You Are So Lovely - Zan Von Zed Ladies of Leisure Digi

Let the winds of enthusiasm sweep through you.  Live life with gusto.
Dale Carnegie

Zan Von Zed Ladies of Leisure digital stamp, Tim Holtz background die,
Heartfelt Creations stamps, dies, and mold, Cricut cutting and writing features,
 glossy gold card stock, Xpressit blending paper, Copic markers, iridescent sequins

Hey there,

Grayscale coloring can be both amazing and challenging at the same time.  Zan Von Zed, the incredibly talented artist of THIS coloring book where I found this gorgeous digital image, uses light shading in her designs but also leaves open areas,  like the eyes here, for the colorist to use her own skills and imagination. There is occasionally some controversy in the digital art community as to whether this additional shading might be "cheating" since it shows through as light shading in the finished product.  For me, there are definite pros and cons to grayscale.  I enjoy shading so much on unshaded images and the light gray is a little harder to blend with Copics.  And since light source and shading are some of the most important skills a colorist can learn, I don't think it's helpful for beginners to rely on these shadows in their work.  But I like the result I get, even though it can be darker and more intense than my usual coloring.  And since many of my favorite artists use grayscale to differing degrees, some even offering dark, medium or none in their digi shops, I'm all in for the challenges and advantages of grayscale coloring! 

What do you think?  If you haven't tried grayscale, you should give it a go.  Some of the best artists use it to varying degrees in their artwork and many colorists create stunning artwork with it.  Just be aware when you see an unbelievably shaded image colored to perfection,  the colorist might have had some help from the artist. 

Thanks for visiting,

Go forth and experiment with some grayscale artistry.

Nancy

Playing along with:

The Card Concept Challenge #155

The Paper Funday Challenge #29

Digi Choosday Challenge Wk 19

Try it on Tuesday Challenge - Make it Feminine

A Place to Start Challenge #5

Get Creative Challenge #101

Just Us Girls #583

A Bit More Time to Craft #139

Classic Design Challenge #5

Morgan's ArtWorld Challenge #5

QKR Stampede Challenge #419

 

Penny Black Isabelle Stamp - Wistful Thanks

My mission in life is not merely to survive,  but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor and some style.  Maya Angelou

Penny Black "Isabelle" stamp, Heartfelt Creation die cut and molded flowers,
 Copic markers. thanks sentiment die, corner die, Tattered Lace frame dies

 Hey there,

 If  I had enough time and steam, I would send handmade thank you cards endlessly to all my incredibly supportive tribe. We card makers know that a personalized, hand crafted card with a heartfelt tribute inside is a very upllifting way to express our affection and gratitude to those we adore.  

This pretty cling stamp image from Penny Black Stamps, which I purchased from Joann's a few years ago, is called Isabelle.  She's a little hard to find now, but an internet search shows she's still available online.  Amazingly, she's large enough to  fit a 5 x 7 card perfectly.  After coloring her with Copics and fussy cutting her, I  attached her to a water colored digital background and framed her with layered die cut Tattered Lace frames.  I die cut the sentiment and corners with  gold foil card stock and added handmade Heartfelt Creations flowers for color and dimension.  She looks quite wistful, but it's obvious she's counting her myriad of wondrous blessings.

Thanks for visiting,

Go forth and express your thanks to those you love!

Nancy

Playing along with:

Craft Rocket Challenge #81

Krafty Chicks Challenge #558

Addicted to Stamps and More Challenge #404

Crafty Creations Challenge #421

Little Red Wagon Challenge #600

Watercooler Wednesday Challenge #315

Dream Valley Challenge #247

Pammie's Inky Pinkies

Craftiness is Happiness - Paper Shelter and Cricut

 “The desire to create is one of the deepest yearnings of the human soul. No matter our talents, education, backgrounds, or abilities, we each have an inherent wish to create something that did not exist before.”      Dieter F Uchdorf

Paper Shelter digi stamp, Cricut Design space and writing feature,
Copic markers, green acrylic dots, gold leafing pen, purple glitter card stock

Hey there, 

I'm certain many of you will enthusiastically agree with the notion that craftiness truly is happiness!  We creative types are so blessed to have found a passion that makes us feel so joyful and fulfilled.  Few things can compare with the exhilaration of creating something unique with our own two little ink stained hands and then displaying it or, better still, gifting it to someone wrapped in love.  It is often said that home is where your heart is.  I'll extend that to say your crafting space is where your creative soul is.

