Month: April 2011

Pinky

~ sproatmeyer ~ 16 Comments

Welcome to another week at Make it Colourful Challenges for a fantastic color combo challenge! This week we want you to color with black and add red accents. We’re sponsored by Tiddly Inks and I chose to use an adorable girl, Pinky, and pair her up with the Alchemist Chamber from Make it Crafty.


I used some old papers and new embellishments I picked up this week on my shopping spree. The metal flowers are from Stampin’ Up! and were glued on the card. I then went back in with Liquid Pearls and added a white pearl to the center of each flower.


Here’s what the Alchemist Chamber looks like before it was cut down for the card. There is a lot going on in ther and some fun details to color. Somehow, a cupcake was made inside that “kitchen.” Now you just have to decide if the cupcake contains a secrete potion or not! LOL


I used Annika‘s cloud technique and colored the top part of the sky to help fill it in and also to bring in some more blue. It’s a simple technique and really helps complete the image.


The words are actually from boy themed scrapbook tag that I cut up. I originally cut it up because I thought “adorable” was out of place but ended up using all the words anyway, except for “boy” of course. Two of the strips are popped with dimensional foams.


The metal tag was handmade. I used a thin sheet of metal and cut out a tag using a Cuttlebug die. I then used metal chip art stamps and impressed the crown before attaching it to the card with eyelets.


I’d like to enter into the following challenges:
Desert Island Crafts Challenge#7 (choose 3: black, words, no flowers)

DT: Make it Colourful Challenge #16 (color back with red)
Main Stamp: Pinky (TI) and Alchamist Chamber (MiC)
Patterned Paper: Oliver (BG)
Metal Die: Cuttlebug Tiny Tags
Chip Art Metal Stamps: Ornamental Crowns

Copic Markers colored on Copy Paper:
-skin tone: E000, E00, E11, E13, R11, R12
-browns: E31, E23, E37; E55, E57, E59; E42, E43, E44, E47
-reds: R30, R12, R14, R24, R37, R59
-oranges: YR21, YR2, YR14, YR18
-yellows: YR31; Y000, Y32, Y35, Y38, Y26
-greens: G40, YG61, YG63, YG67; YG91, YG93
-blues: B01; BG11, BG72, BG75, B91; O, B0000, B000, B52, B91, C1
-grays: W00, W1, W2, W4, W6, W8


Did you know? The fossa is a cat-like, carnivorous mammal that is endemic to Madagascar. It is a member of the Eupleridae, a family of carnivorans closely related to the mongoose family. is the largest mammalian carnivore on the island of Madagascar and has been compared to a small cougar. It has semi-retractable claws and flexible ankles that allow it to climb up and down trees head-first, and also support jumping from tree to tree.
[Fossa (animal), Wikipedia.org]

Update: I was a featured Guest at the Tiddy Inks Challenge Blog!

Update: I was a winner at Desert Island Crafters for this challenge!

School Girl

~ sproatmeyer ~ 18 Comments

I haven’t a clue what a spiderweb, school girl and frog all have in common except they’re all from Tiddly Inks and I wanted to color them all. ;D So I chose a few of my favorite colors and put them all together anyway.


The background was colored using blues, greens and grays with the same technique I’ve used before – building up colors, blending and blending some more. I lost track on how many layers I added before I ended up with this result.


The challenge theme is “April Showers brings May Flowers” and wanted a rain for flower theme. I chose the rain theme and added a bunch of rain drops on the spiderweb in the background.


I first drew in the rain drops with a white pen and could have stopped there. However, I then added Crystal Effects over each rain drop for a water effect. This also gave the card texture which is fun to hold.

I’d like to submit this card into the following challenges:
Tiddly Inks Challenge #47 (April Showers)
Charisma Cardz Week #17 (April Showers)
Get Hippity with Ippity Challenge #1 (Spring/anything)

Main Stamp: School Girl & Spiderweb4 (TI)
Patterned Paper: Stella & Rose Hattie (MME)
Metal Die: Spellbinders Nestabilities Labels One
Adironadack Acrylic Paint Daubers

Copic Markers colored on Copy Paper:
-skin tone: E000, E00, E11, E21, E13
-browns: E41, E42, E43, E44
-yellows: YR30, Y23, Y26
-greens: YG61, YG63, YG67
-blues: BG11, BG72, BG75
-grays: 0, C1, C3
-background: W1, W2, W4, W6, BG11, BG72, BG75, YG61, YG63, YG67

Did you know? The hurdy gurdy or hurdy-gurdy (also known as a wheel fiddle) is a stringed musical instrument that produces sound by a crank-turned rosined wheel rubbing against the strings. The wheel functions much like a violin bow, and single notes played on the instrument sound similar to a violin. Melodies are played on a keyboard that presses tangents (small wedges, usually made of wood) against one or more of the strings to change their pitch. Most hurdy gurdies have multiple “drone strings,” which provide a constant pitch accompaniment to the melody, resulting in a sound similar to that of bagpipes.
[Hurdy Gurdy, Wikipedia.org]

Update: I was the winner at Charisma Cardz Challenges for this challenge!

