed some of each of the two colors of Fireworks onto her hair and mer-tail.  I removed the mask and gave another faint spritz of blue to her body.  Once the ink was dry (almost immediately!) I carefully fussy-cut around the edges of the image, then added some sparkly Stickles to her fin, clamshell top (Eucalyptus), and hair (Crystal), and set her aside to dry (which took a whole lot longer than the Fireworks)!

On another rectangle of Copic blending paper, I used Memento ink to stamp a scenic background using Our Craft Lounge's set, Oceans of Fun.  Since Marianne also illustrated this set, the mermaid image looks right at home in this underwater setting!  After coloring it with my Copics, I sprayed the entire scene with both colors of Fireworks, misting more heavily with the blue to add to the underwater illusion.  I mounted the scene on some brightly colored card stock, and of course, since every mer-girl has her pearls, they were the perfect embellishment to frame the scene without obstructing the view.

I was glad that I gave the Fireworks a test squeeze before spraying my carefully colored image (a smart thing to do with any type of spray product!)  I found that the different colors of ink behaved a bit differently.  The pink came out in a fine mist, the blue a little more heavily.  I was able to adjust the direction and distance of the spray to achieve the look I wanted.  Since it was a bright, beautiful Florida afternoon and I was doing my spraying out on the front lawn, it was quite enjoyable!

I really love how shimmery this project turned out...the Fireworks inks were just perfect for this particular project!  It is much more lovely in real life!  

Kate will be giving away some Fireworks to a random commenter ON TODAY’S DESIGN TEAM POSTS, so the more you hop and comment, the more chances you have to win! The winner will be announced on Friday so you have until Thursday at 9 p.m. EST to leave your comments!

Here are the links to my teammates' creations! 

• Carolyn
• Gretchen
• Kendra
• Loretta
• Lori
• Lynn
• Tracy
• Kate

One final note:  it's not too late to complete Katie's benefit hop for lots of inspiration using stamps, digital images, and digital papers whose profits go entirely to Katie's family!  You can hop, shop and/or donate here!