I want lots of dimension in my Copic coloring! "So I must blend, blend, blend! Right? Hmmm... Do you really think so? I mean, I know that's what you've been told or at least it's what you've….

FREE COLOR CHARTS (Not for profit -- please do not sell or offer these as your own creations. Please do not distribute these files to others but instead, link them here to download for themselves. These files are given freely for download from my site only. Thanks for your understanding!) Blank Copic color charts, for you to add your marker colors: (Watermark is only on the preview at left, your download will not be watermarked). 2012-2017 (most current) PDF 1-Pg landscape hand color chart of ALL 358 Copic marker & 24 Spica Glitter Pen colors: Download Copic Blank Color Chart 1PG 2017-Sharon Harnist (NEW: You can find a portrait 2-page version below!) NEW! 2-Pg larger portrait hand color 2017 Copic chart PDF download of ALL 358 Copic marker & 24 Spica Glitter Pen colors -- Larger sized boxes for color swatches, with easier-to-read words, for you to color (watermark is only on preview at left, your download will not be watermarked): Download Copic Blank Color Chart 2PG 2017-Sharon Harnist I'M A BEGINNER, what colors do you recommend getting? This is the number one question I'm always asked, along with "Which colors blend well together?" I put together this chart of...

Move over permanent marker, I now have a new, legit fabric doodle buddy. In the past I've been know to draw on sheets with permanent marker...

Secret Knowledge? Hidden steps to coloring? Are there quiet things that bloggers and instructors do with their Copic Markers and colored pencils which they never show or discuss? You bet'cha! Today, I'm going to spill the beans and tell the tales. Because your coloring projects will run smoothe

Green is bursting everywhere! We're still a bit early in the season to have many flowers blooming here in my small corner of the world, but the green spouts and buds are out. Tulips are one of my favorite flowers and I thought I'd force a few bulbs (artistically) for this segment of The Garden Dirt. Let's get ready to talk about green! Hello, my name is Amy Shulke and I'm the illustrator and art instructor over at VanillaArts.com. Welcome to another edition of my color swatch series here at Power Poppy. If you're new to my lessons, you're probably wondering why I'd name a beautiful flower coloring series after dirt. We want to think about pretty colors right? Certainly not dirt. But we're talking dirt because every garden needs dirt, it's the foundation for life. We need dirt for coloring too, dirty colors are the foundation for realism. You can read more from my Garden Dirt series here. Think about the parts of a flower... Most people don't think deeply about flower anatomy. You've got a general idea about leaves, stems, petals, and the funny things in the center that the bees all like. Close your eyes and picture your favorite flower. No cheating, don't go sneak a peek at one, let's just think about a flower you know really well... Now tell me about how the flower petals connect to the stem. Hmmm. This is harder than you expected, right? We're so used to thinking about the blossoms and leaves that we rarely think about the stems. When we do think about stems, they're just some random tube shapes coming from somewhere under the blossom. Admit it. Right now, you're not really sure how flower petals connect to the stem. Most of you are thinking about silk flowers where you can pop the whole flower head right off the plastic stick. Ahhhhhh, grasshopper-- you're missing the most astoundingly beautiful part of a flower! Real flowers are not like silk flowers! With silk flowers, you have a green plastic stem and pretty colorful petals glued on top. But with real flowers, the petals grow out of the stem. With some flowers, it's actually hard to tell where the stem stops and the petal starts. We all remember chlorophyll from elementary school science class, that's the stuff which makes leaves look green. And if you think about it, chlorophyll makes the stem green too. But here's the cool part... chlorophyll doesn't just stop dead at the top of a stem. If you look closely at the base of a petal, you'll see green chlorophyll climbing up from the stem into the flower petal. Look even closer and you'll see the pretty pink, yellow, or red color from the petal leaking down into the stem. Colorful petals and green stems are connected; they're part of the same system. The color from one body part oozes into the next body part. Which means that even on the most brilliantly colored blossoms, you'll see green seeping up on the underside of many petals. That green blend is beautiful! For more realistic flower petals, add green to your Copic Marker blending combination I know this idea frightens you. Green blended with red makes blech! Green blended with yellow ruins the yellow. Green blended with orange makes vomit... I know. I can see you getting squirmy in your seat. The laws of color mixing strictly prohibit mixing light red and green together. Uh... what exactly is it that happens if you mix light red and green? Does it explode? Does fire rain from the sky? Plagues of frogs, locusts, or IRS agents? Relax. Nothing bad will happen if you add G43 to your pretty red blending combination. I did it in my tulip project here and I'm still alive enough to tell you about it. Go ahead and try it. Tell the cops that Amy said it was okay. You'll be fine. It's pretty. Very, very pretty. And isn't that why we color? Let's color tulips together! The tulips shown here are a small portion of Power Poppy's Tulips and Hobnail Pitcher digital stamp but my color recipe will work with any tulip image. Try it on the tulips in Springtime Love Roundel, Spring Border, or Love One Another. This recipe even works with other flowers. I started by bringing the G43 from the stem up and into the base of each petal. Then I softened the G43 with a few flicks of G40. Then I continued on with R21 up to the middle of each petal and softened it with R00. I left the edge of each tulip as clean white paper. G43 to G40 to R21 to R00. Sounds weird, looks stunning! And hey, we're coloring tulips over at Vanilla Arts this month. My Tulip Wreath project uses a very similar blending combination. Join us there for a little bit of advanced artistic coloring. All Vanilla Workshop classes are immediate access. Work at your ow pace, color it as many times as you want! Have fun adding green ink to all your blending combinations! Happy Coloring!

