What inks are good for no-line coloring? Well there are of course many. But I have a favorite, and if you haven’t figured it out yet – it’s a hybrid ink that’ll work for a bunch of mediums. But to be sure I did a watercolor test too – and confirmed what was a gut feeling I had already.
Supplies for this project are linked at the end of this post. Compensated affiliate links may be used at no cost to you.
It’s the middle of March…are the birds singing at your house yet!?? I heard one this weekend and my heart was SO happy! Whether or not our feathered friends have returned where you live – these new Dear Friend Robin stamps from Colorado Craft Company are going to bring some sunshine inside!
Video:
This Copic card uses the no-line ink; I think Copic is probably the best medium for fully hiding the lines – but on nice BIG images like this. When it comes to tiny images, the Copic nib is too fat. Pair that with colored pencil or a regular #2 to tidy up tiny spots. ALSO – don’t forget to decorate inside the card like this!
On the left is the watercolor painted over the Pumice Stone distress ink. It muddied up some of the colors a bit – and as you saw in the video, it didn’t stamp evenly, which led to some of the leaves having harsher dark spots too. The one on the right uses the no line ink…much cleaner. I knew this intuitively, but it’s always good to test and confirm what I think will happen.
More new goodies from CCC
Not included in the video – the colored pencil (Polychromos) version…all inks will work great with pencil. If using pigment inks just be sure they’re good and dry. And that robin’s nest stamp? Oh wow. It took a while to color, but it’s stunning! If you don’t want to color it, just stamp it in a soft ink and just color the eggs.
Here’s me coloring the nest – I used a yellowish brown first to flood the whole nest area using Gamsol and a blending stump, then layered different browns to get the depth with negative coloring around each of the little twigs. Ok not each one. I gave up on following the outlines. LOL! You can see a Reel of it on Instagram later on today!
More from this release
You knew I’d be coloring up daffodils right? ha! I love going up to the flower fields in spring to photograph and paint – so I made my own scene! I added a little bit of rocks to the right of the stamped image using a fountain pen with waterproof ink, then the fields and farm buildings too.
Rose Cross is a pretty stamp designed by Australia’s own Sandra Herrgott of Tiny Sparrow Designs! (Her Etsy store and Facebook page are wonderful to go see!) This stamp is just a weeee bit large for an A2 card – it does fit, but without “air” around it like I felt it needed, so I went for a 5″ x 7″ card. I stamped it a second time and cut out the flowers, and a third to cut out and pop the butterflies. And….GLITTER! Yes yes I know. It’s everywhere. HA!
Clean Heart is one of the bookmark stamps…I did a simple watercolor wash over embossed stamps, then painted another layer inside the images. The text is embossed on heavyweight vellum – I tucked it between layers to secure it.
Be Still, another bookmark set, again with embossing and a watercolor wash. Easy peasy!
Hello Bunny will be a tutorial coming up in a week or two once I can get it edited and ready 🙂
Giveaway!
I’m excited to be able to GIVE AWAY two stamp sets each from this new release to three lucky people! Leave a comment here about HOW YOUR STUDIO/WORKSPACE LOOKS TODAY by midnight on the 18th! I actually was brave enough to post GAH video of mine HERE yesterday if you wanna feel better about yours! ha!
I’ll announce winners on Friday the 19th on my blog so be sure to pop back here to see if you won! Also – if you want to be sure you get notified, scroll down just a little farther on this post and subscribe so you’ll get Friday’s post delivered by email!
Supplies
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- Colorado Craft Company Stamps:
- Dear Friend Robin: EH Stamps – EH Dies – CCC Stamps – CCC Dies
- Robins Nest: EH Stamps – EH Dies – CCC Stamps – CCC Dies
- Hello Bunny: EH Stamps – EH Dies – CCC Stamps – CCC Dies
- Spring Season Daffodils: EH Stamps – CCC Stamps
- Rose Cross: • EH Stamps – EH Dies – CCC Stamps – CCC Dies
- Be Still bookmarks: EH Stamps – CCC Stamps
- Clean Heart bookmarks: EH Stamps – CCC Stamps
- Copic Marker card:
- Colored Pencil card:
- Watercolor card:
My craft room is looking pretty good. Your cards are giving me inspiration to start making some beautiful spring cards.
