Hiya. How is everyone doing? As I'm typing this up for all you wonderful people, I'm looking out the window and really appreciating the snow on the ground. It looks so pure, fresh and sparkly. Feeling grateful that we get to see something so magical...Rain turning to fluffy stuff that looks like cotton candy sprinkled with edible glitter. I love cotton candy (and snow, as long as I don't need to get in the car to go anywhere!).
Today I did my first FB live. I hope it was okay for everyone and I sort of made sense with what I was trying to explain. I have not read the comments yet as I wanted to put the step by steps for this card out first ...
In case anyone wants to have a go at creating this card while watching my video on how I colour gems, you can watch it here for Facebook ... Colouring a Gem on a Parchlet Video
or on here for YouTube ... Colouring a Gem on a Parchlet
Groovi Plates/Tools/Materials Used:
Alphabet A5 Square Groovi Plate Mate GRO-MA-40002-07
Numbers, Ovals and Tags A6 Square Groovi Plate Inset GRO-WO-40133-11
Tina's Morning Glory Flowers Parchlet A6 Square Groovi Baby Plate GRO-FL-40969-01
Tina's Henna Petites - U A6 Square Groovi Baby Plate GRO-PA-41082-01
Alphabet A5 Square Groovi Plate Mate GRO-MA-40002-07
Numbers, Ovals and Tags A6 Square Groovi Plate Inset GRO-WO-40133-11
Tina's Morning Glory Flowers Parchlet A6 Square Groovi Baby Plate GRO-FL-40969-01
Tina's Henna Petites - U A6 Square Groovi Baby Plate GRO-PA-41082-01
Parchment paper
Pergamano 1mm, 1.5mm & 3mm embossing ball tools (or Groovi No.1&2 and No.3&4)
Embossing Mat
Perga Colours Exclusive Pens
Perga Liner (B pencils)
Dorso Oil
Blending Pen
Spot on Sponge
Pergamano 1mm, 1.5mm & 3mm embossing ball tools (or Groovi No.1&2 and No.3&4)
Embossing Mat
Perga Colours Exclusive Pens
Perga Liner (B pencils)
Dorso Oil
Blending Pen
Spot on Sponge
Pergamano white gel pen
Backing Card - I have used a brown card (10.5x10.5cm), white card (11x11cx) and Shenandoah Designer Card (12.5x12.5cm)
6"x6" Folded white card
Pergamano Brads (I coloured my white ones yellow using a Sharpie pen)
Sticky ink, Mapping pen & Perga Glitter
Backing Card - I have used a brown card (10.5x10.5cm), white card (11x11cx) and Shenandoah Designer Card (12.5x12.5cm)
6"x6" Folded white card
Pergamano Brads (I coloured my white ones yellow using a Sharpie pen)
Sticky ink, Mapping pen & Perga Glitter
Step 1: Over the Morning Glory Flowers Parchlet plate emboss the middle floral design (not the flower centres) and both sets of double square outlines using the Pergamano 1mm embossing ball tool (or Groovi No.1). Emboss the flower centres using the Pergamano 1.5mm embossing ball tool (or Groovi No.2).
Step 3: Join up the other 2 corners by embossing part of the corner design from the plate using the Pergamano 1.5mm embossing ball tool (or Groovi No.2) and the rest of the design using the Pergamano 1mm embossing ball tool (or Groovi No.1).
Step 4: All the above steps were on the back. Turn your parchment to the front deboss the 2 double circle outlines from the plate using the Pergamano 1.5mm embossing ball tool (or Groovi No.2), leaving out the pre-embossed areas so it looks like the circle is behind the floral design.
Step 5: Turn the parchment to the back and emboss all the little circles using the Pergamano 1.5mm embossing ball tool (or Groovi No.2) over an embossing mat.
Step 6: Turn the parchment to the front and emboss between the middle circles using the Pergamano 3mm embossing ball tool (or Groovi No.3). The deboss will give the illusion the gem is popping out of the parchment. Usually when we emboss on the front, the area goes shiny. To avoid this we would use a piece of clear plastic over the parchment before embossing on the front. I did not use a clear piece of plastic here before debossing as I was going to cover the area with Perga glitter.
Step 7: Time to colour our gem. I am using Perga liner B pencils (1, 3, 9, 11). On the front first, I have coloured the gem in bands starting with the white in a jellybean shape followed by the yellow, red and brown around each colour.
Step 11: On the back, colour the flowers, leaves and between the double square outlines using the Perga Colour Exclusive pens. I have used No.1, 23 & 26.
Step 13: Blend the colours using the blending pen, and a little Dorso oil on a spot on sponge.
Step 14: Now that the parchment has rested, on the front, deboss between the circles once more using the Pergamano 1.5mm embossing ball tool (or Groovi No.2).
Step 8: Blend the colours using the blending pen, and a little Dorso oil on a spot on sponge starting with white. Use a different nib for each colour if possible. If you do not have enough blending nibs try and keep one nib separate for the white. If you have too much oil on your nib, the colour will come off, so blot off the excess on a piece of kitchen towel. If you have too little oil, the blending will not be smooth, so touch, just the very tip of the nib, on the Dorso oil for the tiniest amount of oil.
Step 9: Repeat on the back. I have added black too around the gem using the Perga Liner B2 pencil. The black needs to be the teeny tiniest amount otherwise it can spread a lot more into the gems than we want.
Step 10: This may not be necessary for your gems if you feel it has enough depth and vibrancy. Place your work on your backing card and see what it looks like before adding more colour. I repeated the whole process on the front once more because I wanted more depth and vibrancy in the colours. On my gem, I have not added cracks to my gem but if you wanted to add them, look at the document below for more info.
Step 12: Still working on the back, colour using the Perga Liner B pencil (I have used B3) a band along the square outlines as seen in the photo between the squares.
Step 13: Blend the colours using the blending pen, and a little Dorso oil on a spot on sponge.
To Finish: Add a little sparkle on the card using Pergamano sticky ink, mapping pen and Perga glitter. Cut the piece to size (or perforate outside the square using a 2-needle perforating tool and picot cut between the perforations). Mount the work on layers of backing card using Pergamano brads and stick this onto folded white card. I coloured my white brads with a Sharpie pen before using them on the card. I added the white highlight on the opposite side to the white reflection on the gem using a Pergamano white gel pen right at the end. You can add this once you finish colouring the gem.
Colouring a gem, basic steps :-
Here is a rough guide to colouring a gem if you want to print it for reference ...
If you want more inspiration, here are a couple of step by steps on my blog and Barbara's blog for completed cards, colouring gems on :-
and
And finally, a few other gems I have coloured over time (I'm sure there are more in my collection but I can't find them!) ...
Don't forget, if you want to join me and the rest of us for my online workshops, via Zoom, in February, email me on tinacoxcreativecoaching@gmail.com for more details. The floral one is on 20th February and the stitching one is on 27th February.
I hope you enjoyed everything put out today to create these gems. I look forward to seeing all your creations using the tutorials. Enjoy.
Love, Hugs and Laughter
Tina
