Let's Talk Coloring!

You may have seen this on Dustin Pike's blog. If you've wandered over from there, welcome! If not, go check him out!

There are so many different media choices available to paper crafters these days. Copics are one, but frankly, I'm not a fan. I like my pencils and I like to think I get pretty decent results with them. During a recent DT discussion, one of my DT Peeps complained about his choice of coloring medium:

“I have Prisma watercolor pencils and I use OMS. For some reason, the edges of the images always have more of an outline look to them (does that make sense?) Not a nice blend like the Copics. ”

It is the number one complaint I've heard about the wet blending technique with colored pencils, also known as Gamsol Technique on Splitcoast Stampers. I tried it when I was first looking at pencils and decided I didn't care for the way the final image looked either, so I went back to early art classes and mixed what I knew worked from watercoloring with the OMS techniques I found online. Now I love the final results. You can love your results too. Getting from here to there is as easy as one, two, three! Check out these monsters.



The first is colored straight, no blending. The second is blended and the shadows scribbled in, the third is ready to cut and make into a card. I missed a spot when I blended out the last monster. See it? I caught it before I made it into a card, though. The totally cute Monster is from Dustin's December Membership offering. He's a Members Only image. Membership totally has its privileges! Check out the membership information here.

When broken down to three simple steps it looks pretty easy, right? Think about it this way. I treat my pencils something like...well...copics. :) I lay down a light even layer of color in each section, blend that smooth, then go back with a darker tone and scribble a bit into the lighter areas, blend that out. Repeat if I'm using a third, darker tone. I find that this style of coloring and blending gives me something that falls about half way between watercoloring and copics. Easy as 1, 2, 3! Let's take a closer look at each monster.

Monster 1 here was colored over the entire surface. Nothing fancy. Just go back to your grade school coloring roots and dig in. It doesn't have to be smooth and perfect. The blending will take care of any rough patches. You do want to make sure that you have an all over color.


Monster 2 has this layer blended out. Notice how smooth and even the color looks when compared to the first one. I've picked out a pencil tone that is darker than my original color. Working just in the areas where I want shadows, I just add a couple of quick lines or a scribble.




Step up to Monster 3. All the scribbles and lines from Monster 2 have been blended out and smoothed into the first layer of color. In this case, complete and ready to make into a card. I will say that I was not at all pleased with how the balloon came out. The colors I chose for it were simply to light next to the vibrant colors of the monster. You'll notice in the final card that I covered them up with heart shaped chocolates.

Before I tackle some of the questions that I've gotten, with the help of the rest of the design team, let me show you the difference just a bit of shading makes. The monsters, colored and blended before I went through and added the shading came out pretty cute. In fact, I left one unshaded just to show you that if you aren't comfortable tackling that part of this technique, you can still get good results without it.



The Monsterlicious Valentine on the left was blended and shaded as I mentioned here, while the monster on the right didn't get any shading at all. The one of the left has that pesky leg still not blended out. Good thing I took pictures or I wouldn't have seen it until I was packing them up! Personally, I like the extra bit of pop that shading gives to an image, but it's up to you on how far you want to go. The design still looks good without it.

Okay, how about some common questions and answers:

1. Do you “pull” the dark color into the lighter color? Or do you just swirl your blending stub in the area?
The answer is "yes". Sometimes I swirl the dark into the light, other times I pull it in. It depends on the area and what I'm blending. With hair I almost always pull in varying length strokes to give that sort of texture to the final piece. For faces, I nearly always swirl. For the rest, it's more of a combination of the two, following the line of the image from where I want the darkest part of the shadow to the lightest part. It's one of those things that takes practice to see how the final product is going to look.

Doing the color on color style of color/blending, you'll want to use a lighter touch on the paper stumps. If you're using a good OMS and a good paper, you shouldn't need to forcefully push the color around.

2. What do you recommend for blending stubs?
These are the pencils and stumps I used on the monsters. I just got a pile of the more grey toned stumps that are stamped China instead of Taiwan. I've read people saying one is far better than the other, but to be honest, I can't tell a bit of difference. I'm pretty sure that if you browse through my blog of images, you can't tell the difference either. They feel the same to me and the results are identical.



3. I’d like to buy the stumps in bulk, but it seems my Michaels just has three or four in a package.
Up until a Valentine's extravaganza from the hubs, I bought my stumps like you. They arrived in bits and dribbles whenever I was in Hobby Lobby or Micheal's. For the white, Taiwan made ones, that is the only way I've seen them sold. If you want to try the grey ones, they're available in bulk from Blick Art Store.

