24 August 2015

Let's hear it for the girls!

Wow, it seems like ages since I last sat here in my studio to blog......
.......not surprising really as it's harvest time here in the UK, I'm married to a farmer and normal life gets put on hold at this time of year!

So it feels quite an achievement to be able to say here is my latest post for Copic Europe - 
I hope you like it!


As is my preference of late I have opted for the no lines technique i.e. printing the image at reduced opacity if using digital images or pale ink when using a stamp.

Super Day by Mo Manning
Papers - June Bug Pad by Basic Grey, Blast Off pad by Bo Bunny
Star and large flag dies


Skin: E0000, E000, E00, V20
Hair: E40, E41, E42, E43, E44
Cape: R20, R21, R22, R24, R29
Sweater: B32, B34, B41
Tights: YR30, E81, B0000, B000, N1, N2
Shirt: B0000, B000, N0, N1, N2
Shoes: R21, R22, R24, R29, B0000, B000,
 B21, B23, N0, N1, N3, N5, W1, W2
Ground: N0, N1

Please note - image has been enhanced with coloured pencils

Thanks for dropping by and I hope this has inspired you to get crafty

18 August 2015

Tiddly Inks Challenge

#164 Have Heart


Wryn's Heartfelt Love - Tiddly Inks

Copics
Hearts - R32, R14, R35, R37, W3, W4, W2, W0, R20, R21, R22, R24, BG70, T1, T2, C00, C0, C1, C2, C3, C4, BG0000, B0000
Skin - E0000, E000, E00, V20, BG70
Floor - R0000, R000, C00, C0, C1
Hair - E40, E41, E42, E43, E44
Dress - YR30, R0000, R000, R01, R02, B00, W0, W1
Shoes - B0000, B000, N0, N1, N2

enhanced with coloured pencils

With digital images it is still quite easy to do "no lines colouring" - you just have to adjust the opacity of your image prior to printing it!

Good luck with this challenge

Hugs

4 August 2015

Tips on how to add a little interest to your colouring

This is my first tutorial for Copic Europe and I wanted to share some of the ways I
"play" with Copics.......

So I have a little montage of ways you can add a bit of fun to your colouring!

Lets start with a simple stamp
I have used
Say it Loud! by Art Impressions



It's OK like this, but a bit boring don't you think!!

So to jazz things up a bit I started by stamping it out on Copic suitable card stock using 
Memento Angel Pink, so that I could use the no lines technique
and cut it out using a stitched circle die by Lil'inker Designs


Now I started by creating a background using my "Squiggly Wiggly" method!
Basically you start with your base colour, in this instance B0000 and cover the whole area using the standard Copic circular motion.

You then add squiggles of a darker shade, in this case B000, going over it with the lightest colour to soften the squiggles if necessary. 

Don't get heavy handed with this, light, delicate squiggles work best.


 I finished with a layer of B00 squiggles, softened by B0000 applied in a circular motion as before.


A - B0000 applied in a circular motion
B - B000 squiggles applied to three quarters of box, softened with B0000 
C - B00 squiggles to top left of box
D - Squiggles softened with B0000 applied in circular motion

This technique works best with the palest shades in any of the colour families.

It gives a soft textured almost fluffy appearance to a background and I use this method regularly when I am colouring skies!!!

Now the real fun begins.......
time to play around with your image!


I started by giving each word a 3D appearance, achieved by simple shading, but hey, it's still a bit boring and I like to have fun when colouring.....


I'll show you a close up in a minute, but here is a list of the colours I used for each word

SING: B21, B23, B24, B26
DANCE: B01, B02, B04
LAUGH: B91, B93, B95, B97, 0
LOVE!: B12, B14, B16
shadows applied using N1, N2, N3


DANCE: random dots applied using darkest colour B04
LAUGH: spots created using 0 to remove colour 
LOVE!: Stripes drawn using B16 and B14 mindful of the 3D colouring

I hope you have found this tutorial interesting and whether you try colouring a Squiggly Wiggly background or add a pattern to your images, above all have fun when using your markers!!

Happy Colouring

An animal themed challenge at Tiddly Inks

#163 Paws for thought

One for the animal lovers amongst us......a challenge that requires a Tiddly Inks animal stamp!

and here is mine

as I am allergic to cats and have been since I had our son Ben I opted for a dog, and shock horror it's not a Westie this time!!

My Beach Boy - Tiddly Inks

Copic List
T Shirt - Y11, Y21, YR21, N1, B000, B00, BG01, B53
Shorts - YR30, E40, E42, E81, E44
Sand - YR30, E50, E51, E41, E42, W1, W4
Skin - E0000, E000, E00, V20, E41, R20
Flag - B14, B12, B000, W3
Sky - B0000, B000
Hair - E51, E31, E34, E25, E59
Bucket, Spade and Sandals - B91, B93, B95, B97, B32, B34, B37, B39, N8
Dog - W00, W0, W1, W2, W3, W4, W6, W8, BG0000, E70, E71
Crab - R11, E11, E04, W2, W3

enchanced with coloured pencils

Sentiment - CC Designs - Happy Day

For more inspiration from my fellow design team members and information regarding where to post your entries please click HERE

Thanks for dropping by

3 August 2015

The new Without Words Challenge is a little fruity!

Hello there!

I hope you all like this new creation
(it's one of my all time favourites)

Anyway, lets start by telling you about the new challenge
Fruit and/or Veg

Now, it's been a while since I used a Mo Manning image, I love the detail she incorporates and in fact I added a little bit of my own along the way........


Mo Manning - Elke & Bear
Peaches to bottom left of image - by Jane Allen
Sentiment stamp from stash

Copics:
(Brace yourselves it is a very long list)

Background - B0000, B000, YR30, W1, E81
Swing - E41, E42, E71, N0, N1, N2, N3
Branches - E30, E31, E34, E44, W3
Peaches - YR20, YR00, YR02, Y32, R32, R56, W1, W2, W4, 0
Leaves - YG11, YG61, YG63, G85, T1, T2, T3, T4
Leggings - YR30, YR20, YR0000, YR000, R01, R02, W0, W1, W2
Boots - E50, E51, E53, E40, E40, E41, E42, E43, E44, W1, W3
Cardigan - G20, G40, G12, T0, T1, T2
Dress - C00, C0, C1, C2, C3, C5, BG0000, BG000, YR01
Hat - YR30, E50, E81, G40, G20, W0, W1, W3, T1, T2
Bear - E40, E41, E42, E43, E50, E44, RV32, W7, Y21, Y26, Y28, W1

and as with a lot of my work this image has been enhanced with coloured pencil
(see previous post for details)

Our wonderful sponsor this month is 
Bunny Zoe

so for your chance to win a voucher
please post your entries HERE


Now, before I go I thought I would share another little tip:


When colouring something realistic please don't guess, especially if like me you've never seen a real peach tree!
May I suggest searching for images online.

I'd die of embarrassment if after hours of colouring someone said - "oh, nice apple tree"

I made up a montage sheet on Pages (Word would be fine) of images of peaches which I constantly referred to whilst colouring.  It was also of enormous help when I added in my own, hand drawn element to balance the composition!

As always thanks for dropping by, 
I hope you enjoyed todays post as much as I did colouring this!!