Guest Designer for Copic Creations Challenge blog

Holy crap, it's Saturday?! Where did my week go!?

Sadly, it has definitely been one of THOSE weeks! Teething toddlers, puppies entering the "chewing" phase, a normal 4 year old (which translates into crazy), copic class, Local scrapbook store announcing they will be closing (very very sad about that) not to mention follow up from the Paper Makeup Stamps May release that went live last friday!

Needless to say.... I.... am.... POOPED!

Ok, enough of that mumbo jumbo... I have a fun announcement!

I'm joining the design team over at Copic Creations for their next challenge!

When asked if I would be a guest I was very very honored! Of course i wasnt going to not sponsor as well as Mary always has a stellar sponsor lined up for each challenge.

So I will be giving away a $35 voucher towards stamps at Paper Makeup Stamps!

It's one of the bigger prizes i've given away, but i REALLY want people to try out this technique using their copics! What technique is it, you ask?

Well, really? Do you have to ask?

MONOCHROMATICS!

It's no subtle thing that I love to color in a monochromatic or monotone theme.

I think that coloring in such a fashion can truly evoke a feeling. Color theory plays such an important role in how we perceive things!

I have made 2 videos on youtube using different sets of the grey copics. You can view these tutorials as well as some other copics (and makeup, haha) tutorials HERE.

Now black and white DOES look stunning! I use this technique quite often.

Here are some samples of previous posts of all black and whites.

Warm Grey's Cool Grey's Neutral Grey's old fashioned pencil!

However, just because your coloring in a monotone, doesnt mean there can't be any color!

As mentioned before, colors plays a strong role in our emotions and how we feel about something we see. It's why many fast food restaurants use the color scheme red and yellow.

For some odd reason, it triggers our brain to feel hunger.

Well on the simpler side... here are the basics....

Cool Colors such as blues give a sense of peace and tranquility.

They also move away from focus and recede in a picture. So be sure that if you are not using monochromatics, that you dont color something you want to be the main focus point in a cool color, and something you'd want to recede to the background a warm color!

Warm colors such as red or orange have an energy about them. They provoke excitement.

Warm colors also move forward in our vision. Something colored with a warm color will definitely grab your attention!

So, without much further ado, here are my product samples!

I love how Moody for Dragonflies turned out in a more red color scheme!

I used copic colors R30, R32, R35, R37 and R39 with E000 for her skin.

I thought that E00 was too peach and took away from the pink tones. I used R30 to shade on her skin. However, R000 would probably have worked very well as well and then i wouldnt have been cheating!!! hahahaha!

I think with all the warm pinks and reds that there is something passionate about the card!

And you might notice how the image grabs you a bit... which is because of the intensity of warm colors.

The sentiment used is also by PMS and can be found, HERE.

Now let's go to the other end of the spectrum with some very cool colors.

Now clearly lily's are not blue and the most definitely do not have blue stems!

This is where using monochromatics to step outside of what you might normally do not only helps you to possibly use a stamp in a new way, but also get a new FEEL out of the stamp.

Blue is very subdued and peaceful, so this card should evoke a feeling of tranquility.

Here i used copic colors B91, B93, B95, B97 and B99 and also the colorless blender to flick back into the flower to help create the white at the tips.

The stamp image is by Stampendous, but the sentiment is from the Everyday Thanks set by PMS.

Ok, you've hung with me this long... I have one more for you!

This card isnt necessarily warm or cool (more warm than cool, but thats not the point).

This one uses browns to create a fun old photo sepia look!

I thought this image of Wayne was PERFECT for this sepia toned look. maybe that's because he was named after my grandpa and my grandpa always had a ton of OLD stuff around (he was an antique collector on top of being well... my grandpa!)

I used copics E30, E31 (though it is s little grey looking in this color family, so use caution), E33, E35, E37 and E000 (skin). I airbrushed inside a nestie with E41 and E42.

When working with browns in particular and with an image with more details, i think it's more beneficial for you to work from dark to light. Just an fyi. it's very easy to lose your "lines the artist gave you" so i feel like for a monochromatic brown look, it will help you to work with your dark colors first.

