Color Me Christmas

While searching the stamp aisles, I couldn't seem to find a Christmas floral stamp to use for my latest Copic adventure. Then a thought entered my head! Why not showcase colors and sentiments to create a flavor of Christmas. So that's what I did. I'll admit that when my Michaels Rehoboth manager picked out this Inkdadinkado stamp set for  my Copics class/demo, I wasn't crazy about it. Then I started blending and it made all the difference! I used the following Copic markers on this set:

• R22 Light Prawn
• R24 Prawn
• R29 Lipstick Red
• YG 03 Yellow Green
• YG 67 Moss

My stamp set is Inkdadinkdo 60-30057 Floral Expressions and my card is made with Recollections Kraft Paper Cardstock. The red polka dot paper and green polka dot ribbon are from my stash.

 
 



Copic Whimsies

I thoroughly enjoyed teaching my first Copic class at Michaels last month and I am looking forward to the next session. As I develop new project, I find myself drifting away from my original concept of Lessons 1-2-3-4 etc and moving towards titling by type. I suppose I could have called cute little cards bugsies, but since I don't like insects that much, whimsicals or "whimsies" suits me a bit better. I try to focus on three techniques in each workshop. In this case my targets are Palette Blending, Colorless Blender Techniques and of course basic blending. The . There is sufficent coloring space to practice in and they are totally cute even to a non-bug-lover like me. I also decided to use one layout to create three different "looks". Here are the additonal products I used to make these cards:

COPICS:

• Colorless Blender
• B05 Process Blue
• BG18 Teal Blue
• E37 Sepia
• YR00 Powder Pink

SUPPLIES:

• Naval Orange Bazzill Stock Cardstock
• Navy Blue Cardstock
• Recollections Pastel Printed Cardstock, 8 ½” x 11"
• Recollections Foam Adhesive Circles, ½”
• Recollections Iridescent Adhesive Rhinestones
• Alcohol-free Baby Wipes
• Adhesive

TOOLS:

• Recollections “Don’t Bug Me” Clear Stamps
• StazOn Teal Blue Solvent Ink Pad\
• Potter’s Clay Memento Ink (Dew Drop Collection)
• Tuxedo Black Memento Ink
• Recollections “XXX” Border Punch Item
• Martha Stewart Button Punch
• Scoring Board and Bone Folder

A Bit of Vintage: The Times of My Life

Fashion may call it "vintage", but I call it my history. Last week I completed a two-page layout using Graphic 45 Communique and Romantique papers which revisits our most unusual wedding day. At the time, I was more focused on the marriage than the wedding. I prepared this page from an historical perspective (36 years after the event). My title is a "Memories" stamp from Heartfelt Creations that I received as part of class I took at CKC Valley Forge in August. I colored the flowers in the stamp with Copic markers. This layout is one of about 12 in a scrapbook I'm building titled The Times of My Life.

Change of Plans

I am totally excited about my Copic Class at Clare's. After conducting a customer poll, we discovered that a Copic card class would be a bit more appealing than a scrapbooking one, so we're doing two cards with four images. I changed up the colors so my students would have some greens for their Christmas card-projects between now and holidays' end. I used two colors one one card -- G21 Lime Green and G24 Willow on this card and B93 Green Gray and RV21 Light Pink on the other. I also took advantage of Michael's big sale last week and purchased 24 sheetsof K&Company's Addison Collage paper for about 16 cents a piece. As with the my scrapbook page project, I'm using flowers from Sparkle N Sprinkle's Blossoms Stamp Set #429. My black-glittered buttons are from Recollections which I purchased from Michaels. My class at Clare's Keepsakes is October 12 at 1 PM. The $25 fee includes everything but the markers, adhesives, and cardmaking tools. The kit contents are cut and loaded with everything but the directions. How exciting is that?

Clare's Copic Classes -- Sneak Peek

I had a wonderful time meeting with Clare at Clare's Keepsakes and Scrapbooking Cove in Bethany Beach, Delaware several weeks ago. I will be teaching scrapbooking and Copic classes there in October. I'm really excited about the Copic project because I'll be incorporating the art into scrapbook page designs. I decided that 8"x8" scrapbook pages will work well for our Copic-centered projects. I structure my classes to introduce about four new colors every month. This allows my students to gradually add to their Copic collection In this project I used YR02, R12, R14, and BG05 to color two flowers from Sparkle N Sprinkle's Blossoms Stamp Set #429. I built the pages with discontinued Close to My Heart (CTMH) papers and two CTMH Cardstock Papers -- Pacifica and Cocoa. I used my Plantin Schoolbook alphabet (1 1/4 ") to cut out "PATHS" from Recollections Cream cardstock. I took the photo the day I received my new Canon Rebel, a digital SLR. My friend, Melissa, says I should call this the "calm before the storm" because I took the shot shortly before Hurricane Irene dumped on Delaware. My first Copic class at Clare's is scheduled for Wednesday, October 12 at 1 PM.

Too Much To Chew

I feel like it's been forever since I've worked with my Copics, but I took time out to do Outlines Posy Collage as a sample for a beginner's class I'll be teach at Clare's Keepsakes Cove in Bethany Beach next month. I think that it might be a bit much for a Copic beginner. My challenge was keeping it to four colors -- but I did it! I will encourage
my students take this on as a challenge before the next class. Each person who brings it in will have their name entered into a prize drawing.
     I'm going to be doing something a bit different -- my Copic Classes at Clare's will be part of a finished 8"x8" scrapbook page. I used four markers to create this project: V12 Pale Lilac; V15 Mallow; V18 Amethyst; and 100 Black. I also used Vival Pearl Pen C7 Lilac to create the pearl bling effect on the flower centers. I used three basic techniques in colorizing this collage -- Basic Blending, Feathering and Tip-to-Tip Blending. Now, back to work. I have to decide what to do in class . . .

CKC Valley Forge and Charoloote

I’m totally excited about teaching at CKC Valley Forge and CKC Charlotte this summer. My class is Picture Perfect Convention Pages. It’s a technique-driven workshop that uses a pocket-filled layout with inventive ways to use 15 4”x6” pictures or more. The best part is that all you’ll need to do is add the photos when you get home. People who take my classes will have a choice between an inchies or collage punch-around-the-age project as well as an accordion mini-book, tags, folders masking, stamping and more. All these are wrapped into two compact 12”x12” pages! I hope to see you at the convention. Be sure to visit my website (www.scrappigators.com) for more information.