Explore Spectrum Noir’s 201 photos on Flickr!

LOOONG POST so be ready for my waffling!! My MIC Cynthia post is right under this post or just click HERE. Hello friends me again! Do you feel the fall breeze coming in?? I DO and it's my FAVORITE season!!! You give me my coffee turn on a seasonal candle and you have a happy Ruby all day!!!! Although some days just feels like winter over here!!?? not fun :( I wanted to share my "Autumn" take for this month DT challenge at Little Darlings Inspiration blog. Also it's my turn to share my tips and Ideas on the Spectrum Noir Inspiration blog. I have the oh so popular Saturated Canary,"Autumn". I'm showcasing her on a bright easel card with fun fall colors. Here come check them out my pictures and now due to the size of the card. I had to get camera happy and take as many as possible in order to get all angles lol! Look at that fun ponytail to color!!! I have colored her with my Spectrum Noir pens :) My sentiment is from the Little Darlings Warm Fuzzies sentiment line "Fall Harvest" Collection designed by our lovely Mindy Baxter! I think it suits the card theme don't you think? "Red, Orange and brown are the colors of my town. Fall is here again"! ************************************* As I mentioned to you it was my turn to share my tips and ideas on the SN team. Do you want to see how I colored her hair? Well come on back to this post because due to bad pixs I have to re-do the whole tute, LOL!!! You know what ...... let me just put the pictures I have now and I'll be back later to substitute them with crispier pixs. I decided I wanted to keep the highlights in the center of her ponytail this time. My markers for this brown combo are EB5, EB8 GB2 and GB10 The first step is laying my EB5 where the shadows will more likely sit. Mainly under a falling curl, on the root of the head and where layers interlock.If you notice I only laid skipping pleats on her crown. That helps create a pulled back pony tail :) Second, I take GB10 and pull the EB5 outward towards the center. Repeat over all the sections where you laid EB5. Once you have done that, go ahead and fill in the remaining white area with GB2. Do not worry if it looks uneven at the moment. Then repeat the same process, pulling outwards to the center, with GB2. Make sure you blend out from the edge of the darker color. It is important you do not sit your light color on top of your darker colors, as you will loose your shading. Now to give it a smooth blend. I personally like the tip to tip technique with these pens because they are so juicy it makes it easy to just do it this way. If you wish to pick up ink from Acrylic block or whatever other preference is good for you, that works as well. We need to pick up a bit of the darker color (GB10) with our lightest (GB2). Again, use the same routine of blending outward to the lightest area. Your final step should be going back and touching up your dark colors so you do not lose the shading USE EB8 FOR DARK SHADING. and whala this is the result to a fun ponytail. I hope I gave you some motivation in giving this a try. As always delighted to share my tips. Happy Coloring! Spectrum Noir Recipe Skin: FS1, FS2, FS3, TN1, TN2 Hair: GB2, GB10, EB5, EB8 Boots: DG1, DG2, DG3, DG4 Leaves: GB3, TN1, DR1, DR2, DR4, DR6, DR7 Dress: DG2, TB1, IB1,IB2, TN1,EB2,EB3,DR1,DR2,DR6 Lips: CR3,CR4 Floor Dotted Leaves: DG2, DG3, IG10, BG4, TN6, DR4 Ground: GB3, GB4, GB6, GB9, TN1 BACKGROUND: IG ************************************************ ATTENTION ATTENTION ATTENTION!!! A special announcement! HAPPY BIRTHDAY ZOE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WHOOT WHOOT!!!!!!! WE WUV YOU Zoe!!!! We thought it would be fun to share the excitement of today and as a fun way to get everyone involved we have a surprise for you!! Check out this image especially drawn for Zoe by Little Miss Muffet Stamps which features a Sweetheart dress for any occasion with a festive Gumnut flower sun hat. The Zoe hatter image will be available as a freebie for today only in celebration for Zoe's Birthday!! How cool is that??!! If you want to play along, just email Barbara at [email protected] and as long as it's September 27th anywhere in the world then the offer is still open!! Share you're creations in the MIC FB Group too_ we'd love to see what you make! Well that's it for me today and I'll be back sooner then you know it. Thanks for all your love, Ruby CHALLENGES WHAT!!!!???? LOL! Oh yeah playing today!!!! Deep Ocean Challenge more than two colors. Umm yeah got the whole rainbow here. Crafty Sentiments Autumn colors