 

THIS  little paper crafting cutie from The Paper Shelter looks blissful surrounded by her tools of the trade.  It was so tempting to use a rainbow of  Copics when coloring this, with all the art paraphernalia surrounding her. With super human restraint,  I managed to keep my main palette to purple, green and blue, reserving the rainbow for her pencils markers and paper.  I created the shaped card base in Cricut Design Space, as well as the sentiment tag.  The focal panel is raised a bit with mounting tape and all the panels are lined with a gold leafing pen. 

Several of my crafty friends would be perfect recipients of this card, but I might just keep it displayed in my craft room to remind me how blessed I am to enjoy the raptures of being an ardent  craftophile.  Oh, wait...I made it myself...I could make more.  The perks of handmade! 

Thanks for visiting.

Go forth and fill your soul with crafty happiness.  

Nancy

        Playing along with:

Through the Purple Haze Challenge #179

Crafty Creations Challenge #420

Creative Moments Challenge #213

Crafty Sentiments April Challenge

Through the Craft Room Door Challenge April 27

Crafting Happiness Challenge #94

Get Creative Challenge #100

Path of Positivity Challenge #90

Crafter's Castle #40

The Corrosive Challenge #4

Accuquilt Chimney Sweep BOB Quilt

If you see me with a seam ripper, now is not the time.

 

Hey there,

Quilting is one of my favorite chill activities and, sadly, the one I seem to make the least time for among all my crafty pursuits.  I guess it's because it takes time and effort to set up my sewing space to my exacting ergonomic specifications  and it creates a bit of disarray in my craft room for a few days.  But I'm in heaven the whole time I'm sewing, so it's worth a little bit of temporary chaos.  And I LOVE creating unique treasures for my special tribe.  It's delightful to join a tapestry of  bright happy fabric in colors that only have one job...to play well together.  When I proudly present my masterpiece to my beloved recipient,  I think of it as an enduring, adoring hug. Yes, I know a baby or a dog might leave his mark on it, but a few cycles through the washing machine (or not) will give it cozy character. 

I die cut this fun classic block with the Accuquilt Chimney Sweep Block on Board in just a couple of hours!  What's not to love about accurate piece cutting in so little time.  The pieces are much easier for me to sew together with  their uniform size.  I usually make lap or baby quilts because they go pretty fast and are within my price range to have professionally quilted. Longarm quilting is worth the cost to me because the results are so beautiful and durable...and it saves my aching back. 

My daughter is arriving from Denmark tomorrow to get her covid vaccination a few months earlier than she would in Copenhagen.  I haven't seen her for a year and a half, so I'm beyond excited.  She's an on-line therapist and will be working from here as she quarantines for a while, so I'll have some quiet time to sew.  It will be so nice to quietly work in my craft room knowing that my sweet baby, (37 years old) will be occupied quietly close buy.  I miss those days!!!

Thanks for visiting.

Go forth and dig out a UFO (unfinished object) that you've been longing to finish.

Nancy

You Are So Special - Kit and Clowder Pretty Posies Class

 Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience. 
Ralph Waldo Emerson

Power Poppy Dancing Dafodils digi stamp, Copic Markers, gold metallic card stock,
white gel pen, Tattered Lace frame dies, card stand die, 

Hey there,

Three years of Kit and Clowder classes are tucked away in binders on my shelf, waiting for me to take the time to follow along with Alyce's expert video instructions. It's a treat to open them and discover my next coloring challenge.  Trouble is, I love coloring images of feminine women so I have lots of practice coloring skin, hair and clothing but not so much anything else. I have challenged myself to take on varied floral images to gain more confidence when they show up as part of my coloring.  

Flowers come in such an array of  gorgeous forms and colors, they are a joy to shade and shape with Copics. I colored the lovely blooms in this Kit and Clowder January 2020 class for a spring card for my friend.   Alyce shows us how to add texture and depth which is useful on any type of floral image. I usually make a card of my finished artwork so I can pass it on to someone I love.  Since my shaped card base doesn't  stand flat for display,  I created a die cut stand in white. I printed the sentiment using the writing feature in Cricut Design Space.

Flowers are such a delight to color and very forgiving with all their uniqueness.  After all, nothing in nature is perfect but  most of it is absolutely stunning. I think I'll set out for a walk and fill my eyes with all the hues and textures of my magnificent southwest landscape.  It's a happy sunshiny spring day out there. 

Thanks for visiting,

Go forth and observe the beauties of nature and then create something fabulous in their image.

Nancy 

Playing along with: 

Creative Knockouts#397

Crafty Gals Corner #218

The Sisterhood of Crafters Mellow Yellow

The Paper Funday Challenge #28

Digi Choosday Cjhallenge Wk 15

Ike'sworld Challenge #143

Shopping our Stash Challenge #443

Use Your Stuff Spring/Easter

Avenue 613 Create Challenge #4

Crafty Calendar April Challenge - Spring or Easter

You Are Something Magic - Conie Fong Princess Kiara

Let your dreams be your wings. 

