Krafty Tips and tutes - A magical outer space sky

Hello Krafty Friends! Krafty Girl Danielle C here today to share with you a tutorial on how I colored a magical out of space sky.

the stamps sets I used for this card were:

Out of this world

Blast off

(sentiment) Party Time Sentiment

and the Star Burst Stencil which will soon be back in stock.

You will need the following inks:

Stormy Sky

Magical Midnight

Sparkling Sapphire

Bubbly Blue

I mostly use brushes to get the subtle pastel look.

I used gloss heavy gel to which I added lots of glitters with the stencil.

My first step was to stamp all my images, make masks for each of them.  I usually color my images first, and do my background after, but you can choose to do otherwise, if you feel more comfortable.

Since I fussycut my masks, I make sure that they are positioned slightly behind the line of the image, this prevents leaving a white space between the image and the background, especially when the image is already colored.
I would like to draw your attention on the paper you will be using to stamp your images. Each paper has its own particularities. The intensity of the color obtained with the ink might be different depending on the type of paper. In the following example, I have used Bristol Velum, as it is my favorite color for crayons. Bristol velum is a heavy  weight paper, perfect for dry media, because of this, it will take me more coats of ink,  especially with brushes which tend to spread lightly. this is a matter of personal choice, as I have more success with brushes than sponges!

Inking:  I start with my darkest color, Stormy Sky, applying ink in thin coats with the brush, in vertical strokes, as I don't want any texture in my sky so close to the planet and characters. I will repeat until I get the desired intensity.

My second color will be Magical Midnight, which is a slightly lighter shade of blue. I will overlap my first color to blend nicely, extend further up, ending very lightly, cause my next color will not be such a deep blue. I will repeat until I get the shade I want, 

Next color will be Sparkling Sapphire. I suggest to brush thoroughly on an extra paper to remove the dark pigments of previous colors, if you do not have extra brushes. For this color, I will make my strokes round to create a vaporous effect in the sky, as I am going further upin the background. Again, I repeat until I get the desired intensity, overlaping on the previous blue to blend nicely.

Finally, I will apply my last color the very pale Bubbly blue, overlapping the Sparkling sapphire. I have a brush dedicated for this blue, as it is so light I do not want it altered. If you don't have an extra brush, again, make sure you clean the previous color, or use a sponge, as I showed in the picture.

I made the starry sky, a few stars at a time, repositioning the stencil where I wanted big stars, medium size ones, or tiny ones, making sure that they were dried before I made another batch.

When I finished my stars, I applied another layer of ink, to emphasize the blue sky.

and voilà the end result. You can use this technique creating different intensities.  I love creating a vignetting around my images, by using my darkest blues and brushed the corners and the upper part of the image.  It gives a sense of bringing everything together. Of course, I applied Stickles all over the image!

Thank you for letting me share this coloring tip with you. I hope you have enjoyed the process! and that it will give you pley of ideas to create fun backgrounds!

Stay safe and Kraft a lot!

Happy Coloring!

Krafty Tips and Tuts

Good morning everyone!

Krafty Girl Melany here with an ink blending Tips and Tuts!

Today, I'm going to show you some of my favorite tips for ink blending with stencils.

For color blending, I like to use my trusty Strathmore Mixed Media cardstock

I cut 2 3x5 1/2 rectangles (I want to make 2 tags)

Did you know that when doing them by yourself, cutting one corner, then flipping it over and taking it as a guide is the easiest way to have even sides

Choosing 2 color combos. One tone on tone and one more colorful. On the colorful one, you have to avoid to put two colors that will produce mud. Here, on my second tag, I separated the green and the pink. Yellow blends well with those two colors. On the first tag, I used SALTY SEA, LOVELY LAGOON and MERMAID MELODY. On the second tag, I used CHARMING CHARTREUSE, MORNING MARIGOLD and RASBERRY ROSE

I always start from he outside to the inside, and always from the lightest to the darkest

I put a few coats of inks, until they blend like I want them to

Time for stencils. I like to do tone on tone or choose one of the color (usually the darker one). On the first tag, I used LOVELY LAGOON for stenciling

I used TRIPPY TRIANGLES and PARTY TIME BANNERS

I like to outline my stenciling. I find that it makes it pop

Inking the edges in black ties everything together

I don't always add splatters, but when I do, I do it before adding my sentiment or my focal image

Time for sentiments. I used the PARTY TIME SENTIMENT stamp set

What I like about this stamp set, it's that it's so versatile! One stamp set, two tags, two different looks!

The sentiment on the left have been stamp with LOVELY LAGOON and the one on the right have been emboss

Inking reinforcers to make the match the tags. I outline thme to make them pop just a bit

Time for final touches like twine, ribbons, KRAFTY DOTS

...and...we're done! Here's the final result

I can't wait to see your ink blending projects!

Have a great day!

Krafty Tips and Tuts - A Sloth Video !

Hello everyone! Krafty Girl Delphine here today to share a video tutorial on how I colour cute sloths and how you can get rid of the white background by adding a touch of colour in a very easy way. 

The stamp set I'm using today is A SLOTHSOME DAY, from our latest release.

