Hello.

I'm sharing the 4th leg of the Girlfriends Relay Challenge at Scraps of Color's Robert Jackson Digi Group Challenge.  Since I was "Thinking Pink", I decided to use my image to bring awareness to breast cancer and its treatments.  The colors should be much brighter.   I need to work on my camera settings and see what I've accidentally changed.

We should be working on the 5th and final leg, but we're not.  This past week we got word from Robert that the death of two of his close family members is imminent.  Having faced the tragic loss of my son, my heart aches for Robert and his family, and we have sent our prayers for the peace of God to be of comfort to them all. 

There's a substitute challenge for this week at SOC.  If you'd like to check it out, here's a link.  Take a look around while you're there.

http://scrapsofcolor.ning.com/group/robert-jackson-digi-group

This second image is by Anne Fenton over at the Outlawz Creative Freebie Challenge.   I surprised them by making a girl.  Still "Thinking Pink."  Like SOC there's lots to see over at The Outlawz.  So here's a link.  

http://outlawzchallenges.ning.com/group/cfc

For both of these challenges, you are provided a "free" image to color for the challenge.  I put it in quotation marks because you have to join SOC and/or Outlawz to get the "freebie" image.  To get the next image you have to participate in the previous challenge.   Free?  Hmmmmm.  I'll let you decide. 

As always...

Thanks for stopping by.

Tilda Giggling in my Garden

So how do you like the new look?   I used one of my photos for the new header and included a mugshot :)  I wanted to fix things up for all of you I've gotten to know over the past three years.  I'm so glad you're here.  Your friendly faces are so inspiring.   So I've moved you up where I could see you right off instead of scrolling to the bottom. LOL

I have so many photos I've taken and all kinds of ideas for them that I really need to set aside some time to do something with them.   Some of them are really pretty and would look really good in frames.   Maybe I'll show one here from time to time.

This is Tilda Giggling.   Isn't she the cutest thing with her cozy jammies and socks.  I used copics for her.  Been working on hair coloring.  I used E17, E18, and E19 for her hair.  The color is a reddish brown brunette, really pretty.  

Can you see my highlighting?  Suzanne Dean mentioned that she uses a white Sharpie paint pen for highlighting.  I was just about to order the opaque white paint from Copic, so I bought this instead.  Takes a little getting used to, but it's the best thing I've found yet, even my Signo pen.  They are not very expensive, and you can order them online.

I'll try to remember to name the markers or giving the colors that I used for the posting.   I do write them down.  Since I'm focused on coloring and not projects, giving you the names of colors and what techniques or tools I've used should come easier.   When I use a freebie, I will give you the name of the artist and a link to their website for you to grab it if you want. 

Let me know what you think of my blog's new look.  Good or bad  -- not much I can do about the mugshot :) -- this is a place of learning.  I've gotten better with Copics and I've started using Promarkers, so watch for my oopsies and what I've learned from my experiences.  

As always...

Thanks for stopping by.

I LOVE FREEBIES!

Can't believe we're just about mid-September already.  Been coloring with my 
Promarkers and coming up with ideas for the upcoming weeks.  Two of my favorite things are coloring and freebies to color.  I love freebies. 

Nowadays I'm not too sure what constitutes a freebie.  There are artists who share their high-quality images totally free.  You don't pay anything, and a lot of them don't even ask you to buy anything.  If you like it, grab it, and use it,  just don't give it away to anybody else; direct them to the artist's site to get it.  And it would be really nice to leave a comment and come back and share your creation with the artist.

If I have to fill in a form with all my vital statistics, then I don't consider that a freebie.  So many folks want you to put the "freebie" in your cart, which means you will have to set up an account with a password and sometimes a mailing address.  Hmmmmmm?  Do I really want it that bad? Usually not.  I pass.

I'm concerned about the future of black and white line drawings being available for coloring.  It's amazing what you can do with technology today, and many folks are using technology to create some amazing papers and images for scrapbooking and card making that are already colored.  Beautiful stuff indeed.  But for me, there's nothing like paper, pencils, crayons, and markers.   Are we about to lose another art to technology? 

As a colorist I want to encourage the few black and white line artists to continue to share with those of us who look forward to their next freebie to color.  When I post an image, I will give the name of and a link to the artist and/or website where I grabbed the freebie.  I use a system to try to make sure I give credit to the right person. 

I used Promarkers to color this image.



