Sweet Violet Cuddlebug

It's been a long and trying week, but somehow I finally feel like I came out on top.

Last night was a close call for a bit of a superwoman breakdown.

At 1am I'm rushing into a 24hr animal emergency room begging the poor girl behind the desk to find me a doctor who treated rats... looking back now; her face was quite priceless.

Long story short; when male rats get into a squabble it's bad. Really bad, and stitches are likely. Everything worked out fine. My little furbaby is all fixed and has been spoiled all day. I think he quite likes laying on my drawing desk and getting hand fed little veges one at a time. Did I say spoiled? 

He hasn't move to terribly much but he seemed to enjoy watching me draw and color my latest digi. He'd do his cute purr and his eyes would boggle when I'd talk to him. Every now and then, he'd do a long stretch toward me and give my hand a dozen or so kisses.  It's really been sweet. 

Sad as the entire experience was, bonding with him today has just seemed to make all of the tough moments from the week evaporate. They really didn't have as much weight as I thought they did in the moment. He brought quite a bit of peace to my heart and mind. Big blessing can come in small packages.

Sweet Violet Cuddlebug Cuties

Sweet Violet Cuddlebug Cuties

 Copics:

Skin: E50, 30, 11, 13 R20

Hair: E29, 39, 23, 21

Dress: V09, 6, 12, 01

BG78, 49, 45, 01, G21, Y11

E33, Y35, YR 31, 30

 

Enjoy coloring and crafting with Sweet Violet, but please give me; Anna Stillwell at Cuddlebug Cuties, credit for drawing her.

Hugs,

Anna

Creative Mary Beth Digital Stamp

I literally walked around today with a purse full of Copics. 

I was determined to get my latest illustration colored.

At one point I'm sitting in Starbucks parking lot coloring.

Every time I had a few extra minutes, I'd start digging around for markers.

It wasn't my usual relaxing way to create, but it got things done.

Sometimes you have to be creative with the time you have.

I think it all worked out well. This little Cuddlebug is adorable.

She's cute with a fun style and looks like she's ready to create.

                          

                            Cuddlebug Cuties Mary Beth

Cuddlebug Cuties Mary Beth

If you love this illustration, I also have a To Do List printable here, featuring Mary Beth.

It's great alone or for a ringed planner.

Plus it gives you something to color while you're making you lists :)

Copics:

Skin:    E13, 50, 51, 53

Hair:    E43, 44, 47, 49

Clothes:BG90,93, 96,99

      E41, 42, 43

      E43, 44, 47

Enjoy coloring and crafting with Mary Beth but please give me, Anna Stillwell at Cuddlebug Cuties, credit for drawing her.

Hugs,

Anna

On Painted Wings

I love the days spent at home with my son. They truly are just the best days ever. Just the two of us hanging out, playing with toys, and munching on snacks all day.

We spent the morning coloring my latest illustration. Together we colored On Painted Wings three times. He was quite excited to be sharing mommy's Copics. I gave him my set of Prismacolors to play with awhile back and told him he was lucky because most toddlers get washable markers, lol. I'm brave, I know. Even with his own set of markers he seems to know that mine are special, so he was just thrilled to use them with me.

When he napped in the middle of the afternoon, I sat in a dimly lit room and colored my cutie one more time. This one would be for my blog.

After napping with him for an hour, we sat in the middle of the kitchen floor snacking on grapes that I had cut long ways into pieces. I sat there with my arm around him while he talked endlessly. I still have no idea what he's truly saying, but he seemed happy, and I was having one of those mamma moments where I'm hoping this never ends. I have so many of those. The days just pass by way to fast, but they truly are wonderful.

Copics:

skin: E11, E21, E30, E50 YR000

hair: E35, E33, E53, E51

clothes: R37, R35, R22, E18

wings: YR21, YR24, YR23, YR27

On Painted Wings Cuddlebug Cuties

Enjoy coloring and crafting with On Painted Wings but please give me, Anna Stillwell at Cuddlebug Cuties, credit for drawing her. And feel free to link back your projects, I love seeing what others create with my images.

Have a wonderful day everyone.

 

Hugs,

Anna

Copic Coloring Tutorial

Hi everyone,

I have recieved so many comments on my coloring and requests for a tutorial on how I do it.

I am so truly flattered and humbled by this.

Dear friends you are so sweet, Thank You.

I will be using Sweet Sarah for my tutorial.

You can find her here if you wish to color her with me.

