Inspire Me Monday: A Winter's Night

Hello! It is Power Poppy Inspire Me Monday time again! I am making Christmas cards as often as I can right now. I do not have the patience to sit down and do a bulk create, but I can make one or two here and there to add to my stash.

For my inspiration this week, I wanted to share a project that stretches me out of my comfort zone...coloring a dark background with Copic markers! So worrisome to me! I think it probably scares a lot of folks, especially Copic beginners. But, it also scares us Copic veterans, too! 

I can never color the background first for some reason, which means once I have colored the main image it scares me to try a dark background and potentially ruin all my hard work! 

I decided to pull on my big girl mittens and give a night background another try! I used the "to be released soon" digital Feeding Blitzen image that was originally part of the Under Glass: Christmas Traditions clear stamp set. 

The original stamped image is fairly small, so having it in a digital version which can be resized...priceless! I printed the image at approximately 3" x 5" onto white Copic friendly cardstock. 

This project has a lot of dark Copic markers! Don't be afraid of them. Just grab and go! It is only paper after all. If you make a mistake, you can always start over! (I wish I listened to my own advice sometimes!)

Tip: If your Copic markers are old like mine, make sure your super brush nibs are fresh and flexible. When the nibs get old they can get very "smooshy" which makes it hard to get into the fine details or to hold a sharp edge. The nibs are not expensive and are easily replaced.

I colored Santa and Blitzen first, including the apples and the snow. Using cool gray for Santa's beard and fur trim, then using blues for the snow shadows seemed very dark to me, until I added the much darker background! 

Using the dark blue for the background was a bit intimidating, and I had to go over it and darken it even more to get rid of the streaks, but once it was finished....wow does the white and red pop! 

Here are my Copic colors:

Santa's suit and apples: R24, R29, R59

Mittens and leaves: YG25, YG17, YG67, with a bit of E51 and E23 to tone down the mittens!

Boots, belt, hoofs, beard: C1, C3, C5, C7, C9

Blitzen: E53, E55, E57, E29

Santa's face: E50, E51, R21, E23

Belt buckle: Y17, Y15, Y11

Snow: B0000, B000, B00

Sky: B91, B93, B95, B97

Some of that pesky blue got onto Blitzen's antlers, but let's pretend it is shadows, shall we?!

After the Copic ink had dried I went back over the image with a white Posca paint pen to add the falling snow. Thankfully the snow did not turn pink or blue! The paint is thick enough that the Copic color did not bleed through! Or, maybe it was because I allowed the ink to fully dry?? 

I chose the sentiment from the Garden of Gratitude clear set which I stamped onto a scrap of cardstock and cut out with a skinny sentiment die. 

Here is more "winter's night" inspiration from the past to help you take the plunge!

I used the Cuddle in the Cabin clear stamp set, but this image also is part of the digital set HERE .  See the original post HERE.

I used the digital versions of the Enchanted Branches: Nativity Angel set and the ornaments from the Enchanted Branches: Woodland set (but the Woodland set seem to be only available in clear now). See the original post HERE.

Thanks for stopping by today! And have fun coloring some winter's night projects!

Power Poppy Products Used:
Feeding Blitzen digital set (coming soon)
Garden of Gratitude clear set (sentiment)

Other Products Used: 

Copic alcohol markers: see list above

White paint pen: Posca

Cardstock: Hammermill white, CutCarsStock Pop Tone Wild Cherry

Printed paper: Simple Stories Vintage Rustic Christmas 6x8 paper pad

Enamel dot: Simple Stories Emoji Love

Die cut: My Favorite Things Skinny Strips

Adhesive: ATG tape, Art Glitter Dries Clear glue