Thinking Inking

Some CHA Pix posted on Facebook

Hello! I had a couple of hours to walk around the show this afternoon and take a few pictures. As slow as my internet connection is right now, the fastest way to post them was to my Facebook account. So, here is the link. Enjoy!

Sitting Here, Thinking of You

Welcome! I'm posting on the run, so I'll keep the chat brief. When I saw this lovely Flourishes chair image in their Chairs for You set, I knew that I wanted to color it. I've included some stepped out pictures below of the Copic markers that I used below.

Here are the Copic reds that I used for the upholstery.

And here are the Copic wood and shadow colors that I used.

For Spellbinders dies, I used the new Labels Eighteen and Ribbon Tags dies.. I also airbrushd a bit of Copic YR31 into the background of the upper two-thirds of the focal image, using a Copic Airbrush System. Papers are from the Cosmo Cricket Circa 1934 Mini Deck.

Sherrie Siemens and I had a wonderful Copic Intermediate Certification yesterday; we enjoyed seeing some familiar faces and meeting new friends as well. Today we are setting up the Copic booth to get ready for the opening of CHA tomorrow, while Jennie Black teaches a Standard Certifcation. So, come by and see us if you are at CHA! Thanks for stopping by. 

Cosmo Cricket UpCycle Meets Papertrey Ink

How about some CHA samples today? I made these three cards using Cosmo Cricket's new Upcycle Mini Deck, in conjunction with several Papertrey Ink sets and Spellbinders dies. The Cute as a Button card's sentiment is from Papertrey Ink's Baby Button Bits set, while the chipboard buttons are part of the UpCycle line, and the deep scallop is cut with a Spellbinders Jumbo Scalloped Borderabilties Petites die template.

This one, in addition to UpCycle Mini Deck papers and chipboard, uses Dawn's Signature Greetings framed by a new Spellbinders S4-322 Grommet Tags (available after CHA and introduced here by Heidi Blankenship)--I love the simplicity of this set and will be using it often for sure.

On this card I used Papertrey Ink's Simple Sentiments set to create the word background panel and stamped my main sentiment from the Birthday Basics set. The leaves are die-cut using another new Spellbinders die from the S4-328 Foliage set (introduced here by Sherry Cheever). I love those leaves! The flower is made from white silk ribbon that I dyed with a couple of  Copic Various Inks (re-inkers)--I think it was R32 and a few drops of R35 to deepen the color. It took me all of five minutes using one of Cosmo Cricket's new Glubers--ginormous glue dots that are perfect for whipping out a flower! 

I'm headed out to L.A. tomorrow, but I'll post as I get a chance. Thanks for visiting!

Blog Bits and Pieces. . .

I rarely post purely blog-informational posts, but I've spent quite a bit of time this weekend updating some areas that you may not usually see, and I wanted to let you know about what I've done.

The biggest update is my Copic Certification Classes page.  I added the current certifications that are open, as well as tentative places that are in planning stages. Besides the Intermediate Certification that Sherrie Siemens and I are teaching in L.A. this Thursday, I will be in Phoenix in April with Colleen Schaan; Columbus, Ohio, in May with Colleen Schaan; and hopefully Boston in June with Lori Craig for Intermediate Certification classes. If you didn't see my plug the other day for the Intermediate Certification, I just want you to know that it's a fabulous class. It deals with the things that most paper crafters want to know--topics like shading, shadow placement, color choices, and basic design. I am really excited about this class, knowing that it fills a great need.

If you are in the Upper Midwest and are interested in a Copic Standard Certification class, please feel free to e-mail me: [email protected]. If you are out of my territory, I am putting a list below to let you know who you can contact. For the Copic Intermediate Certification Classes, our territories are somewhat flexible, but basically Colleen Schaan will handle the South and much of the East Coast, Sherrie Siemens will handle Canada and possibly the Northwest US, and I will handle the Midwest and a bit beyond--we'll figure it out among the three of us! When possible, we are even trying to have two of the Intermediate instructors at a class so that participants get plenty of personal attention.

Copic Regional Instructor Team

Marianne Walker, Copic Product Specialist

Colleen Schaan -- Eastern US, Standard and Intermediate Certification

Debbie Olson (here) -- North Central US, Standard and Intermediate Certification

Jennie Black -- Southwest US, Standard Certification

Jenn Balcer -- South Central US, Standard Certification

Lori Craig -- South Central US, Standard Certification

Sharon Harnist -- South Central US, Standard Certification

Sherrie Siemens -- Western Canada and Northwestern US, Standard and Intermediate Certification

I've had a few store owners contact me and say, "We don't necessarily need another Certification in our area--we just want a class or a demonstration!" If you are a store owner in the areas that we visit for a class, we can sometimes arrange a demo visit to your store or even a class, as long as we know ahead of time before making travel plans. The bottom line is contact any of us, and we can figure out if something can be worked out, okay?

