Mica Mermaids

Lawn Fawn Mermaid For You set on a background that was made using Brushos color crystals with transparent Nuvo drops for air bubbles and bronze mica flakes with Nuvo gold gilding flakes for their tops and tails. Birthday sentiment Stampin' Up!

You're Out Of This World!

The cute little monsters are by Bo Bunny, colored in Prismacolor pencils on a Whisper White card base. The sentiment is by G Studio. I added Wink of Stella dots to the white background. 

Twisted Black Magic

This is the first time I've tried this technique and it was pretty easy. I used Whisper White heavy card stock and smeared on green apple, butter, pink, and purple inks. Embossed Hero Arts background stamp in Versamark and clear powder. Swiped Color Box black pigment ink over complete card front and then wiped ink off with cloth, leaving behind the colors under the embossing. Highlighted with white acrylic paint dots and added a sentiment strip on bottom, (unknown  stamp maker). I got too carried away with the dots, I only meant to add a few :)

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.