I have a thing for Halloween.  It stems from childhood – and of course the fact that my birthday is the day after.  So I literally AGE at midnight on Halloween.  Nothing scarier than that!!  So I made a fun little Halloween card for Spellbinders monthly gallery.  There is lots of new work there from the design team – so check it out!

I did a lot of Copic 'fadework' on this sweet little kittie.  Let me explain what I mean there, specifically on the purple smock of our little kittie in costume.

First, the image is stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black ink.  Open the lids to BV13 and 0 (colorless blender) and 'kiss' the two brush tips together.  Hold it there longer for more intensity.  Then you start coloring with the colorless blender until the color fades out.  That way you have lots of intensity at first and then a fade to 0.  I find it gives you the softest fade possible, rather than coloring first with BV13 and trying to blend it to look like this.  It's the closest to a watercolor look that I can achieve.  And I own the watercolor crayons and pencils.  Just could never get the hang of them.  I continue to go to my Copic Sketch Markers.  I can achieve a watercolor look, with far more control over the end result.

I also like mixing it up and having an intense background (achieved here with Ranger color wash on 'canvas paper') and a softer watercolored image.  Ink makes it all possible with such ease.

I hope you will take a moment and play with ink today.  Make a background.  Color something.  Play.  Experiment.

I'm teaching tomorrow, and then the kidoodles are out of school on Thursday.  I bought little chipboard houses from Crafty Secrets so that each of us can make a haunted house together as a craft project.  I cannot wait to see what they come up with.

Have a great day.