Explore Spectrum Noir's 201 photos on Flickr!

Basic Colored Pencils for Architecture Rendering by Arch Ian Jay Bantilan Colored Pencil Brands. One of the popular mediums in rendering is the colored pencils. It’s direct link to the graphi…

Real shade is not darker color, real shade is desaturated color. To create the desaturated colors that Copic Marker does not make, Vanilla Arts Company teaches Online Workshops using the underpainting method. Students learn to layer colors realistically rather than blend. Underpainting creates natur

Today the Copic Instructors in the US and Australia are doing a Blog Hop!!! We are excited to announce that Marianne Walker's new book ca...

I had many requests on how I made this "wallpaper" in Kk's bedroom. I think I had Sharpies and projectors on the brain during Creating with the Stars at East Coast Creative due to these projects submitted, shown here and here. Originally, I wanted to use fabric on the wall. Namely, Ikea's black, white, and green bird print that is not longer sold in stores, but I was not aware of that until I went to the store. I decided to use a projector and six Sharpie paint pens (please see note below). I traced some of the pattern on the wall. Instead of copying it exactly the way it was on yardage, I moved pieces around and traced what I liked and where I wanted them to go. Fairly easy, but it did take a toll on my wrist and shoulder. :) It took me a day to do the work, but I would recommend breaking it up a little to let your arm and hand rest. A steady hand will be your best friend to achieve good results. *Photos were taken with my phone. I was so focused on getting the room done during a short amount of time that tutorial photos were not at the forefront of my brain. But I think you get the idea. * TIP:: Do NOT use Sharpie's Flip Chart Permanent Marker. It will bleach the wall but was easily remedied with paint. (See note below.) I continued the process all around the window moving the projector when needed. I really loved how it turned out. It doesn't look like Sharpie either, and if I had some of you fooled, then your friends and neighbors will be fooled too. Update: Vintage Revivals has been using paint pens with much success lately. As I am not 100% sure what the markers will do later on, although I was able to cover it up with paint when I made a few mistakes, I would recommend following Mandi's advice and using the paint pens instead of markers just to be safe. I have replaced the word markers with paint pens for future readers. You can view the whole room makeover here, and the source list can be found here. xx nancy My quilting book released Sept. 24, 2015 and is on Amazon. Check it out!