These are all beautiful! I love your videos, Sandy! My office/craft room is pretty much a disaster. I have analysis paralysis trying to figure out how best to organize things and end up not doing anything at all… I know I could be more creative if I got organized!
Oh Lordy, I looked at my room as I sat reading your article and starting laughing. My craft room looks like it has been burglarized! Doors and drawers are open, things are hanging half out, stuff on the floor, my desk is crowded with all kinds of supplies waiting to be played with. I’m going to clean it up right now lol. I just started following you after hearing about you from my card making friends – I’m not disappointed, you inspire creativity. Thank you.
The nest is just stunning! The birds are beautiful too.
OMG…I love watching you work. You make coloring and painting so easy and effortless! I know it takes practice, practice and MORE practice and you’ve been doing this for years. But, I just love seeing how you bring a stamp or blank piece of paper to life. Thanks for sharing your amazing talent!
Your work is gorgeous Sandy! My work area is wherever I make it. Need to set up my craftroom.
As always, your artwork is absolutely gorgeous & it is such a blessing that you share it with all of us. Colorado Craft is a favorite stamp of mine & I own many of them. I thoroughly enjoy when you share your work, it is such an inspiration.
I actually cleaned my work area. A friend shared her day with me yesterday & we crafted all day, when she left, I cleaned up everything since I will not have any time soon to work on anything. But yesterday it was laughable, just how I like it.
Thanks Sandy for sharing your talent!!
I absolutely love your rabbit and nest cards. Your coloring skills are amazing. My craft room is still a war zone from the holidays. I do my largest amount of crafting during the holidays and usually have to shove everything into my craft room when guests come over. A decluttering mission is needed 🙂
You do such great work! Thanks for sharing your gift.
I love the cards you made. I can’t pick a favorite; I love them all. The three on ink no line is the best online I have found.
Wow! Your cards are amazing! I am in love with that gorgeous Robin, and the Bunny! So adorable! My craft space is a constant combination of organized chaos! This may be counter productive for some, but I find that spreading everything out helps spark my creativity! Thanks for sharing these lovely new designs with us! Your art is inspiring!
I’m new to cardmaking and have a lot to learn, thank you for the informative video. I’ll be watching more of your videos. I think the robins are beautiful and that big bunny.
I have a dedicated room with wonderful light. My husband built an island counter and cube shelving. I live the space and wish that I could spend more time in it. Beautiful new releases and thanks for the no line coloring video
Hi, Sandy –
Well CCC got it right by asking you to do a reveal. The nest, the bunny, the rose cross and everything you created — all of it looks just stunning. I love the daffodil card, too! Your work is so inspirational, Sandy! You give us mere mortals the feeling that we can do it and we get that impression because you are our cheerleader. Your specific directions and clearly written / articulated tips really help learners progress.
Thank you!
Lori S in PA
Your cards are beautiful!! My work space is a mess it’s on my dining room table! I’m still today the 17th finishing up St Patrick’s Day! Then off to the side I have my Easter cards to get cracking on!! Did I mention it’s a mess, worse than yours trust me lol
Hi Sandy,
I have been following you for years. My grandson and I put a small table outside
on my deck and watch your videos on the iPad, stop and start as we go. It’s
our bonding time… of course that is only on warm spring days. Can’t wait to
start up again because summer is on it’s way! Love your work, thanks for
sharing your talent with us.
Oh wow ! I can’t believe you colored that nest but it turned out gorgeous of course all of your stuff did the big bunny is certainly the cutest of all. My desk is also my work desk for selling insurance so regretfully my laptop is surrounded by color pencils and markers and copics and foam squares! Sometimes I get to watercolor while I’m on a long phone call. Someday soon hopefully I can separate the two work and crafting but for now my little space works …for anyone on the outside I’m sure it looks like a big total mess.
