Thank you all so much for your kind comments about my colouring for Copic 4 that I posted on Sunday. I really do think I have grown in confidence since doing it, and it's made me want to keep practising when I can. I still have so much to learn - light source and shading is my constant bugbear - but when people are encouraging it makes you want to go on!
This card was made on my recent crafty weekend with Lisa and Steph. Isn't this fairy utterly adorable? It's from a recent Clearly Besotted release and you know I can't resist those stamps.....
I started out by making my background panel with my Gansai Tambi Pearl Colours - yes, I will be getting the Gem Colours at some point, I can't resist these paints! I used them all to get rainbow colours.
I then took three die cuts of the MFT Snowdrifts Cover Up and glued them together and adhered them to the pearl background.
I then took a long time to work out what I wanted to have on top and I decided with all the pretty colours, the fairy was perfect. I coloured her with the Copics I'd taken with me and fussy cut her out. It was a pretty quick assembly when I got home onto a white card blank with the fairy on top. As usual, I couldn't decide on a sentiment, so have left it blank. Sometimes a pretty fairy card doesn't need a sentiment, right?
I'm going to link this up to the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge which is showcasing MFT and also Anything Goes. Thanks so much for stopping by, it is truly appreciated, and as always, Happy Crafting!
Well, it's official, I have finished all four of the European Copic Colouring Programme classes today, with Class 4. Yay! Massively proud of myself :)
Today's class was adding onto what I learnt in Copic 3, folds, and ended with some no line colouring, something I really shy away from, as I struggle so much with light and shade. The folds section really went into more detail with the shading and I think I may be starting to understand.... note the maybe! I shall need to practice a lot more to really test it out.
I also did the colouring on Kraft class in the afternoon which I loved and will definitely try some more. I think the Kraft is pretty forgiving and you get a really subtle look with fewer markers.
As usual Faye was an amazing teacher - and even didn't give me too much of telling off for chatting a bit too much.... it's so nice seeing crafty friends, I can't help it! Thanks to everyone who bought some of my bags, so that I could invest in more stamping supplies - thank goodness for the pop up shop, eh? I will be back at more classes in September. They always give me a boost when I've been struggling to colour! If you fancy having a go at any of Faye's classes, all the details are on her website Stampin' Fluff N Stuff.
Hello! Did everyone have a good Easter break, despite the weather? I hope no one is melting too much with the sudden mini heatwave that has come upon us. Towards the end of the Easter holidays, I took myself off for a mini break at lovely Steph's house where we met up with lovely Lisa and spent a lot of time chatting, eating and crafting. Often at these events, I don't do a lot of crafting, mostly talking, but I surprised myself and I ended up making three cards and even tried out some new techniques. Somehow being in a different environment really helps!
I watched Ale Suta's video where she showed how to do this stencil background technique and it really inspired me to try it myself. I borrowed one of Lisa's stencils and several distress ink colours from Steph I don't have and blended away on a piece of Winsor and Newton Bristol Smooth I'd taken with me. I then cut it out with a stitched rectangle die from Simon Says Stamp.
The stamp is one of my NBUS from Simon Says Stamp which I've just coloured with some Copic markers.
I just fussy cut the images and adhered it to the background with a bit of foam to add some dimension. I just attached it to a white card blank.
It was so nice to get away and do some crafting and I'm really hoping it will become an annual thing. I shall post cards two and three over the next week. On Sunday I'm off to my Copic 4 class. Time to clean them I think!
Hope you enjoy the sunshine we have for now. Happy Crafting!
So this was originally the smallest haul video I'd done, when I got an email to say a local craft shop was closing down and they were having a closing down sale. As I'd been planning a visit next week for some fabrics, I popped over to Samuel Taylor's in Embsay (just outside Skipton) on Good Friday and picked up some things in the sale. I wouldn't say it was the best discount in the world on a closing down sale, but it's all things I'll use, and I got what I needed. It's not closing until the end of April, so I dare say I'll be back. You can watch my video below, or on YouTube:
Thanks so much for stopping by and Happy Crafting!
Some of you may have noticed that I've not been posting for my Design Teams on The Flower Challenge and The Card Concept. I made a hard decision to come off both teams last month as I was struggling to manage with it and starting work. Much as I enjoyed both teams, I find it extremely hard to think of cards to make when asked to do so. My hat is off to all my crafty friends who are on Design Teams! Sometimes, however, I can find the brain power to enter a card that fits a challenge, and in this case it was the CAS Colours & Sketches #265.
I loved the sketch as it was nice and clear and simple. I was sent this image by a kind crafty friend some time ago and somehow it just fit the bill perfectly. I love owls and this had to be coloured in the brightest colours I could find - yellows, orange and pink. As I don't have a flag die, I masked one over this Uniko stencil that I got in a recent haul and blended over some yellow and orange distress inks. I fussy cut the owl and the cute little ladybird and made the sentiment flag myself with an Avery Elle small alphabet set.
It really did come together nice and quickly and simply and it will be going out in the post soon - I have so much happy mail to send it's not true! Thank you for taking the time to visit me today. It really is very much appreciated. Happy Crafting!
Well, here it is, the last day of Mermaid Week! I hope you've enjoyed all my creations so far. Now this one is special to me because I was given the stamped image on a panel at the very first Colouring Challenge Road Trip in Edinburgh last August. I intend to buy this set as soon as I can - Honey Bee are now being stocked in Dies to Die For - and so I hope you'll forgive me not actually owning it quite yet.
It's a fabulously cheery mermaid and I knew exactly what I wanted to do with her. I wanted to give her the coloured pencil treatment and to use my black pencil for highlights and add a stencil around her just like Kathy does. I have a speed colouring video you can watch here or over on my YT channel:
I used my Polychromos and made sure I sharpened them often. I'm still not too happy with skin tones - I struggle with this with my Copics as well - but I enjoyed the challenge and the practice.
Thank you for sticking with me. I have so enjoyed using up my stash in as many different ways as possible and I enjoyed that they all turned out completely different. The only thing in common was that they were mermaids. Adieu Mermaids for a little while at least... Happy Crafting Everyone!
I do like digi stamps for their price and the fact they are very easy to store. The only thing I find is that as I don't see them - ie they are in a folder on my computer - I don't always automatically think of them. However, I have been following Patricia's drawing and colouring on IG and when I saw the mermaid digi stamps, I knew I had to have one.
I printed her out on Make It Colour Blending paper and coloured her in with my Copic markers. I then fussy cut her out - yes the hair was a bit of a challenge! I used my distress inks and my wave stencil from Create A Smile to create the background. I deliberately moved the stencil when using different inks to add more waves. I then die cut the panel out with my WPlus9 Sending Sunshine die and adhered it to a white card blank. The sentiment is from the Clearly Besotted mermaid set you saw in my Wednesday post.
I will be back tomorrow with my final card and a video as well. If you do feel inspired, please tag me on IG and use the hashtag #ruthsmermaidweek. Happy Mermaid Crafting!
