Happy birthday!

Hard to believe, but 5 years ago today, I started this blog, my little corner of the cyber world... It's been a fun 5 years - lots of life lessons, a little stress, but most of all, enjoyable interaction with you, and growth as a designer. This blog has been a fun way to share the things I love and the things that I see and know, escape the stresses of cross-cultural living, and connect with people who "get me." Thank you for meeting me here!
To celebrate the occasion, a birthday card! Actually, this is the sample I made for Jeanne's challenge on Tuesday - I used stamps from Flourishes, watercoloring the background with a teal reinker and coloring the image with Touch Twin Markers. We're still creating cards over at SCS for the Hope You Can Cling To card drive... the cards will be sent to the UT MD Anderson Cancer Center for visitors to share with patients in the breast cancer unit.
These are the markers that I used:I have some goodies to share with you tooooooooo...........! I have 3 prize packages to give away, and all you need to do is leave a comment below! You don't have to become a follower, but if you're not a regular reader, that would be a great way to check back and see if you've won. Up to you.

Prize #1 - Impression Obsession Floral Duos II Clear Stamp Set + 3 Touch Twin Markers (new #120 Black markers in brush and bullet tips, + a blender)
Prize #2 - Skipping Stones Design Dogs Vol. 1 Clear Stamp Set + 3 Touch Twin Markers (new #120 Black markers in brush and bullet tips, + a blender)
Prize #3 - smARTworks/dkdesigns Joy unmounted rubber stamp set (this is my son!) + 3 Touch Twin Markers (new #120 Black markers in brush and bullet tips, + a blender)

I will draw a winner on Oct. 31st at midnight EST! I would like to wait and mail prize packages Stateside to winners in the States, so those prize packages will be mailed in December, sometime after the 12th. Thanks for understanding! Good luck!!

P.S. Popping this in over at the OCL challenge to make a pink card, and the Dolce Stamps and Cards challenge to make a square card with diecuts!

Heartfelt Creations DT Alumni Hop

It's time again for the Heartfelt Creations Design Team Alumni monthly blog hop... We've chosen the 4th Tuesday of each month to get together and share a project featuring Heartfelt Creations' stamps. Since there are only a few of us participating today, we're just linking to each other. Hope you'll click on their links at the bottom of this post for more inspiration!

We've decided to take a few months off for the holidays, and then start up again in January... I won't be able to participate while we're traveling, but I hope to join in again when we get home.I made this card for a Hope You Can Cling To challenge earlier this month, and saved it for today's blog post. The challenge was to make a round card. The Rose Bouquet image is stamped with Memento Desert Sand ink and colored with Touch Twin Markers. I cut my card base with a Coluzzle circle template, and layered it with a paper doily. You can visit the other ladies' blogs at the links below! Thanks for stopping by today!

Selma Stevenson
Olga Jewell
Linda Payne

TTC04 - Color challenge

There's a new challenge up at the Touch Twin Markers & More Challenge blog - this time we're using our markers to create projects with a specific color combination. We hope you'll join the fun! These are the colors we're using - if you don't have these specific colors or markers, just use what you have and try to stay as close to these colors as you can.
This is one of my favorite Impression Obsession images ever - it's called Cabbage Roses. The sentiment I used is from THIS clear set. I stuck with the challenge colors, adding a lighter shade for each one, and used a combination of light neutrals for the background. Huge thanks to Impression Obsession for sponsoring our challenge this month!

These are the Touch Twin Markers that I used:
You can visit the Touch Twin Markers & More Challenge blog for all the details if you'd like to play! Don't have a blog? That's OK. Just post to any online gallery with the keywords TTC04 and touchtwin. Don't have Touch markers? That's OK too for now. Starting in January we will require using our markers, but for now you can use any coloring medium. Have fun!

Want markers?!

Marker giveaways are BACK over at the Touch Twin blog! There's still plenty of time to play. Each day through the end of the month, 5 people will each win 2 markers apiece. All you have to do is answer a simple question!

