Happy Birthday Bevie Pearl!!

Today is my friend Bev's birthday. I met her online at SCS years ago... she came all the way from Chicago to visit me... TWICE and she's coming back this summer again. My kids love her as much as I do. Her phone messages make me smile. I love her with all my heart.... she is THE best friend. So, today I wish my sweet friend a very happy birthday. If you'd like to make her day, head over to her blog and wish her a happy birthday. :)

I combined both Lil' Peanut and Dr. Peanut to make this card. A little masking with my favorite Eclipse tape and sweet Lil' Peanut is ready to send birthday wishes.

I added all some Shazam with Bingz, Sakura Glaze Pens, and atyou Spica pens.

Supplies:

Stamps: Lil' Peanut, Dr. Peanut (Our Craft Lounge)
Paper: Riding Hood Red, Neenah White, Just Dreamy2 (My Mind's Eye).
Ink: Brilliance Graphite, Copic Markers.
Other: Janome Sew Mini, Wintergreen Bingz (the balloons), atyou Spica Pens, Sakura Glaze Pens, Crafter's Tool Kit, Scallop Edge Punch, Dimensionals, Ric Rack, Scor-Pal.

Wow.... you guys! Thanks for all the comments about the Copic Markers. You are all SO sweet. A lot of you said you needed help with them. I know not everyone can take Marianne's class. But, I do have to say, that if you like my coloring, ANYONE can do it. I am not a great colorer. I think that is why I LOVE them so much... they are SO easy. I know I don't use them to half their potential. So, I know if I can do it, you can too!

A couple important things. To have great success with them, you really need good paper and good ink. As much as I love Whisper White for stamping, it does not work well with Copic Markers. If you just want to color, it works, but to get the blending and fun effects, you really need a cardstock that you can move and blend with. My favorite for this is Neenah Solor White. I've also heard that Papertrey white works well, although I've never tried it.

The second thing is good ink that won't smear. Some inks you need to let dry or heat set, but my absolute favorite is the Ranger Distress Soot Black. You can stamp it and then color immediately... no waiting, no smearing. I love the Brilliance too, but I need to think ahead with that one so that it has some dry time.

Here are some tips that help me. Remember to work in small circles and saturate the paper... you should see it bleed through to the back! Don't be afraid. You can blend and blend and blend and your paper will not pile. Start with a light color then add a darker shade, then go back with the lighter color and blend with it. Sometimes, I do not use a second darker color but just go back with the same color marker to make areas darker, then use the Blender Pen to take away more color. I use the chisel end of the Sketch markers for the grass and sky etc. Little circles. :) Again, I'm SO far from an expert on these, but they are truly worth every penny.

That's the other thing. I know they are expensive, but if you look at it over the long run, they are not really expensive. Consider that they are re-fillable (but they last forever... so no need to buy refills with your markers). The tips on both ends are replaceable, but again, no need to buy any... they last forever. WAY more durable than any marker I've ever had. Not one of my tips have frayed or been damaged in any way. Trust me, if you start using them, you will never put them down. They are the easiest, most fun, most amazing markers ever! So, LOL... maybe that is your warning... do not pick them up!! If you pick them up, YOU WILL WANT THEM.

Okay, so I'll be back in just a few minutes to pick a winner! Again, thank you for all the comments, recipes, and input. YOU ALL ROCK! :)

Seattle Copic Certification

Marianne only has a few more spots open for Seattle girls/guys! If you are in the Seattle area and think you want to attend the Copic Certification class, you better get those applications in. I heard that there is going to be a rep from Adirondack there too! Wish I could go again!!!


Seattle Copic Certification is now set and open for applications!

• Wed. June 18th from 9 am to 3:30 pm
• Red Lion Hotel at Seattle Airport
• Cost: $85
• Light snacks are provided throughout the day.

The Copic Certification sessions are open to any store owners,

teachers, or designers in papercrafting, stamping, and scrapbooking.

The class is limited to 30 attendees. If we get more than 20 people

registered we will open a second session on Thursday June 19.

If you are not yet on the mailing list, please e-mail Marianne at

office1@copicmarker.com to get an application. Completed applications

will be accepted starting Monday, May 19 and will be processed on a

first-come basis. Please let me know which day you would like to

attend (June 18th or 19th).

Want to Get Certified by Copic?

Seattle Copic Certification is now set and open for applications!

• Wed. June 18th from 9 am to 3:30 pm
• Red Lion Hotel at Seattle Airport
• Cost: $85
• Light snacks are provided throughout the day.

The Copic Certification sessions are open to any store owners,

teachers, or designers in papercrafting, stamping, and scrapbooking.

The class is limited to 30 attendees. If we get more than 20 people

registered we will open a second session on Thursday June 19.

