Versatile VersaMarkers

You may already be familiar with VersaMark, the clear ink that acts as a watermark to make tone-on-tone designs on card stock… but did you know it also comes in a marker? The dual-tipped VersaMarker offers both a bullet tip and brush tip for freehand drawing, giving you the freedom to decide how much or how little watermarking to bring to your project. Here are my Top 5 favourite techniques using the VersaMarker:

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1. Brushed on to add weight to your already inked design

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Here I’ve used Basic Black to stamp a simple floral design from the Pocket Silhouettes set onto Lavender Lace card stock, and then run the brush tip of the VersaMarker across some of the stems. To finish the look I’ve applied dashes of Fine Cosmo glitter to some of the buds.

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2. Inking a small portion of a larger stamp for an accent piece

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The two trees shown above are part of the largest stamp from the Lovely as a Tree set, which actually consists of several trees in a row. I’ve used the VersaMarker to ink up only my chosen part of the stamp (see photo below) so it fits perfectly on a piece of Certainly Celery scrap I’ve been saving. Once you start using only a part of your stamps, each one appears almost as an assembled puzzle, and you can’t help but see the different ways you could pull bits and pieces out of almost any stamp design.

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3. Complete fine detail drawing on areas of your card you wish to emboss

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This stamp from the Dreams du Jour set has a lovely piped border at the edge and presents the perfect opportunity to use the VersaMarker to fill in fine detail areas for embossing. I “coloured” the edge of the stamped image, sprinkled it with gold embossing powder and tapped the excess off my card stock. VersaMark ink holds the embossing powder in place, and once the powder is melted with a Heat Tool this beautiful shiny border accents your stamping.

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4. Create shadows under stamped objects to enhance the look of dimension

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Here I’ve used VersaMarker to give a three-dimensional effect to the coffee cup and cupcake stamps from the Level 3 Hostess Set called Hand Drawn Bundle. On a background of More Mustard card stock, the cup and cupcake pop with Whisper White and Close to Cocoa inks applied with a blender pen. I’ve “grounded” each image with a hand-drawn VersaMarker shadow, which gives extra weight and dimension to my stamping.

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5. Create a soft glowing look by brushing a VersaMarked image with Stampin’ Pastels

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This technique uses the stickiness of the VersaMark ink as a platform for chalk pastels, and the result is a soft subtle effect that often seems to glow on your project. After inking up a leaf stamp from the Best Wishes and More set with VersaMark, I stamped my image on Whisper White card stock. Then using cotton balls I applied soft, sweeping strokes of colour to give the impression of a leaf caught in the transition from summertime green to the orange, red and brown of autumn.

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If you're looking for a new tool to really add pizzazz to your projects, you just can't beat the VersaMarker, especially when you consider its low selling price of only $3.95. When you place your next order don't forget to add this versatile marker!

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