Colored Pencils Comparison

So many colored pencils out there, how to choose? Hopefully I can save you some time and crafting dollars by being the Guinea pig here. I tested the Prismacolors, Derwent Inktense, Lyra, and EK Success ones today. My favorites were the Prismacolors and Lyra, they went onto the paper so smoothly with a soft creamy feel that I loved. I used Whisper White thick card stock to try these out, I found this to be my favorite for alcohol markers and general coloring.

The Derwent were nice but not as creamy, they seem to be a bit more waxy and shiny for my personal taste. I'll most likely use these when I travel, if I lose them or leave them behind I won't be as sad. (Have to always have a portable craft, right?)
The EK Success were really not great, you have to go over and over it to get decent color and they left shreds of pigment on the paper. They kind of put the suck in Success.

I would recommend just buying a couple of Prismacolor pencils to start. They sell them separately in most large craft stores. Maybe some greens to practice leaves with, you can always use these colors! I know it's tempting to buy whole sets of things as it is usually less expensive this way. Test first if you can, it's not a bargain if you're not going to use it or are always on the hunt for something that works a little better for you.
The Lyras are lovely too, I'll be on the lookout for some deals on them while I am in Germany.
Happy coloring, y'all!

Easter Pansies

For today's Splitcoast colors of Rich Razzleberry, Pumpkin Pie, and Old Olive I used one of my favorite old stamps from PSX. Colored with Stampin' Up!'s Blendabilities markers in this week's colors and shaded around them in Copic Cool Shadow. I went over all of the flowers with a fine black marker. Stampin' Up! Tulips embossing frame. Sentiment is Lawn Fawn.

Swallowtail

Working with the Stampin' Up! Swallowtail butterfly stamp on watercolor paper. Colored using the no line watercolor technique with Gelatos and water. Sentiment on top card is from Butterfly Basics, the one on bottom is from Chere Amie (the French version of the My Friend set).

Easter Bunnies!

A few more cards for Easter, one highlights bunny ears (or lack of) and the other tails.

The first chocolate bunny is from the Lawn Fawn set Eggstra Special Easter, embossed in white on Chocolate Chip card stock. Die cut egg backed with Celery and unknown designer paper.

The second card used Stampin' Up!'s Bunny Hugs with Lawn Fawn Perfectly Plaid paper and Stampin' Up! retired designer paper cut with Martha Stewart grass punch. Colored in Copics and added a white pom pom for tail.

Vintage Botanicals Collage

Spreading my wings a little and exploring various mixed media techniques to add more to a card. So many different products and techniques to learn, I guess you just have to just jump in at some point and start experimenting! This one is much prettier in person with more shimmer and shine from the mousses and clear embossing.

On watercolor paper I stamped the Tim Holtz butterfly in a very faint color and then painted it in gold and yellow watercolor. Let dry. Stamped Palettini Vintage Botanicals and clear embossed (there is a lot of script in this stamp). 
Went over this whole piece with Nuvo embellishment mousses in metallics and pink for a ton of shimmer. Stamped another collage image (stamp is unmarked) with more text over this in Hero Arts Caramel ink.
Mounted to a copper woven specialty card stock piece and then onto Blush Blossom textured c.s.
Embossed Artistic Etchings in copper and added some twine and Recollections paper flowers to embellish.

Birthday Fishes

These sweet little mermaids are from Lawn Fawn and the card is for the first ever Fawnatics challenge, to make a birthday card. I didn't have a birthday sentiment in any of my sets so I pieced one together from the Eggstra Special Easter set.

Embossed a heavy white card stock base with bubble circles from Cuttlebug. Shaded the bubbles with Aquamarine and Spring Breeze Nuvo embellishment mousses. Using a wide glue pen I went around the edges of the card and then added Nuvo silver gilding flakes and Jewel Drops in Grey Mist and Sea Breeze to bubbles. The mermaids were colored in Copic markers and cut out with the coordinating die cuts set. Love these images, they make me smile! 

Earresistable

For today's color challenge of Marina Mist, Wild Wasabi and Crushed Curry I used this Easter set from Lawn Fawn. My sister always gets a missing bunny ears card from me. When we were kids she ate the ears off of everyone's chocolate bunny. It didn't take a lot of detective work on Dad's part to find the culprit, she was the only one of us who had a large space between her front teeth :) 
She continued with this ear theft for a while after that, she shaved off the tell-tale prints with her bottom teeth.

