Wednesday, January 11, 2012

iCopic: Leaning Tilda

Hello to all my wonderful cyber friends!   It is my turn to post for the wonderful iCopic Lover Blog.
I selected an adorable Magnolia stamp called Leaning Tilda.  This wonderful, versatile stamp is currently in stock at iCopic at this time.   Check out all their adorable Magnolia stamps.


 Leaning Tilda (Magnolia)

The technique I am using today will be  "MASKING".   This is a great technique when you want to provide a background for your image or you want to ground your image.   My little Leaning Tilda image needs to be positioned within a circle or she needs to lean on something.  I did not want to sketch anything today so I used a stone wall stamp that I already had in my stash.   Take a sneak peak at the new stamps I will be able to use with my little Tilda in the future HERE and HERE.    How Cool is that!  (So Christmas isn't over, wink, wink!)

I stamped my image on Cryogen (Curious Metallic, Inc)  Not all paper is equal.  Some paper will leave a waxy coat on your Copic pends and ruin your nibs.  This paper is wonderful and will not cause problems with your precious Copic Markers.



The image is stamped a second time  on some scratch  copy paper (any lightweight paper) and cut  out with a fine tip scissor to form a mask.  I like to use the Cutter Bee scissor  (Ek Success).  I find that post-it Notes make great masks as well.   Cardstock is too think for me and I find that when I stamp over the top, I do not get a clean finish.    Place the mask over the top of your focal image and stamp the stone wall image on top.   

                                         
Image with mask on top

The image will look like this.    TIP:  Save the mask!.  I use them over and over again.   As you can tell, this Tilda mask has been loved and used many times!   I place them in a see through envelope and keep  the masks with their respective stamps.  That way, they are easy to find and it saves a lot of time!

Remove the mask and .... it's magic.  You have the little Tilda leaning on a stone wall.  


  Finish coloring the stone wall and your  focal image with your Copic Alcohol Ink Markers.  
Copics:  
Skin Tone:  E000, #11, a touch of E13  and R20
Hair:  C0, C3, C5, C7, C9
Blouse:  R000, R20, R22, R24, R39
White Ruffle Trim: C0, C1
Jeans: B21, B24, B27
Stone Wall:  W00, W0, W3, W5 highlighted with R0
  

This is a close-up of the cute little image. Isn't she just the cutest little thing?  

This is a close up of my hand quilled flower I created to coordinate with my flowered designer paper.  



I plan to enter this card in the following challenges: 
Thank you so much for stopping by and spending some time!   I enjoy having you here!





Posted by at 17 comments:

Sunday, January 8, 2012

CMC: Make It Retro!



Feeling Groovy!

A BIG hello to everyone!  Let's have some fun!  Color Me Creative is having a wonderful new challenge that you have you need to check out...   Make it Retro!  This challenge will run through January 19th.    Pull out those  "C" colored Copic markers and the Hot pink cored markers and let's see what you come up with!    

Everyone is WELCOME to join this group no matter your skill level!  You do not have to take a class at  Color Me Creative   to join our challenge group!  It's all about having fun with your Copics!!
I can't say this better..... so in Suzanne's own words.... 
Each month Suzanne will take EVERY CMC Challenge Entry for that month and pick a random winner!  That winner will win a $50 Gift Certificate to Oozak.com!
     
 

So we will have 1 Challenge Winner for EACH Challenge (prize listed below each challenge) AND 1 winner from all that month's challenges to win the Oozak Gift Certificate!  Two ways to win,but you gotta play
                                                                                                                                                              
Your challenge this time is all about

 ** RETRO FUN--Hot Pink/Blacks/Whites**
Show some retro fun by using a hot pink-black-white combo!  


CHALLENGE RULES

-Use any image you want BUT MAKE SURE YOU LINK BACK TO THE CMC CHALLENGE in your blog post!!

-ALL PROJECTS MUST BE NEW & NOT BACK-LINKED!!
-Image MUST be colored with Copics or ProMarkers or Colored Pencils!

UPLOAD YOUR ENTRIES to the Photo Gallery and TAG them with the word "RETRO" so they can be seen easily!

