Another Birthday?!

My sister raises miniature goats on her farm, and the little kids are just adorable. They hop and jump all around the pen and will even leap onto your lap or, should you be careless enough to bend over, your back!

Digital Stamps:

Birthday Balloons

Carla added "strings" to the balloon images from the new Bountiful Balloons set of digital stamps, using a fine line, black pen. She coloured the images with pencils, fussy cut, and then popped them up for some extra dimension.

Carla's Blog

Party Time!

After colouring and fussy cutting my line of balloons, I attached them with foam tape to a solid black background, which provides a fabulously high contrast and makes the colours pop. Some dots of white Nuvo enamel break up the colour and help to add a celebratory feel. 

Digital Stamps:

Tutorial - Blending Two Colours

Today I want to share the technique I use when blending two different colours together, in this case, a blue and a green. The technique would be similar for most other colour combinations, but always do a test run before starting on the final piece.

Start by stamping your image on a suitable piece of cardstock with the appropriate ink. I'm colouring with alcohol markers so I've chosen a piece of blending card and a water-based ink pad, which is light in colour for a "no-line" result.

I'm using four shades of green and five shades of blue to colour the little pterodactyl, as well as the 0 blending pen. I'll also add some pink and yellow to his hat and streamer for a bit of contrast. 

Start by mapping out the colours. I want him to have a green beak, stomach and tops of his wings, so that's where I'm adding my lightest shade of green. Then I colour the rest of his body with the lightest shade of blue, overlapping and blending the colours where they touch.

Come back in with the lightest green to blend the colours a little more. It's important to use colours that are around the same shade and intensity rather than one really dark and one really light.

(In cases where you want to mix a light and a dark, you'll need to bring them both to about the same tone - but that's for another tutorial).

Add the darkest green to the shadow areas of the image, keeping it in the "green places". Blend the shadows out with the remaining markers until you come back to the original colour.

Now repeat the process with the blue areas. Again, you'll want your darker blue markers to be around the same tones as your green ones as they will need to blend together where the colours meet. For example, under the wing and around the bottom of the belly.

You can blend the dark blues with the dark greens, or the medium blues with the medium greens. If you're using alcohol based markers, be careful not to blend a colour that is several tones lighter into one that is darker or you'll break up the pigment and end up with a mottled appearance.

Time to colour the rest of your image, starting with the eyes. I'm using two of the greens as well as a fine point black pen for the pupil. Don't forget to add a little spot of bright white to help give life to the eyes.

Some pink and yellow markers add a nice contrast and an extra pop of colour.

Stamps:

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No rainchecks. No repeats.

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digital stamps

Available for a Short Time

They shall grow not old,

as we that are left grow old;

Age shall not weary them,

nor the years condemn.

At the going down of the sun

and in the morning

We will remember them.

Old Goat's Club

Judy has used the Goat Club set of digital stamps to create two fun birthday cards with a cheeky twist. She kept the colour schemes quite minimal for a fantastically coordinated look that's suitable for just about anyone.

Judy's Blog

A Good Day To Be Happy

To create the "confetti" for my happy little elephant, I used markers to add dots around the background then circled each one with a fine line pen. Alternatively, you could use small stamps, patterned paper, or even little hand-drawings to suit the theme you're after.

Stamps:

G.O.A.T.

Gotta G.O.A.T. in your life? Here's a cute alternative to a thank you card, or even a quirky way to let someone special know what they mean to you.

Digital Stamps:

Hooray!

Kathy has very cleverly "tied" balloons to each letter of the large sentiment she placed at the bottom of her card, using a black pen. She also added some light grey shadows to the sentiment and balloons from the new Bountiful Balloons set to give them a 3D effect.

Kathy's Blog

Balloon Banner

A little glossy accents goes a long way!

Check out that fabulous shine.

Digital Stamps:

Goat Club

Carla has coloured two of the images from the new Goat Club set of digital stamps to create her cards. As you can see from the photos, she added lots of beautiful texture to give the impression of hair, and carefully followed the growth pattern for a more realistic look.

Carla's Blog