Capt. Walen

Can't believe another month has just flown by.  But that means it's time for the Dude Time Doodles New Release Blog Hop!  There are some great new images this month and I'm sure you'll find one or two (or all) that you've just got to have.  All the images will be available at the store by 10am EST.

I've chosen Captain Walen and he was a dream to color.  I created a bookmark for my father-in-law as he loves to read.  (Too bad I didn't have a copy of Moby Dick laying around :-).)  He's colored with Copic markers, fussy cut, and his boots have been given a good coating of Glossy Accents to keep them waterproof.  The background was created using the Marbling Stains technique from the Tim Holtz Creative Chemistry online class (I think you can still register for it, if interested) and some rubber stamps from Blockheads Paper Arts and Stampers' Anonymous.  Creative Inspiration paints (pink highlights) was painted on the fish for an iridescent look (although it's hard to tell in the photo).

You should have arrived here at Anne-Made from the Dude Time Doodles challenge blog, but don't stress if you didn't.  The Dude Time Doodles blog hop is a circular hop - no beginning or end.  Just keep going until you have visited all of the Dude and Dudettes.  Be sure to leave a comment with each one of us as one of the design team members is the Mystery Host/Hostess and the winner will be chosen from that person's comments.  Now it's time to head on over to Michelle.  Here's a quick list of all the stops.

ANNE  (that's me)

MICHELLE

RUTH

CG

DAWN

SHARON

KEVIN

JUDY

TAMMY

DUDE TIME DOODLES

Copics used: B24, B26, B37, B39, Y13, Y15    BG10, BG11, BG13, BG15, BG23   C1, C4, C6    E33, E34, E39, E27    N4, N6, N8, N9    W3, W5, W7    EOO, E01, E13, E15    E97, E99, E09

Francesca

Happy 2012! I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and a happy and fun New Year.  This is Francesca from Paper Makeup Stamps and she's already to begin the new year with a martini and dancing.  She's also ushering in the Digi Makeover Challenge for this week and it's a sketch challenge.

I tried a new technique for the background of the card and it's super easy and fun to do.  I read about the idea here (thanks Stacey!).  I changed up her directions just slightly, but the basics are the same.  I inked up an older background rubber stamp (from Cornish Heritage Farms) with Versamark and stamped it onto glossy paper.  Next, I chose Various reinkers (Copic refills) in the same colors that I used for Francesca's dress and pounced and swirled (tumbled glass technique) until I was happy with it.  The Versamark acts as a resist and stays white.  If you look closely, you can see bits of the tiny flowers and vines peeking through here and there.  It's very subtle, but such a fun way to make your own backgrounds.  I did the same technique on the borders, but it's especially hard to capture it on the photo in the lighter pink.  The borders are a Heartfelt Creations die (made by Spellbinders) that has two different cuts on either edge and I just alternated which edge went where.

You have one week to show us your take on the sketch.  All the rules are at the Digi Makeover Challenge blog, but the main one is that you must use a digital image.  While you're there, be sure to check out what the other Digi Makeover Artists have created for you.

Copics used: YR21, YR23, YR 24    BG000    R81, R83, R85, R99    E43, E34

Sanded Color Block technique

Edited:  My card won the challenge

I had a little time today to play with my rubber stamps, plus I wanted to participate in the Blockheads Paper Arts technique challenge blog hop which ends Saturday.  The technique is the Sanded Color Block with Distress Stains technique and you can find the directions here.

It's a pretty easy technique to do, but my thumbs wouldn't allow me to place as much pressure as I would have liked on the bone folder to burnish the image into the glossy paper.  The embossing was easier to see before I stamped my final image.  Next time I think I'll use a smaller, or partial, image.  Always learning :-) .

You can see the embossing better in the second photo.  Both the image (Just Believe) and the ticket stub (Odds and Ends) are from Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous and the embossing folder was Snow Flurries from Sizzix/Tim Holtz.  The Distress Stains used were Tumbled Glass, Faded Jeans, Chipped Sapphire,  Fired Brick, Wild Honey, Dusty Concord.

I'll have another project coming up Monday where I used the same sanding/embossing technique (but I didn't color block) and the results are a little cleared since the image doesn't cover the entire area.

You still have a little bit of time to participate.  Here's the link for the blog hop: