Rainbow Dragons

At one time I was the girl who bought it all. I had to have everything that was latest and greatest. Oh, how I do not miss those days, playing keep up with an industry that expels new product at an ungodly rate. I felt if I didn't have the newest things that I wouldn't be able to compete for Design Team positions, for magazine pick-ups and so many other things that were just silly.  So I recently for the first time purchased some of the Tim Holtz Distress Crayons.  I came home and began playing with them and decided they were a good investment. I really like the cream medium they offer. I also love how they react with water.  I made this cute rainbow card.
 

I gathered some fun supplies. I had just purchased three of the Distress Crayon Sets,
but this one is the brightest, of course, I used it first. 

I scribbled a little on my craft mat. 

I just used my fingers to smear the crayon over the stencil.
I also added a bit of water to the pink and the darkest blue to fade out
and complete the wall. 

Add a piece of tulle behind the die cut circle and
a few die cuts, a fun Copic Colored dragon and spritz of shimmer,
and like MAGIC you are done with a fun card.

Well. I told you all I was trying to add more post. I actually have another ready! I will be typing it up tonight - See you all later. If you would like the color combos I used for the Dragon let me know. If it is something you are interested in seeing on future post let me know and I will post them from now on.   

Blessings Friends

Please leave your comments here I LOVE reading them. 

A Birthday Bloom of thanks!

I love mixing up sets.  Don't get me wrong, SU stamps are great in mixing up the sentiments and giving you lots of options with just one set.  I however, find that there are some sets that really just resonate with me.  One such set for me is the sentiment set from the Watercolor Wishes Kit . This kit was fun to put together but I simply adore the script. With that said, I also am really loving all the new sets from the Occasions Catalog, and one of the ones that I really like is the Birthday Bloom.

When I was setting stamps on my table these two were right next to each other, and I thought.. ohh I like this.  I think sometimes we get caught it the "style" of a set like the sentiments in Birthday Bloom is a bit more chalkboardy  (not a word until today!)  and that may hinder taking out something a bit more elegant and pairing them.  I say we give it all a try, so I did and I was very happy with the results.  I also threw in some Butterfly Basics to create a little background. (See those little ferns poking out?)

This card was really easy to make.  I used only SU inks to color the image with a SU blender pen.  Learning to shade with inks and a blender is really not too difficult.  I wanted to not color with Copics and show you can get great coloring results with just your ink pads and a blender pen.

 On this card I actually began with really light coat of Calypso Coral then brought in Cherry Cobbler. Those are the only colors I used in this coloring. It is was about taking light coats until I could shade the darker coral then finally tipped the edges with Cherry and added that pop. I hope that is not confusing.  If it is ask a question. I love questions.

The stamping was straight on a Whisper White Thick cardstock with post-it notes creating the stamp area.  (Masking where I wanted the images)  Then using a black pen I drew a line creating a clean look.  Then stamped the inside and outside sentiments, the Better than Email on the back and then added the Rhinestone Basic Jewels

If you are in need of more instruction on how to blend with Pen and Ink let me know. I am happy to help you!

Blessings
Erika

Here is the supply list:

Whisper White Thick Cardstock
Crushed Curry Ink Pad
Pear Pizzazz Ink Pad
Calypso Coral Ink Pad
Cherry Cobbler Ink Pad
Memento Ink Pad
Birthday Bloom Stamp Set
Butterfly Basic Stamp Set
Watercolor Wishes Kit Stamp Set
Rhinestone Basic Jewels
Blender Pen
Blocks E, C, I
Stampin' Up Trimmer
Stampin' Write Marker - Basic Black
Better Than Email Stamp Set
Sticky Notes

Here is how that will look :

BETTER THAN E-MAIL PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET Price: $16.00

BETTER THAN E-MAIL PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET

Price: $16.00

BIRTHDAY BLOOMS CLEAR-MOUNT STAMP SET

Price: $19.00

BLENDER PENS

Price: $10.00

CLEAR BLOCK BUNDLE Price: $67.00

CLEAR BLOCK BUNDLE

Price: $67.00

BUTTERFLY BASICS PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET

Price: $24.00

CALYPSO CORAL CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD

Price: $6.50

PEAR PIZZAZZ CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD Price: $6.50

