April 26, 2016
6 Comments
Hiya sistahs!
today I decided to make a video which ended up a bit longer than anticipated LOL.. there were a few interruptions and I am still learning how to edit so please forgive me LOL
If you haven’t subscribed to our channel, please do!
In this video, I use our CARDSTOCK MATCHER stamp.. I have had a lot of questions on this stamp so I finally decided to show you how to use it!
I hope you enjoy the video!
MWAH!
April 25, 2016 6 Comments
Thank you for joining me again for another colourful start to the week! If you missed my first pencil related post last week, make sure you check it out HERE to see some tips on using your coloured pencils together with alcohol based markers.
Today I’ve got a little 2-for-1: Stamping Bella’s adorable and fun Nice to See You Petunia stamp coloured using two different popular coloured pencil brands. I chose this image so you would get some colour combo ideas for both Petunia Pig and the Cool Chicks (they honestly pop up everywhere, getting into mischief) whether you’re a Prismacolor or Polychromos lover! You can find this stamp in the Woodsies section on the Stamping Bella website, along with more Petunia Pig images and some other A.D.O.R.A.B.L.E animals.
If you’re a devoted Copic user you may want to refer to the following posts for colour combos:
Prismacolor Pencils Vs Polychromos Pencils
The main difference between the two brands is that Prismacolor pencils are wax based and Polychromos pencils are oil based. Polychromos pencils will not build up a wax bloom and so can be layered more than the Prismacolors. This is probably more evident if you are colouring larger detailed pieces with lots of layering.
As I mentioned in last week’s post, my first attempts in the wonderful world of colouring were made with Prismacolor pencils. I was gifted a full set around nine years ago, and I still have that same set (ditching them for markers does increase the lifespan of your pencils significantly 😉 ). They are great pencils, and I have loved them, except for one thing: breakage. I often feel like I only have to look at them the wrong way and the leads break. Sharpening them has always been an exercise in anger management, and I gather from reading various forum threads and blog posts in recent years that the problems have increased due to what appears to be poor quality control.
Faber-Castell’s Polychromos pencils do not have similarly brittle leads. They are easily sharpened to a very fine point and they hold the point well (obviously if you are very heavy handed, you will break the point on any pencil). This is one advantage that is great for stampers, as we often work in small detail areas. The glasses on the chicks in today’s image would be a good example. Overall the Polychromos are my personal preference and are the pencils I reach for most often.
To keep the images as similar as possible for comparison purposes I used Zest-It Pencil Blend as a solvent on both images, however my general preference when working with the Polychromos pencils is to colour purely with the pencils, using them to blend rather than solvent and blending stumps. This is also very achievable with the Prismacolor pencils, but because of the points mentioned above, I don’t enjoy the process nearly as much.
Join me next week for a fun look at colouring with pencils on a budget. You may be surprised at the results!
MWAH!
~Elaineabella
April 22, 2016 5 Comments
Hiya sistahs! Well yesterday was really a shock with the announcement of PRINCE passing away.. being a 70’s child.. the 80’s being my teenage years.. Prince was a VERY important part of it LOL. Sheesh. So young. So sad.
In Montreal, (my hometown), they lit up the city hall in Purple to remember Prince.. how COOL is DAT?
RIP Prince.
Now for Bellarific Friday and some happier JUJU…
our theme for this week was a MOJOBELLA sketchypoo!
let’s see what our Baberoonis came up with shall we?
AliceWERTZabella used PETUNIA thinks she’s a PREZZIE
FAYE-WJ-ABELLA used Uptown girl LOLLY and her BROLLY
Kerribella used TINY TOWNIE FAIRY best friends
Lesliebella used THE STUFFIE GANG
Sandiebella used IRON CHEF CHICKS
Shelabella used EDNA loves ICE CREAM
Stephabella used THE STUFFIE GANG
Tracybella used SANFORD the Birthday Boy STUFFIE
TracyMACabella used Gardening CHICKS
Aren’t these AMAZINGGGGGG???
And now for our PHENOM sistahood!
And now for next week’s theme?
BIRTHDAY WISHES!
