Archive for the ‘Copic Markers’ Category

Let a joy keep you. Reach out your hands and take it when it runs by.
                    ~Carl Sandburg

 

 

Sometimes its fun to just get carried away . . . which I kind of did with this card. It looks like I tried to pack as much "joy" as I could into a 4-1/4" by 5-1/2" space. It might give you a little visual overload.

If you've followed my blog before (God love ya), you know I'm crazy about Mo Manning's digital stamps. This stamp, Soaking Up the Joy, was one of the very first images Mo created when she started offering her illustrations as digital stamps. It's such an amazing image to color – it just comes to life with each dab of ink. So, how cool is it that you can get this image now as a clear stamp. As much as I love her digital stamps, it's even more fun to ink up her images.

 

 

I cut out the face and upper body of the baby doll and attached her with 3D Foam Mounting Adhesive. Then I used a small paint brush to add Crystal Lacquer to the doll to help pop her off the page a little more.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The layout comes from Jen del Muro's sketch this week at i{heart}2stamp.

The color/bling inspiration came from this week's Cupcake Inspiration Challenge (CIC54) – love them cupcakes!

 

Here are the Copic markers I used and the rest of the recipe.

 

 

 

If that slide show is too hard to keep up with, here are all the markers assembled together.

 

 

• Embellishments – Ribbon from the Hearts Bloom Paper Kit (on sale at 20% off); tulle, Basic Grey Opaline half pearls
• Ink – Copic Markers (see above), Memento Tuxedo ink pad
• Paper – Neenah, Basic Grey Kioshi Paper Pad, Prism cardstock
• Stamp: Soaking Up the Joy
  
• Tools: Nestabilities
• Misc.: Crystal Lacquer, 3D Foam Mounting Adhesive

Maya Angelou once said: When you wish someone joy, you wish them peace, love, prosperity, happiness… all the good things.”  Here's wishing all you dear folks all the joy you can stand.

 

Hugs,

 

The flowers of late winter and early spring occupy places in our hearts well out of proportion to their size. 
                               ~Gertrude S. Wister

 

I love this image from Cathy St. Clair at Paper Garden Projects. It's part of the Spring Blooms Digital Stamp set you can get for free here.

I did my research before coloring this flower and learned crocus blossoms can bloom as early as February. I've never planted them (not sure how they'd do in our Texas heat), but I can remember them pushing up even through the late snows in Mom's backyard garden back in Indiana.

Paper Garden Projects just invited me to be a part of her Paper Garden Projects design team – and I'm so incredibly, unbelievably, ridiculously excited. I love everything her store carries. Just follow the link on my side bar to see what Cathy and her team are up to and to visit the other incredibly talented Paper Gardeners.

I'm very picky about participating in design teams. I don't do many because my job is so demanding that, when I get a chance to play, I want to play with images I absolutely adore. I turned down an invitation from a different company to join Paper Garden Projects because I'm so enthusiastic not only for what Cathy offers (stamps, etc., from a variety of high quality manufacturers like Penny Black, Mo's Digital Pencil, Eat Cake; Copic markers; Neenah and Prism, Nestabilities . . . ) but also because of Cathy's great customer service.  I hope I do PGP justice!

 

For inspiration I turned to always reliable Mojo Monday Sketch challenge (MoJo133).

Since I haven't colored many (any?) flowers before with Copic markers, I turned to the Copic Creations challenge this week, CCC25, Flowers! The challenge runs through April 15 and it's sponsored by Paper Garden Project. It's not too late to enter for a chance to win a $25 gift certificate.

And, finally, Our Creative Corner is challenging us to use bows. Well, snap! You know I love the bows.

Here are the Copic markers I used and the rest of the recipe.

 

• Embellishments – Dew Drops
• Fibers – Stampin' Up! 5/8" satin ribbon
• Ink – Copic Markers (see above)
• Paper – Neenah, Stampin' Up! Barely Banana, Basic Grey Urban Couture
• Stamp: Spring Blooms Digital Stamp
• Tools: Nestabilities, Martha Stewart border punch
• Misc.: Tim Holz Crackle Paint (peeled paint), Tim Holz Distress Stickles (Rock Candy), Flower Soft

 

 

April is the cruelest month, breeding lilacs out of the dead land,
mixing memory and desire, stirring dull roots with spring rain.
                 T.S. Eliot

 

Back in Indiana we used to say "April showers bring May flowers." Here in Texas, the flowers aren't waiting for May – the landscape is already painted with Lady Bird Johnson's legacy of wildflowers. The last two weeks the hillsides have been just gorgeous. Hint, hint to all you Hoosier friends and family – April is a great time to visit Texas.

