You’re the Best

Here is another fun and darling donkey! I love how he is carrying a rose. I couldn’t decide which color I wanted the rose to be, so I tried all the colors. I started with Poppy Parade, then went to Melon Mambo, then Flirty Flamingo, and finally Daffodil Delight. I could have kept going, mixing and matching. I’m grateful that I now have a stash of cards I can send – to let someone know I think they are pretty awesome. I spent a lot of time learning about coloring these donkeys – let me share some tips here. I’ll describe the colors for the Poppy Parade version.

  1. Cut and die-cut the Card Base and layers.
  • Cut Standard A2 Card Base from Smoky Slate. (Cut 8 1/2″ x 5 1/2″, and score at 4 1/2″.)
  • DIe-Cut larger scallop frame from Stitched So Sweetly DIes. Use a coordinating Card Stock color (Crumb Cake shown here).
  • Die-Cut the medium frame using Basic White Thick Card Stock. (Thick works best for coloring with Blends).
  • Cut a piece of DSP at 3″ x 5 1/4″. Poppy Parade used here. The DSP that I am using is actually from the new Annual Catalog that comes out in May. There are only two ways to get this DSP. Either join Stampin’ Up! and get them for free OR, if you are already a demonstrator, you can pre-order them! This 6×6 paper is from the Brights DSP color family and SU! is coming out with all new patterns!
  1. Adhere DSP to card front.
  2. Stamp sentiment. Stamp and color donkey, using these tips:
  • Use Memento Black Ink and Basic White Thick Card Stock for best effect.
  • Stamp donkey and let it sit and dry for a moment before coloring.
  • Using a very light hand, use the Light Pool Party Blend to color all around the donkey. (Don’t color in Pool Party underneath where the ground is.) Using the Brush Tip, just trace along the outside of the body faintly.
  • Be extra careful around the snout and under the ears. The reason for this is that you will be coloring those areas in a color that is lighter than the Pool Party and don’t want to blend those two colors.
  • Remember to put a little bit of Pool Party between the legs too.
  • You can optionally use the Color Lifter around the edge of your Pool Party outline to further blend and soften. Use the Brush Tip and go along the Pool Party outline. It won’t look like anything at first, but it is a subtle touch to help the outline blend into the background.
  • Using a light touch, next add the ground in Light Crumb Cake. I used the Brush Tip end for this. I go over some parts of the ground a few times to darken parts of the color. I make sure to color all the way close to the bottom of the donkey so that white space doesn’t show through. You can soften this with the Color Lifter also, especially using the Color Lifter on the edges to feather the color.
  • While you are in that vicinity, you can color the hooves with the nib end of Light Smoky Slate.
  • I also used that same color on the fluffy part of the tail and hair. In this coloring technique, I am very careful not to get any donkey color outside of the donkey outline.
  • Color the rose in your color of choice with the nib end of the Blend. Since the Blends tend to spread, I don’t color all the way to the edge. I leave a little bit of white space right along the inside of the drawn image. The color usually fills in to the edge, and if it doesn’t then it gives a nice highlight.
  • Color the leaf and stem in Light Old Olive or Light Garden Green with the nib end.
  • Color the snout and the inside of the ears with Light Petal Pink. Come back in with Dark Petal Pink and partially outline the inside of part of the nose, just to give some color variation.
  • Color the inside of the donkey with Light Crumb Cake. Color the inside of the legs and the face with the Light Crumb Cake. I used the Brush Tip.
  • Use the nib end of the Light Crumb Cake to draw an outline all along the inside of donkey’s face and body. Use the Color Lifter to blend the darker outline with the body color. I like to make the inside of the belly the lightest, and the area around the eyes the lightest.
See the coloring details and variation in this image
  1. Use dimensionals to adhere donkey panel to Crumb Cake panel. Use dimensionals to adhere image to card front.
  2. Create a bow from Seam Binding and add to bottom left corner.
Poppy colored rose and DSP

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