PEP & Paper

Colourful Collage of Crowned Chevrons Alphatag

2012-02-11T21:43:00.001Z

This was somewhat ofan adventure but I had so manyideas for my “C” Alphatag (Baroque Guild Swap) that I decided to combineseveral into my approximation of a‘collage.’ I cannot begin to describe the excitement of seeing this idea using techniques from my first two MCC stamping courses actually“work” in front of my eyes.

front of tag

close-up showing details of masked elements
& heat embossed crown

close-up showing sparkle of embellished
heat embossed crown

back of tag

close-up showing texture & sheen of
heat embossed chevron pattern

close-up showing details & paper
piercing of theme panel

The chevron backgroundwas stamped & heat embossed with clear embossing powder & the tag then initiallyinked with a rainbow of NickBantock inks. The letter masks were then positioned & another layer of inksapplied in the masked areas. Aftertaking the masks off I carefully ironed the whole tag to remove the clear embossing powder & finally stamped & heat embossed the crowns in black.

Thinking about theback I thought I’d continue the “C” theme with black & white for Contrast using the chevron background again & heat embossing withclear pearly embossing powder to achieve a tone on tone effect. I was grinning when I selected the black & white Checked ribbonfrom my box but, by the time itdawned on me that I’d used Crystal gems to embellish my large crown, I wasbeginning to wonder whether variations of “C” were pursuing me.

Recipe

Stamps Chocolate Baroque UA4SP0371 Texture Fragments(Chevron background), UDLSP0205 Gold, Frankincense & Myrrh (large crown) & UA5SP0316 Royal Fleurde Lys (small crowns).

Inks Chartreuse Leaf, Chrome Yellow, Damson Plum, PrussianBlue, Rose Madder, & Vermillion Lacquer Nick Bantock Inks (background); Emboss Tinted Embossing Stamp Pad with Stampendous Embossing Powders (Detail Black - crowns,Detail Clear - chevrons on front, Satin Pearl - chevrons on back); Black SootDistress Ink for inking various cardstock edges.

Colouring White Pentel K118 Hybrid Gel Grip Pen.

Cardstock White & assorted blacks in various finishesfrom stash.

Masks Tim Holtz idea-ology - Ransom.

Die Sizzix Movers & Shapers L Die - Tag &Bookplates.

Punch Woodware (scalloped rectangle).

The gems are Anita’s& the ribbon is from stash.

Challenges Entered

Allsorts Week 141 - Free & Easy February

Totally Papercrafts 103 - It's A Rainbow

MCC Colouring 101 Wk 4 - Negative Space & More Fantasy Colouring

2012-02-07T21:23:00.001Z

Links: Previous Post i, Previous Post ii, Glenda Waterworth, My Creative Classroom (MCC)

from my sketchbook

It is about 5 months since I posted my last piece of work for the Colouring Course but I am determined to complete it & have been chipping away at the assignments whilst working on projects with deadlines.

Digital Image Glenda Waterworth;

Cardstock WH Smith 220gsm edged with Aged Mahogany Distress Ink;

Colouring Faber-Castell Polychromos Pencils with a dry paper stump.

Stamp Chocolate Baroque UDLSP0304 Christmas Decorations;

Inks Memento (Danube Blue, Paris Dusk, Bahama Blue & Summer Sky);

Cardstock Southfield Bright White 160gsm;

Colouring Faber-Castell Polychromos Pencils.

Digital Image Glenda Waterworth;

Cardstock WH Smith 220gsm edged with Vintage Photo Distress Ink;

Colouring Faber-Castell Polychromos Pencils.

Digital Image Glenda Waterworth;

Cardstock WH Smith 220gsm edged with Black Soot Distress Ink;

Colouring Faber-Castell Polychromos Pencils.

Golden Dragon Scales

Digital Image Glenda Waterworth;

Cardstock WH Smith 220gsm edged with Black Soot Distress Ink;

Colouring Faber-Castell Polychromos Pencils with paper stumps & Sansodor.

Cobblestones

Fluttering Floral Frenzy with Virginia's View

2012-02-01T21:20:00.002Z

front of card

close-up to show sparkle & detail of flowerhead

close-up showing sparkle of inked & shaped
dragonfly & butterfly plus shimmer of grey-blue cardstock

close-up showing paper piercing & texture of
die-cut mounting frame

inside of card

close-up of message panel showing
texture of die-cut frame

close-up showing paper piercing of corner
& shimmer of grey-blue cardstock

This came together as a result of 3 challenges & my wish to use one of the Penny Black stamps I found in this year's Sales. The colour combination is from Virginia's View Photo Inspiration at Lily Pad Cards & the flowerhead fitted perfectly with the Penny Black Saturday Challenge this week. I'd not decided about anything else but when Make My Monday's Challenge was posted it made sense to let some butterflies & dragonflies have a feeding frenzy upon the flowerheads.

Recipe
Stamps Penny Black 3820K a touch.
Inks Memories Dye Black (image); Aged Mahogany & Spiced Marmalade Distress Inks (inking some cardstock edges).
Colouring Faber-Castell Polychromos pencils with paper stumps & Sansodor (flower petals); Sakura Stardust Gelly Roll Pen (centre of flowerhead); Stickles Glitter Glue (Orange Peel); Copic Multi Liner Pen.
Cardstock An assortment of colours in various textures & finishes from stash.
Dies & Punches Spellbinders Shapeabilities Sprightly Sprockets, Woodware (butterflies & dragonfly, circle), EK Success (corner).

Challenges Entered
Make My Monday 34 - Nature: Butterflies & Dragonflies
Penny Black Saturday Challenge 186 - Floral Frenzy
Virginia's View Challenge 1 - Photo Inspiration

Aged Autumn Alphatag AGAIN!

2012-01-20T11:53:00.002Z

My apologies to those of you who have already seen this & commented on it - I accidentally deleted my A Alphatag post whilst uploading B.

My aim with registering to participate in the Baroque Guild Alphatag Swap during this year is to consolidate the various stamping & colouring techniques that I have learnt & to use my large collection of Chocolate Baroque (formerly Elusive Images) stamps. The idea is to produce 2 or 3 tags each month progressing so that we have completed the alphabet by the end of the year. The one stipulation for each tag, apart from basing a theme of our choice on the specified letter of the alphabet, is mostly to use items produced by or available from Chocolate Baroque.

Often learning by trial & error I can take several days to finish a project - several weeks when I then delete my blog post! I had all but completed this tag when I burnt it trying to heat emboss the tag edges to fix my skeleton leaves in place. Using Glossy Accents was visible to the eye but smearing Stickles Glitter Glue over the leaves solved that & I trimmed the edges of the leaves to the edge of the tag using non-stick sharp scissors.

I often associate 'autumn of life' with ageing & so 'Aged Autumn' seemed to me a fitting title for my project as well as using the two aptly named Antique Linen & Vintage Photo Distress Inks.

front of tag

close-up showing stamped & inked edges plus
punched leaf embellishment

angled view to show sparkle of glittered
leaves plus dimensional texture of
heat embossed tree

close-up showing detail of skeleton leaves &
pile of 'fallen' leaves at trunk's base

back of tag

close-up showing tone on tone stamping & paper
pierced scallops of theme panel

Recipe

Stamps Chocolate Baroque UA5SP0252 Tall Trees & UDLSP0305 Nature's Peace.

Inks VersaMark watermark stamp pad with Stampendous Penny Copper Embossing Powder; Antique Linen, Vintage Photo & Wild Honey Distress Inks; Staedtler Triplus Fineliner.

Colouring Cinnamon Stickles Glitter Glue.

Cardstock An assortment of white & browns from stash.

Die Sizzix Movers & Shapers L Die - Tag & Bookplates.

Punches Woodware (scalloped squares & small leaves).

The skeleton leaves, gems & ribbon are from stash.

In my deleted post I'd mentioned that I am staying with Google's Blogger for my blogging platform as it proved the most versatile of those I tried. Also, the results of my Blog Following Preferences Poll (3 opting for Google Friend Connect, 13 Blogger's Follow Button & no one for Twitter, email or RSS) confirms my choice.

Blushing Bloom Alphatag

2012-01-20T09:55:00.000Z

I often use dark colours such as black or brown & consider a white gel pen essential equipment espcially as I have a tendency to also use dark colours for my personal message panels. A pet hate of mine is "blobby" writing or unpredictable flow & I find the Inkssentials White Opaque Pen has too broad a point for my writing. I thought I had found the perfect pen with the Pergamano brand but find it is too translucent for use on cardstock. Since I came across Kathy Racoosin & her technique of white accenting using a White Uni-ball Signo Gel Pen I have looked out for that, but it is not readily available in the UK. Finally, only last week, I found a White Pentel K118 Hybrid Gel Grip Pen at my local Craft Shop & it suits me perfectly.

Another "essential" item I recently found is the Memento Black Dual Marker (available here) which is ideal for filling in any imperfectly stamped line & can be used when colouring with either alcohol markers or a water based medium (it is reliably waterfast when heat set).

That was somewhat of a long-winded introduction to my absolute delight at being able to use both the black & white pens to accentuate the stamped grid pattern in the centre of my flower on the second of my Baroque Guild Alphatags. In addition I found that with some judicious positioning part of the large heat embossed swirl appeared as if it were the flowerhead's stem & leaves.

front of tag

close-up showing flowerhead's
stem & leaves plus small
black flower sequins

close-up to show grid pattern, shine of heat
embossed flourish & sparkle of black
Moondust cardstock used for tag base

back of tag

close-up showing tone on tone stamping &
paper piercing of theme panel

Recipe
Stamps Chocolate Baroque UA5SP0297 Fresh Blooms & UA4SP0358 Nature Swirls.
Inks Memento Tuxedo Black (flowerhead), Emboss Tinted Embossing Stamp Pad with Stampendous Detail Black Embossing Powder (heat embossed swirls), Black Soot (tone on tone swirls & inking some black cardstock edges) & Spun Sugar (inking pink cardstock edges) Distress Inks.
Colouring Copic Ciao & Sketch Markers, Copic Multi Liner, Staedtler Triplus Fineliner, Memento Tuxedo Black Dual Marker, White Pentel K118 Hybrid Gel Grip Pen.
Cardstock An assortment of white, pink & blacks in various finishes from stash.
Die Sizzix Movers & Shapers L Die - Tag & Bookplates.

Punch Woodware (scalloped squares).
The ribbon & flower sequins are from stash.

Challenge Entered
Simon Says Stamp & Show Anything But a Card!

My Favourite Five Cards of 2011

2011-12-31T17:30:00.000Z

Following on from my previous post I am joining in with Debby's Favourite Five Cards of 2011. Debby has in fact picked her Top Ten but she's keeping the challenge submissions to Favourite Five for this year.

see HERE

As we approach the coming year

Let us fill our hearts with cheer.

And if you're reading this blog

I expect you'll be all agog,

And very busy thinking

What you'll next be inking.

WITH MY VERY BEST WISHES FOR 2012

My Favourite Five Christmas Cards of 2011

2011-12-28T17:55:00.000Z

Last year was my first Christmas in blogland & I joined in with Debby's Favourite Five Christmas Cards of 2010 post. This year she has again made a selection of her Favourite Five Christmas Cards & although it has been a bit of a lean year for me in terms of making cards - especially Christmas cards (checking back I only had to choose from a total of 7) I didn't want to miss joining in with the fun.

see HERE

Starlight

2011-12-24T17:45:00.000Z

......... for we haue seene his Starre in the east, and are come to worship him.
The Gospel According to S. Matthew 2:2
The Holy Bible Authorized Version 1611

As I was making this card I kept thinking of the Star of Bethlehem & the Christmas story of Christ's birth.

The last of my Christmas cards - safely delivered this morning. I used the same sparkly Winter Wonderland Embossing Powder that I did here but this time I lost count of how many photos I took in attempting to show its sparkle. The turkey is defrosting but I have presents to wrap & a major catching up of blogland.

