Several Challenges Rolled Into One..

My card today is made for three challenges… first, the Christmas Stampin’ All Year Long weekly challenge…hosted this week by Vicki of  Summerthyme Studio. Second, for  Adela’s sketch challenge at Paper Craft Planet (sk082909), and last for the 11th Copics Challenge hosted by Mary G.

For “CSAYL”, Vicki’s challenge is to create a card using the traditional Christmas colors of  Red, green, and a dash of silver or gold.

For the sketch portion, here’s Adela’s layout challenge for this week.

And for the Copics Challenge, we are to use our favorite colors.. well mine are definitely cranberry tones and deep, warm green. These are the colors I find most comforting in my home.

For my card, I used an image from Mo’s Digital Pencil… part of the Bella ‘n Bronte collection that she has created. I’ve working diligently on Christmas cards using several of Mo’s images. The details are a blast to color using Copics or Prisma pencils.

Thanks for stopping by.. enjoy your day. Until next time,

Details: Copic markers, red designer paper, SU Handsome Hunter, SU circle punches, SU corner punch, DeNami ribbon, Bow Easy bow maker, SU Dimensionals, 80# white cardstock, Sakura gel pen, Sakura glitter pen.

Jingle All The Way…

You know when a project or a plan comes together the way you intended? Well, that’s what I can say today regarding this card.. I really LOVE the way this card came out.. it’s exactly how I imaged it would be. I didn’t get straight to sleep last night and I sketched this card and colored the image in my head while tossing and turning. Do you do that???

This is “Jingle Bells” from Mo’s Digital Pencil.

I resized the imaged down slightly, but intentionally left it just larger than the largest rectangle Nestability that I have… so I could paper-piece the little cattle dog, Bronte. I envisioned him just hanging over the side of the image. This reminded me of my three pups with their gutteral howling when the sirens go by our home… so funny!! Hope you like it as much as I enjoyed making it.

 

And here’s a close up shot showing more of the dimensions that I added to the song book and the pup…. My oldest son suggested that I slightly tilt the popped up items to better show the dimensions… I like that idea a lot.

 

Thanks for stopping by.. enjoy your day.. and be safe in all you do!!

Details:  Copic markers, Sakura gel pen, 80# white cardstock, SU Old Olive cardstock, misc DP, SU dimensionals, paper piecing, Bazzill cranberry textured cardstock, Sakura glitter pen, music notes Cuttlebug folder.

Mercy’s Tuesday Sketch Challenge #36

Hi everyone.. I hope that you are enjoying your Tuesday.

I’ve always enjoyed seeing all of the card creations of a super-talent lady, Mercy Kerin. I’ve been following Mercy’s amazing work (and that of her talented design team) and thought it was about time I jumped in and got involved a bit trying some of her terrific sketch challenges.

Here’s the card I made for Mercy's Tuesday Sketch Challenge #36 (MTSC36).

My card is made using the cute illustration “John” from Mo’s Digital Pencil. If you haven’t been there for a visit, I encourage you to check it out.

Aren’t little guys always the cutest after a bath when all the layers of dirt wash away.. and then while they are fast asleep? That’s when my two always looked like little angels.

Thanks for stopping by.. and enjoy your day.

Details: I colored this with Prisma and Lyra pencils, blended with OMS, papers are 80# white linen, DCWV Citrus designer pack, Ribbon from Michael’s, SU heart punch, DMC floss, SU mat pack, Fiskars pinking shears, SU Tempting Turquoise.

Baby, sweet baby

This is Michael, a sweet little angel from the shop at Mo's Digital Pencil.

 

 

 

And here’s a close up of the colored image.

 

 

 

I colored this with Copic markers and added a bit of Sakura Gelly Roll Clear Star to his halo and wings. The sentiment was created in MSWord with Lucinda Calligraphy font and ribbon is from Martha Stewart.

 

I knew when I first saw this image that I had to make a doorknob tag. I think this would make the perfect topper for a baby shower gift.

Thanks for stopping by… enjoy your day.

More Mo Inspiration

Hello everyone... 'hope you are enjoying your Wednesday. It's pretty damp here in the KC area. Lots of rain this week and more thunderstorms on the way. But a great time to be inside and catching up on crafting projects.

