Pastel Christmas!

Scroll down for this week's OSAAT challenge project.

Seems like a while since I did a card just because I wanted to, although that's largely because I've spent the last week fighting a nasty chest cold and not getting enough sleep as a result. It's still around, but as it's now half term, getting caught up on sleep shouldn't be a problem!

Yesterday, I snagged the cutest free digi from Pollycraft, and I was inspired to do this!

It's called 'Penguin Love' and it's available for a short time. I coloured the image with Promarkers and added detail with Sakura Stardust pen, then added some glitter to their hats.

Pretty in Purple

One of the challenges on my swap group last month was 'purple'. By now, it's either been received or it's got lost so either way, it seems like a good time to post it.

The image, of course, is one of Ching Chou Kuik's fairies, and she's coloured with Promarkers. Now, maybe it's me, but the lilac/purple shades I've got in Promarkers all seem a little grey.  Which is a pity because I love vibrant purples. (Or vibrant almost anything, to be honest!) I'm always a bit disappointed by them. But then, I haven't got he full set yet, so may be missing the brighter shades. Anyway, I've mounted her on some lilac mesh I've had for years, and also used some purple mirriboard that I embossed in my Wizard using a Cuttlebug folder. The backing paper is one I made in Photoshop Elements to match the Promarker colours, and I finished it off with some flowers. Three were stamped, embossed with holgraphic powder and cut out ages ago, and have been languishing in my box of bits since then. The fourth is even older - bought about the same time as the mesh! I finished them all off with sticky gems. And finally, I added a sentiment which I picked up at our local Wilkinsons!

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:

Flutterby Wednesdays (Favourite colour and wings), and

The Wild Flower Patch which is looking for embossing

Crafty Cardmakers Challenge 25

The challenge on Crafty Cardmakers this week is to be inspired by a photograph.

Who could fail to be inspired by those gorgeous greeny-bluey shades? And then there are the hearts too!

And this week, we're sponsored by Joanna Sheen.

                           

I chose Red Hearts  by Ching Chou Kuik/Sweet Pea Stamps, and coloured her with Promarkers - Duck Egg, Cool Aqua, Pastel Green, Soft Green and Meadow Green with just a hint of Crimson for the hearts themselves. I made the papers using Photoshop Elements and chose colours to match the Promarker shades (from my chart) and then decided it needed black and white for matting. The black is some sparkly paper I've had for several years, and I used a Martha Stewart border punch. Two flowers were a gift from a crafty friend while the 'rose' was coloured with Promarker and made from scratch. The leaves were punched and coloured, and they were all given a hint of Stickles. The butterfly is one I bought in a local bookshop.

I hope you'll be inspired to join us at Crafty Cardmakers this week.

I'm entering this card for the following challenges: My Time to Craft whose theme is 'Angelic',

Flutterby Wednesday which is open so long as it has an angel or fairy,

Allsorts whose theme is 'July Love',

Whimsical Ink Sorority which is looking for hearts.

Aud Sentiments which is looking for no sentiments (my preferred card!),

Gingersnap Creations which is looking for a fairy,

Stamp with Fun which is looking for fairies.

One Stitch at a Time Challenge 20

My first week on the DT of One Stitch at a Time! We're sponsored this week by Sew Many Cards who supplied the images used by the team, and Hobby Habitat who supply a range of crafting goodies including the gorgeous die cuts you may have seen on the OSAAT blog. The prices for those die cuts are frankly amazing!

The theme of the challenge  at OSAAT this week is to use ribbon and lace.

Isn't that owl cute? I just love his expression - it could be sad or just very intense - so versatile. I added the wording and coloured him with Promarkers - using the blender pen to get the stippled effect on his chest. Then I added some paper I put together using the image colours and my Promarker colour chart, and finished it off with some ribbon, lace, and a felt butterfly. 

I hope you can join us at One Stitch at a Time this week.

I'm entering this card for the following challenges: Incy Wincy which requires 'Things with Wings',
Stamp with Fun which has a theme of birthdays,
A Spoonful of Sugar which as an 'Animal Crackers' theme,
Bunny Zoe Crafts which has a theme of 'nice and girly'. (I think lace makes it girly ...)
Shelly's Images which is 'Anything goes with a celebration' - I think a birthday qualifies - and
Rosie D's which has a Summer Birthday theme
Fashionista Friday which wants something with wings,
Craftilicious which is looking for 'cute',
Whimsical Ink which is looking for things with wings, and
Quirky Crafts which is looking for ribbon.

And, if you need an image or some paper, Stitchy Bear Stamps is having a sale!  Click on the link to get to the bargains!

Showers Bring Flowers!

Isn't that a gorgeous image? It's from Phindy's Place. It's coloured with Promarkers and the raindrops and puddle have been shaded with Sakura clear Stardust pen and then gone over with 3D laquer. The papers are my own, put together around the colours in the image (burnt orange, honeycomb, vanilla, oatmeal). I layered it up and finished with three sticky gems from a local pound shop. (Wish they'd get some more of those in ...)

