CRAZY FOR COPICS.........THAT'S ME!!

You might quite possibly freak out with today's post. Or at least get a little giddy and jump up and down in your chair. Or squeal a little. Or groan because I'm a total enabler and am going to make you want more Copic markers and accessories. Whatever the case, settle in and get a cozy grip on your computer mouse!! Here we go.

I have a ton of photos for today (don't peek, stay with me now). So I want to write in short little blurbs so I can keep your attention. Lots of my photos are of unfinished work because I just couldn't wait to share some new techniques with you. So stay tuned to my blog because all of these samples will become finished projects some day soon.

Now for this little tote...it makes me happy just looking at the photo. It's almost better than a new purse, and I DO like new purses!! It's an All My Memories mini scrapbook tote and I got it at my local scrapbook store. They had them on clearance the other day for $5 bucks (regularly $15) and I bought the 5 they had left. I thought I would use them for kids' gifts filled with art supplies being the cool mom that I am...but two got snatched up for my Copics. This one in pink and brown holds all 48 of my *Ellen Copic Colors* plus a Colorless Blender and all of the Copic Spica Glitter Pens. Is this just not heaven??? I even organized them into colors kinda like a rainbow. They are sooooo purty sittin' in there! I keep this right on my work table and it's always within reach. I also take this with me every day that I sub. During my free hour, I color stamped images. This was nestled in another bigger work tote that I take to school...some boys saw the tops of the markers and said, *Gee Mrs. Wooderson, you sure bring a lot of eye makeup to school with you!*. I had to laugh!! Who needs eye makeup with you have Copics!???
Here's a finished card I made using the Karen Lockhart slippers. This image is gender friendly and can be used for guy or gal cards(check out the cute robe too when you pop open that link, again gender friendly). Here I'm using it for a male get well card. The image was colored with Copic markers on a scrap piece of cardstock, scratched up with a paper clip and then matted with SU! Old Olive cardstock. I was playing around one day at school and that's how this card came about. For the background, I made a plaid square using the chisel tip of Sketch Copic Markers. Then I got out my Colorless Blender and scribbled back and forth over the image, creating a light to dark blended effect. It was totally a scrap piece but I really liked how it looked so it made it's way onto a card. Keep the guy images coming Karen, we love them!

Wanna see what else you can do with some Copic reinkers and some Colorless Blending Solution? This is a transparency just dotted with reinker colors. One tiny little droplet spreads out into big circles. It's fun to just watch it happen. I entertained myself for a full 10 minutes on this samples, I think!! Can't wait to use this!!

Here's sample of some scribbles colored over with the same color marker. You can see the scribbles still because the top layer darkened the scribbles, even though it's the same color. The border was made with short little lines of color, then I took my Colorless Blender Marker and let a little bit bleed where two colors touched. The image is by Karen Lockhart.
Who loves coffee? I do and it's about time that I get some more samples in my stash basket. My card buying gals LOVE the coffee cards, especially during the colder months. How about a coffee stained background? This sample was made by scribbling a brown marker onto cardstock, then squeezing a big droplet of Colorless Blending Solution straight from the refill bottle. How fun is that? Image by Stampin' Up!
Plaid giraffes, anyone? This background was created by drawing a plaid background onto cardstock. Then I took my Colorless Blender Solution refill bottle and drew plaid lines on top. The colors bled together where the solution criss crossed. Image by Stampin' Up!
This is one of my faves and I can't wait to make more of this one. First, aren't the stamp images adorable? My friends Joy and Daisy sent them with an Eclectic Paperie order. I believe they are by Stampendous or maybe Penny Black?.....either way, they're available at the store. The background was again created by making plaid stripes with Copic markers in fun, bright colors. Then I took the Colorless Blending Solution refill bottle and squeezed on droplets of reinker fluid. It bleached out the color and made some fun dots. I could see putting some clear page pebbles on top of those dots, or they could be used for rain droplets too. Oh I'm giddy myself,now!
Tip of the day: Gee, like you need more tips today!! LOL! I am so happy to share today's post because I had such fun making these sample pieces. The moral of today's story is this: Get out your markers and just play around. You don't have to be an accomplished artist to have fun with Copics. And the other fun accessories like refills and the Colorless Blender Solution only increase your possibilites of the fun stuff you can create. That also gives you more *bang for your buck* too. I'll be experimenting more with Copics and will post all my fun findings. Enjoy, everyone!

Oh, one more tip: When you purchase Copics, I suggest buying them in at least sets of two that are in close color range plus a Colorless Blender. Like two greens, or two shades of pink, or a red and an orange that are close together in color. Why? Because when you sit down to shade an image, like a pumpkin, you'll have at least two colors to blend together AND the blender to blend even more or to remove a little color. And think about what colors you'll be working with soon such as oranges for pumpkins, earth tones for Fall, greens and reds for Christmas, blues for sky backgrounds, a skin tone for Bellas or Rubber Soul stick people images, etc. You can also scribble two colors together on a CD case and create new colors.....red and blue make purple, etc. And don't forget that Ellen has her 48 Copic colors that are very close in color to Stampin' Up! colors. You can purchase Copics and all the Lockhart stamps at her online website store HERE. So let the coloring begin!!!