Cards and Stickers

This month has been a busy month with my creating ATCs and Stickers going back to my early days to present with favorite illustrations.

After creating the individual ATCs, I had to then set up onto sheets to be printed and cut.  Then I took the time to catalog over 700 cards I have created by assigning numbers to them and creating a list using Excel and a photo reference using Word and tables.

Next are the stickers I've started working on.  I had to figure out a way to make my stickers where my Scan n Cut machine can read an outline and then remember to use certain adjustments in the machine itself to cut just INSIDE the outlined area leaving a nice white border around the illustration.  I wasn't able to find a tutorial or video on setting up for cutting so I had to figure all this out on my own which took a lot of trial and error.  Once I found something that worked, I made myself a document I can refer back to along with step by step screenshots.  I'm sure there are probably other ways to do this but at least I found something that worked for me.

As I sit and type this post, I am asking myself why am I creating stickers?  I'm really not sure why but I think it's neat and something I might have a use for at a later time.

 

See, Hear, Speak No Evil - Opal

Using one of my newest Opal variations shown in previous post, I made additional arm/feet components to work this trio.

 

Reconstructing Pirate Opal and Color/Saturation Variations

Last month for my monthly challenge with Madison, I came up with the pirate theme using my miniature bear, Opal, as a model.

This month I have been more into playing with color variations and decided to use my Pirate Opal as my starting point.  Using Procreate, I took Opal apart creating individual components so I could dress, change arm positions, etc.  Most of my work was done in Procreate but also used Photoshop Elements as well since both applications share most of the same mechanics.  Much easier to see on a larger screen but some mechanics easier to perform in one application versus the other depending on what I am hoping to achieve.

This has been a three-day project (trial and error, several layers, several different file saves, and final results) and I could spend even more time if I chose to.  With each change in arm position and head, I had to make changes for each part to seamlessly blend in together.  That was accomplished by "pulling" area color using the "Smudge" brush tool within the individual parts to match up to the next section where they joined.  Same with any additions/changes with the clothing.  

Sample of individual parts:

Sample changing arm positions as well as the head (on one example), and my first attempt at creating different clothing and color of Opal:

After the initial change as seen in the center of the above photo, the real fun began - Various changes in clothing, color, texture, and variations of fur color.

With this final sheet, it shows where I started playing with using a selection tool making irregular shapes within an area, feathering the selection, and changing color to give a double color variation as seen in a few shirts and one of the bodies (bottom row, two over from the left).

 

Capturing the Moment

Lani and I were outside for a little while and as we were about to go back inside to the Sunroom, a dark shadow caught my eye.  I looked to see it was a Brown Anole sitting on our air handler's condensation drain pipe that extends down from the attic outside the house.

I don't know if this guy was just relaxing there or if he was headed to the drip of water at the end of the pipe.

This year we have seen green and brown (mainly brown) anoles at every turn.  They are everywhere on foliage, on the house, and even scampering across the lawn.  We've never seen this concentration of anoles in the seven years we've been here until now and wondering if it was due to the warmer winter we had this past year.

We've also taken notice of the larger number of geckos this year as well.

Handsewn journal with Fabriano Cold Press paper / TWSBI 580AL w/#41 Brown ink.