Pretend Pencil Sketching.

Hi everybody,

Jill here.  How are you all feeling today?

I was on Instagram the other day, and the guys at Mama Elephant posted this amazing picture to celebrate 'National Elephant Day'.  It was so simple, yet beautiful and brilliant.  It was the 'Ella and friends' set, and it looked like it had been pencil sketched.  I fell in love with it instantly, and knew I had to try something similar...

I don't even know how they did it to be fair, but certainly mine doesn't come close to how awesome theirs looked, haha.  Never mind, practise makes perfect, eh?

I used grey colouring pencils, but I think it would have looked much better using actual pencils.

I used Mama Elephant's 'Woodland Gifts' to create my 'sketch'.  I stamped out my scene using a really pale ink, and followed/sketched over the lines using a dark grey colouring pencil with a lighter grey to blend.  I introduced a touch of colour and some Glossy Accents to the balloon for a little interest.  I stamped the sentiment in grey ink, and matted onto an Avery Elle 'Truffle' note card.   Obviously this technique is all about the simplicity, so I left it there.

*update*

I've had a try with a normal pencil, and a little shading and blending, so thought I'd share where that got me...

...I actually much prefer this as it's a lot darker and a lot more intense.

What a relaxing technique though?!  I really enjoyed it and can't wait to give it a little more time.

I hope you like both efforts, and would love to see if any of you have given this technique a try yet, if so, maybe leave a link below and we can share our findings?

As always, everything I used is linked below.

See you next week.

Jillx

  

         

Exotic Copic Color Combinations & Embossing with Dies

Hello crafty friends! This week was coloring week here at Make the Day Special and the Design Team has shared many awesome tips with you on how to get more out of your markers.

Today it's my turn and my card features the super cute stamp set "Carnival Cupcakes" by Mama Elephant which is finally back in stock! I've combined a number of different techniques on this card and instead of explaining everything to you, here's a video showing you how I did it:

As you can see, I used the emboss-with-dies technique to create some "fake" dimension on my card since it's entirely one layer. You've seen me using this technique for the very first time - not live, but on camera :) - and it fits great with the current challenge we have at the Make the Day Special challenge blog: try something new or resurrect a technique not used for ages. For the embossing, I used the "Basic Creative Cuts" by Mama Elephant and the "Label Layers 1" by Wplus9 (alternatively, reach for Label Layers 3 or even go for Paper Smooches' Frame 1).

My Copic "trick", to come back to the current topic, is to blend colors that usually don't go together. Normally, you would only blend colors in the same families or those close to each other (oranges with yellows; yellow greens with greens etc). But with some patience you can blend colors that are not related at all, like I did.

On the cupcake topping, I combined BG11 with RV02

You can either feather the two colors into each other or use one of these two techniques: tip-to-tip blending where you touch the tip of one marker to the other to pick up its color, or acetate palette blending, where you scribble one color onto a piece of acetate or plastic and the pick it up with the other marker.

Check out this beautiful embossing on the outer frame and the inner label

For the "background" on this card I used the beautiful star background from a company that's not present in the store, but if you're shopping with Make The Day Special, you can alternatively reach for Lawn Fawn's "Starry Backdrops" or Avery Elle's "Written in the Stars". For a light ink that doesn't overload the background, I suggest Hero Arts Soft Granite or Wet Cement.

I hope you got inspired to try your makers in some different ways! Thanks for stopping by!

Supply List

• Carnival Cupcakes by Mama Elephant
• Make a Wish by Mama Elephant
• Basic Set Creative Cuts by Mama Elephant
• Label Layers 1 by Wplus9 - alternatively reach for Label Layers 3 or Paper Smooches Frame 1
• For a light ink reach for Hero Arts Soft Granite or Wet Cement
• For a starry background reach for Lawn Fawn Starry Backdrops or Avery Elle Written in the Stars
• Copic Markers
• Sequins

I hope you had the chance to stop by the blog to read about our coloring tips (I learned LOTS!). If not, here are the links to this week's coloring posts:

• Shading flesh tones
• Coloring Christmas cards
• Coloring Basics
• Coloring a unicorn Step-by-Step
• Coloring a Halloween themed card
• Coloring Bright Blooms