We have admired the stunning & colorful work of Francine Vuilleme for a long time and were are absolutely delighted to welcome her to The Classroom today! Francine's masterful coloring and use of bold color (especially rainbows), is fantastique! That's French for out-of-this-world fantastic (we hope, LOL)!
You can see more of Francine's beautiful creations on her blog, 1001 Cartes. And while you are there, soaking up the beauty, make sure to leave Francine a little comment love. Francine will randomly draw a name from the comments on her blog to win a $50 coupon to use at our store!
Thank you so much for sharing your talent with us Francine! And thank you for the gorgeous rainbow-wear inspiration!
Hi everyone! I’m thrilled to be in the CLASSroom sharing a tutorial with you. Today, it’s all about rainbows. If you know me, you know that I LOVE rainbow colors. It’s my go-to color combination. It’s so versatile and makes me happy! You can create wonderful rainbow backgrounds using Distress inks or watercolors. You can also die-cut rainbows from beautiful cardstock but this time, I want to show you an innovative way to use this combo. Why not dress your characters with rainbow colors?
Like most of my designs, I tend to keep my cards clean and simple, but very colorful. I started my project by stamping the images from the newest Plant Lady set by Brandi Kincaid in black Memento ink. I masked the hand of the lady using masking paper and then stamped the trowel. I colored the images with Copic markers and cut them out using small sharp scissors. At that point, I didn’t color the apron of the plant lady. I kept this area white and left the images aside.
Next, I created a top-folded card base from white cardstock using a scoring board. I then blended Distress inks over the background with blending tools. I chose Mustard Seed, Twisted Citron and Peacock Feathers. I used a sentiment from the Plant Ladies Say stamp set, also by Brandi Kincaid. The sentiment says “Gardening is cheaper than therapy” and I just love it! I stamped it directly to the card front in black Hero Hues dye ink from Hero Arts using the Mini Misti stamping tool for a crisp print.
Now, the fun part of the project begins!
I decided to color the apron in rainbow colors. But if you want to give it a try, you can choose another piece of clothing (dress, sweater, pants, hat, shoes, etc.). The technique is always the same.
I didn’t create the rainbow directly on the image. I decided to add an additional step by creating a 3D paper piecing to give more dimension to my project. This is why I stamped the apron on another piece of cardstock. But this step is optional and you don’t need to go for it if you don’t feel comfortable with paper piecing.
Rainbows usually have seven colors but I decided to go with six colors (pink, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple). I drew five lines across the apron to create six segments. I first drew the lines using a pencil. For a more realistic look, I didn’t make straight lines.
I then went over the lines with a black Copic Multiliner.
I colored each segment with Copic markers. I used two shades for each segment to create a nice blend but one color would work fine too.
Here are the Copics I used to create my rainbow:
• Pink: RV09 and R83
• Orange: YR68 and YR15
• Yellow: Y35 and Y11
• Green: YG23 and YG11
• Blue: B04 and B01
• Purple: BV13 and BV11
For more depth, I always add a lot of shading to my coloring. I used grey shades to accentuate the fold of the apron. I also went over the stamped lines with a black marker.
Next, I fussy cut the rainbow apron with sharp scissors and ran a black marker over the edges. I then colored the apron of the plant lady in grey (C5 or C6) and attached the rainbow apron over it.
Depending on the project, foam pads can be too thick (even thin foam squares). As I just wanted a little bit of dimension, I attached two pieces of cardstock at the bottom back of the apron and glued the apron piece to the plant lady.
To finish off my card, I fixed the plant lady as well as the plant to the card front using double-sided foam tape for more dimension. I added a layer of Wink of Stella clear shimmer to the rainbow apron.
Supplies:
