Copic Creations

I find coloring soooo relaxing, and using a medium that you need to learn how to blend satisfies that artistic bent I have. I wish I could draw and paint well, but that's not my gift. Thank goodness for art rubber stamps!  I also love the small scale of greeting cards, which allows me to finish something rather than start and stop over several days or weeks. I'd dearly love to take a painting class, but sadly, in my neck of the woods the prices are out of my pocketbook range. Retired teachers' pension in the south is beyond pitiful. I'm not interested in those party type classes where everyone copies the same picture. They are affordable, but I want to learn how to paint on my own, you know? If we ever move to Denver to be near our son, I will be able to take art classes galore. I've checked with the recreation departments and art centers in several of the suburbs:) I sure would miss my friends and my Church though. This is where I've lived most of my life and it's home.

Project Details
Stamps	Sweetbriar Rose, Another Great Year (sentiments), Hardwood
Card Stock & Papers	Blushing Bride, Whisper White, Crumb Cake,
Ink	Blushing Bride, Wild Wasabi, Crumb Cake, Memento Tuxedo Black
Accessories	Venetian Crochet Trim, Copic Markers
Tools

Project Details
Stamps	Sweetbriar Rose, Peaceful Petals
Card Stock & Papers	Whisper White, Night of Navy, Daffodil Delight
Ink	Daffodil Delight, Memento Tuxedo Black
Accessories	Pearl Basic Jewels, Copic Markers
Tools	Pretty Print embossing folder (retired), Banners Framelits

Project Details
Stamps	Peaceful Petals, Butterfly Basics (sentiments)
Card Stock & Papers	Whisper White, Elegant Eggplant, Hello Honey
Ink	Memento Tuxedo Black, Elegant Eggplant
Accessories	Copic Markers, Stampin' Dimensionals
Tools	Pretty Print embossing folder (retired)

Project Details
Stamps	Pleasant Poppies, Butterfly Basics, poppy digital stamp
Card Stock & Papers	Whisper White, Wild Wasabi, Tangelo Twist, Typeset Designer Series Paper
Ink	Memento Tuxedo Black, Tangerine Tango, Tangelo Twist
Accessories	Copic Markers, Linen Thread
Tools

Project Details
Stamps	Peaceful Petals, Hardwood
Card Stock & Papers	Whisper White, Blushing Bride
Ink	Memento Tuxedo Black, Blushing Bride, Somky Slate
Accessories	Copic Markers
Tools	Woodgrain embossing folder, Banners Framelits, Butterflies embosslits

Copic Markers and Stampin' Up!

I've had my Copic markers out just coloring away!

Project Details
Stamps	Bloom With Hope
Card Stock & Papers	Whisper White, Hello Honey, Pumpkin Pie, Baked Brown Sugar
Ink	Hello Honey, Pumpkin Pie, Baked Brown Sugar
Accessories	Copic Markers, sponge daubers, Stampin Dimensionas
Tools	Floral Framelits, 2" Circle punch, Circle Framelits, Square Lattice embossing folder, Houndstooth embossing folder (clearance rack)

Project Details
Stamps	Bloom With Hope, Big Day (envelope and inside)
Card Stock & Papers	Whisper White, Hello Honey, Pumpkin Pie, Baked Brown Sugar
Ink	Hello Honey, Pumpkin Pie, Baked Brown Sugar
Accessories	Copic Markers, sponge daubers, Stampin Dimensionas
Tools	Floral Framelits, Apothecary Accents Framelits

It's Spring!

I have been a pretty sick girl for the past few days. A trip to the ER even. bleck! I am at home resting and feeling better today. I have a follow up visit with Doc. tomorrow.

Anyway, while being quiet and resting, I have been coloring with my Copics:) I used a new digital stamp image. I didn't have all the colors of Copics I needed, but it still turned out nicely I think. Yeah, I uh kinda got on the Marker Pop website and ordered more colors. I know, I know, I swore I had enough colors at Christmas. But I really didn't have many yellows... I used Stampin' Up! Perfect Plum and Hello Honey cardstock. I LOVE their cardstock, the quality and the colors - big sigh.

