A Card for My Guy While He's Away

I have been seriously missing my guy while his is gone for work. So, I decided to make him a care package with some candy and a card to let him know how much I missed him. 

For the care package I was sent him some Japanese Kit Kats in green tea and vanilla flavors. And I also sent him some Aero bars in green tea. I also added some treats from a dog that is near where he worked.
 

For the card I used some Just Rite stamps I already had. The background stamp is called Time Flies and was designed by Amy Tedder. It features a pocket watch with the banner across that you can add a sentiment to. I added a sentiment (sending my love), also by Just Rite, that was curved to fit in banners like this.

 

To create the card I first did a stamp with brown Memento ink of the whole background. I colored it in lightly with soft E Copics, aiming for a washed look. Next, I stamped the wings, watch and "tail" sections and fussy cut them out. I colored the with Copics (BG 00 & 02 for wings, G22 & G00 for "tail"). I added a touch of stickles to the wings. Then, with Versamark ink,  I stamped just the watch and embossed it with Stampendous bronze powder. I then fussy cut out the embossed pocket watch. Finally, I stamped the image so it was justvthe banner, again with Momento. Inside the banner I stamped my sentiment. (I was originally planning to use a glue stamp pad and fine glitter for the sentiment, but that method did not seem legible.) I once again used embosssing powder, this time in blue. The banner itself was coloered with pale R Copics.

To assemble the card I first put down the large backgrounds now then I added pop dots to the back of all the fussy cut pieces.  Then, starting with the largest piece, I lined the up with the main image and attached. This created a layered, 3D card. The whole image was attached to card base and was ready to mail to my sweetie.

My ATC card for CI's July trade.

The theme for July was Books. This was a really fun theme because there are so many different ways to go. Like do you do something about reading, or a specific book or images of books? I choose to go with reading as the main focus.
 

Once again, I choose a Some Odd Girl digi stamp, this one is of Mae reading. It is colored and shaded with Copics and fussy cut. (The old fashioned way this time.)  In the background is a card that looks lije a book page. It is from a set i bought that were close to ATC dimensions. I thought they were so cute, I even cut up the cover page and used the tiny preview cards. I attachedvthem to tge cardcwith a tiny Tim Holtz paper clip. I inked the edges of both with brown ink.
  

As embellishments to finish the ATC, I added a few bits of bling and a punvhed glitter heart. And to the bottom, the phrase "I ♡ to read" with a plastic strip style label maker.

I think it came out cute and makes me think of books and reading.  What do you think? Would you have tackled the subject of books as a general theme (like I did) or been inspired by a specific book?

The ATC trade is the last Sunday of the Month at Custom Impressions. Please call ((562) 430-8100) for details and themes. Hope to see you next month! 

June ATC for Custom Impressions' Trade

The theme for the ATC trade at Custom Impressions this month is Lace.

I choose a digital stamp by Some Odd Girl. It is a Princess Tia stamp. I choose it because she is so cute and gleeful i thought it went with a princessy lacy look. I colored it with Copics and Wink of Stella pens. I did the fussy cut around the stamp using the print and cut feature on my Eclips. This was my first try doing this and it worked pretty good. I need to practice centering more.

For the background of the ATC, I sprayed Prima Bloom over a floral mask. I then added a strip of lace that I had also colored with Prima Bloom sprays. (Both with Gold and Tea colors.) The lace looked way more brown than the sparkling gold I was hoping for, so I added some gold stickles to try and increase the sparkle factor. 

I have to admit that this ATC did not end up l quite like I originally envisioned it. I wanted more sparkly, princess. I think its ok, and I really like how the Eclips worked and the coloring of the stamp. But the lace just seemed to end up blah, and that should have been the wow factor.

Do you guys think its blah too? What do you when a plan starts to go awry? Do you start over or try and fix it? For me it depends on time, how about you?

The ATC trade is the last Sunday of the Month at Custom Impressions. Please call ((562) 430-8100) for details and themes. Hope to see you next month!  

ATCs, Small Canvases With Big Art

If you havent heard of them, ATCs are original art pieces done on a 2.5 x 3.5 sized paper or canvas. (This is the sized of a baseball card or playing card.) You create a limited quanity. (Usually the number of people in the group or a pre agreed upon amount.) And frequently there is a theme or subject for the card. And then you trade. So you get cards created by other artists. Its really cool and quite fun. 

Back in March, I started creating ATCs to trade with a group called the Art Therapy Club, that my friend Blacque Diamond started. I made three cards for the Art Therapy Club.