And finally... here are a few more tips on coloring in monochromatics!

* Dont be afraid to try it! I think you'll be very pleased with your results!

* Remember the feeling you are trying to evoke before chosing your monochromatic color.

* When chosing your hue, pick one that you have many colors within that "family".

Follow the first number (which determines the intensity of the marker color).

B21 would not pair well with the B93, B95, B97 combo because the B21 color would be too bright in comparison.

Make sure that you have a good range of color. Most importanly you must have a very light and a dark. In order for all the different colors you would see in an image to not get muddled together, you'll need to be sure to color them each a different value (degree of light to dark).

Example, in the sepia toned image, i wanted to be sure that his overalls were darker than the bale of straw so that they wouldnt get lost in each other.

It is vital to have a range of values in order to get the contrast you need for a popping image.

Phew, that was a lot of information. And i was tired before! hahaha!

If you are local, and are interested in taking a class on these techniques, this class will be my last class at Funkie Munkie Scraps as they are closing their doors on June 12th :(

Our wednesday night meeting is May 26th from 6:30-8:30. The cost of the class is a mere $5 buckaroos some come and chat and color with us!

But wait.... there is MORE! The Copic Creations design team has made some absolutely STELLAR samples! You really have to check them out HERE!

Card Details (links to stamps provided under cards)

Card 1

Stamps: Moody for Dragonflies, Birthday Wishes from Paper Makeup

Markers: E000, R30, R32, R35, R37, R39

Paper: My Mind's Eye (For the Home collection), Stampin Up and Paper Studio for cardstock

Accessories & Tools: Circle Nesties, red pearls from kaisercraft, sheer ribbon from ribbonFX

Card 2

Stamps: Flower by Stampendous, Sentiment from Everyday Thanks from Paper Makeup Stamps

Markers: B91, B93, B95, B97, B99, Colorless Blender

Paper: Scrapbook Etc patterened paper, bazzill for cardstock

Accessories & Tools: organza ribbon from stash, Faded Jeans Distress Ink, Curved Rectangles Nesties

Card 3

Stamps: Wayne Fairy, to plant a garden sentiment from Paper Makeup Stamps

Markers: E000, E30, E31, E33, E35, E37 (E41 and E42 for airbrushing)

Paper: Daisy Bucket patterned paper, Creative Memories cardstock

Accesories & Tools: Paper ribbon by Daisy Bucket, baubles by stamping bella, classic and long rectangles nesties

Read more...

My Copic Color Theory with My Time Made Easy

What a long strange week it's been! Ok, so not so strange, just the typical beginning of the month! For those that joined me at the PMS party last night! I had a blast!

All of the april Paper makeup Stamps are up on the site! You can check them out, HERE.

But this post, is not about PMS. This post is all about My Time! Ahh! You know, i hate to admit it, but i really look forward to the time to use other stamps. *gasp* i know!

And the My Time Made Easy stamps are fabulouso, so who wouldnt love them! haha!

Today is the 8th day of reveals from MTME - so each team member has something fun to share with you today! You should start at Lauren's blog and check them all out!

Here is my project to share with you using the Slip Cover © template.

Oh My HEAVENS! I had no idea how much i was going to love this template until I put this project together lickity split! The slight curvey wave just really sets it apart from other "standard" boxes and SO MUCH can go in there! The rest of the design team has cooked up some winners that you'll have to browse thru this week. It's the perfect size box for cards. I mean like a glove perfect! but so much more can go in there! Recipes! (man do i just have cooking on the brain... i am hungry... hmmmmm) Photos! And more goodies!

After cutting the base and lid of the template using my SCAL from Couture Cardstock (this pretty grey color is called Gumshoe) and the decorative mat layer from One Sheet Wonder cardstock by Couture Cardstock, i created my own patterned paper yet again using the Petal Perfections set. Only this time instead of just coloring in the outer line, i colored in the whole flower (using R22, R24 and R29). Then i took a gelly roll stardust pen in a dark silver and filled in the outline. And Boy does it sparkle!!! I added a grey pearl from basic grey to the center of each flower.