The only thing I've noticed with them is that because they are a different, cheaper paper than the white ones, they soak up the OMS faster. Not a problem, just a note. On the up side, the small ones from them are smaller even than the collection of Tortillions I have and they work far better for blending in those tiny little spots that seem to crop up in just about any image.

4. What do you use to clean the stumps? I’ve been using a nail file (sanding block type thing).
Nail file. :) I have a collection of 4 I bought at Sally's Beauty Supply nearly 2 years ago. They're wide, 1 1/2 inches or so, made for filing acrylic nails, so they have a coarser grit on one side than you'll get on a regular file. After 2 years of hard use, I'm just now getting to the point of having to replace them. When they get clogged with paper fibers, I rub them on a piece of denim. A scrap of jeans my oldest monster put a bunch of holes in before she managed to out grow them. There's something about the surface of denim that grabs the paper out of the sand paper, leaving you with a clean surface on your files without wearing down the file.

5. What do you use to blend? I've tried OMS but it gives me a headache. (I've also heard that some people say it has a faint, unpleasant smell)
There are lots of alternatives to OMS for blending. You can use baby oil, mineral oil, I've even tried olive oil. What I prefer and use is a product called Zest-It made of orange oil. It's eco-friendly, which OMS is not. The same goes for little monster friendly. You shouldn't go and drink it, but I'm far less worried about the occasional finger dip than I would be with OMS.

I buy it out of England. They don't sell it in the US. I bought this one 2 years ago:

http://www.jandtsartandcalligraphy.co.uk/online-shop/proddetail.php?prod=250pb

Expect it to take around 2 weeks to arrive on their standard shipping offering. Shipping isn't cheap, but as I said, that's lasted me 2 years and I still have quite a bit in the bottle. Also, expect your post people to be grumpy about receiving it unless they've updated their MSDS labeling in their shipping documentation. It is worth the wait and the displeased post carrier. There's no chemical smell, only a faint orange scent and it is the very best thing I've used to blend out my pencils.

I store it in this adorable container:

http://www.stanleysupplyservices.com/product-detail.aspx?pn=121-647&ref=base

Which is manly enough for even my DT pal Ted while still being cute enough for me. Add a strip of paper and up the cute factor. Not to mention the fact that it's easily $10 shorter than most glass pumps on the market.

To use, just push down the top. The Zest-It puddles up in the top for dipping your stumps. The Zest-It will gradually drain back down into the container. No muss, no fuss. I had a wooden basket I bought on after Easter clearance a few years ago. I took the flimy metal wire handle off, gave it a coat of paint and added in some paper and a cute dragon. Not a Dudley, but one of the oldest stamps in my collection. That little guy is at least 15 years old!



The box neatly holds all of my blending supplies. The solvent pump, stumps and files. The stumps are tucked into a baby food jar too keep them from wandering all over the box. It's a tidy solution to keeping everything together and the little monsters know not to play with the stuff in Mama's Toybox. Here's a top view with the solvent pump open.



6. I've heard the new Prismacolor pencils made in Mexico don't blend. What other pencils should I try.
Okay, I've heard this and frankly, I've had a very hard time believing it. I've tried quite a few brands and types of pencils and I have yet to find a pencils that would not blend. That includes watercolor pencils and your standard #2 graphite writing pencil my monster uses for school. I don't have any pencils manufactured in Mexico so I can't say for sure what the problem is with the people who have reported it. I know it has scared a few people. If you're concerned, try Derwent pencils. They're very proudly made in England and I've had great results with them.

That being said, I do have a couple of pencils that do not blend as nicely or as smoothly as others. One in question is Mahogany. The purple tone on the monsters at the top. It blends, but often reluctantly. To get the results I want, I find myself using more Zest-It and a lighter touch. If you're hearing a rubbing/squeaking sound of the stumps on your paper, you're rubbing too hard. Go back, get a bit more blending agent and try rubbing not quite so hard. You might be surprised with the results.

7. What paper should I use? I don't want to invest a whole lot of money.
The paper you use will make all the difference in your results, particularly when you're starting out and unsure of how to get the results you want. That being said, I've colored and blended on everything from good Gina K cardstock to watercolor paper. The smoother the cardstock, the easier it is to blend.

Best bang for the buck is Georgia Pacific cardstock available at Wal-mart. It's a decent paper with a good surface. While it's not my go to paper, when I'm doing something like 22 Valentines for the oldest monster, it's worked out fine. For my day to day and go to paper, however, you just can't beat Gina K's Pure Luxury Base Weight cardstock. It's smoother and I really like how the color seems to float on the paper when I add Zest-it. Remember that mahogany pencil I mentioned above? I have far less problems when I'm using Pure Lux stock than when I'm using anything else.