Spring officially arrived this weekend and I be celebrating one of my favorite seasons with all kinds of projects in the weeks ahead. The first is a wreath made from recycled book pages that have been transformed into whimsical butterflies. I love butterflies they are little creatures full of the most amazing color, details and a true symbol of change. Did you know that butterfly wings are covered in tiny scales, each in a different color? Quite simply amazing if I may say so! Anyway...I digress...lets get started! Start with an old book- (I had one left over from my last event where we altered old encyclopedia pages) Draw an outline of a butterfly- this can be detailed and perfect or a simple doodle- it is up to you! Fill with paint. I used watercolors so that the words from my page would show through but you could also use acrylic paint, markers, colored pencils, etc. Create enough butterflies to fill the surface of your wreath. Cut out the butterflies, leaving a little bit of the extra page showing around the edges. Use strips of the pages to wrap around the wreath- I used tacky glue. Once the wreath is covered, begin to attach your butterflies to the surface of the wreath. I applied glue just down the middle of my butterfly and glued down. Layer and stack the butterflies along the entire surface. Bend and fold the wings to give more dimension. I make A LOT of stuff and so far this might be my favorite- it just make me smile!

Colouring skin stamped the image with Momento black ink now lets start these steps will add lots of shape in small area's must say sorry i gave you a wrong colour for cheeks it should read colour 137 firstly cover face in 132 then just on corners near bow and side of eyes from ears useing light flicking strokes starting at the edge and flicking inwards to eyes lay down more colour with 132 it will darken this area alittle then with 133 and small flicking strokes go all around the outside edges same as befor go from outside inwards dont cover all the area around the eyes with this colour here i used the CG2 with small dots go in to the areas near the ear hairline and at the bows and on underside of the chin to hand this will add shadows ...add the pink with small dots for cheeks ok i went out of the lines again!!!!!!!! how bad is that lol. finally go all over the whole area with 132 in light strokes add 0 to eye area and while wet add 143 just around the pupil all done... as you can see the colours on face are all dry now it has settled down to a even blend all over if you think your image looks blotchy leave it to dry go back all over with light strokes in 132 to even it out... but don't over work it. hope this helps with colouring in faces on Swalk Stamps i promise next time to stay in the lines lol thank you for dropping by hugs linda xxx

free step by step painting tutorial: How to paint flowers from imagination with acrylic ink on canvas and mixed media by Sandrine Pelissier

