I actually completed a sketch!

I'm not sure why I'm sketch challenged, but I am. They always look so fun! Somehow though, whenever I try one, it ends up in a pile of scrap paper and sheer frustration. Oy!
I happened upon a blog post about Sarah's birthday and blogoversary sketch challenge and thought that it looked like so much fun that I had to try it. (see? I keep getting caught up in the excitement!) I must have been totally out of my mind because it wasn't enough to just do the card - I made a bookmark too! :)
This is the set that I finally came up with. I fell in love with this paper from Little Yellow Bicycle and bought two sheets (the leaves and the one with the birds) of 12x12. Like I said, I'm sketch challenged so this used almost *all* of the bird paper and half of the leaf paper. Jeez!
Here's a better look at the card by itself. I used soft green card stock for the base - I believe I cut it to 6 1/2 by 8 because I couldn't see a way to fit everything on an A4 card. The three background panels and both bird panels are matted on light blue card stock. The main sentiment/image panel is matted on the soft green again.
The stamped bird (a clear stamp by Fiskars) was stamped on a small panel taken from the bird sheet - there was very little design in that area so it wouldn't compete. I inked up the bird with VersaMark first, then with a mix of Distress inks (Chipped Sapphire, Peeled Paint & Broken China) and finally gave it a little spritz of Perfect Pearls mist (in Pearl). Finally I stamped the sentiment over the top with Walnut Stain DI. Once that part was dry I went over the word "Fly" with a gold Spica pen. Actually, there is quite a bit of Spica pen on this card. All three bottom panels have Spica on the leaf outlines and the base green layer has doodles on the top and bottom. Some light blue dew drops and the ribbon completed it. (which sounds easy, but I assure you that it was *not*)
As for the bookmark.... Well, nothing was as easy as it should have been! ;D
I started with a small panel of the bird paper - I really didn't want to waste any so I just measured around the bird instead of going with an accepted size. I used some acetate that had been run through an embossing folder to position my flourishes and then poked them with a tool. I used two strands of each color floss on the different flourishes. I did try to match that dark blue bit on the bird - but it was so dark that I had to pick it out and try again. *sigh* Once I was done sewing I used Glossy Accents on the bird for dimension and shine, along with more Spica pen against the stitching.
I used the reverse side of the paper for the green mat. It has a subtle wood grain print that is gorgeous - too bad it doesn't match the soft green from the card! :) On the back of that is a layer of the leaf paper to cover all the stitches. The butterfly was an afterthought - I'm still not sure it was a good one. It is glued down, but the wings pop up - how long till they get torn off? :)
Anyway, there you have it. Several days of work! I am so very jealous of all the crafty people that can whip up a card in an hour. Even *more* jealous of people who can easily follow sketches!
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C & M fairy again, and a revision

After posting my last card I realized that I wasn't happy with the bright blue butterfly. Unhappy enough to actually go back and change it (which is something I *rarely* do).
Well, here:
I wasn't entirely sure of the color or size so I changed them both. This is actually from the same Martha Stewart punch - it's just the larger size. I punched it from the same kraft cardstock as the image panel, stamped it with a Basic Grey flourish in Colorbox white ink before gluing it down in place of the original. I'm *still* not sure that it's the best thing for that spot. I do like it much better than the original blue one. Enough that I'm willing to leave it alone now. How about you? Would you leave it alone? :)










Now for the new card. Strangely enough, it uses the same digital stamp from Crafts and Me, in the exact same size, on a background of kraft and brown cardstock. I also used the same brown pencil, a white pencil, white Colorbox ink and flourishes from Basic Grey. It looks entirely different though! :)
For this card I used the Out of the Box TJ technique to let her wing hang over the side of the nestie die cut. I outlined the fairy in white pencil and did all of the interior coloring with one brown pencil. Yes, *one*!
The next layer is stamped with the Basic Grey flourishes (several from the set) in white ink. I used a Martha Stewart edge punch to mimic the flower that the fairy is holding. That piece is layered over a piece of dark brown cardstock that was also punched with the MS flower edge to give it some depth. I ran some thread around those two layers with a few simple beads for interest. I really wanted to add a sentiment, but just couldn't find one that fit the mood. *sigh*
Finally I stamped the same flourishes on the base card using Antique Linen Distress Ink. I also used the SU! ticket corner punch on the base to echo the fairy panel. You can't see it in the picture, but there is a bit of Spica pen around the layers and on her wings. Not much, but IRL it adds a subtle shine. *Love* that!
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Another digi stamp

