Monday 23 May 2011

Stamping heaven

Saturday finally arrived and I drove down to Ashford in Kent to attend the 1 day Lili of the Valley colouring day. You can see some extra photos on the post I have linked to. I had been so looking forward it.  This was essentially a "master class" for learning tips from the experts (Bev and Jacqui) on how to colour stamped images used in paper crafting.  Now I have several great blogging friends in the States who are the most talented artists (hello Michele, Linda, Bethanie, Shirley et al !) and I marvel at the images they produce. I however, have the colouring talents of a child, I joke not.

Well what a day it was....absolutely brilliant. I will show how I achieved this but just look below at one of my end results.....





The venue was the Ashford International Hotel. My drive took me about 1 1/4 hours and when I arrived I found the room set up with tables sitting 6 work to on. 40 lovely ladies had enrolled for the day. As in the blogging world there are such kind, friendly people out there in the card making world and everyone was genuinely so looking forward to the day.

There was a little shop set up next door to the working room with all the stamps, markers etc for sale. What was even better was that we were given 10% off all our purchases that day.

We were all given a great goody bag with lots of crafty treats in to take home with us.


The shop set up
The shop was open all day so there were lots of opportunities to part with our money. Lili of the Valley produce the most lovely stamps and we were even given a sneak peak of the new summer range being released in a few weeks time.
After meeting and greeting we went to start the class.


Each place was set up with a stamped image. The first we tried was a fairly simple image of a Christmas teddy. We all had an outline stamp of the teddy which had been stamped onto white card. The talented tutors Bev and Jacqui  showed us how to build up the colours and blend them. At first I felt quite nervous at doing this but it was incredible to see how it works.









This was my first image. He is not that great but for a first effort I was more than pleased. I regarded him as my test piece where I was learning the techniques of shading.

We then moved onto a slightly more complex stamp which was a boy themed stamp shown below.















Here I have started to blend his skin tones. We then worked through adding colour to his little boat and then to his clothing.













And here he is all finished. I started to understand more about making images appears more rounded by also using oil based pigment pencils to finish off. These made such a difference and really made the image start to jump out of the page.

All this work made us hungry so then it was time for a well deserved lunch break. We had an excellent lunch provided by the hotel. After lunch it was time to move on to some more complex images and the first we worked on was a boy and girl "love" image.










We worked through blending the flesh tones, clothes and the tree in the same way as we had with the other images. It was fascinating to see the images gradually come alive.
It was also interesting to see how different everyone's final images looked, every person had a slightly different end result despite using the same colours to work with. We all had our own colouring "personalities".

Below are the stages I worked through...





......until I had completed the final stage. I really love this image and in fact I bought this stamp as I will be able to use it in my card making for lots of occasions..Valentine's, birthdays, anniversary......

By now we were all getting a little more confident with our colouring skills and the last image we worked on was a really sweet fairy.



                                                     I really think she is such a cutie!

 So there we are, my day's work and I now have 4 gorgeous images to make up into some cards. I shall keep you "posted" as to when I have made cards using them and I will show you the end results on my blog. I may even start adding some of these cards to my Etsy shop. I also now have the confidence to apply my colouring skills to all the other stamps I already own.

I will enjoy being able to bring my stamps to life in a way that, up until now, I never could. It really was a day spent in stamping heaven.

Bye for now,

Jane x

21 comments:

  1. Well what do you know Jane, you've now found something else you're good at!!!! How brilliant are your little images, I love them all especially the teddy, I think he's so cute.
    I'm really impressed and all this after one class, well done. :)
    Vivienne x

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  2. OMGoodness!! I love what you did!! You are very artistic to blend the colors so beautifully. Bravo, my dear!! ((hugs)), Teresa :-)

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  3. What a lovely day you had Jane, and how much you achieved too! The colour blending is wonderful and really brings the little stamped images to life - and neatly done too! Now you have discovered this technique it will be hard to stop! Have a happy week.
    Helen x

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  4. LOL Vivienne,you are always so kind with your comments :0) I am really enjoying this new side to my card making! Thanks so much,
    Jane x

    *******************
    Thanks SO much Teresa, it was such a great day and the tutors were wonderful.
    Jane x

    *********************

    It was a lovely fun day Helen. I have already made up 2 cards and I am really pleased with how they turned out.(will show them on my blog soon) I shall find it very hard to stop using them and colouring is so relaxing too!
    Jane x

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  5. Hi Jane, That sure looks like a great full day in stamping heaven. Your finished projects really look professional!
    I couldn't make it out are they pencils or markers. Love the blending affect especially on the roses. Great job and so nice to learn and master a new medium. This will really be useful in your card making. Such fun!
    xoRobin❤

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  6. Hi Robin, unbelievably it is both....the pens are alcohol based and the pencils used for accenting are an oil based pigment.I will be using them a lot, just wish I could afford more colours...there are over 150 of them!
    Jane x

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  7. Jane you did absolutely brilliant! Fab shading and depth of colour too. I am thrilled that you got so much out of the day.

