Magic Colored Pencil / Gamsol Magic Technique

I have had some questions regarding this technique. Here are some links to explain it more:

Debbie Gimbel's Tutorial at " A Lifetime of Color"

Gina K Designs Blog - Prismacolor Pencil Tutorial - love this one - simple and clean

Gina K Video Tutorial - Wonderful!

Inky Antics - where you can find all your supplies! On front page there is a tutorial link in PDF format

Anna Wright's blog - I love this image and the shading! Her stamp designs are awesome!

Where the fascination all started for me at Splitcoast Stampers:

Splitcoast Stampers: Gamsol Magic


Notes from me: ( BEWARE my personal opinion and a bit of rambling - don't read further if you don't want to LOL!) - for the people who are very interested or have tried this technique.

-I bought my supplies in Canada and I am using Odorless Paint Thinner from an online art supplies store. A less toxic alternative is Zest-It, you can use rubbing alcohol/surgical spirits ( I tried it and my paper began ripping! but it did blend) or baby oil ( good when you are working on an area with a good lay-down of color, you must be careful in white/open areas - you can get oily spots). I am pretty sure I am using the "wrong" made in China stumps. They are working for me. In the future, I will try the Made in Taiwan stumps and see if they blend better.

-just about any waxy/or oil based pencil will work, the OMS breaks down the wax/oil to move the pigment around (NOT WATERCOLOR or AQUARELLE pencils). I shelled out for the 48 Prismacolor Premier Artist-grade pencil set - they are good but are soft and you must be very careful with sharpening - they break easily. THE SCOOP! I already had a 60 set of the Berol Prismacolor Scholar grade pencils ( Canada - less than $25 at Walmart or Staples) and the pencils and numbers pretty much coincide with their more expensive siblings! ($56 CAD for my 48) I tested the colors and blending.... almost identical! ( OK red was less intense - but not horribly so - I tend to blend several colors together and after this I found no real noticable difference) AND they didn't break nearly so much when sharpening - ok I don't remember them breaking LOL. ANOTHER SCOOP! If you are in Canada, we have a brand called Laurentien that is the brand we all bought in grade school to color with. I found my son's remnants from a 60 set we purchased, and I found they were also good and had great colors to supplement my stash like Kahki, Raspberry ( very vibrant) and some nice reds ( cherry red and crimson - very vibrant) and blues ( great variety). I have priced the 60 Laurentien set and it is well under $14 CAD! My personal opinion? I would have just bought a Laurentien Set ( great well rounded choice of colors) or a Prismacolor Scholar Set ( if I wanted the same colors as the expensive ones). Guess what? They are both made by Sanford! (company that makes the Prismacolor Premier) I have added a quick scan of a comparison in the reds ( the laurentien also has a crimson red but much darker).

Poor Fred needs a new counter... wahhhh

For the past few days, I have noticed an error on my visitor counter. I may have to get a new one - any recommendations? LOL. I think the counter was just a hair over 31, 500 the morning it died. That is amazing! :)) Have a great day all!

EDIT: I subscribed to a new counter service and started it at 31,500. I hope that is kosher LOL!

Magic Colored Pencil & New Designs

Fred is happy! Fred will have new rubber designs available soon. Here is a one of the designs ( printed but same size ). I will show the sheet soon ;)

Did you know that you can colour inkjet prints with colored pencils and odorless mineral spirits - and the inkjet print will not smear! heehee.

The blossom, oval and spikey oval are all black and white and colored with the Gamsol Magic or Magic Colored Pencil technique, the purple and beige oval and backgrounds are digital and printed. I love the prismacolor pencils and OMS... they are so vibrant in RL and create a nice sheen against the matte CS ( you blend the pencil with blending stumps dipped in OMS). I also moulded the petals and leaves for a more 3d effect. The white and pink dots are Sakura Souffle Pens.

Yes, I know

...the New Year has begun.... where is Fred? My husband's parents BOTH ended up in the hospital, and my SIL's (boss) husband's father passed away. It has been a stressful time and is still ongoing. I had to run the outdoor ed kitchen for my SIL ( sink or swim - but she left me good "notes"LOL!) last week while her family was away and preparing for a funeral. I am currently trying to create designs for stamping ( and dealing with artist's block LOL) but I hope to be back to blogging soon.