If you have been a follower of Mo's Digital Pencil, you know who this is... it's Mummu and she's just one of the favorite characters of Mo's viewers! Mummu can be found in all sorts of scenarios, knitting, riding her bike, and even hanging laundry... (I finally found a perfect card for using a miniature clothespin).






And my final card for this post is entitled "Harvest Dance".


All can be found at Mo's online digital store where there are new sketches available every day… can you believe that? What’s a stamper to do??

Thanks for stopping by, enjoy your day, stay dry, and be safe in all you do.

Digi Days

I’ve been busy with some projects that I wanted to show you. These are some of the latest sketches from a new company in the digital stamp world… Mo’s Digital Pencil. If you haven’t tried digitals you should check them out. But beware.. they are addictive! This is an opportunity for instant gratification…No waiting for the UPS man to show up!

This little baby is part of the “Bunch of Babies” set. I used Prisma pencils, Nestabilities die to emboss the circle around the little guy, SU corner and slot punch, misc designer paper, white cardstock. Ribbon is from Michael’s and diaper pin from Creative Impressions, the sentiment is computer generated.

This image was inspired by a character in one of Mo Manning’s children’s book “The Aunts Go Marching”.

Thanks for stopping by. Enjoy your day, have a few laughs along the way, and be safe in all you do.

Time Out To Salute…

Hello everyone in blog land. I hope that your day is going well and you are enjoying summer.

I had the opportunity to visit my oldest son for “Family Weekend” which happened to follow a very significant event…the successful completion of Army Boot Camp. Completing Boot Camp signifies officially becoming a ‘soldier’… and the ceremony includes soldiers removing their camouflage caps and donning the Army black beret for the first time.

To mark this event, I made a card using “Time Out To Salute” from Mo Manning’s digital collection. Mo also has different hats for our armed forces (and rumor has it that there will be hats for firemen, policemen, etc. in the near future).

 

This card was a huge hit. The hats are adhered with Velcro so they are interchangeable.

And here’s a picture of my personal Patriot in his new beret.

Thanks for stopping by… enjoy your day, have a laugh or two, and be safe in all you do.

 

Details: White linen, SU Kraft and red linen paper, Copic Markers, Velcro, Sentiment: MFT, SU ticket corner punch.

Coloring with Prismacolor Pencils

Hello stampers.. and welcome to my first tutorial. Because so many of you have so kindly asked and left me so many wonderful comments, I’ll be showing you how I use Prisma and Lyra pencils to color my images.

For this tutorial, I’m using an image from Mo’s Digital Pencil. This type of sketch is ideal for coloring, blending, and shading.

I printed this image onto Neenah Classic Crest Solar White, 80# weight paper. Sometimes I use the same manufacturer’s white linen cardstock which gives a textured look to the coloring, but it’s entirely up to you.

To get the most out of this tutorial, why don’t you grab this image and follow along… that will give you a really good feel for what I do when I’m coloring.



Supplies you will need:





An image for coloring



Gamsol (or odorless mineral spirits, aka OMS)



Tortillons and/or blending stumps (see this link for more information http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tortillon)



Sanford’s Prismacolor Pencils (these are wax-based pencils.. watercolor pencils will not work with this technique) or Lyra Polycolor pencils.



Lyra Skin Tones Polycolor pencils.





oh… and a glass of wine (makes the blending go smoothly!!)





It’s important to determine the direction of your light source when coloring an image. In this image, I’ve decided that my light source is coming from the lower right-hand side… just about where the small pumpkin is on the right.



Begin by lightly coloring pumpkins using various shades of orange. Notice that I made the pumpkins on the left a bit darker by simply loading more of the color I used on that one. I did that because it’s farthest away from the light source. Then, take a sip of wine.



For the pumpkins, I’ve used the following Prisma pencils:


Orange PC918


Vermillion Clair PC921


Orange Mineral PC1033


Pumpkin Orange PC1032


Crimson Red PC924


Spanish Orange PC1003





and now I’ve blended them using a tortillion dipped in Gamsol. This may look ‘yellow’, but it’s just the quality of the photo.. the pumpkins are really done in different shades of orange as indicated above.