I created another panel for the front of the base and created the same patterned paper. I printed my title block from the computer and ll my white paper edges were sponged with Fired brick distress ink. A simple black satin ribbon tied around the base (but partially covered by that oh so cool curve) completes the look.

Since tonight I'm teaching a color theory class to the copic club at Funkie Munkie Scraps, i decided it would be way fun to have a little holder for my color theory cards. What's better, i could use MTME stamps to CREATE my color theory cards!

Here's what the case looks like opened up. Let me tell you, a LOT of these index cards (they arent "index" cards, but reference cards. Size is 4.25 x 5.5) can fit in here! I'm just showing you 2 in this photo below!

So what is color theory and how can you create your own color theory cards?

Color Theory is a set of principles used to create harmonious color combinations.

In my class i'll be using a color wheel to explain a few basic principles of color theory, and how it can help you when stamping. This is just to show the beginning of color theory. :)

Making yourself reference cards is a great way to help you find a little more dazzle in your stamping. You may find that you are stuck in a rut, or always use the same colors. Having reference cards of other harmonious colors to a tried and true favorite, might help you break out of that rut.

In the above photo you'll see that i stamped a flower from the Petal Perfections set.

NOTE: If you plan on doing a lot of these, now would be a FABULOUS time to purchase and use the Petal Perfections digital set!

I stamped the medium flower at the top and colored it in with the main color for this reference card. Then i stamped 3 flowers below in one of the smaller flowers. You can use this row in 1 of 2 ways... both of which will seem very similar if not the same.

Way 1: Create a Color Scheme of Analogous Colors (colors that would be side by side on color wheel)

Way 2: Fill these in with your favorite shading colors

The bottom row i stamped 3 flowers again.

Way 1: Use this row to color in the complementary color (a complementary color is one that is opposite of the color on a color wheel) and then also it's tertiary colors (colors that create a triangle on the color wheel.

Way 2: If the above sounds all together too confusing, thats ok! Fill this row in with colors that you like to use with the above color. For example, if you main color is Y21, Well guess what, B21 and G21 both look very good with it. You could chose which ever colors are appealing to you.

So thats my project!

I encourage you to try it out too!

Read more...

Makeup 4 the Weekend Challenge - M4TW13

It's time for another Makeup4theWeekend challenge from Paper Makeup Stamps!

This week it was Amber's turn to get your juices flowing with this fabulous sketch...

In a stamping group i'm in, the stamplicious yahoo group, our feburary homepage contest is any valentine's day card! So i'm doing a bit of a combo!

I decided to use one of the new releases from PMS... isabella. I think she's one of my new favorite fairies. Yes i'm aware i say that every month!

Here is my take on the sketch... um, ok so my "take" is usually pretty straight forward to the sketch! Less thinking that way! :)

If you read yesterday's post, you'll remember i'm playing with a new coloring technique (new to me) of doing high contrast. Leaving the center mostly uncolored or with an extremely pale color and using a much darker color in the recesses of the image. Hence the words, high contrast. haha. This is what i'm working on with my students in the Copic Club i help to run at Funkie Munkie Scraps.

Here is a detailed color shot...

Remember you can scroll down to "the deets" to read the colors used for this image. You can also double click any of the images to open them larger and reeeeeally see the detail. :)

Here's a few other detail shots... i'll keep them smaller cause you may not care, but you can still double click em to open them larger!

You might have almost missed my sentiment. It's reeeeeally small! Ok, it's not THAT small. it's about an inch. Are you puzzled at where that came from? It's actually just a portion of the Made with Love By stamp thats comes in the mini made with love set. I simply used a marker to make sure only the words i wanted were inked up and then cut it out with the smallest circle in the nestie set. A punch would have probably been easier. hahaha.

