Winter 2018: Garland Pixie by Penny Black

On a hot summer day, it’s hard to believe that it’s time to start thinking about holiday cards, but here I am with my first of the season! A few years ago, I didn’t make enough and my husband secretly bought a box of cards at Hallmark to send to everyone on his list. Last year, I made sure that he had enough cards to send to his family and friends, but mine got shortchanged. It’s time to get rolling so that we have enough to send out this year.

I’ve loved this image ever since I first saw it as a digital stamp by Maurie Manning. It’s now available as a rubber stamp from Penny Black and that’s the version shown here.

I really experimented here with coloring her skin, layering a lot of different tones to create highlights as well as depth. After watching Sandy Allnock, I started adding violet to my skin tones (usually V20, BV00, or BV01). While Sandy starts with the violet tones, I added them a little further on in the layering because I found that works best for me.

The background combination of BG70, G20, G21 and V20 was mostly a happy accident. I started with BG70 and G20, but as I colored, I found that I needed to deepen the background in order to push it further behind the pixie. I also dabbed it with a piece of terry cloth dampened with colorless blender to add some texture and blend the colors further.

OK – one down. I don’t want to think about how many I have left to go!

Below are the supplies I’ve used for today’s project. All items were personally purchased except those marked with an asterisk (*) . I never share a product I do not like. Read more.

Supplies

Paper: Neenah Solar White #110; X-Press It Blending Card by Copics
Stamps: Garland Pixie by Penny Black
Ink: Black Amalgam by Gina K. Designs
Dies: Small Stitched Rectangle Stackables by Lawn Fawn; Scalloped Stitched Rectangle Stackables by Lawn Fawn
Embellishments: Wink of Stella in Clear
Copics: E000, E00, E11, E21, R20, V20, Y21 (skin); R35, R46 (garland); G20, G21, G46 (clothing); C1, C7 (sash); C1, C3, BG70, G20, V20 (fur) BG10, BG70, V20 (wings); G20, G21, G46 (leaves); BG70, G20, G21, V20, 0 (background)