Tuesday, May 31, 2016

Flowers of the Month: Roses

Happy June!

Summer has finally made it to upstate New York.  As I type, it is 90 degrees outside.  Our dogs are basking in the sun while Ryan and I hide in the slightly cooler shade.

This month we are celebrating Roses are Lila Grey Stamps.   When I think about roses, my mind also jumps to red.   My first thought was to go with the classic red, but I changed my mind when I was looking through my paper selection.  I found this redish-pink card stock.  I  thought it would be fun to color the roses to match.

I chose to use copic markers R00, R10, R20, R22.  These are much pinker reds than I would normally imagine for a rose.  If you want a deep red.  Try using R24, R29, R39, R59.

When shading, I kept the darker colors towards the center of the flower.  I did this because I feel less light would penetrate into the center parts of the flower.  I also worked the colors dark to light.  Reds tend to saturate the card stock quickly and bleed.  Coloring dark to light uses less ink and helps prevent the ink from wandering.

I hope you enjoy this card.  I hope you will go to the Lila Grey Stamps and pick up Roses image.




Copics

Red: R00, R10, R20, R22
Green: YG61, YG63, YG67, G99
Yellow: Y17

Monday, May 30, 2016

Herd It is Your Birthday

Hello friends,

I'm hope you are enjoying the long weekend.  My family and I are celebrating at the lake today!!   It is Ryan's first full weekend at the lake.   I'm so excited to share this place with him.  It holds a special place in my heart.

I made this card this past week.  I'm so glad I finally got to use my cow background stamp.  I bought it not having a clue if I'd ever use it or not.  Somehow... I felt I couldn't live without it.  It is a relief to see it all inked up!!

 I did some fancy cropping to get his tail to stick off the matte.  I wish it didn't blend in so much with the background.



Copics
Pink: R00, R01, R02, R12, R22
Black: C9, C7, C5, C3
Shadows: C1, C0
Yellow: Y13, Y15, Y17
Red: R05, R08
Blue: B00, B02, B05
Gold: R17, Y26
Brown: E21, E23, E25
Ground: assorted brown
Green: YG03, YG06, YG09, G94, YG67
Face on the cow: E000, E00, R11

Tuesday, May 24, 2016

Nine Lives

Hello all!

A good friend of mine was going through a rough time recently.  Thankfully the worst seems to be behind them. I wanted her to know that my thoughts are with her.

She loves cats.... I thought this sentiment was purrfect!!
I saw the layout for this card on MFT blog, but I changed the colors around to make it my own.



Copics used:
Wood: E30, E31, E33, E35
Red: R14, R24, R29, R39
Yellow Cat: YR20 YR21, YR23, E50, E53, R20
Grey Cat: C5, C3, C1, E50, E53, R20
White gel pen

Monday, May 16, 2016

Baby Update


Hello all,

Can you believe that my little baby is 1 month old today?!!!  Parents say it all the time, but the are not kidding. Time does fly by.   I've been so blessed to have received so many well wishes.  I thought I'd send out a quick update.

The baby is doing well.  He is having some normal baby digestive issues.   We are working through them...but in the meantime.... it has greatly reduced the amount of sleep Mom is getting.   Hopefully, we will out grow them soon!

I'm still recovering from the C-section. I'm doing better and better each day.   Connor and I have started going out for walks.   They are challenging, but I'm getting stronger each time.    I'm still managing to sneak in some crafting time.  I'll keep posting cards as I get them finished.  As I get used to this "new normal" I expect to continue posting on a regular basis.

 Lastly....here are some photos from our first month...  





 
Thanks for all the support.  I'm looking forward to seeing what the next month brings...

Wednesday, May 11, 2016

A Cool Day

Hello all,

As you know I'm in love with Rainbows lately.  They are just so happy!!   When I was scrolling through pintrest I saw a card with a penguin standing in front of a row of rainbow balloons.  It immediately caught my attention.  I didn't have the stamps to make a exact copy of the card, but I foraged through my collection and come up with my own version.





Copics used:

Penguin: C10, C7, C5, C3, C2, RV10, Y11, Y13, 0
Pink: RV69, RV19, RV06, RV04
Red: R59, R29, R24, R22
Orange: YR07, YR04, Y17
Yellow: Y17, Y15, Y11
Green: YG09, YG06, YG03, YG00
Lt. Blue: B000, B00, B02, B05
Dk. Blue: B26, B23, B21
Purple: V12, V15, V17
Lt. Purple: RV95, RV93, RV91
Ground: W5, W3, W1, 0

Monday, May 9, 2016

Happiness Rains Down

Hello all,

Today I'm sharing a card make over.  I colored this image a few years ago.   We had daffodils come up by our house this year... it inspired me to find dig out some daffodil stamps and ink them up.  

I'm in love with how it turned out!  I hope to color up one more daffodil image to share.  Such a beautiful flower!!





Copics used:
Yellow: Y00, Y11, Y13, Y15, Y17, E13
Mouse: E000, E00, E93, E30, E31, E33, E35
Green: YG61, YG63, YG67, G99
Blue: B01, B00
Shadows: BV20, BV23


Here are the pictures of the original card I made years ago... just further proof that we are always improving. 







Wednesday, May 4, 2016

Flower of the Month: Daisy

Hello friends!

This post is a bit late.  It was supposed to debut last month, but I was busy having a baby last month.  There were a few things that got missed in the shuffle.  We are adjusting and hopefully, I'm re-learning how to budget my time.  I hope you will forgive me.

One of my favorite flowers are Daisies.  They are so incredibly happy!   You can find this adorable digi stamp at in the Lila Grey shop.   I love how fast this was to color!  It is perfect when you need a super cute card quickly!!

This digi is very simple, but it doesn't mean there isn't a lot of detail.  Each petal casts a shadow on its neighboring petal.  When you are coloring this image be sure to pay attention to those tiny details.  It will bring this beautiful flower to life!  I wanted something bright and cheerful, so I colored my daisy in pinks.  The colors are listed below.

Happy Coloring,
Chris




Copics used:
Pink: RV10, RV11, RV14, RV17
Green: G21, G28
Yellow: Y11, Y13, Y15, E13

Monday, May 2, 2016

Flower of the Month: Lily of the Valley

Happy May Day!

I'm so excited that May is officially here.   April was a really snowy month here in upstate New York.  I think we can finally say goodbye to winter and welcome the warmer weather!!  WHOO-HOO.

This month we are celebrating Lily of the Valley flowers here at Lila Grey.    Lisa drew a elegant, but simple version of these flowers.   Since they are traditionally white I chose to focus the color on the background rather than the flower.  It really helps the flowers pop!

The colors I used are listed below.  The biggest trick to getting the sky to look right is work quickly so the "edges" of your coloring do not dry.  If part of your coloring does dry before finishing it will create streaks.  These are really hard to remove.

Happy Spring!!




Copics used:
Sky: B95, B93, B91, B52, B21, B00, B000
Green: G00, G02, G05, G07, G19
Grey: W3, W1, 0