I Think I Get This Coloring Thing Now!

Hey All! Sorry it has been awhile since my last post. I'm glad you haven't given up on me! I have several cards to post today. My first is the reason for the title. I'm dedicating this card to my good blogging buddy Sue Kment at Sue's Stamping Stuff. Go visit her blog to see a true artist! Her coloring of the House Mouse images are jaw-dropping gorgeous. Awhile back, she very generously sent me a ton of stamped images which included the one I feature on today's card. No matter how hard I tried to emulate her coloring, I failed miserably. She told me that she uses blending techniques and what supplies she used. Well, I went out and got some, and boy, what a difference it made! Here is what I made after her coaching. . .



Sue had done this image, and I was just in awe over it. When I tried to color with just my colored pencils, it always looked like a 3rd grader did it. Now, with her help, the use of blending stumps, and odorless mineral spirits, I think I have the hang of it now! Here's a close up view:



At least I'm so much more happy with the results, and because of her, I can't wait to tackle some more of these! The dp is from the Fall Stack from DSCW. I mounted the image on green and mustard cs and attached it to the paper. Stamped and embossed the sentiment cs and then cut it out with my circle and scallop Nesties, and mounted it on the card using foam squares. Added the little dew drop thingies and ribbon. Thanks again so much Sue! You are my official "Coloring Mentor"! Honestly, I can't thank you enough!

My next cards are some I have made specifically for Pat's "Cards for Kids" project. Click on the link if you want to learn more and how you can help! The first card is a Halloween card. I figure since it is coming up soon, that would be a good theme. Here it is. . .



This is such a "boy" card! Catching bugs in jars. . .LOL. The jar stamp is by Inkadinkado and the spider stamp is a Martha Stewart stamp. I used my white ink pen to draw the spider web and to dot the photo corners. I added the red jewel to the spider for bling effect (see close up) below:



I don't know who the paper is by. Stamped the sentiment on orange cs mounted all stamped images after matting with foam squares, tied the ribbon and done.

So I figured that if this one was "boyish", I guess I'd better make one a little more softer for the girls. . .



This was an image that Tammy at Stamp Happy (another incredibly talented person!) sent me too! I colored the image with colored pencils and used the blending again. I then took a wet paper towel and blotted it on my Colorbox ink pad and blotted it to make the purple background. I like how it turned out. I did the same thing for the white cs that the sentiment is stamped on. The image and the sentiment are from My Favorite Things. I matted both, mounted them on the dp with foam squares, added an eyelet for the ribbon, and also added brads to the sentiment cs. Here is a close up of the image. . .



My final cards for today's post are more for the younger kids. I made 3 cards, each with a different center image.



These are simple cards, however they took me forever! These were cards that I bought that were already embossed with round looking bubbles. So I thought they would be good to use for the fish stamps I got from Stampin Up. I used my Versamark embossing pen, and colored every one of those "bubbles" on the front of each card. I then sprinkled with turquoise and glitter embossing powder and embossed. THAT is what took me so long, and THAT is what nearly sent me over the edge by the third card LOL! I then colored each image with colored pencils, added glittery highlights to each (see detail shot below), and mounted each on to the center of the card with foam squares.



The sentiments are on the inside, and were computer generated. The one for the seahorse says "Happy Birthday"; the one for the starfish says "You are a Super Star!"; and the crab card says "Just Beclaws". So Pat! If you are reading this, I have 10 cards now to send off to you. I'll be going to the post office tomorrow, so watch your mail!

Well, that's it! I am so glad that you stopped by! Don't forget the pic of the week below. It is a picture of my Mom's dog Chunk. We all went for a walk yesterday, and he was sniffing around and looked up and had those leaves stuck to his face. Thought it was a cute picture. . . Thanks again for visiting! I'll see you on your blogs!


Best,
Curt O'Brien

"God help me be the person my dogs think I am."