It's a SHELFIE (Get It?!)

It's been a very strange time, recently, hasn't it? There's a lot of worry and uncertainty, for sure; but there are a few good aspects; one of which is that many of us are spending more time at home, and have more time to craft! Which miiiiight just mean that a slightly more ambitious project than usual, suddenly seems like a fun thing to try. Case in point:

Shocking true confession: I am not super-confident about coloring stamped images. I am also the World's SLOWEST Color-er! But when I saw Hero Arts' Bookcase Peek-a-Boo stamp set at The Ink Pad, I just could not resist it because I collect books and plants and... well, basically I love ALL the stuff in that bookcase image. So I was determined to give it a shot.

While I definitely did not improve my speed at all in this project... (no, I'm NOT telling you how long this took!!!) ...I feel like I learned a lot! For one thing, I love Ranger Black Archival Ink and Canson Watercolor Paper for coloring; because I know I'm safe, no matter how wet it gets! For another, with a big stamp, the MISTI is invaluable; if it turns out there's a spot that didn't quite get inked strongly enough, you just ink up again and fix it! When it comes to a big or complicated background, you should fill that in FIRST; and a pale shade of watercolor is an excellent choice. I chose the very lightest blue in my Gansai Tambi Watercolors, and I diluted it quite a bit! I used watercolor for many of the books and Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers for the rest. Whenever I decided a color was too strong or too bright, I toned it down with a little bit of tan watercolor, to get the beautiful soft palette of vintage books. I found that I could get a pretty good shading effect by painting each book just a tiny bit too dark, then painting over it with clear water and blotting the excess with a tissue. (Though Derwent Colored Pencils are also great for shading!) A medium-sized round brush was ideal for the background; I swapped it for a smaller filbert to do the spines. I did the details like the metallic silver on the camera and picture frame with a fine tipped paint pen, as well as adding just a touch of gilding to some of the fancier books. At the very end, I (sparingly!) used a clear Wink of Stella brush on the glass dome, spectacles, etc.

I hope you've got a bit of extra crafting time these days, and that you'll be inspired to try something new... OR... practice at that field you've always wanted to improve! ♥

Lauren Bergold

thinks she might someday

LOVE coloring!!!