Lavender Daisy Card with Yellow

I always enjoy coloring my 2009 daisy drawing for a card.  This time I lightly airbrushed everything with blue, then colored the flowers and leaves.  The blue disappears in the leaves but adds a nice extra touch to the flower petals. 

Card details:

• Card stock is Neenah solar white, Paper Source spruce (dark green - discontinued), Papertrey Ink (PTI) harvest gold (yellow), and the polka dot print from PTI lavender moon pattern pack.
• Embossing folder is Sizzix retro cirque.
• Copic markers are B14 for the airbrushing, G14 and RV52 for the base colors, with RV63 added on the petals and Y26 on the leaves and stems.  Flower centers are Y15 and Y26.  
• I edged the polka dot strip with Copic G07 marker.
• Sentiment "thanks" is cut with Cameo Silhouette.  The word is from Silhouette box and flower tags set. 
• Daisy drawing was scanned and computer printed.

Created for Operation Write Home, "supporting our nation's armed forces by sending blank handmade greeting cards to write home on, as well as cards of gratitude to encourage them." (394)

Red-Orange Daisies with Yellow and Green

My 2009 daisy drawing with some bright red-orange colors.  Lots of dots on this card, including the ground, which is dots of brown and green marker. 

You can click on the image for a better view of the Copic coloring.   And click on the daisy drawing label, below or in the labels list on the right, for more cards that I've made with this drawing.  It's been fun for me to color and use in different ways.

Card details:

• Card stock is Neenah solar white for the flowers and Papertrey Ink (PTI) harvest gold (yellow), terra cotta tile (rust), and the polka dots print from PTI new leaf (green) pattern pack.
• Twine is The Twinery mandarin.
• Embossing folder is Cuttlebug Swiss dots.
• Copic markers are custom color YYR2000, R02, R08, R35, YR07, Y38, E33, E37, G43, G46, and YG05.
• My daisy drawing was scanned and computer-printed.

Created for Operation Write Home, "supporting our nation's armed forces by sending blank handmade greeting cards to write home on, as well as cards of gratitude to encourage them." (367)

Daisies with Purple, Yellow, and Green

A simple layout to showcase the daisy image, which is one of my line drawings from 2009.  It's a favorite of mine for coloring with Copic markers, and I've tried many different color combinations for it.  I like this one very much.

You can click on the image for a larger and clearer view.  For the same drawing with different colors, click on the "daisy drawing" label at the bottom of this post, or in the labels list to the right. 

Card details:

• Card stock is Neenah solar white (image),  Papertrey Ink (PTI) lemon tart (light yellow), new leaf (green), royal velvet (deep purple), and the bitty dots print from PTI royal velvet pattern pack.
• Embossing folder is Darice honeycomb.
• Copic marker colors:  Flower centers Y21, Y28; flower petals BV31 base color, FV2, FV25*, V12, Y21; stems and leaves YG61 base color, G14, a few touches of G46, YG63, V12; sky B2000*; and ground E81 with a bit of E84 around the base of the stems.  The sky and ground were mottled by coloring over them with a "0" colorless blender. 
    * = custom color, as explained here.

Created for Operation Write Home, "supporting our nation's armed forces by sending blank handmade greeting cards to write home on, as well as cards of gratitude to encourage them." (295)

Bright Daisies with Pink, Yellow, and Aqua

After last week's geometric black, white, and gold, I needed to play with some curvy lines and girly colors. So I colored up my daisy drawing and matted it with dark pink, yellow and aqua on a two-tone pink card base.

Card details:

• My daisy drawing is computer-printed on Neenah solar white and colored with Copic markers BG10, Y15, G40, YG05, YG63, R000, R24, RV02, RV34, and RV55.
• The colored card stock is Papertrey Ink (PTI) raspberry fizz (dark pink), hibiscus burst (medium pink), and lemon tart (yellow), and Paper Source blossom (light pink) and pool (aqua).
• The dies are PTI eyelet lace border and Mat Stack 4 (regular and layerz).

Created for Operation Write Home, "supporting our nation's armed forces by sending blank handmade greeting cards to write home on, as well as cards of gratitude to encourage them." (126)

Turquoise Daisy Card with Color-Bleed Background

A new Copic technique for me on this card - Julia Stainton's color-bleed grid technique, posted on Ellen Hutson's educational CLASSroom blog. Very easy. A beautiful background for my often-used daisy drawing.