PEAR PIZZAZZ CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD

Price: $6.50

CHERRY COBBLER CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD Price: $6.50

CHERRY COBBLER CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD

Price: $6.50

CRUSHED CURRY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD

Price: $6.50

TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD

Price: $6.00

RHINESTONE BASIC JEWELS

Price: $5.00

BASIC BLACK STAMPIN' WRITE MARKER

Price: $3.50

  

WATERCOLOR WISHES CARD KIT

Price: $35.00

WHISPER WHITE 8-1/2" X 11" THICK CARDSTOCK

Price: $7.00

Coloring with LIGHT!

OK bare with me!  This post has many photos.  In the move, I have misplaced my SD card so I couldn't do a video!  In the photo it is difficult to tell, but the red is actually foil paper that releases with the holiday catalog.  YES this cute card was made with Christmas Cuties a new set for the holidays.

Let's talk about coloring.  It is fun , right?  Most the time yeah it is fun but it can be frustrating when you look at all those "professionals" work and think HOW do they do that?  Well today I hope to shed a little LIGHT (hahaha) on a easy way to ensure that you are using light to your advantage.  A quick story to explain how I came up with this technique.  I love me a good glass mat.  I have the WeR Memory Keepers glass mat and I use it for everything.  I use it to cut with my blades, to smear ink on for backgrounds or to act as a pallet for my watercoloring.  Glass mats are the best tool and one day while watercoloring an image for a card I looked at the mat and realized it has a tool that is remarkable!  Many cutting mats have this as well, but for this story it was the glass mat that gave me an epiphany. I want to begin there... my mat... this mat if you look closely has diagonal lines on it.  They kind of look like "rays" of the sun. I know it is hard to see with the light but they are there.  What I realized is these are great guides for coloring.  I can place the image I am working on on those lines and have a guide for the "highlights" (Figure 1)

That is where our technique begins.

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

The first thing I do is I decide what direction I would like the light to come from, in this case I wanted it coming from the upper right so I turned my mat to match that direction.  (Figure 2)Think of it like rays of light.  Then I decide how much light I want on my subject, do I want it to be hard light or soft, if I want it soft I place the image on the lines that are further apart.  As you can see in this image I secure my paper with a little washi tape. If I need to move the paper to get a better angle to color, I move the entire glass mat.  Securing the cardstock allows for my highlights to be consistent.  I will then add the image using the center line which will be my primary source of light (Figure 3 and Figure 4).  After I have stamped the image I begin to add highlights using a pale yellow.  Examine the image and ask yourself where would the light fall.  (Figure 5).  You can also get a strip of paper and follow the highlight line in the center of you image to check where the highlights should fall. (Figure 6).  Once you have your strip of paper, add small amounts of a pale yellow to the areas that would be raised and touch the yellow strip. (figure 7)

 In this set, there is not "chin" so I added a little one by using a slightly darker color.

Figure 4

Once you have the highlights you can proceed by adding some of the shadows. When coloring a face, it is a natural shadow just below the hair line, in the nape of the neck where the head would cast a shadow, under the nose and chin.   (Figure 8).
When it comes to hair, you want to know where the highlights are and then you naturally know how to color the hair. (Figures 9, 10 and 11)  You see that I have the pale yellow in place and I can see the places that would cast shadows better.  Thus adding a darker brown to the hair behind the neck, also on the folds of the hair.  This is also true with the clothing.  I added a bit too much yellow to a wing and the dress so I had to use greys to blend.  It works fine but I should have used a lighter yellow in those areas because the clothing and wings were to remain white.  On the sash (Figures 12, 13 and 14) you can see the effectiveness of adding a bit of yellow.  I made mine a little darker for demo purposes, but you can see how the yellow blends into the blue and literally highlights the places I designated.  Using the lines on my glass mat and my sun strip I was able to find the right spots to highlight.  It really is a matter of once you see the highlights you will naturally see the midtones and shadows.  The lines on the glass mat help me not lose my source of light.  I hope this tip helps you in your coloring.