I am not a marker expert but I hope what I have learned with them helps.

a tip:

• work in small areas coloring a little at a time, this way your marker stays wet and blends better
  

  • layer, blend, then do it again :)

Use E000 as a basecoat on the entire face

Add shadow to forhead, cheeks, eyes, and nose with E00

Use small feathery strokes with E02 to deepen shadow.

Pull it out from E00 but do not completely cover the E00

Use E02 high in cheek corners to add color and depth.

Use small light feathered strokes

Blend the entire area with E000 using a small circular motion

Repeat with neck and arms, add shadow around the entire piece with the darkest shadows under the neck, on the forearms and the collarbone.

Now moving on to hair.

Tip:

Color in the direction of the hair using small feathered strokes.

Leave some of the hair white for highlights.

Use E34 as a basecoat leaving only highlight areas white

(side by side comparison)

Use E35 and pull out from E34 covering most of E34 leaving only a little bit of the tips of it showing.

Use E37 and repeat the above process pulling out to nearly the edge of E35.

(side by side)

Use E31 and in a small circular motion cover all of hair area to blend.

Use small feathery strokes of E34 to refill any area that became to washed out from blending.

Clothing:

For the shirt we are going to do a basecoat of 3 colors so that the lightsource will fade and be brighter at the bottom.

Start at the bottom and flick up with R20. Go about 1/3 of the way up.

Repeat for the next 1/3 with R21.

Then finish the last 1/3 with R22.

Blend all with R20 by coloring in a circular motion.

Add folds and shadows with R24.

Use R27 over the top of most of R24 to add more demention.

Blend with R22 in a small circular motion and readd more detail with R24 if it gets to washed out during blending.

Repeat the same process with the shoes.

R20 basecoat.

Use R21 to mark wrinkle placement.

Deepen wrinkles with R24 then again with R27.

Blend in a circular motion with R20.

Repeat these steps with the remainder of the clothing.

The finished cuddlebug.



A Winner, A New Giveaway, & A New Digi Stamp

Hi everyone,

Today's the big day.

We hit 350+ followers!!!

Yay!!!

 

Time to draw for the Copic Marker Candy...

and the winner is

 

Rosalee from Rosalee's Scrap Lounge

 



Congratulations!!!!

 

Email me at cuddlebugcuties@gmail.com  and I'll get your new markers on there way to you.

 

 

This was truly a fun give away, so I decided lets do it again.

This time I have 10 brand new Copic Ciao Markers up for grabs.

 

B24, B00, BG10, V91, R20, Y35, BG15, E00, R02, YR23

 

Copic Marker Candy Cuddlebug Cuties

If you want to be entered in the Copic Marker Candy Drawing all you have to do is be a follower and leave a comment. Members world-wide are welcome to enter.

I'd love it and would be very grateful if you post a pic of it on your sidebar, but it is not required to enter.

Good luck everyone.

The lucky winner will be drawn when we reach 450 followers.

 

And now for a new digi. This little sweetie is Amber. I think she is adorable from head to toe. With her cute little bowed pigtails, her frilly dress, and her darling shoes; she is a Valentines Day cutie perfect for your holiday papercrafting.

 

Amber Cuddlebug Cuties

 

Amber Cuddlebug Cuties

 

Amber Cuddlebug Cuties

Enjoy coloring and crafting with Amber but please give me, Anna Stillwell at Cuddlebug Cuties, credit for drawing her.

Have a wonderful week everyone.

Hugs,

Anna

 

 

Colorific Copic Marker Holder & Linky Party Sunday

Good morning everyone,

Hope your weekend has been going great.

Patchwork Rosie Cuddlebug Cuties

 

I have had an incrediably wonderful day today.

I started the morning out by getting my Valentine's Day present early. Yay!!! /happy dance /happy dance

 

My hubby brought me an iPad Mini. And I love it!!! I have the orginal iPad but it's pretty much dead. However, I keep using it trying to get every cent of my money out of it, lol. This new one is such an improvement.

I'm not really sure why he gave it to me early. He said that I looked sad lately and he just wanted to cheer me up, awe. I don't think we've ever done anything more than dinner for Valentines, so this is pretty sweet.

 

 

Then  on to another spectacular event. I was gifted an amazing Copic marker holder by one of my wonderful followers.

It is such a sweet notion and it is so beautiful and functional too.

Absolutely perfect!

Thank you.

