Coloring

 

Coloring

     For years I've been a closet colorer.  I've loved to color ever since I was a kid.  For hours I would color and cut and paste. When I grew older coloring books and crayons were replaced by rubber stamps and a variety of colored pencils and pens. Once you become a grown up, coloring isn't one of those things you can admit to doing.  Until now.
    Adult coloring books are HOT.  Best sellers!  Amazon offers hundreds of them, from anatomy to zen and everything in between.  There's even a name for us adults who continue our childhood favorite.   We're "colorists".

    My newest adult coloring book--a gift from my husband--is Balance by Angie Grace.    It's a great book and the images are only on one side.   The other coloring books I have are printed on both sides, which doesn't work with Copic markers.  They bleed through thinner, softer paper.  Copics will still bleed through the paper used in Grace's books, but you don't lose any of the images.
 
    Because I use Copics, I cut the page out before I start to color.  But you could also put a piece of card stock between your image and the next page to soak up the excess ink.  On the little slip of yellow paper I write down which marker colors I've used.  I'm not sure if I'll keep this info, but it has come in handy when I've put my markers away and returned later.    
 

     There's a good video on Grace's website that gives tips for using Copic markers.  Of course you can use whatever markers or pencils you like best.  
     There's a range of difficulty in Balance, which I like.  I started with a medium one (in my opinion).   She has a LOT of books available, including ones with cats and flowers that looked really interesting.  On her web site she has some freebie images, too, that you can print out and color.  I haven't done that yet, but they look tempting.
      Right now I feel the need to re-balance and de-stress.  I'm going to color for a while.

Bunny in the Flower Pot Tutorial

Bunny in the Flower Pot Tutorial

       I've returned to making cards recently and thought I'd share how I did this one.  As you can see, I'm not a professional artist, but I love to play with paper and Copic markers.    
       I started by stamping two images of "Pansy Bunny" by Penny Black rubber stamps. This is an older stamp that I've had for quite a while, but it's one of my favorites. It's still in great shape, and bunnies never go out of style.  
      The second image is a partial because I only need a few of the flowers, not the entire image.

     The paper is Cougar Opaque Cover 80# white.  In the picture it has a blue tint, but in reality it's totally white.  It has a smooth surface that works well with Copic markers.  I buy it in the 8 1/2" x 11" size and cut it into smaller pieces as needed.  I get my good paper at Marco's Papers when I go back to Ohio to visit family.  But they also sell online, and the paper is available other places as well.

This paper came from Hobby Lobby.  I'm using a sheet of it for the card.  

 Here are the Copic I used on this card:

    I have a mix of Copic Ciao (the round ones) and Sketch (the square ones).  I really like the way the smaller Ciao's fit my hand, but they're not available in all colors and in all stores.  I buy Copics whenever I have a few extra dollars and I find a good bargain.  Lately I've even picked up a couple on E-bay.   So far they seem to be a good deal.  We'll see.

      I started with the flower petals using V01 and V05.  Copics have a unique numbering system that you can learn about on many sites.  It's one of the things that makes Copics so great.  The numbers help you know what colors will blend well.

       I used Y08 for the flower centers.

       I used YG21 and YG23 for the leaves.  I'm happy with the way the light seems to bounce off of the leaves where I used YG21. 

       The flower pot is BG57.  I would have liked to have blended in another shade in the BG family, but I don't have any yet.   I added YG03 in the center to try to show where the light would hit it.  Since I don't have a lighter BG color, I thought a lighter green would work well with the leaves.   What do you think?  I'm open to suggestions regarding better options for this one.  

        Next I cut out three pieces of flowers and leaves to layer over the basic image for added interest and dimension.   I attached them with Pop Dots.   

    Last, I added the ribbon around the flower pot and to the top of the card to tie it closed.   I used additional Pop Dots to attach the entire bunny and pot to the card.  Finished!

     Here's the same stamp done in slightly different colors.  I used W-3 and W-5 for the bunny.  To make the "terra cotta" pot I used YR23 and dabbed in G17 with a piece of paper towel.   I used the same green to color the torn edge of the decorative paper.  The base of the card is plain burgundy card stock.  A piece of pink ribbon is taped to the top for added color and interest.

I can't wait to send these out.  I hope my friends like receiving them as much as I liked making them.