Furry reindeer...

Hello everyone,

Well - it's started and I've been colouring one of my favourite images - a reindeer! 

For a long time I avoided colouring furry animals because I wasn't confident about colouring their fur!  If you are feeling bit unsure about it as well then hopefully this tutorial will help.

Now, today I am going to be using a really strong Copic red combination so it is really important that my markers are clean.  (To be honest It's always important to have clean markers but with a deep colour like this even more so)!

I have chosen an image which I think shows off the technique to colour textured fur perfectly.  It is also quite beautiful - 

Rednosed Mouse Deer by Di's Digi Stamps

To colour textured fur I am basically going to make a lot of dots on the image with the brush nib of your marker.  It is important that the dots are randomly placed and of different sizes.

First I covered the whole of the image which would be textured fur with dots using E41...

...then I added dots of E42 where I wanted the darkest parts of my image to be...

and I went back over the whole area again with E41.

I then coloured the darkest areas again with E42

Next I used E43 to colour the darkest area...

...followed by E44.  (Don't panic - I know it is starting to look dark but adding the lighter colours shortly will even it all out)!

Next, I coloured with the same markers, in the same areas in reverse order...

E43

E42

E41 (all over)

To smooth out the area which goes from dark to light, I used a combination of E41 and colourless blender (but only use the colourless blender sparingly or you will end up with bald patches)!

Using the same markers, I carried on adding dots until the area was completely covered, the transition from dark to light looked 'smooth' and I had achieved a result I was happy with.

Using W00, W1, W3 and W4 I used the same technique to colour the fur on the mice.

Their ears are smoothly coloured with R11 and E81.

I finished colouring this lovely image with Copic markers as follows...

Bells - Y35, Y15, Y11

Bow, bauble and beautiful nose - R59, R56, R46, R24

Bauble - YG67, YG17, YG03

I really enjoyed colouring this cute reindeer - I do hope you found this tutorial useful.

Ingredients

Rednosed MouseDeer by Di's Digi Stamps

Make it Colour Blending Card by Elaine Hughes (Marker Geek)

Copic Markers

Archival Ink pad in Cobalt Blue

 Blue Pearl and Glitter Card - Crafter's Companion

MFT Die namics Inside Outside Stitched Circle Stax (Dies To Die For)

My Favorite Things Snowglobe Sentiments (Dies To Die For)

Thank you for popping by.

Happy Copic colouring

from Sue...xxx

Birthday Hugs...

Hello everyone,

Wishing you a lovely Sunday.

I'm here with some gorgeousness from

The Ribbon Girl
and also a big thank you to Mary and Andrea for sticking with me during my little crafting break!

We have a new card challenge starting today at The Ribbon Girl
with some utterly fabulous prizes, 
follow the link
HERE
for all the details.

Ingredients from The Ribbon Girl

Lemoncraft Gossamer Blue 6 x 6 paper pad, 10mm Dorothy Ivory Lace, Natural Button Twine, Limoges Blue Seam Binding, Daisy Flower Charm, 15mm Ivory Asters, Miniature White Blossom, 10mm Blue Open Roses, 10mm Ivory Open Roses, Mini Glossy Accents

Other Ingredients
Stamping Bella Bunny Pile Stuffies (Dies To Die For)
Make It Colour Blending Card by Elaine Hughes (Marker Geek)
Memento Ink Pad in Tuxedo Black
Crafter's Companion Dersert Storm Kraft Card
Distress Ink Pad in Tumbled Glass
Lawn Fawn Lawn Cuts Cross Stitched Rectangle Stackables (Dies To Die For)
Lawn Fawn Lawn Cuts Stitched Rectangle Stackables (Dies To Die For)
My Favourite Things All About You Stamps (Dies To Die For)
MFT Die namics Label Tape (Dies To Die For)

Copics Used
Bunnies - E44, E41, E42, E44, W00, W1, W3, R04, R11, R02, R01 (plus Glossy Accents on their cute little noses)!
Flowers B02, B01, B00, Y15, Y04
Background - B00, B000
Grass - YG03, YG17, YG25, Colourless Blender 0

Thank you for visiting,

happy creating!
from Sue...xxx

...and remember to pop straight to
The Ribbon Girl
to look at the wonderful DT inspiration join in the challenge fun!
...and then straight to 
The Ribbon Girl Store
for some essential retail therapy!