With Greetings of the Season

Best Wishes for 2012

Clicking on the images should enable enlarging

front of card

close-up of focal image

angled close-up to show sparkle of heat embossing
& convex dimensional mounting

inside of card

close-up showing holographic silver mirri cardstock &
paper piercing of message panel

Recipe
Stamps Chocolate Baroque UA4SP0170 Christmas Fusion.
Cardstock An assortment of blues in various finishes, white & holographic silver mirri from stash.
Inks VersMark watermark stamp pad with Stampendous Winter Wonderland Embossing Powder, Brilliance Starlite Silver (inking some cardstock & paper edges).
Papers Making Cards September 2008.
Punches Woodware (circle & scalloped circle), Xcut (star).
The ribbon & gems are from stash.

Ornamental Sparkle

2011-12-23T21:40:00.000Z

I shall post the results of my poll about "Following" & the conclusions I have come to once Christmas is over. In the meantime I had two cards left to make & have just managed to get these done ready for delivery by hand on Christmas Eve.

Although it took a while to work out how to "hang" the ornaments I was very pleased with the result. Another aspect that quite delighted me was the way the "Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year" wording worked out on the patterned paper for the inside of the card.

front of card

angled view to show sparkle of glittered ornaments
& mirri card used for layering

close-up showing heat embossing
& glittering of ornament

close-up showing dimension & gold thread
"hanging" of ornaments

inside of card

close-up showing paper piercing of
sentiment panel

Recipe

Stamps Chocolate Baroque UDLSP0304 Christmas Decorations.

Inks VersaMark watermark stamp pad with Stampendous Gold Tinsel Embossing Powder, Peeled Paint Distress Ink (inking some cardstock & paper edges). Brilliance Galaxy Gold (edging stamped images).

Colouring Ice Stickles Glitter Glue (Crystal Ice).

Cardstock Craft UK Limited (card blank); an assortment of white, gold & green cardstock from stash.

Papers Making Cards The Craft Creations Collection Christmas Papers.

Punches Woodware (oval & scalloped oval).

The ribbon, gold star sequins & gold thread are all from stash.

Snowflake Blue

2011-12-20T21:22:00.000Z

Christmas Trees & Snowflakes are images that I associate with winter - probably something to do with my first 6 Christmases which were spent in Sweden; those that I remember involved skiing through the pine forests on my own small skiis. I don't remember skiing after we moved to the UK in 1967 although both my brother & Father liked nothing more than to set off for Austria to ski during the Easter Holidays.

Edited 22 Dec

I have uploaded all the photos again as the first set were not clickable for enlarging.

front of card

close-up showing dimension of
snowflakes & heat embossed tree

close-up showing sparkle & dimension of heat
embossed snowflake background

close-up showing detail & sparkle of heat
embossed tree

close-up showing detail of tree & dimension achieved
by using 2mm foam pads for mounting

inside of card

close-up to show paper piercing
of message panel

Recipe

Stamps Chocolate Baroque UDLSP0304 Christmas Decorations (tree) & UA6SP0267 Winter Wonderland (snowflake patterns).

Inks VersaMark watermark stamp pad with Stampendous Winter Wonderland Embossing Powder, Chipped Sapphire Distress Ink (distressing some cardstock & paper edges).

Cardstock an assortment of blues & whites plus patterned in various finishes from stash.

Punches, Dies EK Success (Iron Eagle corner), Xcut (snowflake corner - the small snowflakes are the waste from the corner), Woodware (circle); Spellbinders Shapeabitlities Sprightly Sprockets;

The ribbon & snowflake sequins are from stash.

Challenges Entered

Everybody Art Challenge 173 - Anything Goes
Joanna Sheen Challenge 1 - Christmas Wishes

A Question of Blog Following

2011-12-18T15:59:00.000Z

I am in the process of deciding which blogging platform to use & one of my main criteria is how easy it would be for people who wish to to follow my blog. I would very much value some feedback & to that end have placed a poll to the right in my sidebar.

I have been working on becoming familiar with two blogging platforms & need to choose which one to pursue as I want to be able to concentrate on colouring & getting my fingers inky.

Thank you for any help or comments you might wish to leave.

Edited 12 December
Having initially set the poll for a couple of days only from yesterday I realised the time span was too short so have reset it for a week leaving this post (I hope!!) as a "sticky" 11-18 December.
This is proving very interesting indeed & moreover extremely helpful - THANK YOU.

Tying A Patterned Ribbon Bow Right Side Up

2011-12-16T18:15:00.000Z

The main inspiration for what follows is a video tutorial by Becca Feeken of Amazing Paper Grace where she explains how to tie peg bows. I like to have my ribbon tails both exiting the bow from behind & showing the right side (as Becca does), moreover with a patterned ribbon having an up or down motif (as in my example where the flower stems grow up out of the ground) I don't want any part of the bow looking as if it is upside down. Not always having pegs to hand I thought I would see if it was possible to do something similar using my fingers & the following is what resulted.

1) Using a piece of ribbon about 12 inches long

2) & placing the bottom edge of patterning to the left, loop the ribbon around the first two fingers as shown.

3) Taking the left tail place it over the right ribbon & flip over between the first two fingers.

4) Turn the hand over & ensure the right side of the ribbon you have just flipped over is facing you & the bottom edge of the pattern is to the left.

5) Insert the tail down through the gap between the two fingers as shown.

6) Turn the hand back so the palm faces you & the ribbon just inserted through the gap has the wrong side facing you.

7) Pull the top tail straight down so the wrong side faces you & the tail is towards the right of the first tail as shown.

8) Taking the left tail fold it up & over the second tail as shown.

9) Insert the tail through the loop formed by the second tail as shown.

10) Pull the first tail upwards & the second tail downwards ensuring both the tails have their wrong sides facing you.

11) Pull tight

12) Turn the hand over & neaten the centre fold if necessary.

13) Turning the hand back so that the palm faces you the knot should look like this with an inverted U or horseshoe shape visible.

14) The tails can be pulled downwards......

15) ....... or sideways

16) ......& the ends snipped as desired.
Here you can see that both bows have the flowers growing upwards out of the ground whether looking at the bows themselves or the tails.

Christmas White

2011-12-14T18:18:00.000Z

Glenda Waterworth has set a White Christmas Challenge with the prize being a Chocolate Baroque Gift Voucher to the value of £1 for every entry made (maximum £50).

One of the this year's Chocolate Baroque Christmas stamp sets is Steampunk Christmas & having recently purchased the Spellbinders Shapeabilities Sprighly Sprockets I wanted to combine the two in some kind of wreath design. This card is what evolved as I worked.

The flower centre started off as one link from a string of white plastic flowers which I coloured red with a Copic Ciao Marker; that didn't look right; neither did a covering of Xmas Red Stickles mixed with Glossy Accents but, by the time I'd added red micro beads to the mix & let it dry overnight I was rather pleased with the resulting glittery textured effect. I only had pink pearls no red - but that was easily rectified with the Red Copic Ciao.

front of card

close-up to show dimension of flower
& embellishments

close-up to show micro beads & glittering
of flower centre

close-up showing ribbon embellishing &
sparkle of holly leaves

inside of card

close-up to show paper piercing of
sentiment & message panels

close-up showing heat embossed sentiment,
paper piercing & textured cardstock

Recipe
Stamps Chocolate Baroque UA4SP0362 Steampunk Christmas (image) & UA6GW0211 Celebration Alphabet (sentiment).
Inks Fired Brick Distress Ink (image), VersaMark watermark stamp pad with Stampendous Detail White Embossing Powder (sentiment).
Colouring Copic Ciao Markers, Ice Stickles Glitter Glue (Crystal Ice), Stickles Glitter Glue (Xmas Red).
Cardstock Craft UK Limited (card blank), Bits N Pieces A4 Assorted Embossed Card (Snow White), red pearlescent & white from stash.
Punches/Dies Woodware (scalloped circle & scalloped oval, small & large holly sprigs), Xcut (holly leaf); Spellbinders Shapeabilities Sprightly Sprockets.
The red micro beads are Woodware & the remaining embellishments (sequin flower & bead, ribbon, gems & pearls) are from stash.

Challenges Entered
Glenda Waterworth/Chocolate Baroque White Christmas Challenge

Joanna Sheen Challenge 1 - Christmas Wishes
Make My Monday Week 28 - Seasonal Theme + Red Ribbon
Stampalot Challenge December - Bingo (my line on the Bingo Grid can be either the vertical pearls-mist/stickles-ribbon or the diagonal pearls-flowers-punch)
TimbroScrapMania Stamping Challenge 38 - Bow

Finally......... A Card Simply Stamped

2011-11-26T23:00:00.001Z

Our carpets have been laid, my craft room has been rearranged yet again (the wireless connection kept disconnecting itself) & I'm getting back into the groove of working with my stamps & inks. I had a bit of shock with Messrs Blogger & Google (Blooger & Goggle perhaps) - one moment I am following 69 blogs, & then it varies between 11 & 20! I've tried the new interface, switching back to the old one, unsubscribing/unfollowing & resubscribing/refollowing & as soon as I've got it all sorted - it changes!!! I really do not understand so I have resorted to keeping up with blogs/following via a mixture of RSS Feeds & the Top Sites on my Mac.

Although I still have some colouring homework to finish & experiments/testing I want to do I've been missing entering the Penny Black Weekly Reader Challenge. So, feeling rather out of practice (my last entry was in April) here goes.......

front of card

close-up showing embossed image & background

angled photo to show dimension of image panel

created using foam pads for mounting

close-up showing glittering of main image

inside of card

close-up showing tone on tone stamping

& paper pierced scallops

To mark the introduction of a regular feature (plus the new Designer Kelley Eubanks) on the Penny Black Blog this week's challenge is to create a simply stamped card based on the sketch provided.

I have tried stamping a one layer card - not for me as that little scamp of a Perfectionist Imp perches on my shoulder muttering into my ear & I become more anxious & tenser as the days go by with nothing to show but inky fingers & a bin full of rubbish. Seeing the inspirational samples by the Penny Black Design Team made me realize that I could actually have some layering & dimension incorporating some favourite details (distressed edges & paper piercing) & my card would still qualify as Clean And Simple.

Recipe
Stamps Penny Black 30-068 trims (image & background) &30-067 to you (sentiment).
Inks VersaMark watermark stamp pad with Stampendous Detail white Embossing Powder (stamping on card front) VersaFine Vintage Sepia (stamping inside card), Vintage Photo Distress Ink (distressing some cardstock edges).
Colouring Ice Stickles Glitter Glue (Crystal Ice).
Cardstock Craft UK Limited (card blank), an assortment of browns & whites in various textures from stash.
Punches EK Success (corner rounder), Woodware (circles & scalloped circles).

Challenges Entered
Penny Black Weekly Reader Challenge - Simple Stamping
Rainbow Lady's Challenge 180 - Cards for Men (the colours & CAS design make this suitable for a man)

An update from under dust & disarray........

2011-10-25T05:00:00.000+01:00

.....midst extra bookshop duties & helping my husband with the house renovations.

I'm certainly very thankful for the extra hours in the local secondhand bookshop as these have enabled me to replace my broken Cuttlebug with a Big Shot, & to purchase a greater selection of cardstock, Spectrum Noirs & ProMarkers so that I can make a proper comparison between these alcohol markers plus Copics.

The house renovation is proving a much longer process than expected & my husband who is bearing the brunt of it badly needs more help from me - at present we are removing the 30 or so years old carpet throughout the house & de-gripper rodding plus de-tacking & thoroughly cleaning the boarding prior to having new carpets fitted.

We also need to de-clutter the attic to enable better access for wiring repairs & mice control. Our piece of woodland beyond the fenced off lawn area (see photo) means that the woodmice are sorely tempted by our warm loft insulation during the winter months & scamper over the lawn despite the best efforts of the owls & buzzards etc..... The mice do not like our sonic deterrant but in their haste to escape it they jump between the rafters dislodging insulation material & necessitating our easy access for its replacement.

I'll leave you with some photos of my rearranged craft room.........

enter through the hallway

standing in the doorway looking in

turning clockwise round the room

looking towards the door with it closed

& the final corner

Our completed fireplace - we managed to source some reclaimed bricks & a large slab of black slate which was cut to size & sealed with a special sealant after the whole was completed

All my photos are clickable for enlarging. If you wish to see what the fireplace looked like as the builders began work in August, see this post.