Sweet Colleen

Back in the summer I was asked to take photos of a lovely Golden Lab named Colleen. Colleen was up there in years and the pet's family feared they wouldn't have her much longer. They tried to get professional portraits done but Colleen would get completely stressed out on the ride to the photographer. So I took photos at the front of their home.... over 200! I got a little trigger happy... but she is a beautiful dog and I wanted to make sure I got a special shot. Colleen passed away recently, I was commissioned to make this portrait as a Christmas gift to them. I tried to capture her spirit, soft and lovely...just like Colleen.

Hello All!

I wish everyone the best this holiday season!!! I have been quiet, I know. I took a bit of a hiatus, but I did get family cards made and did a painting of a beautiful golden retriever who passed away recently. I will show it once I have the files ready. I have not had time to play and draw but I hope to get revved up in the new year. I will be back to posting soon ;)

Here is a little tea bag folding tile I did a few weeks back. It is a flower, not exactly seasonal for Canada LOL. I am already tired of snowflakes and snow-tires and snow brushes and snow shovels. I am sure there are others in agreement with me ROFL.... unless, maybe, you are on the other side of the equator LOL.

Big Hugs to you ALL :)

Poinsettia Foldy Flower

I thought I'd put pen to tablet and make something to share before the month goes by LOL! I left these tiles big to suit whatever you might need them for. :) These were fast and simple, ... and untested ;)

My computer is acting up ( like intermittently not turning on), I am going to see if my brother can fix it... I think it is the power supply (hoping anyway LOL) but I also fear he might blow it up, so if you don't "see me" for awhile you know what happened LOL.


I have not been able to keep up commenting on the posted cards and emails, I tend to get stressed/anxious this time of year. But please know, I have loved them all.

I may go offline for a few weeks ( only essential email and to fix blog subscriptions) to focus on designing and unfinished commisions.

Another snowflake medallion sheet from Alt. version

Carolivy64 of CoC was kind enough to make a sheet for this medallion. This might help save on paper and ink! ;) Thanks, Carol!

I have a ton more Circle of Crafter member cards to share. I hope to have a slideshow up by next week. Thank you to everyone for trying my designs out and for your generous creativity!

Snowflake Flower - another version

What do you think?

The Snowflake Flower in Christmas-sy colours.

Digi-Freebie: Doodle-dallion - Snowflake Flower

I made a snowflake flower today. It went really quick. This could be addictive, I see more snowflakes on the horizon ;)

My dear friend Penny made this sheet for my snowflake flower. She makes awesome sheets and cards, and folding instructions and .. need I say more! Love the verses, Penny! Please give Penny some love, at her WEBSHOTS or PHOTOBUCKET

I should have a hi rez available later this week plus more hues. It's a worky day tomorrow.

Hello!

Fred's gone AWOL again! This renovating, housecleaning, visiting, and turkey eating is really eating into my crafting time! I just posted some of the wonderful cards Circle of Crafters have made :) Please let me know if I have missed any! Just send me an email, a scan or link would be helpful too ;) These girls are a super creative bunch! You girls rock!

I've been working on more flowers, and a new design paradigm, it may prove a tad more versatile!

Cards By Circle of Crafters

Happy 10,000 and then some!

Whoa Nelly! That is completely insane (grin)! Thanks dear readers :)

Rosey Foldy Flower Card

A quick card. I found the background in PSP ( extra patterns when you register ;) ). The medallion is made with Basic Triangle Fold and it is two 5-tile medallions on top of each other. The tile and leaves are in the big 5000 Hits Challenge Download. I put yellow stickles in the center of the flower and glaze pen down the stem. Also notice, my printer and the black are STILL acting up :( LOL. This is one for my sweet Caileigh one of my Emma's friends and who I have looked after. They are going to have a "Mermaid Tea" at Caileigh's house... in 20 min... whooo I'd better get motoring!!! Chow.