It was nice having a bit of a vacation, but it's back to the grind again. Today I wanted to talk about coloring simple pleats in fabric. Before I start I'd like you to review this post from last Fall on coloring pumpkins, since the wrinkles on pumpkins are similar to the pleats on a skirt. To correctly shadow pleats we are combining the technique for wrinkles on a pumpkin and coloring a cylinder. As we get into more complex shading we will be combining more of the basics, so be sure you've reviewed all the old shadow posts. Simple pleats I consider this a beginner technique because it is still pretty easy to understand, as long as you color in the right order. When working on coloring draped fabric, keep a couple things in mind: • Always color in the direction of the wrinkles- this helps use the natural streaks of the marker to accent your layers of cloth. • Work light to dark- it's easier to darken shadows than to leave highlights. • Crisp folds will leave crisp shadows, softer folds will cast softer, less defined shadows. First, I am coloring this pleated skirt (or tablecloth, depending on how you look at it) as if it were a basic cylinder. I am starting with R83 as my lightest color in the shadow sequence (if you don't understand how I choose colors, view this post). I pick where my light is coming from and I leave that side lighter and darken the other side of the skirt. Right now I'm not really worrying about the wrinkles in the fabric, but see that I am leaving white areas on the first and the second wrinkles. These stick out more, so they will get more light. Note how flat the picture looks when you only use one color. I know I have said this before, but the more colors you use, the more things will look like they pop out from the page. Now I can add my next darkest color, R85. Again, I'm not worrying too much about the wrinkles, except for leaving a few highlights of the lighter pink. Already with 2 colors my object doesn't look so flat, but the pleats aren't showing up much yet. If you look at the one wrinkle in the middle that I have darkened a bit you will see just how much it seems to pop out more than the other fabric wrinkles. Eventually all the wrinkles will jump out this much. Next I add my darkest pink, R89. Since this is my deepest shadow I need to start being careful about where I add it. Each time I add a darker color I am layering it on in feathered streaks from the edges towards the middle, along the wrinkle lines of the fabric. This looks more natural and the feathering keeps my edges soft, as these wrinkles are gentle. R89 is added only along the back edge of the shape and in the darkest wrinkle at this point. Now I look at my shape. Not bad, but I really want to pick out those darkest shadowed areas on the pleats. So I go back one last time and darken all the shadows between wrinkles. The first wrinkle is an area I colored with R83, so I darken it with R85. Same with the second wrinkle. The 3rd wrinkle is an area where I was switching between R83 and R85 so I shadow with R85 and touch of R89. My last wrinkle will be the darkest, so it is made with R89. If you compare the last two steps, do you see how much more the final example looks 3 dimensional? Shadows are the key to making an object pop off the page. For my final artwork today I colored the pleats on this cute cheerleader that I drew with a 0.25mm Multiliner SP on color laser copier paper. It's easy to tell where the light is coming from in this picture, and you can tell that the skirt curves around her waist, and that there are two layers of fabric. Look at the close-up of her skirt. One thing that I did differently is that a cheerleader skirt has very flat pleats, that are crisp on the edges. If you look closely at the shadowed areas you will see that I added an extra dark shadow line where the top pleat overlaps. This shadow line is very crisp and sharp, because the shadow created by the flat pleat is very crisp and clean. Our other skirt had much softer pleats, so I did not need to add this extra dark shadow, rather, I wanted those to be very soft.

What’s the best orange blending combination for Copic Marker beginners? I asked 3 talented instructors about which YR markers they recommend for first time colorers. Which offer the best value? Which are versatile to color many items? Which YRs do we teach with? Which oranges do we use most often in

Remember that feeling you had when you first learned to ride a bicycle? The speed, the wind in your face, the feeling that you’d fly to the moon if you could just pedal fast enough. You probably spent the entire summer riding up and down the street. That first burst of freedom is pure joy. Copic co

The leading name in spray paints, Molotow offer a range of high quality, fully intermixable spray paints and markers, set to transform any artists’ approach to acrylic painting. Explore the full range and discover how the Molotow can transform your practi

Do you rub and scrub and work really hard to make the blend smooth and it just doesn’t work? Are you beginning to think that you’ll never blend well? Hmmmm… Can I ask you a question?

The top pic is a progress photo when I was painting this. Silly me, I completely forgot to take a picture of the finished painting before I took it over to Tohono Chul gallery. Lucky for me, the very kind … Continue reading →

The most popular posts on my blog are my Copic colour combinations. I'm constantly updating my Copic Journal with more colour combinations so I thought I'd share some more pages that I've been adding in the last year. You can view my previous Copic Journal pages here: Copic Journal - R, YG and G combinations Copic Journal - Colourless Blender Copic Journal - Skin Colours 1 Copic Journal - Hair Colours 1 Copic Journal - More Colour Combinations - R, YG, G, B, BV, V I've also started a Copic page that has lots of information (and links to more information) on Copic markers. Here are some pages I've added to my journal in the last 12 months: (please see the posts above for other combinations - I have not repeated those pages here) R, YG and G combinations Image from Flourishes "Bloomin' Aussie Florals" B combinations Image from Our Daily Bread Designs "Butterfly Single" BV combinations Image from Our Daily Bread Designs "Butterfly Single" V combinations Image from Our Daily Bread Designs "Butterfly Single" Skin Combinations (my favourite is the * one) Template from Copic Oz website Hair combinations (one of my favourites is the top right one) Templates from Copic Oz website and from Copic Colouring Book E and YR combinations (good for terracotta pots / clay items etc) Fairy wing / Two-tone combinations (these are not blended but flicked in from either side) Higher contrast combinations Image Mo Manning - Tropfish 2 Thanks for looking and be sure to check out my Copic page.