If you want to play along in the challenge, go on over to Paper Makeup Stamps and link up your card! And remember if you are uploading to a public gallery to use the keywords PMS, Paper Makeup Stamps and M4TW13!

Stamps from Paper Makeup Stamps

Isabella

Made with Love set

Inspiration

Makeup for the Weekend Challenges from paper makeup stamps

Coloring with Copics

Dress R00, R20, R21, R24, colorless blender

Skin E00, E000,

Hair: E30, E33, E37

Wings B000

Paper:

Patterned Paper (How do i love thee) from Moxxie

Cardstock by bazzill (ruby red and um... i think it was kisses, but it was scraps!)

Solar White by Neenah

Tools and Accessories

Labels 1 nestie die from Spellbinders

Standard Circle nestie from spellbinders

stitched ribbon from Offray

Paper Flowers from Prima Marketing

Brads by Bazzill

Rhinestones from Studio G

Read more...

You're the cat's meow!

Here is a card i made this afternoon for my Copic Club i teach at Funkie Munkie Scraps.

I dont always make cards out of the pictures we color in the class. Not sure why, i think i forget!

Well this month we are focusing on a different overall look to the colored image. High contrast!

This is leaves the center not colored and then uses the colorless blender to fade out from the center. I'm not going to lie to you... this coloring style frightened me a little! Haha. Well, trying it didnt, but thinking that i would be teaching it did! I love the look when i see others do it, so i just had to play and find my rhythm with it! I'm always looking for ways to go outside of my comfort zone artisically. Whether its stamping, coloring or doing makeup. Expanding your comfort zone makes you a better artist!

Ok, stepping off of my soap box now...

Here is my first card using this new to me coloring style...

I love this stamp image from The Greeting Farm. I've had this set for entirely too long without inking it up! I think they are called gingerbells but for the life of me I cant find them on the website to link them up! Sorry about that!

Here are a few details shots...

I used my copic airbrush inside a nestie to get this look. I do this a lot, but i dont usually use a "bolder" color inside the nestie. I'm kinda diggin' the different effect and how much whiter the ring is!

I would really like to work on the "smoothness" quality of my coloring in this style. Other than that, i think it's a lot of fun! As with any new technique, you gotta practice. Thats what i always tell both my makeup and coloring students. I just dont like it when the rule has to apply to me too! hahahaha!

My card for you tomorrow is for the Makeup for the Weekend challenge and it's also a card i'm showing tonight in class! So if you are interested in seeing more from this technique, be sure to tune in tomorrow!

Stamps:
The Greeting Farm; gingerbells

Coloring with Copics
Colors used.... YR000, YR12, YR15, YR18, R20 and a LOT of colorless blender

Paper:
Cardstock: Pacific Point (SU_, Tangerine Tango (SU), Solar White (Neenah)
Patterned Paper: Pacific Point designer paper (SU)

Tools and Accessories:
Spellbinder Nestabilities Standard Ovals and Scalloped Ovals

Dots and Dashes ribbon (picked up at Michael's)

Studio G Rhinestones

The Paper Studio brads

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

Read more...

A little mojo for your weekend

Well it's no secret i'm in love with Julee's sketches for mojo mondays. My new goal is to do the mojo challenge each week. Ok, so that was my goal starting this month and i think i've done 2. hahaha. Well, in my defense, the middle of this month got a little rough on me.

In any case, i have a fun card to share with you using this week's mojo sketch...

My tree image is one that I used to teach my copic club class at Funkie Munkie this month. I taught about the cone shape, how it relates to images we color often and then in addition, how to add a little more shape to a cone. For this this example, we took the shape of a cone for the pine tree, but then by using some shading of copic markers, helped to make the branches stand out. It was a super fun class! And now since i have about 6 trees colored in, i figured, why not work on some christmas cards! :)

Here's my card...

I used the Christmas in the Air set by Verve Stamps. As you may see if you clickie on that link there, that the tree in the set is a very 2 dimensional tree. It's fantastic for paper piecing (which is the next thing i plan to do with it!!!) but I wanted to show everyone in the class how you can really make a 2d image stand out with a little shading. I was very pleased with the outcome!

