It's been awhile....

since I last posted! Yikes! I really didn't mean for that to happen. I got into copic markers a year or so ago and really don't have that many yet. They are pretty expensive, and my dog happened to eat 6 of them when he busted out of his crate; but that's another story for another day! I realized that I only had a few color combos and that made coloring pretty boring. I mean really, how many times can you use the same exact colors?? So I decided to try Prismacolor colored pencils with gamsol, or odorless mineral spirits. I actually use Mona Lisa from Michael's. While I still like the copics better, the pencils have been fun to mess around with. I stamp and color an image just about every day but usually don't like them so they don't end up here. I promised some friends that I would do a blog post with step by step pictures of how I color.

Today I colored Japanese Tilda from Magnolia. I have a small obsession with all things Japanese. (Except for sake, blah!)I finally got this little cutie in the mail a few weeks ago and have been dying to ink her up! I went with a color scheme for paper that I just ordered today. I won't know for sure how it matches until I get it but hopefully it's close. Once I get her on a card, I'll post that.

Isn't she the cutest? LOVE this stamp! It might actually be my new favorite!



First I colored her face and hand in light peach



Then I blended that and added some peach as a shadow and added some pink to her cheeks



I colored her dress yellow because when I think of this little cutie, I think of bright colors!



I added some blue and pink to go with my paper, or so I hope! I also started on her hair.



Hair is probably the biggest pain in the tail to get just right. Black hair is the easiest, at least I think anyway. You just lay down some color and blend it out and keep doing that until you get the right shade of black that you want and its all shiny.



A second layer of black, but you can see it's still not quite dark enough so I'll have to add another.




All done! I'll probably add some highlights with my white gel pen once I actually get ready to add this to a card. I'll post that when I get it done. I'm not sure if you can see it, but I did add some stickles to her dress and the flowers to give it some bling.




Prismacolor Pencils used: PC928, PC927, PC939, PC908, PC940, PC930, PC906, PC935

One coat down, one to go!

I was finally able to get a coat of paint on the walls! I really dislike painting but being as this is my craft area, I am super excited about this. It is going to need a second coat which is a bummer but hopefully the second one will go on easy and not take too long. Its a little brighter than I would like but I am hoping its because its still wet. The sample on the lid was exactly what I wanted so maybe its just me. Painters remorse? Who knows!






And just because he was there for a photo op, my kitty. Grey One. I call him Greys, or sometimes Brother Greys. He's around 11 now and loves to pick on the dog.

Prepping for Paint!

I really underestimated just how much stuff I had. I emptied one side of my space to prep for paint. It took hours just to empty the space and tape.
One of the shelves all taped and ready to go!


I was so excited to get the taping part done. I hate taping. I am not a big fan of painting but I can deal with that. Taping on the other hand, ugh! I'd almost rather pay someone to do it for me! My excitement was short lived when I turned around to this mess!







I think I created more of a mess than I started with. *Sigh* I hope to get at least one coat of paint on tomorrow! I'll let you know when I do.

Finally....a craft room

or at least one in the near future. I just moved into a bigger house and finally have a space, aside from a corner in a room, that I can designate my crafting area. I started to unpack and realized that it is just not functional the way it is. It is a work in progress but hopefully in a few short weeks it will be up and running. It is so hard to find the space to work on things these days and it seems as though my stamps have been neglected. Have no fear! I have vowed to change that and it all starts here! Here is the craft area in progress...

Stamps...

and some more stamps

Ink pads and some paper

More paper and goodies

My beloved Big Shot and more goodies

And the goodies that have yet to be unpacked

Please excuse my do, Frankie, he needs to be everywhere people are. Some more boxes of goodies yet to have a home.

The other side, its actually two super huge closets, is where the workspace will be when it is all together.

I went to Lowe's the other day and they color matched my paint to my Stampin' Up paper colors that I brought it. One wall will be Marina Mist and the other Bashful Blue. Here's the paint all ready to go, and fume free so no icky paint smell!


It is a work in progress but I am really excited to get it all done!