Of course, given that sentiment, I had to do an insert.


It fits the requirements for three challenges: Sketch Saturday, Digital Tuesday which required either April Showers or April Flowers, and Colour Create which required the colours burnt orange, cream and black.

Imagine ...

I made up my mind to do something special for the Sir Stampalot challenge - the first one. The only requirement is the theme - fantasy. Well, the gorgeous images from Ching-chou kuik definitely fit that bill, so I took one and started to plan.



First, I coloured the image with Promarkers - specifically, Bluebell, China Blue, Powder Blue, Violet, Gold and Pastel Yellow, and Vanilla and Oatmeal for the skin tones. Then I gave the background of the image a wash using Twinkling H2Os in Interference Violet, although this hasn't shown up on the photo. Having done that, I used my Promarker colour chart to design two backing papers - both using gradients of the blues and yellows and adding either a star or a butterfly motif. Then I took some card and coloured it with Bluebell and put it through my Wizard with a Cuttlebug folder to emboss it.

Next, I pulled out my newest toys - some flower and leaf punches. I used plain white card and coloured it with various Promarkers and added some of the backing paper too. I used a ball embossing tool to shape the flower and leaf layers and assembled them, finishing them with sticky gems. I added a computer-generated sentiment, and that was it!

Cherry Blossom

This gorgeous image is from Fred she Said. I just love everything about it. I've coloured it with the inevitable Promarkers, and the backing paper is made using some of the FSS blossom coloured on the computer using colours chosen from my Promarker colour chart. The flowers are made using a couple of punches and the card again coloured with Promarkers, as is the 'pearl' used as a centre each time.

I'd like to enter the card for the current Fred she Said challenge which is to use pastel colours to create a Spring card.

Another White Rabbit

But a different one this time!



The image is from Mo Manning, and despite my reluctance to use animal pictures, I think it'll become a favourite for all those reasons you might want to say 'Sorry!' - whether it's a belated birthday or someone being ill or for those times when you've put your foot in it!

It's coloured with Promarkers - specifically Sunkissed Pink, Pastel Yellow and Powder Blue with a little Cool Grey 1 for shading. I've made the backing papers to match (using my trusty Promarker chart) and then used Promarkers to colour the edges of the backing card so I get a good match. (I'm going to have to stop doing that or I'll be stuck with piles of coloured card ...) I've also used my trusty nestibilites and, of course, my Wizard.

I used the sketch for this week's challenge at Sketch Saturday.

Sarah Kay

I recently became the proud owner of another couple of Sarah Kay stamps, so I had to ink one up right away.

I coloured the image with Promarkers and mounted her on card which was coloured with Soft Green Promarker. The circular backing paper was made using Photoshop Elements using the colours from the image (and my Promaker Colour Chart), and the other backing paper is from Papermania. I've backed both the circle and the strip with Promarker coloured card, and added some white tissue paper flowers. The sentiment is hand-written.

This card fulfils the requirements for: Friday Sketchers, Crafty Cardmakers which wanted a Spring-themed card, and Rosie D's Challenge 67 which wanted a green, yellow and white colourscheme.

And another three challenges from one card!

White Rabbit

This image is a gorgeous freebie from Phindy's Place.

I coloured her with Promarkers and cut and mounted her using my Nestibilities. The background paper was made using Photoshop Elements and colours determined using my Promarker Colour chart, and the sentiment is is also computer generated. The flowers are made with eight layers of tissue paper coloured with Powder Blue Promarker and backed by some blue pearlescent paper. I've added some ribbon and sticky gems.

This card fulfils the requirements for the following challenges: I Love Promarkers 7 which was a sketch plus a requirement for dots, Colour Create 41 which wanted pastel colours, Daring Cardmakers which wanted an Easter themed or Egg card, and Fussy and Fancy Friday Challenge 7 which wanted an Easter themed card.

Whew! Four challenges from one card. That's definitely a personal record.

Crocuses

There are so many challenges with a Spring theme this week! And I've been busy.

I used an image from the Dover Books Flower Designs and Motifs which is a collection of flower 'stamps' provided on CDRom. I coloured it with my Promarkers and cut it with my trusty Nestibilities. The background paper is self-made, using my Promarker colour chart and Photoshop Elements. The yellow background is also computer generated, as is the sentiment. I've added another computer generated element - the strip - and added some ribbon and flowers from my collection.

I've had the Dover book and CDRom for quite a while but often forget to use it, so it was good to get it out for a change.

The card fulfils the requirements for Sketch and Stash 31, and Digital Tuesday Challenge 51 which was for a spring themed card.

Promarker Colour Charts

I mentioned these yesterday when I posted a card made with one of Ching-Chou kuik's gorgeous stamps, and I thought I should say a bit more about them.

