Walking in a Winter Wonderland...Not!

Brrrrr! Good morning!

I awoke this morning to a bone-chilling two...that's 2...degrees! As my friends from the North Pole might say, "It's not a fit day out for man nor beast!" I can't remember the last time we were so cold. I thank God that our furnace is still working. I do wish it could keep up a little better though. I had to give the munchkin (a.k.a. Winnie the mini-dachshund) a blankie, along with darling husband, of course. ;-)

While we're only expected to reach 29 degrees today, I'm looking forward to the coming week, which will attain upper 60s by Friday! Hoorah!

So, in keeping with the current situation, I'm posting a card I made a while back with a digital image from Angel's Landing. The original black-and-white illustration is the work of Judi Maddigan, and I produced the color and finished product. This is one of my all-time favorite cards!

I just love these sweet little penguin babies! They make my heart laugh! I colored them with Copic Sketch markers, and then fussy cut around the images and popped them up with some Stampin' Up dimensionals. I had some beautiful winter-themed designer paper for the background. I hope they make you laugh, too.

Well, my office is in a cold part of the house, and I'm about to seek out my own blanket. Thanks for visiting, and please come back again soon. 

You can view some additional cards in my Etsy shop (link above right), if you'd like to pay a visit. I have additional sets ready (including Valentine's Day) and will be posting them there soon.

Stay safe and warm!

Balloon Ride

Hello. Today's 6x6 card is the November digital stamp of the month by From the Heart Stamps. I am very grateful to Faith Skrdla for her monthly image - and the opportunity to get the next one free by simply doing what I love and posting a card with the image each month. What a deal!  Of course, I have also purchased a number of them. Still a deal.

At any rate, the November stamp of the month was a challenge because of the balloons. I found lots of good tutorials on YouTube by searching on "Copic translucent balloons" or "coloring translucent balloons."  Some will recommend starting with the back balloon and moving forward, and some will do the opposite.  If you try this technique, you may want to experiment on a scrap image before attempting your final piece. 

Here's a closer look at my coloring. I thought it came out rather well for a first try! You'll also see in this shot that I hand-stitched the card, a move I wouldn't necessarily recommend unless you're going for a more informal or rustic look. Nevertheless, I'm happy with my result.

 



The papers for this card are Bazzill textured French vanilla and My Mind's Eye Vanity Fair 6x6 paper pad. This is a combination I haven't tried before, and it produces a fairly feminine look.

I've also been trying to pay special attention to the inside of my cards. It adds just a little extra surprise when your recipient opens the card.

Well, that's it for today.  Time for more fun before our dear cousins head back to Michigan. Thanks for stopping by - and may God bless!

Birthday Flavors

Welcome!

It's been quite some time since my last post, and I feel just terrible that I've been absent so long. Summer is my busiest time of year at work, and I simply couldn't stop for any reason - not to mention that I felt like I didn't have a brain cell left by the time I got home!

Well, fall's arrived, and I'm already looking ahead with great anticipation toward the holiday season. It's always so much fun! Yes, I know it can be stressful, but honestly...we shouldn't let little irritations rob us of our joy.

Meanwhile, this is also "birthday season" in our family. The month of November alone has six birthdays and 2 anniversaries.  Whew!  That's a lot of cards!  And yes, I'm already busy getting them made. If I don't, I'll never make it.

Okay, so enough rambling. This summer I bought a new stamp set from Flourishes called Popsicles and Pinwheels.  It's a birthday set, and I'm having great fun with it. My favorite stamp from the set is a slice of birthday cake. The fun part is that I can use my Copic markers to color the birthday "boy" or "girl" their favorite flavor of cake, which naturally doesn't measure up to the real thing. Then I can surprise them with an actual cake (or cupcake) in the same flavor, and they're really excited!

The second positive to this stamp is that birthday cake is gender-neutral. I can simply change the paper colors and embellishments and make the cards masculine or feminine. Here are some examples:




My husband's favorite - red velvet cake with cream cheese icing

Don't like red velvet?  How about a little yellow cake with chocolate frosting:

Thick twine and dark cardstock are perfect for a male birthday
 

Don't see your favorite yet? How about a slice of strawberry cake with whipped cream?



A feminine birthday card complete with crocheted embroidery floss bow



Chocolate cake with dark chocolate icing. What do you think? A man's card - or a woman's?

 

My, my, my. I suppose it's a good thing all this yummy sweetness is made of paper. I feel my waistline expanding just looking at it! I hope you've enjoyed the versatility of this wonderful stamp set from Flourishes.org. 

 

Thanks for stopping by - and I hope to see you again soon.

A Sea Turtle for Summer

Isn't nature amazing?!?  Today I'm sharing a new image I picked up from...you know where...From the Heart Stamps. I know, I know, I'm like a broken record! I do own lots of other stamps, I promise, and one of these days soon I'm going to post a number of cards from them. For today, though, I have this new digital stamp of a sea turtle.  I had such great fun with this one.

