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!

 

Word Play

Today I want to talk about word play...and finding a use for some of those stamps that may not have gotten much time on the work table! Some of my favorite stamps have animals on them. Coloring an image is easy...finding a way to use it on a card may not be.

Lately, though, I've been finding more and more creative sentiments that feature animals. For example, I made this cute card with a digital stamp from From the Heart Stamps. This is FTH's stamp of the month and was produced for their April stamp of the month challenge. I have to admit I used some very unusual colors on this one - for me! The card base is Bazzill Limeade (green), and the Copic markers feature yellow-green (YG), yellow-red (YR), blue (B), and dark earthtones (E) for the flower pot.

 

Notice the chicken in the pot, who is "just chicken in," or more commonly "just checking in." But you already got it, didn't you? Anyway, I love the play on words. I've recently discovered more of them and thought I'd share some examples, with a few key words in italics. Actually, I just made a number of these up!

 

Giraffe:

It's a tall order, but...

Just stretch out and relax a while

I'm lookin' over a four-leaf clover

I'll always look out for you

 

Bear:

Grin and bear (bare) it

It's been a bear of a day

Just the bear (bare) facts

 

Owl:

Owl (all) aboard!

Owl always love you.

Owl go to my grave lovin' you...  (Halloween?)

 

Lion:

I ain't lion (lying)...you're the tops!

I'd be lion if I said...

It takes real courage to...

 

Penguin:

Have an ice day!

Brrr!  Baby it's cold outside!

All dressed up (penguin tuxedo)...and nowhere to go

 

Okay, so you get the idea. If some of these have sparked a few sentiments in your head, please leave a comment. I'd love to have more fabulous ideas for my greetings. The more the merrier.

 

Thanks for visiting, and may God bless!