Beautifully done! I work from my drafting table, or couch. I live in a studio apartment. So I usually have to clean up before I can start another project.
The stamps are gorgeous and I really like what you’ve done with them. I’ve been following you on youtube for a couple of years. And love watching you use different media.
Bless you!
I love the Robin’s and no line coloring. I’ve only tried the distress ink and prefer not having the uneven look on the watercolor paper. I don’t have a separate craft room, so supplies in living room, dining room and bedroom. Kind of grouped by type of craft. I intend to better organize my supplies when I have a week off from work, if I can wait that long, a little OCD about organizing. I always enjoy your work.
Love everything you made! I cleaned up before my grandson came over to work on a school project. I cleaned up after he went home. I am in the middle of a move so my craft room is quite a sight.
Oooh, that bunny! My workspace is in transition, no better explanation. I’mcurrently separati g the papercrafting from the sewing projects to move papercrafting uostairs where the light lives. I love your work! Thanks for sharing the video of your workspace; it’s interesting to see the parts & pieces you use to do the incredible videos you share with us!
Normally I craft on the dining room table, but at the moment I am unable to get downstairs, so I’m crafting on top of a small chest of drawers!
So interesting how you did the Robin, it’s different to Robins in the UK. Your findings with the distress ink was interesting too. I’ve been trying to use some antique linen distress, and every time it’s coming out so uneven and unclear…
My craft space today is surprisingly straightened up today because I took the time to clean in it yesterday! It is usually a bit messy. I definitely could use more space for my craft supplies!
Organized chaos. Ok, more chaos than organized. Beautiful cards and bookmarks!
I do most of my card making/scrapbooking on the dining room table which is connected to the living room. I hate being shut away in my sewing/quilting workspace which is a separate room and prefer to be out where the “action” is. We don’t use the dining room table much since COVID anyway as no big gatherings. This allows my 3 cats to observe and contribute their opinions while I work or I can choose to just sit in the easy chair in the living room and listen to a demo on the computer. Love these robins which have not returned to our area yet…we just got 8 inches more snow so it’s a good thing!
Which workspace? 🙂 I have my shop table that I use for paper crafting, and a couch table for some paper work and holding current knitting project. My paper crafting area is super small, only about 2′ x 4′ (with a moveable cart with shelves underneath) but I have product storage in another room. Right now my space has the remnants of some card and book making projects but waiting for the next one to start.
Thanks for this opportunity. Love the new bunny set especially!
Beautiful cards, love the robins and great experiment with no line inking. I love my craft room: after 30 years I can make a beautiful mess and leave it!
My workspace currently is a small corner of mu bedroom. I have all my art supplies on a shelf and a small desk and chair where I do all my arts and crafts. My little spot of heaven lol. Love your art. Hope you feel better.
I love your coloring and watching your tutorials. 🙂
My crafty space is my bedroom. It’s always a bit of mess but it’s crafty mess and it’s allowed ’cause it brings creativity. I’m trying to organize it for almost two years now. And I hope it will happen this year. Finger crossed! 🙂
My craft room is a mess, like many others! I couldn’t bring myself to put away my “Holiday stamps and dies” because you never know when you might want to make a Christmas card, so all of that is on a table to the side! In my immediate area (which I can reach easily,) I have a box with all of my AI stamps and Tombow markers because I have been playing with the small water color pictures lately; then there’s a box with all of the new products I have bought in the past two months which are calling out to me! Even though I have tried not to buy too much, it’s hard not to. I have been looking at all of the Colorado Craft Co products because they are gorgeous and DIFFERENT from many other companies, which I like, but so far I have only purchased one stamp from them. Love your coloring in all mediums and birds are a favorite of mine, so this post was absorbing. 🙂
My craft room is very fluid. It goes to the dining room table, my office and other places unknown. That’s where all the things I can’t find are!
My craft room is currently a mess! I’m constantly moving and rearranging things trying to get a good rhythm of where they belong. I think the reality is– I have too much stuff and too many hobbies! But who likes reality?! Someday I’ll have a beautifully organized room with custom shelves and everything in it’s place. For now, I’ll keep crafting in my chaos.