I used various snowflakes from the set (there are 5 different sizes!) to create other aspects of my card, like background paper, etc. And i outlined everything with a spica pen which you can kinda see in this picture...

Well, thanks for stopping by and I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!!!

Read more...

Back to School.... Back to school

Ahhh.... i love the Fall. There are just a lot of things about the Fall that i truly truly love. I think it was the one thing i missed in LA. There really isnt a "fall" there. It's just kinda, cooler than summer. haha.

I love apples. I love apple picking. I love pumpkins and pumpkin pie. I love it not being so muggy. I love the leaves on the trees. I love my hubby being home a little bit more! And now that Jack is getting older, i get to rejoice with the other parents at their children going back to school! HAHAHAHAHA. Ok, so i'm not rejoicing per say. This is the first year that Jack is going to school for 5 days! 5 days in a row! ACK! Good thing it's only until noon. But i do like the extra energy he gets out at school. So thats a good thing!

Here is a card i worked on for Jack to take to his teacher this year. This teacher was also his camp teacher for summer, so we already know and love her. :)



Now this card was also made at the request of Rachel for the Copic Munkie blog. It uses the color bundle available to munkie members this month (they get it at a 35% discount! woot woot! So go and check out the Copic Munkie blog to see the details on that.




Stamps
Schoolie Ed (comes with 2 buildable sentiment) from Paper Makeup Stamps

Coloring
Ok, so normally i layout all my colors for you... well... this is the copic munkie bundle which that info stays exclusive to munkie members... so sorry. Next time all those colors will be listed though! :)

Paper:
Tart N Tangy Paper from Stampin Up

Tools and Accessories
Brads from Spare Parts by The Paper Studio

Read more...

Copic Coloring

This is a chart that was created for the Copic Club at Funkie Munkie last month. Rachel made a chart using all different company stamps. The layout was fantastic, But i wasnt sure on distributing other companies images, so I used digi images of different PMS fairies. I used the fairy heads mainly because I knew i could give myself permission to distribute the digi image in that way. I mean, who's gonna sue me, Me? hahahaha.

Here is my chart...
In Rachel's original chart, the space at the top is to showcase color collections suggested by the copic certified design team members of the store. Since for the class we were just focusing on hair colors, i filled that portion with the colors i used below in the chart, which is why there is blank boxes as well.



There is also an identical chart that shows specifically which colors i used per fairy head. I kinda forgot to take a picture of it. WOOPS! haha. I'll do that and edit it in later.

For those that are interested... here are the fairy heads square by square...

E25, E27, E49

Y21, YR23, E99

E33, E35, E37

E07, E09, E19

YR31, Y21, YR23

W6, W8, W9

E43, E44, E47

E15, E17, E18

E30, E21, E33

I'm very curious to know - what are YOUR favorite copic colors for hair? :) Leave me a comment! I'll draw a winner next wednesday and you could win a copic color of your choice. Ok, of your choice so long as i can get ahold of it, so give me some options! Between the PMS store and Funkie Munkie where i teach, i can get a lot of colors! Oh, and Hobby Lobby too! :)

Read more...

Black and White copic color plus videos and a image swap for soldiers!

Ok, you all know my obsession with black and white, yes?

Well, this past month in the copic club i help to run, we used grey copic markers to get the feel of a black and white photo. After running the club/class twice as well as filming a video and doing a step by step photo demo my my own of town students, i ended up with about 8 or 9 black or white colored tildas! That doesnt even include the ones that are partically colored! haha! I made 3 of them into cards. I plan to send the rest of the precolored images to my dear friend, Michelle. She is hosting a colored image swap for soldier cards. You can read all about her swap HERE

The reason i decided to turn 3 of the images into cards is because i did something different with each of the images. The main layout of the card is the same, but each is slightly varied because i was trying to use up scraps for the cards! Go me!

Here's the first card... just a "black and white" card with no extra colors added...

