Get out your pencils!

UPDATE: I just read about a blogger who needs our help, please visit this blog for information on her situation.  I will be donating what I can later today.  Also, if you have a blog please try to post the link as well.

Good morning/afternoon everyone.  Yesterday was so busy I just didn't have time to get my post ready for today, by the time I was finally able to sit down at the computer it was past my bedtime, thus the late post today.

We had a very busy and productive day at our house yesterday, managed to get four loads of laundry washed, dried and put away, made a trip to the pet store and then shampooed the hall, dinning room and family room carpets.  And then made a nice dinner for the family : )  Our carpets are pretty old and they are not going to be replaced anytime soon, so we have to make sure to try to keep them in presentable shape by keeping them as clean as possible, thus we try to get a good shampoo done in the warmer weather to expedite the drying time.

I hope you had a wonderful three day weekend!  Time is marching on isn't it?  Here we are roaring into September, and soon it will be October....and then....the "holidays."   It just seems that we settle into a season and then ....wham...the season changes and we need to adapt yet again to a change in weather, holidays and whatnot.  Ok, enough of my musing, how about some crafting stuff?

Over at Susana's Custom Art and Card Design the team was challenged to do a 2x2x2:  Two embellishments, two papers and two products from the store.  I interpreted the challenge to mean "at least" two of these things, and here is what I came up with:

From 2010-09-07

And a closeup:

From 2010-09-07

The stamp is from the new Elisabeth Bell Animapeeps (an absolutely darling collection of animal stamps), and I also added some Crystal effects to the eyes, used Viva Decor for the dots on the umbrella and the embellishment on the corners of the card.  The two products I used are the Spellbinders and Viva Decor.  The image is colored with colored pencils!  I am really getting back into coloring with my colored pencils, easy, fun and versatile, and they work so well with Copics!  While the image for this card is not combined with Copics, I have been playing around with combining both mediums and love the result, but more about that later ; )

And here is another card I made for a friend who is having a baby boy:

From 2010-08-24

I have been able to get my hands on a few of the Hanglar & Stanglar stamps (they are available on Ebay, be warned though, they are not cheap).  And yes, I used colored pencils again for the coloring.

And I wanted to let you know that this weekend (Saturday) I am attending a Copic Certification in Oakland, CA.  If any of you are also attending, please make sure to say hi.  When I am done with the Certification I am planning on holding a few coloring classes in the Bay Area, not sure yet when/where, but will try to keep the cost of the classes as reasonable as possible. If you might be interested let me know, more details will follow in the next few months as I work out the exact details.

Ok, so I just get finished talking about Copics and then switch gears to colored pencils!  I have been having a blast playing with colored pencils these last few days.  Copics, colored pencils and distress inks have to be my most favorite ways to color images. What I love about colored pencils is that they are a bit more forgiving then the Copics, and you can walk away in the middle of blending without having to worry.

So, I thought that today I would post about all things colored pencils : )

First of all, I do think that one of the best colored pencils to use are the Prisma, for one reason they have a very rich color to them, and secondly they are well made.  The one problem I have with them is that the lead tends to break when you are sharpening, but I found a "hint" on how to sharpen while reducing breakage, (yes, this is a MUCH better way to sharpen your pencils).  I have been doing this and have had about 90 percent LESS breakage:

Copics and colored Pencils:  Marianne of "I Like Markers" has three posts on combining Copics and colored pencils, make sure to click on the tape dispenser to get a larger view of the image.  Here is the link to part three of her posts.

Lockhart Rubber Stamp Company Tutorials:  Here is a great collection of various techniques using colored pencils, I loved the one that showed how to add texture, as well as the one on the fall leaves.

Basic information on sharpening colored pencils:  Good overall information on how to care for your colored pencils.

Lessons on using colored pencils:  This site has some GREAT technique and tutorials for you to play with.  The key to using colored pencils is to understand how they work, and how to layer to get the effects that you want.  Of course you also must make sure to practice : )

A quick lesson on color value:  This link is actually very helpful for all of your coloring mediums.  Understanding how color works makes it much easier to get the effect you want with your images and projects.

Project sheets:  Some easy to follow artist project sheets to help you learn how to use your colored pencils (these are really quick and will broaden your ability to use the colored pencils.)

GREAT video on using Prisma colored pencils:

What I love about the above video is the introduction of using a Prisma colorless blender to blend the colored pencils (and YES! it does work, and the prisma colorless blender is cheaper then a copic colorless blender).

Another video ( I have linked to this one before but feel it is worthy of reposting)


And here is another repost of a video which has some wonderful techniques:



I hope these links will keep you busy for a bit : )  Pull out those colored pencils and play away!  I will try to get some pictures of the Copic Certification this weekend to share with you next week, until then enjoy your week and thank you so very much for visiting the blog!