**IF you post your project in your blog MAKE SURE TO LINK BACK TO THE CMC CHALLENGE **
Entries MUST be tagged and uploaded to the photo gallery by Jan. 19th at 8:00 pm EST!

PLEASE ALSO PUT YOUR PROJECT IN THE LINK SYSTEM BELOW THE PRIZE INFO AS WELL SO WE CAN SEE THEM ALL!

********************************
OUR SPONSOR FOR THIS CHALLENGE IS
Visit their store for a great selection of digi stamps perfect for copic/promarker/pencil coloring!!
One (1) Lucky Winner will a fabulous prize from
GuyLou's Inimitability


This was one of the cute images provided by our wonderful sponsor at GUYLOU'S INIMITABILITY DIGI STORE.  Check out her wonderful selection of dig's!  

Thank you for stopping by and check out my new post on Wednesday  for a tutorial on "masking"!



Posted by at 6 comments:

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

iCopic Design Team

Just For You!

Year 2012!  WOW!

Happy New Year to all my friends in cyber-land!   I have some wonderful news.  I feel so honored to be selected to serve on the iCopic Design Team.   It has been hard to keep this a secret.... but I can finally shout it out and I am "bursting with pride"!   The community is filled with tenthusiastic, talented artists and I feel I learn so much from them.  I am ready to jump in and get started.

ICopic Design Team!

My first card for iCopic is a cute little image from Wild Rose Studio called Milton with Barrow. Isn't he just the cutest little guy?   There are some exciting changes that will be happening at our iCopic Lover Blog.  The design team members will each rotating days to post fun and creative cards and projects for you to enjoy.  There will be a different focus each day.   My first post will was today, Tuesday and I was to  was to share a tip or trick that has to do with Copics or stamping.   So, what did I do?........I used Copic Alcohol Ink Markers for my focal image and I used  Copic Various Ink Refills   to show you a quick and easy tip for making a product that looks similar to Flower Soft.  You know how it is when you want to use some Flower Soft and you run short on supplies or need a specific color to coordinate with your card.  Presto!  Read on!

The image was stamped with Tuxedo Black dye ink by Tsukeniko on Cryogen paper from Curious Metallic, Inc.   My highlights came  from the right side.  I selected this side because I wanted attention drawn to the flowers.  I also made the flowers at the top the lightest in order to be consistent with my light source.

These are the Copic markers I used to color Milton. E59 will be the darkest of the shadow area.  E31 will be the highlight.   E31 and E50 will be used around the nose.

The bear was completely  colored with E31 in order to avoid having any white spots in your finished image.  The darkest shadow area was colored sparingly with E59. A dotting method was used to apply the color in order to achieve texture in the fur.   E25, E35, E33 and E31 was applied.  The majority of the image was colored with E35 and E33.  R20 was added to the inner ear and the little pads on the bottom of Milton's little foot.    E31 was lightly applied over the top of the R20.  The muzzle area around the nose was colored with E31 and E50. 



The scarf was colored with YG13 and YG01.   For the wheel I used  C0, C3, C5 and C7.  The barrow was colored with E29, E27, E44 and E31.  I just selected some colors to  use on the flowers in order to get a feel for where I wanted to use my texture.   There was no need to shade the flowers because they  were covered with colored styrofoam.  Adhere the layers of the card at this time.  It is important that you complete this step before applying the colored styrofoam.  


Tip of the Day:  Adding  texture to parts of the focal image can add interesting and make the card memorable.  One way to add texture is to add Flower Soft.    If I do not have the correct color of Flower Soft on hand, I take two pieces of styrofoam and rub them together to create fine granules.   Color the styrofoam granules with a  drop or two of  Copic Various Ink Refills.  You only need to make the amount to need.  No storage and no waste! 

This is a sample of the styrofoam I colored with Copic R17.   It is important to allow the styrofoam to throughly dry.  Flower Soft Adhesive or Elmers Glue was applied to the  image, one color at a time.  Gently press the styrofoam down and allow to dry.  This process can be repeated with as many colors as you choose to use.  Just think... this can be coordinated with all your Copic markers!   You just have to add a drop or two  of any Copic Various Ink Refill to the styrofoam granules  and thoroughly mix  together.  You  can also try to mix the granules and producing a medley of color.   For my card, I wanted to be consistent with my light source.  The styrofoam  texture will not reflect light well  so I chose to trick the eye by positioning  my brightest color  at the top where the light source would shine.

