Getting Closer

 Two nights ago I showed you this digital stamp I was filling in with Copic markers. It's the first project I've worked on since I came home from the training. I don't have a lot of copics, so I spent last night trying to figure out what colors I DID have that would work. This is what I have so far.

I am very excited about the way she's looking. I still need to smooth out the pink on that ribbon a bit more, and I need to shade her. I'm scared to shade her. I'm afraid I'll mess her up! Ugh, I'll get brave and try that tomorrow. Actually, the day after (cause I haven't gone to sleep yet). Tomorrow we will be celebrating Kali's birthday a couple days early - yay!!!!! Twenty years old! It seems like yesterday she was born. Happy birthday, Kali! Mama loves you!
And a big Happy Birthday to my friend Cindy from Cottage Remnant! I hope your birthday (today, not tomorrow) is incredible, Cindy! 

On My Desk Tonight

This is what I am currently working on! I am trying to remember everything I learned at Copic instructor training, and trying to apply it with this sweet digital stamp I got for free from the Saturated Canary. I still have a good bit of work to do with her, but I wanted you to see her so far :). I'm so excited!

Practice Grid

This lettering class - Letter Love 101, taught by Joanne Sharpe - is going to be a blast! Of course, I'm running behind - as always, still in lesson 4. I don't think my lettering will ever be as cool as Joanne's, but I'm working towards finding one or two that I'm comfortable with. And - - - if you follow this blog, OR if you know me very well, you probably realize already the real reason I am taking this class. I.love.bright.colors! And Joanne does a great job of bright colors!

In Today's Mail!

I got a really nice surprise in the mail today! I had forgotten that I responded on Jane's blog - The Mindful Drawer - some time ago, so I was pleasantly surprised to find this when I opened the envelope!

In this lovely, hand-made card, Jane wrote me a sweet note thanking me for some feedback I left on her blog.

And - she included a fun, tangled Zentangle® tile.

Like myself - Jane is a CZT, a certified zentangle teacher. I love the tile she completed for me! A work of love - thank you, Jane! I appreciate the work you do through your blog and through your artwork. Thank you for taking the time to make me two special works of art!

What a Quandary, Diva Challenge 107

Not totally happy with this, but posting it anyway. I am trying to get back into the swing of things with the challenges, but my life is always so busy that it's hard to do. The Diva Challenge this past week was to try out Zentangle's ® new tangle - Quandary. This was my first effort. I think I understand it a little better now and will give it another try this week. Oh, wait, it's Saturday already. Well. I'll try. You can see the other quandary drawings (from people who "got it") here.

Michelles Mbellishments	I Like Markers	Sketches in Time
Thinking Inking	Some Odd Girl	Saturated Canary
Copic Markers Blog	Make it Crafty	Maria Loves to Stamp
Debs Freckles Place!	PaperFections

Whimsey Grids

Joanne Sharpe is the master of colorful, thought provoking statements and art, AND she teaches several online classes. One of which is called Letter Love 101. I started the class a little over a week ago and this was last night's project. The lesson was called Whimsey Grids and this my interpretation. There is a saying, "Being creative is not a hobby, it is a way of life." There's also another saying, "Inside all of us is a wild thing." It has absolutely nothing to do with this post, I just like the saying :). Bunny trails aside, the thought is to create - every day. Creation comes in many forms, we made a list of a few ways to create art each day. Then I colored it up brightly - like always :). Product included various Derwent pencils, sharpies, and Copic products. Check out Joanne's classes at the above link, then create! Trust me, if I can do it - so can you!

Copic Training

This past week I was in Orlando for Copic certification training. My understanding is that now my name will go onto their website showing me as a certified Copic instructor. I hope I understood that right!

I have to say that before I went I didn't know a thing about using copic markers, as you can very clearly see in the above photo - haha! The first thing we worked on was blending. (I was going to say 'the first thing we learned' but somehow you don't get that from the results in this picture. More like I was was 'working' on it. We used three shades in each of these color families to blend the colors in these spheres.

From there we advanced. I am not showing everything we did. I am especially NOT going to show you my red suited Santa. I told our instructor Sherrie that I was going to come home and throw away every red Copic I could find. It was that bad. The technique shown above was called feathering - the way you blend two colors into each other - as you see with the lilac and blue. I really, really liked this one a lot! Finally a technique I mostly understood.

At the end of day one we played with Sherrie's airbrush setup. The hand in the center came from a stencil that I airbrushed through.  I had a journal that I was keeping all my notes in, and I wanted to incorporate this right into the journal, so I airbrushed on the next page. The pen blobbed out a wad of ink - note: green blob of ink. I was not a happy camper, but I recalled Sherrie saying if this happened to take off the bottom cap of the pen to equalize the pressure. Or something like that. So, I removed the bottom cap and continued on my merry way. Then I changed to the pink ink with no trouble. I thought I'd go for a little purple contrast and came across blob #2, which fortunately was mostly contained onto the stencil itself. I showed my friend in the class - Brenda - what the airbrush had done to my page. She commented that it looked so bad. I told her it wouldn't when I was finished with it. So that night in my hotel room I tangled me up a bunch of Diva Dance variations and now those blobs look like bits of watercolor. Blob 1 and Blob 2 tangled and lost! Moving on.

Day two saw us tackle skin. I never in a million years would have thought I'd be able to color skin and it not look horrible. Here are three variations that I can't believe I did! Looks like hispanic, asian, caucasian. I have one more to work with. Once I get the right color Copics.

And some hair color variations. Who knew I'd be able to do this? Not me, that's for sure! Skin and hair? ✓

Then we moved on to our final project - a completed piece for our portfolios. It pretty much incorporated everything we learned. Check out that shading, and even a cast shadow of a leaf onto a leaf. All these photos were taken with my phone - they look even better in person. Well, except maybe for that sphere shot. Not sure anything would make it look better - haha! (And definitely not the Santa that I can't force myself to show you.) Copic Certified Instructor, wow! That's awesome!

Happy Valentine's Day

It's Valentine's Day. It is! Valentine's Day is celebrated as a day for showing love and appreciation. I started the day off with cards and chocolate for my husband and tonight we are going to eat at our local Italian restaurant - my favorite place :). Yay for Al at Mama Mia's! 
Before I get too involved in my day, though, I wanted to say thank you! to you who read my blog faithfully. Thank you to those who have been praying for me to get well recently. I am much improved, but still have a ways to go. Thank you to those who faithfully follow my facebook page The Creator's Leaf. Thank you to Cindy Garner of Cottage Remnant for making my blog and my Etsy Store, TheCreatorsLeaf, look so incredible! You are one awesome friend! Thanks to Jennifer McLean for hosting the Artist's Play Room each week. (This valentine is my entry this week.) Thank you to each of you. Without you as readers, my blog would be pointless. So, a great big thanks! May God bless you today and all year long. And from me to you - Happy Valentine's Day!