Danni’s Case

I didn’t get to participate in Flutter By Wednesday’s challenge last week because of wedding preps and being out of town and I really missed it. But I know another one will come buy in another week!

This weeks challenge was set by Cassie and is to case (copy and steal everything) a card from another member of our DT. I chose one of Danni’s cards!

I have to say, I chose the stamp before I chose the card that I wanted to case. This is a stamp that was designed by Elizabeth Bell for SCACD, of which Danni is a design team member. The reason I chose this stamp is because it is named after Danni . That’s right, this cute little fairy is named after our team leader, Danni! I looked at Danni’s blog and decided to case her card using this stamp.

I didn’t exactly case it though. I didn’t have oval nesties so I used a rounded square punch and I don’t have the beautiful MS butterfly punches so I used these beautiful sequin flowers. My great blogger friend, Nancy, sent them to me as a RAK, Her blog is La Chambre Rose and she sells vintage style trims in her Etsy shop, Living on the Fringe. She sent me a whole package of beautiful trims that she thought I would like to use on my cards. I can’t wait to use more of them!

Of course, as usual, I colored the image with watercolor paints. I added a very light coat of Shimmerz to Danni’s butterfly wings and all the butterflies. The DP is K&Co.

If you would like to play along with the Flutter By Wednesday challenge, you can go check out all of the other lovely DT blogs by clicking on their links on the right sidebar and then going to Danni’s Dreams to link up your card.

Blessings,

Christine

Your Next Stamp 1st Design Team Call

There’s a new stamp company, Your Next Stamp, and they are having a design team call.  These are cards I made previously that I’m using for their design team call.  You’ve all seen them before, so please don’t be bored! (he-he)

This is a bookmark using an Elizabeth Bell stamp from SCACD.  I painted this image with watercolors.

The next one is a Squigglefly image.  I’ve been on quite the ice cream kick this summer – eating it and using it on cards.  I used Prismacolors and OMS to color her.

I hope I didn’t bore you too much with cards I already made.

Blessings,

Christine

Simple Woman’s Daybook

for Today

Monday, August 17th

Outside my window... a sunny beautiful day.

I am thinking... how happy I am to be home.

I am thankful for... my kitty.

From the kitchen... I’ haven’t thought that far ahead.

I am wearing... comfy lavender dress.

I am creating... cards.

I am going... to do some blog hopping.

I am reading... a book my friend Coralie sent me.

I am hoping... that I can stick to my goals for organizing my home.

I am hearing... a Pringles commercial on TV.

Around the house... my organization project.

One of my favorite things... reading on my deck on a lovely afternoon, which I will be doing later

A few plans for the rest of the week: card making and organizing.

Here is a picture thought I am sharing...

Me (with my dog Annabelle), Alice and Alicia at that damn dam several years ago. Why do I call it that damn dam, you ask?

Because my now ex-boyfriend got my truck stuck. He thought it was a dry reservoir until he crossed the little creek. He walked to get help while we sat in the hot sun for a couple of hours. The guy who helped said that if you see green weeds growing, there is water underground. And in case you want to know, I didn’t break up with him for this!

To participate in Day Book post or to read other post, go to the Simple Woman's Daybook blog.

Blessings,

Christine

I’m Home!!!

It feels so good to be home! But for some reason, the drive gave me a migraine. I’ll keep this post short. I had my sister and niece help me with taking a picture of Bear and Chloe together.

These were my two kids this week! I just wanted to post this picture so everyone could see their size difference. I took several pictures but the best poses were blurry. I love taking pictures but I’m not the greatest photographer. Chloe wasn’t happy with Trisha holding her. She’d seen me packing and was a little worried I was going to leave her. She is definitely a mama’s girl!

I have no appointments or plans until Sept 3rd. That means I can just stay home and play. I’ve been setting some goals and plans so that I can get some of the things done around the house. I started a new blog Things I'm Going to Do so that I will hold myself accountable. But the important thing is that I will have plenty of time for my crafty pursuits.

That’s it for tonight. Hopefully, my headache will be gone so I can play tomorrow. Even if it’s not gone, my headaches are temporarily relieved by water coloring images so I’ll be painting when I’m not sleeping!

