Storybook Coloring

Back to homework. I really loved this challenge because honestly I was highly impressed with not only the artists skills but the probability that I could actually do this. 

It's all about Storybook coloring with markers (Copics for me) and I had never even thought about this at all. Apparently it's usually done with watercolors but with markers I believe you can achieve the same results. 

There are two things that really impressed me, the first No Blending. That's right just straight out simple coloring going from light to dark. You do an all over color of light maybe leaving a few pecks of white..and just color willy nilly not getting it exact. Then you pick your shadows go with a wide area of mid tone and then finally the dark color to emphasis the deep shadows, that's it your done. I highly recommend you try this it's really very easy. 

Second when you stamp your image a lot of times we like that crisp black and then we color, this time one stamp, color, repeat stamp..of course you would need a stamping tool to get your images to align but hallelujah I am blown away by the end result of doing that. Hard to capture with my lens but trust me is really looks sharp and clean with the second stamp after the coloring. 

Here was my take on this homework assignment. 

Another Non Homework Card

I was really wanting to make this card with foil but I just didn't have the right size sentiment in order to make it work. I did heat emboss the holly branches (messily I might add) and then in lieu of shiny foil I did find a bit of red foil cardstock in my scrap pile so I used that which I think turned out quite nice. I also choose to heat emboss my holly berries but I only had one type of red embossing powder and it happened to be glitter based..oy glitter in embossing powder oh the mess it makes. 

Funny I have been re-reading Ali Edwards book, Life Artist and ironically I'm on a page about excepting imperfections and not to be a perfectionist, which I might add is difficult to do. I don't worry about what others think but it's me I try to please and for that it does become frustrating. At times I wonder if any of the great artists like Picasso, Rembrandt or Monet or any other famous painter have self judgement or did they just paint and say here like it or leave it. I'm not saying I'm even a drop like those great painters but it's just a reflection of wonderment about how life effected them. 

Any ways here is my messy imperfect card. 

Not Homework

 
I admit it digging out all my supplies has been a motivator for me, so after playing around with my hot foil I really wanted to make another card that wasn't focused on my homework for the online class but utilizing some techniques they had be achieve. 

I had visions of bright pink but not gonna lie the Heidi Swapp foil just isn't that great, especially for an amateur like me. After much research I found out not all foil is created equal and times and temperatures vary among each foil type so after three or four attempts with the hot pink I gave up. I went back to the trusty red from Gemini which I have 0 problems with  as you can see for yourself, in the end I actually think this was a better choice. 

I also was motivated by some cards from Shutterfly that I thought I could easily replicate so that's what led me to this attempt. I am quite pleased with how it turned out. I'm not one to replicate my Christmas cards but honestly I like this one so much I could easily mass produce it.  

Stamps and inks were all from Tim Holtz. 

Stencil Resist

Well for homework on this card I was supposed to take a stencil use some paste with it, let it dry then watercolor over it, this the paste in theory would somewhat resist the watercolor. I say in theory because I'm gonna call this a fail. The paste absorbed the watercolor and I had to go back with a white pen and color in my dots of snow. 

This is simple enough and in the demonstration they used water based inks which I also tried but I had stampin up and they did not blend out nearly enough so that too failed. In the end I kept the water colored one using traditional watercolor paints. 

I believe as of today I am at least two classes behind so getting caught up. 

Alcohol Ink Envelopes

Well this is one area I couldn't complete, I had a Yupo which works great with alcohol inks I just didn't have a 12x12 sheet to make an envelope. In hindsight since I made an envelope I could have used an 8.5 x 11 sheet which I did see at Michaels and could have bought it but at the time I thought I needed 12x12..oh well.

Since I couldn't make the alcohol ink envelope I opted to do it in watercolor and go ahead and make a card using the alcohol inks on the Yupo instead. 

Again I didn't have much in the way of templates and used one from Tim Holtz that had what I thought looked like Poinsettias so I went with it. 

Basically you wet you Yupo paper with alcohol blending solution and then drop you alcohol inks on top..then you use a straw if you are cheap like me (or a hand held air blower which run about $18) and blow the inks around and adding a lot more ink and blending solution until you get what you think looks good..it take awhile and honestly it's all up to you when you decide it's done.  

I won't like this can be a messy project so be sure and protect your desk or whatever your are creating on. After you get the background color done you use a stencil and more alcohol blending solution lightly soaked onto a ink foam pad and either blot are swipe which causes the ink to lift and you are left with your stenciled image. Kind of cool but honestly for me this was a lot of work. 

So here you go a card and coordinating envelope. 

Hot Foil Press

Well Hallelujah, finally something I own including the dies for todays homework. I can't believe how lucky that turned out. 

I wanted a hot foil press last Christmas which Santa brought me but I had a move plus unpacking a boat load of landscaping that had to be done, summer visitors and there just wasn't much time to play so this is actually the second time I've used it. A welcome challenge for sure.

Day 9's assignment was to use hot foil press and your copics which you can color after hot foil impression. Basically the foil resists the inks much like heat embossing. 

So still running behind I'm hoping to get some more free time tomorrow to get a couple of cards done. 

 

Blended Backgrounds

I admit it I am running behind by at least 3 classes. Yesterday I had to strike while the sun was shinning and plant 375 bulbs (a mix of tulips and hyacinth) and today I had to devote to cleaning. So fun time just had to wait. 

But alas here I am with class 7 I think. In this class homework involved inking up a stamped and embossed image while leaving one area uninked. Now I am not going to lie it took me I think 5 or 6 card panels before I was successful in getting this card panel completed. After card 3 I inked up the background but completely forgot to mask off the diecut. That was kind of the whole idea to ink up all but a portion of the card where you overlayed your die leaving it lighter as you inked closer to the masked area. My failed attempts were mostly from failing to have the right embossing powder and failing to heat emboss the entire image therefore when I inked up the card I rubbed off the embossing powder, talk about your frustrations.

As you can see I prevailed in the end.