Hi Everyone,
Can you believe it? I am back again. 
Actually, I wanted to share a not so good card of mine that I made this week. I wasn’t going to, but I thought I would share the problems I had and maybe we can all learn from my mistakes… heehee
OK so here is the card.
So it all began with me actually selecting my DP first! I had decided to go with the brown theme. (I love Websters!!) However my mistake was not selecting a card base. I didn’t mind the red at the time but now that I look at it I hate it. Why didn’t I use green or even a cream would have been nice!!!
I had been busting to try the new doohickey flower dies (I received from friends). I thought using the velum would be cool because you would still be able to see through them but then I added stickles…. They curled up and I thought it looked OK at the time but now… not so impressed and they feel weird.
Now the colouring…
I am so disappointed. This was the first time I had coloured this Tilda and I made the mistake of not deciding where my light source was going to come from before starting, so when I reached areas that needed to be coloured correctly (like her arm and hand) I began to flounder trying to decide where the light source was and that made it all a bit skew-if from then on.
Her DRESS!! Not happy at all. The folds are completely wrong. To the left I made too many folds. Really there should have been one deep one between both legs to show how her left knee is forward BUT this can be hard to picture until the image is coloured. So I will need to play with this one again (starting with the dress this time. heehee)
I am happy with her face and hair. I have been experimenting on Maggie faces lately looking at new ways to colour them. It seems odd when we try to change the way we colour especially when so many of us colour their faces in a similar way.
OK so that’s my critical analysis of my card!
I think the lesson for me is that I do better when I am colouring just because I love to (so I will just have to continue to struggle selecting my papers afterwards)
Another lesson, colour the areas that are hardest first so that if you aren’t happy you don’t have to throw away too much work to start again.
And… I guess really I just have to keep practicing at making cards.
Maybe I need to find something else to decorate with copics?? heehee
Hopefully I’ll be back with a good card before the week is over… Working on something today!
Hugs all and thanks for joining me for both the good and bad…
Zoe xxoo
I do find that you’re a little too hard on yourself, Zoe. I tried to move away from the monitor a little and looked at your card as a whole, and I think it looked good. I’m no expert with Copics, so really I wont be able to tell if the shadows and folds are right or wrong, LOL!
There is one thing though… I like the vellum flowers and the curls caused by the stickles…but I thought it would hv been better suited to a card with more whitish/bluish colours (or anything bright) , rather than this brown-toned. one…it sort of stole away the attention from the beautiful Tilda in the center…just my 2 cents of course!
Other than that, I have to say I love all your cards, and sorry I haven’t been able to leave comments as often as I want to!
Wishing you a Happy happy new year and a wonderful holiday!
Oh Shirl! You are such a sweetheart. Thank you for your comments. I guess I have high expectations of myself and I confess to having an obsession with perfection. I so badly want my projects to look like I imagine them that I end up trying too hard rather than letting the natural creativity take reign. And I easily disappoint myself.
Wishing you all the best in the New Year too hun. Big hugs xxooo
Okay…you are way too hard on yourself. This card is terrific. I love the way the flower curled…the only thing I would change is that the flower should be smaller. Other than that..perfect. I love the way you colored it and I am not sure what you mean by changing the fold lines. Are you considering coloring her again…I would be so interested in seeing the difference? Have a wonderful new year and stop being so hard on yourself. You are wicked talented:)
Hugs,
Stephanie
I think it is a gorgeous card.You should see my coloring….trust me ,you’ve nothing to worry about.lol.
The colors are fine together, the flower is fine, its a great card.But I must confess, I throw myself on the floor sometimes when my coloring looks like my grandkids did it,lol
Luv CHRISSYxx
Well I really liked the card, I read all your self criticisms and just didnt see the problems, but hey, who is a worse critic of ourself than ourself right. I quite liked the folds, thats one of the things that impresses me most about your coloring is how when your finished, I see depth that I would never have seen before, certainly not in my own coloring. Now a question, when you have a card you dislike what do you do with it? I have torn mine down and reused parts of it, and I have thrown them away, and some I just threw in a box to think about later. Here lately I havent been pleased with any of my cards, the coloring has been okay, for me anyway, but the papers and everything has been bad, and I am not sure why.
