INKspirations!

 Hello!  Today I went down a rabbit hole, but I love the finished result.   This pretty little bird came from a paper pack from Simon Says Stamp called - Suzy’s Winter Birds, by artist Suzy Platamura.   This set features 12 black and white outlined images on Tim Holtz Watercolor paper.  If you’d like a set for yourself, you can order  (HERE) I was not sure how to begin this project.  Seeing a vivid black outline on white paper can be a little intimidating, so I began looking for a reference photo.   I worked with chalk pastels and prismacolor pencils.  Before starting, I clipped the small panel onto a clip board with a paper towel underneath to catch dust.  I also kept wet wipes, a polymer eraser, and a couple of paper towels handy.  The reference photo was a close up shot, and the background looked almost like an out of focus - bokeh effect.  I thought the brownish background helped the Tufted Titmouse stand out, so I began bl...

 Hello!  The snow has started, and we are expected to receive 8-13” tonight.  This is the perfect day to slow down, and spend the day coloring.   Over Thanksgiving, I came across the cutest Christmas fairy from Kit and Clowder.  As I was reading comments, I wanted to learn a little more, so I tried looking up the name Alyce Keegan.  I was brought to the Kit and Clowder website with all kinds of goodies, including this FREE fairy to color! Link here:   Kit and Clowder I am really excited to re-visit regularly because beginning December 1st, there will be a new image posted to download every day up to December 25th! Woo-hoo!  I am also looking into some of the classes offered as well.  I really like that you can continue to learn and improve on coloring with copics and colored pencils through guided tutorials.   I especially find this helpful, because coloring sessions can fine tune shading, and adding texture to animal fur.   Althoug...

 Hello! Today’s card was inspired by the current sketch at  CAS On Friday #318 . Using the sketch as a starting point, I cut a piece of Pretty Peacock (Stampin Up) to cut a top folding card base measuring 4 1/4 x 5 1/2. I assembled a the white panel using a 1 inch x 5 1/4 inch strip of Rich Razelberry, and a scrap of Pretty Peacock. and glued into place. I used the trumpet flowers from A-Muse Studio’s Hummingbird set and stamped with Versafine Onyx Black ink. The hummingbird was stamped in the same black ink and colored with a base color of a simple green crayola marker for a base color, then prisma color pencils applied over the top.  This a huge time saver!   I colored the trumpet vine in the same way using an orange marker, and shades of ochre and warm grey to shade.   These are the pencils I used for reference.   Thanks for stopping by! - Valerie Kaye

 Good Morning!  This weather triggered thinking about tropical cabanas somewhere warm and sunny.  I don't see a tropical get away in the near future, so I'll have to keep stamping beaches, flip flops and margaritas.  😂 I initially saw a color challenge with the colors pink, green and orange.  I instantly thought of tropical, fruity drinks, but veered off and added a bright blue into the mix.  That's okay.  I enjoyed making a card and I was inspired, so win-win.   When I first began looking through stamps, I could not find a particular set that had champagne glasses and drinkware.  I remembered that I had a digital stamp set that I purchased in December with a tropical Santa, and the set had margarita glasses.   Digital stamps come in SO handy when you are looking for a particular theme or image.  I first bought the digital stamp set because I was looking for a theme of "Santa on Vacation".  I came across a fantastic ...