My Minutia

Prismacolor Pencils Tutorial

Hey guys! If you have wondered how to get great color from colored pencils I've got a video tutorial that breaks it down for you. It was so much fun working with colored pencils to create this video.

I've been pretty much a Copic girl when it comes to coloring, so this was a fun switch-it-up! I love to blend different colors, which is so easy to do with Prismacolors.

I didn't take a photo, but there's a cute card at the end of the video. :)

 

 

Here is the newest PDF set of Bellas. This is the couple used in the video:

 

Find them on my website (with their other Bella pals) here!

 

A Bella to Color

There's another doodle girl to create and doodle with!

 

Here is this new Bella PDF:

I added "happy birthday" to this PDF because birthday cards are a favorite to create, right? I just cut that phrase into a rectangle and mount it to a patterned paper slightly larger...like I did with the Today is a Good Day phrase on the card above.

Hey, do you think this Bella looks like anyone I know? Hmmm...

Here is a video tutorial about the coloring process and making of the card.

 

 

Click subscribe to the TMcFab channel, then you will be in the know when new videos are posted.

You can find the new Good Day PDF right here: Good Day.

P.S. That Bella "Good Day" girl is on a plane flying to Cross Country Nationals in Washington right now! Can you beleive it? So proud of her! She is a very nervous flier...hope her teammates can keep her calm!

 

Holiday Canvases in the Works

There is a big beautiful mess in my studio today. This week I've got the urge to make some holiday stuffs.

Maybe it was the snow we were drizzled with a couple of days ago. Maybe it was seeing the cheery red cups of Gingerbread Lattes at Starbucks? Anyhoo, pop in again soon and see what I've been making. For now, have a great weekend!

 

The Girls

The past week I've been dolly crazed! It's been a growing passion for a while now. It all started with those Copic Markers I've been loving. I wanted something to color, and a lot of what I was seeing around just wasn't my style. At all. So I put pencil to paper and began sketching.

 

I'm really excited to present my girls in PDF style! Maybe you like to color, too? So far there are four styles available. Gotta start somewhere, right?

 

My poor sister, I've emailed and texted her way too much as the sketches and PDF's evolved, and she was the best sis ever with hand holding and offered her advice. Sisters are da best!

 

I think one of my favorite things about the PDF's is they are inexpensive (much cheaper than rubber stamps) and you can print them over and over. The dolls love to be dressed up in different color combos, too! They are on my website right over here!

Hand Stitched Journals

So this week I made a couple new journals. I have really gotten into the handstitching over the past few months. These are my most favorite style...size and paper weight. They all have the best pages inside. 96 lb. smooth bristol paper. I die. The perfect substrate for mixed media art journaling.

 

 

SOLD (Heart Speaks Art Journal)

 

(Audrey Art Journal)

 

This one here was actually created in The Color As A Verb E-Workshop. It was an extra, and while I love it to pieces, I sure don't need two.

SOLD (Thoughts & Escapades Art Journal)

These three looky loos are up for grabs on my website!

 

From Here to There.

Another girlie has gone from the blank page to life. From nothing to something. That makes it sound easy, but there's a lot of in between stages of course. I'm getting a lil system going though...yay me.

 

She doesn't have a name yet...but she's diggin' her dress. Hee hee. And her booties. So hip. It's boot weather you know...so she needed a pair to keep her toes warm.

 

Hope you are having a great day!

Say Hello to My Sketches

Lately, I've been enjoying sketching comic looking people. This little interest came about when developing artwork for my current E-Workshop, which covers Copic Markers. I wanted the sweet folks in the Workshop to have some fun stuff to color. Well, I've been enjoying the coloring, too. Funny how things work!

This is a messy version of one of the girl's I've created. I love to give them personality with a few strokes here and there.

 

Sassy thinks that girl should be named after her! Sounds perfect, right?

I could just color and color and shade...and sketch and doodly-do. And I do, every day.

 

This fine fellow is a mix of our two boys. I suppose he is a combination of both of them. I like his chin. :) Just looking at them here on the screen makes me want to make more. More sketches, not children!

I used to sketch stuff a lot. The past few years, not so much. It's fun to do new things, or revisit old ones. Love that.

Impossible is Nothing

The whole notion of this quote intrigues and delights me. How about you?

 

That is only part of the quote actually. The entire quote reads:

 

Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men

who find it easier

to live in the world they've been given

than to explore the power they have to change it.

Impossible is not a fact.

It's an opinion.

Impossible is not a declaration

It's a dare.

Impossible is potential.

Impossible is temporary.

Impossible is nothing.

 

I think it's a from by Adidas, not positive. You'd think I'd know given how much time my kids drag me to the sporting goods stores. Maybe it's not by a sports company at all. I've seen Impossible is Nothing on lots of sports tshirts though. More inspiration here. Love the Gilbert Arenas story. Love all of the "real" artwork the athlete's added, too.

Anyway, so yes, I love the notion of this quote and where my mind takes me while I read it. This method of thinking isn't just for athletes...of course not. It's for everyone. I wish more people thought like this.

 

By the way, that's an art journal page featuring Copic marker exercises in my current online workshop. And no, it's not too late to register.  Because I loved the quote so much, it had to be in my art journal!

CoLor STuDy

Oh hello, Monday. Maybe I'm one of the few that looks forward to Mondays? I enjoy the calm and quiet in the house. Let's me concentrate and focus. In the quiet I can create. Without distractions. That's how I started today. I've been working on a new workshop.

 

(mimick of Ashley Percival's adorable owl)

That owl was inspired by an illustration by Ashley Percival. I'm a big fan. I sketched a similar version and used different colors...as I was searching for something to doodle (draw?) using the colors you see on this journal page.

 

More info on the new workshop coming very soon. Eeks...I haven't been this excited about the mix and mingle of color in a lonnng time, my friends!

 

A few journal covers

The Found & Bound E-Workshop I've been teaching is going really well! I gotta say, it's my favorite so far! Here are the covers to the art journals I've taught so far. This one was the first of two handbound journals:

 

This is the second art journal cover:

Different techniques, way fun to make. I've been having a blast!

Close up of spine:

Here's the back:

Isn't this a cute photo?

Actually, I'm a bit ahead of myself right now...the second journal cover technique is presented Tuesday. I've just counted up all of the videos...24 so far. There are about ten more to go. Holy Moly. I've become a video makin' fooooool!