The Daily Marker 30 Day Coloring Challenge ~ Day 9

Hello Friends! Day 9! We are moving right along! I didn't have much time for coloring this evening but I did get a little something worked up to share with you. I was inspired by a wonderful artist on Instagram who has been sharing her beautiful art using Prisma color colored pencils on Kraft. This is a look that I have admired for some time but haven't practiced very much. I decided that today was the day.

Please click on the picture to enlarge it.

I stamped this cute little Santa hat onto a scrap of Neenah Desert Storm card stock using My Favorite Things Black Licorice hybrid ink. I wanted to compare Prismas and Polychromos, so I stamped the image twice. Then, I just started adding layers of color until I achieved the look I wanted. The Kraft takes A LOT of layers! I need to go back and add more shadows in the dark areas. Then, I'll try coloring it with my Polychromos colored pencils. Fun stuff! Just not enough time to really get into it!


That's it for me. Thanks for dropping in!

Blessings~


supplies~
stamp set: Merry Littles(Power Poppy)
card stock: Neenah Desert Storm
ink: Black Licorice hybrid ink(My Favorite Things)
coloring medium: Prisma Color colored pencils

Power Poppy ~ Pure Prairie Bouquet

Hello Friends! It's the 15th of the month and boy do I have doozie of a digi to share with you! Marcella really packed a lot of goodness into this one, it's called Pure Prairie Bouquet and it's a beauty!

That's one gorgeous bouquet and of course we adore the sweet butterfly! This set includes three sentiments, as well. I'm always pleased when I can add more digital sentiments to my collection. They are so versatile and can be used many different ways, on various cards and projects.

This bouquet is loaded with blooms and I decided to spend a little time with Mr. Google to find out just what each of these flowers looked like in real life. Here's a peek at my inspiration.

Let's start with the main flower. The big Echinacea "Coneflower". This comes in a variety of colors. I liked the pale pink and that's what I went with for my card. Look at that butterfly! Makes me smile.

Next up, we have this beautiful reddish orange, Castilleja "Indian Paintbrush". Again, this comes in many other colors...pink, yellow, white and even purple!

This next one is one of my favorites. The Symphyotrichum novae-angliae "New England Aster". The soft lilac with the sunny yellow centers...Swoon! Sooo pretty! And just look at that butterfly! There's also a sweet bumbley bee in there, do you see it?

And finally, we have the Coreopsis "Tickseed". I like the rich yellow with the chocolate centers.

 And here is my card....

You can see how I used the photos to assist me with my color choices. It made coloring this image fun and easy! Of course you can color the flowers any color you want, I was going for a bit of realism here. The image was printed onto a die cut piece of smooth white card stock and colored with Faber-Castell Polychromos colored pencils. I used a few Prisma color pencils, too. And I used Gamsol to smooth out my pencil strokes. I decided to keep this card flat, easier to mail.

I added two small gem stones to the centers of the Coreopsis in the lower right corner. Click on the photo to enlarge it. I used a white gelly roll pen on the white spots on the butterfly to really help them to pop. Then, I went over each bloom and the wings of the butterfly with a clear Wink of Stella glitter brush. It's a very sparkly card!

And here is what I did with the inside...

I lightened the image and printed the greeting over the top of it. This adds a nice effect, I think. And there is still enough room for a personal message.

Please take a moment to visit the Power Poppy blog to see what my Teammates have created to share with you. And you will want to stop by the blog again tomorrow, because the Bloomies will begin their sneak peeks of the new clear stamp release. You really don't want to miss that! There are some beautiful sets coming out.

Thank you so much for visiting with me today. Have a marvelous Monday!

Blessings~

supplies~
digital stamp set: Pure Prairie Bouquet(Power Poppy)
card stock: 80lb Neenah Solar White   So Saffron(Stampin' Up!)   Dark Chocolate(Papertrey Ink) 
dies: Stitched Rectangle(Simon Says Stamp)
bling: Clear Wink of Stella glitter brush(Zig)
coloring media: Polychromos colored pencils(Faber-Castell)  Prisma Color colored pencils
other: White Gelly Roll pen(Sakura)   Gamsol(Gambling)

From The Heart Stamps Monthly Challenge

Hello Friends! Here I am again, sneaking in at the last minute to participate in the From The Heart Stamps monthly challenge. You can read all about the challenge HERE. This month we were gifted with an adorable set that is just perfect for creating summertime cards. It's called Ice Cream Lineup.

