I think the trick was to use regular cardstock.
I used reg CS and am having trouble getting the colors to come off before the CS starts peeling...
I was going to try watercolor paper this afternoon....
I mean the gesso lighten up some but nothing like what I see in the gallery...and now my BG is lightening too b/c it's peeling off. I started using a wet t-shirt and that seemed to go to peeling real quick so I used a sea sponge I haven't got to use before and that helped so much! It didn't peel for awhile, but not much color came off the gesso either....
I only used distress ink pad (sponged on) and a silver Faber-Castel gelato stick....