8. What about printers for digital images?
Okay, here I'm going to stop. I use a laser printer so I print and go. I don't have any experience with ink jet printers. Some inks may need to dry over night and be heat set before blending. If heat setting doesn't work for you, take your sheet of printed images to a copy shop and make a copy. Copy machines, like laser printers fuse toner to paper at around 600 degrees as part of the printing process. This pretty much takes care of your heat setting. Even with my laser printer, I occasionally run into problems if there are lots of lines in an area I'm trying to blend. You're blending with a solvent. If you have problems, try staying away from the lines as best you can and if the image still gives you fits, try a spray fixative over the image or a quick burst of hair spray to seal it off.

I hope this addresses any questions you may have with wet blending colored pencils. If you want to know something I haven't covered here, post a comment and I'll do what I can to get you an answer. My best piece of advice is to try it and play around with it. Most of all, have fun. If you don't enjoy it, then it's probably not for you.

Spring has Sprung?

I only have to step outside my door in the chilly, misty, blustery day and I don't believe that Spring is anywhere close to Oklahoma. To be honest, I don't mind at all. I'm a bit of a polar bear. Give me a couple more weeks of snow and I'd be one happy camper. Sadly, the gusty winds that signal Spring in this neck of the plains will be blowing in any day now. They were here last week and are only taking a brief break to remind us that Spring is not yet here.

For those of you starting to feel the first itches of Spring Fever, be sure to check out the February Doodle Dragon Studios Membership. Not only is it a great deal, it's loaded with delightful bunnies and chicks to bring out the Spring in even the grumpiest of Polar Bears. One of my favorites is this fat little fellow. I went very non-traditional bunny with him, decking him out in cheerful pastel colors. Inside this bright card is a cheeky “Dye your Hare? I never would have guessed!” Needless to say, the charm is all on the outside.

Speaking of charm, what do you think of this fellow? As soon as I saw him, I knew it was time to do a reprise of my favorite bunny card. Inside, the card says “Don't worry. It's only a grey hare!” Two of my favorite people will be getting these cards. We've been trading such sentiments for years and they know they're sent with just as much love as laughter.

Feeling the need for a bit of Spring in your step? Why not jump over to Dustin's blog and check out the newly revamped challenges. Spring is in the air over there and I look forward to seeing what you produce. I might even catch a bit of Spring Fever browsing everyone's creations.


Supplies this time around came straight from my stash. In this case, from the scrap bin. The patterned papers are a spring line of Imaginisce from three years ago! I still love them and regret I didn't buy extra. If anyone has these papers languishing in their stash, send them on over! I can't get enough of that sweet daisy paper! The cardstock this time around is Prism and my much loved Gina K. Pure Lux base weight for the images. Nestabilities, of course in deckle, scallop and label shapes. The ribbons and rickrack are all from my stash. I lost my LSS a couple years ago, so I've been shopping my office lately for supplies.

Tune in later this week and I'll be sharing my version of Dudley Grows Up! I ran a bit late due to a dead camera battery, but they're definitely worth the share.

Once upon a time...

I made a card!

Yes, you should be impressed. This is the first crafty thing I've made in nearly a year that didn't require a sewing machine. I've made aprons, started placemats (no, I don't want to talk about it), a collection of burp rags and swaddling blankets along with one totally rockin' Christmas dress for my daughter. That's not saying my pencils have gone neglected. Not by a long shot! I have a fine collection of colored images, including some totally cute monsters and bugs. I have not, however, managed to put them onto a card. I have even managed to add to my collection of pencils, after a couple of trips through the pencil isle at Blick Art store in Chicago. That's a story for another day.

Today's story is all about Princesses. At the heart of the best fairy tales are princesses. Tall princesses, short princesses, and even princesses stuck in towers. Such stories should always end "and they lived happily ever after". I honor of princesses everywhere, along with a few princes and even a gnome or two, Dustin has offered up a fine collection of princesses, even a self-rescuing princess who slays her own dragon. It's the Ever After collection being released on Thursday. You'll want to check it out and take a look at the new, improved Doodle Dragon store!

This card is my favorite of the images being released. Growing up, I had two very favorite princess stories. One was a tale called "The Practical Princess", the other was Rapunzel. My take on the long haired girl is considerably less pink than my own princess wanted, but since I was doing the coloring, I got to pick the colors! Given a choice, my princess would be pink, pink and, oh yes, pink.

I leave you today with my other princess crafting endeavor in her pretty pink princess costume I made for Halloween. I will say that she's the coolest craft project that I will probably never finish.