 

I truely love this! I can see all my makers and they're all so easy to get to. There's even room to store my swatch book. This is a must have for those who love to color

inside, outside, and top


And there's even better news. Want to hear it?
I asked if she would be willing to create one more for a special giveaway, and she said yes.!!! Yay!!!
So in the near future there will be a one of a kind copic marker holder up for grabs for one lucky follower.

/happy dance /happy dance

So many exciting events all in one weekend.

Now it's time for the Sunday Linky Party.
Add your family friendly blog to the list below. It's a great way to advertise your blog and make new friends with similar interests.

Please follow your host, and stop by others blogs. I'm sure they would love it if you left a comment. And most importantly have fun.

Hugs,
Anna




Copic Candy For Followers

Yay 250 members! 

Thank all of you so much for joining my blog.

I truly appreciate each time you stop by, leave a comment, and craft with one of my digis.

Thank each and every one of you, from the bottom of my heart.

Even though I do monthly candy, I've been working on a larger giveaway. 

Something special.

And this seems like the perfect time for it.

Since we all love Copic markers

We need to use some in candy

Here's what's included:

Sketch: B01, B04, BV11, R08, R24, RV06, RV25, YG01

Ciao: BG05, G07, G85, G99, RV04, V06, V17

A total of 15 brand new markers.

If you want to be entered in the Copic Marker Candy Drawing all you have to do is be a follower and  leave a comment. Members world-wide are welcome to enter.

I'd love it and would be very grateful if you post a pic of it on your sidebar, but it is not required to enter.

 Good luck everyone.

The lucky winner will be drawn when we reach 350 followers.

Hugs,

Anna

Amelia

Hi everyone,

Hope you all had a wonderful holiday.

Mine was fantastic but ended much to soon. 

I think I need a vacation to recuperate from my vacation, lol.

I did learn that pretty much all toddler toys seem to require assembly. (at least all the ones that we bought did) We spent nearly the entire day on Christmas putting toys together.

 I think next year I'll assemble everything as I buy it. That way it's all ready to go.    

Even though we had so much fun I'm glad life is getting back to normal now. Which means playing with the little man and squeezing in a bit of art while he's napping.

Amelia Cuddlebug Cuties

Amelia Cuddlebug Cuties

Enjoy coloring and crafting with Amelia but please give me, Anna Stillwell at Cuddlebug Cuties, credit for drawing her.

 

***

 

There's 2 days left to enter for the December blog candy . 

Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

 

Hugs,

Anna

Angel

Hi everyone,

I have all kinds of stuff for this post;

we'll have a Nov. candy winner

new Dec. goodies

and

a new digi

But first I want to welcome all of our new members.

I'm so happy each and every one of you stopped by and joined.

Feel free to stop in anytime and say hi.

Big hugs to all.

Now the moment you've all been waiting for.

November's Winner

#31 Chris from My Inspirational Journey

Congratulations!!!!!!

You are the winner!!! Send me an email with your address and I'll get your new goodies shipped off to you.

cuddlebugcuties@gmail.com

*********

Now for Decembers blog candy. 

I went out shopping for some goodies. I kept thinking that I wanted something big, a nice assortment of toys to celebrate my 6 month blog anniversary. I found a great set of Basic Grey items and bought one of each and then a few other items that I thought would look great with the collection. 

Completely ecstatic over my find; I went home, sat at my art desk, glanced up at my wall calendar and realized something

It's my 5 month anniversary, not 6. Whoops...

I don't really want to wait until next month to start this giveaway, so instead of celebrating my half a year of blogging we'll have to pick something else.

How 'bout this: 200 members

Yay!!!!

Cuddlebug Cuties December Candy

Here's what's included:

• 1 paper pad (6X6, 36 sheets)
• 1 set of layered trims
• 1 package fabric and button stickers
• 1 package felt cupcake stickers
• 1 package layered stickers
• 1 package journaling cards
• 1 package rhinestone accents
• 1 rickrack ribbon 

If you want to be entered in the December Candy Drawing all you have to do is be a follower and add your name to the link below.

I'd love it and would be very grateful if you post a pic of it on your sidebar, but it is not required to enter.

 Good luck everyone.

 And now for the new digi.

Five months ago when I started my little art blog, one of the first thoughts that I had was; oh I can't wait to draw an angel. Christmas will be prefect and it'll give me time to decide exactly what I want her to look like.