 

I fell in love with the color combination in this week's colorQ Challenge (cQc #26), including "Lovely Lilac" and "Lavender Lace." I hope I did it justice because the inspiration photo is adorable.

 

I just discovered a fun new site for sketches, 2 Sketches 4 You, by Kazan Clark and Laura Davis – so much great inspiration there. I kind of twisted  and turned Kazan's Sketch #49.

 

My stamp is a digital stamp from Heather Ellis's Pure Innocence line. You can usually find at her images at her Etsy site, here but she's on vacation now until April 12. Just FYI, Ms. Ellis limits the distribution of her images. Even though they're digital images, they do run out of stock at her Etsy store. So, if you see an image you really like, don't delay. My Favorite Things also sells Pure Innocence clear stamps, here.

Sharon Harnist at PaperFections just posted a great tutorial this week for using Copic Markers to color a Pure Innocence image similar to this one, here. I used the Sharon's suggestions for hair. Here are the Copic markers I used and the rest of the recipe.

• Embellishments – Stampin' Up! Button Bouquet
• Fibers – Stampin' Up! 5/8" satis ribbon and orchard ric rak trim; DMC floss (colored with BG49 Copic marker)
• Ink – Copic Markers (see above), Spica Clear and Lemon pens
• Paper – Neenah, Stampin' Up! Lovely Lilac, Whisper White, Bermuda Bay card stock. Stampin' Up! Certainly Celery and Lavender Lace designer series paper
• Stamp: Heather Ellis Pure Innocence
• Tools: Stampin' up!/EK Success circle cutter, Nestabilities, Bazzill In Stitch 8×8 circle template

Welcome Spring!

 

I'm having so much fun with this Farm Animal set of stamps from DeNami Designs I can't seem to put them down. Good thing, because my girl needs a baby card for one of her preggo girlfriends. I made magnets to match this card and, with the magic of Basic Grey magnetic snaps, the magnets attach to the card.

Here's the card with one magnet attached.

And here's the card with all three magnets attached.

It's a multi-tasking card! Caitlin's friend can use the magnets to put baby pictures on the refrigerator after the baby comes! Cool, huh?

 

I wrote a tutorial on how to make these magnets way back in February 2007, here (don't laugh – it was my very first tutorial). And, there's a sequel on how to attach your magnet to your card, here. If you want to try this, just

1. Cut out your image with a 1" or 1-1/4" circle punch.
2. Attach your image to a flat bottom glass marble with Crystal Lacquer. You can usually find these marbles in the floral section of your craft store.
3. Add a positively charged magnet to the back of the flat bottom glass marble.
4. Add a negatively charged magnet snap under one of your layers of paper on the card. The trick is just putting the snaps in the right place so the magnet lines up correctly on your card.

I love, love these sweet colors from this week's Embellish Magazine, Stitching/Coloring challenge.

This week's Clearly Inspired Challenge Sketch #10 (CIC10) gave me the perfect sketch for what I wanted to do with this set.

 

And, finally, here are the Copic markers and the rest of the recipe.

• Embellishments – Heidi Grace decorative pins
• Fibers – DeNami Designs grosgrain ribbon, Stampin' Up! Pretty in Pink gingham ribbon
• Ink – Memento Tuxedo, Copic Markers (see above), Stampin' Up! Pretty in Pink
• Paper – Neenah, Stampin' Up! Welcome Neighbor paper pad, Kraft and Pretty in Pink card stock
• Stamp: DeNami Designs Petit Four Farm Animals,   LOVE Circle. Stampin' up! Tiny Tags
• Tools: Stampin' up!/EK Success 1-3/8" circle, 1" circle and jewelry tag punches. Nestabilities Classic Scallop Circles
• Miscellaneous: flat-back glass marbles, Basic Grey magnetic snaps

 

It looks like I took this right out of the archives of Petticoat Junction, from the shelves of Sam Drucker's country store in Pixley. For you youngins, Petticoat Junction was on TV from 1963 to 1970. Yep, it's cornball country, but it's a hoot!