And the more you play, the more chances you have to win the big prize - on the last day there will be a drawing for a set of 24 markers! Hope you'll come join us!

For Sale

I added a few more things to my FOR SALE page - hope you'll take a look! There are still some Touch Markers left, and a bunch of unmounted stamp lots. Cheap.

Fun stuff happening here this week... a new marker challenge... a blog hop... and a party! Yep - my little blog is having a birthday this week - has it really been 5 years already?!

Flower Soft "All That Glitters" hop!

The Flower Soft team is hopping today in celebration of some new colors in the Diamond Range... new Metallics and sparkly jewel tones! If you just happened to stop by, you may want to start from the Flower Soft Blog to make sure you don't miss anything, and get all the details about how to win some new products! If you're hopping already and you've just come from Debbie's blog, you're on the right track.

I haven't gotten my new colors yet, so I'm using the chunkier Silver Flower Soft today. I'm sure the rest of the girls will dazzle you with their new sparkly colors, and I'll look forward to getting mine soon.

I'm using one of my own stamp designs available through Our Daily Bread designs - Christmas Tree Collage. It's so much fun to have a Christmas tree that can be decorated differently every time! I thought a cool turquoise and silver combination would be pretty. My coloring was done with Touch Twin Markers.

These are the Touch Twin markers that I used:

Your next stop is Linda's blog. Hope you enjoy the hop!

(***I do have my comment moderation turned on because I'm over here on the other side of the world, and I'll be sleeping while you hop... don't panic if your comment doesn't show up right away!!)

If you like my stamp designs, stop by and 'like' dkdesigns on Facebook!

Impression Obsession DT Challenge: Purple

The Impression Obsession team's challenge today is to create a project using the color Purple. Here's my card: I pulled out an older clear set for my card - Smell the Coffee - actually I have had this image colored up for a long time - it is watercolored with reinkers and sponged with chalk inks.

I'll be sending this card to the UT M.D. Anderson Cancer Center for Splitcoaststampers' Hope You Can Cling To card drive! This is for Holly's challenge to make a purple card in honor of cancer survivors.

Be sure to check out these other designers' blogs for inspiration -

Deborah @ Cards and Things
Jeanne @ Inky Paws
Jenny @ One Krafty Kat
Julie @ Out to Impress
Laura @ Laura's Stamp Art Journal
Vicki @ Summerthyme Studio

Remember you can enter these challenges too, using your Impression Obsession stamps! See the I.O. blog for all the details - you might even win a $25 gift certificate!! We'd love to have you join us.

Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps & the Twinery.... blog hop!

Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps and The Twinery are teaming up today for a fun blog hop - 24 designers are showcasing product from both companies! If you just happened on the blog hop because you're a regular reader of my blog and you'd like to view the entire hop, you can start back at The Twinery Blog - you'll find a full list of participants there, and all the details you need. If you're already hopping and you arrived here from Katrina's blog, you're doing just fine.

If you'd like a chance to win one of 2 prize packages, be sure to leave a comment at every blog along the hop! These are the prizes up for grabs! Comments must be entered by 11:59 PM EST, Saturday, Oct. 22nd.

I wanted to combine this hop post with a challenge card for Hope You Can Cling To, so I pulled out So Sweet Cocoa... he is colored with Touch Twin Markers (the colors are listed below), and layered for dimension. I always keep the packaging insert from my SNSS stamps for layering on cards - I love those polka dots!!Here's also a peek at some dies releasing soon from SNSS - the one shown below has spaces in it for lacing a strip of paper, ribbon... or twine! I like this look with the Pink Sorbet twine laced and tied through the openings. Fun, huh? The actual die is 6" long, but I cut it to 4" for my card. The bottom edge of the polka dot layer is cut by the outside edge of a second die in that border set.Here's a close-up on Cocoa and the layering there, and also the markers I used to color him in:After you leave a comment here, you'll be hopping on to Jen's blog! Thanks so much for joining us!

