April Cross Canada Blog Hop, featuring Shin Han Twin Touch Markers

Oh Boy!  It's time to COLOR!!

  As a crafter and a stamper, sometimes these words are great- time to check out of the crazy and concentrate on getting it between the lines with just the right combination of colors- and nothing else, just you and the markers and the image that needs to be filled in.  And sometimes, those words strike fear into your heart because it's new and you haven't a clue how to 'adult color', not since you 'kid- colored'.  For this hop, I felt both- it was fun coloring my little animals and seeing which combinations I liked most- and which didn't work, either because they just didn't look good, or because I don't have the skills to make them look good- YET.
  Follow along on this Hop to see some truly FANTASTIC coloring from some ladies who really have the all the right techniques and skills.  But don't be intimidated, there's alot here who, like me, color because it's still fun - and because we don't ALWAYS have to color inside the lines.  

  The spiel- we're a circular blog hop, so you can jump in anywhere and, if you complete the Hop you'll end up right where you began.  If you get lost, goto Michelle's blog- here, for a full list of Hoppers.

  This month, we're featuring a product not made by or exclusively for CTMH but one we do carry in a limited selection  - the Shin Han Twin Touch Markers*. We carry 24 colors plus the blending marker.

On to the Hop- If you've just come from Michelle's blog, then you're in the right place.  If you want to start at the beginning (East Coast to West Coast), then start with her.

On to the coloring:

Ok, so when I start a coloring project, I start by stamping the image(s) multiple times;  this allows me to play with the color combinations.  I also pick out all the colors I might use and put a single thick mark on the same paper as what I used to stamp on- this is my 'cheat sheet'. Like the strip on the left.

While I'm coloring, I keep track of my color combos on a separate paper- as above right.  It just makes it easier to recreate the look if I ever want to.  So, using the Spring Critters (C1638) Thin Cuts bundle (stamp + dies/ retired), I end up with this-

 The most basic technique I use is that I go from light to dark.  I start with my lightest color/ shade and color around it with the darker colors/ shades.  For the spotted frog, I gave him his spots first and then filled in his body (belly was done first, of course).  The foxes, bunnies and froggies got their noses/ ears/ cheeks done first with R28, a very light shade of rosie pink.  Believe it or not, the chickie on the left has 3 shades of yellow on him and the 1 on the right has 2 shades of yellow and 1 of orange on his body.

I'm fairly certain the bunnies and chicks will make their way onto Easter cards (late of course), but here's 1 froggie that will be on time, for a certain girl's grade 8 graduation:

 To purchase any of the items seen in our blog hop today, contact your local consultant to place an order.  Your next stop on the Cross Canada Hop is with Carol-Anne.

  Thanks for hopping along with us - we hope we were able to inspire you to get creative using some of the designs, products and techniques seen along the way. We hope you will join us again next month- May 15- when we will be featuring creations using our favorite NEW paper collection, yes that's right, we have new collections coming (Seasonal Expressions II, available May 1st). So mark May 15th on your calendars and hop along with us!

* has been edited. 

January Cross Canada Blog Hop Featuring Catolog Recreations from the Seasonal Expressions 1

   Welcome to our January Blog Hop featuring Catalog Recreations. To purchase any of the items seen in our blog hop today, contact your local consultant to place an order.

   We hope that you will take the time to leave comments on our posts, as we love to get feedback from our viewers....whether it was something that you really liked or some new technique that was used that you would like to learn how to do....by leaving us comments, we get to hear what you like, and what you want to see. Thank you… now on to our hop! 

   If you have just hopped onto my blog, you can start here as this is a circular hop, but if you want to follow us across Canada then please start at the beginning and join Michelle at My Creations with Michelle. If you came from Michelle's then you are in the right place! 

   For this challenge, I remade the second layout of the Sugar Rush Workshop Your Way kit (shown below)...

...using the Dreamin' Big paperpack, cardstock and Complements.

 

  It appears in the original that the layout is based on Raspberry cs but it is actually thin strips of the Sugar Rush red Washi tape at the top and bottom of the layout.  I substituted Saffron cs for the Washi.  All the photo sizes (4x6, 3x4) and placements are the same.  While it appears to be black cs in the center of my layout, it is actually the Black Chevron paper from the ppk.  The cs to the immediate right of that is Juniper, although Glacier will work just as well. The Dragonfly journaling spot is actually one of the PML cards provided in the Dreamin' Big ppk.  There is no stamping on this layout - for those who don't like to 'get inky' 😊.

   There are no pictures yet as it is intended to show the explorations of my 9 year old budding scientist.  He just received a microscope kit for Christmas and I know he'll have many adventures collecting and making specimens to explore!


   Your next stop on the Cross Canada Hop is with Michelle Hughes of The Right Hughes .

If you get lost along the way, you can head back to Michelle Stewart's Blog, mycreationswithmichelle.blogspot.ca, as she has the complete blog list.

  Thanks for hopping along with us - we hope we were able to inspire you to get creative using some of the designs, products and techniques seen along the way. We hope you will join us again next month when we will be featuring projects featuring succulents and flowers (yea, playtime with my Cricut!). So mark February 15th on your calendars and hop along with us!