Now before you start thinking that my coloring is all wrong, or really weird, take a look at my inspiration photo for this one. I simply did a quick Google search on "sea turtle image," and this is what I found. Isn't it a beauty?!  My thanks to GulfMex.org for posting it.

Image found at http://www.gulfmex.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/SEA-TU1.jpg on June 25, 2013

We have such a wonderful, colorful world, and reality is almost always more interesting than fiction! Sometimes when I'm coloring an image I like to see what a creature, or flower, or something else, actually looks like.  So, I run a quick search on the Web and find tons of choices. I usually print out my favorite and then attempt to copy it from real life.

Of course, my choices are always limited by my Copic marker inventory. For this image, the turtle shell is E07 and YR07 (brights), E19 (accent), and E40 (base). The head, neck and fins are E50 (base), Y32, YR21, and YR15.

This image also has a sandbucket and shovel (YR02, YR07, Y18, Y35, B24, and B26). The ocean water and accent color in the fan shell are BG000 and BG10. The starfish has various earth tones from the E colors of Copic Sketch markers.

Finally, I employed a few different colors for the sand.  My base is E42 (sand white), with spots of E40 and E51.  I finished it off with the Atyou Spica Glitter Pen in clear color. It made the sand look like little specks of shiny gold! I hope you can see a bit of shine in the sandbucket and in the sand between the bucket and the mama turtle.

Enjoy! And stay tuned for more cards and scrapbooking treasures over the next few weeks. We're gonna get scrappy around my house! Thanks for stopping by.

Happy Father's Day

I am truly blessed to still have my father with me this year. He's had some tough times with health in the last few years, but he's 84 and always finds a way to laugh and appreciate a bit of humor. That's why I'm hoping he'll enjoy this cute digi from From the Heart Stamps. It's called Necktie Banner and this is my first card with it.

 



 



Now, I don't remember that Dad had any particularly ugly ties when I was growing up - and these are pretty tacky. In fact, I remember Dad having very good taste when it came to ties.  Some of those trendy polyester suits, though...well, let's just say I'm glad that fashion has departed from our culture. One of these card ties might have fit in very nicely at that point. :-/

 

Anyway, I completed the look on the inside of the card with a simple wish:

 

 

 

 

Here's how I made the card:

I used American Crafts wave-colored card stock, added designer paper from Lily Bee Design Buttercup 6x6 Tiny Tablet, and colored with Copic markers. Colors include B24, B26, Y13, Y18, YR02, YR07, G21, G24, R21, R24, and C1. I used Ranger Distress Ink in Broken China for the edges of the image, and finally popped up the design with Stampin' Dimensionals.  And that was it!  I hope you like it.

 

Meanwhile, for all you fathers out there, young and old, may your children honor you this day (and every other) for all that you do for them. May you all be good dads and give your children the best future you can. God bless you for all you do!

 

Thanks for stopping by today and please come again soon.

 

Dancing for 25 Years!

This week is a very special week in our family. My husband's sister is celebrating 25 years of marriage. Now, one might expect a more serious and romantic card, but when I saw this cute "couple" dancing, I knew this was for them! They always have such a fun-loving spirit.

For those familiar with this image, Dance Fever Digi by The Greeting Farm, you may realize that the male mouse doesn't actually have glasses. It was difficult to tell from the image though. The detail lines were just in the right place to put a pair on him, and that just happens to be the perfect look for my sister-in-law's husband.

While I've had the image colored for quite some time, I struggled for a while over the layout. Finally, I ended up chalking in a pastel flourish in the upper right corner to make a circular pattern from the image to the 25. It's just barely visible in the photo, but is a bit brighter on the actual card.

I also used Spellbinders' scalloped rectangles die cut, Heidi Swapp gold Color Shine mist, and a couple of Thickers numbers with silver Stickles on top.

Thanks for visiting, and keep on dancin'!  Please drop by again.

Triple Treat Border Punch

Hi. It's been very rainy here lately, which is really great for growing things of all sorts, but it does tend to dampen the spirit a bit.  Still, instead of letting the blah weather get me down, I decided to turn it to practical use!

Today I turned my Fiskars Sunburst border punch into a triple treat by using it three times to achieve a new look for a card. This whimsical image, titled "Drenched" is once again by From the Heart Stamps. I can't seem to get away from these adorable digitals!

I printed my image on Neenah Classic Crest solar white cardstock and colored it with Copic Sketch markers in primarily purple and yellow shades. I die cut it using Spellbinders Nestabilities Labels Eight. And although it's difficult to tell from this photo, I used Glossy Accents on the raindrops and water puddle for some shine.