I like all of the sentiments and even though the frozen treats are connected, they can be printed out as singles, too. That would be really cute!  Here is the card I created. Very clean and very simple. Click on the images to enlarge them.

The image is printed onto smooth white card stock and colored with colored pencils. I put a little Wink of Stella on the cherry, the spoon and the little cookie on the last treat. For a little more sparkle, I added some Crystal Effects. Then, at the last minute, I decided to sprinkle on a few stars.

This is what I did on the inside...I really like the "Tomorrow we can eat broccoli..." saying. LoL! It cracks me up!

And that is all I have to share with you today. Thanks for stopping by!


Blessings~

supplies~ 
digital stamp set: Ice Cream Lineup(From The Heart Stamps)
card stock: 80lb Neenah Solar White
patterned paper: Cupcake 6x6 paper pad(BasicGrey)
dies: Stitched Rectangle(Simon Says Stamp)
coloring media: Polychromos colored pencils(Faber-Castell)   colored pencils(Prisma)
bling: Iridescent Hearts and Stars glitter(Martha Stewart)  Clear Wink of Stella glitter brush(Zig)
other: Crystal Effects(Stampin' Up!)  Gamsol(Grambling)

Spring Meadow Bouquet from Power Poppy

Hello Friends! I can't believe it's been over a month since my last post! Where did the time go?! Well, I will tell you that I am STILL dealing with the effects of being sick. I am rarely ill, but, when it gets me, it REALLY gets me. I hope all of you are well!

Soooo today is the 15th of the month and that means that we have a brand new digi set in the Power Poppy shop! And it is a beauty! Marcella has done a fantastic job with this new set. (As usual) If you are a flower lover then this one is going to knock your socks off! Take a look at Spring Meadow Bouquet.

Pretty gorgeous, right?! It's loaded with bleeding hearts, summer snowflakes, lilacs and a new-to-me bloom, called a checkered lily. Be sure to take a gander at the photo below. That flower is sooo beautiful. Kind of looks like a tulip, doesn't it?

I enlisted the help of my good friend, Mr. Google to search for pictures of the blooms in this bouquet. It's nice to have a starting point and it makes selecting colors a lot easier. 

 Checkered Lilies.

Summer Snowflakes. My favorites of the bunch!

Bleeding Hearts.

Okay...back to the card. I decided to use colored pencils again and I'll tell you why. Yes, I have Copic markers and I love them. BUT...not everyone has or wants Copic markers. So I like using a coloring medium that is easily accessible for most people. Expensive markers or colored pencils, too for that matter, aren't necessary to get beautiful results. Grab a box and just let loose and color!

And finally, here is my card...

I printed this beauty onto smooth white card stock then got busy coloring with both Prisma and Faber-Castell colored pencils. This image was a joy to color and I love the addition of the bee and butterfly! Marcella has such attention to detail...click the picture to enlarge it and take a gooood look at the butterfly...it has it's proboscis out, getting nectar from the lilacs! Ha! I love it. And the sweet little bee, you all know I have a soft spot for the bees, the bee has little movement marks at the wings, so you can tell it's hovering. Soooo adorable. I decided to make a birthday card, and I used a birthday greeting from a Power Poppy set called Go Wild.

After I finished all the coloring, I assembled the card and added a few special touches; I added Frosted Lace Stickles to the bee's wings and Clear Wink of Stella to the butterfly and the summer snowflakes. I added the little yellowish gold button to balance out the yellows on the card.

And that is it for me today. Please buzz by the Power Poppy blog to see what my Teammies have created to share with you. These ladies are uber talented and I count myself blessed to be among them.

Thanks for stopping by! Have a wonderful week!


Blessings~

supplies~ 
digital image: Spring Meadow Bouquet(Power Poppy)
stamp set: Go Wild(Power Poppy)
card stock: Neenah Solar White 80#   Raspberry Ripple(Stampin' Up!)
patterned paper: Olive Gingham(Close To My Heart) 
ink: Olive(Close To My Heart)
dies & punches: Stitched Journaling die(Lawn Fawn)  corner rounder(EK Success)
bling: Frosted Lace Stickles(Ranger)   Clear Wink of Stella glitter brush(Zig)
coloring media: Polychromos colored pencils(Faber-Castell)   colored pencils(Prisma)
other: button and linen thread(Stampin' Up!)