 

 

 

I just discovered a new stamp company, well, at least new to me, DeNami Designs. And, actually, they carry more than just stamps. Their designs are so sweet and understated, I just love 'em. So, I think some glasses broke from my squeals when DeNami sent me some of their stamps, ribbons and Boutique Buttons to play with!

 

The folks at DeNami describe their signature style as easy elegance and simple sophistication. Yikes, well, my card certainly is not sophisticated (Petticoat Junction?!), but it's still cute, don't you think?

 

If you click on the pictures to enlarge them, you might see I used pop-ups to bring more dimension to the circle tag and little Moo cow's head. The cow is one of four stamps included in the DeNami's Petit Four farm animals set – so adorable!

 

The words, "Like No Udder," were just printed off my computer using Times Roman font to match the font in DeNami's LOVE circle stamp.

 

 

 

 

For inspiration, I went searching for a sketch that would highlight this little image well and found it at this week's Crazy 4 Challenges sketch, C4C30.

Here are the Copic markers I used, and the rest of the recipe.

 

• Embellishments – DeNami Designs Boutique Buttons, Stampin' Up! eyelets
• Fibers – Stampin' Up! linen and hemp thread; 1-1/2" twill. Torn gingham scraps. I scored the printed twill from a garage sale; I'm sorry I don't know the manufacturer.
• Ink – Memento Tuxedo, Copic Markers (see above)
• Paper – Cosmo Crocket Garden Variety, Neenah Classic Crest Baronial Cardstock. Stampin' Up! Yoyo Yellow and Naturals Ivory Card Stock,
• Stamp: DeNami Designs Petit Four Farm Animals,   LOVE Circle
• Punches: Martha Stewart border punch. Stampin' Up! Word Window, 1-3/8" circle, 1" circle, and scallop circle.

Gotta get Moo-ving along – more DeNami toys to play with! Hugs and cow-kisses ya'll!     

Spring is nature's way of saying, "Let's party!" 
                                    ~Robin Williams

 

 

I've wanted to learn how to weave baskets since, yep, the 70's when basket weaving was really cool. There was even a class at the local university, but you had to be an art major and I was a business major. (Huh? Me, a business major?).  Paper Craft Planet ran a 3-D challenge (3D52) at the beginning of the month that included some links with great tutorials. Snap! I had to try it!

Here are some of my favorite tutorials for paper baskets: Just a Basket Case, and Splitcoast Stampers' Woven Basket.

I added just a little extra color to the basket by weaving some May Arts ribbon and matching paper into the basket. I also added some more tea-stained lace . . . you can see a little better from the back.

I made the basket to match this card.

 

This is my sequel to the Paper Garden Projects' Birthday Challenge #3 that us to herald in Spring or Easter, and Cardvarks who challenged us to add Lace. 

Here's a close-up of the bunny tag and the Copic markers I used to color it.

 

 

I used Nestabilities Classic Scallop Circles Large and Standard Circles Large to cut the tag, added a Stampin' Up! eyelet and tied it up with Stampin' Up!'s silver cord. I sponged the tag with Tim Holz/Ranger Old Paper distress ink, and added Tim Holz/Ranger Rock Candy distress stickles around the edges.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And, the rest of the ingredients . . .

• Embellishments – Chatterbox paper flower, Stampin' Up! brads and eyelet
• Fibers – May Arts ribbon, Stampin' Up! silver cord, tea-stained lace, tulle, and Bridal Spray (the pearls, from the Hobby Lobby wedding isle)
• Ink – Memento Tuxedo, Copic Markers (see above), Tim Holz/Ranger Old Paper distress inks, Spica Buttermilk glitter pen
• Paper – Neenah Classic Crest Baronial Cardstock. Stampin' Up! Textured Vanilla and Blush Blossom Card Stock
• Stamp: Penny Black's cling stamp, For Goodness Sake
• Tools: Nestabilities
• Misc.  – SU Pretty in Pink and Blush Blossom Stampin' Pastels, Tim Holz/Ranger Rock Candy distress Stickles

Oh yeah, and some Cadbury mini eggs were definitely involved! 

 

 

 

My framed Bella and Bronte for my friend's new granddaughter needed a card to go with it. And, Mo's Digital Pencil Challenge Blog had a cool sketch for me to try out.

I distressed the Baja Blue layer inside the circle and then added Distress Sparkles for some drama. Here's the inside.

 

The details for the framed Bella and Bronte and how I altered the frame itself are here. Here are the Copic Markers and the rest of the recipe for the card.