Figure 5

 

Figure 6

Figure 7

Figure 8

Figure 9

Figure 10

Figure 11

Figure 12

Figure 13

Figure 14

Any questions?  No problem, just shoot me an email. gzuswins@gmail.com and I will try to get them answered as quick as a cricket!  Thanks for taking the time to read this long post.  I am going to try and get a card and turn this into a video.  I think seeing the hair colored in live action will truly help! 

Again you know I am a Full-Time Independant Stampin'Up! Demonstrator and the Makin'PrettyThings Team Leader. If you are interested in this kind of training and would love to be lucky like me and DO what you LOVE--- CREATE let me know and we will get you signed up for $99.  It doesn't get better than that... Start your own business for $99.  It was the best decision I ever made!  

Blessings Friends

Erika 

C.O.W (Card of the Week)

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Welcome back my friends!

I hope your week is going well!  I have been so busy and so many great new things are in the works.  Did you see the sneak peek of the catalog I posted yesterday?  NO well be sure to check it out right HERE
Normally I will have a challenge for you on Wednesday but with all the new goodies I felt like it was better to show you some sneaks yesterday.  We will get on the challenges soon I promise! Speaking of sneaks be sure to scroll to the bottom of the post to see a few more.

Lets get down to business, today is our Card of the Week (C.O.W.)  I am excited to share a new project with a little instruction for you this week.  I was inspired by this card from the catalog sample, but as always I kind of made it my own. I love that SU! gives us such stunning leaping off points.  This one seemed to fit my mood-- I am happy and grateful for this life I am blessed to lead.  I thank you all for being a part of it.

Today is our Card of the Week.

Thank you for Everything and More

What you will need:

Whisper White Heavy Cardstock (140272)

English Garden Designer Paper (138440)

One Big Meaning  (139420)

Pistachio Pudding Thick Bakers Twine(135635)

Vellum (101856)

Garden In Bloom Photopolymer  (139443)

Put it together:

1. Cut an A2 card base (5.5 x 8.5 - score at 4.25) using Whisper White Cardstock
2. Cut Kraft and White strips from English Garden Designer Pack at 5.25 x 4
3. Cut Whisper White at 4.75x3.5 
4. Cut Vellum Strip at 1.5 x 8
5. Stamp images from Garden in Bloom Stamps onto 4.75 x 3.5 Whisper White bleeding some of the images off the card 
6. Using the Aqua Pens or paint brush and inks add color to the images. This method creates a lovely watercolor look
• Tip: if you have a glass mat smear a little ink on to the glass and pick up ink with a wet brush.  This allows for better control of the amount of ink you pick up and does not dilute your ink pad.  If you don't have a glass mat you can also use the top of your ink storage.
• If you want the centers to be darker like mine are, wet your brush the remove excess water and then load your brush with full saturation of the ink.  
7. Punch one end of vellum strip to create the banner and stamp sentiment about .25" from the punched end  *Set aside to dry or dry with heat gun
8. Tie triple bow with Thick Bakers Twine
9. Adhere Kraft and white Designer Paper to the base of the card
10. Wrap vellum strip around back of the Stamped colored 4.75 x 3.5 whisper white and crease at desired length.  
11. Adhere the excess vellum flap to the back of the 4.75 x 3.5 Whisper White (this ensures no adhesive will be seen.
12. Staple or using a Stampin Dimensions adhere triple bow through the vellum onto the 4.75 x 3.5 Whisper white.
13. Adhere craft foam (or use Stampin' Dimensions) to the water colored 4.75 x 3.5 whisper white image.  
14. Adhere completed 4.75 x 3.5 Whisper White with Vellum attached to the front of the card.  

I hope you enjoy making this fun and beautiful card.  Feel free to play with the colors these could be a beautiful bright bouquet as well. To purchase any of the products you see in our COW visit my website by simply clicking HERE. 