Do you fly solo? Most colorers learn to color from other colorers, and this leads to a lot of segregated thinking in the coloring world. "Today's tutorial demonstrates how to color magical unicorns with Copic Markers. Tune in tomorrow when we color tropical fish with Distress Ink. Next week,

Want to make your artwork look more realistic? Highlighting and shading in the right places can help accomplish that. #highlightpainting #shadepainting #artwork

Hello Hello, me again Copic lovers! Franz from Italy with a new image totally coloured with my copics. I've a lovely Saturated Canary image called "Narwhal Love", I swear (poor me!), I've never seen this lovely animal before! So I googled it and I found lots of images and I found him too cute! I used the no lines technique, I've lot of fun with it and I think it fits very well to Krista's images. The tip I can tell you about no lines colouring is always starting with the face and draw the eyes of the character with a copic multiliner (I use a 0,05) and having the same character normally printed out or on your pc video to see the lines and follow them better :) The papers I used for my card are from Maja Design and My Mind's Eye, all the embellishments are from The Ribbon Girl. Here is the complete list of Copics markers I've used: Skin: E0000-E000-E00-E11-E13 +R20 and prismacolor pencil for cheecks; Hair/Shoew: E00-E13-E15-E18-E29; Eyes: Multiliner Black 0,05; Lips: R20-R81-R83-R85; Outfit: White: W1-W3 Pink: RV000-RV10-RV000-R81-R83-R85-R89 Green: G12-G24-G67 Blue-Violet: BV000-BV00-BV01-BV02-BV04; Narwhal: BG000-BG01-BG05-Y11-Y000-Y15-Y23; Floor: 0-E40-E70-E71-E74. Let's try the no lines colouring technique! thanks for stopping by, speak soon :) Franz.

Add realism to Copic Marker blends by underpainting with complementary or opposite colors. Power Poppy’s guest author Amy Shulke from VanillaArts.com offers a fresh perspective on blending combinations. Gray marker neutralizes vibrant orange pencils, perfect for shading heirloom pumpkins. Silvered P

5"x7" colored pencil on tan paper www.bryandrinkscoffee.blogspot.com

How about a couple of Brunette Hair Colors today. I love both of these. The order I colored them: On top: E27, E19, E17 On Bottom: E47, E57, E34 But I think the top one is my favorite. It has red. I have one more page of hair colors, then it's on to something else. I need to decide how I'm going to put my coloring book together. Maybe some rings and ribbon. Oh and I have to look for a new picture so I can start a new page. These decisions are so tough! Thanks for stopping by. See you next time! P.S. Image can be found over at Saturated Canary Digi's. Krista has a bunch of fabulous images.

CalligraFun Class $45 Scroll down the right side of the blog to find the thumbnail image. Learn to use Zig markers to create fun calligraphy-like letterforms to be used on your journal pages, envelopes, cards,scrapbook titles and much more. Wow your friends and family with your fancy and fun writing! <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Italic Calligraphy $55 Scroll down the right side of the blog to find the thumbnail image. This class will start you with the correct foundation beginning at step one to help you become a calligrapher. I will take you through the tools to use and lots of tips that took me years to figure out. Calligraphy is a dying art and once you learn the letterforms and as you practice you will see improvement quickly. It is a wonderful art. $55 <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Color Drop Flowers $30 Scroll down the right side of the blog to find the thumbnail image. What is more fun that painting a garden of happy little flowers? You will learn how to use an Oriental Sumi brush to create pedals and leaves and learn fun techniques to make flowers that will make you smile every time. You can put them in your journal, on cards, or as decoration for anything you want to add a little happiness. And at this special price you will get far more than you pay for. Here is a video of the supplies: http://www.youtube.com/user/marthalever#p/u/0/6cRwY5vHxoM And some yellow flowers growing fast: http://www.youtube.com/user/marthalever#p/u/1/rDQQvlf5GW4 "PAINTING POPPIES" NEW!! Paint some Poppies with loose fun strokes and create your own Poppy garden. It is fun and easy and ..it makes you happy!! Scroll down the right side of the blog to find the thumbnail image. "Pear-ology" The Study of Watercolor Pears $45 Scroll down the right side of the blog to find the thumbnail image.

