Posted on March 17, 2020 by Michelle

Take a Breath

It is a little crazy out there in the world at the moment. Let’s all take a deep breath…exhale…keep doing that. I am here just plugging along and although I am up to my eyeballs in work, move and the craziness of the world around me I am taking a few moments to share with you the craftiness I created just this morning. There is something soothing about taking a few minutes to color. It is good for the should to sit and create, and to just be.

I decided to color up a one bear from one of the new stamp sets from Dare 2B Artzy this moorning and get it onto a super simple card. (With me there is not other kind.)

The E53 and E55 are the bear fur, with a little E93 on the cheeks and inn the ears. The B41 and B45 are the overalls, the E41, E42 with the Y21 and Y28 are the honey and the pot. I used the BG70 and the BG72 for the background to match the wonderful D2BA papers.

I also added a little doodling to the border of the pattered paper. Always fun to add a little doodle, doodle, doodle!

That is really it for today! As many of us are finding ourselves at home for a few days find a few images to make you smile and release a little creative juices! Send a card to a friend, participate in a challenge (I hear the Dare 2B Artzy team has one every month!😉) And while you are at it,

Have a Happy Colorful Day!

Thanks for stopping by today! And make sure to check out some of the products I’ve used here in the D2BA store!

Posted on March 5, 2020February 29, 2020 by Michelle

Copic Coloring Darker Skin Tones Part 3

Good morning creative friends! Today I have for you the third installment of looking at darker skin tones with Rubbernecker Stamps. If you missed the first two I have been looking at coloring darker skin tones on a series of new stamps released by Rubbernecker. I have been trying to share a variety of tones so that you can see some variation. For this third installment I added another challenge, no-line coloring. Now I will admit of the three I have shared this one has some areas I need to do again. So I am challenging myself to tackle one or more of these images a second, third and possibly more times with no-line coloring. I know it would be a great challenge to push my skills! I will point out a few areas I want to improve on as I walk you through the steps.

After stamping in a light Memento pink ink use a Copic Multiliner .1 or smaller to add back in eyelash, pupil and eyebrow detail ** this is one spot I would do differently, I would use a smaller Multiliner, I would also wait and do the eyebrow and nostril with Copic
Base the skin in a light Earth Tone E21
Use 2 more Earth tones to add shape to the face E35, E33
Blend these areas smooth working back and forth between the 3 colors ** I will often work in one section at a time with no-line coloring like the face, then the neck lastly the shoulder and chest, this allows me to hold onto the edges as the lines disappear getting covered in ink
Add deeper shades with E04 into the shadow areas
Use E93 to add a slight blush to the cheek bones and fill the lips
Edge the lips with E09
Fill the lips with E04 blending the edge of the E09 as you go
Use squiggles and small flicks of E43 to base the hair
Using 3 more colors repeat the process, as you get darker use less and less ink with few strokes focusing into darker areas E44, E47, E49
Using a series of BG’s color the bow, I worked darkest to lightest so I could see all the detail in the folds BG54, BG52, BG000
Finish coloring with a light background of BG000 fading to white

Stamp “Life Is Good” on a strip of white cardstock
Color the strip with the series of BG’s BG54, BG52, BG000
Use rectangle nesting dies to cut the image, and two patterned papers
Adhere the largest patterned paper to the card base
Adhere the image onto the smaller patterned paper and use foam tape to adhere both to the card
Use foam tape to adhere the sentiment to the card

Thanks for stopping in today, if you have questions make sure to ask! And keep practicing, I know I need to keep working and challenging myself. Below you will find links to all the Rubbernecker products I used to create this card.

Have a Happy Colorful Day!

Posted on March 3, 2020March 1, 2020 by Michelle

Buzzing By with Easy Copic Coloring

Hello friends! I am buzzing by with some super easy Copic Coloring! I colored up not one, but three card fronts in about 10 minutes and then put them all together in another 5. Gotta love quick and easy cards especially when they turn out so colorful and cute!

I used the cute new Buzzy Beez stamp set from Dare 2B Artzy and created 3 card fronts then I colored them up. I used a total of 7 Copic Markers for all three cards. Who says you need a whole lot of markers?!

The marker not shown is a BG000 for a little background color!

Then I used the fabulous new D2BA papers to create 3 quick easy cards!

If you would like to take a peek at how fast these really were to color up, I recorded the coloring portion and will have that video up and live on the Dare 2B Artzy YouTube channel tomorrow, Wednesday the 4th.

Have a Happy Colorful Day!

Thanks for stopping by today! And make sure to check out some of the products I’ve used here in the D2BA store!

Posted on February 20, 2020February 6, 2020 by Michelle

Copic Coloring Darker Skin Tones Part 2

Good morning all, I have my second installment featuring darker skin tones on another beautiful image by Rubbernecker Stamps. This image is considerably darker than the first. I am OK with how the skin turned out, I have used this combo before with better results, but I LOVE how her hair turned out so I am sharing!

Base the entire skin area with E21
Using a series of three more Earth Tones add shape to the face, E23, E25, E27
Blend the colors together going in reverse, E25, E23
After blending the edge of the E25 with the E23 slightly wash over the rest of the skin with E23
If needed bring back highlights with the E21
Use E04 and E09 to add fullness to the lips
Use YR24 and E23 to add a golden color to the pupils
Use a series of Copics in long squiggly lines to emphasize the direction and shape of the hair, this will also warm up and separate the solid black from the stamp E43, E47, E49, C9

Here is a closer look at the hair:

Stamp the background image in a light gray ink
Color the rock wall with a variety of Copic natural tones adding texture as you go
Use a sentiment die cut to create 2 layers of a simple greeting
Use square nesting die cuts to frame the face and one size larger on patterned paper
Use rectangle nesting die cuts to cut the rock wall paper and a second patterned paper

Attach the largest patterned paper to a card base
Use foam tape to pop up the rock wall paper onto the base
Attach both the square patterned paper and image onto the base
Using a liquid glue attach the 2 sentiments together off setting them just a bit
Use liquid glue to attach the sentiment to the card

Thank you for stopping by for today’s post! I have at least one more in this series and then I hope to get a video done with darker skin tones as well. Below you will find links to the Rubbernecker products used on today’s card.

Have a Happy Colorful Day!

Posted on February 18, 2020January 28, 2020 by Michelle

Crafty Gnome from Dare 2B Artzy!

Hello friends and family here to start your day with a little Dare 2B Artzy inspiration. I am super excited to share another of the new images created by Cindy today, the crafty gnome. She is too cute and so so fun to color up! I used Copic Markers of course 😉

Skin – E000, E01, E93, R81 Hair – E50, E43, E44 Dress – B00, B12, B24, YG01, YG03, C1, Y21, Colorless Blender Sky – BG000 Ground – YG61, YG63 Shoes – E43, E44 Art supplies – C1, C3, C5, E44, Y21

Here she is all colored up!