(***I do have my comment moderation turned on because I'm over here on the other side of the world, and I'll be sleeping while you hop... don't panic if your comment doesn't show up right away!!)

Flower Soft Sprinkle Challenge: Orange and Black

This week's Sprinkle challenge over at the Flower Soft Blog (FSC38) is to use Flower Soft on your cards that feature orange and black. Halloween's coming up soon!We don't really do Halloween actually, but I do have lots of cute pumpkin stamps! This one is from Eureka Stamps and it's watercolored with reinkers and Inktense pencils. I grounded the image with some Autumn Flower Soft. The sentiment is from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps.If you'd like to join in on the Sprinkle challenge, pull out the Flower Soft - you might even win a prize! Link up your orange and black project on the FS blog or post it in the Splitcoast Gallery using the keywords flowersoft (one word) and FSC38. We'd love to have you join us!

Majestic Tiger

A new Dirty Dozen gallery posted over the weekend, which means I am officially "alumni"... it's fun to still be able to hang out with the Dirty Girls and help them choose and interpret a theme for each month. :) They were so creative with this month's theme!Here's a favorite from my 3rd month on the design team.... Our theme involved design elements like stripes, spots, and stars, and "stripes" reminded me of this Tiger stamp I had tucked away from Rubbernecker Stamps. I took my time watercoloring the image using reinkers, watercolor pencils, Inktense pencils, and Prismacolor pencils. One tip for coloring animals – find a photo online of the real animal in a position similar to the stamp image you are working with. A “color picker” tool on your computer can be really helpful in determining the exact color in certain areas. It’s not always what you’d think! The one I use is called Colorpix.
I added some dimension to the tiger's front legs by cutting around them and embossing from the back with the wooden end of my stylus. They are popped up with foam tape as well. I didn't have any large black brads, so I colored some silver ones with a black marker, then roughed them up a bit with sandpaper.

Busy weekend! Saturday we had a yard sale as an initial step in sorting our stuff before we head to the States in December... hopefully some of our used and stretched out 'junk' will become useful treasure for our friends here! Monday we're welcoming our missions pastor and another missions committee member from my home church in CA - they will be staying with us for a couple of days. Really feeling the "countdown" strongly now, as we have just 8 weeks until we go to the States!! So. Much. To. Do.

Marker shading video and tutorial

Some of you have asked about my technique for coloring and shading with Touch Twin Markers, so I thought I'd share some thoughts here with a quick tutorial and video example. BTW, if you ever have questions, feel free to email me or leave a comment!

For each color area, I usually choose 3-4 colors that range from light to dark in shade.

Next I decide where the area should be shaded and where it should be highlighted. As a general rule for me:

Shaded areas:

• areas that appear to be further away or curving away
• areas that are lower
• areas that appear to be behind something else

Highlighted areas:

• areas that appear to be closer or curving toward me
• areas that are higher
• areas that appear to be in front of something else

I've just chosen a simple image to color to demonstrate the technique, but the same principle would apply for a more complex image with more areas to color in. The stamp image I used is called Teapot, and comes from Impression Obsession. These are the Touch Twin Markers that I used:I always begin coloring with the lightest color. I start my strokes from the areas that will be the darkest, working the color out toward the highlighted areas. The places that I want to remain the lightest I leave uncolored at first.Next I begin at the same points using the medium shade, going in the same direction and with the same motion, but not covering the lighter areas completely. After that is done, I work out from the same places, using the darkest shade(s).

When I'm done with the darkest shade, I repeat my shading again with the medium tone, to blend the dark and medium colors together. Finally, I repeat with the lightest color to blend all the layers together.

Here is a video for the visual learner:

(This is my first video, and the length of 2 minutes seemed to work pretty well for our upload speed here in the sticks! If there are other 'quick' techniques you'd like to see me demonstrate, let me know.)

Thanks for visiting today!