I got Bells!

Here is my Christmas card for the week.

This is Mrs. Claus from Kenny K. I colored her with E000, E00and E01 for her skin. For blush I added a bit of R20.  I then colored her gown / robe and hat with G14 all over and added G16, 17, 19 in for shading and shadows. The red is  is R24, 27, 29, 59. Her boots are Y21, 23 and I added enamel elements on the back of the boot, the sole of the boot, her necklace and the belt. Her hair is E13 all over with E15, 17, 18 shading.

I added polar white Flower Soft for the fur. I also wanted to enter her into the Color me Copic challenge for coloring makeup. I usually use the E000 technique for skin, but I don't always do a lot with the eyeshadow.  So I used the technique for that.

I first colored with G00 all over, then added darker G12 at the inside corner and blended out. I added V12 on the outside edge and blended in, and then took the E000 over all of the lid area to smooth it over. I like how it ended up.

Once I was done, I printed the sentiment out on my computer, and punched out some holly leaves using Martha Stewarts punch. For the berries I used hotfix crystals.

Challenges I am entering with this one.

Color Me Copic - Makeup
Kenny K - Anything Goes
Flower Soft - Sprinkle Challenge Christmas

Thanks for stopping by. I am off to make a quick card for a coworkers birthday. Have a wonderful Halloween - or what is left of it.

~Alaine

Christmas for this week

So, I have a few cards to share today. The first set is a series of Quick Christmas Cards I made using Outlines Rubber Stamps. I used Joy Ornament Sq Large and Merriest Christmas Sq Large. I used a sparkly white and gold paper, and Versamark and Gold and Silver EP, and then cut out the squares and mounted them with the outer square directly on the card, and the inner square popped up using foam tape.

The second card I am putting up was made for the Color Me Copic Challenge #5. The challenge was to color using the clothes coloring technique shown on the blog. I have to admit, this is NOT how I usually color, and it was difficult. I typically color all over light and then add the dark. For this challenge we were to color dark in the shadows and then blend them out using lighter colors. Some of the Design Team did GORGEOUS GORGEOUS samples.

I cut out the image with a Nestie, and while still in the Nestie I used the BV000, and the BG72 to give it a little bit of an edge that matched the color of the DP.  The DP is BoBunny, and I made a white double bow. I added a bit of blingy bling on the upper right corner to balance out the white sparkly snowflakes on the left.  We wish you A Merry Christmas was stamped as the last bit with Versafine.

 

I used BV000, BV01, BV02, and BV04 using this technique. Well... I used them in reverse order.  :-) I may use this technique occasionally, but I feel more comfortable with the reverse. I feel like I have more control over my final image hues. Like I said though, Some of the design team had GORGEOUS cards, and I may need to practice - especially with those golds. That angel on their site was amazing.

For the hair I used E25, 27, 29. The bear was E31, 33, 35, and then I dotted the fur with the colorless blender to give it a little texture.

Hope to see you again soon. Have a great week.

~~Alaine

Paper for Copics

Hey everyone... I bought some of the X-Press It Blending card and the Copic Illustration paper for paper crafters the other day, and wanted to do a comparison for myself. I have two papers I generally use - Neenah and Hammermill (Color Copy Cover).  So I cut out strips of each one, and stamped two simple images on each one. Although I was doing it for me, to kind of get a feel, I went ahead and took pictures of them during the process to show everyone here.

DISCLAIMER - I did not take a lot of time on each one... so the coloring and stamping isn't great. Please bear with me. Also, As I said - I did this comparison for myself primarily... so these are MY OPINIONS! LOL... I am not a professional, and I do not do this on tv.

These are the four cards under an Ott Light. Sorry about the one image off the Neenah paper... I wasn't real consistent with placement of the image at this stage.

Paper weight (thinnest to thickest)

1. Copic - WOW this is thin
2. Hammermill - This is 80 lb, but  is slightly thinner than the Neenah 80 lb
3. Neenah - 80 lb
4. X-Press It - Not sure the weight, but it was the thickest of them all

I used the following colors:

Bird - B21, B23, B24, B26
Butterfly - Feathering technique Y00, Y04, V01, V04

How did each one do..

The Copic one turned out to be the thinnest of all, and the most off white. Because it was so thin, it took next to no ink to get it to blend. Blending was fairly easy. However, because of the thinness and the color, I probably won't use this one nearly as much as the others. This I think will lend itself well to windows layered on top of it, as opposed to it being raised up. The color will also do better when not mixed with a white background. This one was $7.99 for 25 sheets. (~ 32 cents / page)

The Neenah is the second thickest of the cardstock, and was rougher than both the Hammermill and the X-Press It. Because it is thicker than the corresponding Hammermill - I tend to use this more if I am going to raise the layers and / or sponge off the side of the edges. It was a little harder to blend than the rest of the papers, I think because it took a lot more ink to soak it up. Also - - it is $30 a package. (~12 cents/ page)

The Hammermill Color Copy Cover was next. This has been my favorite paper for a while, so I am a little prejudiced. When I first purchased the Neenah, the store was asking what I was looking for. When I told them smooth and white, they pointed me to this one. It is smoother than the Neenah... and a bit thinner although it claims the same weight. It is Very close in color to the Neenah. As far as blending it seemed a bit easier to me than the Neenah. But again, I use this one primarily... and so that could be due to practice. :-). Also, the price is very right - - $15.50 a package (~ 6 cents / page).

The last one was the one I was really excited about trying. This one is the X-Press It blending card. The blending on this one beat all the others hands down. The ink just slid around the paper.  It was thicker than the others, but probably the most comparable to the Neenah. It was also the brightest of the whites, or truest... not sure how to describe it. 11.99 for 25 sheets (~48 cents / sheet) so it was definitely the most expensive of the papers. However, due to the color and thickness I will probably use it for cards where I am popping that layer up and need a very bright white... and coloring a bunch.

My final take is that I will probably use all of these at one time or another... with the Hammermill still being my go to paper, and the X-Press It and Neenah being used as well. I probably will not use the Copic that much, just due to the color being so off white, but I will use it if I want a more antiqued look.

Thanks for stopping by, and if you made it through this - WOW....  I am impressed. Again - only my Opinion.

See you soon!

Happy Birthday Mom!

Today is my Mom's Birthday so I made this for her.  I also decided this would work for a couple of different challenges. I don't usually combine challenges, but it has been a long week, and it is going to be an even longer week next week.  So this works for both the FTTC61 Timeless Tuesday Challenge at Flourishes which was a use what you have challenge and the Copic Creations #25 Challenge.

I used the Flourishes Tiger Lily Stamp from the Year of Flowers. I colored with the following copics on the flowers (YR61 as the base, YR65 as a highlight and then E07 and E08 to add a bit more color. I highlighted with a little white gel pen. The leaves are G21, 24 and 28.

Once I finished the flowers I cut it out with a Nestie, and then got my airbrush system out. I used Y0000, Y00 and a touch of YR21 while the item was still in the Nestie. I used another Nestie to cut out the Navy around it, but it was too big, so I used my Creative Memories circle cutter to trim it down some. 

This is my first easel card. My mom quilts, so I found this Basic Grey in my stash that looks like quilt blocks.The inside is yellow cardstock. The Navy on the bottom was cut with a punch. I added a bit of Jolee's Bling to the center of the flowers (red) and then navy Jolee's hotfix at the edges of the "quilt blocks".

Thank you for stopping by, and HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!