The Daily Marker 30 Day Coloring Challenge ~ Day 18

Hello Friends! So here we are at Day 17. I did a little something different today. I, like many of you, have a nice collection of card stock. I have 6 different brands of white card stock and since it's time to re-order, I thought I would do a little stamp out and color comparison. Because I really don't want to have 6 different brands of white card stock. I don't mind having two. But, six is too many. So, I set up my MISTI  and stamped out a little scene. These are not going to be made into cards, they were just for comparison purposes.

MY GOAL: I wanted to see how well I could blend the pencils on each of the different card stocks.


I used My Favorite Things Black Licorice Hybrid Ink for all of the stamping. The colored pencils I used were: Faber-Castell Polychromos, Prismacolor and Spectrum Noir. And I used a stamp set from Jane's Doodles. I don't know the name of it, it's one of the goodies that was included in the box I received from Jennifer McGuire.-You can read that post HERE.

So, let's take a look at what I discovered. Just a little disclaimer: I did this comparison for myself and these are the results that I got. I am not saying one card stock is any better than the other, I am just trying to find out what will work best for me.

Okay...the card stock that I used was: Solar White(Neenah) Stamper's Select(Papertrey Ink)  Whisper White(Stampin' Up!)  Georgia Pacific(Walmart)  Recollections(Michael's)  Layering Weight White(GinaK Designs) 

Well, the pictures aren't really telling the whole story because of the paleness of the colors I used. But, I used the same colors on each of the images. And I only used Gamsol on the ground underneath the rabbit. I was surprised at the results! The card stock that I have been using for years, was not the one that yielded the best results.

Here are my top three...

And here's a shock for me, the best results were achieved on the Georgia Pacific! All three brands of pencil blended very well and very smoothly. My second favorite was Papertrey Ink. And surprisingly, Stampin' Up's Whisper White did quite well, also. The Recollections and Neenah, showed pencil marks and I had to use a lot more pressure to get the pencils to blend. That's a problem for me, because I have carpal tunnel on both wrists and having to apply excess pressure, causes fatigue and sometimes pain. So it was really nice to find an alternative. The GinaK Designs card stock is lovely and does best, in my opinion, when I used Gamsol for blending.

So there you have it! Georgia Pacific card stock is a staple in The Hive. I use it for all sorts of things and I will always have it on hand. Other than that, I know which white card stock I will be ordering from now on.

Thanks for the visit!

Blessings~

Flowers, Always...

Hello Friends! It's the 15th of the month and that means that there is a brand new digital stamp set available for you in the Power Poppy shop! This new image is a doozie! It's a bit different in style from what we're used to seeing from Marcella. This one has a folk art feel and I tell you what, I really dig it! Take a look at Flowers, Always....

Isn't it gorgeous?! This image is five and half inches wide and the sentiment fits perfectly underneath it. Marcella drew inspiration for this image from some crewel work she happened upon. And, a little birdie told me that this isn't the only thing she's done in this style. You will have to wait until tomorrow to see what I'm referring to. *wink*

Soooo...let's take a look at what I've done with this beauty. Please click on the image to enlarge it.

I printed the image and sentiment onto a die cut piece of Kraft card stock. I changed the color of the image to gray so I could achieve a "no-line" look. I used a combination of Prisma Color and Polychromos colored pencils. They play very nicely together. I was so inspired by Marcella stepping out of the norm, I decided to step out, too and I used colors that I wouldn't normally choose. I really like the end result. This image was so much fun to color! After I finished coloring, I adhered the focal panel onto my card base with dimensional adhesive. Then, I added a few tiny twinkles to the vase and a few accent dots, using a white gel pen.

You've got to take a moment to buzz over to the Power Poppy blog to see what my Teammates have created to share with you. I know that they will knock your socks off! Then hop on over to the Power Poppy shop and pick up Flowers, Always to add to your instant garden.

And...I didn't forget that today is Day 15 of  The Daily Marker 30 Day Coloring Challenge! I took yesterday off, but I'll be back in the game tomorrow!

Thanks for stopping in today. Have a marvelous Monday!

