Diversity in Coloring

Hello! Today I have a card that I worked really hard on. More specifically, I worked really hard on coloring my focal image. I knew I was making a shaker card for Doodles Paper Playground…that part was easy. But, given the events in the US lately, I felt that not only did I need to educate myself further, but I also needed to diversify my coloring more. I tend to color skin very pale. There’s a few reasons for that, but one of them is that I find it to be easier to get shadows, simply because I start off with such a light tone. Let me be clear…this is not about simply stretching myself as an artist. This is about showing diversity in the crafting world. Far too often (and I am certainly to blame) we color what we look like….and don’t often go beyond that. All skin colors are beautiful, and I want to show that. This goes much deeper than marker colors for me, but this is just one way that I feel that I can show that black lives matter.

I really wanted to work with the Stars and Stripes Sparkle Blend from Doodles Paper Playground which was perfect because I wanted to use the latest Color Me Monday from Sassy & Crafty, so I went with a red, white, and blue theme for my card.

I colored this gorgeous Sassy Girl (from the OMG set) with Zig Clean Color Markers and fussy cut her. I found an alcohol ink background I had made recently that totally worked with my color palette. So I die cut a window and found a fun spotted background paper for behind my window. I made sure that I added foam tape behind my Sassy Girl so that my Sparkle Blends wouldn’t get lost behind her. They’re too pretty to be hidden!

The Stars and Stripes Sparkle Blend has sweet stars, patterned sequins, and the fabulous textured spirals that I love so much. The sizes and shapes are really fun, and just perfect for a sassy card.

I love how this card turned out. I loved using colors I don’t typically use together, and experimenting with skin tones. I’ll be doing skin tones that are out of my typical color palette more often, and I look forward to that. And although this Sparkle Blend is patriotic, I think this card goes beyond that theme. I’ll be back soon with another project. Thanks so much for stopping by. Have an inspiring day!