I often make my own backing papers. If I'm using an already coloured digital image, that's easy - I sample the colour in my graphics programme and do a backing paper to match. But that's much harder when I've coloured the image with Promarkers. I've lost count of how many backing papers I've made to match the colours of my image only to find that they don't match at all. The problem is that the colour on your computer screen is probably not the colour that will print. I'm always amazed when I look at a familiar website on an unfamiliar computer and hardly recognise it. But screens vary a lot.

So, determined to save myself some paper and ink, I tried printing out a range of the available colours and matching them to my collection of Promarkers. It quickly became obvious that I needed an even bigger range of printer colours, and when I mentioned what I planned on the Crafty Cardmakers group, Vixykins offered to supply Promarker swatches for colours I didn't have. She even got a friend to complete the set!

If you're not familiar with hexadecimal codes, they're simply a way of describing colour. They're most commonly used in HTML and CSS, and consist of three separate numbers. The first two digit number gives the amount of red light (not pigment), the second the amount of green and the third the amount of blue. The only complication is that the higher the number, the lighter the shade because it's based on light reflection and not on absorption. I like this method because I can guestimate differences from a given and a desired colour, and because I've used it for several years when I've played with designing websites and so on.

So, why are they called hexadecimals? Well, that's because these numbers aren't the usual base ten numbers, they're base sixteen. That means that the digits used are 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, a, b, c, d, e, f. So, the lowest number you can get for any colour is 00 and the highest is ff. When you put those colours together, 000000 is black (no reflected light) and ffffff is white (because when you mix red, green and blue light together you get the whole spectrum which is white.) Similarly, ff0000 is pure red, 00ff00 is pure green and 0000ff is pure blue. Mixing those, you get the familar printer ink colours: ffff00 mixes red and green (or if you prefer, it's white light less the blue component which gives you yellow. ff00ff mixes red and blue (or is white light less the green component) and gives magenta and 00ffff mixes green and blue (or is white light less the red component) to give cyan.

Ok, enough maths. I took a shortcut that's common in HTML and only used those colours which have repeating digits - so colours like aa5566 and 110055, and printed out small samples of all the resulting colours. While that was a shortcut, it still meant printing out 64 A4 sheets each of which had 64 colour samples (4096 colours in all). Once I'd done that, I assembled the colour swatches and compared them with the printed samples in daylight. Some colours were easy to match and some were just not possible. Unfortunately, because the printer ink colours aren't perfect, some colours aren't reproduceable. This is particularly true of the most vibrant reds, and blues. Where that happened, I tried to match the colour balance as closely as I could, although the ink shade would normally be duller and paler than the Promarker shade. Once I'd done all that once, I did it again! For some of the paler shades that fell between two of the printed shades, I printed further charts with the intervening 16 shades and matched from those. Some day, I'll do the same for the various greys because I wasn't completely happy with some of those either.

Having done the comparison twice and compared notes, I then came up with a confidence measure - 1 if I chose exactly the same shade both times, 2 if I was pretty close and 3 if there was a significant difference (mostly the colours that couldn't be matched well at all.)

The result is either an Excel spreadsheet with colour names and hex codes, or a couple of jpg files where I've added a small sample of the appropriate colour for comparison purposes. The only colour currently missing is slate because I forgot it's hidden among the grey lists on Joanna Sheen's website (because that's where I got the full listing.) I'll add it when I can.

In the meantime, if anyone would like a copy of the information, you can comment here with an email address and I'll send it on. Just remember that it isn't perfect, and that it's based on colours from my Canon printer using Canon ink printed on Tesco Finest ink jet paper. Other combinations will be different, but hopefully not so different that it's not still a useful tool.

A Fishy Tale

The amazing Vixykins sent me some stamped images, and I used one of them to enter a couple of challenges and try out my newest 'toy'.

The 'toy' is a chart that matches (as far as possible) Promarker colours with the hexadecimal codes I use when specifying colours in my graphics programme. Since I don't own all the Promarker colours, I owe a vote of thanks to Vixykins and her friend Sue (don't have any other details about her) who supplied me with swatches of the colours I'm missing. The result is the background paper below which uses the ink matches for mint green and cinnamon as well as a cream. In fact, because I used some green card for matting, the match doesn't look as good as it could because the nearest card I could find wasn't perfect! I'm hoping it'll save me some wasted effort in the long run because the colours on screen often bear very little resemblance to the printed colour so you can't use that to match. We'll see!

Anyway, here's the card.



The image is a Sweet Pea stamp - Ching-Chou kuik's September Rhythm. Isn't it gorgeous? I must get some of those beautiful stamps as soon as funds are available (and not earmarked for something else.) The paper behind the one I made is a cream glitter paper which doesn't show well in the photos, and I've cut an In Spades Borderability in some speckled cream card I've had for a long time. I finished the card with flowers made using my nestibilities and pearls coloured with mint Promarker.

I'd like to enter the card for the Colour Create challenge which is to use mint, cream and chocolate colours, and the latest Crafty Cardmakers challenge which is a 'Feminine Celebration'.