Blessings,

Christine

I {Heart} Tomatoes

The area where I’m staying in Utah is called the “Famous Fruit Way.”  Back when I was a kid, there were several fruit stands along the 10 mile stretch between Willard and Brigham City!

There are still a few fruit stands, but nothing like the good old days (he-he).  For this trip, I’m kind of between fruits.  I know you could make a lot of jokes about that.  Anyway, the tomatoes were on and I bought a bushel to split between Alice and I.  Look what was in the box!

A heart shaped tomato!  Just wanted to share!

Blessings,

Christine

Jim is Home!!!

After 32 days, Jim got to go home from the hospital yesterday.

Here he is wearing a t-shirt his wife, Kitty, gave him.  I was able to see them at the hospital on Wednesday.  We had a very nice visit.  I didn’t realize I had stayed so long.  He was probably saying to himself, “When is this woman gonna leave?”  (he-he)

He is doing great but still has a little weakness in his legs.  He will be going to Cardiac rehab three times a week until February.   They’ll have him in shape in no time.  Jim has had heart disease his entire life so he will be so amazed at how good he can feel!

Jim, Kitty and I want to thank everyone for the prayers and well wishes during his surgery and recovery. 

Blessings,

Christine

Creativity is Born of Necessity

I know that’s not how that saying goes, but it applies today! I threw all of my supplies in my crafty bag (which was literally overflowing) in 5 minutes while my sister was waiting before we left. Well, I seem to have forgotten half of what I need.

I mentioned in a previous post that I had forgotten my watercolor brushes. I went to Wal-Mart and bought a really cheap set. Some of them work great and may become my favorite brushes! And, of course, I didn’t bring enough colors of cardstock!!! For embellies, I brought 3 bottles of dew drops because there are several colors in each bottle and I didn’t bring any blooms. I also didn’t have the right ribbon for this card but I bought some yesterday when I was at the crafty store.

The last thing I forgot, that I’ve noticed anyway, is glue dots. I worked it out with the flowers by making a lollipop flower I’ve been making them quite a lot anyway because I like matching the cardstock and flowers. The glue dots were another issue. How do you apply Dew Drops without glue dots? I’m looking around the table to figure out what I have that would work for glue and remembered that I had used Glossy Accents for glue so I decided to try Stickles. They work great!!! I think I want to add a little a little more Stickles elsewhere on the card but I’m going to wait for daylight. I’ll also try to get a little better picture of it tomorrow.

NOTE: I changed the picture. I took the photo on one of my thrifty finds from yesterday! I’m off to got to two thrift stores now. I hope I find lots of fun treasures!!!

I made this card for my niece’s birthday which is today! Since she is in Las Vegas, I don’t think she will be looking at my blog. I guess if she is, she’ll be getting a little sneak peek.

The stamp is Groovy Angel I got from Susana's Custom Art and Card Design. Isn’t she adorable. Of course, I colored her with watercolor paints; we’ve already talked about that! I brought my latest favorite 4 pads of DP with me. I chose to use the DCWV Whimsy stack. The ribbon is ???; I added the Dew Drops with Stickles and painted the fairy’s wings with Shimmerz.

I made the card as a gift card holder. I cut the paper 5-1/2 x 12 and then scored at 4-1/4 and 8-1/2 and then folded the small flap in. I applied the DP to the flap and then made a diagonal cut from the upper corner to about 2” from the bottom corner. I then attached the left over triangle to the upper right corner. When the cards not in there, you can’t even tell it has been cut. I added two other pieces from the scraps. I just made this up as I went and I think it worked out great!

I used the sketch from Delightful Sketches. I decided if I’m going to make a card, I’m going to get it into at least one challenge so I looked for a sketch. I haven’t had much time to keep track of challenges lately!

It’s really been fun this week. As planned, I went to see Jim at the hospital on Wednesday. He looks great and was leaving the hospital on Thursday. So he is home now and probably a very grateful man indeed. I wanted to take a picture so all of you who gave well wishes and prayers could see him but I didn’t bring my camera. I stayed way to long talking with he and his wife Kitty, but we were having so much fun! Kitty is going to email me a picture of Jim so I can post it on the blog. Jim and I are planning to start a transplant support group after he returns to Boise.