Blessings~

supplies~
digital stamp set: Flowers, Always(Power Poppy)
card stock: Neenah Desert Storm(Kraft)  Basic Black(Stampin' Up!)  Sweet Corn(GinaK Designs)
patterned paper: Butterfly Specifics(Graphic 45)
dies: Stitched Rectangle(Simon Says Stamp)
punches: Dotted Scallop border punch(EK Success)
bling: Tiny Twinkles(Taylored Expressions)
coloring media: Prisma Color pencils  Polychromos colored pencils(Faber-Castell)
other: white gel pen(Sakura)

The Daily Marker 30 Day Coloring Challenge ~ Day 13

Hello Friends! I hope your weekend is off to a great start. Today's coloring share is a sneaky peek of my Power Poppy DT project. Here, I'm playing with color combos and trying out different brands of colored pencils. As I stated in previous posts, I like to audition different colors before I commit to them on a card. Click the image to enlarge it.

I've used Polychromos and Prisma Color colored pencils on Kraft.  This digi set will be available in the Power Poppy shop on February 15th and I will have a card to share on that day, as well!

That's it for me! Thanks for stopping by!

Blessings~

The Daily Marker 30 Day Coloring Challenge - Day Eight

Hello Friends! I'm just buzzing in really quickly to share my coloring for the day. I used a Power Poppy digital image, called Flowering Branches. It's one of my favorites.

I printed the image onto a die cut piece of smooth white card stock and colored it with Prismacolor colored pencils. I used a Copic marker to create the halo effect.

That is all I have for today. Thanks for stopping by!

Blessings~


supplies~ 
digital stamp: Flowering Branches(Power Poppy)
card stock: 80# Neenah Solar White
die: Stitched Rectangle(Simon Says Stamp)
coloring media: Prismacolor Colored pencils  Copic marker

30 Day Coloring Challenge 3 - Day 20

Hello Friends! It's going to be a quick post for me this evening. I think I'm suffering from eye strain. My eyes are so sore and they feel tired! It's from all this coloring and blogging! LoL! Okay, lets take a look at what I worked on today..

Well, I jumped on the band wagon and purchased a Brother ScanNCut 2. It took me a few minutes to set it up and learn how to do the basics. I definitely need to set aside some time to learn how all of the features work. It did a really great job cutting out my digital images. It's going to virtually eliminate the need for me to fussy cut or buy dies to coordinate with stamp sets.

click to enlarge

It did a pretty good job, right?! I still have some learning to do, but it's not bad for my first cut. And then I colored one with Spectrum Noir colored pencils. I used Prismacolors on the apples and the eggplant, though because I don't have reds and purples in my Spectrum sets.

I used no blending solution on this. The Spectrum Noir pencils blend beautifully and very smoothly with no solution. After I finished the coloring, I added some Crystal Effects to the apples and a tiny bit of clear Wink of Stella to the cornucopia.

That's it for me today. Thanks for stopping by!

Blessings~

supplies~ 
digital stamp: Cornucopia(From The Heart Stamps)
card stock: 80# Neenah Solar White
bling: Clear Wink of Stella(Zig)
coloring medium: Essentials, Nature sets(Spectrum Noir)  Prismacolor colored pencils
other: Crystal Effects(Stampin' Up!)  ScanNCut2(Brother)

30 Day Coloring Challenge 3 - Day 13

Hello Friends! Happy Tuesday! Today, I have another faith inspired share. It's not a card! Take a look...

I'm playing with my Karla Dornacher goodies again. I just love her style! So, these are bookmarks that came in her downloadable coloring book, Garden Blessings. I love to color and her prints are so joyful, uplifting and a pleasure to color.

I printed these onto 110# white card stock, because I wanted something sturdy that I could color on with my Copic markers and not have to be concerned about bleed thru. I had the idea to create these beautiful ombre effects on the lettering and I wanted to color that butterfly in pretty shades of purple. I usually reserve the 110# card stock for card bases. And now I know why. I had a heck of a time, blending my Copics on this paper. They didn't move around like I expected them to. While I'm not 100% pleased with them, I think they turned out alright.

This is the first one I colored where I really overworked the paper to try to get the ombre effect on the lettering. I used a lot of Copic ink on this and that's never a good thing.

This one was colored with Copic markers, too and I know it doesn't look bad, but...the beauty of Copics is the ability to blend colors. After I realized the blending was so laborious, I just did 'plain old' coloring.

And since my Copics were not playing nicely, I turned to my Prismacolors and colored up a few of the bookmarks with those.

Even though I used vibrant colors, these turned out very soft and muted. You can see that this one has already been cut...yep! My daughter snagged her favorite one. These are such beautiful designs, I am going to print them onto 80# card stock and go at it again with my Copics. That's one of the many things I love about this downloadable coloring book; I can print out as many pages as I want. I don't just get one shot. My plan is to eventually print and color every page in the book, then slip them into page protectors, put them into a really nice binder and place it in the family room for all to enjoy.

