Coloring Sky With Prismacolors

Hi Guys!

Well for a long time now I have admired artists such as Annika who create such lovely sky backgrounds to their images and have wanted to try it for myself. I don't know why but it really intimidated me. Which is strange cos I have painted sky and clouds on several ceilings in our house, 10 feet up in the air! But to color sky on my cards....well now, the butterflies in my stomach get fluttering.

Now if you're a copic artist you'll want to check out Annika's FAB tutorial here . You really can't beat it.

But if you're like me and prefer to use pencils, you can follow my very simple steps outlined below:

First of all I am using only one pencil which is:

Prismacolor Non Photo Blue

I am also using goo gone and a blending stump. That's it.

(You can see the supplies above)

I start off by making random circular strokes with my pencil where I want my clouds to be. You can see that it's pretty rustic at this point.

here's a closer look below so you can see the pencil movements

Then I get my blending stump, dampen it with a touch of goo gone (you can also use baby oil if you prefer), and softly blend in circular motions until you've softened the blue shapes.

It will look something like this when you're done with this step:

It's looking pretty nice but it can look even more realistic if we go back in and add just a touch of blue pencil at random spots. This suggests depth. Have a look and see what I mean:

Now soften these darker spots with just a feather light touch to the blending stump. You're not blending per se now, you're just touching the spots with the dampened end of your stump.

See?

And that's it!

You can make your day as cloudy or as blue as you want and you can even make it a bit stormy by adding a bit of grey to your blue when you blend.

I hope this helps someone!

*If you are looking for ideas for coloring AA Hair and a multicultural skintone, (mine is only one of many out there!) please see the tutorial section of my blog.

DP2 Challenge ~ Color Recipe

Howdy folks! :-)

Today is a new day for Mo's challenge team and the challenge today is a color scheme:

Red, Yellow and Orange

Well you know I was hard pressed to find some yellow in my stash  but somehow I managed. lol

My recipe:

DPs: DCWV

Image: Mo Manning

Colors: Prismacolor pencils

Punches: Martha Stewart

Flower: handmade

Dies: Nestabilities

So I hope you can all gallop over to Mo's DP2 Challenge blog and join in the fun this week!

Take care!

No Worries, No Cares, No Clothes

Hi Guys!

Thought I would share some more "for fun" cards. I made these a couple of weeks ago but wanted to make sure the recipients recieved them before I blogged them.

I saw these digis at Digi Doodle and couldn't resist, they're so cheeky. lol

The papers I'm using are K&Co and the colors are a mixture of copics and prismacolor pencils.

The sentiments are from my own sick mind printed on the computer. :-)

A close up of her callipygousness:

And Little Miss Accesorize couldn't be complete without her brother Mr. Sweet Cheeks.

This card I made for Faye over at Stampin Fluffinstuff. She has a little boy who she always calls "Sweet Cheeks" so of course the rest is history. lol

A close up again:

OK! I guess I'm done! 

I hope Ive brought a smile to your face today. :-)

Take Care!

A New Beginning

Hi Guys!

Today was a "for fun" card day. This is the first time Ive colored up this Phindy image which I thought works really well for a baby card.

My Recipe:

Papers: from stash

Flower: handmade with DMC floss

Punch: Martha Stewart

Pearls: Recollection

Lace: from stash

A close up:

And the little carriage which I thought was real cute.

And the flower in all its imperfect glory. :-)

And look guys, see! I am continuing to finish my cards, nothing fancy but I'm getting them done. 

I would like to enter this in

 Phindy's Challenge: Lace and Pearls

Craft Your Passion: Use 2 DPs

Have a great week everyone!

Sentimental Sundays~ Color Recipe/ Thanks For Lunch

Hi Guys!

I hope you're all enjoying your weekend. :-)

Now when you look at this card don't you wonder exactly which lunch the cat is grateful for??? Cats and celery? I don't think so!lol

This week's challenge at Sentimental Sundays is a recipe:

So I thought that those were good colors for a cat!

Don't laugh, Tine!

(I always make orange cats)

Ive used papers from K&Co and DCWV and distress inks to darken the edges of my background paper.

The sentiment is made on the computer and the image is Mo Manning

The bradz I can't remember where I bought. I'm thinking they may be SU or from a scrapbooking shop that closed down some years ago.

The dies are Spellbinders Nestabilities and I just pierced the image with a piercing tool for interest.

And the sentiment.

I would like to play with:

 Our Creative Corner: Three colors next to eachother on the color wheel

Fuzzy Wuzzy: animal, anythinggoes

I think that's it for today!

Pay It Forward

I just  joined in a fab game over at Faye's " Stampin Fluffinstuff's" blog.

And this is how it goes:

I promise to send something handmade to the first five people who comment on this post. However, there's a catch. You must post this, offering something handmade to five other people.

The rules state that it must be something handmade or homemade by you and needs to be sent to five other people during 2011.

So no breathing down my necks, folks! It WILL come!


If you'd like to join in the fun, then be the first to post a comment and something handmade or homemade will be coming your way at some point this year.

Isn't that cool?

So lets see what we can do!

Come play!

PS) As Ive said to some buddies, I play nicely but not by the rules. :-) So if there's one or two extra I won't complain! ;-)

Dutch Dare ~ Sketch /TeaTime

So some of you will remember my African American card I made last week using this stamp. Well this is my mulatto version. A friend of mine has a grandaughter who has this same beautiful shade and it just looks like she has a permanant tan. Something I know NOTHING about, unfortunately.(As the only tan I get is when my freckles decide to join up.)

Anyway! THis week's challenge at Dutch Dare is a sketch. So why not head over and see how you can distort it , I mean, make it your own. lol

I have used some assorted papers (I think they're K&Co.)