The bad news of Wednesday was that I didn’t get to go to any thrift stores and didn’t find much at the craft store. I got out of there for $5. That’s a miracle!!!!

Today, I drove up to Richfield, Utah, where the Pepperidge Farm factory store is located. In Logan, I went to my favorite antique store and craft stores. I’ll take some pictures of my finds tomorrow – not too much but some things I’ve been looking for. Tomorrow, I’m going to thrift stores here in Brigham City and in Ogden. I caught the thrift store bug once again so now I have to hit a couple more before I go home!

Blessings,

Christine

Thursday Thunks

Welcome to the August 13th version of Thursday Thunks!

Where we make you think a little bit before you blog!

This week we will answer some crazy questions brought to you by

Kimber, the number 4812 and the color of storm clouds.

1. Hypothetical question- you are in a building with famous works of art, old manuscripts of famous novels, and original sheet music from famous composers. The building is on fire and looks to be completely destroyed. Do you grab any of the famous works before fleeing, and if so what?   If it looks to be completely destroyed, would their be anything to save … and would I be stupid enough to go in?  I don’t think so!

2. In August 1969, the Manson family went on a 2 night killing spree. Do you think 40 years later they have paid for their crimes?  Charles Manson will have never served enough time for what he did.  That’s a very serious question for Thursday Thunks.

3. Power Outage! What's the longest you have been without power? I think it was 18 hours; July 1984 (I think) in Utah.  I had just started reading Gone with the Wind and read it on the porch until it was too dark to read and then lit a candle and continued to read indoors.  I thought it was very poetic to be reading Gone with the Wind by candle light.

 

4. Just bought a new tazer gun. Will you let it be tested it on you to see if it works, and how it feels to be tazered? Not in a million years.  I’ve had a defibrillator go off a few times so I think I already know what it feels like!

5. A neighbor's mail was delivered to you. In it is a magazine not wrapped in plastic. Is it ok for you to flip through it before giving it to the neighbor? Do you tell them you looked through it?  Yes and No.

 

 

 

6. If I went through your purse/wallet right now, what all would I find in there? Very little money and a lot of junk!

 

 

7. Have you been living under a rock?  It’s my rock and I’m not sharing!

 

 

 

 

8. Tell us something crazy you did this week.  I decorated a wedding cake! Ya, that’s the one!

 

 

 

Have a fun week!

Blessings,

Christine

What’s on Your Workdesk Wednesday

Julia at Stamping Ground has come up with the great idea of showing everyone what's on your workdesk each week. Here’s what’s on my workdesk at 12:25 pm on Wednesday, June 12.

I think most of you know by now, that I’m dog sitting for my sister in Utah. I brought a bunch of craft things down with me to keep up with my crafty pursuits! I spread everything out on her table (covered with a very patriotic plastic tablecloth) and painted an image yesterday.

I wasn’t able to get my computer to print on her printer so I’ll be doing only rubber/acrylic that I brought and the images I’ve already printed at home.

I’m going to SLC today to see my friend Jim in the hospital (he goes home tomorrow-yay!!!!) and hit some crafty stores and maybe a thrift store. When I get home, I’ll put that card together and start painting another one or two. I like painting more than one at a time because you don’t have to wait for drying time!

I’m off to hop in the shower and then head to SLC in my sis’s car without air conditioning. It broke last week! It’s supposed to be 92 today so that’s not bad. I’m stopping by the hospital first so I don’t look like a wet noodle when I see Jim!

Blessings,

Christine

Flutter By Wednesday

I’m sorry to say that I didn’t have a chance to participate in this weeks Flutter By Wednesday.  With my niece’s wedding and the trip to Utah, I just didn’t have time.

However, you must go check out Danni’s Dreams blog because she has Sandra McLean for a guest designer this week.  I really wanted to participate this week.  Sandra has helped me out with my water coloring technique and I really appreciate the pointers that she has given me.  I think my cards have really improved with her tips.