 

• Embellishments – A button from my Mom's button jar and Dress It Up Lone Stars buttons
• Fibers – Michael's ribbon
• Ink – Copic Markers (see above)
• Paper – Neenah; Stampin' Up! Baja Breeze and Pink Pirouette cardstock; Creative Imaginations Debbie Mumm
• Stamps – Mo's Digital Pencil Bella and Bronte
• Tools –  Outside Card: Stampin' Up! Jewelry Tag punch, Nestabilities Standard Circles Large, Cuttlebug Folder. Inside Card: EK Success 1-3/8", 1-1/2" and 1-3/4" circle punches, Stampin' Up! Border Scallop Trim punch 
• Misc.  – SU Pretty in Pink and Blush Blossom Stampin' Pastels, Tim Holz Distress Stickles (Rock Candy)

 

It's been a blast being Mo's guest designer for March. Thanks to the team at Mo's Digital Challenge for being so fun to work with! Be sure to check out all their great inspiration for this week's sketch challenge.

 

See, how she leans her cheek upon her hand!
O that I were a glove upon that hand,
That I might touch that cheek!
                                William Shakespeare

 

 

My Tom had has the most wonderful cheeks. Nice, pudgy, gotta-pinch-them, cheeks. He hates them. He says no matter how much weight he looses he still has this round face. I love his cheeks – they make the greatest smiles.

See what I mean – don't you just want to pinch!   

 

 

So, Nice Cheeks had a birthday last week. He was out of town, and I was up to my ears at work. Even as he walked in the door I was putting the finishing touches on his Double Nickle birthday card. He smiled (swoon, those cheeks again), and maybe even giggled.

 

Check out the inside (before I signed it and wrote something naughty you do NOT get to see).

 

Over at Mo's Digital Pencil Challenge Cathy's got a fun, fun challenge for you all this week she'll reveal tomorrow. Can you guess what it is by looking at my card? Ah, only time (just a few hours) will tell.

This week's Card Positioning System sketch (CPS158) jump started my design. Of course, I flipped it over a bit.

 

 

You know I LUV cupcakes. I mean, really obsessively love cupcakes. Especially cupcakes with lots of icing and sprinkles. So, I went to town with this icing. I used a 1/8" paint brush to paint on Stampin' Up! Crystal Effects and then sprinkled some Vintage Glass Glitter onto the Crystal Effects before it dried. It's really sparkly and yummy in person.

 

Oh, and I had fun with those Hamster cheeks. After I colored the hamster with different shades of brown Copic Markers, I added some Stampin' Up! Stampin' Pastels (chalks). Didn't they turn out cute? Here are the Copic Markers I used and the rest of the recipe.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

• Embellishments – Stampin' Up! (SU) Button Bouquet
• Fibers – SU Grosgrain ribbon in Mustard, SU Gold Cord, SU Hemp Twine, SU Dotted Grosgrain
• Ink – Copic Markers (see above), Spica Lemon Pen
• Punches – Outside: SU Jewelry Tag, SU Slit, Creative Memories Corner Rounder. Inside: SU 1-1/2" Circle Punch, SU Circle Scallop, EK Success Border Punch, Word Window Punch 
• Paper – Neenah. SU Blush Blossom card stock, American Crafts Botanique and LetterBox
• Stamps – Mo's Digital Pencil Birthday Hamster
• Misc.  – SU Pretty in Pink and Blush Blossom Stampin' Pastels, SU Crystal Effects, Art Glitter Vintage Glass glitter

Tip – To make the round-tip green shaped tab in my card, I used the Stampin' Up! Slit punch. Cut a strip of paper 5/8" wide and a good 1" to 2" longer than you want your overall tab to be. Insert your strip into the top of the punch and pull it through the bottom so it looks like this. (Tweezers help.)

    

 

 

Be sure to check out all the other great inspiration for this week's challenge at Mo's and Card Positioning Systems. Leave me a message if you decide to play with us so I can see all your fun creations.

 

Gotta run. Gotta go pinch me some cheeks!

Star Light Star Bright,
First star I see tonight,
I wish I may, I wish I might,
Have the wish I wish tonight.

 

 

Oh yes, I must have muttered that little rhyme under my breath a thousand times growing up. I can't remember what my little girl wishes were, but I do know the stars aligned for me – all my dreams did come true!