Card supplies are shockingly enough, a DCWV stack and a Creative Cafe button. The image was cut with long rectangle Spellbinders nesties dies and backed with scallop rectangle nesties. The lace edge is courtesy of my one and only Martha Stewart edge punch. Coloring was done with Prismacolor and Derwent colored pencils on Gina k's Pure Lux Base-weight cardstock.

Miss Me?

I don't know if you've noticed, but I've been gone. In the last few months, I've discovered that my children can easily consume my day. During a quiet moment yesterday, I took a bit of time for me. I printed off some of the new Doodledragon images being released today. I have a special fondness for bunnies.

I surprised myself by not only getting the images colored, but managing to make them up into cards. I love the new bunniez images Dustin put together for this release. I know quite a few people would just use them for the upcoming Easter holiday, but these two in particular are so multi-functional.

The first is a great "big things" card. I love the giant sized carrot. You can wish someone congratulations on a big announcement or tell them you hope big things are in their future. Since we're gearing up for round 2 of fire babies, this card is going to find it's way to one of the wives to congratulate them on their "big" news.

The second card is actually my favorite. I loved the image the first time I saw it. It is so evocative of how I feel some days. Between job hunting and being a mom, there are days when I feel like the bottom of a dog...er....chick pile. All this image needs is a lot of little "cheep" words written in around the chicks. I would have added them in myself if I'd thought about it before I printed. It was one of those things that leaped out at me only after I'd gotten it colored.

Check out these images and others in today's release. There are more bunniez, some cool lucky leprachauns and some sweet love images. Don't forget the new challenge blog either! Some of the new releases are going to be perfect for the next challenge! There are more great samples available from the Design Team. Their blogs are linked on the right.

Supplies this time were pretty basic. I used my favorite Gina K Pure Luxury baseweight for the colored image. I used rectangle and scallop rectangle nestabilities for the images. The patterned paper is from Die Cuts with a View. It's an older stack called Pocket Full of Posies. I've seen it in stores though, so I know it's still available here and there. This stack has lots of glitter, but the papers I chose are some of the few that have no glitter at all. The flowers are hand crocheted by me from variegated pearl cotton, size 5. It's a simple five petal flower that hooks up in a flash. The ribbon is a bit of hem tape I found when I was doing some cleaning. Finally, the buttons are Creative Cafe.

No stamping required!

Sometimes, it is nice to do a card that doesn't require any stamping. Particularly when you're doing 32 of said card. I'm going to a fire wife baby shower this weekend. Yes, another one! If you're trying to figure out the count, we're at 11 in 20 months. Yep, 11 babies and toddlers running loose at this year's Christmas party. Should be a blast.

What started off as a cry for help, to add a little pizazz to the invitation that had already been started, quickly became a complete redo. I wish I had taken a picture of the original. It had potential, but it did need something. After some discussion about ways that we could pump up the design, Kara asked if it would just be easier to start from scratch. Since I had a package of pink baby paper I'd bought to make thank you cards for The Girl, I assured her that not only could we easily do up a new design, we could do it without buying anything.



Let me take a moment to talk about the Cricut Design Studio software. I know people rave about Sure Cuts A Lot, but I've been extremely happy with the rather basic package Provo Craft put together. That's not saying it couldn't use a dramatic upgrade in the features department! That being said, I really like the flexibility it gives me with the standard cartridges. I literally do not make a cut with my machine without it. The paper savings alone makes it worth while! I love being able to weld my shadows and maximize my cuts. This job was no exception. I broke out the Cricut Expression machine I got for Christmas (h'ray for Black Friday sales!), and a 12x24" mat. With one mat and two sheets of cardstock, I was able to cut 90% of the darling little dresses. Another run through got the white shadows. Once more through with got the rest. So three times through the Cricut with a 12x24 mat and I had the makings of 32 baby shower invites.

When doing that many cards, mass production is the best way. I printed the details on white cardstock we used as the card base. That is layered with a pink paper, followed by the baby dresses. To give the cards a little bling, I ran the flowers through my Xyron 150 (the little X one) and added glitter. Another thing you need to be aware of when doing invites or cards that need to go through the mail is to keep your bulky embellishments to a minimum. Simple can have lots of great impact.




This was a super simple set of cards. Just cardstock, glitter and six sheets of patterned paper. The cardstock is American Crafts, Georgia Pacific and Prism. The glitter is from Art Institue and I haven't a clue who makes the patterned paper. I bought a bulk pack of it at Dollar General when I was making thank you cards for Linsey's baby shower. I used the New Arrival Cricut Cartridge for the cute little baby dress.