MCC Colouring 101 Wk 4 - White Inkpads, Tooth & Pencils

2011-09-08T03:37:00.006+01:00

After my previous post I sensed my own need to make a structured comparison of the white inkpads that I own in relation to using either the oil-based Faber-Castell Polychromos pencils or the wax-based Derwent Coloursoft pencils. Knowing how my own materials behave with one another is becoming more important to me as I realise that some of my failures & hence hesitancy in using certain styles of images has come about because I've not had sufficient knowledge to pay attention to the combination of cardstock/paper, inkpad & colouring medium suitable for that particular stamp. Add my own slight stature to the mixture - small hands & short height - & a particular project can become very frustrating not to mention time consuming.

I have now developed my own strategies for stamping. I stamp onto a hard surface - my favourite is a glass mat - & I always stand up. If the stamp is large, I place the glass mat onto a firm floor & whilst stamping use my knee (with the full force of my 7 stone weight behind it) on the stamp in order to get enough pressure. This works for me.

stamped onto smooth cardstock

stamped onto cardstock with a little tooth

I deliberately chose a stamp where there was a silhouetted area for colouring onto as well as some intricate detail - as you can see in the smooth cardstock example the butterfly's body & antennae are very finely detailed & quite separate (most apparent on the Adirondack, Brilliance & ColorBox Pigment stamped images) from the wings. I selected two pieces of black cardstock from my stash, one smooth & the other with some tooth.

At the end of the day it will depend upon personal preference (the photos are clickable for enlarging to enable a personal choice) & whether a matt or pearlescent effect is desirable. My wn favourite is the Adirondack inkpad on smooth cardstock & colouring with the Polychromos pencils.

The following is a summary of my findings:

Amongst the inkpads the Adirondack & Brilliance stamped with the best definition on the smoother cardstock although they also performed well with the rougher cardstock.

The Polychromos blended & layered the best on the smooth cardstock but also very well on the less smooth. The Coloursoft definitely gave a better finish on the rougher texture as it was difficult to achieve a smooth even blend when layering onto the smoother cardstock & there was some binding with increased layering.

Overall detail is easier to achieve with the Polychromos as they maintain their sharpened point very well & leave little debris whereas the Coloursoft need to be used more carefully so as not to smudge any of the pigment from their dusty debris into the cardstock. The Coloursoft also need sharpening more frequently.

With Polychromos - use Adirondack or Brilliance inkpad on either cardstock.
With Coloursoft - use Adirondack or Brilliance inkpad on the rougher cardstock.
With Adirondack inkpad - use either pencil & select cardstock accordingly.
With Brilliance inkpad - use either pencil & select cardstock accordingly.
With smooth cardstock - use Adirondack or Brilliance inkpad with Polychromos.
With rougher cardstock - use Adirondack or Brilliance inkpad with either pencil.

Recipe

Stamp Chocolate Baroque UDLSP0154 Butterfly Blush.

Inks Adirondack - Pigment Snow Cap, Brilliance - Brilliance Moonlight White, ColorBox Pigment - ColorBox Pigment Frost White, Chalk - ColorBox Chalk Alabaster, StazOn - StazOn Cotton White.

Colouring Faber-Castell Polychromos pencils & Derwent Coloursoft pencils.

Cardstock Smooth & not so smooth from stash.

MCC Colouring 101 Wk 4 - Fantasy Colouring

2011-09-04T04:41:00.002+01:00

Links: Previous Post i, Previous Post ii, Glenda Waterworth, My Creative Classroom (MCC)

from my sketchbook

Week 4 centres upon using the dynamism of the colour wheel principles for colouring fantasy images. Although I have been aware of colour theory it hasn't really penetrated into my conscious thinking until recently. It's as if my mind has somehow begun to absorb an understanding of how colours relate to one another & I find it utterly exciting.

I love the freedom in fantasy colouring & how it is possible to trick the eye by colouring realistically in accordance with light & shade but using fanciful colours. With these examples I have continued to use maritime images - in fact images & types of stamps that I have shied away from using as I've not been confident in either stamping or in colouring them.

Stamp Chocolate Baroque UA5SP0261 Seashell Collage, Ink Adirondack Pigment Snow Cap,

Cardstock Assorted Black from stash. Colouring Faber-Castell Polychromos Pencils

I used Brilliance Moonlight White ink with Derwent Coloursoft pencils last time & found that I had to use the less smooth cardstock in order for the ink not to pool & to provide the Coloursoft pencils with some tooth. Smudging from the pencil debris was also a problem. The scenario proved very different using my recent purchase of the Adirondack Pigment Snow Cap inkpad (see the two uncoloured examples above: left - Adirondack, right - Brilliance). In addition, with little debris from the Polychromos & the much easier maintenance of a sharpened point there was minimal smudging & I love the clarity & brightness I was able to achieve against the black cardstock even when using dark brown & dark blue colours.

Edited Apologies - this is in fact incorrect (I was writing in the early hours of the morning) what I should have written was: see previous post for Brilliance examples & above left for Adirondack on smooth cardstock & above right for Adirondack on less smooth cardstock). It is the combination of cardstock tooth with the inkpad plus the pencils that affect the outcome.

Stamp Chocolate Baroque UA5SP0327 Seadragon; Ink Memories Black;

Cardstock Cotman Watercolour Paper Cold Pressed/NOT Grain Fin 190gsm

edged with Chipped Sapphire Distress Ink;

Colouring Body & Spines - Faber-Castell Polychromos Pencils with a dry paper stump & Derwent Burnisher

Pencil for body only, Wings - Cotman Pan Watercolours

Stamp Chocolate Baroque UA5SP0327 Seadragon, Ink Memento Tuxedo Black,

Cardstock Neenah Solar White 216gsm edged with Tea Dye Distress Ink,

Colouring Copic Markers with ProMarker Colourless Blender

I haven't quite developed the knack of slanting the camera to compensate for the shift in perspective during close-up photography of right angled shapes.

MCC Colouring 101 Wk 3 - Seascapes & Blending

2011-08-27T22:07:00.001+01:00

Links: Previous Post, Glenda Waterworth, My Creative Classroom (MCC)

from my sketchbook

Glenda's teaching of how to create both seascapes & skies using various watercolouring techniques has proved particularly exciting for me as some of my favourite images are those associated with the sea.

Stamp Elusive Images (Chocolate Baroque) UA5SP0261 Seashell Collage, Ink VersaFine Onyx Black,

Cardstock Cotman Watercolour Paper Cold Pressed/NOT Grain Fin 190gsm

edged with Stormy Sky & Tea Dye Distress Inks,

Colouring Derwent Aquatone Sticks Pastel Pencils, Daler-Rowney Artists'

Watercolour Pencils & Faber-Castell Polychromos Pencil

It's been hard to know how to use this stylized bird but I'm particularly pleased with the realistic scenery I was able to create for him.

Cardstock Cotman Watercolour Paper Cold Pressed/NOT Grain Fin 190gsm

edged with Tumbled Glass Distress Ink,

Colouring Cotman Pan Watercolours

This is a very hit & miss technique using pan watercolours & wet watercolour paper. I was quite delighted by the appearance of what looked to me as if it was the crest of a wave rolling towards the shore - just waiting for a surfer to ride it. My husband called it a tsunami.

Stamp Elusive Images (Chocolate Baroque) UA5SP0328 Mermaid Queen, Ink Memories Black,

Cardstock Cotman Watercolour Paper Cold Pressed/NOT Grain Fin 190gsm

edged with Tea Dye Distress Ink,

Colouring Derwent Inktense & Faber-Castell Polychromos Pencils

I found it particularly difficult to create a smooth wash using the Derwent Inktense pencils with water - I lost count of how many backgrounds I created only to find that when I tried to blend a rather blotchy area I only succeeded in making matters worse & I had to start again. I love the detail I was able to add with the Polychromos pencils after the wash was dry & especially how I was able to define the black stamping so precisely since these pencils maintain a sharpened point beautifully.

I did some more testing of the Polychromos pencils on various cardstocks (Neenah Solar White 216gsm, Cotman Watercolour Paper Cold Pressed/NOT Grain Fin 190gsm, W H Smith White Card 220gsm & Southfield Bright White 160gsm) - this time comparing how it was possible to make a smooth transition between two quite different colours blending with a dry paper stump combined with normal layering of colours. As an afterthought I ran my finger over a purely layered sample to see if there was any smudging. All four cardstocks smudged a little under my finger but I had to rethink my earlier assessment of the W H Smith 220gsm White Card, for with normal layering & dry paper stump blending it was the smoothest with no streaking (where a subsequent layer binds on the one beneath it) whatsoever whereas the Southfield 160gsm - until now my favoured cardstock - streaks a tiny bit. I personally do not like the Neenah with the Polychromos & find the watercolour paper too uneven when purely layering without a wash beneath it although it blends beautifully with the dry paper stump. At the end of the day it is a matter of personal taste so the above photo can be clicked for enlarging to allow the making of a personal selection.

MCC Colouring 101 Wk 3 - Facial Colouring & Pastel Pencils Meet A Challenge

2011-08-21T03:31:00.001+01:00

Links: Previous Post, Glenda Waterworth, My Creative Classroom (MCC)

from my sketchbook

I have very few facial stamps & so used one of the images Glenda provided. I had expected to be able to colour all of the skin with the set of 12 Lyra Skin Tone pencils but found that I needed to supplement the set with my Polychromos in order to colour her cheeks. I also used the Polychromos for her eyes, lips, clothing & jewellery.

Digital Image - Glenda Waterworth, Cardstock - Southfield Bright White 160gsm

Colouring - Lyra Skin Tone & Faber-Castell Polychromos Pencils with dry paper stump,

Chipped Sapphire Distress Ink for edging cardstock

I was working on my pastel pencils exercise & not really getting very far until yesterday morning when it fell together as Glenda mentioned the purple poppies in her garden, gave herself a challenge & suggested anyone wishing to do so could join in with a piece of artwork. I hope my sketchbook exercise qualifies as "artwork." I'd not really thought about the fact that in Glenda's MCC tutorial she used a stamp including expanses of solid stamping which she mentioned could be defined further with a black pencil, especially if an area hadn't stamped crisply. Although my stamped image was fine I thought the contrast between the creamy colour used for the scrollwork & the surrounding design might be effective. I was surprised by how much that small detail added to the final appearance & include the above photo (click to enlarge) of my first corner being coloured to illustrate the difference. Leaving little debris & maintaining a sharpened point the oil-based Polychromos pencil was a delight to use in this manner.

Recipe

Stamp Elusive Images (Chocolate Baroque) UDLGGSP020 Summer Poppies.

Ink VersaFine Onyx Black.

Colouring Derwent Pastel Pencils & Faber-Castell Polychromos Pencils with dry paper stump.

Cardstock Southfield Medium White 225gsm.

MCC Colouring 101 Wk 2 - Rounded Application

2011-08-18T16:23:00.004+01:00

Links: Previous Post, Glenda Waterworth, My Creative Classroom (MCC)

from my sketchbook

Glenda uploaded a YouTube video on how to colour the Morning Glory digital image she provided for the MCC Colouring 101 students to practise with. The video itself makes fascinating watching, moreover Glenda's company Chocolate Baroque also sells an A4 Unmounted stamp sheet - UA4SP0151 Flora & Fauna - including a very similar image.

I was inspired by the fact that the Morning Glory flowers in other colours apart from blue & decided to incorporate the violet aspects into my colouring. The above is not quite what I had in mind but I'm content that the flower looks realistic - even if these precise colour markings don't actually exist in reality. Colouring seems to have a life all of its own with serendipity being very much part of my own creative process & allowing me a freedom that I'm loath to stifle.

I wanted to apply the rounded shading principles to a different image & so tried this rose. With hindsight I should probably have left the highlights white & not tried to give my rose red & yellow petals. It almost ended in the bin but I decided that it was worth keeping to act as a reminder not to over-egg the pudding.

Recipe

Stamps etc... Morning Glory Digital Image provided by & copyright to Glenda Waterworth; Elusive Images (Chocolate Baroque) UA4SP0242 Harlequin Rose.

Ink Memories Black.

Colouring Faber-Castell Polychromos Pencils.

Cardstock Southfield 200 MIC Bright White Card 160gsm.