For my background, I used B01, B32, and BG32 markers on Neenah solar white card stock. Julia chose darker colors that look great with her black silhouette flower stamping. But for my line drawing, I needed a lighter background to get enough contrast with the flower coloring. The drips of colorless blender will "push" the light colors into darker rings.

Also, I realized I could avoid using pencil (and so, avoid the step to erase it) by drawing my 3/4" diagonal grid lines with one of my colors on the back of the Neenah. Just dark enough to see my grid from the front, and when finished, it disappears into the rest of the colors.

More card details:

• See above for the Copic background colors. For the daisies, I used Copic markers B24, B26, BG32, BG45, BG49, B01, B06, YG05, YG63, G07, Y19, Y38, RV66.
  
• The colored card stock is PaperTrey Ink (PTI) summer sunrise (bright yellow layer), PTI Hawaiian shores (medium turquoise card base), and Paper Source peacock (dark turquoise).
  
• The ribbon is two rows of 5/8" sheer-and-satin, colored with BG49, then lightened in the middle with B01.
  
• For more cards done with my daisy drawing, click on the label below, or in the label list on the right of my blog.

Created for Operation Write Home, "supporting our nation's armed forces by sending blank handmade greeting cards to write home on, as well as cards of gratitude to encourage them." (099)

Blue Flower Card and Copic Coloring Technique

For this week's sketch challenge #57 on Operation Write Home's Stars and Stamps blog, I worked with shades of blue. I'm really happy with this card.

The central image is my daisy drawing (almost two years old now), which is fun for me to color. Click here for more card examples with this drawing, in a variety of colors.

I also included a 3-step illustration of my coloring process. Please scroll down to see it.

The cardstock is Neenah (for the daisy image) and Papertrey Ink enchanted evening (dark blue circle and card base), spring rain (pale blue rectangle), and blueberry sky (medium blue squares). Circle punches are EK Success 2-1/4" plain and 2" scalloped. The sentiment "Hello" is computer-printed in "Lucida Handwriting" font, using a black outline with blue fill.

Created for Operation Write Home, "supporting our nation's armed forces by sending blank handmade greeting cards to write home on, as well as cards of gratitude to encourage them." (060)

Coloring process

To give you a sense of scale, each scalloped circle is 2" across. I used the Copic markers shown in my little chart on the left - YG05, YG63, B14, B39, B41, B45, and a custom color that I call B2000. Instead of B2000, you could use any pale blue, such as B000, or even a pale yellow or green. For more about my custom colors, click here.

Also a word about paper - I prefer Neenah card stock for this type of layered coloring. It doesn't feather - just enough wicking to let me move the colors around - and it doesn't blend "too much" as I find with some of the extra-smooth card stocks. But everyone has a different preference.

My first step was to color everything with my base color, a very light blue - B2000 in my case. It's much easier to do this first, rather than go back later to fill in the tiny spaces between the flowers and leaves. And the pale color won't hurt the colors on top of it.

Then, when the base color was dry, I added some dots of B39 in the flower centers, streaks of B14 on the petals, and streaks of YG05 on the leaves and stems. The result is shown as A. It doesn't need to be precise, though I do try to stay inside the lines.

Next I filled in my empty spaces, with B45 on the petals and YG63 on the leaves and stems. Again, it's not precise, and you will notice I left some empty bits. (Empty meaning just the base color.) The result is shown as B. You may want to click on the drawing to enlarge it, to see how very patchy it is at this stage. Note, A and B are two different images, but it gives you the idea.

The final step is to color over all the flowers with B41, and all the leaves and stems with B2000. Don't overdo this. The goal is to blur the colors together, and to lighten the blues in places, but not to blend them completely. The watercolor-y result is shown in my finished card at the top of the post, where I used image A.

Thanks for reading my post! Please feel free to leave me a question in the comments. If you'd like to see more of my drawing and coloring, you are welcome to visit my other blog, Mostly Markers. And if you're new (or not new) to using Copic markers, I recommend Marianne Walker's I Like Markers blog for wonderful Copic education and information- start with her older posts (June 2008) and work forward.

Daisy Card in Fall Colors

My daisy drawing again, colored with Copic markers in Fall colors, on an orange card base.

