I LOVE it when that happens...

Yep - a card that comes together "just like that", and that you LOVE when you have finished.  That's what's happened today.  This card took me no more than 30 minutes to come up with from "I've got absolutely no idea where to start" to completion, and I am thrilled with the end result!   Wooohooo!!  I used one of my last 2 pieces of DSP from Bali Breeze - the piece that I HATED, and thought I'd never use - well, what do you know - I actually used it, and like it!  

And here's a close up with the pastels...

So, I'm not sure of the "offical" way to use Pastels, but this is what I do...  The secret is to use the daubers.  I used to think that you could get away without them, but NO - they make sure the pastels go exactly where they are supposed to, and they are the right density to ensure a fabulous colour from your pastels.  I inked up En Francais with versamark, and stamped it through a square (homemade) stencil to give the white frame around the image.  Then I inked up Eastern Blooms with versamark, and stamped that over the top, again through the stencil I had made.  Then I started with my softest colours I was using, and using the daubers, applied the pastels to the stamped images by gently "scratching" with the dauber on my finger, over top of the image.  Does that make sense?   What I mean, is I don't rub to hard, because then your pastel colour smudges all over your white cardstock, where you don't want all the colour - you just want it to go onto the stamped images, right??  So by gently scratching the colour on, you get a beautiful coloured image.  What do you think?  Can you understand what I've done, or do I need to be more specific?   BTW - I heard that using hairspray will set your pastels so they won't rub off, so hopefully that is correct, as my card now looks AND smells lovely!!  LOL.

Well - off for some more creating - I'm on a roll now!

Enjoy!

Michelle