If you are not yet on the mailing list, please e-mail Marianne at

office1@copicmarker.com to get an application. Completed applications

will be accepted starting Monday, May 19 and will be processed on a

first-come basis. Please let me know which day you would like to

attend (June 18th or 19th). Also let me know if you will need a hotel

room- I am negotiating for better rates.

Future certification dates include:

• Milwaukee, WI July 15
• Chicago, IL session 1 July 16
• Chicago IL, session 2 July 17
• Kansas City, Oct. 9th

My Dawg's In da HOUSE baby!!!

No, not really a dog, but I love it just as much as a new puppy. It's my new Copic AIR COMPRESSOR! Why am I calling it a dog? Because my friends are as silly as me. SNORT. My friends, Zapstar and HB got together a few weekends ago and HB brought her compressor to Zapstar's house. (You should click on her name to see the AMAZING things she's done with her Dawg) I guess, Zapstar was scared of it.... it reminded her of a little dog? So, now it's the dawg baby. My dawg has arrived!! Love my dawg.

See how small it is? It's smaller than my Cuttlebug! AND, it's quiet. Watch out..... I'm gonna be shooting everything! Copic color the world baby......

And, there is another reason this Dawg is so special. She was hand delivered by my Copic idol! You are so jealous right now huh? Don't hate me cuz I live close to the beach. Yep... Tuesday was indeed a fun day for me. Marianne, her husband Brian (Hi, Brian!!!!!!) Extra exclamations just for him *wink*, and their two adorable kids, Luke and Anna Mae came down this way for a day at the beach. Marianne was sweet enough to deliver my little dawg, and let me tag along with them to the beach. I'm hoping if I spend as much time as I can close to Marianne, that maybe some of her talent will rub off on me! Of course the afternoon flew by like it was only 10 minutes, then I had to get home and get dinner, and get my husband off to work, but it was THE best little visit to the beach ever! My dawg is at home, where I will take care of her and give her much love and attention. I'M SUCH A DORK... I know, I know. I'm totally putting some pink ribbon on the handle on the top..... she's gotta have a cute collar right?

Okay.... I'll be back in a few with a card... THAT I AIRBRUSHED ON!! Whooo Hoooo!!

Here is Marianne and I with our daughters. (The boys were making sand castles)



Marianne..... my Copic idol and master of color/art. Isn't she adorable? (Thanks for the photos Brian!)

Have a super day everyone!!

Tool Time Hanna

I love that stamp.... my friend Val sent it to me (The YOU GO GIRL). I think any girl who takes on power tools definitely deserves a big YOU GO GIRL... with a snap!

This is one of the images I colored in Eugene, after our Copic class with my peeps Mounds and Leann. Did I tell you that Mounds has ALL the Copic colors AND, she hauled them all here from CA? Maybe not all of them... be we had a ton. I thought I was in heaven... it was hard to make myself go to bed... I think one night we were up until 3:00 am! I could swear it was only 11:00, maybe midnight. LOL

Are you ready for more Copic tips? Have you been practicing? Okay... another thing I learned. I always wondered why there were so many shades of grey. You see how this image pops from the paper? But... you don't really see an outline unless you look? It's a trick. You know the markers are all numbered. A letter, then a number. The greys are are C (for Cool) N (for Neutral) WG (for Warm Grey) and T (for Tone). So, if you are using cool colors, you use a C Grey, for neutral colors, you'd use a N marker etc. I like the lower numbers, because they are the lightest and I like that you can barely see the outline... it's just enough to make your image "pop". Makes sense huh? I was using my Cool Shadow BG10 for everything.. which still looked nice, but this totally makes a difference. Needless to say, I have more Grey markers on the way to my house. :)

See her jeans? They look textured huh? Remember when I mentioned the "magic juice"? Well, it's not really magic, it's the blender refill and you can get it in big bottles. Oh, this stuff is cool... hence the reason we call it the magic juice. So, you do all your coloring and blending, then you can take almost anything and add a dab of "the juice" to it, then blot it directly on your image. For her jeans, I used a Jack in the Box Napkin (hey... it was on the table). Maryanne (my Copic idol) used a wash cloth, a lace doily... oh, and we even tried gauze! It's SO much fun!!! You can get all kinds of textures. I used the blender pen to wear out her knees. Remember, you keep adding or taking away color... saturate that paper baby! I love "the juice".... can't wait to play with it more. I can't wait to get MORE markers. So, when you get your Copics, make sure and add a bottle of the colorless blender solution.... don't ask for "the juice"... they may think you've been drinking it. LOL.

The Recipe:

Stamps: Tool Time (Hanna Stamps)
Paper: Prism Blush Red Dark, Neenah White, Chatterbox (blue), Love,Elsie(Stripes).
Ink: Brilliance Graphite Black, Copics
Other: Glossy Accents, Screw Brads, Slit Punch, Crafter's Tool Kit, Black Glaze Pen, "The Juice", Scor-Pal.