The challenge is open this week so if you would like to play along with the Flutter By Wednesday challenge, you can go check out all of the other lovely DT blogs by clicking on their links on the right sidebar and then going to Danni’s Dreams to link up your card.

Blessings,

Christine

Awww…Now I can Relax

The wedding is over and we (my sis, Alice, and I) headed for Utah yesterday.  My other sis, Rose, her husband, daughter and Alice went to Las Vegas this morning and I’m dog sitting for Bear.

Isn’t he a cutie.  Bear and I are buds.  I got to know him really well when I was in Utah awaiting my transplant.  Last time I came to Utah, he wasn’t here when I arrived so I got in the car to look for him.  I saw him a block away, got out of the car and called his name.  He got a look in his eye like “Thank goodness, you’ve saved my life” and jumped in my car.  Now we are even better buds!

I’ll be here until Saturday.  I plan to go to Salt Lake City to visit my friend, Jim, who just had a heart transplant (thanks for all the prayers by the way) and a little crafty shopping at Roberts (owned by Provo Craft).  Another day I will go to Logan to hit the thrift stores (they have great thrift stores) and the Pepperidge Farm outlet.  I LOVE COOKIES (said in a Cookie Monster voice).  They have cookies there for at least 75% of retail.  Yummmmy!

The rest of the time, I will be resting and crafting!!!!  I brought my crafty case full of supplies.  I’m going to clear the kitchen table and set things up and then head out for any supplies I forgot.  Yes, I already know of a few things I forgot!!!  Most importantly, for my Bee Crafty card for this weekend!

I’ll hopefully be back with some crafty goodness later today. 

Blessings,

Christine

P.S.  I just unpacked all my crafty stuff and guess what I forgot?  My watercolor brushes.  And I only bought watercolor paints to color with!  I hope Wal-Mart has some because I’m in a tiny town and that’s the only store that would carry them.  So that means I’ll be headed to Wal-Mart in a bit!

Beautiful Wedding

Well she’s married!!! The whole thing was beautiful and well worth the work!

During the ceremony, I wasn’t positioned very well to get good photos.

My mother made her dress. I don’t have a very good photo but it was beautiful! I’ll post a better photo later.

Can you see the rose petals that we sprinkled on the ground? I didn’t get a lot of pictures because there was so much going on and I was helping with things and chatting with people I hadn’t seen for awhile.

My sister is going to gather up cards from everyone’s camera, including the CD from the photographer and I will be scrapbook the wedding photos. It will be fun to make a few pages instead of all the cards I’ve made lately.

Here’s Alicia and my great-niece Anika. Aren’t they beautiful. Anika was the flower girl. The photogropher told her to kiss her and she licked her instead. I didn’t catch the next frame but I’m sure the photographer did. Can’t you just imagine the look on Anika’s face after she got licked instead of kissed?

Anika’s mom found her dress at a thrift store and my siser, Alice (mom of the bride), sewed a looped layer of tuele on it with blue silk petals in it. She tacked a few petals around the top of the skirt so it looked like they were floating. Click on the picture so you can see it better.

I also wanted you to get a full view of the arch. Isn’t it beautiful!!! My sister, Rose, niece, Trisha and Alice’s friend did most of the work on it. I sat back and critiqued saying “A little more here”, or “That side doesn’t match.” I tried to stay off my feet as much as I could. My legs were really aching last night but they feel fine today.

This is what I’m most proud of. Alice and I did the cake together but I decorated it while she set up chairs. My mom arranged the cake topper (I kept calling it a tree topper he-he). My mother actually did all of the floral arrangements. She has a lot of talent in floral arraging.

You can’t tell in the photo but I sprinkled chrystalized sugar over the entire cake prior to putting on the daizys. The groom wanted a cheese cake so I arranged some daisies around it as well.

The whole wedding and reception were beautiful. I saw a lot of friends and family that I haven’t seen in a long time. I hadn’t seen one of our childhood friends in over 20 years! We’ve been in touch lately on facebook and I was so happy that she and her sister were at the wedding!. I will add more photos after I get the CD from Alice.