That's it from me...Thanks for visiting!

Blessings~


supplies~ 
Garden Blessings Coloring Book(Karla Dornacher)
card stock: 110# Neenah Solar White
coloring media: Copic markers   Prismacolor Colored pencils 

30 Day Coloring Challenge 3 - Day 11

Hello Friends! Happy Sunday! I did a little coloring on the go today. I packed up my art bag with some Lawn Fawn goodies and my colored pencils. I'm still floating on my Lawn Fawn cloud from yesterday! :)

I did a little coloring today, sitting outside, while I waited for my daughter at her photo shoot. I keep a lot of pre-stamped images on hand for times like these. They are very easy for me to grab and go. I stamped my images with My Favorite Things Black Licorice Hybird Ink, so that I could color them with Copic markers or pencils. I decided to use my Prismacolor pencils today. And I didn't use any blending solution. I'm trying to embrace the look that is colored pencil...grainy, textured, not perfect. I added light layers of color until I achieved the look I desired.

I'm not sure what I'm going to do with these. I sent out a few Halloween cards last year and the recipients enjoyed them. I may do that again. Anyway...whatever I do with them, I'll share it right here!

Thanks for stopping by today!

Blessings~


supplies~ 
stamp set: Spooktacular(Lawn Fawn)
card stock: #80 GinaK Designs White    
coloring medium: Prismacolor colored pencils

Amigurumi Bear Birthday Card

Hello Friends! I had a request for some cards for kids. I have been collecting Lawn Fawn stamp sets for some time now and have barely used any of them. To be honest, I find creating the scenes a bit intimidating. But...I have pulled out several sets and I will begin to use them in the next few days. I am really excited about this request because I don't usually make cards for kids. For today, I used a cute digital image I purchased a while back from Birdie Brown. She no longer has her shop on Etsy, but she is an illustrator for My Favorite Things, so you can find her designs there now.

I chose to work with the Amigurumi Bear and I created a 4bar sized card. I think they are the perfect size for kids.

You may remember this little guy from the 30 Day Coloring Challenge. He was my coloring project one evening. You can see that post HERE. I printed him onto smooth white card stock and cut him out with my Silhouette Cameo. Then I colored him with colored pencils, blended out with Gamsol and blending stumps.

I used two pieces of patterned paper from Lawn Fawn's Into the Woods 6x6 paper pad to create the background on my card base. I die cut the green paper with the Lawn Fawn Grassy Border die, then ran that and the cloud paper thru my die cutting machine with the Simon Says Stamp Stitched Rectangle die. I matted the paper onto a piece of blue card stock and then adhered the little bear with dimensional adhesive. I stamped the greeting onto a strip of card stock with Versamark ink and sprinkled on some fine detail white embossing powder. I heat set that and let it cool. Then I die cut the edge of the strip with the Stitched Rectangle die, so the stitching would be consistent around the entire card panel. I adhered that onto the focal panel and then went to work on the inside of the card.

I like to decorate the insides of my cards, but I try to keep it simple. I die cut a panel using the Stitched Rectangle die and matted that with blue card stock. I used the cloud stamps from the Lawn Fawn Into the Woods stamp set and simply added the sentiment underneath. There's plenty of room left for a message.

And that is all from me today! I thank you so much for stopping by! Have a terrific Thursday!

Blessings~

supplies~ 
digital stamp: Amigurumi Bear(Birdie Brown)
stamp set: "It's Your Day"-Happy and Smile(Simon Says Stamp)  "Happy Birthday to You"- Happy Birthday  clouds are from Into the Woods(Lawn Fawn)
card stock: 80lb, 110lb Solar White(Neenah)  Baja Breeze(Stampin' Up!)
patterned paper: Into the Woods 6x6 Paper Pad(Lawn Fawn)
ink: Versamark(Tsukineko)  Heavenly Blue(Close to My Heart)  Lucky Limeade(Stampin' Up!)
dies: Stitched Rectangle(Simon Says Stamp)  Grassy Border(Lawn Fawn)
coloring medium: Prismacolor Colored Pencils
other: Silhouette Cameo  Gamsol(Inky Antics)  Fine Detail White embossing powder(Simon Says Stamp)