Digi by Mo Manning

Colors: Prismacolor pencils

Sentiment: Made on computer

Dies: Nestabilities

And a close up:

I would like to enter this in:

Color Create: Color scheme

Take Care!

Dorcas

DP2 Challenge ~ Ethnic

Hi Peeps!

Today is a new day for a challenge over at Mo's DP2. The challenge for this week is

Ethnic

If you pop over to Mo's store you'll see she's got lots of multicultural stamps to use. I love em!

And the winner of course gets treated very well indeed to Mo's goodies. :-)

So today I'm using this cute- as- can- be asian sweetie. Ive printed her out on Kraft paper and colored her with Prismacolor pencils. For her hair I used black and highlighted with light powdery blues for shine. The paper is DCWV.

A close up:

I hope you can all join us  this week! I'll be looking for you. :-)

Dorcas

Flowers!

Hi Guys!

I have to share with you my enthusiasm for a newfound hobby. Yay! :-)

I've been eyeballing these flowers for some weeks wanting to learn how to make them and finally

got the chance thanks to a new blogging buddy, Melissa from "inklinations"

You have to check her blog out, she does fab work and she has tutorials like this one that I used to make these flowers

So you can use anything: yarn, floss, hardanger thread etc, depending on what effect you're going for.

I used these. (below) the ball and the twisted skein is hardanger floss. It doesn't separate and is shinier than embroidery floss. Both come in tons of colors and you can get them at Jo Ann's, Michaels, etc. 

(I happened to have bags of the stuff from a previous hobby spree...*blush*)

So I made some double flowers and some singles and some in between (cos I'm not too good at reading directions!) lol

And for those who are looking at them and thinking they're too time consuming they're really not.

One flower takes at most 15 minutes. In fact, my FIRST flower took less than 15 minutes, so go for it!

I'm thinking they'd make good blogcandy for an upcoming blogaversary what do you think??

You can also find lots of free patterns on the web if you just search "free crochet patterns". Most are really the same with different names but some are truly unusual.

Have fun!

Happily Ever After

Hi Guys! 

So todays card was made just for fun. (my favorite kind!)

I bought this Phindy digi some time ago but this is my first time using it. I thought it would make a fab wedding or anniversary card. You'd just have to be careful who you send it to. Some may not take too kindly to the piggies.

But they're very sweet!

I'm using an image by Phindy, colored with Prismacolors and paper by My minds eye and DCWV.

A close up of their porcine appeal...

And wait for it! The INSIDE!!

(See, my new resolution: Finish the insides.)

And, I have to say that I'm finding it much easier to do it at the time of creation than have to race around later to find a scrap or two that matches...

I would like to enter this in:

Shabby Tea Room :white plus bright

Phindy's : love

Secret Crafter: love

Cupcake craft challenge: weddings

Wild Orchid: sentiment

Stamp with fun: sketch

Thanks for visiting!

Sentimental Sundays ~ Winter / Bite Me

Hi Everyone!

I hope your weekend is going well. :-)

Today's CAS card was made for the new challenge at Sentimental Sundays which is

Winter.

(and you thought we were done with winter. Ha!)

The stamp is by Whimsy, colored with Prismacolors and the sentiment from my own sick mind. :-)

Papers and ribbon from stash.

I just love the expression on this rabbits face. The "so sorry but I couldn't help myself" look.

Kinda like my daughters face when I asked her where my last square of Cadbury's Fruit and nut bar went on Wednesday......

So that's it from me! Cant wait to see all your work this week!

Keep it fun!

I would like to join in on the following challenges:

I Did It Creations:  Blue cold

Sunday sketch and stamp: sketch

Challenge Up your life: CAS

Mami Doodles: Mostly blue

Hugs,

Dorcas

Monster Love

So today is a card just for fun!

Barbara, over at Forgotten scraps has made a free digi and a challenge in using it.

You might want to hop over and nab him yourself. the challenge is open for another week or so.

Anyway,  I thought the little guy was pretty adorable so I had to see what I could come up with!

Ive used papers from one of those HUGE  K&Co packs and colored him with Prismacolros.

The sentiment is from me and printed on the PC

A close up of the shweet little monster..

And lookie here guys! I finished the INSIDE of the card!!

Wahoo for me!

Complete with monster nibble. lol

I'm having a lot of trouble with my computer so I have to race to get this posted so let me quickly say I'd like to play along with :

Southern Girls Challenge: Love

Scrap Creations: LOve is in the air

Color Q: color  recipe

The Pink Elephant: color recipe

Stamp Something: Anything goes

Phindys place: love

Take care all!

PS) Update:

Computer problem fixed. Took all morning but I think I'm  finished ironing out all the things that were going wrong.  I"ll be an expert soon if it doesn't stop messing me up. lol 

                                                                  

Dutch Dare ~ Stitching Real or Faux /Butterfly Babe

Hi Guys!

This is a new week of challenges at Dutch Dare! 

Our theme this week is

Stiching Real or Faux

and we are being sponsored by the Stamping Boutique, which has some pretty nice stuff so you'll want to play along for a chance to win!

I am doing one of my fave things and that is coloring on Kraft again!

My image is Stamping Boutique and my papers are K&Co.

Isn't she a cutie?

And lookie here! Its a rare occurance, I know, but I actually decorated the inside of a card! 

Yay me!

( I didn't really sign the card, that's just my watermark. lol)

So I hope you can play with us this week!

Take care and happy crafting!

PS) The Dutch Dare post goes live around 12:00 EST so don't panic if you don't see it up yet. I'm just a tad early today. :-)

I would like to enter this in :

FAb N Funky: Warm toasty colors

The Pixie Cottage: fave coloring technique

Stampfairy challenge: layers and buttons

Craft our passion: lets tie one on

Hugs,

Dorcas