Today, I need to get some cards done and the get packed up to go to Utah. Alice is going on vacation with Rose and her family to Las Vegas. I will be staying at Rose’s house in Utah to do sit. It should be a nice relaxing week for me and Alice certainly deserves a vacation. The only thing she had hired at the wedding was a photographer. It was a homemade wedding but it turned out beautifully, from the dress to the docorations.

Blessings,

Christine

The Wedding is Today

Just a quick update.

We were going over to my brothers to decorate at 9:00 am to decorate and we woke up to poring rain.  That is actually good news.  I got to sleep for another couple of hours and now the sun is SHINING!!!

It is so beautiful.  The cake turned out beautiful.  When my girlfriend saw it she said that it looked just like Alicia.  I’m sure she will love it.

Everyone is at my brother’s decorating and I came home to get a few things and thought I leave you a note.  Everything is looking awesome!  And that is not a work I use very much.,

Expect some pictures tomorrow.  I’m so excited and can’t wait for 6:30!!!

Blessings,

Christine

Wedding Update

Can you believe it!  Alicia’s wedding is Saturday!!! 

I’ll be ranting here for a bit so I understand if you just skip this post.  It’s more for me to rant about all I have to do this week than anything!

With all the preparations it was always in the future and now it’s here!!!  We went to my brothers house tonight at 6:30, the same time as the wedding,  We decided how we will set everything up – where the audience will be, where the bridal party will stand, where the food will be, etc.  Now we know how we will be setting everything up.

Tomorrow night my sister and the bride and groom are going to set up the chairs in the audience in preparation for the rehearsal.  I will be getting everything done in my house in preparation for my house guest and decorating the flower girl basket.  I’m hoping I will have enough roses for fresh yellow petals in her basket.  If not, we have plenty of silk.

Friday, my house guest will arrive at about noon.  I will pick her up at the airport and drop her bags off at my house.  We will then go to my sisters to frost and decorate the cake.  We’ll have to get it done by 6:30.  Yikes!!!  They will have a bbq at my brothers for the rehersal dinner.

I’m not even going to get into Saturday.  Suffice to say that their will be a lot to do.  Decorating will be the biggest part.  Were hoping to get over there and get things decorated early enough that we can take a break before the wedding will start.

It looks like we will be having a chance of rain for the rest of the week.  We’re hoping that it will stop before the wedding starts.  If it doesn’t, well let’s just say, I’m bringing my umbrella!  The temperature is supposed to be in the low 70s – Yay!!!

I’ll stop boring you.  Thanks for listening.  It really helped to tell you about my plans.

Now off to start cleaning house!

Blessings,

Christine

P.S.  Sorry I haven’t been around to everybody blogs much late.  I promise, I’ll catch up next week!

The Butterfly Project

We’re doing something a little different this week for Flutterby Wednesday. The lovely and talented Harriet challenged us to make butterflies for the Butterfly Project.

Here is what their website has to say. “One and a half million innocent children perished during the Holocaust. In an effort to remember them, Holocaust Museum Houston is collecting 1.5 million handmade butterflies. The butterflies will eventually comprise a breath-taking exhibition, currently scheduled for Spring 2012, for all to remember.”

This is definitely a worthy cause. Our friends in Europe have also been touched in some way by the Holocaust and might like contribute as well.

When my ex-husband was in the Navy we had some dear friends and the wife was 100% Polish. Her mother and father were in concentration camps apart from each other. Her mother received inhumane treatment of which I won’t go in to detail, but suffice to say, they had to sterilize her because of it. At the end of the war, they were released from the camps and migrated to America. They went to see the docs in America but they told her they would never be able to have children. I’m sure you can guess the end of the story by now. By some miracle, her mother became pregnant and had my sweet friend, from whom I’ve lost touch over the years, was born.

Anyway, here’s my project for the museum.

I hope you don’t mind some quick pictures that I took after midnight. I’ll replace them tomorrow with some outdoors pictures so the butterflies can be in their natural habitat.

