Thursday 30 May 2013

More purple!!

This is the last for this month - I promise. Spectrum Noir's best ever challenge closes today. (But there will be a new challenge next month!) (Those who know me will know why I think a challenge of this colour is the best ever). I am really happy with this card.

I've used Spectrum Noir pens PL1, PL2 and PL3. The stamp is from Stamp-It Australia (not to be confused with SU products). The ribbon was white organza - it's coloured with the PL3. The embossing folder is from Cuttlebug - yes there should be a bird there but I de-bossed him into a grass stem so he wouldn't eat the butterfly! There is American Craft Grape cardstock framing the embossed layer. To do the wording (a Cheery Lyn die) I coloured a long strip of white blending card with three stripes of colour - blended - then die-cut it.


Saturday 25 May 2013

Purple #3

Yet another purple card for the Spectrum Noir challenge -
The stamps are from a Flourishes set - April Showers. The wording is two Cheery Lyn Designs dies - B226 Happy and another for Birthday. The paper is from Graphic45's Secret Garden range. Thanks Lynn for the card fold! Spectrum pens used are HB1, HB3 and LV2. Also BT2, BT4 and LG5 for the leaves, and HB1 and IG1 and 2 for the bucket. Palette / tip-to-tip blending used where necessary.
Here is a close-up of the tulips:

Purple #2

Following on from my last post, here is my second entry for the challenge: My Spectrum Noir component on this is the glass in the middle of the split pin - it was light green glass so I coloured it with PL5. The ribbon was already this colour but I could have used PL1 and LV2 for the same effect on a white organza ribbon. Again the stamp is from siset 014 (Stamp-It) and the embossing folder used is from Cuttlebug.




Purple #1!

This month's Spectrum Noir challenge topic is "purple" - how can I not enter??? I've done three entries for this one. This was my first one - I'm making sets of small Thank You cards just using stripes of blended colour from the one family plus black stamped images. The wording is from a Stamp-It set (siset014 from memory) and the stamp was a Traplet Craft Stamper freebie. Spectrum Noir pens used were blender pen, LV1, LV2; plus LV3 for the card base. I coloured the RIGHT hand 1/4 with the blender then over that once with the LV1. LV1 on the 2nd-from-the-right strip, LV1 on the third-from-the-right strip, LV2 once over this 3rd-from-the-right strip, LV2 on the LHS strip. White bazzill coloured with LV3 only around edges for card base. (The card below uses the turquoise set BT1,2,3 and 4.)

Friday 3 May 2013

Colouring 'Gorjuss' with Spectrum Noirs



The following steps through my first attempt at colouring my new 'Gorjuss - You Brought Me Love' stamp (GOR 907106).

The image was stamped with Memento 'London Fog' onto blending card (purchased from Crafty Capers) as I wanted a soft outline. Sorry about photo quality here - cardstock is actually white!
  My downloaded and completed colour chart was used to select Spectrum Noir colours to match thesuggested colours on the stamp as follows:
Skin: FS2 with FS5 for shadowed areas + BG2 - see note * belowbeside first picture.
Cheeks: PP3 with FS6 to soften
Petticoat, socks, bows: Blender pen and BG1 (+BGR3 for socks)
Dress: BT9 and BT8 with  BGR4 shadow base under medium and dark areas as photographed further down.
                                          Hair: IG5, IG8, IG10 and True Black

For the skin I wanted a very pale tone with pinkish grey shadows. I'm happy with the final result.
I feel the finished cheeks are a bit too pink and would probably palette-blend PP3 and FS6 for a softer pink next time.
My addition of a warm grey to the dress on the shaded areas was because only the BT9 and 8 matched the colour I wanted but I felt the image I was matching had grey tones in the shadows.

 I tend to colour the lighter skin areas before darker hair and clothing, my logic being that if I do the dark areas first the lighter solvent-rich colours may push away my dark areas.




So - legs coloured first, then arms, then shoulders/chest, then face. (*After colouring the legs with FS2 and FS5 I added BG2 to the areas of darkest shadow at top of legs and reblended the area - BG2 chosen as a  warm grey. I did the same at the side of her neck.)



  



 
 
Dress coloured next, laying down light area then BGR shadow. First image here shows BT8 and BGR4 on lower part of dress. (Top bit has had BT9 blended with BT8). BT9 and BT8 then blended repeatedly over this base.

Shoes in same colours as dress.


Petticoat next, then socks. Blender pen over whole white area then BG1 touched onto shadow areas; softened with blender pen if necessary. Same technique for her bows. The socks were a challenge - my BGR3 nib is 'wide' and the pen very juicy so I used tip-to-tip from BGR3 onto BG1 (narrower nib, less juicy pen) to colour the outer edges of the stripes on the socks.


 
Dots on dress drawn on with Copic black 0.03 multiliner.

Bows outlined and dotted with multiliner. Eyes retouched with multiliner.
Borders of hair and areas beside neck done with multiliner.


Hair coloured (as 2 groups - right of part first then left of part) by applying IG5 to 'shiny' areas of hair. IG8 flicked in from centre of part into IG5. Ditto IG10 then True Black.

My next job will be to put Gorjuss onto a card - hopefully some time this weekend.

I can't wait to try colouring her in purples for this month's Spectrum Noir Challenge.