Handmade Holidays Blog Hop

Sunday, November 3, 2013

Hi Everyone,
It’s been quite a while since I did a blogpost– but I haven’t been idle… I’ve spent much of the past few months working on a really exciting project– new Zenspirations books! And I’m delighted to share that they will be on an endcap at Michaels from now until January 26th. If you don’t live near Michaels you can order the books on Amazon. The books (Flowers, Abstract, Inspirations) are the first three in a brand new series called “Create, Color, Pattern, Play”. Each book has 30 black and white images printed on good quality paper. You can either color the images ‘as is’, or embellish the images by adding patterns and your own special touches before coloring. Pages are printed on one side only, and are perforated for easy removal and disply. I invite you to “Share Your Work” in a special gallery that I’ll be adding to the website. Please send me jpegs of the pages you do… I can’t wait to see them!
I’d like to share a page that I decorated and colored for the Third Annual Handmade Holidays Blog Hop.I was honored to have been asked to participate in the blog hop this year, along with other designers, crafters and makers who are coming together to share creative ideas for handmade holiday gifts. The goal is to inspire you to create something from the heart, as well as to share how to use products in fun, innovative ways.
Since the coloring books have just launched, I decided to share how to turn a coloring book page into a piece of wall decor that you can frame and give as a to anyone on your holiday list.
STEP 1: Choose a design from the Zenspirations(TM) Flowers “Create, Color,
Pattern, Play” book— (available at Michaels and on Amazon).

STEP 2. Gently remove the design from the book by pulling along the perforated line.

 

 

STEP 3. Embellish the design using your favorite black pen (mine is a Pigma Micron 01).

STEP 4. When you are happy with what you’ve added, select your favorite coloring tools, and begin to color! I’m a Sakura fanatic– they make so many great tools that I couldn’t decide which ones to use– so I used them all!

 

STEP 5: I really like contrasting textures; matte and gloss, metallic and glittery. I created a texture band by alternating Sakura’s Stardust (glitter), Glaze (shiny) and Moonlight (flourescent matte) and Metallic gelly roll pens.

STEP 6: Once I finished the bottom two rows of patterns, I stopped to see if I liked the different textures.

STEP 7: Next I colored the flowers with gel and glaze pens.

STEP 8: I decided I didn’t like the pink & purple flower, so I colored over it with an opaque Metallic Gelly Roll. Much better! Now I have one matte (Moonlight) pink flower, one gold Metallic flower, and one shiny (Glaze) orange flower, to echo the textures in the band at the bottom.

STEP 9: I decided that I needed a few more areas to color, so I got my Micron out and added a few additional embellishments, and colored them in to complete the design. A finished Zenspirations design, ready for framing!

 

Hop along to each blog in the list. Each day, from November 1 through November 3, 2013, we’ll be posting a brand new list of blogs to hop to. Comment on each blog, share your favorite posts over social media, and then use the Rafflecopter link at the bottom of each post to enter to win the Grand Prize, a gift basket filled with crafty swag from the companies on the hop! We’re ready to inspire, share, and create – are you ready to hop?

November 3:

Clearsnap http://blog.clearsnap.com

Craft Attitude  http://www.jonathanfongstyle.com/blog/

Smoothfoam http://www.smoothfoam.com/blog/

Donna Salazar Designs  http://donnasalazardesigns.blogspot.com/

Walnut Hollow http://walnuthollowcrafts.wordpress.com/

100 Proof Press http://www.100proofpress.com/_blog/Blog

Graphic45 http://g45papers.typepad.com/

ICE Resin http://iceresin.com/icequeen/

Stampendous http://stampendousblog.wordpress.com/

Sizzix – Eileen Hull Designs http://eileenhull.blogspot.com/

Jamie Dougherty http://jamiedoughertydesigns.blogspot.com

Nathalie Kalbach www.nathaliesstudio.com

Jen Goode http://www.100directions.com/

Kathy Cano-Murillo http://www.craftychica.com/site/

Tanner Bell   http://www.craftteen.com

Jennifer Priest http://hydrangeahippo.com

Jen Cushman http://jencushman.wordpress.com/

Adrienne Ford http://bry-and-i.blogspot.com/

Joanne Fink /home/

Vicki O’Dell http://vickiodell.com/

Liz Hicks http://blogerisms.blogspot.com/

Denise Hahn http://inmyblueroom.blogspot.com/

Courtney Chambers http://www.alittlecraftinyourday.com

Tami Mayberry http://tamimayberry.blogspot.com/

Norma Rapko http://normarapko.blogspot.com/

Cheryl Waters http://blog.artsyfindings.com/

Use the widget below to enter to win one GRAND GRAND Prize of goodies donated by the participating company sponsors!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thank you again for hopping!  

Hope you enjoy the project, and the blog hop… until next time,

Stay Zenspired,

Joanne