Mermaids

I have fallen for the Lawn Fawn stamps lately, they really make me happy. This is the stamp set Mermaid For You for the Splitcoast Mixed Media Under The Green Seas challenge. I used SU's Glossy White card stock with Tim Holtz alcohol ink colors of Stream, Citrus, and Sailboat Blue. Worked in both silver and gold mixatives. I used some bubble wrap and white craft ink and smooshed it on top of this when it was dry (it's hard to see in the photo). Sprayed with some blue Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist. For the bubbles I stamped it and then added some white gel pen highlights and clear round glass pebbles over top. 
The seaweed was stamped in Versamark and embossed with powder. 
The dune was stamped with the old retired SU Cheesecloth background stamp and the Lawn Fawn sentiment. Stamped, colored, and cut out the merpeople. Glittered up their tails and popped them up. Stitched frame dies is also by Lawn Fawn.

Mojo Bunny

For this week's Mojo Monday sketch challenge I used this cute Easter Bunny image from Great Impressions, colored in Copic markers. Stampin' Up! Cool Caribbean card base with SU stencil inked with white craft ink. Designer paper is Perfectly Plaid by Lawn Fawn. Embellished with a few sequins and half pearls. 

Mini Egg Carton

I am very happy to be joining the Color Challenge team again today and using the pretty color combo of So Saffron, Peekaboo Peach, and Cucumber Crush. 
I used one of the egg cartons from the SU mini and mixed three different acrylic paints to come up with a match for the Saffron. Lots of quilling/paper twirling with the peach and saffron for the flowers part of the challenge. Filled with chocolate eggs for extra points :) And calories :(

Mixed Media Butterfly Girl

For this week's "ghosting" technique challenge on Splitcoast, I used Tim Holtz distress ink colors of Worn Lipstick, Bundled Sage, Iced Spruce, and Wild Honey. Misted the water over top with Stampin' Up! stencil. Added gold Faber Castel texture paste with a Tim Holtz stencil. Using same stencil I added some more of this pattern with craft white ink. Sentiment is also TH. Butterfly girl is by Hot Off The Press. She didn't have facial features so I added some.. Added hints of Wink Of Stella from girl to sentiment.

Kitchen

Had a lot of fun putting this one together. Stamps and dies are from Lawn Fawn, Sprinkled With Love. I used their Perfectly Plaid paper which is a pretty collection for Springtime cards. Made a little towel to hang on the oven door that opens. For the cabinetry I used Stampin' Up!'s Hardwood stamp in Going Gray ink on Whisper White. The floor is Sahara Sand that was embossed with he woodgrain folder.

Mother's Day Butterflies

Love this new (to me) Hero Arts stamp set with butterfly dies. They are really cool, they don't cut out the whole thing, only partial cuts so it opens on the page. Pool Party and Whisper White card stocks, Copic markers, SU ink colors of Real Red, Primrose Petals, Positively Pink, and Pretty in Pink. Used me ever present Itty Bitty background spatter in Soft Sky.

St. Patrick's Day

Stampin' Up! supplies: Whisper White heavy card stock, gold glimmer paper. Used Brushos crystals with water on watercolor paper, sprayed with Tattered Angels glimmer mist. Stamped Irish Blessing in Versafine Onyx Black ink. Gold embossed Celtic cross and added micro-beaded embellishment to center.

Hey Chick!

For today's Splitcoast Featured Stamper Lyn Tomlin I was inspired by one of her cards that had various critters all over the front with a simple sentiment in black. I used the Stampin' Up! Hey, Chick set from the current SAB mini catalog, colored in alcohol ink markers. Love these crazy hens and chicks :)

Hey, Coffee Chick

This is what my hairdo looked like this morning :)
For the mixed media challenge of Feeling Peeky I used the Stampin' Up chick colored in markers on watercolor paper. For the coffee drips I used a splatter stencil with ColorBox chestnut ink. Used a Tim Holtz stencil on top of this and embossed with Versamark and clear powder. Used Stampin' Up! circles stencil and gold texture paste for other corner and all around edges. Card front was sprayed with Tattered Angels glimmer mists in Pearl and Coffee Shop. Bottom corner was a piece of gold shimmer paper that was embossed with the SU brick wall folder.

Coloring Book

Coloring books for adults have been all the rage for a while and I have picked up quite a few of them. This butterfly was challenging to color, the lines are pretty close together so you can't use too wide of a marker tip. I accidentally made a big crease while adhering to the card stock since the pages are pretty thin. To save it I used the SU butterflies embossing folder and I love how it turned out. I spent WAY too long coloring this so I was happy I could make it work.