I've run across some really gorgeous things lately. First there was this stamp from Crafts and Me in the UK. Ok, there were some others that I loved as well, but Poppy was the one I bought. ;)
Then there was this painting (also available as a digi stamp) which just jumped into my imagination and wouldn't let go. Still hasn't in fact (I'm actually working on another card with the same stamp also on kraft & using white pencil).
This is what came out of that inspiration:
Poppy was printed on kraft cardstock then allowed to dry for several days. All of the white was colored with a pastel pencil (not wax or oil based) then rubbed with a sponge (or finger!) and reapplied until I liked the depth. Unfortunately, I learned that pastel pencil sort of dissolves under stickles. Originally the wings were *very* white! :D
Her hair was colored with several different shades of brown pencil (regular colored pencil, not pastels). I colored the leaves and the flower with pencil at first, then went over them with smooch for extra pizazz. If you look closely you can see that I cut and embossed with a nestie (curved rectangles) and used some Distress Ink around the edges. I wanted a bit more definition so I ran the white pencil around the embossed edge and then smudged it so that it would look soft IRL. I don't know *why* it took on such a hard edge in the photo!
The sentiment was actually a part of a flower stamp from Hampton Art done in Colorbox ink on the same kraft paper. Some of the dots are done with white smooch - too bad I couldn't get it to show well in the picture. *sigh* Both the flower and the butterfly are done with the same color of blue smooch - although looking at it now I want to make the butterfly larger and not as solid colored.
The base card was embossed in the cuttlebug then attacked with stickles. Ok, maybe just rubbed a bit! ;D
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Have you seen my missing mojo?

If so, would you ask it (ever so nicely) to return to me? Thanks, I'd appreciate it! ;D
I will admit that I've spent much of what I had on a new blog background. Which isn't perfect yet, but *is* a WIP that I intend to finish up soon!
I do have a card to show you. Not spectacular, but worth showing I think. Somehow it went completely sideways - you see, it didn't want to be what I intended! I was trying for the Neutral Shadows technique again, but a little altered. Well, look:
I stamped the image on a piece of asian newspaper (that I adhered to white c/s for strength) and embossed it with white powder. Using a small stippling brush I added Antique Linen Distress Ink around the branches and a little Peeled Paint to the leaves (which is not a part of the technique, but I couldn't resist). It didn't look the way I wanted it to - in fact it was *ugly* - so I spritzed it with Perfect Pearl Mist and set it aside to dry.
The background was another piece of the paper (again, backed with white c/s) and edged with more Antique Linen. I found the soft green ribbon in my stash and added it to the card. Once I added the main stamped panel I realized that it was too blah looking. I found some soft green Radiant Pearls in my stash and brushed some *very* diluted color over the back panel.
The white embroidery thread and asian inspired coin were the final touch before adhering the whole thing to a white base.
So. Not at all what I wanted, and certainly not as exciting as I planned. But in the end I think it works fairly well.
Thanks for dropping by!

Returning to a more familiar style

Recently I've been doing a lot of coloring with pencils and copics. There is always so much to learn - new techniques, old techniques that I've never done, new mediums... you name it! Don't get me wrong, I love to try new ways to do things, but sometimes I start to feel like a "jack of all trades, master of none". How about you?
This week I returned to my inky roots (no, my actual roots didn't get inky!) and got my hands dirty. Boy, were they dirty! :D
This gorgeous image is from a set by Hampton Art that I found at Michael's (they have a 50% off coupon this week!) recently. I paired it with a technique from the new TJ newsletter - Neutral Shadows. I think it would have gone a lot easier if I actually had stencil brushes (which I bought a GIANT set at JoAnn's tonight for $2.99 - expect to see this technique again!) to do it with. The stamp was embossed with white powder on white paper then (theoretically) brushed with a neutral color of ink (I used Pumice Stone DI). I couldn't leave it looking quite so plain IRL, so even though you can't see it here (I say that a lot, don't I?) it was spritzed with Ranger's new Perfect Pearl mist and sparkles like crazy!
The background piece started out as a plain piece of white c/s, run through the Clockworks embossing folder with Pumice Stone ink on one side. While the ink was still wet I dusted it with Heirloom Gold perfect pearls then spritzed it with Midnight Blue Glimmer Mist (instead of water) to set the perfect pearls. The piece(s) down the side are a Cuttlebug die cut - unfortunately they don't put any label on their products so I don't know the name of this die/set and I couldn't find it on the Provo Craft site. It's actually two of the same edge die, heavily colored with Pumice Stone and dusted with perfect pearls to match the background.
Although the stamp set came with some gears, they were too intricate for me to feel comfortable cutting them out. Instead I inked up the embossing folder again and used that to stamp on a piece of grunge board and cut that out (once it was cut out I inked it heavily and dusted with pp also). The world nail head was silver and didn't look good at all, but that was fixed with a quick dab of Latte alcohol ink. It isn't clear in the photo, but there was a bit of black lace woven through the teeth of the nail head before I attached it with pop dots to the gear.
The final element was the black enamel accents. I found a flourish that I liked, embossed it on a piece of leftover acetate and used that for a piercing template on the card. I didn't pierce deeply, just a pin prick! Once I had the design ready I went along dotting with the enamel accents (whoops, do *not* pay any attention to the flub!) I also used some white enamel accents along the side (on the die cut), but it was much too stark so I dusted those with even *more* perfect pearls while still wet!
I'll admit, this card looks pretty cool in the picture. Trust me on this, IRL it's shiny and dimensional and very, very cool! I *love* it! And I loved getting my hands dirty! :D
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Another Just Some Lines

