Nearly Christmas, just saying

Firstly, I would like to thank My Favourite Things for inviting me to be a Guest Designer this month, I was over the moon when they asked me and was thrilled to be given the chance to play with some of the November release.

This particular card was such fun to make and I have to giggle when I look at the snowflake, you'll understand why later on in the post.

I thought you'd like to know how I set about making this card:

Lets start with the background - this was achieved with a Copic airbrush, using a mixture of G000, RV00 and B01.  I then added white dots with a gel pen to compliment the Snowfall of Blessings sentiment that I stamped with Versamark ink and heat embossed with superfine white embossing powder.

It was then time to turn my attention to the centre panel.  Initially I stamped various Simply Snowflakes on a piece of smooth card with Versamark ink and embossed it as above.  Colour was added using very pale Copic markers G0000, B0000, RV0000 - just make sure you've cleaned off any dusting or embossing powder from your cardstock or it could damage the nibs of your markers - as you can see it gives you a very soft mottled background.  The oval was cut out using Dienamics Pierced Oval Stax.

Now, this is where I start to chuckle as I got in a bit of a pickle with my first idea for the focal point on this card.  Initially I cut several Stylish Snowflakes out of shrink plastic, blasting them with my heat gun.  Ha ha, as I found out, after several attempts, fiddly die cuts don't shrink very well.......lets just say I ended up with some very strange looking shrunken blobs wrapped around the tweezers I was using to hold them - I made a right mess!!  So I abandoned that plan and cut a single snowflake from matt shrink plastic, which gave the die cut more rigidity than acetate or vellum would and carefully coloured it with the same Copic markers as above - the matt surface made this really easy to do.  A little sparkle was added courtesy of Clear Wink of Stella, a sequin and a dot of pearl paint.  

Finally I mounted it all on an A2 white card, using small foam pads under the central snowflake to make it stand out.

Ta da, a clean and simple Christmas card with a touch of sparkle!

Thank you for dropping by and I will be back in a few days with another card using 

My Favourite Things.

Pushing the boundaries!

As crafters, many of us try (and in my case, often fail) to make our own Christmas cards each year.  Some are diligent and create the darned things "all year round" whilst others hit panic mode in November when they realise there just are not enough hours in the day to get them all done!!

Well, I reached that conclusion a little early this year........my Christmas card tally was in single digits and I'm away in early November...........things were not looking promising!

Then I sat in my studio day dreaming.........how long was it until my trip to Arizona to attend Jennifer Dove's Copic Bootcamp?  As I gazed into space I found myself pondering over the Copic fine art creations we have seen that amazingly talented lady producing......who can forget the giraffe drawn on an ostrich egg or those fantastic tulips and it got me thinking.........dare I have a go?

Could I do it?  So far I'd only ever used my Copics to colour stamped images adding the odd background here and there........would I be able to make the jump to a hand drawn piece of art as the Allen Christmas card? Well, there was only one way to find out - give it a try!  What is it they say - "nothing ventured, nothing gained" ...........but what was I going to draw - not a tractor in the snow, that was for sure!  Then my mind wandered to Ruby, the photobombing chicken and it got me thinking...........Christmas....birds....Turkeys, suddenly it hit me, what about a little Robin!

Well, I've waffled on long enough, so here it is:

It is based on an image I found online, along with numerous pictures of Robins I used for reference, primarily because, believe it or not this is the first time I have ever drawn a bird!

I would love to have taken some pictures whilst I worked on it, but I was simply too scared to do so........what if I goofed and had to start over!  So please forgive me; having drawn the image in pencil I drew a deep breath and started to add the colour.  Firstly the holly branch and leaves, then the Robin. Oh boy, creating the texture on those feathers took some thinking, I was layering lavenders, blues, browns and greys to get the right colours. Then of course there was that vibrant "orange" chest....yes, believe it or not Robin Red Breast is in fact orange!! Finally I turned my attention to the snow, colouring white is a challenge all on its own! I was literally holding my breath as I neared the end - praying that I could finish it without making a mistake - and thankfully I did, woo hoo!!!!  

Oh and it's 100% Copic, no coloured pencil enhancement whatsoever (pinky promise)!!! 

Are you all ready for the Copic list, you know me, I use lots.........well when you have a full set of Copic markers it would be criminal not to try and use as many of them as you can!

From now on I intend to use my markers for way more than just colouring in stamps.........and I have to say I am really rather pleased with my first piece of Copic Fine Art.........keep watching, there will be more, for sure!!!

Thanks for dropping by and I hope this has inspired you to challenge yourself, push those boundaries and try things you have never done before.................you never know where that journey will take you!

Happy Colouring

Is it a bird, is it a plane?.....No it's Supergirl!

Oh boy, I certainly wished I had had super powers recently so I could have avoided picking up a pesky viral infection........hey, ho, sort of back to myself again and yes I have been colouring!

Not quite ready to share what I have been up to just yet........suffice it to say I pushed myself further than I've ever done before and am pretty amazed at what I've achieved...........more on that next week!!!

Until the big reveal, here is something else I coloured recently:

Now I confess, the hair -  grrrr, my nemesis; if I am going to have sticky Copic issues you can guarantee it will be with the hair!  This meant I required the assistance of a little colour pencil touch up to save the day!  

And if you look carefully you can see that I gave the envelope a little star treatment, adding them to both the front and the back. It does not show in the photograph but they sparkle too, courtesy of a touch of clear Wink of Stella!

She was coloured using the "No Lines Technique" (a tutorial will be appearing on my blog in the not too distant future) 

I then opted to fussy cut Supergirl for a change, mounting her with foam pads onto a distress ink coloured background. 

SUPPLIES:

Stamps: Super Girl by Whimsy Stamps, Block Sentiments by Lili of the Valley

Paper: Personal Impressions Premier Quality Smooth White card

Colouring Medium: Copic Markers, Caran D'Ache Pablos pencils

Tools:  Spellbinders Grand Calibur, L'il Inker Stitched Rectangles, MFT Blueprint 15, Wink of Stella Clear, Distress Ink - Black Soot, Hickory Smoke, Tumbled Glass and Scattered Straw, Memento Angel Pink, Versafine Majestic Blue

Card size: USA A2

Happy Colouring 

and have a great weekend