Zoe I am amazed at all of your cards, the colouring is wonderful and the only one of your criticisms i agree with is the choice of red for the base colour. It looks okay, but like you said, green or cream would have accented better. I have only two copics at this stage – picked up in a class somewhere and they are just skin colour ones. I have to get more and your cards inspire me to do so!
from Vicki at cardartart.blogspot.com
We are always our own greatest critics but I think you have been way too hard on yourself here! I do agree with you about the red card but I can understand why you chose it – it probably blended perfectly with the Wensters DP when you had everything laid out then the red in the paper wasn’t so prominent when you assembled the card? I think the vellum flower is perfect and I really like the way it curls. As to the folds in her skirt, I think they’re wonderful and tie in perfectly with the shape of the hem and the way it’s been drawn. Generally, I think we all have good days and bad days, cards we’re really pleased with and those that bring a degree of disappointment but we just learn as we go no matter how experienced we are. If I could colour like you, I’d be patting myself on the back every day!
Thanks so much for the colouring tips you left for me yesterday, that was so helpful!
Diane x
Me thinks you’re a tad hard on yourself Zoe,I think that us crafters are self critical and only to ready to point out our mistakes. I made a brag book for my sister-in-law,only had half an hour to put it together as I was waiting for DH to print out the photos for it. She was absolutely thrilled but I found myself pointing out every single flaw and telling her what I should have done.Your card is lovely,colouring too! Have a great day sweetie,Hugs,Julie.x
LADIES I GOT THIS!!!!!!!!!!! ZOE!!!!!!!!! ((YELLING)) Pulling your ear too!!!
(((hugs)))Ruby?
sigh Zoe Zoe Zoe lol!!! ok i could see why you got mad at your folds and your purpose but it still works the way it is.DID YOU FORGET YOUR THE QUEEN OF FOLDS!!!!!!!!!!
Another thing that i noticed on your work and i don’t see much of this, many many many people stick to the pinks and blue combos all the girly colors AHEMMM like me SOMETIMES LOL!! YOU MY LADY ARE NOT SCARED OF COLOR AND YOU WORK IT VERY WELL!!!! Um did you forget your the boss of colour addicts!!!so my point is the red works PERFECT MY DEAR PERFECT! You need contrast.Not to hide your beautiful floral paper.The red made your paper pop!!! Come on girl you got this.Ok letting go of your ear NOW lol!! Don’t worries be happy
p.s
GORGEOUS CARD SO SHABBY CHIC!!!
Hi Zoe, I’m only an occasional commenter but I do lurk quite a bit (sorry…)
I have to say that I really admire you for putting your card out there and being honest and open about what it is that you’re not happy about. I think the most important part is actually being about to pinpoint those things and find ways to improve.
For the record, I really love the colours you used and your colouring is on the expert scale. I would not have noticed some of those things if you hadn’t pointed them out. As a scrapbooker first and foremost, I tend to notice overall balance of colour and design elements first. I am very much a novice at colouring images and I look at your work with awe.
I think my own colouring is very child-like but I don’t have a clue about how/where to begin to improve. (Staying inside the lines would probably be a good start though…) So I’m really looking forward to your colour challenges and hoping to learn more and more from you and the team.
well i agree ur way 2 down on urself hun, god i am terrible at light sources and folds i just colour and add a bit of shading, if i had done this i would be on a high, its ace so dont be to hard on yourself hunny xx
ohhh wow, you are good!
I love that in people when they are trying hard and hard.
Well I must say is her dress is silk and maybe her knie is so, the folds can be ok.
But I must say I saw your other card with the same image wow, it’s really wow!
But once again maybe her dress there is from some other fabric
You are very good!
I will be happy to tell me what I am doing wrong !
Have a magical New Year!
Goodness me Zoe,
I’ve just found your site, and I think your card is beautiful ! I don’t see anything wrong at all with the colouring of the folds – they look terrific to me
all good wishes,
Grace
Chcia?abym tak pi?knie kolorowa?.Nosz? si? z zamiarem kolorowania Tildy, ale obawiam si?, ?e to b?dzie pora?ka.
Gratuluj? talentu!!!! Pozdrawiam Madzik