Summer fruits, sunny days and Copics!

Hello there, who cannot resist a sweet, ripe peach at this time of year?  I certainly can't and nor can this little girl by Mo Manning.

It is another "no-lines" colouring primarily in Copic with a little bit of pencil enhancement to assist with some of the finer, fiddlier details that I just love to add.

To achieve the softer no-lines look I printed Mo Manning's digital stamp using Apple Pages and reduced the opacity of Peaches to 20%, thus printing the image in pale grey rather than the usual black.  The same sort of effect can be achieved using Word or a similar program.

When you add colour to your printed image the lines are less obvious enabling you to create a much more delicate, realistic piece of work, but I strongly advise you to print the image out in black on spare paper so you have something to refer to as you colour.  Trust me, it will save your sanity - it is very easy to get lost, or add something that's not there when the lines start to disappear under your ink!!

The scenery elements in the background were drawn by hand to create a complete picture rather than have Peaches floating in blank space.  My favourite bit has to be the daisies in the foreground, they're basically round dots clustered together using colourless blender to remove some of the green.  I then added a little shadow and yellow centres to give the impression of daisies - really easy to do and they can quickly add depth and interest to your work!

     

     
     COPIC COLOURS:
     Background: B0000, B000, G0000, G000, G00, T0, T1, T2, YG0000
     Apron: YR30, E50, W00, W0, W1
     Sandals: E41, E42, E43, W1, W2
     Skin: E0000, E000, E00, V20, R20
     Peach: YR20, YR00, YR02, R32, Y32, W1
     Butterfly: YR0000, YR000, YR00, Y000, YR02, W1
   

SUPPLIES:
Stamps: Digital image - Peaches by Mo Manning
Paper: Personal Impressions Premier Quality Smooth White Card, Bazzill
Colouring Medium: Copic Markers (colour list above) and Caran D'Ache Pablo and Luminance pencils
Tools: Spellbinders Grand Nestabilities Scalloped Circles, Spellbinders Grand Calibur, Quickutz Cookie Cutter Circles, Epson WF-7515 printer & Apple Pages
Size of card: 13cm

As always thanks for visiting             

Double doggies for Daddy's

I have been a busy bee over the last couple of days........making duplicate Father's Day cards.

A little while ago I saw an amazing card made by Tammie Edgerton, One Happy Stamper who in turn had been inspired by Sandy Allnock and I knew that at some point I had to give it a go myself!  Thank you ladies - you rock!!!

Now I am still a rookie using a Misti and I am sure there must have been an easier way of doing it......but I just could not get my head around how to print the reverse dog (his face) so that it fitted perfectly on to the front one when sandwiched together!  If anyone has an idiots guide as to how to do it please please send me a copy, this idiot would be oh so grateful :)

Here are the 2 fronts.....not too dissimilar, one pooch is a tad darker than the other but hey apart from on here the cards are never going to be seen side by side!

And as for the inside image that caused me so many issues:

As you can see the little pooch got a tad creative himself and used his beloved stick to write my Dad and Father in Law a little message on the fence!

The back page was coloured using a Copic Airbrush with some Isopropyl alcohol on a sponge to sort of create clouds, not that you can see them too clearly in this picture.

Oh and here is one last picture, showing both front and inside, well these cards did give me major brain strain, so why not!!!

COPIC COLOURS:

Background: B00, B01

Dog: E23, E57, E25, E27, E29, E21, E11, E13, E23, E00

Nose: W2, W6, W8

Collar: R27, R89

Ground: E30, E31, E34, E43, W4, W5

Bowl: R22, R27, R89, E18, T8

Kennel: W5, W6, W8, E70, E71, E74

Bone: YR30, E81

Fence: E40, E41, E42, E81, E84

Stick: E70, E71, E74

SUPPLIES:

Stamps: MFT You make my tail wag

Paper: Personal Impressions Premier Quality Smooth White Card, Bazzill base card

Colouring Medium: Copic Markers (colour list above)

Tools: Spellbinders Grand Calibur, L'il Inker Stitched Rectangle die, Copic Airbrush, Misti, Souffle gel pen.

Size of card: USA A2

Hope you liked these, and for all Dad's out there, may I wish you all a very Happy Father's Day!

I have been playing

Yes, yes, I know, not much blogging happening in Jane's Box of Colours of late............well, I've been enjoying the sunshine in Orlando and more recently playing with some new toys, but now I am back and ready to share some creative stuff!!!

Firstly, I am the proud owner of a Misti............anyone got one?  Oh boy, I am so glad I splurged on this sweetie - I am a lousy stamper - I goof up so many times and this little beauty allowed me to stamp a perfectly placed sentiment on a pre-coloured image without a hitch! (Can't tell you how many times I've had to fussy cut something because I've messed up stamping the sentiment!)

Secondly, yes, I must have had my head in a bucket (well with this face it's advisable) but along with the Misti I bought an Onyx Black Versafine ink pad - holey moley, what a difference, the images come out so crisp and clean!  (Happy Dance Time!) Why oh why have I not used this before!!!

Anyway, I will be sharing more of my toys, mishaps and creations over the next few months.......

Which leads me on to todays post.............

I have been playing with Derwent Inktense pencils, primarily due to some of the amazing creations Sandy Allnock has been sharing on her Youtube channel - I suspect it could get quite expensive if I keep watching Sandy!!!

For those not too familiar with these, they are similar to ordinary water-soluble coloured pencils except the pigment is ink based.  This means the colours really pack a punch when mixed with water, so much more vibrant than normal watercolours.

Meet Fritz, a fun loving pig who's got a little "messy"  as did I trying to get to grips with my newly purchased pencils!!!

I wouldn't call this a labour of love, as in all honesty it was as frustrating as my orthodontic braces are uncomfortable and a new technique/product I am going to have to work hard at to master.  

Firstly, I just could not get to grips with the Canson XL paper I chose to begin with, so I went back to my favourite, albeit expensive Arches Aquarelle. Then came the challenge to paint a pink pig.....there is not an actual pink in the colour range so you have to mix/blend and, well, Fritz came out flushed, dirty or just plain wrong!

Here are just some of the bloopers.....

In the end to save my sanity and the amount of Arches Aquarelle I was wasting I dug out my tin of Supracolor Soft pencils, which does have pink tones so I could paint Fritz a more appropriate shade!

SUPPLIES:

Stamps: Whipper Snapper Designs - Fritz

Paper: Arches Aquarelle HP Watercolour paper, Craft Creations card

Colouring Medium: Derwent Inktense and Caran D'Ache Supracolor Soft water-soluble pencils

Tools: Versafine Onyx Black ink pad, Woodware Fingerguard Trimmer

Size of Card - USA A2 (10.8 x 13.97 cm)

So from Fritz and I, thanks for dropping by and see you again soon for more crafting hints, tips, bloopers and cards!!!