Look Ma...no Copics!! (A Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps Sketch Challenge!)

Mornin' friends! This week's challenge over at the Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps Blog is a Sketch designed by our very talented Krafty Girl Elaine Hughes...Elaine's colouring never ceased to "WOW" me!!!

I decided to combine one of the brand new Krafty Quotes #1 with an older Kraftin' Kimmie Stamp for my card today. I have always love this sweet image called "Bench Friends"...just a quiet moment shared between two besties! I thought it went just perfectly with the Krafty quote "The best thing to hold on to in life is each other. by Mother Teresa" (this is one of four quotes in the set!). The brown paper is from MME and the blue butterfly paper is from Prima. When deciding on papers, I deliberated over two different colours of blue cardstock for matting...I realize now that I should have gone with the other shade. After inking the edges with Walnut Stain Distress Ink, this blue took on a very "turquoise" hue...and now it just doesn't look quite "right". Sigh. Live and learn! That pretty little crocheted flower was a gift from one of the Krafty Day attendees, Angela Alway...she was so sweet and generous with these little handmade gems. Thanks so much Angela...I'm just sorry it took me so long to use it! I wanted to have a big brown bow behind the flower, but I could not find my wide ribbon anywhere. (I'm sure I'll find it sometime today or tomorrow since I don't need it now. lol) So, I reached for my thin ribbon and tied a triple loop bow with the aide of my Bow-Easy. The Krafty Quote was cut out with Spellbinders. (I took the artistic liberty of playing with the scale and position of the different components of Elaine's fantastic sketch...my sentiment panel is quite a bit larger than on the original sketch! As a result, I really had to shift the image panel over to accommodate it.) Usually I stress about my machine stitching being pretty straight and even...but not this time. :) Since I had already distressed all my edges, I felt having a slightly wonky stitching line would suit the feel of this card very well. I didn't go too crazy...but I let the paper wander a little under my machine's presser foot. I also made sure to touch the very white stitching with a little of the Walnut Stain Distress Ink to antique it a bit...otherwise the white thread would have been a bit too harsh and "clean" for this distressed card.


I stamped "Bench Friends" on some light brown cardstock in Memento Rich Cocoa. I began by laying down a very light layer of brown Prismacolour pencil, just to block out where I wanted the shadows to be. I then worked on building up the shading with my Conte Crayons and a paper blending stump. The shading is gradually faded out as the areas of the image get closer to my light source...which I chose to have coming from the upper right hand corner. Some of the lighter areas on the image have no shading...allowing the bare cardstock to show in these areas helps to develop your highlighted spots without the need to lay down more colour. Finally, to really make those highlights "pop", I used some white Conte Crayon and/or white Prismacolour pencil to play up those brightest edges. I opted to use this lightly textured cardstock rather than Kraft as it has some "tooth" for the Conte Crayons to grab on to. Now, you all know how much I LOVE my Copics...but I have to admit that it was a lot of fun to play around with my Conte Crayons again. When I was a teenager, they were one of my favourite mediums to use for drawing horses. I'm a little rusty with them though, so I'm hoping to find time to work with them more. It's always fun to try out a different or unfamiliar medium...so don't be afraid to experiment!!


Here's a closer look at the Audrey Hepburn quote I used from the Krafty Quotes #1 set:



We'd love to have you join in with Elaine's sketch challenge this week...if you use a Kraftin' Kimmie Stamp (you can buy them HERE!) on your project, you could be the lucky winner of the new Krafty Quotes #1 set...one of the four quotes from this new set is featured on Elaine's gorgeous card! You can link up your project at the Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps Blog where you will also find some gorgeous projects by my fellow Krafty Girls and our Krafty Guests based on Elaine's sketch.

Don't forget about the Krafty Guest contest...you've got to complete each challenge in February to be eligible, so keep those submissions coming!!

Thanks for stopping by today, and I hope you enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Blessings,

Melanie

Stamps: Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps "Bench Friends" and "Krafty Quotes #1"
Paper: Bazzill, My Mind's Eye, Prima
Ink: Memento Rich Cocoa, Walnut Stain Distress Ink
Embellishments: Ribbon, Crocheted flower (courtesy of Angela Alway!!), brown pearl, machine stitchingTools: Spellbinders, Bow Easy