MCC Colouring 101 Wk 2 - Rounded Shading & Shape, Pencils & Paper

2011-08-11T15:19:00.030+01:00

Links: Previous Post, Glenda Waterworth, My Creative Classroom (MCC)

from my sketchbook

Prior to my first Colouring 101 classes this May I cannot remember ever having tried exercises such as shading spheres & cylinders, doughnuts & spirals. When attempting to colour a snail last summer I struggled to understand quite how to make the shell look real. Since then I have shied away from using that stamp - though snails are amongst my favourite images. After hours of colouring in May I made a start on the spheres & cylinders looking real but the doughnut & spiral defeated me as I could not grasp the shading relationships. I'm hugely encouraged this time round for I see progress since then & have tangible evidence of practice being the key to improvement.

hollow (left) & solid (right) cylinders

doughnut & spiral (ammonite)

Rather than copying Glenda's examples exactly I wanted to try applying the same principles of colour theory & shading/shape by using different colours &/or images. Although this entails a certain amount of bin filling it is extremely thrilling to make discoveries & the only way I can lose is not to dare to try.

I'm unsure about the highlight but it was magical being able to

achieve the gradations of colour simply by layering pencil colours

My first encounters with pencils last year gave rise to many questions & through the class I've discovered that others also struggle when it comes to choosing brands & papers. I thought it worth adapting some of Glenda's homework exercises in order to explore my own resources & to keep a record of my thoughts & conclusions. At the end of the day it will be a matter of personal preference & access to materials that will determine choice.

Cardstock for Polychromos

Using the same colours of Polychromos pencils I stamped & coloured the fish onto 3 different cardstocks: Southfield 200 MIC Bright White 160gsm; W H Smith White Card 220gsm; Winsor & Newton Lana Cartridge Paper 130gsm.

There is very little discernible difference in appearance but the real variations became apparent when applying colour to the surfaces. I was initially trying to improve upon the Southfield (smooth & bright white) with regard to the ease of laying down & blending layers of colour but found the other two surfaces even more difficult to use. I thought that the W H Smith would be an improvement as, although it is greyer in colour, it has more tooth. I found this surface too springy with the pencil almost making indentations in the surface unless I was extremely light-handed. Creamy in appearance & with a little tooth the Cartridge Paper seemed somewhat resistant to the application of colour & it was hard work laying down a smooth blend

Left: 25 layers of colour, Right: 7 layers of colour using Sansodor to blend along right edge

Discarding the Cartridge Paper I decided to try the heavier Craftwork Cards Digital Ultra Smooth Premium 250gsm Cardstock really giving each strip of card a hammering with 25 layers of Polychromos colour & then brushing my finger over the coloured surface. The Southfield was fine, just starting to catch a little as the layers were piled on. The W H Smith caught more & was a bit patchy as the layers increased, finally it smudged under my finger. The surface of the Craftwork Cards cardstock although smooth began to disintegrate before I had finished applying the 25 layers.

The more usual application of 7 layers was tolerated by all 3 cardstocks with the Craftwork Cards being the smoothest but blending patchily with Sansodor & allowing migration of colour along the edge. The Southfield wasn't as smooth when layering but gave by far the smoothest blend with Sansodor & did not allow any migration at the edge. The W H Smith was also somewhat patchy in blending both by layering & with Sansodor, plus it allowed colour migration along the edge.

Wax-Based or Oil-Based

When Glenda demonstrated how to use a Blender Pencil during the first course I wondered if it mattered that I was using the oil-based Lyra Splender with the wax-based Derwent Coloursoft pencils. Since I had some Lyra Pencils I tested it out & found that it didn't. I have just discovered a technical book (The Ultimate Guide to Colored Pencil by Gary Greene) which confirms my findings.

Having discovered that the wax content of the Coloursoft pencils accounts for the debris & smudging when colouring I decided to compare my tin of 36 wax-based Derwent Coloursoft Pencils with my tin of 36 oil-based Faber-Castell Polychromos Pencils (I came across these tins in a Sale when I first started crafting & impulsively bought them!!!!). I find the selection of 36 colours doesn't intimidate me but provides an adequate variety with which to work. For the above blending of colours I selected similar colours from each set & used the Derwent wax-based Blender for the Coloursoft & the Lyra oil-based Splender for the Polychromos.

Derwent Coloursoft

English wax-based available in 72 colours
give off debris when colouring & thus require frequent sharpening for finely detailed work
debris allows smudging & less defined edges
other wax-based brands - US Prismacolor Premier, Swiss Caran d'Ache Luminance 6901

Faber-Castell Polychromos

German oil-based available in 120 colours
very little debris (if any) retaining a sharp point for finely detailed work
allows clearly defined edges with minimal smudging
other oil-based brands - German Lyra Rembrandt Polycolor, Swiss Caran d'Ache Pablo

Recipe

Images Fish - Elusive Images (now Chocolate Baroque) UDLSP0330 Something Fishy; Circles & Cylinders - digitally provided by & copyright Glenda Waterworth.

Ink Memories Black.

Colouring Unless otherwise specified - Faber-Castell Polychromos Pencils.

Cardstock Unless otherwise specified - Southfield 200 MIC Bright White Card 160gsm.

I would very much value any comments/suggestions regarding other brands of pencils & cardstock/paper.

Tools for the Job in Hand

2011-08-02T21:53:00.003+01:00

In December 2006 we moved into a 1970s bungalow which was badly in need of updating. We have finally arrived at the lounge & the fireplace & with the builder having a slot starting this week work has begun. It is proving quite educational & I can see parallels with crafting techniques so thought I'd share some thoughts here.

Clearing some space
Around a thousand of my husband's books are shelved either side of our fireplace. These had to be removed as well as the shelving.

I like to start off with a space roughly 3ft x 15ins on my work counter where I have a glass mat & my Sor-Pal next to one another.

The right tools for the job in hand
This is what the builders used to cut through the concrete aggregate (breeze-blocks) of our walls. It creates a noise which is incredible & creates phenomenal clouds of dust. Our workmen looked like they had had bags of flour thrown at them. An ordinary power drill is just not tough enough for the task.

Similarly I like to use Tim Holtz's scissors for cutting out rubber & plastic as ordinary scissors really struggle to cut cleanly.

The right materials with which to build/create
This is one of the lintels (reinforced concrete with steel rods down the middle) being placed across the fireplace.

I use Glossy Accents to adhere heavier embellishments with - I know they will not fall off.

Preparation/Groundwork
Two holes were made from the front, then one from either side of the chimney breast & the space between cleared for the first lintel to be inserted. This will initially take the weight of all that is above.

Similarly before I heat emboss I will wipe my cardstock with an anti-static pad to stop stray particles of embossing powder sticking & being embossed in addition to my stamped image.

Clearing Up

above was the appearance at lunch time & below after work finished for today

.........now I have to admit that I do not tidy everything away for the night when I am crafting but I am the only one who uses my space.

MCC Colouring 101 Wk 1 - Water Based Markers & Watercolours

2011-07-27T15:21:00.002+01:00

Links: Previous Post, Glenda Waterworth, My Creative Classroom (MCC)

from my sketchbook

Stamp: Elusive Images (Chocolate Baroque) UA5SP0327 Seadragon

Inks: Memories Black (image), Tea Dye Distress Ink (inked edges)

Colouring: Whispers Strokes Pens (left), Cotman Pan Watercolours (right)

Initially I selected a large flower to colour but after several attempts with the Whispers Pens resulted in blotchy flat colouring I realised that once again I'd picked an unsuitable image for the medium/technique - it is one thing to copy the image/image type exactly but selecting one's own is another matter. A flat accumulation of penstrokes ensued when I tried shading the individual crenallations to give depth but I was rather pleased when I tried the above shading: dark to light from the bottom of each foliage tier/layer.

The numbering system of the Whispers Pens is my own as I now find it impossible to colour without having an idea of how the colour appears on cardstock as opposed to the cap. I used the sticky labels available at any stationery supplier, wrote the number by hand & cut to an appropriate size.

MCC Colouring 101 Wk 1 - Migrating Ink, Inkpad Pallettes & Pencils

2011-07-25T16:20:00.001+01:00

Links: Previous Post, Glenda Waterworth, My Creative Classroom (MCC)

from my sketchbook

Migrating Ink

Stamp: Elusive Images (Chocolate Baroque) UDLGGSPO23 Nature's Peace

Ink: Frayed Burlap Distress Ink

Since I'm happy with the Cotman Cold Pressed 190gsm watercolour paper I had settled on using that for all my projects but, as I was working on my first images using the migrating properties of water soluble ink, I had an itch to replicate what I was doing on the Langton Hot Pressed 300gsm watercolour paper. What a surprise when I did. I could barely move the ink to create a shadow outside my stamped image (top row) despite adding copious amounts of water & had only slightly better success when moving the ink within the stamped lines (bottom row). Additionally the whole image appeared somewhat bleached (right). I much prefer the vibrancy & ease of manipulation when using the Cotman (left).

Inkpad Pallettes

Stamp: Elusive Images (Chocolate Baroque) UDLSP0235 Nature's Table

Inks: Forest Moss & Barn Door Distress Inks

This was not as easy as it might look for I discovered that I needed to select the image that I chose bearing in mind the different colours I was going to combine. My first attempts had too many elements but applying Glenda's colour theory teaching in conjunction with a an artist's colour wheel I was rather pleased with this (bottom right) result. The first (top left) is the image simply stamped, then (top right) with ink pulled into the image using a wet paintbrush & thirdly (bottom left) using the same inkpad as a palette.

Adding Pencils

Stamp: Elusive Images (Chocolate Baroque) UDLSP0235 Nature's Table

Ink: Walnut Stain Distress Ink Colouring: Derwent Coloursoft Pencils

MCC Colouring 101 Wk 1 - Groundwork

2011-07-22T15:09:00.001+01:00

Links: Previous Post, Glenda Waterworth, My Creative Classroom (MCC)

I finally managed to buy some Hot Pressed Watercolour paper & recently obtained some Stampin' Up! Whisper White cardstock, Ryman's Coated Card & some cardstock specifically designed for use with alcohol markers. So, these were what I used with my favourite inkpads for the purposes of testing:

the clarity of the stamped impression;
the combined response of ink & paper to water;
the ability to manipulate the ink if/when it migrates.

Nick Bantock Dye Inkpad - Lamp Black

A good detailed stamped impression retained whilst allowing the manipulation of ink with a wet paintbrush.

Tim Holtz Distress Dye Inkpad - Black Soot

A good detailed stamped impression becoming less defined whilst allowing ink manipulation with a wet paintbrush on watercolour paper. It is designed to react with water but refuses to on the Ryman's, Premium & Whisper White.

Memento Dye Inkpad - Tuxedo Black

Very good detailed stamped impression which is retained whilst allowing a little manipulation of ink with a wet paintbrush. Supposedly water resistant it does "ghost" as above.

Memories Dye Inkpad - Black

An amazingly reliable clearly defined & detailed stamped impression which is completely water resistant.

Brilliance Pigment Inkpad - Graphite Black

A softer less clearly defined but detailed stamped impression completely water reistant.

VersaFine Pigment Inkpad - Onyx Black

With a reputation for clear detailed water resistant stamped impressions I find it less defined than the Memories.

Conclusions
The surfaces of the Ryman's, Premium & Whisper White cardstocks were all affected by contact with water leaving a residual furriness to the touch as opposed to the smooth finish where there had been no contact. It really is a matter of using the appropriate ink & cardstock for the medium with which I wish to colour & the technique I want to use, so these are my current preferences.

A Memento inkpad on one of the glass smooth or coated cardstocks (I've yet to decide which of those I prefer) when colouring with alcohol markers.

The Memories inkpad on watercolour paper for any colouring technique where I want a crisp defined stamped imprint with no ink migration upon the application of water. I personally prefer the lighter weight (90lbs/190gsm) Cotman Cold Pressed /NOT*GRAIN FIN watercolour paper to the above Langton as it is easily obtainable (in the UK it can even be obtained at a Hight Street W H Smith & sometimes at a considerable discount) & has fractionally more tooth allowing easier blending/layering of coloured pencils. The other advantage of using the 190gsm is that it is "scissor friendly" & can be used where detailed (fussy) cutting out of images is required.

The Distress or Nick Bantock inkpad on watercolour paper where I wish to utilize the water soluble migration properties of the ink for colouring.

