Coloring 101: Copics

I KNOW!!!!!!!

Me? LateBlossom? Posting about Copics. Sunday is a good day for a miracle, don't you think?

This miracle is due to fortuitous blog candy from Sue Berker. She's the reason I have six copics (I bought one other, a gray one for outlining). I've won blog candy from her twice now. The first time she sent me three shades of red, and the latest brought these three shades of green to live with me.

Most coloring I've done has been with Bic Mark-It markers and Sharpies, and I'm quite happy with them because I rarely color anyway, recent posts to the contrary. Copics are lovely, though, and for those who really enjoy coloring, I'm sure they are worth the money. For now, however, I'm relying on my astonishing good luck for acquiring them, LOL!

For this quick card, I used Gina K Deluxe cardstock (thank you again, Bahb!), which has a nice, smooth finish for markers, and is very thick so they don't bleed through, which makes them perfect for one-layer cards.

All I did was stamp the flip flop in Palette Noir, and then I laid down the medium green over the whole image, added the darker green on the bottom in circular motions, and finally used the medium green to blend the two.

I then stamped the black thongs over the green and giggled with glee.

Live IS good.

Supplies
stamps: PTI A Day at the Beach
ink: palette noir
paper: Gina K deluxe
accessories: Copic markers
Card Size: 3 1/2 x 4 7/8

Everyday Classics Revisited

When I posted my Everyday Classics cards a few weeks ago, I accidentally forgot this fun one-layer birdie card. Shame on me. Poor birdie feels so neglected!



Can I just say the Bahama Blue ink from Memento is DA BOMB? There. I said it.

Hope you're finding some time to be creative this weekend. If you get a few minutes, please leave some comments for the OLW4 challenge cards. My goodness, there are already 31 entries and they are amazing!

Supplies
stamps: PTI Everyday Classics
ink: Memento
paper: PTI white
accessories: not a blessed one!

Coloring 101: Colored Pencils

My mother is a fine artist, and she has always advised me to buy quality supplies. I went cheap, however, on my first set of colored pencils, my reasoning being that I'm not an artist so what possible difference could it make.

Always listen to your mother.

I ditched the cheap pencils, bought Prismas, and never looked back. Prismas lay down pigment smoothly and have wonderful, rich colors.

I've never used odorless mineral spirits to blend prismas, but that's because I've gotten perfectly statisfactory results from using the Prisma Colorless Blender Pencil. It's a delightfully unmessy, uncomplicated way to blend colors.

Here's the case that holds all my colored pencils, which I bought at Cheap Joe's. It holds 72 pencils. I have a few more than 72, so it's literally bulging with the extras.

My favorite thing to do with colored pencils is to add shading to block stamps that might not take a rock-and-roll technique well. It's a whole lot easier than coloring in outline images and really adds a lot to otherwise flat images. Not that I have anything against flat images. I'm rather fond of their clean and graphic look. But sometimes you just want a little illusion of dimension. Pencils are helpful for this.

These little fish from Papertrey's Pond Life set are a good example. I tried R&R with them and the results were...unpleasant. So I stamped them in solid VersaColor opera pink, let it dry completely, and pulled out my pencils. Using a darker shade of pink pencil than the ink, I added color to the undersides of the fish using small circular strokes, pressing the pencil harder closer to the edge and lighter toward the center of the fish. My first pass wasn't quite dark enough, so I went back over them a second time. Then, I used the blender pencil to smooth out the border between the two, again using small circular strokes.

The pencil adds just a bit of interest to the fish, and a spot of Stardust pen on the eyes gives a little bling to an otherwise super-simple card.

Supplies
stamps: PTI Pond Life, Pond Life Sentiments
ink: Palette noir, Versacolor opera pink
paper: SU pretty in pink, white
accessories: Prisma colored pencil, dimensionals, Sakura Stardust clear pen, Fiskars wave border punch

Coloring 101: Twinkling H2Os

Twinkling H2Os come as small pots of shimmery gorgeousness. They are dry, and just require water to activate. Since Twinkling H2Os are incredibly easy to use and so sparkly, I'm a huge fan of using them for coloring large areas at once. There are lots of watercolor tutorials online and at SCS if you need the basics of more detailed watercoloring, but my method is unbelievably easy.