Next, I have added a links page with my fellow design team members here. Believe me--if we are doing a blog hop, it makes it simpler to have a place to go copy and paste from! ;-) Also, I opened up the comment section on my Crafty Blog Links page so that you can leave me a comment if you see a broken link, or if you would like for your paper crafting blog to be added. It has been a LONG time since I have gone through those links, so I am sure than there are many people who no longer maintain a blog, or who may have switched blog platforms. Still, it's a start. . . 

If you waded through all of that, you're a trooper! I will try to have a regular post up on Tuesday as soon as I can get to it. It may be around lunchtime. Thanks for stopping by!

Zva Creative January DT Blog Hop!

Zva Creative and the Design Team welcomes you to join us this month for a blog hop that we feel is always extra special!

There is now an added twist to our blog hops; as you know, Zva offers so many beautiful color groupings for pearls, flowers and crystals.  We want to make sure that they shine bright for you, so each designer was asked to share a creation using a specific color or color combination on their blog hop project.  

The Blog Hop begins at Kim Hughes' blog. She will have the complete list of all blogs that are participating in case there is a glitch along the way. If you would like to play along, just follow along the blog path.  I am linking to one of the Zva designers and that designer is linking to the next and so on. Be prepared to be inspired along the way. Hidden on FIVE of the blogs is a Zva Creative prize package! Winners will be randomly chosen after the hop is over, so it's important to leave a comment on as many blogs as you can along the way.

The Blog Hop starts today, January 24, and runs through midnight US Eastern Standard Time on Tuesday, January 25. The five winners will be announced on Wednesday, January 26, on each of the five winning blogs. The full list will be found on Kim Hughes‘s blog as well. We will do our best to notify each winner, but it's best if you can pop in to all of the blogs once again on Wednesday. Besides, you never know what kind of inspirational creation that you may find there! All you need to do is leave a comment on this Zva Blog Hop post. You do not need to leave a comment on each and every designer's blog post to qualify. The more times you leave a comment along the blog hop path, however, the more chances you will have to be one of the lucky winners.

For today's post I have a thank you card on a clear base. My Zva Creative color assignment was lime green. This sweet pearl flourish was the closest color that I had in my stash, a pair of pearl flourishes in Soft Blue and Lime. (PE-03CA-113) 

I chose one of JustRite 's new cling sets, Kindness, which I stamped in Adirondack Cranberry ink and cut with a new Spellbinders S5-026 Labels Twenty die template (available after CHA). I added a few of the green pearls to the label image as well. The sentiment, also from JustRite's Kindness set, was cut with a Spellbinders Petite Ovals Large die template and layered over the label and ribbon with foam tape.

Patterned paper is an older one from my stash, Prima Shabby Chic Collection Morning Poetry. I mounted the matted patterned paper on the inside of a clear card base and the label and pearl flourish on the outside. Ribbon is some white seam binding dyed with a Copic G20 reinker (G20 Copic Various Inks).

The blog hop begins here: Kim Hughes. 

Your next stop is here: Ingrid Danvers. Thank you so much for joining us!

Blue Irises Video

Welcome! I have a video to share with you today. I was coloring the irises image from the JustRite Stampers Beautiful Day Borders and Centers set and videoed while I colored with my Copic markers. The video is right under 15 minutes--just warning you in case you are in a hurry.  The URL is here in case the embed develops a problem. 

 

Also, if you are looking for some excellent material on shading, shadow placement, color choices beyond the basic color families, and basic design principles, the Copic Intermediate Certification class might be just the thing for you. Sherrie Siemens and I are teaching the Los Angeles Copic Intermediate Certification on Thursday, January 27, right before CHA. I am truly excited about this class--it's the class that most of you papercrafters really wanted when you came to the Basic Certification! Please see my Copic Class page here since I have recently updated it. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Take Care

Welcome!  I've been trying to finish up some CHA assignments for the past few days, and I'm almost done with one more batch. Tonight I have a Get Well card to share with you. I chose papers from Cosmo Cricket's new UpCycle line--I mean, what woman wouldn't be cheered up with these cute little purse images?

From Papertrey Ink, Heather's Fillable Frames #12 had just the right amount of funky cuteness to be a great match. I also used some Background Basics: Text Style on the inside of the frame, stamping it in a light lime green ink (Versamagic Key Lime). The sentiment is stamped in Papertrey's Raspberry Fizz ink, while the frame is in Aqua Mist. I used the Fillable Frames #12 die to cut the label as well.

Ribbon is Papertrey Raspberry Fizz, shabbied up a bit with some Chamomile Distress ink, and button is an Aqua Mist Vintage Button. A bit of stitching and some foam tape, and that's it--one get well card ready to go! Thanks for visiting today.

You are Wonderful

Welcome! Tonight I have a card to share with you that could be used as either an encouragement card or a thank you card. I chose the tree image from the Papertrey Ink's Way to Go, Kiddo! set, along with more of the new Cosmo Cricket papers from the UpCycle Mini Deck.

I forgot to take a picture of my Copic markers--sorry! The ones that I used were YG11, YG13, and YG17 for the tree, with a bit of Y21  added on the sunny side.  I airbrushed with YG13 (grass) and BG13 (sky)--all PTI combos.  I used the grass stamp from Love Lives Here at the base of the tree.