On the inside, I repeated the Fiskars sunburst borders twice. I tried lining up the punches exactly, but decided the result was too formal for this image. This offset punch pattern reminded me a bit of a running stream of water between the yellow and white papers.

And that's it! I hope you like the look of my triple treat punch. Thanks for visiting, and please join me again soon. 

Using a Digital Stamp for Copic Coloring - Inks and Papers

Hi. Welcome to today's post.

Today I'm wrapping up the project that I previewed last Friday: Humble Anneke. This sweet little girl just melted my heart when I first saw her. Anneke is a digital stamp by From the Heart Stamps.

For those who haven't tried a digital stamp, it's important to remember that the type of printer ink makes a difference in how your colored image turns out. Apparently laser printers are best when printing digital stamps for use with Copic markers - but I have an inkjet. I've successfully printed digital images and avoided any bleed-out of the image, but I've also had a few that weren't so successful. I've been told that either heat-setting the image, or letting it dry for a day or two, may help with this issue. Either way, I recommend giving it a try when you have time to test your papers and inks. (I have printed my images thus far on Neenah Classic Crest solar white card stock. The preferred "Blending Card by X-Press It" used by many Copic artists may work better. I haven't yet tried it for digital images, but can attest to its wondrous results for coloring!) 

I started the coloring process on Anneke with her hair. As you can see, her hair is long and wavy. Wavy hair is a bit more complex than straight hair – and requires a different technique. Each strand of hair should be colored separately. Strands that appear to be part of an outer layer will catch light and should be highlighted. Likewise, hair that curves outward will catch light. Artists typically use Copic marker numbers ending in 0-3 for highlights.  For this image, my highlight (base, or undertone) color is E31. The midtone is E35, and the darkest color is E37. This is a natural blending family.

After laying down a base of E31, I used a flicking method (from the crown down and from the tips up) to establish the dark colors with E37. Finally, I did minimal blending with the E35 midtone.

For Anneke’s skin, I chose E000, E21, E04, and BV000.  Yes, that’s right, there’s a blue-violet in there!  Why?  Because blue and violet are complementary colors to yellow and orange, the tone of most people's skin. The blue-violet helps to calm down the stark contrast in the shading.

Now, you may be thinking at this point that her skin still has some really serious contrast happening. That's true, and this is one of the scariest things about coloring with Copic markers until you get used to the idea of it. Most beginning artists over-blend and really tone down a lot of contrast. (And by the way, I definitely consider myself a beginning artist.) The hope, though, is that the greater contrast will add depth and beauty to the image.

The final steps were to finish Anneke's clothing and accessories. I chose two complementary colors: blue-violet and yellow. At long last, she became the focal point of this lovely card. I used Bazzill card stock, Spellbinders Nestabilities picot edge circles for the white background, Simon Says Stamps "You" set for the sentiment, and Mark Richards Crystal Stickers colored with Copic BV13 for embellishment. I hope you like my final result.
 

 
Thanks for visiting, and please stop by again for a brand new topic.  Happy Friday!

Using Masks to Test Color Options

Hi. Today's tip is really simple - but ultimately very useful.

Last Friday, I introduced you to Humble Anneke. As I worked to complete my project with Anneke, I had to make some decisions. One of them was about color.

I started with Anneke's hair and skin, and then progressed to her clothing. I knew I wanted a blue-violet "apron," as well as a contrasting yellow color. But when it came time to decide whether to use white for the main color and add yellow polka dots, or use a yellow base with white dots, or some other combination, I just couldn't decide.

Now, after you've spent a tremendous amount of time coloring, you don't want to mess something up and be unsatisfied with it! After a few minutes, the perfect solution came to me: test out the combinations before adding them to the actual image!

So, I pulled out my brand new, unopened Copic bleedproof marker pad and used a multiliner pen to trace the appropriate part of the image. I repeated this a couple of times. I colored the images with different color combinations and then fussy-cut them out. I placed the pieces on the image one at a time and chose my favorite one. Then I colored the actual image with my choice.

Testing color options using masks



Final color choice after testing

If you don't happen to have a Copic bleedproof marker pad, don't worry. You could just as easily use vellum to trace or stamp your image, then color and cut it out. Take care though; vellum may have some bleed through, and if you're tracing on your original image, you could ruin it.

My final color choice was slightly different from both masks. I ended up using a very pale yellow (Yellow Fluorite, Y0000) base, with darker yellow polka dots, sash, and bows (Y23, Y32, and Y35).

I also attempted to draw in a cast shadow to ground Anneke on the card stock, but had a bit of a mishap there. So, I ended up fussy-cutting her, too. As you might imagine, cutting out Anneke changed my idea for the card, so please be patient with me as I move toward a completed card. I'll post it just as soon as it's complete.

Thanks for visiting. I hope you find today's tip helpful, and I hope you'll join me again soon to wrap up this project. Peace!

Happy Mother's Day!