I took all of these pictures in the same room at the same time – my bathroom (he-he). That’s where I could get the best light. I don’t know why one turned out so differently. I used Core’dinations Black Magic paper. I cut and embossed them with a Cuttlebug die/folder combo. Here’s one last picture of the entire project.

I’m not a jewelry maker so my bead stringing is quite crude. I think I’ll try to get it a little better before I send them out. I’m also going to make a few more die cuts before I send out the package. I sure hope we’ll be able to see a photo of the finished project from the Holocaust Museum Houston. I’ll let you know in Sept 2012. It’ll be here before we know it!!!

If you would like to play along and contribute, go see my fellow Flutterbyers’ blogs to see their butterflies and the to Danni’s Dreams to link up your project.

See ya’ll again tummaree. I was puttin’ on my southern accent for ya’. he-he

Blessings,

Christine

What’s on Your Workdesk Wednesday

Julia at Stamping Ground has come up with the great idea of showing everyone what's on your workdesk each week. Here’s what’s on my workdesk at 2:00 am on Wednesday.

My workdesk photos come in threes. This is the right side looking much like it usually does. Stacked with scraps of paper.

In the middle of my desk are the things leftover from my Flutter By Wednesday creation for this week. If you look closely in the top center is my card I will be posting later tomorrow.

And on the left side – what a mess!!! ‘Nuff said!

That’s about it for today, August 5th, 2009! (Do I sound like Huntley and Brinkley—or whoever said that?) For all you younger gals, Huntley and Brinkley were newscasters in the olden days!

Blessings,

Christine

The Simple Woman’s Daybook

I started this a while back and stopped when things got so crazy around here.  Now I’m starting again and hoping to keep it up every week!  I think it’s a great way to keep track of the things going on in your life.  I’ll be posting this every Monday.

  

for Today

Monday, August 3rd

Outside my window... sunny and hot.

I am thinking... the things I need to get done for my nieces wedding.

I am thankful for... my life.

From the kitchen... I’ll probably be eating out today.

I am wearing... my khaki colored dress.

I am creating... the Thank You banner for my nieces wedding.

I am going... grocery shopping.

I am reading... Nutty as a Fruitcake by Mary Dahiem (yes, it’s a Christmas book) and Nights of Rain and Stars by Maeve Binchey.

I am hoping... that my nieces wedding goes off without a hitch.

I am hearing... the Young and the Restless.

Around the house... I’ve got some cleaning to do before guests arrive for the wedding.

One of my favorite things... my doggy laying next to me while I’m blogging, as she is doing right now.

A few plans for the rest of the week: my week will be consumed with wedding plans.

Here is a picture thought I am sharing... An icy picture for a hot day.  This is at the McCall Winter Carnival in Idaho, January, 2009.

To participate in Day Book post or to read other post, go to the Simple Woman's Daybook blog.

Blessings,

Christine

Bookmark for a Friend

I can’t believe it. I ordered the Elizabeth Bell stamps from Susan’s Custom Art and Card Designs (SCAD) when they were first released and have not had a chance to color one yet!!! Well, one of the requirements for the last two Try It Out Tuesdays at her blog has been to use one of the new stamps. For this Tuesday, she asked to make a gift for someone so I thought I would participate.

So I made a corner bookmark for one of my blog friends. She is such a sweet lady. I know that she loves vintage children's books so I chose this book to take my picture.

The image is Young Alexa and she is reading to her stuffed animals – a bunny with a mended heart on his shirt and her teddy bear. Isn’t she adorable. I noticed while I painted Alexa that she could also be an Alex – a cute little boy so I’m going to let my friend choose whether it’s a girl or boy.

I decorated the front, as well as the back, of the bookmark with the same little posies that I cut out with a Quickutz die.

I chose the Making Memories paper because it reminds me of one of her other hobbies – collecting vintage feed sacks and quilts made from feed sacks. She has collected so many feed sacks that she is now selling them in her Etsy shop.

My lovely friend visits my blog all the time and leaves me beautiful comments! She gives me so much inspiration from the things that she posts on her blog. Lovely vintage pictures, poems, postcards; they are all so beautiful Now since I have finally found some extra time around here, I’m planning on making some special things for my special friends.

