Colored pencils are a fantastic medium of color. I would suggest when you are first learning to use colored pencils that you buy a cheaper set of them, such as Crayola or Prang brands which are readily available anywhere you find standard school supplies. You will find that different brands of colored pencils have different "lead hardnesses", the harder leaded brands are more difficult to use and blend. The ultimate artist grade colored pencils would have to be the Berol Prismacolor line. They are soft, creamy, vibrant, heavily pigmented pencils which are so simple and easy to use and blend. However, they are more expensive than the Crayola or Prang brands. Learn first using the cheaper brands, then if you find you love them invest in a nicer, artist grade fine art brand such as Berol. You won't be sorry.

Colored pencils work best on a surface which has "tooth". Matte cardstocks are best, they don't work very well on glossy cardstocks. Use a semi-permanent ink of some type to stamp images you will color with the colored pencils. Dye inks don't work very well as they tend to smear beneath the pressure applied when coloring with colored pencils. A good choice of an inkpad to use would be: Ranger Archival Inkpads, Brilliance Inkpads, or StazOn inkpads. Memories and Fabrico inkpads are permanent when heat set, so they should work as well. Colored pencils can also be used effectively on shrink plastic, sand the shrink plastic first and use a permanent ink (such as Ranger 213, Brilliance or StazOn) to stamp with.

When using colored pencils, work from light to dark, building up colors and shading. You can create deeper or lighter colors by altering the amount of pressure you use when pressing the pencil to the cardstock. Heavy pressure will yield a darker more solid color, lighter pressure will yeild a lighter more airy color. Layer your colors, one on top of another, to achieve depth and dimension. You can blend colors by using a lighter color to press down heavily on top of layered colors, this blends them. Berol also has a colorless blender pencils with is fantastic for blending without adding any color at all. I use the colorless blender pencil often.

Another way to blend colored pencils is to use a paper stump and artist grade solvent. Colored pencils are wax based, so a solvent is needed to break down the wax and allow you to blend for a more "watercolor" type look. I suggest using a low odor solvent for this, such as turpenoid. Use in a well ventilated area. Lay down color on your cardstock with the pencil, layering colors. Then dip your paper stump into the solvent and brush over your pencil work. This is called the "Magic Colored Pencil" technique.