Monster Love

~ sproatmeyer ~ 26 Comments

It’s another challenge at Little Miss Muffet Challenges blog and our theme this week is almost any anything goes. The theme is diecuts or punches! I used three border diecuts on mine to create vertical interest.. Notebook Edge, Jumbo Scallop and Scallopped Scallop.


I had actually colored this monster about two monts ago and he’s been sitting all alone on my deks since then! So I grabbed some blue paper to match and gave this guy a place to shine. I used a couple chipboard embellishmens, as leaves this time, and covered them both is Adirondack Acrylic Paint Daubers. I love how the silver goes along side that blue!


As you can see, I used googlie eyes again – first, to cover a mistake I made on the eye and second, because they’re darn ca-ute. The gem embellishment was in the bargin bin at Michals and the flower center is from Whiff of Joy.



I’d like to enter into the following challenges:
AiFactory Challenge #078 (anything goes)
Digi Doodle Shop’s Best Challenge #56 (anything goes)
Moving Along with The Times Challenge #96 (anything goes)
Paper Crafting Journey Challenge #9 (bling)
Paper Romance Challenges #48 (summer)

Main Stamp: Monster Love (Co.)
Patterned Paper: Grade School (DCWV)
Chipboard: Flower Leaf Swirls (MiC)
Metal Die: My Favorite Things Die-namics Notebook Edge, Jumbo Scallop, and Scallopped Scallop

Copic Markers colored on Copy Paper:
E33, E35, E57, E59, 0, C1, C3, E04, BG10, BG11, BG72, BG75, R20, R21, R22, R24, R29, R59, E000, E00, E21, E11, B41, B34, B95, B97, E41, E43

Did you know? In botany, flora has two meanings: A flora refers to the plant life occurring in a particular region; A Flora refers to a book or other work describing a flora and including aids for the identification of the plants. The term “flora” comes from Latin language Flora, the goddess of flowers in Roman mythology. The corresponding term for animal life is fauna. Flora, fauna and other forms of life such as fungi are collectively referred to as biota. Some classic and modern floras are listed below.
[Flora, Wikipedia.org]

The Paper Project – Experiment IV

~ sproatmeyer ~ 22 Comments

Happy Easter everyone! Today I’m using a fun new stamp, Tilda with Eggs in her Apron, given to me from a friend Maria – thanks Maria! 😀 This was a fun Tilda to color and I ended up making monogrammed tags for the Easter Baskets … and I was able to refrain from adding a nose and mouth on Tilda this time. LOL

Experiment IV – Paper Attributes

The purpose of this experiment is to show any paper can be effectively used for coloring as long as you know the individual paper’s attributes. For those starting off and worried about finding the “perfect” paper right away, then worry no more and start out with something convenient and readily available.


For this test I used three of the paper samples and colored the images using the same techniques. I started with the darkest color then blended up to the lightest color. They were all colored with the same markers except for Tilda’s hair.

I didn’t want you to be confused with the monogram above so here are the three papers used along with their assigned letter:

Below you can compare these images side-by-side and see close up areas of the shoes and eggs, as well as a full view of all three tags.

Introduction post found here.
(Click on the picture for a zoomed look.)


My techniques changed depending on the paper I used. For example, when coloring on K I had to use quick light strokes to keep the bleeding maintained. Even so, when looking at the eggs, you’ll notice the edges are not as clean and it looks slightly more blurry than in P or Q. However, this problem isn’t as noticeable in larger areas such as the shoes.

When coloring on P and Q, I often went back in with the darker colors to keep the depth. I didn’t need to do this with K, however, there were other advantages to P and Q that K doesn’t have. For example, I could take my time blending and come back with additional colors building layer upon layers much easier.

For the purpose of this test, P and Q didn’t have very many differences. However, in some areas that already had a lot of ink, I noticed when I applied a wet layer on top of a dry layer the texture was a little different and became grainy.

Lastly, you’ll notice that K is so thin I should have used an additional white layer before placing it on the card so the decorative papers wouldn’t show through.

I’d like to enter in the following Easter themed challenges:


Main Stamp: Tilda with Eggs in her Apron (Mag)
Patterned Paper: Togetherness (CC)
Metal Die: Spellbinders Nestabilities Labels 8, Spellbinders Nestabilities Labels 17, and Magnolia Doohickey Vintage Lace

Copic Markers:
-skin tone: E000, E00, E11, R11, R12
-hair: E50, E51, E53, E55; E43, E4, E47, E49
-clothes: R000, R00, R11 R12, E50, E51, E53
-eggs: R11, R12, R14, R17, BG70, BG72, BG75, YG61, YG63, YG67, YR30, YR31, Y35
-background: BG72, C3, BG11, C1, BV31, BG70, 0

Flower Kaylee

~ sproatmeyer ~ 12 Comments

How did you like the Mo & Zo’s Carnival Blog Hop?! Well, it’s still going on for a few more days so you can get in on the action! Plus don’t miss out on the MEGA Blog Candy Blog Hop which has several chances for you to win.