So my friend has probably guessed who she is by now. It’s Coralie!!! Coralie, please send me your mailing address so that I can send your little bookmark to you!!!

Blessings,

Christine

Chirping Tree

The challenge at Chirper Challenge is to make a shaped card using your Cricut. Love that!!!

I cut the tree using the Stretch Your Imagination cart but didn’t use the apples that are automatically cut out with the other pieces. I instead, sewed tiny red buttons on with green embroidery thread. I chalked the background with clouds and grass and added the sentiment. Pretty easy card, huh.

Well it did take quite awhile to sew the buttons on. Next time I’ll count the number of buttons I have before poking holes in my paper. I didn’t have enough buttons and had to go to the store. You know what that means don’t you? You can’t go into a crafty store and only buy red buttons, can you. Or maybe the red buttons cost $38 because that was the total at check out.

I don’t have the details written down and I had to look through several stacks of paper to find them so no deets today, sorry!

My sis and niece came over to help me out today. Of course, I work hard too while they’re here so now my legs are very tired and sore. I’m going to rest and watch the news and then I’m going to make something. We’ll see what I come up with. Ya never know!

Blessings,

Christine

Bunny Bath Pisma Color Pencils Tutorial

This is my second card today. 

At Bee Crafty this week the theme is “Color In” and Bee asked us to show our process of coloring an image.  This first card is using Prisma Colors with Odorless Mineral Spirits.

I would like to show you how I use my PrismaColors with Odorless Mineral Spirits (OMS).  In my opinion, there is no right or wrong way to do this.  Just do what works for you.  I watched several tutorial before coming up with my process.  I’m definitely not perfect but I think that this style is very forgiving and easy to fix most issues.

 

 

I first gather up all that I will need:  Prisma Color pencils, blending stubs, odorless paint thinner, a nail file and your image.  I chose the Fluffy Bunny in the Tub image.

 

  Outline all the areas that you wish to color.  All I used here is blue and gray. 

If I’m using dark as well as light colors.  I apply and blend all the light colors first and then apply the dark colors very carefully. 

Be sure to use a very sharp pencil and of course, stay between the lines.

Dip the blender stub into the OMS.  I like to saturate the blender pretty well but I know others don’t.  Don’t be afraid to try different things to see what works best for you.

Using the blender, one section/color at a time, work in small circular motions to blend the color into the rest of the section to be covered.  If you need more color, outline the image again and repeat the blending until you are satisfied. 

I got my bunny a little darker than I wanted.  I tried to remove a little color using some more OMS and a clean blender but it didn’t remove enough so I used a white pencil in the middle of the area and blended out to the edge.

Note:  A few things about blender stubs.  First, always start with a clean point.  To clean the point, simply rub it on a nail file. 

Second, sometimes you might want a sharp point and sometimes you want it a little rounder.  To sharpen the blender, simply file it with the nail file.

Here, I added a little pink to his ears, feet, and nose, as well as a little more blue and some pink to the bubbles.  After which I blended all of the colors again.  When I have small areas like the nose and the dots on the feet, I simply touch the blender pen saturated in OMS to the spot. 

Note:  I use a very sharp tipped blender (the tiniest one in the first photo) to rub on the black outlines that might have been smudged with pencil.  Dip your blender into the OMS often when doing this.

Now, it is all blended and I’m ready to color the faucet and the feet of the bathtub with a silver pencil.  I also use a very fine point black felt tip to touch up some areas where the black outline doesn’t show through well.  On this one, I re-outlined the nose.

 

I continue to blend little spots until I finally say enough is enough.  

 

 

As I played with the final touches on this image, I decided it needed a smudged blue line to represent the water.  You will be able to see that in the final photo. Here he is after I had said enough is enough and applied the Stickles.  A card always needs some sparkle!!!

  And a final close up of the cute little bunny!!!  I thought he was too dark but it worked well with the DP I chose.

If you would like to play along, go to the Bee Crafty challenge site and get the rest of the details.  You might have a chance to win a free download!

Blessings,

Christine

I’ll be back later with my Chirper Challenge card.