Building a sandwich

Earlier this week I compared life to a sandwich on Facebook and I truly feel like that's what life is like - you have two pieces of bread with stuff in between. Sometimes it stays an open face sandwich for several years and other times the sandwich building process is quick.

My time with Paper Crafts and Paper Crafts & Scrapbooking is a sandwich with lots of layers and a long time in building. In two days I will place the second piece of bread on this sandwich. But what a wonderful sandwich it is! And as I said in an earlier post, the people are what has made this amazing.

Today an wonderful group of people hosted a blog hop as a final tribute to the magazine. My work day was busier than I planned and so I didn't get to the hop until tonight. And well, I'm slow reading because I want to comment on each post. But I WILL make it to each and every post.

For now, let me say Thank You! This crafty community will live on as will the friendships and creativity.

I made this card for the March 2015 issue (that won't be published) using Ruby Rock-It's Handi Scandi line, but it seems appropriate for today.

I'm off to read (and cry) over a few more posts before I head to bed. If you see me tomorrow, please don't comment on my puffy eyes :)

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Gratitude

The last two weeks has brought unexpected changes. The magazine I have been involved with the past 10 1/2 years is no longer being published. Yes this means I am looking for a new job. But honestly, that's not the hardest part of this change. It's the people, the connections, the creativity, the passion, the love, and so much more.

This has been so much more than a job. I feel like I've poured my heart and soul into each position I've held, from editor, to events manager, and back to editor. What started as a hobby became a way of life. And I have loved sharing my love of paper crafting with so many through print, online, and in person (teaching classes).

There are some drawbacks, like not making cards at home unless it was for a project at work. But that small trade off has been worth it for all the other things I've gained.

But I have much to be grateful for. I have met so many incredible people. Been inspired in more ways than I can count. Traveled to tons of places in the U.S. and internationally. Learned, taught, laughed, loved, created, and so much more. My heart is truly full!

And so I move on to the next adventure in my life. I look forward to figuring out what that will be and hope it reveals itself quickly :)

I'm also grateful that the internet (mainly Facebook) allows me to stay connected. It may seem like a small thing, but it helps ease the pain that I feel when I think about not being a part of the magazine, because it really is all about the people. The ones I worked with on a daily basis, the ones that I worked with as they designed projects for publication, the ones I met and taught or hung out with at events, the ones that make the amazing products we create with. I need you (and you know who you are) to keep me inspired, smiling, young at heart, creative, laughing (mostly at myself), and in touch with reality. Thank you!

I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving and have much to be grateful for. I know I do!

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Making Cards!

The instruction portion of the class is finished and moved into other things you can do with your Copic markers like create backgrounds, color things like rhinestones, and other fun stuff. In the midst of this was World Card Making Day. I'd love to say I made cards on Saturday, October 4 (the official day), but I didn't. So I had an extended World Card Making Day and did my creating on Sunday (the day after).

It was absolutely amazing to work on cards! Some days the creativity just flows and that's the way I felt. I'm not saying these are the greatest cards ever made, but I personally felt creative and for me, that's what mattered.

I used two of the images I colored for practice purposes to create cards. The first one used the adorable pup! I placed him on a rolling green hill that I accented with grass patches using my Copic markers. The sky is patterned paper from Crate Paper. And the sentiment is from Technique Tuesday (designed by the very talented Teri Anderson).

The next card used the butterfly. I love this butterfly and knew it needed a doily with it. I'm not sure the green flower was the best color option, but it works. And.......I used my Silhouette! Wahoo! I die-cut the sentiment with a cut file I downloaded.

The final card is one I made from a Sweet Stamp Shop stamp (LOVE that elephant - which is the whole reason I bought the stamp set). I also played with creating a background using my Copic markers. The sky didn't turn out like I had hoped because I don't have light enough markers, but it gave me a chance to really play with the colorless blender to create a few clouds. And I really like how this card turned out. I made it with someone specific in mind and can't wait to send it to her.

So there you have it! My day of card making. Phew, I'm exhausted :) I'm sad that the class is pretty much over but am so glad I took it. I've learned a ton and it motivated me to get creative.