Recipe

Stamp Elusive Images (now Chocolate Baroque) UA5SP0328 Mermaid Queen.

Cardstock Langton - Daler-Rowney The Langton Extra Smooth Hot Pressed Watercolour Paper 140lb 300gsm; Ryman - Ryman Bright White Coated Card 200gsm; Premium - Southfield Premium Pure White Glass Smooth Bleed Resistant 200gsm; Whisper White - Stampin' Up! Whisper White Smooth Cardstock.

Thank You & MCC Colouring 101

2011-07-21T17:19:00.019+01:00

Just a few words to thank you for the comments & emails I have received since my last post. Migraine control is greatly improved & there is gradual daily progress.

I shall be concentrating on the coursework for the MCC (My Creative Classroom) Colouring 101 which Glenda is running again & I intend to build upon the work that I did the first time whilst using different images where possible. So, for the moment, my posts will revolve around that & my continuing discoveries. The latter arise when I least expect them to & understanding grows rather in the manner of peeling off the successive layers of an onion.

A Brief Note

2011-06-27T15:44:00.002+01:00

Some of you know that I have chronic migraines so my head misbehaves quite often though with powerful medication I've got good control & the number of days with migraines down to single figures each month. During the last couple of weeks I've spent more time in bed than I like to as the migraines have been daily & sometimes not very responsive to medication. This is not anything to worry about as it does happen periodically & I have to restabilize through altering medication but I wanted to explain my lack of blogging & entering challenges. Disorientation through movement becomes a problem & sometimes it is just safer to plonk me in bed with the laptop or something that can be done with the minimum of movement.

I'm trying to keep up with the preparatory work for moving my blog & also working on making a ProMarker/Copics equivalent chart.

MCC Colouring 101 Wk 5 - Alcohol Markers

2011-06-12T03:38:00.001+01:00

As I mentioned in my previous post the final week of MCC Colouring 101 comprised an overview of alcohol markers, more specifically Copic Markers, their numbering system & blending techniques.

I found this suprisingly challenging & after the best part of almost two days trying to get a blend I considered sufficiently smooth (maybe I'm trying to do something I'm not supposed to?) I was contemplating this bin

I decided to press on regardless & did some serious thinking whilst I continued the exercises during the course of which my Copic Ciao Blender ran out & I switched to using my ProMarker one.

a smooth (?) gradient & fading to white

creating a shadow

despite using cardstock specifically designed for use with alcohol markers you can see that I had bleeding

feathering using the colourless blender to create smoke

Digital Image: Glenda Waterworth

creating water on glossy cardstock & sky with Distress Ink

flames

Digital Image: Glenda Waterworth

glows

Stamp: Chocolate Baroque UA5SP0333 Christmas Angel of Light

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black

So, I have come to the conclusion that Copics MAY not be for me. For the moment I am reserving judgement, but I am not buying any more because:

I find the results unsubtle & very "in your face" with a lot of effort required to create something approaching a reasonable blend.
The constant capping & uncapping is cumbersome & though I tried leaving them uncapped whilst blending this resulted in the ink becoming sticky & thwarting my efforts. My very small hands may account for this - but they will be small no matter how much I practise with technique.
I personally am unable to control the brush tip adequately hence there is real difficulty in applying the ink within the boundaries of a stamped image.

On a positive note I now know that any problems using the Copics are:

NOT due to the wrong cardstock - I've lost count of the number of recommended ones that I've tried.
NOT due to a lack of understanding the Copics numbering system - Glenda's explanation was enlightening.
NOT due to having an insufficient range of colours - with various offers etc..... over a period of time I have collected just over 170 or so.

I shall re-take Glenda's course & complete Suzanne's first set of classes before making any decision. Also, thanks to winning Debbi's candy a few months ago I have sufficient ProMarkers to give them a thorough testing. These have a rigid bullet tip & are much chunkier to hold plus (from my limited experience of them) seem much more subtle in their colours.

It is now a silly time of the morning & I need some more sleep before I do my Sunday bookselling duty in the local secondhand bookshop. I have a MacBook training session to prepare for on Wednesday & I am suffering from Card Challenge Withdrawal symptoms.

Some Thoughts About Colouring

2011-06-11T21:21:00.002+01:00

Prior to my post of the MCC Week 5 projects, I believe it is worth recounting my own colouring journey & thoughts. Not only will it provide me with a record but it might be of use to someone else.

When I started to colour 18 months ago I knew nothing about shading or paper never mind that there were different pencils/crayons, except that some were water soluble & some not. What a paper stump looked like was a revelation when I finally saw one, although I had come across Odourless Mineral Spirits - a curious thing called OMS or Sansodor - in a magazine describing the use of another strange item called Prismacolor. I began by watercolouring on ordinary cardstock with a set of Whispers Brush Markers & quickly moved on to Distress Inks. I discarded the watercolour paper I bought as I couldn't stamp properly on the rough surface nor get to grips with the way the ink responded but I struggled on using watercolour pencils on ordinary cardstock until May when I began to use Copics & ProMarkers & wrote this:

........I am becoming convinced that this colouring medium is one with which I shall be comfortable (I am already thinking of the Copics & ProMarkers as friends rather than something to do battle with.

I was given some on-line Suzanne Dean Copics classes for my birthday but didn't have time to start those before the meltdown of my relatively new Microsoft laptop & the subsequent switch to a MacBook Pro, plus the opportunities to take Glenda's MCC stamping courses. In the meantime the gift of a bundle of paper stumps prompted me to try using those with some pencils I'd acquired & Sansodor. In addition Glenda's Colouring Course was offered before I'd managed to start the Suzanne Dean ones. In fact it has all worked out very well for I've had a chance to obtain the Copics colours for Suzanne's classes & make a few discoveries whilst working through the Colouring 101 Week 5 exercises giving an overview of alcohol markers (more specifically Copic Markers) plus their blending techniques whilst consolidating the information from the first four weeks.

my sketch book page for Week 5

MCC Colouring 101 Wk 4 - Colour Theory, Scales & Negative Space

2011-06-10T22:59:00.003+01:00

my sketch book pages

I've been trying to get my MCC Course Work finished before yesterday's deadline for viewing the video tutorials. There has been so much to take in that I'm going to re-take the course the next time it is offered but I wanted to go through all the material so I can allow it to settle in my thinking as there have been further surprising discoveries for me.

Digital Images of Scales (left) & Cobbles (right): Glenda Waterworth

Colouring: Scales - Derwent Inktense pencils; Cobbles - Derwent Coloursoft pencils

Week 4 centred around applying Colour Theory whilst introducing some interesting techniques; I loved the colouring on white in my previous post & find I am viewing stamps with different eyes in terms of how to colour them. I have used complementary colours for the thistle & mermaid images & a combination of analogous & complementary colours for the dragon image & the treescape.

Digital Image: Glenda Waterworth

Colouring: Derwent Coloursoft pencils

Stamp: Elusive Images UA5SP0326 Underwater Kingdom

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Colouring: Copic Markers

The dragon is coloured using a combination of Derwent Coloursoft pencils, a burnishing pencil & Cotman pan watercolours on Cotman Cold Pressed/NOT Grain Fin 190 gsm watercolour paper. The various ways of using watercolouring media (inks, pencils, Aquatone sticks & pan watercolours) in combination with wax/oil based pencils has been an eye-opener for me & one I particularly enjoy. I have yet to explore using 300 gsm Hot Pressed watercolour paper but intend to do that when I re-take the course if not before.

Stamp: Chocolate Baroque UDLSP0182 Here Be Dragons

Ink: VersaFine Onyx Black

When I came to the colouring negative space exercise I found I did not really have any stamps suitable - in fact I realise that I have avoided such images. A whole new world of images is opening up & I now have a few with which to experiment. I was too heavy handed with my initial attempts but was able to solve that by erasing my pencil colouring then lightly reapplying the colour. It was during this process (combined with doing some technical pencil research regarding the various manufacturers via Peter Weatherill's Coloured Pencil Topics website) that I discovered that it is the wax content in the Coloursoft pencils that accounts for both the "bloom" when several layers are applied & the exceptionally friable lead. I shall be experimenting with the Faber Castell Polychromos oil-based pencils in due course.

Stamp: Chocolate Baroque UA4SP0290 Patchwork Butterfly

Inks: Chipped Sapphire, Stormy Sky & Weathered Wood Distress Inks

I'll finish with what arrived for me last Wednesday - it was our tenth Wedding Anniversary & Richard arranged for this to be delivered.

MCC Colouring 101 Wk 4 - Colouring White Ink

2011-06-02T16:30:00.002+01:00

I love this technique & learnt a lot in the process of working through this exercise in my fourth week of the MCC Colouring 101 Course. There really is no substitute for first-hand experience which - as I discovered - can prove quite surprising.

Glenda had mentioned that there needs to be some "tooth" in the cardstock that is used, but it wasn't until

I tried to stamp my image & colour that I discovered quite how vitally important this is. My initial attempts were using black cardstock which was too smooth so my white ink pooled in places & when I managed to stamp an imprint I was happy with the Coloursoft pencil began to bind on itself as I started to colour. I have found this before when colouring on parchment/vellum but had assumed that it was due to the wax binding agent in Coloursoft (as opposed to the oil binding agent in Polychromos which are the pencils usually recommended for Parchment Craft), not the smoothness of the surface.

It was also interesting to experiment with colours & see how I could blend from one colour (as in the blue anchor where I moved from a greyish blue through purples to blues & dark grey). So to summarize my discoveries:

use dark cardstock with sufficient "tooth" for the ink not to slide but not so much that it leaves gaps when stamping the image
use a sharp pencil (a battery pencil sharpener is invaluable for sharpening soft pencils)
experiment with various colour combinations

Stamps: Elusive Images UA5SP0259 Underwater (seaweed), Elusive Images UA5SP0261 Seashell Collage (anchor)

Ink: Brilliance Moonlight White

Colouring: Derwent Coloursoft Pencils

Blogger

2011-05-26T10:28:00.003+01:00

A very quick post from me as a week seems to have vanished in the blink of an eye...............

I gather that many people are having problems with leaving comments .......... & I wondered why I wasn't really aware of it, the odd one has a hiccough but just reloading the page seems to solve it. So I pondered & can only think it is because I use Safari as my web browser. I have used this for the past year & love it. OK, it took a bit of getting used to but I was also switching from PC to MAC so there was a steep learning curve. Anything I can't view - it's only the occasional web site - I use Firefox.

You can find out more about Safari here.

Hostessing a Stampin' Up Workshop

2011-05-23T16:35:00.000+01:00

This is the first time I have experienced a Workshop like this & I am utterly impressed at the way it was presented & run. I initially made contact with Hayley (see her blog All Things Pink and Fluffy at the Chepstow Artstamps Exhibition where she had a stand with a "Make & Take." My friends were new to Stampin' Up products & I knew them only by reputation so it was great actually to handle the products there. We were all keen to explore further so I booked a Workshop for us & asked another couple of local crafting friends (also new to Stampin' Up) along too - we were 6 in total last Saturday.

Neither I nor the others really knew what to expect & so it was with amazement that we discovered that Hayley provided all the products to use in order for us to make two different projects (for these plus photographs from Saturday see here & here). The fact that we all sat & used the products & made what Hayley showed us meant that we could all make reasoned & informed decisions about any purchases. It was a lovely relaxed atmosphere.

Hayley took some photos of us crafting (see above for link) & below are some photos from my ktichen preparations beforehand.

MCC Colouring 101 Wk 3 - Seascapes

2011-05-18T23:25:00.000+01:00

........above & below water using watercolouring techniques with various pencils.

The first uses pan watercolours to create the sea - a technique which requires a lot of practice & can be a somewhat hit & miss affair; my first attempt was a miss & hit the bin. Below is my second attempt which I am counting as a "hit."

I have stamped all my images in VersaFine Onyx Black ink onto Winsor & Newton Cotman 190 gsm Cold Pressed/NOT Grain Fin Watercolour Paper. This is readily available here in Brecon, has a smooth enough surface for stamping & is not too thick for "Fussy Cutting" of images should I wish to do so. I have seen some smoother Hot Pressed watercolour paper locally & shall try that in due course but it is quite thick at 300 gsm so I doubt it would allow for detailed cutting using scissors.