This is the finished card.   I hope you enjoyed the tutorial.  Play with the  Copic Various Ink Refills and see what creative projects you can come up with!

I am interring this card in the following challenges:



Thank you for stopping by!   Please come back soon and from my home to yours - Have a safe and happy NEW YEAR!


Posted by at 22 comments:

Friday, December 16, 2011

Season's Greetings to Our First-Rate Boss Lady


Season's Greetings Suzanne! 
Little Elf Finn (Mo Manning)

 This post is dedicated to our 
fearless,
fabulous 
fantastic
fun
first-rate and
far-out  
 "Boss Lady" Suzanne Dean!   
            Merry  Christmas  Suzanne! 

For those of you who may not know Suzanne,  she  created a wonderful on-line classroom for learning to use Copic Markers.  The link can be found at Color Me Creative Classroom The classroom quickly expanded to Cricut, Distress Inks, Prisma Pencils and Magnolia Images. Suzanne has 5 classes on Copic Alcohol Ink Markers that include  detailed video's with PDF files that include: 

Class I :  Wonderful "Must Have" Resources, Colorless blender, Highlights, Shading, Skin Tones, HairClothing and various  Color Combos

Class 2: Shadowing Images and Grounding images, Using the Colorless Blender, Light and Shodows (where to begin), Basic Shading and Highlighting, Coloring White and Black, More combos, Feathering Technique, Coloring Wood Tones and Coloring Hair and appropriate shading, Creating New Colors with Two Markers and Using the Multi-liner

Class 3:  Advanced Shading and Highlighting/Contrasts, Flicking Method of Blending, Landscapes, Reds/Dark blues/ and Browns, Metallic Tones, "T" Copics, Fur and Texutes, Spica pends, Products that enhance Copics, Copic Distress Ink Effect, and Pastels 

Class 4: Large Background areas, Flowers, vintage, Sheer Items,
Airbrushing, Refills to Create Backgrounds, Fabric and other cool tricks and tips.

and......  
Drum Roll..... 
the long awaited

Class 5:  Layering Copics, copper, Patina, Terracotta,  Rust, Tie Die, Hispanic Skin Tones,  Hispanic Hair,  Hot Pink, Animal Prints, Birds/Wings, More about Folds, Hair (Advanced) and Fur.   

This list doesn't include everything...  but .....Where to begin???   At the beginning!   Every  class is jam packed full of learning opportunities!     This wonderful classroom can be found at:

I started taking Suzanne's classes a year and a half ago and I have learned so much!   I never had a Copic Alcohol Ink Marker in my hand before...  and Suzanne was patient and helpful EVERY STEP OF THE WAY! I am proud to be a Senior Design Team member for Color Me Creative .  We have a fun group of wonderfully talented women in our group and have a great time with our challenges.  Each challenge provides the opportunity to put those wonderful Copic skills to use! 

I also had an opportunity to take a class from her in person at On the Road Classes  I quickly discovered that not only is she a fearless, fabulous, fantastic, fun, first-rate and far-out instructor, but she is an absolutely super wonderful person and a loyal friend!

Thank you Suzanne for all you do 
and
 all you 
ARE! 
My card is in the mail and will be arriving at your doorstep soon!


Suzanne, you are now invited to go to the following blogs on December 18th  for more Holiday Love!


Hazel Parr, CMC Design Team
and
Suzanne Foard, CMC Design Team

Happy Holidays!


I am entering this card in the following challenges:






Love and Hugs,
Marie,  
Color Me Creative Senior Design Team
(and faithful follower)










Posted by at 28 comments:

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Ring Those Bells!

Ring Those Bells!

Color Me Creative  is having a new challenge for all of you Copic and Promarker lovers!   The challenge is to create a card just using white, gold and cream!   Doesn't that sound festive?   

For this Challenge we have LOTS OF PRIZES!!
AND A WAY TO DONATE TO A WONDERFUL CHARITY!!