Copic Craziness and Stamp Index for Greetings

I've never found the need for a stamp index. I have several hundred stamps and they are arranged in categories in Iris Carts, I have several Saturated Canary digital stamps. The stamps I use most often, are current from Stampin' Up! They are arranged in alphabetical order in two storage towers. The sets are all indexed on the spine of the cases. I am extremely visual, and for some reason the images stick in my head and I remember pretty much every image that I have. This all works perfectly for me, except for one tiny little thing.... the greetings. They do not stick in my head, the words and especially not which stamp set they are in. My mind must work in categories and the greetings aren't found in sets that way, ya know? So one day I decided to make an index just for the greetings. I simply folded a sheet of cardstock in half and printed small images of the stamp set covers from my online catalog. Works like a charm, for me anyway. When I want to make thank you cards, for instance, I just flip through the pages at any set that has thank you and select one. Of course I had to decorate the cover and a cute little fairy called Whispy from Saturated Canary served the purpose perfectly. Fairly simply right? giggles

one of the pages

blank greeting card, may end up being a get well

Thanksgiving Eve and Copic Christmas

Happy Thanksgiving Eve everyone!! Here are a couple more images from Saturated Canary. I LOVE coloring with my Copic alcohol ink markers. I guess I'm just a big kid who still likes to play:) I keep wondering if I had not had ADHD, and/or teachers who understood and knew what to do with me, if I could have channeled all this creativity into more ART. I kinda think so. When you pair ADHD with high IQ, the teachers back then thought I was just lazy or spoiled and would not 'buckle down'. They just did not understand that I could not. I wish I had a dollar for every time I heard the words "wasted potential." By the time I began teaching ADHD was beginning to be understood a bit. I made sure not to do to my students what was done to me! You don't always grow out of it either. I still have it and I'm over 40.

Coloring Christmas!

I have missed not using my Copic alcohol ink markers, so I got them out today and used them on these adorable images from Saturated Canary. In the first one I used the Filigree Frame embossing folder from Stampin' Up! My Nexus Ten tablet has updated photo editing so I'm playing around trying to learn. This is why there are two shot of a couple of them.

Creating During the Storm

Thanks to our generator, I was able to stay busy as we were being pounded with ice, snow and an earthquake this week.

I made the first card below and wasn't really happy with it, so I repeated the design, channeled my inner Emeril Lagasse and kicked it up a notch. All Stampin' Up! Products: Blooming With Kindness stamp set, Deco Label Framelits, Modern Mosaic Embossing Folder, Watercolor Wonder DSP, Simply Pressed Clay and Button Mold, Island Indigo, Gumball Green, and Crushed Curry card stocks.

 

Raspberry Ripple, Old Olive, Early Espresso Core'dinations, Satin Stitched Ribbon, Window Frames Framelits.

Real Red, Pear Pizzazz, Beautifully Baroque and Decorative Dots Embossing Folders, and free digital image colored with Copic Markers.

Rose Red and Wisteria Wonder card stocks, Decorative Dots Embossing Folder and Saturated Canary Digital Stamp colored with Copic Markers.

Copic Marker Storage

I'm all set with my Copic storage, now if I could just buy about 20 colors of markers...... Hey, do you realize how practical I'm being about this whole marker experience? There are 358 colors of Copic Sketch markers! At this point I think about 60 markers ought to do it. I bought some plastic grid to hold the markers in place and this nice little box with handles in Lowes. The grid fits over lights in ceiling tiles. Its less than $15 and you can cut it to any size you need with just a pair of scissors. I cut two pieces of foam core to fit snugly length wise. Then my husband helped me cut slits in the foam so the grid would slide down in it a bit. Then we put another grid on the bottom of the box. It's now stable and my markers don't slide around. I left a space in the back to hold my swatch book, my journal, and a pretty envelope made with my envelope punch board, to hold some stamped images. I'm reading my books and practicing in my journal trying to improve my skills. The fairy on the left is my latest attempt.

Copic Marker Journal

I LOVE learning new things!! I'm having such fun reading and taking online classes to learn how to better use Copics. I've started a journal to help me in this process. One of my other loves is making handbound books. So I decided to combine the two. I've been wanted to make a book using the Coptic Stitch for a long time, so I finally did it. This type of bookbinding uses signatures, or sections of folded pages, and was first made by the early Christians back in the 2nd century. Now, this book is my record of work and learning, so all the stuff in it is not gorgeous. There's cut & paste, smudges, and white out over mistakes, but I thought I'd share it with you. I have a stamp coming that is just a head shot, so that I can practice coloring & Blending skin tones and hair colors. I need more colors of Copics!! Today, I'm going to Lowes and Hobby Lobby to see what I can come up with for storage. I want something to hold the markers in a particular order, so that I can keep blending families together. I also want a handle for ease of transport, not to heavy, hmmm I need a space for my journal and my color swatch book. I don't think I need a top on it unless it is hinged.