The next two combine watercolouring using Derwent Aquatone sticks & Daler-Rowney Artists' Watercolouring Pencils with the use of Derwent Pastel Pencils. The edges have been inked with Distress Inks.

Image: Elusive Images UA5SPO261 Seashell Collage

Image: Elusive Images UA5SP0260 Seashore Scene

The next one was my favourite. It is watercoloured with Derwent Inktense Pencils and definition provided by using Derwent Coloursoft Pencils with a Lyra Rembrandt SPLENDER blending pencil. The edges are inked with a combination of Brushed Corduroy & Tea Dye Distress Inks.

Image: Elusive Images UA5SP0326 Underwater Kingdom

MCC Colouring 101 Wk 3 - Skin, Sky & Sea........

2011-05-16T23:02:00.000+01:00

......with all manner of pencils.

I struggled rather with the flowing hair style so decided to concentrate on the facial shading.

Image (Elusive Images UA5SP0340 Belle of the Ball) stamped with

Memories Black Dye Ink & coloured with Derwent Coloursoft pencils

Top image copyright Glenda Waterworth

Bottom Image as detailed

I have had a set of 36 Derwent Pastel Pencils for a couple of years (they have an older numbering system than the current one) but not known how to use them. Their chalky consistency had floored me & I neither realised they could be blended with paper stumps nor that combining their use with other types of pencils would allow some really detailed work.

I decided to attempt this lighthouse scene (which I'd unsuccessfully tried to colour previously) using the pastel pencils with the Coloursoft pencils for the more detailed work & blending with a dry paper stump. The edges are inked with Weathered Wood & Black Soot Distress Inks.

Image (Elusive Images UA5SP0260 Seashore Scene) stamped with Memories Black Dye Ink

(click on all images to enlarge)

MCC Colouring 101 Wk 2 - Spherical Shading

2011-05-13T19:03:00.001+01:00

I have such difficulties imagining where shade should be & how to depict it plausibly. This has been the very issue that Glenda has been addressing in the second week of the course. She provided us with exercises with which to practise & then a couple of images (these are copyright to Glenda) with which to apply what we've been learning. Several people have expressed a wish to see more of what I am doing with the MCC Course so I include these. The fish is coloured using Derwent Coloursoft pencils & the Morning Glory flower Derwent Inktense pencils.

Image: Copyright Glenda Waterworth

An Award

2011-05-09T21:21:00.003+01:00

I came across Sandra (who has given me the above award) through Chocolate Baroque, the stamp company run by Glenda Waterworth.

As usual there are some criteria to be met - passing it on to 7 recently discovered blogs & telling 7 random things about myself. I'm going to suggest that you take the award if you are one of my followers & would like it plus wish to comply with the above conditions. As to 7 random things about me, here goes:

1. My favourite food is Marmite (a savoury yeast extract that can be spread on bread).

2. I "read" coloured pencil catalogues & product information.

3. I helped my husband restore an 1842 4-storey town house in Exeter.

4. I was given a MacBook Pro last autumn & much prefer the Mac Operating System to Microsoft.

5. I shall switch my blog to the Apple/Mac blogging platform once I have done sufficient preparatory work to be confident in doing so.

6. I did not get on with the Cricut Machine & ended up selling it.

7. I don't work through manuals very easily - I have a knack of tangling the information up & having to be extricated from the ensuing mix-up/mess (usually by my husband).

MCC Colouring 101 Wk 1 - Water Based Markers & Watercolours

2011-05-07T21:45:00.001+01:00

My final experiments for the first week. It is not always that I use the same images as Glenda - but if I have the stamp I do, or I use something very similar from Glenda's range of stamps (formerly Elusive Images & now Chocolate Baroque). In days gone by artists served their apprenticeships mixing paints for & copying their "Master" & we often see paintings designated "In the school of.............". Why should learning to colour stamps be different? Understanding what I am doing & being able to copy an example is what I have hankered after for some time & Glenda's course via My Creative Classroom is certainly filling a huge gap for me.

The above is a first for me as I have never used the proper artists pans of watercolours prior to this - not even as a child can I remember doing so.

(click on photos to enlarge)

MCC Colouring 101 Wk 1 - Inkpad Palettes & Pencils

2011-05-05T23:25:00.003+01:00

Rather than posting lots of individual photos & typing out the information about stamps etc...... I've come to the conclusion that it would be much more time efficient if I photograph sections from my "Stamping Notebook" (the keeping of which was suggested by Glenda & whose presentation & teaching is the catalyst). All my photos are clickable for enlarging so it shouldn't be difficult to read my notes, just email me if you can't read something. I'm often told that I'm too thorough & I think too much: establishing the minimum required to get something done isn't a concept that comes easily to me.

When I wrote my last post the significance of the relationship between ink, paper & water was only just dawning but as I worked on the above I had one of those "light bulb" moments leaving me absolutely thrilled & utterly excited (see my pencilled NB).

My Creative Classroom - Colouring 101 Wk 1

2011-05-01T21:31:00.002+01:00

NB - This post will not interest everyone but I have included it as a way of consolidating my own thinking & keeping track of my own experiences.
Edited - Link to Glenda, Link to MCC

I gained much from the two stamping courses tutored by Glenda Waterworth via My Creative Classroom (MCC) & was thrilled when I saw that there was going to be a colouring course. This is the start of the homework - entirely optional with everyone doing as little or as much as they wish according to the time & materials each person has available.

I was fascinated by coloured pencils as a child & when I first discovered realistic colouring of stamps around a year ago I started off using watercolour pencils & then Distress Inks. However, I found it very difficult since I had neither sufficient knowledge of inks & paper nor of shading/blending. I ventured along the ProMarkers/Copics route for a short period but it wasn't until I tried wax/oil based pencils blended with Sansodor that I was able to reduce the time I spent colouring from days to hours. The problem of knowing how to create depth & realistic shading remains & I've longed to know how to use the various neglected pencils & colouring mediums I have bought at various times along my crafting journey.

The above is all by way of explaining why I decided to do such an extensive testing of inkpads & papers/cardstock for the first of the MCC homework exercises.

The types of inks & paper/cardstock etc.... used are all detailed on the individual photos which are clickable for enlarging.

The best cardstock for all round use seemed to be the Southfield Bright White 160 gsm card (available from Chocolate Baroque). This buckles slightly when water is applied but flattens itself when adhered to another piece of cardstock, alternatively it can be ironed when dry. It has the advantage of being extremely smooth & consistently gives a crisply stamped image with most inkpads (the exception seems to be the chalk variety). For anyone who likes to "fussy cut" their image the 160 gsm weight is ideal; anything much heavier is hard going on the scissors & hands. For wetter techniques the best of what I used was the Winsor & Newton Cotman Cold Pressed Gummed Water Colour Pad 90 lbs/190 gsm.

In terms of the inks my favourite all rounder is Memento Tuxedo Black Dye which can also be used with alcohol markers, however it can bleed a little when used with water. For projects not involving alcohol markers the Memories Black Dye Ink just has the edge over the VersaFine Onyx Black Pigment ink for definition.

Bliss & Counting.........

2011-04-27T13:26:00.002+01:00

.......the weeks. Let's see if I can adapt this set to Simply Stampin's weekly challenge for the next 5 weeks as it will probably be that before I have another stamp set.

This was quite difficult to photograph in order to show the black as black & not brown & to show the sparkle of the heat embossed background.

front of card - angled to show holographic sparkle

of heat/wet embossed background

close-up of image panel

close-up showing dimensional gloss

of wet/heat embossed sentiment

close-up of metal dragonfly &

shaped punched leaves

close-up showing shaped leaves & stippled grass scenery plus

contrast of matt & Moondust black cardstock layers

inside of card

close-up showing leaf embellishment & contrast

between matt & Moondust black cardstocks

(click on images to enlarge)

For the sketch of Simply Stampin' 4 (which I flipped over from the left) I made a small scene to resemble the view from a window or that seen in a painting. I used a punch to make the sun shaped mask from a Post-It note & then stippled blue ink round it to portray the sky, removed the mask & added yellow ink to the space left for the sun. The hills were created by stipppling along torn paper edges.

Although this card is intended as a Wedding Anniversary card suitable for someone who does not favour cute images, it is also a fitting tribute to the Simon Says Challenge Blog who are celebrating their second anniversary with an "Anything Goes" theme & a blog hop.

Recipe
Stamps Stampin' Up Bliss (sentiment & background).
Inks Memento Bamboo Leaves, Cantaloupe, Dandelion, New Sprout, Pear Tart, Summer Sky & Tuxedo Black (focal image scene plus inking some cardstock/paper edges); VersaMark watermark stamp pad with Stampendous Detail Black (sentiment) & Kaleidoscope (background).
Cardstock An assortment of blacks & greens in various finishes from stash.
Papers K&Co Brenda Walton Madeline.
Punches etc. Woodware (sun-flower 2 for mask forming a sun shape, oval & scalloped oval used for sentiment, corner rounder, small Maple leaf, ), Carl (all other leaves), Fiskars (decorative corner); Spellbinders Nestabilities (Classic Ovals Small & Classic Scalloped Ovals Large).
The ribbon & pearls are from stash & the lace was in a bundle of candy from Kath.

Challenges Entered
Simply Stampin' Challenge 4 - Sketch (see above)
Simon Says..... Anything Goes (see above)
Stampavie & More Challenge 139 - Pearls
Timbroscrapmania Stamping Challenge 25 - Metal & Lace (the metal is there - my dragonfly is a metal brad with the legs cut off & I have a piece of lace across the top of my scene - a bit like a window with a lacey valance)

Easter Symbols

2011-04-22T17:32:00.002+01:00

front of card

close-up of floral arrangement

close-up showing shaped stamped flower

close-up showing heat embossed butterfly

close-up of shaped & glittered butterfly

inside of card

close-up showing corner detail

& paper pierced scallops

(click on images to enlarge)

The theme for Simply Stampin's third challenge is Easter. I had to think a bit how to approach that with my Bliss Stampin' Up set (I have another month to go before the party & some new stamps).

What does Easter mean? It's remembering Jesus' Crucifixion & Resurrection; & if we are Believers that is central to our faith & hope. My Mum was an Ordained Minister of the Church in her later years & she would have liked this card. The butterflies represent new life; the cross the crucifixion; I've used an embossing folder to create a semblance of a stone wall with trellis along the top; it could be the wall around a cemetery where the cross is the headstone for a grave, but also Jesus was crucified outside the city wall. A garland of spring flowers adorns the headstone - I've used brown pearls for the centres & couldn't help but think of the Kingdom of Heaven being likened to a "pearle of great price" (King James Bible Matthew 13:46). As I was putting the card together I had to laugh when I realised I'd unwittingly used a predominance of chocolate brown cardstock & Rich Cocoa Memento Ink for there we have Chocolate Easter Eggs.

Recipe

Stamps Stampin' Up Bliss.

Inks Memento Tangelo & Rich Cocoa; VersaMark watermark stamp pad with Stampendous Detail Clear Embossing Powder.

Colouring Stickles Glitter Glue (Cinnamon).

Cardstock An assortment of colours in various textures & finishes from stash, Craft UK white card blank.

Punches etc... Woodware (butterflies, small daisy, circle & scalloped circles), Martha Stewart (edger & corner), Cuttlebug Embossing Folder (Tiny Bubbles).

Pearls Bunny Zoe's Crafts.

Challenges Entered

Simply Stampin' Challenge 3 - Easter
Simon Says....Emboss It (I have used both dry embossing & wet/heat embossing)

Floral Easter Bunny & Gardening Companion

2011-04-17T18:53:00.003+01:00

front of card

focal image panel

close-up of image showing brown leaves

used to "ground" the image

close-ups of inked & shaped flowers

inside of card

close-up showing flowers & paper pierced

scallops of message panel

(click on images to enlarge)

On Monday's Penny Black Post Jenyfur issued this week's Reader Challenge of "Flowers" writing:

"Flowers can be found on many of our stamps including our Mimi collection and hedgehog stamps. If it’s a Penny Black flower, it works for this challenge! "

Although I do have floral Penny Black stamps I wanted to do something with an Easter theme & to use the watering can shaped base card that I'd made for my earlier card but not used. This little rabbit with his feathered friend from the aptly named Garden Friends set fitted in nicely & I particularly liked the fact that the robin (I coloured the bird as an European Robin) on the spade added to the gardening idea already suggested by the watering can - & what else do people do during the Easter Holiday? Garden!