WHAT YOU CAN WIN:

  • 1 person will win a NEW Provocraft CRICUT MINI machine
  • 1 person will win a NEW KINDLE E-READE
  • 1 person will win a $50 Gift Cert. to SCACD
  • 1 person will win a $25 Gift Cert. to the Paper Temptress
  • 1 person will win 5 digis from Tiffany Doodles and a $15 Gift Cert to 7 Kids College Fund and a Gilli Gift Bag



HOW TO PLAY:



4 different ways to enter

  • Enter up to (2) TWO projects into the link system below by Jan. 5th
  • Enter (1) one project into the BookEndz Challenge
  • Donate a $3-5 donation to the Charity below for 1 entry
  • Donate anything over $10 to the Charity and get 2 entries   The link to the charity that Suzanne Dean selected can be found HERE
In addition, all the entries for the entire month will have an opportunity to win a $50.00 gift certificate from Ozark in the random drawing.   


                                               

For my Design Team card,  I selected a beautiful stamp by Stampin Up called Bell's & Boughs.  The challenge was to use white, gold and cream.   


 I am entering this card in the following challenges:




Techniques:
Copic alcohol in markers
Copic Watercolor Background Effect
On paper Blending
Tip to Tip Inking
Paper Quilling

Measurements:
Finished card:  4.25" x 5.5"
Base card: 11" x 4.25" Score at 5.5"
Base layer: 4" x 5.25"
Top layer:  3.5" x 5 in (I cut this slightly smaller than I usually do in order to allow more of the gorgeous gold color to show.  

Image:
Bells & Boughs (Stampin Up)

Paper:
Cryogen for focal image (Curious Metallic, Inc.)
Pure Luxury White (GKD)
Gold Precious Metals (Recollections)
White card stock (Recollections)

Ink:
Copic Alcohol Ink Markers (.too, Inc.)
Memento Black Tuxedo ink (Tsukeniko)

Tools:
Acrylic stamping block
Paper trimmer
Scoring tool
Cuttlebug (Provo Craft)
Holly Ribbon Cuttlebug  Embossing Folder (Provo Craft)
Adhesive 
Scissors
Glue
Adhesive pearls (Recollections)
Micro Rose - open (Stamping Scrapping)
Quilling tool
Atyou Spica pen -gold (.too, Inc)
Cricut Expression (Provo Craft)
Cindy Lou Cricut cartridge (Provo Craft)




Copic alcohol ink markers:
Bells and holly (Light yellow)  Y00, Y11, Y15, YR24, YR28
Ribbon and trim on bells (Dark cream) E40, E41, E42. E43
Copic watercolor effect for background: Y000, E40


This is a close up of the quilled bells.

The top layer was embossed and I highlighted areas with the Atyou Spica pen and adhered the layers.   I cut flourishes with my Cricut machine using  the Cindy Lou cartridge.

Click image to enlarge view

I hope you are enjoying our holiday season.  I have a few days off and look forward to working in my little santa shop and get into the holiday season.  I have 150 candy cane reindeer to do tomorrow for the children in our county services.  I plan to start on their treat projects when I finish the reindeer.   

Remember, there is plenty of time to join us in our CMC challenge!  I hope to see you there!


Posted by at 27 comments:

Thursday, December 8, 2011

A Little Bit of Vintage!

Click image to enlarge

 Hello!   Happy Friday to all of you!    I wanted to do a quick post and show a couple cards from some wonderful vintage digital images created by Ignacio Molina at Nicecrane Designs

Nicecrane Designs

This first image is from his Peter Rabbit's Outline Pictures.  I couldn't resist coloring the cute little rabbit with his head in the water pitcher.

I am entering this card in the following challenges:




Stamps:
Peter Rabbit's Outline Pics DSL (Nicecrane Designs)
Tall Wheat rubber stamp (Hero Arts)


Paper
Chocolate Kiss Pure Luxury (GKD)
Yellow from my stash
Cryogen for focal image (Curious Metallic)


Ink:
Copic alcohol ink markers (.too, Inc.)
Memento Rich Cocoa dye ink (Tsukineko)




Tools:
Computer, printer and editing software
Acrylic  stamping block
Paper trimmer
Score tool
Scissors
Flower  (Recollections)
Martha Stewart leaf punch (Ek Success)
pearls (Recollections)
Cuttlebug (Provo Craft)
Distressed Stripes Embossing Folder (Provo Craft)
Jumbo sponge daubers (Tsukineko)