Here I’ve added color to his sweater, jeans, shoes, face and the pumpkin he’s holding.. I used Electric Blue PC1040 for his jeans, Limepeel, PC1005 for the sweater, Beige Sienna PC1080 for his sneakers and Lyra 93432 from their Skin Tone collection.





and then blended everything.





If you were to stop at this point you’d have a lovely picture.. but no depth.. Now the fun begins. I’ve now added another layer of color around the areas that will be darker and some Magenta to the tops of the stripes on his sweater.







and then blended them to remove any indication of pencil lines… then a sip of wine.









Now I’ve added a darker green (Moss Green PC1097) to some areas of the sweater on the left side, added deeper shades of orange and Carmine Red PC926 to areas of the pumpkins, and Denim Blue PC1101 to edges of the jeans.







I’ve added some blush to his cheeks and blended everything.






Did some more blending on his face after loading a bit more Peach PC939 on his cheeks.. and blended again.







This is just a lighter version of the photo above and also shows where I very lightly added some Chartreuse PC989 around the boy and pumpkins…







and then blended it moving away from the image.



The final image (better photo)

…here I’ve cropped the photo.





I have found that coloring with pencils can give me some of the best shading and highlighting. Even though I own about 300 Copic markers, I still elect to use this coloring technique for most of my coloring.





Some hints:

• Reserve a tortillon or blending stump for every color that you use.. one for light greens, one for dark greens, one for light skin tones, one for darker skin tones. It prevents bleeding of previous colors that might still be left on the stump. They are inexpensive and well worth having many on hand.

• Hold the blending tortillons on an angle – about 15 degrees or so when blending so you are using the side of the stump, not the point.

• Don’t over-sharpen pencils.. I prefer not to have a sharp point to lay color. The pencils have very soft lead and will tend to break if you over-sharpen.

• Don’t forget that ‘white’ is a color… and leaving some areas white or VERY light help to create depth in your work.

• Remember that there are many shades of a color that you can create…for example.. pumpkins range from medium/dark yellow shades to dark orange-red shades.. so use colors to lighten and darken your work. For example.. use some dark yellows in the pumpkin in the lighter areas… and lay bits of red for the darkest areas. Don’t forget to blend out the pencil lines.

I hope that you enjoyed this tutorial. For me, coloring is a fantastic stress reducer, a great focal point for your card-making projects and very satisfying when it comes out right!!

Once you try this method of coloring I would love to hear about the comments you get on your work, so please drop me a line. If you need more information just let me know.

Enjoy your day…. make sure to have a few laughs along the way, and be safe in all you do.

Monday, Monday

Hello everyone in blog world.. and welcome to the start of a new week… which often means we’re refreshed from a great weekend, have great inspiration from other crafters and are now anxious to get back to our craft rooms to rock and roll!

I’m not wishing our long-awaited Summer away.. it took sooo long to get here after we experienced a crummy and very short Spring. But, I do LOVE Fall.. it’s my favorite season. Pumpkins, leaves that turn color and become crisp, beautiful sunsets and sunrises… comfort food, fireplaces, the color of bittersweet and cool nights when a light sweater is perfect. Those are the things I love… how ‘bout you?

So, for me, Summer means that Fall is just around the corner.. and I can start to create cards for Fall, Halloween and Thanksgiving.

These images from Mo’s Digital Pencil are so inspirational and perfect; she has done it again. She’s knocked the cover off the ball.. and out of the park.  Look at these little punkin’s ready for pumpkin picking on a beautiful Fall day.

Here’s Patrick.. this cute image reminds me of “where’s Waldo”.. he blends in so well, doesn’t he? I think I chuckled all the way through coloring this little guy. I paper pieced the two pumpkins on the bottom right from an extra image, and also paper pieced the pumpkin in the bottom front – both were popped up with SU dimensionals. Photos just can’t seem to capture the dimension we often add.

Many of my followers have asked if I would give more information on how I use Prisma and Lyra pencils.. if there’s enough interest, I’ll prepare a tutorial on my blog so you can follow along.. just leave me a comment and let me know. I would love to show you a few tricks for using pencils.

As always, thanks for stopping by.. and be safe in all you do.