Conie Fong Kiara Princess digi, Copic markers, Cricut frame, Cricut sentiment,
gold glitter card stock, Xpressit blending paper, pink iredescent gems, gold Stickles 

 Hey there,

You know that magical  place where exquisitely beautiful princesses fall in love with dashingly handsome princes and they ride away together on a magnificent white steed to an enchanted castle in the clouds? I think it's at the corner of Hallmarkland and Craftyville.  I'm so happy to visit there regularly when I sink into my craft room chair and survey my hoard filled kingdom.  I love to escape my real world challenges to a mystical burg where fairies, princesses, unicorns and well dressed animals  communicate affectionately with each other and live together in harmonious bliss. Even the witches in my world are lovely and kind. My super power is a very inventive and vivid  imagination.  What's yours?

I recently found the time to color THIS gorgeous Conie Fong Princess Kiara image from a Kit and Clowder class.  Dress folds and transparent fabric are often a bit challenging for me, but I always love  practicing my shading skills on something pretty like this princess frock with gradient shades of blue and pink.  Flowers are also a neglected skill that I enjoy revisiting.  I fussy cut my image to include the castle in the distance and mounted it  in sections with mounting tape on a glittery gold Cricut-cut frame embellished with pink iridescent gems.  I embellished the flower centers with gold Stickles and created the sentiment tag in Cricut Design Space.

My card recipient is my beautiful daughter who turns 41 this month.  She's Disneyland-obsessed so I know she'll appreciate this nod to Cinderella. She'll always be the little cutie who sat and watched Disney movies with me for hours back when the world seemed a little more mellow.  Young souls never grow too old for magic. 

Thanks for visiting.

Go forth and BELIEVE.

Nancy

Playing along with:

Aud Sentiments Challenge #272

Classic Design Challenge April # 4

Crafts Galore Encore Challenge #86

   Morgan's ArtWorld Challenge #4

Crafty Sentiments Designs April

Avenue 613 Create Challenge #4

Lil Patch of Crafty Friends Challenge #C155

Stamping Sensations April - Fantasy and Magical

The Fairy and the Unicorn April Challenge

Creative Fingers Challenge #205

 

Happy Birthday, Doll - Julie Nutting Cassandra Stamp

The meaning of life is to find your gift.  
The purpose of life is to give it away.    William Shakespeare

Julie Nutting Cassandra stamp, Copic markers, Cricut card base, gold leafing pen,
 dp for dress and background, handmade flowers, beaded lace bow, butterfly die,
 beaded swirls, assorted gems, pom pom trim, 

 

Hey there,

Yipeeee!  Covid vaccinations abound and my friends and family are finally able to visit us in our new home.  Next week we will have two families staying just two days apart.  I'll be joyfully anticipating and frantically preparing for their stays.  One of our guests, my darling niece, has a birthday on Monday, so it'll be fun to celebrate and give her this card in person with a big hug.  

I've loved my stash of Julie Nutting paper doll stamps forever and I never grow tired of dressing them up in fancy frocks and creating girly cards.  Have I mentioned I had a class with Julie in person?  Okay, maybe only a dozen times because it was so exciting and I'm in awe of her talent which she so generously shared.  I dressed this cute Cassandra doll in a paper pieced party dress and mounted her on an elegant card base which I elongated  in Cricut Design Space.  I embellished the subtle DP in my background with handmade flowers, a beaded lace bow and a die cut metallic butterfly with added vellum wings. I created even more sparkle by adding gems to my birthday girl's metallic crown and swirly vines for her to dance in.  Every birthday card needs a bit of bling, right?  My stamped birthday message found a perfect place to live amongst all the party hoopla. 

I'm slowly getting on the slimline card bandwagon and this card might qualify because it fits in a regular size 10 envelope.  I'm collecting a few pretty slimline dies, so stay tuned for some proper skinny cards to come.  I think a little change is in order as the pandemic fog lifts! 

Thanks for visiting,

Go forth and get vaccinated and then hug some vaccinated loved ones!

Nancy

Playing along with:

Crafty Creations Challenge #419

Little Red Wagon Challenge #595

Watercooler Wednesday Challenge #312

Crafty Sentiment Designs ATG

Through the Craft Room Door Wk beginning March 30

A Gem of a Challenge #7

Sweet Stampin' - Special Woman

Creative Moments Challenge #211