Start with a piece of watercolor paper. I use the Arches blocks available at the big box stores like Michael's or Hobby Lobby. It's a high-quality hot-press watercolor paper, and the block keeps the paper from buckling as much as it will if you use a regular watercolor paper pad or loose sheets. (Note: You can use a butter knife to separate your painted sheet from the block once it's dry). Hot-press paper is smoother than cold press, so if you want texture, choose cold press.

To paint large blocks of wash, wet the paper with plain water using a large flat wash brush. Then load the brush with paint and add the wet paint to the wet paper. You can load more paint and keep working the color as long as it stays wet. If you get too much color, you can use the corner of a Bounty paper towel (doesn't leave lint) to soak up extra and then add more water. It's a very forgiving technique and you can get really creative with blending different colors, too. I generally keep it simple. Bet that surprises you, eh?

Once your wash is dry, you can stamp all over it with a good black ink. I used Palette Noir, my go-to black ink for pretty much anything. Memento would also work well. I do this before removing the paper from the block because it stays flatter. You will see some buckling of the paper, but it's minor.



Then just start cutting. These images were mostly easy to cut and it didn't take as long as I thought it would to finish. I use small Cutterbee scissors because their very fine points are great for snipping into tight spaces.



From here, you can do whatever you want with all these lovely, shimmery images. Here are two cards I made just lining them up over text backgrounds. Because the images are completely colored, you don't have to worry about matching cardstock or using watercolor card bases. These are my usual PTI cardstock cards.


Wouldn't these make pretty gift sets?



As you can see, Twinkling H2Os don't have to be intimidating. Used in this simple way, they pack a big punch!

OLW4: Oh.My.Gosh. Y'all are doing a great job with this! I've had almost no time to comment and promise to get to all of them later today. Yesterday was DH's birthday, and I'm volunteering at the Scholastic Book Fair a lot this week. But thank you so much for participating in my OLW challenges!

OLW4: Add a Ribbon

This week's One-Layer Wednesday Challenge involves the ubiquitous RIBBON. Who doesn't love this fabulous embellishment? It comes in so many pretty colors, textures, widths, and patterns. Ribbon make me think of preppy ribbon belts, Jane Austen, and pointe shoes. And Christmas. (How was that for a smooth segue?)


Do you recognize the underlying layout here? Yep, it's from PaperCraft's Go-To Sketches Magazine, and it's my favorite. The original lacks the ribbon and has eight circles, but I like how the knot balances the sentiment.

So pull out your ribbon and play along with OLW4!

1. A one-layer card is defined as a single piece of cardstock folded in half.

2. Use ink and one piece of ribbon on your card. Preferably nothing else, but if you must, well, then you must. I understand.

3. Link to your card using the InLinkz button on Simplicity's sidebar.

Have fun!



Supplies
stamps: PTI Snowflake Serenade, Peaceful Poinsettia
ink: Memento
paper: PTI white
accessories: sheer ribbon

CAS66 Inspired by Kelly

Kelly (kmahany at SCS, and a member of the current CAS DT there) made THIS CARD that serves as the inspiration for CAS66. It was a fun card to work with!

For my first take, I rotated the card to be portrait rather than landscape but kept everything else the same. This card uses Hero Arts stamps, SU bordering blue cardstock, and PTI white cardstock. The ink is Palette Dark Chocolate. I LOVE this owl, and since owls are supposed to be wise, I chose to make it a THINKING of you card. Get it?

[I'm glad this is the internet so you can't dope slap me.]


The second card follows Kelly's sketch exactly, although I left out the piercing and ribbon in the interests of simplicity. The bling is enough, don't you think? (*wink*)


There is no connection I can think of between umbrellas and thinking, but this sentiment looked best out of all the sentiments in PTI's Scattered Showers set. I wanted to use the "Love you rain or shine" sentiment, but it looked too heavy, even stamped in London Fog (gray) Memento ink.

If you get a chance to play along with this week's CAS challenge, please do! It's a great sketch and very versatile (as my two very different cards show!). And keep in mind the new DT selection begins soon. I highly encourage y'all to try out. It's going to be fun!

Chocolate: It's Not Just for Breakfast

I found this stamp on sale at Michael's recently, laughed out loud, and put it in my basket. Because it's true. So very, very true.


Eat some chocolate today. It's good for you and it makes Mondays bearable. *wink*

Supplies
stamps: Hero Arts, Inkadinkado (sentiment)
ink: chocolate and passion pink SU markers, Palette dark chocolate
paper: passion pink, white, chocolate
accessories: square and scalloped punches, ribbon, dimensionals