Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Smeared Ink Member Blog Hop!!

Good Morning Everyone!!!  Welcome welcome to this month's Smeared Ink Member Blog Hop!!

If you are hopping here from my dear friend Lady Brayton's blog then you are on the right track!!  If not, definitely start HERE so you catch all of the inspiring techniques that are going on today!!  My technique is paper piecing.  I know, I know...it's something lots of people do and I do a LOT on my projects.  But I just love doing it and will be giving you some tips I've learned along the way if you are new to this process!

Today, I chose to stamp with CC Tuesday from The Greeting Farm.  Isn't she FABULOUS???  I used their most recent Monday challenge as my muse.  I took both their sketch and color scheme.  The colors in their sample were more pastel and muted so I simply took the same colors and ran them up the spectrum about 100 times so they are super vibrant and punchy!

I stamped CC three times, twice on my white Berol 100 lb art paper and once more on my shiny pink, textured cardstock.  I then colored CC with my Copic markers. 

Paper Piecing TIP #1 - always color your base image first!

If you try to color after you paper piece it's a relative nightmare as you are trying to maneuver your color around the tiny pieces all the while trying not to bump into the paper pieces as you go!  Trust me...I've tried it.  Color your entire image first.


Paper Piecing TIP #2 - color under the areas you are paper piecing.

I know this may seem like you're doing double duty but I promise it's worth it.  If you leave your pp areas white underneath, if you trim your pieces a little too closely the white will show when you attempt to adhere them down.  If you color underneath a color close to whatever paper you are laying down, if there is a tiny bit peeking out from under it won't be noticeable at all.

Paper Piecing TIP #3 - Color all pieces BEFORE trimming out! 
If you are piecing together images that require your coloring skills, in other words, not designer paper but pieces that you are going to color...definitely color them first.  Trying to hold down tiny pieces and color them realistically is virtually impossible.  Make it easy on yourself and color everything first.


Paper Piecing TIP #4 - take your time trimming your piece out.  DON'T RUSH!

If you rush, you'll regret it!  It takes patience, a steady hand and a great pair of small and sharp snips to trim out all of those tiny pieces.  As in this sample, I paper pieced her dress, her right dress shoulder strap which is TINY and had to be separated from the rest of her dress based on the way the image stamps out.  I also pieced her arms and upper chest/neck area.  All so tiny!!

Paper Piecing TIP #5 - If you are paper piecing clothing - when possible, try to color and trim out the extremities (hands, arms, legs, etc) as well.

Again, I know it's more work but if you don't do this the body parts will seem 'sunken' into the image as the paper pieced clothing will seem to float on top of the image.  It definitely takes more time and effort but it is really worth it!


Paper Piecing TIP #6 - When planning to paper piece - evaluate your image first. 

I did so here and decided that while I really wanted to paper piece her crown and have it popped up on 3-D foam all glittery and sparkly that realistically I'd NEVER be able to trim the itty bitty points of the crown as neatly as they stamp.  I would have been frustrated and ended up not using it in the end.  So if you plan ahead just a bit you will save time, paper and energy. 
As you can see, I took a great deal of care and time into coloring my image.  Therefore, I kept the rest of my card relatively CAS.  My sentiment "Sparkle" is also from TGF.  The papers are all Bazzill.  My felt was purchased at JoAnn Fabrics.  I've found that when using dies of any kind with felt you MUST use felt that is 100% if not very close to 100% wool.  The basic acrylic blend stuff that you find in the kids section of the craft stores will not work!  You must invest in the good stuff if you want it to look crisp and clean.  Otherwise you'll be fighting with strings, fluff and nasty polyester everywhere!  My felt is 100% wool and is cut using MFT's Die-Namics Banner Day Die

Ok!  I think I've gone on enough for one day!  =)  Thank you SO much for hopping along with us today!!  Off you hop next to the ever fabulous and my darling girl Black Dragon!!

Hope you have a very inspiring, fabulous and beautiful day!!

6 comments:

~Lady B~ said...

Your work is always so fabulous! thank you for the inspiration and the awesome tips on paper piecing. I now see where I went wrong when tryig this technique previously. LOL. Now I will have to give it another shot!

jennifer said...

fantastic work, your card is great!

Unknown said...

Great work your opaper piecing is fantastic thanks foe all the tips
Luv Jane xxx

Sparkly Engineer said...

great tips and great card. Love the blue hair.

Judi B said...

love the stamp and your piercing is great very even

Jenn Borjeson said...

I LOVE paper piecing, it's one of my favorite techniques - and you gave great advice. Gorgeous card, I adore the Creeper Crew! :)