SNEAK PEEKS:

As I promised!  Here are a few more lovelies for you.  If you would like more information on how to become a demonstrator or if you just want to ask a few questions, shoot me an email.  NEVER any pressure. (gzuswins@gmail.com) 

This set... just makes me smile.
I can't wait to incorporate it in a C.O.W. and a workshop! 

How clever is THIS?  I think it is a
great tree for a small space, maybe work?
It would be great advertisement if you wanted
to join my team and let everyone know
The product really does sell itself! 

Have a blessed day my friends... and go Make Pretty Things!  

Blessings,

Erika

For more information on joining my team CLICK HERE. 

Art of my He(art)

Confession - I hide the real me.  I am not the extrovert everyone thinks I am.   I am however passionate.  I love to create and more than that I love to teach about that passion.  I work for hours and hours on ways to educate people on techniques and things that will hopefully let them see why I so adore creating. I also hope to ignite a fire in their he(Art)

 Sadly, the real me likes to hide and lie to herself and say "your not good enough, you've been working so hard for so long to make something of yourself in this crazy industry.. why do you care so much? You are not ever going to be what you see in your lofty dreams."

The truth is.. I very much feel that way.  I finish a project and I find every single flaw.   I then use those flaws to justify why I fail to rise to the pinnacle of what I want to be.  I know there will not be many that see this post so I feel pretty safe here. I really work hard to feel my he(Art) has value.

 I know many people see it as markers and paper, but it truly is a gift that God gave me that is almost painful.  I hurt when I go too long without makin' pretty things.  If I could I would spend all my waking hours creating and yes I color... like a kindergartner.  I love to color I love to see the blending and trying new things to make my he(Art) express how I see the world.

More importantly,  I love to teach others, because like anyone that has a true passion, they want to scream about how great it is from the roof tops.. I want to make people understand my vision.. my he(Art).. I want to but alas, I fail often.  Like more than you would think-- I have learned one thing even in my failure I have not been able to put it away.  I can't pack up my stamps, paper, markers, adhesive and other supplies.  When I do, my he(Art) grieves.  I know I am not the best by any stretch of the imagination but I also know that without my he(Art) I would be incomplete.

Where does this leave me?  It leaves me as a struggling artist, doing everything she can to eek out something that validates my passion, and passes it on to the next -- So now you know... I am extroverted when I need to be, so I can share what I love... my he(Art)

So here are my creations (in all their imperfections) from the last few days. Know that I am working on project sheets for all of them as well as a few of the techniques I hope to have in video soon.

Blessings
e

Background completed using blending techniques and Copic Markers.
 Bow is the new Stampin'Up! Bow maker. The perfect size for cards!  

Using Stampin'Up! Inks and water, I created a fun easy watercolor look!
Video coming soon on water coloring with Stampin'Up!

The backgrounds are a technique video that I have slated for later in the summer.
This is also the new stamp set You've Got This from Stampin' Up!
Colored with Copic markers to match some of the In-Color additions! 

Oh yeah you are seeing it - the NEW In-Colors are used on this simple fast card
The lace ribbons  yeah they match! 

I made this card in honor of our active and retired Vets on Memorial Day.
I used the Work of Art Set from Stampin'Up! to create the flag and Copic
Markers to color the Thanks sentiment.   The flag was the most fun to
make because I used a set in a way I had never thought of before.

I have a few more but I didn't get photos of them. I am going to get started on the upcoming July workshop which is going to be Christmas in July - Bags, Tags, and gifts galore.  A workshop that will include fun ideas on ways to use your stamps and accessories to make stunning unique gift wrapping and packages

IF you are interested in ordering a make-n-take of any of my cards seen on this site simply send me a message with the code (on the photos) such as in the "thanks" flag card above (WOA-2)  and I will send you the price for the consumables and project sheet. If you are interested in ordering a set of the completed cards simply send the code number and the number of cards you are interested in purchasing.

I love you guys and thanks for listening to me share my He(art) !

Blessings
Erika