I'd have liked to have made some daffodils but nothing I tried looked remotely like them. I settled for making my own yellow fantasy flowers & inking the edges with red to tie in with the red-edged yellow roses the rabbit is holding.

Recipe
Stamp Penny Black 30-021 Garden Friends
Inks Memento Tuxedo Black (image), Memento New Sprout (inking the watering can cardstock edges; Fired Brick, Spiced Marmalade & Vintage Photo Distress Inks (inking various cardstock edges).
Colouring Derwent Artists pencils with paper stumps & Sansodor; Inkssentials White Opaque Pen.
Cardstock An assortment of colours in various textures & finishes from stash.
Punches/Templates Woodware (circle & scalloped circle, scalloped oval, brown oak leaves, green leaves, outer flower petals), Xcut (inner flower petals); WS Tempting Templates Watering Can.
The yellow gems are from stash.

Challenges Entered
Penny Black Weekly Reader Challenge 11 - Flowers (see above)
Penny Black Saturday Challenge 147 - Easter Extravaganza (see above)

Timbroscrapmania Challenge 24 - Self-made Background

Simply Stampin' .......

2011-04-15T17:51:00.001+01:00

........ with these colours

& my set of Stampin' Up stamps - Bliss.

This will have to be a very quick description as the deadline is 6pm & as I type I have just an hour left to complete the inside, photograph & type the post.

The inks I used are Memento (Sweet Plum, Angel Pink & New Sprout) for stamping & edging cardstock. The pot for my flowers & their stems came from a Petaloo Florist kit & the leaves are punched with a Nellie Snellen Punch. The corner punch used on the inside is a Fiskars & the remaining corner punches plus the circle & scalloped circle are all Woodware. All the cardstock & the pink pearls were from stash. I stamped 10 of the flowers from the Bliss set, cut them out & shaped them with a ball tool then layered them in pairs & added just a touch of Ice Stickles Glitter Glue (Cherry Ice) as I wanted the stamped spots of the flower centres to be visible.

front of card

close-up showing stamped flowers, flourish detail

& sparkle of cream cardstock

angled view showing layering

& sparkle of glittered stamped flowers

inside of card

close-up showing paper piercing

& corner decoration

(click on images to enlarge)

Challenge Entered

Simply Stampin' Challenge 2 - Colour: Very Vanilla, Wild Wasabi, Bravo Burgundy & Pink Pirouette (see above)

10 minutes left to link - apologies for the photographs.

You Wouldn't Believe.......

2011-04-14T18:02:00.002+01:00

ETA 17/4 - somehow I got my wheelbarrows & watering cans mixed up; I should have written watering can below; not until Deb left a lovely comment on my watering can card where I referred to this post did I notice. Thanks Deb.

....... I spent all morning making my ATC (see here for photos etc...) into a card. Excepting the Timbroscrapmania challenge which Gio suggested I enter, I had all of the Challenges listed below in mind when I made my ATC & thought that all I had to do to transform it into a card was to make a side stepper base, decorate that & add my ATC. How wrong I was! The ATC was so complete in itself that it didn't look right with anything else; I even tried making a wheelbarrow shaped base card from a template & had it all cut out but that looked wrong too. A tag wasn't right either & since the Lily Pad Cards Challenge - whose colour challenge formed the basis of my colour scheme - deadline is imminent settled finally on this:

front of card

angled view

inside of card

close-up showing paper pierced scallops

& textured navy cardstock

(click on images to enlarge)

I have listed the items I used for the ATC element again but added in blue the extra items used to make it up into the card.

Recipe
Stamps Penny Black 30-020 Hugs! (image & sentiment).
Inks Memento Tuxedo Black (image) & Memento New Sprout (inking cardstock edges); Tumbled Glass, Mustard Seed & Spiced Marmalade Distress Inks, plus (inking some cardstock edges); VersaMark watermark stamp pad with Stampendous Detail White Embossing Powder (sentiment).
Colouring Derwent Artists Pencils with paper stumps & Sansodor; Inkssentials White Opaque Pen & Uni-ball Eye Needle Point Black Pen; Ice Stickles Glitter Glue (Crystal ice) & Flower Soft (ivory).
Cardstock Textured navy (I've used the reverse smoother side for the small "hugs" tag); pearlescent turquoise & green; orange & yellow all from stash.
Punches Woodware (large tag, oval & scalloped ovals), Xcut (small tag), Fiskars (ornate corner).
The navy bow came out of a packet of pre-tied bows amongst my stash as did the floral & turquoise gems.
The miniscule gem above "hugs" is Papermania.

Challenges Entered
Lily Pad Cards Challenge 1 - Kathy's Color Throw Down (see above)
Penny Black Saturday Challenge Wk 146 - Say it WITH Flowers
Timbroscrapmania Stamping Challenge 24 - Self-made Background (thanks to Gio for recommending that I enter)

Say it With............

2011-04-10T17:02:00.009+01:00

.......... hugs,
.......... flowers,
.......... an ATC...... & turn it into a card.

My initial steps in crafting & very flat non-dimensional colouring were in the realm of ATCs - back in May 2008; so when the Penny Black Reader Challenge theme for this week (the tenth week already) was announced as an ATC last Monday I decided to do some thinking around the subject & to incorporate my ATC into a larger project. With sorting out our Broadband - it turned out to be a corroded telephone wire 130m from our property which needed repairing - I've run out of time to do the second part but that just goes to show that the ATC is complete in itself. It has also worked to my advantage for a couple of challenges have been posted which I'd not have known about had I started earlier but which provided the catalyst for some unlooked for inspiration - but more about those in my card post which will follow in due course.

First things first. What is an ATC? This Penny Black post explains:

"A little about ATCs; Artist Trading Cards (or ATCs) are miniature works of art about the same size as modern baseball cards, 2 ½ X 3 ½ inches (63 mm X 89 mm), and small enough to fit inside standard card-collector pockets. The ATC movement developed out of the mail art movement and has its origins in Switzerland. Cards are produced in various media, including dry media (pencils, pens, markers, etc.), wet media (watercolor, acrylic paints, etc.), paper media (in the form of collage, papercuts, found objects, etc.) or even metals or cloth. The cards are usually traded or exchanged rather than sold. "

It is also customary to put the artist's name & contact details on the back together with the title or theme of the ATC plus the date.

ATC front

ATC back

close-up showing bow, heat embossed sentiment

& different textures of navy cardstock tags

close-up of focal image

angled photo to show dimension of

glittered Flower Soft & flower

(click on images to enlrage)

Although I frequently shape punched butterflies & flowers using an embossing/ball tool with an embossing mat I've not previously shaped small elements to 3D in the way that Debby does. However, I was particularly struck by her Hero Arts Poppy Card, so I decided to have a go at adding some physical dimension to the flower above my cuddling mice. I also wanted to give a furry texture to the flower head but as I only have Ivory & an unknown Mixed Pot I thought I'd add some Stickles Glitter Glue to the ivory to make it more interesting.

ETA 11/4 - See my link in the sidebar or here for Kathy Racoosin's use of Flower Soft when it comes to flower centres, especially the post here on the Penny Black blog or here on her own blog. In fact it was Kathy's use of Flower Soft over the past few days that reminded me how useful it can be. Although I had no idea of today's post I doubt I'd have thought of using it with glitter if I'd not seen her post here using brown.

Recipe
Stamps Penny Black 30-020 Hugs! (image & sentiment).
Inks Memento Tuxedo Black (image); Tumbled Glass Distress Ink (inking some cardstock edges); VersaMark watermark stamp pad with Stampendous Detail White Embossing Powder (sentiment).
Colouring Derwent Artists Pencils with paper stumps & Sansodor; Inkssentials White Opaque Pen & Uni-ball Eye Needle Point Black Pen; Ice Stickles Glitter Glue (Crystal ice) & Flower Soft (ivory).
Cardstock Textured navy (I've used the reverse smoother side for the small "hugs" tag) & pearlescent turquoise from stash.
Punches Woodware (large tag), Xcut (small tag), Fiskars (ornate corner).
The navy bow came out of a packet of pre-tied bows amongst my stash as did the floral gems.
The miniscule gem above "hugs" is Papermania.

Challenge Entered
Penny Black Weekly Reader Challenge 10 - Artist Trading Cards (see above)

Blue Butterfly Bliss

2011-04-07T17:47:00.003+01:00

front of card

close-up of background stamping

close-up showing glittering & dimensional shaping

of stamped butterflies plus paper piercing

close-ups of textures, stamped elements & gem embellished border

close-up of paper piercing & corner detail

on inside of card

inside of card

(click on images to enlarge)

Apologies for the different colouration in the last photo - I spent hours trying to get the full frontal & full internal shots in focus on the non automatic setting, after using up the whole of a newly charged camera battery I resorted to the automatic for the last photo as I just could not get it to focus properly on my manual settings; but then the colour differed!

Simply Stampin' is a new UK based Stampin' Up Challenge which launched with a sketch challenge this week. I have one set of Stampin' Up stamps so shall endeavour to enter the challenges using that until I have some more supplies. I have a full set of Memento Dew Drop inkpads so for the moment I shall be using the nearest equivalents to the Stampin' Up colours that I can find from amongst those, providing of course challenges permit my doing so. I always thought Stampin' Up synonymous with CAS but have recently realised that is not necessarily the case so I have some exploring to do. I have already been looking at the Stampin' Up Color Coach & found some very helfpul information about Colour Theory.

I was just playing about with the butterflies & had used my ball tool & embossing mat to shape them after cutting out to see how they might look - I was surprised & pleased by the outcome so decided to use a couple for my focal panel.

Recipe

Stamps Stampin' Up Bliss (background, butterflies & sentiment).

Inks Memento Danube Blue.

Colouring Ice Stickles Glitter Glue (Silver Ice).

Cardstock An assortment of whites & blues in various textures & finishes from stash.

Paper Textured blue from stash.

Punches Martha Stewart (border), Woodware (scalloped ovals), EK Success (Fancy Photo Corner).

The gems are from stash.

Challenge Entered

Simply Stampin' Challenge 1 - Sketch (see above)

Black & White Plus Yellow & Pearly Wet Embossing

2011-04-03T18:16:00.000+01:00

front of card

close-up of image showing paper piecing

close-up showing pearlescent tone on tone

wet embossing & shaped glittered butterfly

inside of card

close-up showing corner embellishment,

textured white & Moondust black cardstock

(click on images to enlarge)

This week's Penny Black Reader Challenge is "Wet Embossing." This is the first time I have come across the term but I believe it is exactly the same as Heat Embossing. My colour inspiration was taken from the April Penny Black @ Allsorts Challenge of "Black & White plus One."

I used the wet embossing technique to create a pearlised tone on tone background using the same stamp as for my focal image which I have paper pieced with an assortment of yellow cardstock.

Recipe
Stamp Penny black 4104K Christmas Star.
Inks Memento Tuxedo Black (image); VersaMark watermark stamp pad with Stampendous White Pearls Embossing Powder (background); Black Soot & Mustard Seed Distress Inks (inking some cardstock edges).
Colouring Letraset Fine Line Drawing Pen & Uni-ball Eye Needle Point Black Pen; Stickles Glitter Glue (Black Diamond).
Cardstock An assortment of blacks, whites & yellows in various textures & finishes from stash.
Punches Woodware (corner rounder & butterfly), EK Success (Fancy Photo Corner).
The yellow gems & the white pearl are from stash.

Challenges Entered
Penny Black Weekly Reader Challenge 9 - Wet Embossing (see above)
Penny Black @ Allsorts April Challenge - Black & White plus One (my one being yellow)
Allsorts Challenge Week 97 - Blooming Blossoms

Snailing Along Again

2011-03-31T13:54:00.001+01:00

Apologies to everyone whose blogs I regularly visit leaving comments - there seems to be a major fault with the BT cables somewhere & having believed it sorted (we had brilliant connectivity for a couple of days) we are back to almost impossible speeds.