You're doubly sweet...

Happy Sunday everyone and happy October 0-:

I have been on a bit of a break from crafting recently.

We've had a tricky summer as my eldest son had a motorcycle accident in July.

I'm happy to report he is fortunately well on the mend but frankly it has been a tough few months.

sooooo...

I have a few thank you's today...

to my lovely hubby and youngest son who have really kept the boat afloat at home,

to my eldest son's employer and friends who have rallied round to keep his spirits up

and to my darlin' friends who have given such love and support....  (you know who you are)!

The thank you's are n't quite complete today because I have few in respect of today's cards for wonderful 
Dies To Die For

Firstly to our Faye for her inspiration and patient support and feedback in respect of my no lines colouring,
secondly to our Elaine for her wonderful inspiration in respect of colouring backgrounds and grounding an image, and finally to our lovely Tracy for not giving up on me whilst I've had a little break!

I would never have had the confidence to colour these sweeties without the help of these lovely ladies!

phew - onto the crafting then!

Here's a double dose of Stamping Bella Sweetness!...

Ingredients from Dies To Die For

Stamps - Stamping Bella - Tiny Townie - Lily of the Valley Garden Girl

Lawn Fawn - How You Bean? (sentiment)

Dies - My Favourite Things - Dynamics - Stitched Rectangle Frames

Papers - Maja Design - Summer Crush

Ingredients from Dies To Die For

Stamps - Stamping Bella - Tiny Townie Garden Girl - Sweet Pea

My Favorite Things - All about You

Dies - MFT - Die namics - Stitched Scalloped Rectangle Frames

MFT - Die namics - Label Tape

Papers - My Favourite Things - Bundles of Blossoms Brights 6 x 6 Paper Pad

Other Ingredients

Tonic Scalloped Rectangle layering Dies

Make it Colour Blending Card by Elaine Hughes (Marker Geek)

Memento Ink Pad in Tuxedo Black
Twine and Charm by The Ribbon Girl

Copics Used
Skin - E70, E21, E00, E000
Hair - E71, E74, E77
Frock - R04, R11, R20, R000
Underskirt - C00, C0, C1
Lily of the Valley - G99, G94, G82, C00, C0, C01
Background - G00, G000, spritzed with Colourless Blender 0

Ingredients from Dies To Die For

Stamps - Stamping Bella - Tiny Townie Garden Girl - Sweet Pea

My Favorite Things - All about You

Dies - MFT - Die namics - Stitched Scalloped Rectangle Frames

MFT - Die namics - Label Tape

Papers - My Favourite Things - Bundles of Blossoms Brights 6 x 6 Paper Pad

Other Ingredients

Tonic Scalloped Rectangle layering Dies

Make it Colour Blending Card by Elaine Hughes (Marker Geek)

Memento Ink Pad in Tuxedo Black
Twine and Charm by The Ribbon Girl

Copics Used
Skin - E70, E51, E50, YR30
Hair - E31, E34, E57, E76
Frock and Flowers - RV69, RV17, RV66, G46, G43, G82
Background - C2 spritzed with Colourless Blender 0

Thank you for popping by.

Happy Creating

love from Sue...xxx

Don't forget to pop straight to the Dies To Die For inspiration blog to look at the lovely DT creations there, and then straight to Dies To Die For for some essential retail therapy!

Merry Christmas...

Hello everyone,

(Beware, cuteness overload coming up)!

I decided it was time I made a start on Christmas cards, and as my favourite subject for these is any sort of deer, I could n't resist this beautiful image -

Doe & Fawn

I coloured this gorgeous image with Copics and set it on a kraft card background sprinkled with Chunky White Embossing Enamel.

I added a die cut Christmas sentiment - the card is black glitter card but sadly it does n't really show up!

Finally I added some twine and rusty bells and fixed the design to another piece of black glitter card.