The first card is for the theme Quotes. It was made with Graphic 45's Couture, Typography and Staples (washi tape). All these elements had different quotes on them. I then conected all the pieces with a o-ring, twine and bling that i think is from Teresa Collins' Blingage line. Since I was really new at making ATCs, it is very interactive which i have found out is unusual to do.

 

My second card was for the Disney theme. For this card I did what is sometimes called a hug. This is created by making the card twice as big and folding it in half. This lets you use more or larger images on an ATC. On the front of the card, I printed a line drawing of the Cheshire Cat. I then doodled in the stripes. After finishing that, I used Copics to lightly color the Cheshire Cat and thd background. On the inside, i printed a quote from Alice In Wonderland and doodled a floral design at the top. I also colored this doodle with Copics. On the back, I hand drew the cat's grin floating in space. The doodling was a lot of tiny hand work, but I think it came out cool and was happy with the result.

The last card was a free theme and we were encouraged to make something that represented what we liked. So I did a steampunk shoe theme. (Lol.) I did a hug style card again. On the front and inside, I used Stampendous stamps of Steampunked up shoes. (well not just any shoes, but the ruby slippers.) Over the stamp I used some gold pen and Wink of Stella to give it some depth and sparkle. I also added a metal corner to the front. And inside I also added some red stickles and red bling.  And on the back is a small piece of Graphic 45 (who else!) Couture paper of the shoe pattern. I really enjoyed making this card and feel like it represents my style. And this may be my favorite do far.

 

I am now part of a bigger trading group (also headed by Blacque Diamond) It meets at Custom Impressions. We make just 10 cards to trade. So its really easy and low stress. The ATC trade is the last Sunday of the Month at Custom Impressions. Please call ((562) 430-8100) for details and themes. Hope to see you next month!

Here is my first card for the CI ATC group. The theme was flowers. I stamped my card with the center part of a Prima Bloom stamp and colored it with Copics. I added a little glitter and pearl pen to accents parts of the design. I think it came out pretty and I like how the stamp fills the whole space.

Do you make ATCs? Do you trade online? In meet ups? Or by mail?

Anniversary Card, Year Two

This April 30 Will and I gave been living together for two years. To celebrate we went to Disneyland's California Grand Adventure

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Here is the image for the card I made for Will. It is a Stamping Bella stamp I purchased through Quick Creations. I really loved the sentiment on it. "If nothing lasts forever, will you be my nothing?" And the image of the couple kissing under the umbrella is adorable! I used my Copics to color the image.

My Methods for Copic Skin & Hair Part 2: Darker & Curlier

This is part two of my Copic technique.  Again I can;t say if I am doing this the proper way.  I am not Copic certified or anything but self trained.  I learned most of what I know about drawing and shading from years of practice and learning how to look at objects in real life.  To be honest I think that is where you can understand shading the best, by looking at a photo and seeing where the lights and darks fall.  In theis post I am going to go over a darker skin tone, black hair with Cool grey and how I color curly hair,  I am using another digi stamp image by La-La Land crafts.  It is called "Coloring Marci." (Again, please respect the artists and designers of these wonderful stamps.)

These are the colors that I have choosen for my skintone. E11, E13, E15 & E18.  I begin by laying down E11 (the lightest color) over the whole face.  It is ok if it is a bit streaky because there will be additional layers of color to cover it and even it out,

I added a shadow in E13 around the edge of the face and below the hairline to start giving depth.

 

I then blended the shadow using E11

   

 I then added more depth by making a darker shadow line in E15.

  

 And blended it with the E13 and E11.

 (For a medium skin tone you could stop here and make sure everything is well blended.) I added a final layer of shadow with the E18.

And i blended it with the E15-E11 pens.

For blush and lip color I used the E04.

 Now I am ready to color the hair.  I am starting with the area above the headband.

And for the black hair I am using: C9, C7, C5, C3 and C1

I started with the C7 along the top for head and behind top of headband. (This part will be similar to the straight hair we did in part 1.)

 I followed that with a layer of the C5.

 Then I blended in the C3.

 And lastly the C1 was blended in.

 I then added a scond layer of color over the first.  I started with the C9. to make the hair even darker.

 

 I then blended in the C7....

 C5, C3....

 

 and C1. And that finished the top part of the hair.

Now using the same set of colors I am starting on the curls at the bottom.

Using the C9 I start by deciding where the darkest parts of the hair would be.  I choose to make shadows below the headband, at the back of hair (by neck and behind shoulders), beneath the ears, the tips of the curls and anywhere the hair goes behind other hair. 

 I then blended that out in the direction of the curls with the C7.

 And the same with the C5.

 And then blend in the C3.

 And finally the C1. 

 And here is finished coloring of the darker skin and curly hair on the La La Land Craft's "Coloring Marci" stamp.