 

This is my second card as a guest designer of Mo's Digital Pencil Challenge blog. Being Mo's guest designer has been such a blast. Thank you all for the kind comments and sweet congratulations!
 

This week we get to make a card that's anything but your regular A2 shape (4-1/4" by 5-1/2" card). I call it the "get in shape" challenge. My biggest obstacle with this challenge was that the biggest circle scallop die cut I had was only 4-1/4" by 4-1/4". I had to shrink Mo's image down to 2-1/4" by 2-1/4" – practically an "inchie." That really put my coloring and paper cutting skills to the test.

 

 

I bought the Bazzill In Stitch'z piercing template ages ago and have been wanting to add some hand-stitching to my cards. Grandma Black would be proud of me for remembering the satin stitch she taught me ages ago. I love the effect. 
 

Tip #1 – Cross stitchers know you never knot the thread under your projects. The same is very true with stitching on cards. Just tape the tails of your thread to the paper on the back to keep your project from unraveling.

 

Tip #2 – Want to add some shading to paper-pieced pattern paper? Just pull out your grays. I used C1, a cool gray, to add shading to the sleeping bag.

 

Tip #3 – I used a template from a Mojo Monday challenge that expired a few weeks ago, the MoJo127. If you're thinking about participating in this week's challenge over at Mo's place, it's a great sketch for both round and square cards.

 

Here are the Copic Markers I used and the rest of the recipe:

 

• Embellishments – Cosmo Cricket Garden Variety Buttons, Karen Foster Mini Charms (camping)
• Fibers – DMC embroidery floss (#725), Stampin' Up! Dotted Grosgrain ribbon in Crushed Curry. I found the twill ribbon in a garage sale – Score!
• Ink – Copic Markers (see above), Spica Buttermilk Pen
• Paper – Neenah. Stampin' up! Stampin' Up! Crushed Curry and Dusty Durango card stock, Bo Bunny Kitchen Spice Nutmeg, Reminisce Star Swirls
• Stamps – Mo's Digital Pencil Camping
• Tools – Bazzill In Stitch'z piercing template, Stampin' Up! Circle Scallop die cut

 

 

Be sure to stop a Mo's Digital Pencil Challenge blog to see some of the other beautiful samples for this week's challenge. If you play with us, leave me a comment so I can see come visit you and see your "get in shape" card.

 

     Have a Nice Day.
                         Forest Gump

 

 

 

Can you tell I'm ready for Spring?!  That backdrop is an old metal picnic basket my folks kept. We mostly used it for church pitch-ins, but it still makes me think of a fun spring picnic.

 

This adorable stamp is from Penny Black's Micey Day collection. The sentiment from the collection (and that I put inside my card) is "Have a Micey Day." Every time I hear "Have a nice day," I think of Forest Gump – running across American and wiping his muddy face on a yellow tee-shirt. You know the scene . . .

 

I loved this weeks inspiration for the Cupcake Inspiration Challenge #48. Yummers! The Pink Elephant Color Challenge this week (TPE56) asked us to add Green to our layouts – oooo, St. Patty's Day is around the corner, we gotta celebrate that!

 

I cut out the little sunflowers and popped them up with Stampin' Dimensions, added flocking to the center, and colored them with the Spica pen to give them sparkle.

Tip - In case you haven't already noticed, I love, love adding fabric to my projects. The "ribbon" on the card is just a torn piece of gingham fabric. You can get tons of "ribbon" out of just a 1/4 yard of gingham – for about $1.00. What a deal. I keep the basic colors on hand, red, yellow and black.

 

Here are the Copic Markers I used and the rest of the recipe:

 

• Embellishments – Cosmo Cricket Garden Variety Buttons, charm from watchus.com
• Fibers – Gingham fabric scraps, DMC embroidery floss
• Ink – Copic Markers (see above), Memento Tuxedo Black, Spica Buttermilk Pen
• Paper – Neenah. Stampin' up! Kraft, Cosmo Cricket Garden Variety Mini Deck
• Stamps – Penny Black Micey Day
• Tools – Nestabilities Long Rectangle Large, Long Scallop Rectangle Large
• Miscellaneous – Doodlebug Velvet Flock

 

 

If you'd like to see another adorable card with this stamp set, hop over to Crafty Little Pigtails, here. Krista's coloring is Gor-Jus! And, while you're there, you can check out Krista's blog candy. You have until March 30, but I'm warning you, it's got my name all over it!

 

Hope you have a very micey nice day.