Pretty yes? I used warm grey copics for this. Because i didnt have the patterned paper i longed for (not to self... find some awesome grey patterned paper! Anyone know of any!???), i used some grey cardstock that i love because it's the perfect warm grey from hobby lobby of all places. I used my new stampin up background. Inked it up in some craft white ink (actually from CTMH and it's called white daisy, but any would do) and created myself some patterned paper. :) For the "negative" version of this i used the same background stamp, and inked it up in going grey ink from Stampin Up. The thinking of you sentiment doesnt show up as nicely as i would have liked, but oh well.

Here's card 2... This time i used RV93 (a very dusky grey purple color.... this whole color family is just really really pretty, not too purple, not too pink, not too grey.... love it!) and colored in Tildas lilacs.

Unfortunately, i couldnt get these to photograph to show their real beauty. I guess the black and white is just harder to capture. But i LOVE how this card turned out! Just a subtle and soft pop of color. Can you have a soft pop? I guess thats kinda an ironic thing to say?

And here's my last card... Same thing as before, only this time i added flower soft to the petals in her basket and the ones floating around her...



I'm still learning flower soft, but all i did was dab the flowersoft glue on the flowers (and the flowersoft glue appears to me just like any liquid white glue except maybe it dries a little faster? i added glue all over and then then applied the flowersoft and it had already dried in some spots and i had to add more glue. The flowersoft used was "Lavender" and it definitely pops out on the card. A very neat effect! I can think of a lot of stamps (like cottage windows surrounded by flower pots!) to color in black and white and then use flower soft on!!!! It would be sooooo pretty!

So those are my 3 cards... and as promised... here are some video tutorials of what i did... again, maybe not the bestest job filming... i'm still learning!


and here's video 2... just a continuation of the first video but i was running out of time!

Read more...

Miss Anya and a Copic Munkie Bundle tutorial

I'm going to warn you... this is going to be a long post... with lots of pictures!  :)  But there a reason... a tutorial reason!  :)  But let me first start off with the final product and the deets of this card.  :)  Then if you care to read on about the tutorial.... you can!  :)

Because the rest of this post is going to be long winded... i'm going to skip my usual babble (hey, i hear those of you breathing a sigh of relief!) and get right to....



Stamps:
Rain Snow Shine from The Greeting Farm
Sentiment is a misc stamp i picked up at AC Moore on clearance... sorry i dont have much more info on it.

Coloring/Copics
Hair, Skirt, Boots, Buttons: E25, E27, E29, Colorless Blender
Skin: E00, E21(shadow), E02(cheeks), E000 (to blend it all together)
Jacket: YR12, YR14, YR18
Umbrella: YR00, YR12
Socks: E40, E41

Paper:
Patterned Paper from Tart N Tangy (or whatever that paper collection was called! Sorry!) from Stampin Up
Cardstock is Chocolate from Stampin Up
White is Solar White by Neenah

Tools and Accessories:
Labels 4 Nestabilties by Spellbinder
Spica Pen in Sand (border of die)
Martha Stewart BorderPunch
Dark Chocolate ribbon by PaperTrey Ink
Flowers by Prima Marketing
Buttons from the jar
White Thread is cross stitch thread by DMC
Glossy Accents (ranger) for dew drops/rain on the flowers

And now onto part 2 of my post... I help to run a copic club at Funkie Munkie Scraps

. You do not have to be a member of the club to see the goodie info on the club blog, you DO have to be a member of the club to get some hefty discounts on marker orders, take free classes (or be mailed the class info) and a lot more. Contact Stephanie thru the FMS's blog to get some more info on how to join! Cost is $10 a month unless you pay for multiple months at a time. :)

It was requested/suggested that I do a little tutorial on the the copic bundle colors for June.  Well, June is about over, but here it is anyway!  You still have time to order your bundle colors from Stephanie!  Just head into the store or give her a shout to order!  Club members of course get 35% off of the retail price of this bundle.  :)

The copic bundle of the month is E25, E27, E29. These are LOVELY rich colors that you can have wonderful results with! But to some, they can be a bit tricky. Which is why it was asked that i do a little tutorial on them! No probbie, i say! But let me first say that there are multiple ways to get some neat effects with this color combo. This tutorial is simply 1 way! Check out THIS POST on the copic munkie blog to see 3 different ways to color the same image using this combo. You'll see 3 very different looks! See how fun copics can be!!!