ButterFlower

Was putzing this afternoon. I made a card... what a comedy of errors LOL! Printer partially printed the black letters. It's been so long since I've set an eyelet, I forgot how LOL and, in the process of "figgering" ( and my bad eyes), I put the front of eyelet in the back of the medallion and the glue (cuz I didn't get the eyelet in enough to hold to card - grrr)! Thank goodness the back looked like the front - just flatter. I glaze penned the stem and and sentiment ( in hopes of fixing up the hit and miss black). Leaves are put on with silicon so they stick out.

I plan to make a printable soon. I also have a "canned" template but it is for PSP ( you just edit the text), you can change background, and it has leaves as well ( I made leaf layer invisible and used the foldy flower leaves). I tried to save as PSD, so it could be cross-program compatible... no luck, I lost the ability to change the text so no luck sharing with Photoshop/Elements users, unless anyone has a tip ;) I will have to refresh my memory on how to make roundy text in Elements. OK I'll stop now, what a novel!!!

Butterdoodles are HERE.

Foldy Flowers PT 3: Pom Pom Dahlia by LILY STUBBS

Here is another way to use the foldy flowers. Lily Stubbs made this card for me :) It's a bookatrix with her Pom Pom Dahlia on it. The tiles used are anywhere from 1.5 to 2 inches depending on how big you want the flower to be... 1.5 " is the safest bet if you want to fit it on a standard 1/4 fold card. Lily says she used 18 tiles to make the dahlia.

Lily had me baffled and amazed for the longest time with this dahlia! Thanks to her great instructions, I think I can do these now ;) She also included a placement diagram ( to do steps 5 & 6)

EDIT: Lily wanted to add that you glue the individual petals onto the flower from the back ( back facing you)... in case you haven't figured that out. Thnx. :)





Please check Lily's SITE out, she is a very talented lady and, and, I believe, a pioneer in circle and multi-shaped tile folding! A true inspiration. I also drool everytime I see any of her punched and quilled creations!

Foldy Flower Instructions Part 2

ALTERNATIVE ASSEMBLY:

Make 8 1.5" Tiles and 8 2" Tiles. Fold as per instructions in PT 1 using 8 Tile Basic Flower for each size tile. Put the smaller medallion on top of larger medallion. How simple is that ?! And looks so pretty. Thank you to Carolivy of CoC for the use of this card and the clever gal made the sheets too and has let me share them with you. Just print them out and "go to it" ;)

Foldy Flower Instructions Part 1

Here is part 1 of our look at the now infamous FOLDY FLOWER LOL! Suggested size to print your flower tiles is 1.5 to 2 inches. ( 4 - 5 cm).

There are many ways and means to print your tiles. I use ArcSoft Photoprinter 4 to print my tiles. I can drag and drop tiles from my image browser into the program's template and print only the tiles I need. With this software I can get 30 1.5-1.7 inch tiles on one letter sheet. And I can mix them up. It's also great for printing photos, collages, montages, labels, etc. There is a freeware version of this software but it has been discontinued. BUT..... if you are Googly it can still be found! Alas, it can be downloaded from Winsite HERE but who knows for how long.

Microsoft Word is also good for printing tiles, insert tile, size it, and copy and paste until you have enough tiles on your sheet.



Note: The above uses the Basic Square Fold. An alternative fold that can be used is the Basic Triangle Fold. You can do this fold using above instructions BUT where it says mountain fold, you valley, and where it says valley fold, you mountain fold... when you "squash" you will get a small triangle instead of a square. It will work just the same but you will be assembling the medallion in the opposite direction. Also, the triangle fold is the only fold that will work with the "Rosey" foldy flowers. More on that later ;)

Tea Bag Folding Guide

I am feverishly preparing some Foldy Flower instructions; easier said than done around here LOL! In the meantime, I needed a tea bag folding guide that I could share. So I made one. This helps keep your flowers tidy and symmetrical ;) Print as a full page, better yet on thicker card or photopaper then laminate, so you can just wipe the wayward glue off when your guide gets too icky! LOL TOU: You can print/share with others if you like. Just keep my info on it.

This one is for 5, 6 and 8 tiles. I can make other numbers if requested.

ATTN: Questions RE Foldy Flowers

I have been receiving many requests regarding the foldy flowers... what are they? how do you do them? I am going to try and answer some questions and revisit these medallions this week. I also have instructions from a very gifted friend of mine!

Stay tuned.... :)