I have another busy day tomorrow, but hopefully I can post again in the evening. If you've emailed me and I haven't responded yet, maybe email me again. (I'm sorry) I'm having trouble with my junk filter, and I'm also behind... I'm trying to catch up. If you leave a question in the comment section, I will do my best to get you an answer. Thanks everyone. Have a super week!

More Copic Tid Bits

Yesterday, I had a VERY long day... sorry for no post. I came home to many questions and I'll do my best to answer them today, although I don't have anything stamped to show you right now. I'm trying to catch up. :)


First.... I have the sketch markers. That is what I prefer. The original Copics come with the chisel end (which I love, and used to color the sky in the previous post), it is angled and stiff, so you can color larger areas, but still use the tip if you need to get in a corner. The other end is a fine point end, similar to writing tip of the SU! markers but a tad bigger or maybe like you'd see in a regular "marker tip". These markers are more square in shape. The Sketch (My Fav) have the chisel end, then a brush end. LOVE the brush end. The ink "flows" out of these markers.... it's hard to explain, but more like a cross between an aquapainter and a marker. The tip end is very fine, so if you use a light touch, you can get into any tight area. These markers are oval shaped. The Ciao (pronounced Chow) have the same tips as the sketch. Marianne said they are perfect for people just starting out, or who want to "try" them, and that also many people buy them for their children because like I said, those tips , you do not have to be so gentle with... and remember too, that the tips are all replaceable.... all the Copics. The Ciao's are round, but smaller and not so fat. They have other tips to choose from too, but this is how the come. The only difference between the Ciao and the Sketch is that with the sketch you can use the airbrush system. At first, I totally thought I had the wrong markers and that I would have been fine with the Ciao, but THEN... omg, we got to play with the airbrush system... and OH DANG.... a whole nother post baby... and yes, I was gasping out loud again. Needless to say, I have the airbrush and a can of air, but I'm shopping for a small compressor. AMAZING. I'll save that for another day and try to stick to the questions you had.

Next, you asked about the blending and if when you are using the lighter color it will harm the tip of the light color. NO WAY. OMG, Marianne was totally into torturing me, or maybe she enjoyed hearing me gasp. She grabbed a light YELLOW marker, then a dark color (can't remember what color because I went into shock, but let's say blue), then DREW ON THE YELLOW TIP with the blue. Then, colored on the paper and blended right from the tip of the YELLOW!!! YELLOW!!! Then, it just washed right out on the paper and was perfectly yellow again. I KNOW? Are you gasping? How many of you have stamped in your yo yo yellow pad with black? OR, have black tips on your markers from getting to close to the image? Yah, Cams was FREAKING OUT. So, then she showed us that you can do the same technique with shades of different markers direct from the marker, not just blending on the paper. When you are done, simply color out on your scratch paper until the color you added to the tip of your marker is gone. Do it, try it... you will be amazed.

I want to tell you too, that a lot of the results you'll get will vary on the paper you are using. We were using Neenah White, and I've also heard that people get super results on the Georgia Pacific White. I have not tried coloring on my Whisper White yet. So, you need good paper... get it out and start experimenting. Find what works for you. If you are straight coloring, do not use watercoloring paper. It absorbs too much for the blending.... but not to say you can't watercoloring with these pens... more later on that.

Okay... I seriously have a ton to catch up on today. Please feel free to continue to ask questions. I'm happy to help and after all, I'm CERTIFIED BABY! I have SO much to show you!! OMGosh how I LOVE these markers!

You can also find out more at the Copic Website www.copicmarkers.com.

Oh, the eSsentials pack at eP are the sketch. But you can order any style from them. Mounds is amazing... she knows all the numbers/colors. Her and Marianne were always throwing the letters/numbers out and I was like... DANG, stop talking in Copic Code. Someday, I will learn the Copic Code as well as Mounds. If you are a serious stamper, you want a lifetime coloring system where you can get artist quality results, I'd totally start with the sketch or the Original so that you have that option of the airbrush. Oh, and if you haven't already wondered, YES, the airbrush system is SO much more than just for coloring.

I will try and get photos today of the four types and their tips. Thanks for stopping by everyone, and thanks for all the sweet comments. Fire away with questions, and don't forget to leave one comment in the Copic Candy Post for the drawing on Friday.

Edited to say: See the photo of the blog candy? The greens are the original, the blue oval shape is the sketch, the round peachy colors with the holes in the caps, those are the Ciao. The holes in the caps are so that if your child swallows them, they will not choke... air can get through. See the big wide one? Betcha think you'd NEVER use that huh? Hmmmmm...... we'll see about that. SNORT.