PanPastels - Tips, tricks and projects by Zoe Russell

Here are some fabulous projects, showcasing PanPastels, from Design Team member Zoe. 

I've been using Pan pastels for many years, I love them and over the years I've picked up a few tips about using them so I'm sharing them with you, as I know trying new mediums can feel a little daunting.
I always use Pan Pastel tools and sponges, the cheaper make up sponges really aren't the same they are more absorbent and soak up the pastels so they don't lay down as true to colour and you end up using far more pastel than you would with the better tools, the pan pastel tools and sponges are very dense and the pastel stays on the tool/sponge so you get a good smooth coverage.
Don't dab the Pan it will just create dust, a good swipe will cover the tool and keep the dust to a minimum.
You need to seal your work after you've finished using the Pan Pastels, I use cheap hairspray, the cheaper the better.
You can remove Pan Pastels with a normal rubber eraser which is great for creating highlights or simply removing mistakes.
Use a piece of paper to lean on while applying Pan Pastels, the grease from your fingers will get picked up on your work.

Materials:

Stamp sets                                                                                

Dusky Damask

Tangled Fragments

Artistic Affirmations

Sketchy Doodle Landscape

Oval Stampbord and Stampbord tools
Pan Pastels and Tools : Magenta ,Violet, Turquoise
Versamark Inkpad
Versafine Inkpads : Onyx Black, Imperial Purple
Cheap hairspray

 

So onto my project - I stamped my Dusky Damask stamp onto the Stampbord using Versamark ink then very lightly applied the Pan Pastels with light strokes using sponges, gradually blending and building depth of colour, I sprayed with hairspray and dried and then added another layer of Pan Pastels the get a deeper colour, sprayed again and dried, I then used Imperial Purple Versafine inkpad I second generation stamped the circle type pattern from Tangled Fragments stamp set, you have to heat set Versafine ink before the next step, although it's a permanent ink it's oil based so takes longer to dry, then I stamped my main image from the Sketchy Doodle Landscape set using Onyx Black Versafine inkpad, heat set again and then using the Stampbord tools I scratched highlights into it, once I was happy I stamped my Bliss from the Artistic Affirmation stamp set, dried and scratched here and there to add highlight, I used some wire wool around the edge to add a border and finished off with some iridescent sequins.
 

Materials:     

                                                                         
Stamp set: Patchwork Landscape
Linen texture card
Black card stock
Versamark Inkpad
Black detail embossing powder
Pan Pastels
Cheap hairspray
 

This was a very quick and simple card, I just stamped my image using Versamark Inkpad and heat set after applying black detail embossing powder, I coloured the tree using Pan Pastels in various colours using a fine detail tool and then using a sponge I applied various blues and greens to the background, sprayed with hairspray and once dry I stamped my sentiment from the same set, I added some detail around the edge using 3 dots and a dash with a fine tipped black marker, mounted onto some black card before adding it to my card base.

Materials:                                                                                                      

Stamp sets:

Curiosities

Birthday Words

Words of Wisdom

Kraft card base card 6"x6"
Scrap of white Linen card cut to approx 6"X3"
Stampbord – 2 x 1” x 1” and 1 x 2” x 2”

Scratching tool
Pan Pastels: Red Iron Oxide, Phthalo Blue, Gold metallic.
Versamark Inkpad
Onyx Black Versafine Inkpad

The first step was the Stampbord pieces which I applied the Red Iron Oxide with a pan pastel sponge, I then stamped using Versamark the verse stamp and gently swiped with the metallic pan pastels, I added another layer of the Red pp and gold just to add more depth of colour before sealing with cheap hairspray.
I've found that Pan Pastels require more than one layer as they are more subtle on the Stampbord due to its smooth surface!
I then stamped my little images from the Mini Curiosities using Onyx Black Versafine ink
I heat set the stamped images because Versafine although a permanent ink is an oil base, once dry I scratched some highlights using a Stampbord tool.
Moving onto the card itself, I stamped the sides of my Kraft card base using the Verse and Versamark ink and swiped over with Gold Metallic Pan Pastels and sprayed with cheap hairspray, I then followed the same steps on the Linen card only stamping all over and using the Phthalo Blue PP, then the gold over the top and adding more gold around the edges before sealing, I simply glued all in place, stamped my sentiment and Voila!

A huge thank you to Zoe for writing this brilliant article and for designing these wonderful projects.  I hope you have enjoyed it and you are inspired to have a go yourself.