Digi Stamp & Colorables Blog Party – Day 2 – Introducing Taryn

Hi everyone! I’m back again with another Paper Plums Digi Stamp design to share with you.

Today I would like to introduce you to Taryn.

Isn’t she a cutie and she’s all ready for Valentine’s Day.

I used the digi stamp (4509M – Taryn) and printed her  on Bazzill Simply Smooth cardstock so she was 3 3/4″ tall. I made the card 4 1/4″ x 5 1/2″ (A2) so I needed her to be printed smaller so that I would have room for mats and some accents. I used a laser printer but you could use an inkjet printer (which is what most people have). All you have to do when you use an inkjet printer let the ink dry really, really well before you color your image or the outline will bleed into your colors. I would recommend leaving your image overnight or longer before you start coloring and avoid going over the black lines whenever possible.

If you would like to get the image already printed so you don’t have to worry about sizing or printing check out the Taryn Colorable image (4509M – colorable). You get four in a package and the image is already sized to fit on an A2 card. Nice and easy and you can get right down to the fun stuff – the coloring.

I had so much fun coloring her with my Letraset ProMarkers. The small bullet tip made it easy to color in even the small details and I just love how easy they are to blend so that you don’t get streaky lines. I have to admit that doing her hair was a challenge for me as it was the first time that I had tried it. Tomorrow Mara is doing a tutorial showing how to color Tori from start to finish and I learned so much watching her color the hair. I think my next attempt will turn out better for sure.

The sentiment I used is from the digi set and I sized it to fit the Sizzix Framelits Circles (1 1/4″) and then matted it with a Framelits Scalloped Circle (1 5/8″). Cutting out sentiments with the Framelits dies is so easy because they cut right along the inner edge of the die so what you see it what you cut. I love Spellbinders dies but I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve cut off part of a letter because the words are partly covered by the die so you can’t see exactly where you are cutting.  The Framelits definitely cut down on the frustration and wasted paper.

I really wanted Taryn to be the focus on the card so I kept the other elements pretty simple and only added some rhinestones (if you look closely at her pig tails and shoes there’s bling there too) and Peel Off Decorative Lines. Since this little girl is named after my grandaughter Taryn who just happens to have blonde hair that often is put in pig tails I think this card is perfect for her for Valentine’s. She loves getting cards from Grandma so I can’t wait to see her reaction.

Here are Mara’s Marker Tips for today…

When you are just learning to use markers the most important thing to remember is that the more you practice the better you will get! Don’t give up the first time markers go outside the lines or you don’t get the effect that you wanted. Practice makes perfect and there are sometimes fixes. Don’t panic! Play with your markers and have fun!

Tip #1:

Store your alcohol markers laying flat so that neither tip will dry out. You want to keep them away from direct heat and sunlight and of course make sure that all the caps are on properly when you are finished working with them. If the caps are not on tight the alcohol will evaporate and your marker will dry out.

Tip #2:

To prevent streaky lines and create soft shadows or blending work one small area at a time. If you are coloring a person for example you would want to do one arm at a time and finish that one before moving to the next spot where you are using the same tones. If for example you color all the flesh tone areas (face, arms, legs etc) with the base color and then go back to add another layer or shading you will find that the color has dried too much and you will get more defined lines. By adding all the layers of color to a small area at a time you will achieve better blending and less streaking.

Tip #3:

It’s good to start coloring with your lightest colors first. Generally this will be the skin tones on a person. Once that color is dry the rest of the colors you put around it will bleed less into the area than if there was nothing there.

And now here is Mara’s version of Taryn that she colored for the website. (There are more lines in the hair than on my image. These were added after I had colored Taryn for my card and they are in the digi file and Colorable.)

And here is a list of Letraset ProMarkers that she used:

Ivory : Blush : Orchid : Buttercup : Tulip Yellow : Mustard : Powder Blue : Cornflower : Slate : Baby Pink : Pink Carnation : Blossom : Poppy : Berry Red

Well…that is it for Day 2 or our Digital Stamp & Colorables Blog Party. Thanks for dropping by. I hope you can join us again tomorrow for a fabulous Tuesday Tutorial featuring Tori. Mara is going to show you step by step how to color her and of course she will have more Marker Tips for you.

PS We’d love to hear what you think about the new digis & colorables so leave a comment for us and we’ll enter your name in a draw to win the digi or colorable of your choice. Let us know what your favorites are or just leave some love for the designers – either way you might be the lucky entry and win a freebie.