Details:  Both digital images from Mo’s Digital Pencil, plain white and linen cardstock, black cardstock, SU Kiwi Kiss cardstock, SU designer paper, Sizzix leaf dies, misc designer paper, SU dimensionals, computer generated sentiment for Patrick, SU sentiment  from “Tiny Talk” on first card.

More Mo Mojo!

(Whew…say that fast three times) Talk about fun projects! It’s been a busy week here in my Craft Grotto. I’ve been creating cards with all kinds of digital images from Mo’s Digital Pencil…and each one I see I just have to have.

This little pig is Harry and his mouse friend is Archie. I think we’ll see a lot more of these two cuties in different settings as the possibilities for them seem endless.

This last sketch is so imaginative… and unlike anything I’ve seen in the stamp world. I wish I had this image in time for my recent Secret ‘Sistah’ swap.

Don’t forget to stop by Mo’s blog to check out the free digital image she is offering. If you haven’t yet tried digital images just jump in.. the water is fine! And then you also will be hooked!

Enjoy your day.. and be safe in all you do.

Welcome to a new week

Hello everyone. Cheers to the start of a terrific week for all of us.

Today I’ve got two new darling images from Mo’s Digital Pencil to show you. The first is a Christmas image of two little boys.. the youngest is totally bored and probably frightened of Santa.. and the older brother has a wish list a mile along. I made this for the Christmas Stampin’ All Year Long challenge. The criteria this week is to create a card and decorate the inside. I’m usually guilty of leaving the inside of my cards blank allowing the user to create their own message.. slightly ‘generic’…  But for this challenge (although there’s no pic of the inside) it reads “May all your Christmas wishes come true”..and this little guy is hoping his wishes all come true.

The second is Mummu… you’ve seen her before on my blog, but this time she is rockin’. Mummu has a great attitude. and my interpretation is that she’s having a great time hearing music that perhaps only she can hear. Isn’t she having fun? Check out those sandals… they might even be BIrkenstocks!

 

Both cards were colored with Copics.. For the Christmas card, the paper is white, navy and red linen and embossed with the snowflake Cuttlebug folder.. “Mummu” is made from white linen, Bazzill lime, black linen and the corner decoration is using an SU punch. Check out all of the darling digital stamps that Maurie Manning has for sale at her site.

It’s a Digital Kinda Day!

Happy Saturday everyone.. and for those who jump start our economy every day… enjoy your time off!! This week has been filled with exciting stuff… I’ve won lotteries in the UK, Ireland, Nigeria, Sudan, and throughout Asia… I’ve also had close family members I’ve never heard of in England, Chad, the Congo and other parts of South Africa leave me millions and millions of dollars (bazillions!!) in their wills.. Yep, I’ve been overwhelmed with spam this week. How ‘bout you?

Really… I’ve been busy creating.. and have so many cards and projects to show you that I’m posting three today… all of which are inspired by great digital stamps.

The first is a digital image from Dustin' Pike's newest release and the card is for the Design D.I.V.A.S. challenge at my Splitcoast blog group. Our theme is Christmas in July and the challenge required snowflakes somewhere on our project. I used a scallop Sizzix die to cut the olive paper, used green and turquoise for a non-traditional look and colored with Copics. Did you know you can create polka dots by lighting touching the color with the tip of the colorless blender as I did with the scarf and hatband. I added liquid appliqué to the cuffs on the boots and shirt and used a heat gun to puff it up and create a furry look.

For the second card I used the tulip image from the KLM Digital Designs collection. This striking image was created by Sue West of KLM and it’s… just perfect for coloring with Prisma pencils.. my favorite!! Check out all of their fantastic digital stamps and get some inspiration while visiting.

My third card is for the DareU2DigiStamp Friday challenge. I love this challenge and the opportunity to touch base with friends across the Pond and see all the inspiration and talent that Chris, Sandra, and their design team put together. This week’s challenge is to create a card (or project) using pink, black and white.
For my third card, I used this digi stamp from Mo’s Digital Pencil. Maurie Manning is brand new to the digital stamp world and the details in her sketches are amazing. You have to check them out.. she’s posting new items every day.

Thanks for stopping by, enjoy your day (check your email for lottery wins!!) and be safe in everything you do.