The orange card stock is Hero Arts mandarin. This close-up view is just the drawing with a portion of the orange base.

Created for Operation Write Home, "supporting our nation's armed forces by sending blank handmade greeting cards to write home on, as well as cards of gratitude to encourage them." (030)

Diagonal Stripe Cards with Daisy Circles

Two cards with diagonal stripes and my daisy drawing in circles. Soft yellow and orange with touches of gold and green. For the second card, see the bottom of this post.

The card stock is Papertrey Ink lemon tart (yellow) and summer sunrise (orange). The sentiment "Thinking of you" is computer-printed with "Lucida Handwriting" font, using ink in deeper shades of the card stock. I used Copic markers for the flowers, their backgrounds, and the diagonal and circular edges.

To create the diagonal stripe, I laid a 6" ruler (1" wide) diagonally across the A2 piece of card stock, then marked each end on both sides of the ruler. I cut the diagonal strips with my paper cutter, taking care to keep the cuts parallel and to line up both colors the same, and pieced it all back together with Scor Tape.

My daisy drawing was scanned and printed on Neenah. Click here for all my cards with the full or partial daisy drawing.

Created for Operation Write Home, "supporting our nation's armed forces by sending blank handmade greeting cards to write home on, as well as cards of gratitude to encourage them. (016a)

Birthday Card with Yellow and Violet Flowers

(See bottom of post for inside of card.)

For many years, from childhood on, I created greeting cards with my own art work. I used crayons, yarn, paints, markers, collage, sequins ... anything and everything.

Now, with some basic paper crafting tools and supplies, I'm beginning to try my hand at card making again.

This birthday card uses my 2009 daisy drawing. I printed the line drawing and the words onto Neenah card stock, hand-colored them with my Copic markers, layered them onto yellow card stock, and embellished with ribbon and pearls. See below for materials, as well as an easy technique for the dotted background and purple edge.

• Copic marker colors used: flower petals - Y11, V000,04, RV10; centers - YR14, V04; leaves and stems - YG91 base, YG23, G14,40, RV91; background - V000, Custom color YYR2000; edge - V04
• Technique - Background: Press down with the Copic marker brush tip to make dots of color all over your background. If you have Copic "original" type markers (my favorite type), you can do this technique with a cotton swab (such as a Q-tip). To put ink onto your swab, either use a few drops from your Copic ink refill bottle (easiest), or if you don't have a refill, press the chisel tip of your marker (pointed down) onto the tip of the swab (pointed up) for just a few seconds. Most of the swab will still be dry, but the tip will make dots of color.
  
• Technique - Edge: Using the chisel or brush tip (not the fine tip), run the marker along the thin edge of the card stock. (Be careful not to let your marker slip off the edge; you don't want it to mark the front of your card stock.) Play with it a little to find the right speed and pressure. Go fairly fast with an even speed, for a thin, straight-looking edge like my card front. Go more slowly with an uneven speed, for a thicker, less regular edge like my card interior. I like both effects - it's up to you how you want it to look.
  
• Card base: Papertrey Ink Perfect Match card stock (Lemon Tart color, from the 2009 card stock sampler) , cut down to A2 card size (5.5 x 4.25" when folded)
  
• White layer for flowers and words: Neenah and Wausau, cut down
• Ribbon: yellow ribbon received as "thank you" gift with order from Ellen Hutson
• Pearls: white 5 mm Hero Arts from Ellen Hutson - tinted with V04 Copic marker
• Words: Wishing you a very happy birthday!
• Font: Desdemona 48 point. Click here for a Google docs link to my Word document with these words (4 sets per page) which you can download, then edit as desired, and print. I assume you will need to have the Desdemona font already on your computer. (It was included as part of my Word program.) Note, when you view it on Google docs, you will not see the correct font, but (if you have Desdemona) it should be ok after downloading.
  

Daisy Card

This card started when I drew a 4x6 line drawing, then scanned it and pasted it into Powerpoint, 4 on one 8.5 x 11" page. I printed it out and colored each set of daisies in bright colors. (Shown below.)

About a week later, to make a thank-you card for a friend, I printed one onto a 3.5x5 Crane note paper, and colored it in lighter colors. (Shown above.) The dotted ground and background were inspired by Michelle Wooderson's post on coloring a galvanized bucket.