Thank you with sticking with me through two long tutorial posts.  I hope they help explain my thought process when coloring hair and skin with Copic markers.  I am going to add some other projects where I have used these techniques at the bottom of the post.  And I would love to see how you color hair and skin.  Have fun crasfting and coloring and I will see you again soon!

Another LaLa Land Crafts stap "Winter Marci" I colored her lips a deeper red here.

Here is one of the Gorjuss girl stamps with the darker hair and a much looser curl.

My Method for Copic Skin & Hair. Part 1: Light Skin & Brown Hair

When I color with my Copics at a crop or somewhere I often get asked how I do skin and hair.  (Ok I get asked more about hair, lol) So I wanted to make a post that kind of explains my method.   For this post I am going to do a pale skin tone with a medium (golden?) brown hair.  I am using a La La Land digi stamp - Angel Marci for my demo pictures. So, here we go!

These are the colors I am using for the skin- E000, E00, E02 & E11. To Start, I cover the whole face with E000. This first layer may be streaky or uneven- it will get covered. I try to leave a blank area around the eyes.

The next step is to add a line of the E00 around the hairline, ears and cheeks. basically any where there would be a shadow or where the edge of the face recedes.  Anything that is further away should be a bit darker than what is closer to the viewer. I then go over the lines of E00 with E000 with a "flicking" motion toward the center. (Trying had to avoid the eye area I left blank.)

 

I then basically do the same process with the E02 of shading around the edge of the face the blending toward the center. First with the E00, Then the E000.  The skin will start to get a gradient or I guess ombre effect that gives a more rounded appearance.

And this is the last of the flesh color pens added in the same way, E11. Which is then blended out with the E02, Then and E00 and finally a last blend out with the E000.  This last blend is where I try to get the skin even and well blended.

 

This is where I would add blush or lip color. I used R20 here. (ou will see it better on hair pictures.) and blend it with E000 to soften.

 This is also a good point to do any clean up with the blender pen. If there are any stray marks in the eye area or hair they an be gently lightened with the blender.

Now on to the hair!

I choose A blending set in the E20 range. The lightest and darkest tones will be used sparingly so focus on middle shades when picking a color. I wanted to do a mid range brown with a golden sheen to it.

I start with the second darkest coloe In this case I am starting with the E27.  I color the roots or part of the hair this color. I also color the tips of the hair and out side edges or shadows.  Remember that we want to make the head appear rounded by having darker shades further away.

I then feather out the darker color with the next two colors (E25 then E23.)  I blend in from the darker colors toward the middle where the highlight or lightest color will go.  When I first stated (and sometimes still if I am being very exact) I will make a light curved mark with the lightest color to show where the highlight should be.

I now add the lightest color over pretty much all the hair to blend and soften any hard lines and add the highlight color.  And now I move to the second "layer." of color.

Starting at the part, tips and edge of head, again, I color in a small amount of the darkest color- E29.  You want to use a really light hand and just to a bit to deepen the shading that we already put down with our first layer of color.

I then blend toward highlight from darkest to lightest like I did before.  Adding E27 and E25.

And then E23. As you can see the highlight area is much smaller on this layer.  But we only want a sliver of that bright sheen for it to look more natural or real.  One of the best suggestions I read or heard when I was learning about Copics was to look at magazine photos. Ads (especially for make up or shampoo) will have girls with super shiny hair which is the look I am trying to duplicate. And I can look at how their hair is naturally shaded for guidance.

I add one more blending layer with the lightest shade (E21) and stop.  I left some harder lines between some shades, you can take more time and blend it out softer.  But basically this is my method for hair.

I suggest you look at and try all the different techniques or methods out there. (There are so many tutorials!) And find a method for coloring and shading with Copics that feels right to you.  Because there is no right way to color there is just fun. So go have some!!

Below are samples of some cards I made with Copic colored stamped/digi images.  All images are the property of the artist/manufacturer please respect that!!

This is another La-La Land digi stamp by the wonderful Irina Blount.  It is called "Best Friends Luka."  I colored the hair a similar brown, but went a tad darker on the skin tone.

This card features a stamp by The Greeting Farm called "Cheeky Nurse."  I used the same technique with a strawberry blonde coloring

These adorable dolls are made with the Julie Nutting/Prima stencils. While most of the image is done with paper piecing, the hair on all four were colored in Copics. 

 

And lastly, another La-La Land digi card.  On this one I combined "Umbrella Marci" with some of the accessory stamps Irina designed. The hair color is more of a red brown, but I used the same technique of dark to light shading and layering.

Coming soon - Part Two: Darker skin tones, and Curly hair techniques.