Welcome back to another weekly challenge with Make it Colourful from our break last week! This week our theme is to color black hair and we’ve pulled together some variety for your inspiration! I used W00, W4, W6 and W8 Copic markers on the hair.


Our sponsor this week is Some Odd Girl and I used Flower Kaylee and paired her up with the Rainbow Dandelion from Make it Crafty. I was inspired by flowers on her dress and thought she would be perfect in front of those dandelions!


I wanted both images to be large and take up the most amount of space on the card… at the time, I was in a coloring mood, not a creating mood. LOL. Here’s a picture of the background before it was placed on the card. I love this image and how the foreground is featured in a close up perspective. That makes this image so versatile as you can add any size image with it.


Even though the images took up most of the card, I managed to add several embellishment and final touches, including the faux stitching, metal tag with gem eyelet, some pearls and the lasercut chipboard hearts! The tag was stamped with a lowercase alphabet metal stamps and a hammer which is nice for any type of sentiment. The lasercut chipboard hearts were covered with Liquid Pearls, of course.


I’d like to enter in the following challenges:
Kaboodle Doodles Challenge #63 (thoughts of spring)
Simply Create Challenge #42 (use metal)
Stamp Insanity Challenge #56 (use metal)
Pixie Dust Studio Challenge #71 (spring forward)
Fussy and Fancy Friday Challenge (springtime)

DT Challenge: Make it Colourful – Challenge #15 (black hair)
Main Stamp: Flower Kaylee (SOG) and Rainbow Dandelion (MiC)
Patterned Paper: Togetherness (CC)
Chipboard: Love Heart Swirls (MiC)
Metal Die: Spellbinders Nestabilities

Copic Markers colored on Copy Paper:
-skin tone: E000, E00, E21, E11
-reds: R11, R12, R14, R17, R29
-yellows: YR30, Y23, Y26; YR30, YR31, Y000
-greens: YG61, YG63, YG67; YG91, YG95, YG97; G40, G24, G28
-blues: BG70, BG72, BG75, BG78; B0000, B91, B52, C00
-purples: BV20, BV23, BV25
-browns: E41, E42, E43, E44, E47
-grays: W00, W4, W6, W8

Did you know? Glitter describes an assortment of very small (roughly 1 mm²) pieces of paper, glass or plastic painted in metallic, neon and iridescent colors to reflect light in a sparkling spectrum. Glitter was invented by Henry Ruschmann. Accounts conflict as to when glitter was invented—some say 1934 and others shortly after World War II. Today the company he founded, Meadowbrook Inventions, is the world’s leading manufacturer and supplier of glitter. Glitter can occasionally be used in criminal forensics, as its distinctive color, size, thickness, material and patterns can link perpetrators to victims or locations, if glitter was present at the crime scene or a related location.
[Glitter, Wikipedia.org]

Basil

~ sproatmeyer ~ 9 Comments

Come meet the newest Sugar ‘n Spice Doll over at Little Miss Muffet Stamps! Her name is Basil and she waiting with a wink to get her marshmallows roasted! Basil was inspired by our last family camp out. For smores we found chocolate with caramel in the middle and used that in place of the solid chocolate bar… it was yummy!


I dug through my charm bin and found this owl – it was the perfect one for this card. I tied it simply with twine and looped it around the twill tape. This twill tape is from Stampin Up and they have it in three different sizes – perfect for what I was doing.


I found these self-adhesive gemstone on the bottom of the pile but though they would like like stars once I got them added to the card. It was a fun experiment that worked and the results are “astronomical!”


Here’s a side glance of the card … and again you can see that I kept it as flat as possible. I was running low on mailable cards so this week I’ve been trying to stock back up!

I’d like to enter the following challenges:
Sunday Sketch & Stamp Challenge #51 (sketch flipped)
Cupcake Crafts Challenge #138 (layers – paper & clothes)
KB Cute Monday Challenge (Birthday)
Stamp with Fun Challenge #107 (Birthday)
Ooh La La Creations Challenge #78 (aqua, bling and sentiment)


DT: Little Miss Muffet Sneak Peeks
Main Stamp: Basil (LMMS)
Patterned Paper: Stella and Rose Hattie (MME)

Copic Markers colored on Copy Paper:
-skin tone: E11, E21, E13, E15, E25
-hair: W2, W4, W6, W8
-browns: E40, E41, E41; E55, E57, E59
-reds: R22, R24, R29
-yellows: YR30, Y21, Y35, Y26
-greens: BG70, BG72, BG75
-blues: B0000, B01; B91, B93, B34, B37, B39

Did you know? A barcode is an optical machine-readable representation of data, which shows data about the object to which it attaches. Originally, barcodes represented data by varying the widths and spacings of parallel lines, and may be referred to as linear or 1 dimensional (1D). Later they evolved into rectangles, dots, hexagons and other geometric patterns in 2 dimensions (2D). Although 2D systems use a variety of symbols, they are generally referred to as barcodes as well.
[Barcode, Wikipedia.org]

Update: I was selected in the top three at Ooh La La Creations for this challenge!