Love your cards, Sandy! You make it look so effort-less.
I can’t get anything done in a mess so I am constantly organizing. I just made a “pencil condo” with white foam core and I am proud of it! All my favorite pencils are in it. Right now I have a watercolor sketchbook open with a few paintings on it. Desk is pretty neat for now!
I have a nice craft space in a corner of my basement that continually looks like a craft supply tornado hit it! I came down today with the express purpose of cleaning it up after making 60 cards for the local cat shelter and, well… here I am posting on this thread instead – LOL! I retired fall of last year and had slowly been working on getting everything organized. It has been nice to now be able to easily find some things I had forgotten I had or thought were lost forever!
Sandy, you really brought these to life all are so beautiful!
Oh my work space is a mess. I suffered two avalanches yesterday. So today I will be cleaning and organizing. I managed to get my happy hello tag for the 100 day project done and posted so a little creative time before the cleaning starts.
My studio is clean every Monday. I messed it up so bad yesterday (Monday) that I had to go over it again last night. I know this week was the good time change, but yesterday had me believing that was the issue – it definitely had a real Monday feel to it. Do you ever think of trashing something because it is such a pain? But, the card I made ended up being good so I guess it was worth it. Now my room is ready to mess up again today – after my morning class and before my evening class (writing, not visual art). I am praying that your wrist gets to feeling better sooner than later. That’s not only scary for you, but painful on top of it all. I LOVE your nest with eggs!
My dining room is my Craft room and I’ve come to love being in the middle of things. I love this new line and I see myself buying the entire set, but the bunny is everything!
My studio/living room is a complete hot mess lol. It would be one thing if it was just confined to that space but I also craft in my kitchen and bedroom sometimes too, I’m disabled so I craft when/wherever I feel the most comfortable, and they are now equally cluttered with supplies. I bought all these organizational carts and even another desk to get organized but haven’t put them together yet lol
Right now my workspace is a disaster. I need to start with a clean space for a new project but as I work it gets more cluttered. Love your cards.
So beautiful Sandy, you are so inspiring! Thank you for all the beauty you share with us! Happy Spring
My craft room needs a lot of organization but I’m getting there.
The release is beautiful. There’s so many things I want from him. If only I had the artistry to do justice to them all.
My craft room is almost always organized and neat, Im a little OCD everything in its place lol…I usually clean up after every session …Share the room with my husband. My desk is completely clear and his is piled high in a big mess lol…I guess opposites do attracked
Always LOVE your work, Sandy!!! This Colorado Craft Company release is beautiful!! I’m actually in the process of finishing up a redo of my craft space. So far I’m loving it. Still waiting patiently on one more piece of furniture to come in before I hang the decorative pieces.
Amazing cards Sandy! My space is a mess … I was away from home for 10 months and things just piled up!!
My craft room is currently a disaster zone! I try to make cards ever day after work, but don’t always have time to clean up. My spring break is coming and the craft room re- organization is at the top of my list.
Thus new release from CCCis amazing! I love it all. And your coloring of all of those images is spectacular. Thank you fir always giving such great inspiration ❤️
A tornado hit the craft room while the snowstorm was outside!!! I was afraid we were going to lose power so I broke my rule about putting each supply away after I used it just so I could keep making!! What a mess!
My workspace is my dinning room table and is currently occupied by the sewing machine and random other things. It’s really time to clear the table tops again
I guess it would depend on who you ask in my home. LoL! If you ask me my Craft Room is a little cluttered as I’m trying to organise my space so it’s easiest to reach everything(I’m in a wheelchair). If you ask my Hubby he would say the WHOLE house is my craft space as I take things to whatever room I’m in at the moment! LoL! ABSOLUTELY LOVE your release with CCC!! Can’t wait to place my order! God Bless & the Love of Christ to you & yours!!
Gorgeous colouring of this wonderful little robin! It is great to see how different the stamping inks work with both watercolouring and copic colouring! So easy to see with your work. Thanks so much for the inspiration and the very informative video!! Stay safe! 🙂