Intro to Coloring Spring Flowers

It’s been quite a month around here, as I’ve been  had several sets of Copic classes which has kept me hopping and kept me enjoying classes with a lot of fellow Copic lovers! And in my spare time, I’ve been coloring flowers from the new My Monthly Hero kit… always a way to wind down and relax…

When creating this card with the golden blossom, I used a color combination suggested in the Intro to Coloring with Copic Markers book from Imagination International (the North American distributor for Copic Marker). Michelle posted a GREAT video walk-through of the Intro to Coloring book, if you want to take a peek! You can find it HERE.

The book is a great resource to get you started with blending techniques and color selection. I took the colors for this card right from the suggestions on page 19, so that made for quick and easy work of the creative attack plan!

The flowers and images for this project came from the April Hero Arts kit, the My Monthly Hero Kit! And it sold out before my box even arrived, so I know that many of you loved it as much as I did! I can’t wait to see the new kit coming next week! These have been great creative sparks for me with coordinating elements (this month was Daniel Smith Watercolors – swoon!) and dies!

To get started, I took the suggested color combination right off of page 19 in the Intro to Coloring book… gotta love easy!

I colored my blossoms on a single 1/4 sheet of XPress It Blending Card and the leaves on a second 1/4 sheet of XPress It. For the leaves, I used the clear stamp of the large blossom as a placement guide before stamping so that the edges of the leaves would peek out from under the flower when the card was assembled.

I used the color combinations suggested on page 19 of the Intro to Coloring Book for a quick and dirty work of this one! The large flower was created with natural blending group YR20-YR27 and the leaves are a combo of YG11/YG13/YG17.

After I had colored the leaves and the blossom, I re-stamped the leaves on the sticky  part of a post-it note and used them as a mask on the leaf layer. Then with the ABS1 and a Sparmax Compressor,  I airbrushed BG32/BG34 over the top for a soft background. When I airbrush, I try to start my spray directly ON THE MASK and work slowly outward for an even controlled splatter of ink.

When I have finished airbrushing and lift the mask, it is not uncommon for me to have some white space in the negative areas or close to my stamped lines. I use the tip of the lightest marker and fill that in. If I need to go over with the darker of the colors, I do, but I always start light… in this case with the B32.

After I had colored and sprayed, I used the coordinating flower die and made quick work of the fussy cutting. Just look how close to the stamped lines it cuts. The was my first attempt at the die – SO EASY to line up! Love. 

I wanted to share a few Banff photos from my Calgary trip last week! This is one that I took and edited on my iPhone from an overlook on the interstate as I approached the park.

This one was a selfie that I took Thursday morning with my cup of coffee, using my camera remote at an overlook in Banff.

And, this third was a gaze at Two Jack Lake near Banff with the famed blue water… Amazing views. I could have stayed another day or two, but had to hustle back to Calgary for two full days of coloring madness. It was a GREAT time!

I have another set of classes in two weeks in Sacramento (Please join me!) and then a set of certifications in Ankeny, Iowa at the Taylored Expressions classroom the first weekend in June! They are going to be a blast!

You can find our full Copic teaching calendar for myself, Debbie Olson, Cindy Lawrence and Michelle Houghton on this page! I hope you can join us soon!

I’ve got another fun project I’ve been working on to go with some gifts for an event that I’m hosting tonight. I’ll share photos tomorrow! Have a great day!