Alright... now before i begin, i want to say that as you layer E25, it can get a bit darker than you were wanting it to be in the first place. This is just something you should keep in the back of your head. I'm also going to show you a bit of the "flick" or "feathering" method of coloring hair. We also did this in the club class this month, so keep your peepers out for another tutorial using this method and grey markers!

Here's how i started the hair... with E25...

Around the area that you'd like to have your highlight, you are going to flick or drag your marker into the white area.  Let the marker lightly leave the paper in a flicking motion.  This will help you get a gradual fade into the white.  No we arent gradual yet... we will get there.  :)

Step 2... add in E27

In the same flicking motion, add in your E27, but dont go as far as you did with the E25.  Also add some E27 into the bottom portion of her hair as a shadow just as you normally would shadow (around the edges, maybe a few strands of hair, etc)

Step 3... add in your E29

I tend to use my darkest colors sparingly.  Dont get me wrong, they are needed to get that depth, but too much and the whole thing just turns dark on me.  And i like to still see my stamp lines.  So i add E29 just to the very ends and then flick in a wee bit in her "hair part".  Dont forget you can always click on the photo to view it larger!

Step 4... blending them all together... go back to E25.

Go over it all with E25 to blend.  Remember anywhere you layer your E25, it's going to get darker.  If you view closely, there are some spots that i did NOT layer so i that part would remind slightly lighter.  If the area that is left white still have to hard of a contrast for your personal taste, quickly go over that area and the edges of the flicking with your colorless blender.  I actually did this and you can see it in the final pic but i forgot to take a picture of this step.  WOOPS.  Or maybe it was deleted by mistake since there is a number missing from my picture sequence.  In any case... it's easy.  Just remember to "tornado" quickly and take a break as it will lighten up a smidgen more even after you've stopped using the marker because of the "drying time".

Next part of the image... her skirt!

Now again, because this color combo is a darker one, i like to leave some areas white so when i go over the whole thing to blend, it doesnt get too dark on me.  Also, when i add a a dark color as my main color, i do like to start with the edges/shadows first so that i can still see my stamp lines.  Not always, but it is my norm with this particular color family.  In this case, I've started with my shade color of E27 because there just isnt enough space in the image to get too wild with a bunch of different colors.

Skirt step 2

Go over the whole thing with your lightest color, E25.  If you want more of a gradual blend that you see here, concentrate your E25 color over the E27 more so than when you are adding it over your white space.

Boots step 1

Again, use one of your darker shade colors (in this case, E27) to draw in your shadows.  I actually added in to the tip of her boot to give her those "boxy" knee highs.  It'll help to get some added depth to the image.

Boots Step 2

Go over the boot with your E25.  I actually layered E25 a second time over the far right boot because if you look carefully, it's actually a little bit further back/behind her left leg.  You can tell this because the edge/tip of her boot is actually higher in the drawn image, making it further back.

So thats how i like to color with this color combo.  If you own this color combo, my suggestion is to just play with it numerous ways with layering until you find what is comfortable for you!

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And i'm finally posting!

Wow, is it really friday already?! This week has FLOWN by! It's crazy! I'm so sorry i havent posted at all this week! Release weeks are always nuts for me! But i suddenly remembered that i had these videos i made and posted for the Copic Munkies! I know the videos are fabulous. I'm still learning how to video myself. I'm working on getting a new set up so my hand isnt blocking the camera view half the time! haha. But it's just a start.



and here's the second, technique video



Ok... blog candy WILL be posted tomorrow! I promise! :)

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Getting ready for Copic 1

Hey there! Sorry i didnt finish my card in time to post! I had to get all my stuff together for my copic 1 class today at Funkie Munkie. So i'm just posting that info instead. At least it's a colored image, right? And maybe it will be helpful to other teachers??