Hello. Mother's Day has arrived once again, and I continue to be blessed to have my dear Mom in my life on this very special day. Mom, if you're reading, Happy Mother's Day, and I pray you have many more!

I also wish all other mothers a blessed day, as well.  I can't think of a more important job in this world than the one you have. You all are to be commended for pouring your heart and hands into your children's future. May they honor you in return now and in the years to come.

Finally, for those women who nurture their spouses, their pets, siblings, cousins, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, friends, or anyone else, your role is important, too! Please continue to offer your special brand of love, and you will surely be blessed.

Today I offer this card featuring a digital stamp called "Gathering Hearts." It's offered for download by From the Heart Stamps. It's a wonderful image to use with Copic markers. I promise to offer a coloring video in the near future, but for today I'll simply tell you the Copic colors I used for the various elements.

Hair:  E11, E18, E19
Skin:  E00, E11, BV00
Flower in Hair: Y11, Y19
Hearts: R29, R39, 0 Colorless Blender (careful: Reds bleed very easily!)
Dress: BG11, BG15
Pail: C1, C5
Shoes: C1 (shading only)
Grass: YG17, YG25

For anyone who wants a closer look:

This image is colored on Neenah Classic Crest solar white cardstock and mounted on American Crafts woven cardstock in robin's egg blue. The die cut is Spellbinders Nestabilities Decorative Labels Eight.

Thanks for visiting. Have a wonderful day - and may God bless!

Copic Coloring Guide: Level 3: People

Happy Friday! Thanks for joining me.

Today I want to share a Friday favorite! Several weeks ago, I purchased the Copic Coloring Guide: Level 3: People by Colleen Schaan and Marianne Walker. (I also own Level 1, but I'll save that for another time.) I must say that Colleen and Marianne have really outdone themselves with this book.

I am truly astounded at how much I've learned - and so quickly, too. With a focus on "people" one might expect to learn about skin, hair, and faces - and not much else. Not so! Those topics are covered in great detail, but there are so many additional helpful hints along the way that I will keep the book handy at all times as a reference.

I won't give away too much content here, as that would be unfair to the authors, but I can share a few favorite tidbits such as:

• Always "light" a featured image from the face to give it importance; i.e. the face should be highlighted and the back in shadow - unless there is a specific artistic reason to do otherwise.
• Skin tones change as people age. Babies and toddlers are the purest and have a pinker tone. Older people are more "pasty."  Oh my!  Sounds terrible, doesn't it? Well, don't worry. We older folks are still beautiful!
• Don't use a colorless blender on a face; it can leave the image looking splotchy.
• Most people color clothing/fabric in solid colors. Much clothing is patterned. Use advanced techniques to add patterns to clothing. (I'll feature this in a coming post.)

Finally, the Copic Coloring Guide has numerous colored card samples. All materials are listed. I have already discovered a number of new sources for digital stamps, which I find fascinating - and less expensive than other types of stamps.

Today's image is a work in progress. This is "Humble Anneke" by From the Heart Stamps. (See link at right.) I'm using stepped images, and today I have the hair complete. Here's a little preview of an upcoming post.

 

 

Thanks for visiting. Please join me again to see how Humble Anneke turns out.  May God bless!

 

Copic Certification Fun

This weekend was a whirlwind of activity. I traveled to Greenville, South Carolina, to attend the Standard and Intermediate Copic Certification Workshops. I had a wonderful two days of learning more about Copic markers and how to use them to their maximum potential. Over the next several weeks, I'll be talking more about what I learned and sharing some tips and techniques with you. The experience was absolutely amazing, and I was blown away by our instructor, Cindy Lawrence. Her cards are a true sight to behold!

I'll also be displaying my Copic certification badges here on my blog - as soon as I receive them. As with many things, making everything "official" takes a little time. 

Meanwhile, I'd like to offer my sincere congratulations to my fellow classmates, who also received certifications. Here's a simple card that was designed for a young man, but it seems to fit the bill quite nicely.

For those interested in the particulars of the card, I used Bazzill Herbal Garden Dark cardstock, cut to a finished size of 5 1/2" square. The pattern paper is Creative Imaginations (camouflage). I misted the paper with Heidi Swapp Color Shine gold - and also used a Hero Arts Stamp and Cut Sun Flags die and stamp. The sentiment was my own, generated on my computer and printed out. I popped up the flags and sentiment with Stampin' Up's Stampin' Dimensionals, and that was it!

It does seem a little strange that in a post about Copic markers, I didn't use any. Don't worry; I'll get to it!  For now, I'm just happy to be home again and back to a normal routine. Travel is fun, but as Dorothy once said, "There's no place like home!" (Wizard of Oz)

Thanks for visiting, and please stop back by in a couple of days. I promise to offer some interesting tidbits about Copic markers - and have a cute card to show you, too.  May God bless!