Copics:
Y00, Y11, Y15, YR24, YR28
E40, E42, E44, R20
W2 for shadows 

Click image to enlarge



An now... for the cold snowy days, nothing is better than a warm bowl of chicken noodle soup!   Do you remember the Campbell Soup girl?   I remember seeing the TV ads.   Ignacio Molina has also created the wonderful vintage images of the Dolly Dingle DSL 1 series.   I just think the little girl is so cute.  I also googled (is there such a word?) "Dolly Dingle" and found some images and tried to reproduce some of the coloring of this cute little girl from the original vintage collection.     I hope you enjoy her as much as I do!

                                          
Click image to enlarge view



Stamp: 
Dolly Dingle DSL 1 (Nicecrane Designs)

Paper:
Cryogen for focal image (Curious Metallic)
Pure Luxury Ivory Cardstock  (GKD)
The Christmas Magic Collection Designer Paper (Sharon Ann)
Pure Luxury Lipstick Red Cardstock  (GKD)

Ink:
Copic alcohol ink markers (.too, Inc.)

Tools:
Computer, printer and editing software
Paper trimmer
Score tool
Scissors
Martha Stewart Snowflake punch (Ek Success)
Green Brads (Recollections)
Cuttlebug (Provo Craft)
Deckled Nestabilities Die (Spellbinders)




Copics:
Dress/Hat/Socks  R20, R22, R24, R27 C3
Face E000, E11, R20
Scarf/Skates/Ball on Hat/Gloves : C2, C00
Hair (Dark Light Blond Hair) Y11, Y21, E97, E99
Background B000 (not visible on this image)


I  added dark green brads to the top base layer and assembled the card. 

Tip of the Day: Turn you punch upside down so you can see the design you are getting when you punch the snowflakes.  I think these little snowflakes were creative and the layered look made them look like flowers.

Thank you for stopping by.  I hope your holiday season is going well for you!     

Don't forget that Color Me Creative Challenge is having the challenge that is "funky hair color" and it ends tomorrow!   Get your cards in and join in on the fun!   

Hugs,
Marie

Posted by at 15 comments:

Sunday, December 4, 2011

Thank You to A Special Person

Click image to enlarge view

This is a card I created for a very special person.   Kathy Neal, Kaiser Permanente  will be leaving her  administrative post in a few days.  She was the administrator that hired me into my present Patient Care Coordinator position.  I shall miss her very much and know it will be a BIG loss for Kaiser Permanente.   We are having a going away party for her tomorrow and I created this card especially for her.


Challenge:  I am entering this card in the following challenges:




Stamp: Happiness Shared (Stampin Up)


Paper:
Pure Luxury White card stock (GKD)
Pure Luxury Chocolate Kiss card stock (GKD)
Earth's Gardens (ANW Crestwood, Inc.)
Cryogen cardstock (Curious Metallic)


Ink: 
Flower: Copic  (.too, Inc)  YR0000, YR00, YR02, YR04
Leaves/Stem:  Copic (.too,Inc) G28, YG63, G40
Memento Tuxedo Black (Tsukineko)
Memento Rich Cocoa (Tsukineko)


Other:
Acrylic Block
Paper trimmer
Scor Buddy (Scor-Pal)
Scissors
Ribbon
Pearls (Recollections)
Jumbo sponge dauber (Tsukineko)
Cuttlebug (Provo Crafts)
Flower Garden embossing folder (Stampin Up)




Click image to enlarge view.

Thank you so much for stopping by!  Have a wonderful week!


Hugs,
Marie
Posted by at 15 comments:

Thursday, December 1, 2011

Little Drummer Boy

Click image to enlarge view.

Stamper's Quest just posted December's featured cards.  The theme is "The Serenades".  This is the Design Team card i created using the wonderful image from Mo Manning.

The full turotial can be found at Stamper's Quest  at this link:  The Serenades: Marie's View  This e-mazazine is free and open for anyone to few.  It contains detailed tutorials for each card.   Hope to see you there!

Hugs,
Marie
Posted by at 6 comments:
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