Ink up any CURRENT STAMP (make sure it’s available in our store) and make any card with a BIRTHDAY WISHES theme and email to me or add to our INLINKZ below!
April 20, 2016 6 Comments
Paulabella again 🙂
Check out her gorgeous creations for this week!
In this card she made a beautiful card using our MASON JAR OF FLOWERS.. such a classic image which can be used for ANY occasion no?
and check out her MASON JAR OF HEARTS… sigh…. her colour choices .. her layouts.. her papers… TO DIE FOR!
Hope you love these creations as much as I do!
MWAH!
Em
April 19, 2016 4 Comments
Hiya sistahs!
Just wanted to show you a little something I found in the dollar store. I love walking up and down the aisles in there… the craft section.. the stationery section.. office supplies.. I always find something to play with!
This week I found these amazing wood veneer stickers! They came in different shapes.. I opted for the classic round and oval shapes.
I found them in our local dollar store chain called DOLLARAMA.
arent they cute?
So I says to myself.. self? wouldn’t these be AMAZING to stamp on? Kinda like textured Kraft paper (I LOVE coloring on Kraft)
So I decided to take my black archival ink.. you can use Staz On too I’m sure.. and stamped SLICK CHICK 🙂
is he not deelish? and that tuft of hair he slicked back? LOVE.
I then took out my Prismacolor pencils and decided to colour him in.. it was really fun.. nice and smooth. and love to see the pop of colour!
I then decided to use my mineral spirits.. some graphite and more pencils to just experiment and play. Did this come out perfect? nope.. because I was playing! And I had so much fun playing! I realized I really do love colouring on this veneer and THAT was what the experiment was about.. it’s the JOURNEY sistahs.. DA JOURNEY! I an going to stick him in my journal because it’s always nice to receive flowers isn’t it? LOL.
I will continue to play with my veneer shapes.. experiment.. maybe gesso it.. maybe try watercolors.. copics.. let’s see where this takes me!
So what I am saying is… always look around for inspiration and PLAY! Take risks.. wonder.. and you will see how much fun that process can be!
Mwah to da sistahs who love da DOLLAH store and taking risks as much as I do 🙂
Em
April 18, 2016 11 Comments
So many of you have requested info on working with pencils, that although markers are my personal “go to” medium I’m doing my best to create some pencil related content for you! I do love using coloured pencils, and in fact many moons ago they were my first love for colouring stamps. I’m quite enjoying getting reacquainted, so although I am not ready to hang up my marker bag watch out for some fun coloured pencil posts here and there.
In this first pencil related post I’m showing you one way to mix your pencils and markers to get great results for your coloured images. I have used one of the most popular pencil brands – Prismacolor – which were the pencils I started with years ago (I still have the same set) together with my Copic markers. NOTE: any alcohol based markers will work for this.
As you can see, because the marker base allowed me to concentrate on shading and detail colouring with the pencils I was able to get some deeper, more vibrant colours overall. In the first example, I was reaching the limit in terms of being able to layer with my pencils, because I had to work fairly hard to get a nice base coverage to work from, this resulted in a less vibrant look.
Using markers as a base for pencil work can reduce the time it takes to colour an image like this with larger open areas for colouring.
When working with Prismacolor pencils I tend to use Zest-It Pencil Blend with paper stumps to blend. This is an alternative to odourless mineral spirits such as Gamsol.
My preferred paper for pencil work varies, but when using a solvent to blend I use a fairly smooth paper like the Winsor & Newton Smooth Surface Cartridge pad (100lb/220gsm) or a Bristol Board. Basically, a fairly smooth surface with a little “tooth”. The more “tooth” or the rougher the paper, the more layers of coloured pencil you should be able to add.
When using alcohol markers purely as a base layer, it is better to prioritise your paper choice for pencil work. If you aren’t doing any marker blending, you don’t need a paper that works well for that but you will want one that takes pencil nicely. The papers mentioned above work really well for this. If you intended to use pencils to enhance or tidy up details on an image coloured mainly with markers, you would need to choose a paper that works well for marker blending.
I hope you have enjoyed this first look at incorporating pencils! Next week I will be showing a comparison of some different pencil brands, so watch this space…
MWAH!
~Elaineabella