I think more than anything else, people ask me how I do my crayon method of quilting. I thought I had explained it many times, but perhaps once more is needed for understanding. I have done several of these quilts. Some have had borders and some not. Some even had trapunto. Lately, I have been just making up a design on paper and doing rather simple things. I think the addition of buttons add a lot and maybe the quilts look fancier because of them, who knows? So, I will try to explain the method again. Unfortunately, I don't have pictures to go along with all the directions. First, take a plain white sheet of paper and make a design that is pleasing to you. Make sure that you have used most of the paper because any areas left unsewn later, might gap. Do your drawing to scale. (In other words, make the drawing as big as you want your crayon quilt top to be excluding any borders you might want to add later.) This is mine. I called this one, "Bloomin'" Note that I left several areas with circles. I do circles to represent where I will place my buttons later although sometimes I do color those spaces too. When you are satisfied with your drawing, go over it with a black sharpie pen. This is so you will see the design through your white fabric. Now, iron and cut a piece of white fabric 1/2 inch bigger than your drawing. (Lengthwise and widthwise). This is in case things are not exactly even when you are done quilting it. When you are done, take your fabric and lay it over the darkened drawing, making sure the drawing is centered. Now, trace your design onto your fabric lightly with pencil. When you are done, take a piece of freezer paper the size of your fabric and iron the shiny side of the paper to the backside of your traced design. This is to give the fabric the stability to color on it without the fabric wrinkling. Using your Crayola crayons (at least that's the brand I use), color the fabric staying in your penciled lines. When you are satisfied, remove the freezer paper, and take the colored piece to your ironing board. Cover it with a cheap piece of muslin and without going back and forth, iron the piece section by section until you smell wax. This is making the crayon a permanent part of the fabric. If you want to add borders, now is the time to trim the front and add them because the next step is to make a quilt sandwich. I use a free motion (or darning) foot and use #30 weight black thread to outline my drawing once I have everything together. (I use 505 spray adhesive, so no need to worry about pins.) And when I'm done, and have added my buttons, it looks like this: This is one of two with flowers that I did recently. The other one I sold to the craft coordinator for Blumenthal Lansing Co. (The biggest button distributor in the world). It will be on display in their booth at the quilt show in February so look for it there. The one above was done for a swap. It's already sent, but the recipient hasn't gotten it yet. Won't she be surprised? I made one more for that swap. It's not my usual style to be sure, but I thought I might be able to fool the group into thinking it was someone else'. I was wrong! I called this one, "Touch of Asia." Check out that 1/8 inch straight line quilting. I thought I'd never get done!! Good thing I have a big stash of white thread, huh? So, that's the scoop for today! Not much else new here! Until next time.....

“Ink Frog” is a new ONLINE class from VanillaArts.com. The Art of Coloring series of broadcasts can be watched live or later. We’re challenging intermediate level colorers with new art concepts. Learn Mother Nature’s alternative to Copic blending plus the secret to friendly expressions and shiny ski

Get easy tips for drawing with watercolor markers to create paintings.

Learn how to color skin tones with colored pencils or markers with these 10 video tutorials. Learn new blending techniques and handy tips for coloring skin.

International Polymer Clay Association Retreat in Columbus Ohio