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Sweet animals

Oh how I love animals! Dogs and foxes are high on my list for cuteness factor so I was quite excited to have them on today's practice sheet. The techniques we learned were coloring fur. And it was fun!! I didn't have much time to play, but the two animals I did I thoroughly enjoyed. When I snapped the photo, I noticed that I hadn't made note of the colors I used - that's how involved I was in coloring. So here's today practice images.

I'm pretty sure I won't have anything for tomorrow as I have work stuff to do tonight. Makes me sad, but that's the reality of life - work before play. See you soon!

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And I'm behind...

No big surprise, but dang it, I was going to stay on top of the practice for this class. But life happens and so I'm just now sharing my day 5 practice. We learned about coloring skin and hair, which turned out to be a lot harder than I thought. The hair especially. I'm fine with the sides, but the top section isn't going the way I want - it feels like it's one big blob up there. But I do love the highlighted look I managed for the sides.

Also, I'm feeling like I need other options for skin tones. I made what I have work, but if I'm going to do people on a regular basis, I want different colors. But honestly, I think I'll be coloring more animals and inanimate objects than people so for now, I'm good.

You'll notice I only did the skin on the first girl because of the lack of color options. The hair was what I really wanted to focus on.

Next up is animal fur, which I should have colored today and didn't get to so maybe tomorrow!

Happy creating!

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Hello Friday!

Some weeks Friday can't come soon enough and that was the case this week. Today I worked on my coloring practice earlier, because I'm not sure I can stay awake late tonight :)

This practice was all about lighting and shadows. This was so much fun! Plus, we were practicing on flowers, which I love. I also decided that I like the color combo for leaves on the right flower better - it's more subtle.

I'm going to branch out this weekend and try my own design. I know, living on the edge but I have a donut stamp that's just begging to be colored.

Enjoy your Friday night!

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Day 3 - New paper, new fun

I printed my practice sheets on the new paper and it's working okay. For practice sheets I'm okay with it, but I think I need to invest in the Neenah paper and see if it is different than this version of Neenah I got at Office Depot.

Having said that, I had fun using grays to add shading to my images. I really like it for some colors like red and orange, as well as the lighter colors, because it is hard to keep them light and still have shading.

I also discovered that I really like yesterday's practice images better than the ones for today. I felt much more inspired with the bird and butterfly. But it was easier to practice shading on the mug than the umbrella. No biggie - it's all just for practicing and I definitely look forward to coloring each day and watching the new videos.

Here's today's photo:

And now I'm off to learn new things!

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Copic Coloring Day 2

Today's coloring involved combining two unrelated colors and blending them. There were two different approaches. One was picking up the darker color by touching the tip of the lighter pen to the darker pen and then feathering it onto the colored image to blend the dark with the light. I did this with the blue and yellow bird and it worked pretty well.

The second approach you colored the darker color on an acrylic block (or acetate or another slick surface) and then you pick up the color from the block with the lighter pen and feather it onto the image until it is blended. I used this for the butterfly and the green and brown bird. I LOVED doing it this way. I felt like I had more control and it reminded me of when I watercolor.

Also, I bought new paper today, but didn't get my practice sheets printed on it yet. I'll give it a try tomorrow, but today's coloring was a little easier with what I had.

Can't wait to try today's techniques! Off to watch the videos.

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Copic Coloring for Card Makers class

Who would have thought that taking an online class would get me to blog again? It's a Christmas miracle :)

Each day we have practice sheets to work on after watching videos with coloring tips. I've decided to give myself a break each day at work (during lunch) to color. Today was the first day and I had so much fun! But I also discovered that the paper I printed my practice sheets on are not great quality. The ink didn't blend well and it bled outside the lines (although there are some that I purposely colored outside the lines on).

So, I'm on the hunt for the paper I should have bought in the first place. Unfortunately, my procrastinating caught up with me this time and that's why I used the paper I had on hand. Lesson learned!

Here's my practice sheet from Day 1 - not everything is colored because I got frustrated with the paper, but what I did color has me excited to dive in again!

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