Ingredients
CC Designs DoveArt Doe & Fawn Rubber Stamp (available in the UK from Dies To Die For)
Make it Colour Blending Card by Elaine Hughes (Marker Geek)
Copic Markers
Kraft Card
Stampendous Frantage Chunky White Embossing Enamel 
Black Glitter Card by Crafter's Companion
Die namics Merry Christmas Die 
Twine and Bells from The Ribbon Girl

Inks used -

Copics -

Doe - E50, E51, E53, E55, E57,

Fawn - E30, E31, E34, E35, E37, E39

Ears E04, R21, R11, W00

Thank you for popping by...

Happy Creating

from Sue ...xxx

Copics on Kraft...

Good morning everyone,

I'm here today with a tutorial for Copic Marker Europe.

I thought I would share some tips with you about colouring on Kraft card as this is a great alternative to colouring on white card and you can get some lovely results.

There are a few things that are handy to know about colouring on Kraft card as the Copic ink behaves quite differently to how it does on white card.

Here are the main points to consider...

• Copic ink is translucent (see through) so the result you see on your card will be different depending on the colour of card you are using.

• Just like white card there are many different types of Kraft card available.  It is a good idea to try a few and see which works best with your colouring style.  For this tutorial I have used Neenah Desert Storm.

• Kraft card absorbs the ink in a different way to white card so before you start colouring it is a good idea to test the colours you want to use first. 

• Be prepared to use darker colours than usual as the translucent Copic ink allows the Kraft card to show through and you may need to use a darker colour ink to provide some contrast.

• Kraft card takes a lot of the brightness out of the ink.   In a pleasant way it dulls the colour down and this can look really effective.  Colouring on Kraft will give you the chance to use brighter Copic colours than you might usually - which is fun!

• When you colour onto Kraft card the ink will look quite dark at first - don't panic!  it will lighten as it dries out.

Before I started colouring my stamped image, I created some colour conversion tags to show how the colour looks different on the card, this helps to choose colours that would work well on Kraft.

I also tested the colour combinations I had chosen to make sure they blended nicely on Kraft card.  It is important to remember to use the side of nib on the Copic Marker to make sure you are creating a smooth blend between the light, medium and dark tones.

Here I have coloured the skin on the stamped images on both Kraft and White card so you can get an idea of how different they look.

I then carried on colouring the image.  

I prefer to work from dark to light, always starting with my medium colour and putting that where the darkest parts of the image are, and then going back to that dark part and building up the colour by blending from dark to light.

 I thought this would make a perfect book mark for someone going back to school this week!

Ingredients

Neenah Desert Storm Kraft Card

MFT Die-Namics Stitched Tag Die

Memento Ink pad in Tuxedo Black

Smarty Pants Clear Stamp by Kraftin' Kimmie

Copic Markers as above

FaDoodles Stamps by our very own Faye Wynn-Jones for Whimsy Stamps

Natural Twine and Apple Charm

Thank you for popping by.

Happy Copic Colouring...

From Sue...xxx

Happy, Happy, Happy...

Morning everyone,

Happy Sunday.

Oh my, September already - where is the time going!

I'm here today for wonderful Dies To Die For with three cute mice!

I absolutely adore this stamp.  I concentrated so hard on my colouring with this one that I came over all CAS! (-:

Ingredients from

Dies To Die For

Stamps - LDRS Creative - Bluebell Parade

Lawn Fawn Stamps - Happy, Happy, Happy

Dies - Lawn Fawn Lawn Cuts - Small Cross-Stitched Rectangle Stackables

Lawn Fawn Lawn Cuts - Happy, Happy, Happy

Other Ingredients

Make it Colour Blending Card by Elaine Hughes - Marker Geek

Memento Ink pad in Tuxedo Black

Archival Ink pad in Cobalt

Copic Markers

Fur - W00, W2, W4, W6, W8

Ears - R04, R11, R21, W00

Bluebells - BV08, B69, B66, BV13, B63, B60, 

Grass - YG67, YG63, YG61

Background - BG000

Thank you for popping by.

Happy Creating

love from Sue...xxx

Don't forget to pop straight to the Dies To Die For inspiration blog to look at the lovely DT creations there, and then straight to Dies To Die For for some essential retail therapy!