I recorded the colouring of the whole card and, even if I sped it up a little, you can hopefully see the way I added colour around the edges of my card using very light-coloured Copic Markers and my two examples of sloths to maybe give you some inspiration to colour yours!

Here is the final card and a recap of all the colours I used :

Sloths : E33/35, Y28, YR30, 31, W0, 2, 4, 6

Branches : E35, 39, 59
Leaves: G24, 28, YG01

Background: BG10, 11

Thanks for stopping by and happy colouring! Hugs,
Delphine xx

KRAFTY TIPS AND TUTES - Zoodles card

Hello Krafty Friends!

Krafty Girl Danielle C here today inviting you to follow me in  making a cute card with the brand new ZOODLE stamp set from Neda Sadreddin.

Following is a list of everything I used.

Bristol Velum Paper

Polychromos Pencils : 

Red: 225-142-126-121-189-140

green: 267-266-171-205

Y-ellow/Brown: 175-176-182-108-184

Black,  white

cold greys: 230-232-234-235

warm greys: 270-272-274

Kraftin' Kimmie Hybrid inks:

Crisp Crimson, Morning Marigold, Yummy Yellow, Party Peach (stamping image)

Confetti Stecil
Party time Krafty Dots

Coloring Process
From left to right: Step 1: shadow mapping with darkest red ( 225) ; Step 2:  shading and blending with 142 and 126, I also added black in the nose area, mouth and eyes; Step 3: I continue extending my colors towards the center with softer reds (121 and 189). for the mouth area I used a blend of warm greys, starting with the darkest to the lightest getting close to the nose area. Step 4: The eyes are colored with blends of  cold grey, starting with the darkest where the two eyes meet, and getting lighter towards the pupil and the remaining part of the eyes. Same with the two little horns (called ossicones). 

I chose to color the patches in green, to keep a certain harmony  with the parrot.

I fussycut my images.

The colors I used for the parrot.

Background Process
Creating a background is a fun way to get creative! I used the lovely Confetti Stencil  with the Yummy Yellow, Morning Marigold and Crisp Crimson inks. I brushed the colors starting with the red in the middle, it took a few repetition to get the shade I wanted. I let the ink dry, and applied the Morning Marigold, on both sides of the red, ending with a slight stroke to bring the Yummy Yellow softer shade. Then I positioned my stencil at the top only, brushed slightly a coat of red close to the red area and gradually went very light towards the top, to be able to add Morning Marigold darker at first, and very light towards the top of the paper. Then, I inked all borders with Morning Marigold followed by Crisp Crimson.  Of course... I had to add stickles !!!!

I then matted my background on a red cardstock, placed it on the base of my card; I positioned my letters, leaving space for the giraffe in the middle, then placing my parrot on top of the "S".  I thought there was something missing in the right corner, so I colored a blue-green monkey offering the banana to the giraffe.. who looks pretty surprised, all this on the eyes of Mr. Parrot!  Perhaps bananas are not part of her diet!!!

et voilà.....

Hope you have enjoyed the process! and that will give you plenty of ideas to create fun cards with ZOODLES and any other fantasy creatures from the
KRAFTIN KIMMIE COLLECTION!
Stay Safe!
Kraft a lot!
KEEP SMILING!

Krafty Tips and Tuts

Good morning everyone!

Krafty Girl Melany here to share with you my layout process using YOU GIVE ME WINGS, FURRY HOLIDAY WISHES stamps set, some KRAFTY DOTS and WICKED BLACK Krafty Kolour.

First, I try to grab anything I could use for this layout. I kind of make a mini-kit.

Then, I make my KKS embellishments; this time, I used 2 fairies from YOU GIVE ME WINGS and 2 sentiments from FURRY HOLIDAY WISHES.

But first, lets start with those 2 cute fairies.

I colored their faces with E50, E51, E53, E02, E04

Then, colored their hairs with E31, E33, E35, E37

For their wand, I used YG00, YG21, YG 23

Time for their dresses and wings with BG10, BG32, BG13, BG18, R20, R22, R24, R29

Now, let's get some definition and sparkles

Fussy cutting and outlining with a brush marker

Time for those 2 sentiments

I cut them and colored them with the same colors as the wands. Added some sparkles and definitions too

My KKS embellishments are done. Now, let's work on the picture cluster. I matted my photo with some assorted paper. I tried to find colors and patterns that fit with my background. I chose some reds and turquoises. For more textures, I like to tear my papers with my ruler instead of cutting them.  I machine stitched my title. I outlined all the layers.

I machine stitched a border at the top and the bottom of the page

Now, the embellishing part!

I made my 2 KKS embellishments clusters. One at the bottom and one at the top of the picture. It makes a diagonal line that draws your eyes throught the picture

Twine is one of my favorite thing to add to a layout to add some interest and texture

Time for little embellishments; flair badge, puffy stickers...

Final touches: Krafty dots, black doodling and journaling

VOILÀ! My layout is done! Here's the final product. I hope you'll try to add some KKS to your layout! They add so much whimsy and fun

Happy Krafting!

Melany