What can I say? This little girl image from Just Some Lines has the *best* hair for me to learn how to color! :) I have practiced on some other images, but they're not ready for their public debut yet (heh, or maybe ever). You should know, there is *at least* one more card with this little girl coming - with black hair (yup, I think I've got it figured out! woo hoo!).
So, as I said last time, I watched a great video about coloring brown hair on YouTube. I'll admit that it isn't perfect - but it is far, far better than anything I've managed to produce when left to my own devices! ;)
Once again I used the Level Up technique from TJ - this one came together a little better than the last. It's just a matter of learning where to cut your layers and which parts will look best on top. This particular one only has her legs colored on the base image. Then a layer with the shoes, the dress and her face. A layer with her hair and arm next, followed (finally!) with the top layer of hair. I think I left enough support this time! ;)
In case you're interested in this sort of thing, I used E25, E33, E51 & a touch of E57 for her hair. I also used C9 & 7 for her shoes, BG10 & 72 for her dress and E00 & 21 for her skin. Unfortunately it's almost impossible to see that the flower in her hair and the one in her hand was colored with red Smooch.
The base layer of the image was stamped with the Hero Arts Friends definition stamp (after I masked her legs) with Scattered Straw distress ink. Once that was dry I stamped the HA polka dot background and heat embossed with an embossing powder from Cow Town called "Cow of Many Colors" - isn't that a great name? :) It changes color the longer you heat it - which is why some of the dots look almost green/blue and some look orange/gold. Awesome!
The base layer was cut with nesties first - then I glued on all the layers for the little girl. Running it through my 'bug with all the layers seems to smash it down a bit - and I didn't work this hard just to smash it! *lol*
After it was cut I edged the panel with a little Antique Linen Distress Ink, added a bit of lace and some pearls and called it done. You can tell that I popped it up a bit over the dotty background paper. What you can't tell is that the yellow of the definition stamp and the yellow layer actually go very well together. They very, very nearly match.
I swear the camera has a mind of it's own. *sigh*
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Two different looks

First, let me say that these two cards are the *same* card. I bought an adorable image from Just Some Lines and couldn't wait to color her. :) I used a Technique Junkies technique called Level up - which requires a significant amount of fussy cutting (not my favorite thing to do!) but allows me to color messily. This particular image was printed four times on a sheet of paper, then certain parts of the image were colored, cut out and adhered over the base image. Make sense? ;)
As you can tell, the scrapbook paper I used for the last card I posted was still on my table. So I used that for the color palette, mat and flower accents. The girl was colored with a mish mash of pencils and OMS - Copics around the edges. The sentiment was printed on a sheet of card stock and cut out with a nestie. Of course I used the same 'dotty' technique around it - it looked a little too plain without! Some smooch and pearls on the flowers and part of one of those swirly flourishes and I thought I was done.
A bit later, I was trying to color black hair on a different image. Oy! Now *there* is something that truly defeats me! I finally got the bright idea to see if there were any tutorials on YouTube - sure enough, I found a couple (that I will attempt to try at a later date) that made it look doable. Somehow I ended up watching several different videos about coloring hair, mostly with Copics, and I found this one. I pulled out several of my Copics (close to, but not exactly the same numbers as she uses) and gave it a try. Wow! It being my first try I wasn't expecting much - but I was amazed at the results. Unfortunately, (a) the hair was colored with markers and looked too vibrant with the girl done in pencil; and (b) I was working on a girl that was printed about 1/2 inch larger than the original image used on this card. *sigh* (I am working on a Copic colored version of this card - look for it sometime soon.)
The good thing about watching the video was that it gave me some ideas about coloring hair - even with pencils. However, there was no way I was going to be able to match the size of the image again exactly (save those files!) and I just didn't want to waste a bunch of time trying to get close enough.
So I did what any crafty crafter would do... I used an eraser! ;D
I erased a roundish section of hair in the middle of that larger area and a smaller section on her bangs. After adding some yellow, red & brown to those sections I went back and added a touch of black to the ends and where her part would lay. Not a lot! Just enough to give it some more contrast and dimension.
Aside from the fact that this picture is better (go figure - this one was taken *inside* because it is literally 5 degrees outside today and the other was taken *outside* a few days ago when it was nearly 70 degrees) I can honestly say that she looks more dimensional to me. How about to you?
Thanks for dropping by!