I've spent the morning on the phone to our ISP & eliminating any internal wiring or router faults (disconnecting all phones, testing the Primary BT socket, using a different router, using a new DSL filter........) so that a BT Senior Fault Engineer can be called out without a charge of at least £99.99 to us. I have to call back on Monday to receive a definitive time slot for the visit. In the meantime I shall endeavour to enter challenges & at least leave comments where I have Wordpress email subs although my email functions aren't great either. Plain text isn't too bad but anything with a photo/picture/link or suchlike is a problem.

Enlargeable Photos for Backgrounds......

2011-03-28T17:51:00.000+01:00

These are the photos I've retaken for THIS POST - if you click on these they will now enlarge

front of card

close-up of image panel

close-up showing background stamping

plus glittered shaped butterflies

close -up showing paper piercing & glittered

edging of image panel

inside of card

close-up showing textured paper,

stamped border & inked scallops

Enlargeable Photos for Bohemian Sassy.....

2011-03-28T17:40:00.000+01:00

These are the photos I've retaken for THIS POST - if you click on these they will now enlarge

front of card

close-up of image, flower & metallic thread

inside of card

Backgrounds & Some Recycling

2011-03-27T20:47:00.007+01:00

EDITED - for some reason it isn't possible to click & enlarge my images - I shall have a fiddle & redo the photos Monday morning. It must have something to do with my camera settings.

EDITED 28 Mar - see HERE for enlargeable photos

front of card

close-up of background stamping & poppy head plus

the inked, glittered & paper pierced image panel

close-up showing glittered butterflies,

paper piercing & background stamping

inside of card

close-up showing textured paper

& background stamping

I was working on the background stamping for this week's Penny Black Reader Challenge (all I was managing was lots of bin filling with repeat grid stamping in patterns which just did not gel) when I half-heartedly picked up one of my large floral stamps & with some careful positioning there was my background. I then carried that through onto the inside of my card to form the bordering for the matting of the message panel.

I recycled the dark green ribbon from a Christmas cake, the yellow from an Easter chocolate lollipop & the two pieces of cardstock I die-cut & inked for the matting of the main image are from the packaging of my Memento dewdrop ink pads.

I tried embellishing the textured green paper but nothing looked right & I decided it was best left alone. I seem to end up paper piercing something on my card as I love the technique & have just received a Stampin' Up Mat Pack which I'm itching to have a play with. Thanks to Ali I knew that a Stampin' Up Mat Pack existed & when I knew there was to be a Stampin' Up Demonstrator a few weeks ago at the Atstamps Wales craft show I set out to buy one. I was so utterly impressed by the punches, stamps & inks I saw & handled during the Stampin' Up Make & Take at the show that I've arranged to be a hostess for a party in May & I'm thoroughly looking forward to exploring Stampin' Up products further.

Recipe
Stamps Penny Black 3645K Modesty (background), Penny Black 30-047 Flowers & Wishes (image).
Inks Memento Tuxedo Black (image); ColorBox Fluid Chalk Lime Pastel (background stamping & inking of recycled cardstock plus cardstock & paper edges); Shabby Shutters & Forest Moss Distress Inks (for inking cardstock edges).
Colouring Derwent Artists Pencils with paper stumps & Sansodor, Inkssentials White Opaque Pen, Stickles Glitter Glue (Lime Green).
Cardstock The card base of pearlised green is Crafter's Companion, the two die-cut layers are recycled (see above) & the remaining green & yellow assortment is from stash.
Paper Textured green from stash.
Punches, Dies etc... Woodware (scalloped circles inside card, butterflies), Spellbinders Nestabilites (Classic Ovals Large & Classic Scalloped Ovals Small for image panel).
The ribbons are recycled (see above).

Challenges Entered
Penny Black Weekly Reader Challenge 8 - Background Stamping (see above)
Penny Black Saturday Challenge Week 144 - Recycling (see above)
Penny Black @ Allsorts March Challenge - Welcome Spring
Simon Says Stamp Challenge - Mother's Day/Girlie (Had she still been alive my Mum would have loved this)
The Ribbon Girl Colour Challenge 6 - Green & Yellow
Wild Orchid Challenge 19 - Dieing To Punch It Out (I've used dies & punches as above)

The Pace of a Snail........

2011-03-24T17:26:00.001Z

......is better than none.

It does rather look like I shan't be commenting too much over the next few days, but we at least have something so I can see posts in my Reader & am able to email comment where I have email subscriptions. Also I seem able to post - albeit slowly if there are links/photos involved.

We have been advised that whatever the problem is should be fixed within 48 hours from Noon today.

Bohemian Sassy in Sweet Rhapsody

2011-03-23T21:56:00.009Z

Finally Edited 28 Mar - see HERE for enlargeable photos

EDITED a second time 27 Mar - I changed my camera settings without realizing that it might affect the possibility of clicking & enlarging photos - I'll have another fiddle with it tomorrow - 28 Mar.

EDITED

When I came to linking, The Sugar Bowl collection had already closed. We'd been without email & internet for the best part of 24 hours & though we have it back it remains at snail or tortoise speed so posting is a somewhat tortuous process especailly if it involves linking & photography.

front of card

close-up of image

close-up showing flower & button

embellishing with metallic thread

inside of card

I have used the sketch provided by Erika for the Sugar Bowl Challenge 55 & taken my colours from the March Simply Create Mood Board Challenge.

Recipe
Stamp Sugar Nellie Simply Sassy High School Student.
Inks Memento Tuxedo Black (image); Bundled Sage & Victorian Velvet Distress Inks (for inking most cardstock & paper edges).
Colouring Derwent Artists Pencils with paper stumps & Sansodor, Sakura Stardust Pen, Inkssentials White Opaque Pen.
Cardstock An assortment of pinks & greens in various textures & finishes plus blue-grey Moondust from stash.
Papers K&Co Brenda Walton Madeline
Punches, Dies etc... Woodware (circles & scalloped circles), Cuttlebug Embossing Folder (Swiss Dots).
The pink flower & the pink doily diecut were in my candy from Debbi whereas the button is Woodware & the metallic thread is from stash.

Challenges Entered
The Sugar Bowl Challenge 55 - Erika's Sketch + optional theme: Spring! (Spring colours & the sense of starting new things - in this case the start of a new Semester at High School or University)
Simply Create March Challenge - Bohemian Rhapsody Mood Board (my image is Bohemian in her funky footgear/dress plus her green glasses)

Broadband Trouble

2011-03-21T13:05:00.000Z

We seem to have a problem with our Internet connection at present - not having sufficient technical knowledge we have consulted both BT who provide the telephone line & AOL our ISP. The net result at present is a terribly slow speed & when I actually manage to see blogs/photos it is very hit & miss whether a comment I leave is accepted or not. We shall endeavour to get some local help here in Brecon but for the meantime I'm going to be unable to visit & comment. It remains to be seen whether I shall be able to upload anything.

Buttercup Yellow & Spring Green

2011-03-18T23:45:00.004Z

front of card

angled photo showing sparkle of glittered butterfly bodies

& buttercup centres plus glittery flowers & corner

close-up of buttercups

close-up showing shaped butterflies

& jewelled glittery floral embellishing

close-up of layered flower

inside of card

close-up showing paper piercing &

decorative edging of patterned paper

(click on images to enlarge)

For this week's Penny Black Reader Challenge of creating a card using glitter I have used the sketch from the Stamptacular challenge whilst incorporating the themes of Spring & green so that my card is also suitable for the other Penny Black challenges plus Sir Stampalot's challenge.

I used the twist blade in the Woodware Fingerguard Trimmer to create the decorative edging on the cardstock & paper. The punched butterflies were shaped using a ball tool & embossing mat.

Recipe

Stamp Penny Black 30-047 Flowers & Wishes.

Inks Memento Tuxedo Black (image); Bundled Sage, Mustard Seed, Peeled Paint & Pine Needles Distress Inks (for inking some cardstock & paper edges).

Colouring Derwent Artists Pencils with paper stumps & Sansodor, Inkssentials White Opaque Pen, Ice Stickles Glitter Glue (Lemon Ice).

Cardstock An assortment of greens & yellows plus gold in various finishes from stash.

Papers Provo Craft Scrap Pads Bitty Backgrounds - French Country Colours.

Punches Woodware (circles & scalloped circles, leaves, butterflies), EK Success (Fancy Photo Corner).

The jewelled glittery flowers are from stash. The green flowers in my large layered floral embellishment are Petaloo, the white ones were in my candy from Debbi & the green brad is from a Hot Off The Press Citrus Creative Kit.

Challenges Entered

Penny Black Weekly Reader Challenge 7 - Glitter

Penny Black Saturday Challenge Week 142 - Green

Penny Black @ Allsorts March Challenge - Welcome Spring

Stamptacular Challenge 102 - Sketch (see above)

Sir Stampalot March Challenge - Spring is in the Air using fresh greens, yellow and/or blossom pinks ( I have used the fresh greens & yellow option)

Floating Mimi

2011-03-13T20:29:00.000Z

front views of card

angled close-up of image showing

glittered wings

close-up of leaf & jewelled

glittery flower embellishment

back of card

inside of card taken using flash to show

shimmer of purple Moondust cardstock

& tags for personal message

(click on images to enlarge)

The Penny Black Reader Challenge this week is to create a card based on a TEAL, ORANGE & PURPLE colour scheme. I've used the stamp that I received when my name was picked from commenting on the Penny Black Blog although I did remove the antennae as I thought Mimi was better without them for this construction inspired by Joanne Wardle's Craft Stamper April 2011 Floating Fronts project (page 52). I had a few false starts (binned) using sketches prior to settling on this card format this morning so between a trip to Cardiff for some Apple computer training last Friday (I shall be moving my blog to Apple's iWeb/MobileMe) & the Chepstow Artstamps South Wales Craft Show yesterday plus my head misbehaving with a cluster of migraines I've ended up getting this done just before the deadline.

Recipe

Stamp Penny Black 4119J Love Antennae

Inks Memento Tuxedo Black (image); Chipped Sapphire, Dried Marigold & Dusty Concord Distress Inks (for inking cardstock & paper edges).

Colouring Derwent Coloursoft pencils with paper stumps & Sansodor, Inkssentials White Opaque Pen, Stickles Glitter Glue (Waterfall & Black Diamond).

Cardstock An assortment in various colours & finishes from stash.

Paper Dovecraft Designer Paper Pack - Kate Knight Aquamarine Floral Prints.

Punches Woodware (circles & scalloped circle, tag), Nellie Snellen (leaves).

The jewelled glittery flowers are from stash.

Challenge Entered

Penny Black Weekly Reader Challenge 6 - Teal, Orange & Purple

The Trail of a Butterfly

2011-03-08T12:59:00.000Z

.........was more like a trial. I had finished the front & noticed the slightest hint of glue where it shouldn't be so thought I'd cover it with a butterfly trail....... well it looked awful, so awful I decided to try taking off the offending panels.......& you've guessed....... I couldn't & only just managed to salvage my image as everything was rather securely stuck down (I tend to be thorough). One part of Hippie Chick's clothing tore off but I managed to remove the jagged tears & so she no longer has the fold of her dress under one leg.

front of card

close-up of image

close-up showing butterfly

trail & punched border

close-up of inked & shaped butterfly

inside of card

close-up showing paper pierced scallops

(click on images to enlarge)

Challenge 54 at the Sugar Bowl is a sketch by Lilian with the optional theme of Clean & Simple. I decided not to worry about the CAS aspect but to just limit the embellishments: a tiny bit of Sakura Gel pen sparkle on the sock/leg warmer button, my butterflies (I shaped them using an embossing tool & mat) plus a couple of flower gems.

Recipe
Stamp Sugar Nellie Simply Sassy Hippie Chick.
Inks VersaFine Onyx Black (image), Dried Marigold Distress Ink (for inking most paper & cardstock edges).
Colouring Derwent Artists Pencils with paper stumps & Sansodor, Sakura Stardust Pen, Letraset Fine Line Drawing Pen, Inkssentials White Opaque Pen.
Cardstock An assortment of pink, peach & white in various textures & finishes from stash.
Papers Provo Craft Scrap Pads Bitty Backgrounds - French Country Colours.
Punches Woodware (circle & scalloped circles, floral border, butterfly).
The flower gems are from stash.

Challenge Entered

The Sugar Bowl Challenge 54 - Lilian's Sketch + theme: Clean & Simple (see above)