For dies, I used two new Spellbinders dies that will be available after CHA--Labels Eighteen and Ribbon Banners. I left the Labels Eighteen die template in place while I airbrushed the sky and foreground.  That's it--one more card down! Thanks for stopping by.

Thank You card: JustRite Cling

Welcome! I have one more card to share with you today, this one using both new stamps and new dies. I have paired one of the new JustRite cling sets, Kindness, with a JustRite interlocking ribbed set, You're So Sweet, for the sentiments above. 

The Kindness cling set has two stamp frames that coordinate with the new Spellbinders S5-026 Labels Twenty set (available after CHA); I used the smaller frame.  Being able to use centers from so many of my current 2" round sets really makes the frame sets versatile!

In addition to the Spellbinders Labels 20 die templates, I also used another new die, the S5-035 Parisian Accents (available after CHA), as well as a current Standard Circles Small die to cut out the center of the frame. I added a sprinkling of Zva Creative crystals, the Champagne Basic Lines. Papers are from Cosmo Cricket's Circa 1934 Mini Deck. I used a Copic Y28 maker and airbrush system to add some yellow tones to my frame to make it coordinate better with the paper that I was using.

Several JustRite design team members have created a new-release project to share; I'm sure that you will want to see what they have done. Here is a list: 

JustRite Inspiration

Becca Feeken

Debbie Olson (here)

Kathy Jones

Sharon Harnist

Kellie Fortin

Sankari Wegman

Michele Kovack

Angela Barkhouse

Stephanie Kraft

Barb Shram

Want to see more of the new sets? Here is a link to a .pdf file of the January JustRite releases. Enjoy, and thanks for stopping by!

Did you see. . .

So, did you see the Cosmo Cricket blog today? We were out grocery shopping when it went up, or I would have posted sooner! I had a couple of you ask what the new papers lines looked like, so I wanted to direct you to the Cosmo Cricket blog to go see them.  The papers that I had used on the cards which I had earlier blogged below are from the UpCycle and Salt Air Mini Decks, and I'll post a new one beneath those, from the Social Club Mini Deck.

You haven't see this one yet. Besides the Cosmo Cricket Social Club Mini Deck papers, it uses Papertrey Ink's new Healing Touch Sentiments on both the inside and outside.  I also used a Spellbinders Labels Four die to contain the sentiment. Cardstock is Papertrey's Ocean Depths and Vintage Cream. I thought that this one would be appropriate for a serious illness, guy card.

Be sure to go to the Cosmo Cricket blog and SIGN UP for a chance to win--the details are towrd the bottom of the post. Good luck!

Roses in a Teacup Post on the Classroom Blog Today

Hello! Today I have a stepped-out coloring post for this little Lockhart Roses in a Teacup image here on the Classroom blog. Monday I should be able to post some new Cosmo Cricket pieces. :-)  Have a lovely Sunday!

Papertrey Ink January Release

Tonight's the night--Papertrey Ink Release night! I still have a few cards left to share with you. First is a Year of Flowers: Carnations card. I had two other versions of this card, but this one was my favorite. Did you realize that this is the last of the Year of Flowers series? I've loved coloring the flowers this past year!

To get that shadow edge on the Sweet Blush background, I used a really pale Copic marker (R20), along with a colorless blender to soften the edges. I did not color on top of the white embossing--just up to the edge. Copic markers usually dissolve all embossing powder except for the clear kind. The carnation was colored with R20, R22, and a little bit of R24. I also used Mat Stack 3 Collection  and its coordinating Mat Stack 3 die for the frame and sentiment. Isn't that a fabulous frame stamp?

Next is Heather's incredibly useful stamp set called Simple Sentiments. I used the "thank you" sentiments because I needed some thank you notes, but there are sentiments for pretty much any occasion you can think of. If that's not convincing enough, think about all of those lovely patterned papers that you have resolved NOT to hoard this year. . . This simple set is perfect to help you carry out that resolution. :-} By the way, that patterned paper is a bit of another sneak peek. I won't tell you which new line it is, just to save some of the surprise for Monday! (Yes, I asked permission first!)

Another really versatile set is Melissa's Healing Touch Sentiments. It covers the bases on so many illnesses--from casual to serious. It's a set that I know I'll use again and again. Here I paired it with a frame from the Tea for Two set and Tea for Two Die Collection.

How about that edge? It's Dawn's new Edgers 1 die. And, yes, that's more new paper. Monday's coming. . .

The Healing Touch Sentiments set has great sentiments for the inside of the card as well as the outside. You know you need it. . . 

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How about Nichole's Lunchbox Note die? It make a great base for Melissa'a Way to Go, Kiddo images!

  

I love how these little notes tuck so that they really don't need an envelope (unless you are mailing them instead of popping them into a lunchbox, of course). 

I still have three or four unfinished cards sitting out on my messy desk, so I'll have more to share later this week. Thanks for visiting!