    If you email me at bevscrafts@gmail.com I will send you links to some videos I have done but not yet published showing use of the pencils and sansodor

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  8. Bev, SO good to see you here. I had just the best time and you are so generous with your talents. I will contact you re the links. Thanks so much.
    Sending you some sunshine ,
    Jane x

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  9. Hello! Oh what fun this week! These cute designs took my breath away and generated a great big "Awww!" in return! Such adorable designs, and you did a beautiful job coloring, go ahead and admit it! Add another skill to your long list of talents, Jane. I'm so happy you shared your latest adventure- you certainly keep us guessing, with each post!
    P.S.
    Thanks for the nod- this is a fine group of talented ladies, here- it's so nice to be acquainted with ALL of you! :o)

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  10. Thanks Michele, as one my great Artist friends from over the pond, that is a great compliment from you! Have a great week,
    Jane x

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  11. Hi Jane and WOW!! beautiful stamps and 'colouring ins!' I bet they would also look brilliant in coloured pencil (my fav medium *wink*) I have been absent from blogging for a while as I have been daily blogging on another site this month - got the honour of Artist of the Month :O) - and am just having a scan through on here to catch up. Looks like you had a fabulous day, the pens you used are they a special pen that mixes with water or solvent to achieve that subtle blend? Can't wait to see the finished cards, I bet they look fantastic. Laney x

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  12. Whoops, just re-read your answer to mynestofyarnandbuttons :O) Lx

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  13. Good to see you back Laney, you have been a busy girl. I have treated myself to my 1st 6 prismacolour pencils and together with my Sansador will be able to "blend" my accents at home as well. The pencils really make the final image "pop!". I can see why they are your favourite medium!
    Jane x

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  14. Hello Jane,

    I am once again amazed! By your skills and how much you can learn in just one day! Those images are so perfect, your new cards will be brilliant! My favorite is the gardening couple, just so sweet :)

    We're having some hiccups with our sunshine ;) (it rains) but otherwise it's warm and green here - I wish your weather is beautiful! Kisses to Billy again!

    Yours,
    Mia

    P.S. I have had some difficulties leaving comments in blogger-blogs lately ("error" shows up) so I wish this comes to you!

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  15. Hi Mia, happily there is no error here with your comment my dear, always good to see you here. I'm glad you are getting some sunshine. We are still having our glorious sunshine but the lack of rain is really beginning to hit the crops growing, farmers are warning us it could affect the harvest..hmmmm...we can't win can we? I am loving making new cards using my new skills!
    Happy Wednesday, Billy sends a big kiss and a purr.(he is sleeping in his bush as I type this!)
    Jane x

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  16. Jane..these are SO very sweet. Your coloring is lovely - sensitive and in such good taste! What a fun event this looked to be and oh, the possibilities! I thank you SO very much for your kind words here and at my blog(s)...a big hug to you from me..I am doing well and getting back to illustration, which has been wonderful. You are the best! Have a wonderful rest of the week. We are heading into a long 3-day weekend so I will get to enjoy and hope to post more soon. Take good care, Jane!

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  17. It's so good to see you here Shirley, I'm glad to here you are back to your blog and doing OK. A really big hug to you as well and keep drawing your precious pictures, I just love your work. My piggy picture is just the best!
    Take care,
    Jane x

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  18. These are so cute, and it looks like you had a wonderful day. It looks like you're always learning new and fun things. Thanks for sharing!!

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  19. Hi Linda, it was such a great day. At least I can colour better...as for drawing...still no hope. I need to try you "eyes" tut...that was so cool. Always great to see you here with my fellow USA "artist" friends.
    Have a great weekend, nearly there.
    Jane x

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  20. Dear Jane, I can see that you had wonderful day! Your work is really good! I'm so happy for you to be able to join that kind of 'workshop', learn new technics and meet people with the same interests!
    I'm sure you are going to create some amazing cards!
    'Sun and Shine' to you! Teje

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  21. Hi Teje, it's a bank holiday weekend here and yes I am loving creating lots of new cards... I will be showing some on my next post. Enjoy your weekend,
    Jane x

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