I knew I wanted lots of flowing hair. Something that looked like it defied gravity.
And then the wings. So many possibilities. Lots of feathers, bubbly, tucked in, huge and fanned out, my list goes on and on.

Angel Cuddlebug Cuties

In the end I chose lightly feathered and curved. I love the dimension of them.

Angel Cuddlebug Cuties

Enjoy coloring and crafting with Angel but please give me, Anna Stillwell at Cuddlebug Cuties, credit for drawing her.

 

Here's my marker list:

Copic

Skin: E50, E21, E51, R00, R01

Wings: BG70, B41, B93

Hair: E41, E42, E43, E44

Dress: BG70, BG10, BG72

Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

Hugs,

Anna

 

Casey Digital Stamp

Good afternoon,

Hope you all had a wonderful and creative weekend. Ours was filled with family time, a bit of toy shopping, and then topped off with a huge birthday party for my little guy. (Even though I started preparing weeks ago I still felt rushed, lol) It was a fantastic day.

***

Long after my house became quite and everyone had fallen asleep; I found myself still to full of energy to rest. So, I pulled out all of my art supplies and decided to have some creative me time.

 I find it amazing how when I'm happy my illustrations come together so quickly. No fuss, no stress, just fun expression. This is my favorite kind of art. 

Well this was one of those days. It felt like within minutes I had a rough sketch that I just loved and couldn't wait to polish up. 

Casey Cuddlebug Cuties

Once I had Casey inked I looked at my marker case and had a realization. I'm very bad about just reaching in and grabbing random markers. I don't plan out which ones will blend well together, have favorite combos, or anything special. I just play around until I'm happy with how my picture looks. I'm pretty content with this technique and I don't really plan to change it but I am going to try to at least write down the colors that I've used. That way if someone is interested in duplicating a color, I have a list to share. I've tried this a few times before, and I love sharing, I just don't always think about it when I'm coloring.

So here's my list:

(all Copics this time)

skin- E21, E51, E50  R01, R00

shirt, hat, boots- YR21, YR30, Y32, Y21

jeans- BG70, B41, B21, B93

hair- E35, E33, E53

Casey Cuddlebug Cuties

Enjoy coloring and crafting with Casey but please give me, Anna Stillwell at Cuddlebug Cuties, credit for drawing her.

 Don't forget to checkout my blog candy here.

 

Have a great week.

Hugs,

Anna

Alice Digital Stamps

Hey guys,

I have a new digi for everyone today.

She was a bit on the stubborn side. I changed my mind at least a dozen times while sketching her. I erased so much I almost put a hole in my paper.

At first she was a vampire with slicked back hair holding a goblet.

(Why would a vampire need to hold a goblet? I don't know but it looked cute, lol)

I liked everything but her hair. I really enjoy drawing hair but this one just didn't have enough pizazz for me. So I fluffed and softened it a bit. That however, made me question the glass. It was very ornate and almost to goth for my style. So I tried a few different goblets and even a potion bottle. 

Once I decided on the perfect drinking glass, I couldn't make up my mind if I still wanted her to be a vampire. She made a stunning vamp, but she also looked beautiful without fangs. I could see myself using her for just about any other holiday too.

So since I am having such an indecisive week, 

I just decided to do both.

Romantic and Pretty 

as well as 

Stunning Vampire

And in the future, I think I might go ahead and redraw the potion one too. Make it all heart shaped and cutesie with a little tag hanging down that says Love Potion.  Wouldn't that be cute for Valentines Day.

Sweet Alice Digital Stamp

Sweet Alice

Sweet Alice Cuddlebug Cuties

And for Halloween here's

Vampire Alice

Vampire Alice Cuddlebug Cuties

Both takes on Alice will be free through Sept 9, 2012.

Enjoy coloring and crafting with her but please give me, Anna Stillwell at Cuddlebug Cuties, credit for drawing her.

Here's a list of the colors I used. It's a mix of copic, promarkers, and prismacolor. So to make it a little eaiser :

C = copic

PM = promarker

P = prisma

• Skin: (C) EOOO, E51, E50, E21, R01
• Lips: (PM) Sunkissed Pink, (C) ROO, RO1
• Hair: (P) Cocoa Bean, Mocha Dark, Driftwood, (C) E40
• Dress: (C) R22, R32, R21, R20, R00
• Glass (C) Y26, YR31, Y32, YR30

Have a great weekend everyone

Hugs,

Anna

Don't forget to check out my candy here 

all you have to do is be a follower and add your name to the link