Anyhoo, this is a card I made for a challenge over at Scraps of Color, a network showcasing African-American paper crafters.  These challenges have been so much fun.  We're now into week two of a five-part Robert Jackson digi group Girlfriends Challenge.  To get the image for the next week, you must post a project for the current week.   Here's a link for their challenge. 

http://scrapsofcolor.ning.com/group/robert-jackson-digi-group

Thanks for stopping by!

STEPPIN'

R. Kelly's Steppin' in the Name of Love video is one of my all-time favs.   I love to dance.  Can't, but that doesn't mean I can't love to :)

For a Scraps of Colors challenge, we had to design around a song.  I knew right away which song I would do, already had the digi.  The image I used is a Robert Jackson digi called "Steppin'".  Had a chance to work on coloring whites, shadowing, and darker skin tones.  

Promarkers
Hair:  Cocoa, Cinnamon, and Tan

Skin:  Cinnamon and Walnut

  Completed card

Scraps of Color is a network that showcases African-American paper crafters.  You don't have to be African-American to join in the fun. 

Robert Jackson has a vast array of digis that represent the African-American community.  If you've been looking for something different to color, these may be the digis for you.

Thanks for stopping by

My Outlawz Creative Freebie Challenge Entry

August 25, 2012

This is a bear image created by Sandi Huggett over at The Outlawz.  I created it for their Creative Freebie Challenge.  Didn't post it with a sentiment there because I didn't want to miss the deadline.   This is the completed card. 

I used copics to color.  Don't you just love Tilda.  I'm amazed at how well I can get her colored now.  Lots and lots of practice.  But I can't just color Tildas, so my quest to conquer copics continues :)

Thanks for stopping by.

Hello, Hello, Hello. So Happy You're Here!

Thank you so much for coming over and following my blog so I could keep up with all of you lovely people.

For those of you who are not with us on the Provo Craft MB, I had decided not to renew my Circle membership based on principle.  However, once the new Circle cart was released I wanted it.  Cart is same price as membership.  To keep to my principles, I decided to buy the cart from someone who wanted to sell.  Each seller asked the same question "Why don't you buy the cart and use the membership?  You'll already have paid for it." 

The message board is my most favorite feature of the Circle.  If I bought the cart, I would miss all of you that I've gotten to know over the last 3 years.  So putting aside my principles, I decided to go ahead and take  advantage of the "perks" of being in the Circle.  Doesn't make much sense to deny myself the joy I get from participating in the message board.  So I'm with the Circle for another year.

 I watched a video by a woman who used Promarkers, and I loved her style of coloring.  I tried to replicate her coloring with the Copics, but it's not quite the same.   I'm going to be posting not just what I've done and learned with Copics but will be adding some Promarker comments as well.  If any of you use Promarkers, please feel free to share your wisdom with us.  We do appreciate it.

From time to time, I am going to pay tribute to those who regularly make good quality digital images available for free.  I love free digis, good quality free digis.  There are several that I make sure not to miss.  So I will color one or two of their digis, post a link to their site, and hopefully you guys will want to go over and check out their blogs or websites.

Here's a few things I've been coloring recently.  I hope you enjoy them.  Let me know what you think.

This little digi came from my Stretch 'N Bubbles stash.  This is the one where I used the Copics to try to get a Promarker look.



Same with this little girly.  She's one of the digis created by Anne Fenton from the Outlawz Creative Freebie Challenges.



This little gate image is another from The Outlawz Creative Freebie Challenge.  I colored Tilda to enter into Enfy's totally girly challenge, but I got a little intimidated and didn't enter anything.  How do you like my gray-haired Tilda walking with her little puppy all decked out in pink?

 

To those who came over, again I say thank you.  I will be focusing on my blog
and will try include some things that will be of interest to those of us who love to color.  As always, if there's something you want to ask questions about let me know.  I've got a lot of craft stuff, and I will give you my honest experience with a particular product.

Thanks for stopping by. 

BEEN COLORING...AGAIN

Here's another page from the coloring book "Blossoms and Butterflies" by Dover Publications.  This one is called "Giant Swallowtail with Geraniums". 

I used my Crayola color pencils, and I had to research the butterfly and 

geraniums to know what colors to use.  Remember with colored pencils, it's the white eraser and the kneaded eraser that you use to remove color or for blending.

 

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These pictures were taken with the light box light on.  

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I hope you were inspired to do some coloring.  Whether you use copics or pencils or watercolor, coloring can be fun and relaxing.  Try it, you might like it.  We're all learning together, so feel free to leave your comments or suggestions.  They are appreciated.

Thanks for stopping by!