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Skin Colour Combinations

I have taken a few colouring classes over the past couple of years, both free and paid, and a high priority was to learn to colour skin and hair. Here is a link to my Colouring Resources Page which contains links to classes and tutorials I have done and can definitely recommend.

Colouring people and other characters such as mermaids are super fun, but in light of recent events, it occurred to me that I had not yet extended my colouring palette to include people of different nationalities (or even a sun tan!). This is something I had always intended on sitting down and working out but hadn’t actually taken the time, which, when I think about it is very short sighted, as New Zealand is a very multi-cultural country! I hope that by doing this exercise I continue to have a more accurate and inclusive portrayal of people both in my own community and further afar.

Hair colours on the left, skin tone on the right
Hair colours on the left, skin tones on the right.

This is a page from the free Markers 101 Class at Kit & Clowder (suitable for all alcohol marker types). There are many other little freebie classes and digital images, I definitely encourage you to visit the Kit & Clowder community – either via Facebook or their website.

I had previously coloured the top four images as part of my original class. I still consider myself a beginner colourist, and have only been practicing my colouring on small images and stamps for cards for around 2 years or so.

So I got my workbook back out, tried out some colour combinations and filled in my final decisions for the bottom two images. My goal for now is to get out of my comfort zone of reaching for my habitual choices of colour and really think about what I’m representing in my projects.

Now to flex these skills!

Pretty Pink Posh have very cute people stamp sets with simple line designs, they suit many card occasions, and they’re the ones I reached for today in order to practice my new combinations.

Another stamp set I regularly colour are the MFT Mermaids, so I decided to colour one of these up as well.

Shimmer was also added to the Friends with the Nuvo Aqua Glimmer pen.

For this card, I stencilled the sky using Distress Inks in Worn Lipstick and then Squeezed Lemonade over the top of that, plus a layer of Gina K Glitz Glitter Gel.

I distress inked the grassy hill with Mowed Lawn and Twisted Citron. I added a bit of foam to the back of this piece, arranged my friends and stamped the sentiment. I added the little flowers which are included in one of the stamp sets, and scattered some clay hearts from Honey Bee Stamps.

Copics Used:
Skin: Girl 1 – E04, E11, E21, E00, E000; Boy – E27, E25, E23, E21; Girl 2 – E29, E27, E25, E23, E21;
Hair: Girl 1 – E59, E57, E55; Boy & Girl 2 – 100, E49, E59
Clothing: B28, B24, B21, G09, G14, YG06, V25, V22, V20;
Flowers: Y18, Y15, R29, R27, R24, C1, C0


This card front is die cut with the largest MFT stitched rectangle and an Avery Elle wonky rectangular frame was die cut a few times, stacked and textured pattered paper popped in for the background.

The same patterned paper was used for the top layer of Kindness. I also added shimmer with a Nuvo Aqua Glimmer pen to the people and the Kindness die cut.

Copics Used:
Skin: Girl – E27, E25, E23, E21; Boy – E04, E11, E21, E00, E000;
Hair: Girl – 100, E49, E59; Boy – E23, Y26, E55, E53;
Clothing: B28, B24, B23, BG57, BG45, BG10, RV66, RV17, V04

Unfortunately the Kindness stamp and die set has been discontinued by MFT but I was lucky and managed to find it at Frantic Stamper earlier this year. Frantic Stamper is a US retailer and brilliant for sourcing hard to find, discontinued stamp sets as well as all the current goodies. At the time of publishing this blog, this set was still in stock with them and I have provided a direct link below.


Images from MFT Mermazing

I love making cards with mermaids, and this My Favorite Things Mermazing set is definitely one of my most favourite. It is one of the first stamp sets I ever purchased from MFT!

I’ve coloured her up thus far, and will include her on a card in the near future.

Copics Used:
Skin E27, E25, E23, E21; Hair 100, E49, E57;
Clothing RV66, RV09, RV06, RV04;
Rock W9, W7, W5, W3;
Shell R85, R56, RV34;
Fish YR18, YR16, Y15;
Turtle G09, G05, YG06, YG03, YG67 YG63, YG61

This completes my cards and colouring skill practice today. Thank you for stopping by! Below are links to the products I have used – some are affiliate links (not all) which simply means I may get a small commission at no extra cost to you when shopping. Thank you for your support – it means I can keep creating and sharing with you.

https://linkdeli.com/widget.js?id=f5e8378456858c916708

If you have any questions regarding the putting together of any of these cards, please feel free to message me – I’m only too happy to help!

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Floral Blooms Thanks Card

I have spent my Christmas break organising and setting up my new craft space and I finally had time to make something I could share.

Supplies used:

  • Neenah #110 and #80 cardstock, Lawn Fawn Black Licorice cardstock, black glitter cardstock and vellum
  • Tonic Studios Floral Blooms Die
  • Tonic Studios Budding Vine Die
  • Tonic Studios Thanks
  • Copic Markers – YG25, YG23, YG03, RV29, RV25, RV13
  • Nuvo Crystal Glaze
  • Studio Katia Pearls
  • Art Glitter Liquid Adhesive
Tonic Studios Budding Vine
Tonic Studios Floral Blooms
Tonic Studios Thanks

The Tonic Studios background dies each come in a set of two – the intricate inner piece and a decorative rectangular die. They can be used on their own, or together or mixed and matched – creating many possibilities. I really like the delicate scalloped look of the rectangle die included in the Budding Vine set, so I matched it with the Floral Blooms intricate die for today’s card.

I taped the two dies together with purple tape, just to keep them secure, and die cut them four times.

Having them taped together ensured that all four die cuts matched when put together.

I cut one scalloped rectangle on its own for the base and adhered the first of the intricate cuts. The edges match up perfectly, and now it’s time to add colour!

I used copic markers to colour in the cut out areas in reddy pinks and lush greens. I used blends of three, dark to light from the centre of the flowers/leaves outwards. It doesn’t matter how messy this gets, as it will all be magically tidied up when we add the remaining die cuts on top. Once I was satisfied with my colouring, I glued the second layer on. This hides all the mess, and you can see immediately anywhere that is missed, and can add further details such as shading etc. Then the third die cut layer is glued on top.


Now the fun part – adding Nuvo Crystal Glaze to all of the openings to give a bit of a stained glass effect at the end. I carefully squeezed the glaze and used a craft pick to ensure I could get the glaze right into the tiny nooks and crannies. Getting some of the glaze up the sides of the die cut openings really helps with the stained glass look too.

The final die cut is glued on top to hide all the glaze messy bits and we have our completed panel. This needs a good couple of hours to dry, so leave it in a area where it can lay nice and flat.

I cut the sentiment using the Tonic Studios Thanks twice from black cardstock, and once from black glitter cardstock and stacked them onto a vellum shadow. This die is nice and long, and I glued the ends of the vellum piece around to the back of the card panel, and cut the black to match the edge.

Studio Katia pearls are added to the flower centres as a finishing touch, and I completed the card by mounting the panel onto a Neenah #110 top folding card base.

Thank you for visiting! If you have any questions regarding the putting together of this card, or any of the materials used, please feel free to message me – I’m only too happy to help!