Colouring with Copic Markers

Oh, dare I say I'm addicted??? I told myself I would never get involved with Copic Markers - like I needed another addiction - especially an expensive one.  Well I purchased a part set of second hand markers and took a basic class.  Then I decided to fill in my part set with some complimentary colours - next thing you know I'm addicted.

So, here are a few of the little images I've just been playing around with.  I'm trying new things like shadowing, and blending of colours - all the while making plenty of mistakes!

But my first 'project' was a father's day card for my husband from the kids ... I think it's pretty good if I do say so myself!

Let me know what you think!

First publication in Canadian Scrapbooker!

This is a re-post of a layout that I did in June of 2010 - it has been published in Canadian Scrapbooker Summer 2011 issue (page 95) My first publication - hopefully of many more to come! Let me know what you think of this layout!





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On June 23rd this year friends and myself went to the local Berry farm to pick strawberries... there was a 5.0 magnitude earthquake that day! Weird, yes, we never have (rarely) earthquakes... but what was weirder was the fact that we didn't even feel it! We were in the middle of the field and I guess because you are 'one with the ground' and not in a building that is 'attached, or embeded' in the ground you don't feel the sway as much. Either way, it was a really great spot for a photo shoot! More to come of the kids picking/eating berries.

I used Basic Grey's Nook & Pantry for this, they have a REALLY great paper called Strawberry Shortcake that has strawberries all over it, and I just love the pink and red combination. I bordered the whole layout with matching green. I used various Prima flowers to layer also mixing in some tulle. I included a little strawberry jam recipe - I thought it was cute. I glued on some lace that I had picked up from a local craft store. The Lined paper is Grandma's Kitchen - Pen Pal, I used a small hole punch and tore through like it was pulled from a spiral bound book. I used my Circut for the titles - fonts were "Cursive 101" for the Avonmore, and "Plantain Schoolbook" for the Berry Farm - I used the shadow feature for both. I used "George & Basic Shapes" for the circles, and a Fiskars punch for the scallop.

Give this girl a challenge .... see what you get?

I thought I could make a simple yet elegant card for Auntie Em's card exchange.  This is the first time I've participated in it, so I really don't know what to expect from it.  So, how it works is that there are 20 participants and each person is assigned a 'theme' for their particular card - a sentiment of sorts - and you make 20 of the same card and then exchange with the other 19 participants - thus getting one each of everyone's cards.  The sentiment that I got was "get well soon", and all I know is that making 20 of the same card gets real tedious!  However, I usually do my cards in at least two of the same design as I do them - but not in 20's, not unless it's Christmas ... and even with Christmas I've taken to doing several different designs and only two or three of the same card.

Anyway, enough kvetching already huh?

I had some amazing paper from Basic Grey - a very old line that I found when I was cleaning out my stash; from the Lucky collection - Karma - a beautiful multi tonal purple and green floral print.  I used that as the background for my sentiment and popped up part of the sentiment.  I layered the Stampin' Up owl punch to make my tulips and inked them with Tattered Rose distress ink and Stampin' Up whisper white Craft ink for depth.  I freehand cut the leaves and stem of the flower and used my Copic's to add dimension (YG13 & YG23). The fence is cut on my Cricut with the Potpourri Basket cartridge and stamped with a wholegrain stamp for texture in Antique Linen distress ink. 

The inside of the card is two Stampin' Up stamps layer in distress inks (Antique Linen = tree & sentiment in Black Soot)  Again I used my copics to add some colour to the flowers on the tree (R20 & E04).  Then added some clear embossing to three of the flowers to add some dimension.  Distressing the inside of the card (Tattered Rose & Antique Linen) finished them off.  I repeated the tree on the envelope.  A stampin' Up demonstrator, Josee Smuck, once said to me that she never leaves an envelope naked - and well that kinda stuck with me!

Winner Winner - we have a winner!

Drawn at random is the winner of my "sticky situation" dilemma from a couple of weeks ago --- and the winner is Shannon!  Congratulations Shannon!  Please email me with your postal address and I will get your prize pack out to you!

If you are curious as to what adhesive I'm now using?  Well I did get the super ginormous Glue Glider Max, and hey, I really do like it, other than the 3 lbs of heavy it is!  But it really does have a lot of glue and it pretty darned sticky, and it was very affordable.  I still have been using my little Glue Glider Pro for the smaller areas, but so far I'm loving the GG Max!

Thank you for all who participated in the contest, and keep your eyes on my blog for another chance to win some amazing RAK!

May Page Maps Calendar featuring Basic Grey's Marjolaine collection

Wow - it's already Cinco De Mayo (alright - tomorrow is May 5th) where did April go?  Maybe it got washed away in all that RAIN we have been getting!

So, what does May bring? Other than flowers, it brings another Monthly Inspiration over at Auntie Em's Scrapbooking, that's what.  This month was all about the Basic Grey (both mine and Mellisa's favorite!)  We both used the Marjolaine collection for our layouts this month ... wow did I have fun.

I titled this layout "1st Summer Smiles".  The pagemap called for four photos ... and you know how much I HATE doing multiple photos ... well this time I thought I would use two, and on the second one I would duplicate the photo with a larger size of the same photo.  Turned out pretty good if I do say so myself.

I'm loving the colours of the lime green and the blue in this line, it is true, lime green goes with any colour!  I did another one of my 'famous' mitred frames on this LO and used a whole bunch of glazed brads, I simply love the BG brads!  I made my own tickets for the top simply by using a hole punch on the corners and in the centre and drawing a free-hand border to them.  Some Petaloo flowers and some hemp thread and it's done.

The journaling reads:

"Nigel what a memorable day May 25th 2010 was in Niagara Falls.  A perfect family vacation with Logan and his family."

Be sure to check out Auntie Em's Scrapbooking this week, they are celebrating  their 7th Anniversary, and there are LOTS of different sales going on all week.  And remember - for the entire month of May you can get 10% off all Basic Grey's Marjolaine!

Tell me what you think of it - leave a comment - become a follower!