L'il Hoots Bears - Hero Arts

This is the last of the most recent group of cards for kids that I will send to Operation Write Home.  I love how easy this stamp set - L'il Hoots by Hero Arts - is to color with my Copic Markers.

Both papers are from Stampin' Up. The patterned paper is from the Fresh Prints collection and the cardstock is More Mustard.

The sentiment is from the same set and is stamped in Memento Tuxedo Black Ink.  The paper I use to color on is X-Press It Blending Card and the Copic colors I used were:

Loved coloring this stamp set!!

Kid's Cards

I have tried to be more aware of images that can be used for kids cards.  Sandy Allnock to the rescue with her great images from Whimsey Stamps.  I played with my Copics to color the images.

This little girl is from the set Alvin & Julie. She is colored with:

I used the Colorless Blender 0 to put the 'dots' on her shirt.

I also picked this image from the set Snoopy & Steve.

Steve's colors are:

Now I have to get them on cards and send them off!!

Practice, Practice, Practice

So, what we heard as kids - if you want to master a skill - practice!  This is especially true with Copic Markers.  After attending the Certification Classes, I've been practicing.  If you can't get to a class, I would suggest the book series, Copic Coloring Guide by Colleen Schaan and Marianne Walker (Annie's Paper Crafts).  They are fabulous!  Currently there are 3 volumes with Volume 4 set to come out any day now!

After returning from the classes, I pulled the Level 3: People back out. Levels 2 & 3 both come with CD's as a bonus!  The CD with Level 3 has pages with multiple faces/hair to practice coloring.  Those are the things I struggle most with.  So, I have been practicing, practicing, practicing.........

I made sure to use the same cardstock to print the practice sheets that I normally stamp my images on so that the colors will be the same.  I have been using X-Press It Blending Card, designed to use with Copics.

Some of the combos I like, some not so much.  I have 3 hole punched them and put them into my Copic reference notebook.  Now, I can just look at these pages and pick the combination that I want to use.

Now, I am going to try and take on some images to use on cards and hopefully feel better about my "people" and how they look!

So, practice, practice, practice.  It does pay off!!