Here's what i put together for my classes...



I stamp out the image to be used in class a few times on a sheet of paper. it keeps everything together and the students can see the progression. 1 image is already colored and labeled with color names. This helps to not have to answer the same questions too often plus gives me an overall reference point. Having all of your images you are working on stamped on 1 piece of paper also helps you to not lose the paper while teaching. before i used to just have a few extra stamped images for myself. Then 1 gets tucked away under something else or someone has picked it up to have a closer looksie and it's hard to locate it when you need it using up your class time. The larger piece of paper is just easier to find. :)

You'll notice my markers are covered in black electrical tape. I do this so i know they are mine. Yes i could just write my initials on them, but KC isnt the most uncommon of initials plus in my initials are on the face down side of the marker, i have to do thru and check each one as they are strewn about the table (i left my students use my markers during class if they do not have their own or dont have the appropriate color). Having any color of tape all the way around the marker makes it easy peasy for me to spot the marker and make sure it goes back in my case to go home with Moi! :)

I also always bring the iamges prestamped as to not waste class time plus extras in case there are extra people or in the event that someone needs a do over. But i still also bring extra paper, the stamps to be used and my memento ink. Better prepared than not! Of course then i also need a block to put the stamps on, just in case. Dont rely on your craft store to have any of these. They may have gone home with an employee.. gotten lost in a shuffle, etc. Always be prepared. or you'll end up buying something off the shelf and duplicating your stash (woops, done that one!)

The big pink square you see in the photo is my stamp mat. I LOVE my stamp mat. I do have some small black ones and sometimes i just take those instead. But the tables usually in craft stores arent always the best stamping surfaces. So i like to have a good one with me, just in case.

My class today is Copic 1. The images we are going to use in class are Ashlie's Snail (a smaller and easy image to color first to get feet wet for those who havent even used the markers before. Then next we're doing Jaina Fairy. Both stamps are from Paper Makeup Stamps. I dont always use stamps from my line for class, but i cant help it if i like them! :)

Here's a close up view of the colored image...


The technique we'll use today is a very easy marker + marker on paper. It' a great way for beginners to learn how copics work and blend together.

And on a fun side family note... gabe is walking! He doesnt get far, but he's walking. Lord help me! :)

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Splitcoast Featured Stamper

I'm finally getting to the feature stamper challenge from splitcoast this week. I know i dont usually do this challenge (though it is definitely a fun one!), but this weeks feature stamper is a friend of mine (and member of the PMS design team), Jamie Morris!

Not only is Jamie a truly fab stamper (and colorer), she has these fantastic ideas of how to tie ribbon, add embellishments, etc. I LOVE that! I never think of them myself! Trying to work on that. She is also sweeter than a pot of golden honey! And just a beautiful girl! So yeah, one of those people you want to hate but just absolutely cant! :)

Here is my version of her adorable emma card...


I decided to case this card of hers because i adore how she attached her button (ok, i love her coloring of the image and the layout too!) I wanted to use one of my new embossing folders that i got the other day from AC Moore. It's a sizzix embossing folder. fun fun fun! They come in packs of 2 and retail (at ac moore) for 10.99. And of course i used my 50% off coupon. :)

I also wanted to use the "April Munkie See Munkie Do" color combo from Copic Munkie. Only club members will normally get to know the actual colors in the "munkie see munkie do" combo... but since the club really fully starts on national scrapbook day, i get to tell them to you! Next month you will just get to see some of the fun creations and have to guess! BWAHAHAHAHAHAH! The color combo this month is R32, R35, R37. Club members will get to purchase the MSMD colors for a special bundle price. Check out the blog for more details on that. :)


Other Colors used:
Copics Skin E00, E21
Hair E35, E37

Cardstock used: Ruby Red (Stampin Up), Sorbet (PTI) and Neenah Solar White
Ribbon is Sorbet Grosgrain by PTI
Button is by American Crafts

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