Unusual Uses for Copic Markers

In the last few days I've had to grab my Copics for the most unusual fixes.

1.  Last night I touched up my gray roots but afterwards I noticed that I missed a spot.  So out comes E49 Dark Bark and I touched up the area.  Voila! it's gone.

2.  This morning I noticed that I had a bleach mark on one of my favourite black tops (not from bleach but probably from a lemon).  So out comes 110 Specail Black (I could have used 100 but I grabbed this one first).  I just dabbed a bit on the bleached out spot and Voila!  It's gone.

3.  In my den I have dark espresso stained cork flooring.  It's beautiful but the rollers on the desk chair scrape away at it in spots.  So out comes E27 Africano and E49 Dark Bark (again) and quick touch up fixes it fast.

Do you have any unusual Copic uses you'd like to share? 

If so please leave a comment here - I'd love to read them!

 Until Next Time!
Marie

Cornish Heritage Farms Free Digi

I got THIS free digi the other day from Cornish Heritage Farms.

I had a little time to myself tonight so I coloured it up with my copics.

 Here are some other views - the lights and the camera take away from the intensity of the colours. It's actually much brighter IRL (in real life).

Until Next Time!
Marie

More Copic Colouring!

Maybe I should change my blog name to "Marie loves to colour!"?

I don't have much in the way of stamping and cardmaking to show you lately but I do have a couple more images that I've coloured with Copics to show you.

First up is this Hannah Disney image:

I used:
Hair: E79, E74, E71, E70
Skin: E30, E51, E50, E04, R21
Eyes: YG25, YG17, YG08
Other - lips and top R17, R14, R12, R11

This next image is from my Intermediate Copic Worksheet:

I used:
YG03, YG07, G21, G28, V12, V06, BV23, C3, C5

Until Next Time!
Marie

Graphicat Designs Coffee Girl

I have a large group of coffee friends and when I saw this image I knew I would have to make up a bunch of "just in case" birthday cards for my stash!

This digital image is from Graphicat Designs.

Copics used:
Skin: Y000, E00, E02, G20, YR61, R02, R00, Y11, E19, E37
Hair: E97, B32, B45, B97, E09, 100, E15 and .3 multiliner
Lips: R08, R29, R02
Eyes: B02, C3
Other: T1, T3, T5, R32, R35, R37, R39, B39

Until Next Time!
Marie

More Copic Colouring

Tonight I was "home alone" and found a few minutes to colour up this cute Gurukitty image.

Here's a close up - it's actually coloured in quite dark but the camer lightens it up!

I used: B00, B000, C3, T1, T3, T5, R32, R35, R37, YR04, YR07

If you haven't got it yet click HERE to download your own free snowman image.

Below are two more images from my Intermediate Copic Ceritification worksheets.

Until Next Time!
Marie

Free Digi Challenge

Have you seen the latest Freebie Digi on the Marker Guru's blog?

I've just downloaded it and can't wait to colour it in.

If you'd like to join me in a quick colouring challenge just grab the digi, colour it up and then post a link in the comments for the original blog post at Marker Guru!

Don't forget to give Marker Guru the credit for the image!

If you're not yet sick of Halloween you might want to check out the Gurukitty Halloween digi pack. 

It's awesome for colouring!

Until Next Time!
Marie

Certifiably Certified!

On Saturday I had the pleasure of taking the Copic Intermediate Certification course with Sherrie Siemens.

I learned a lot in this class!

One of the things I learned was to be more consistent with colouring my images.

This is what I mean.....

image by Marianne Walker

 I was trying to colour consistently both the clothing and skin tones in these images.

image by Marianne Walker

This first one is very flat and I only used 1 colour for his shirt, shorts and hair. 

His skin was done with 1 colour and then BV00 was used to add some shadows.

The final image is flat but consistent.

image by Marianne Walker

In this second image I used 3 colour blending and went as dark as YG67 in his shirt.  So to be consistent I had to go darker in his skin tone as well.  I used E15 to give him darker skin shadows and balance the intensity between his skin and clothes.

Stay tuned I've got more to share from this class!

Until Next Time!
Marie

Quick Birthday Gift Cards

I really like that I have a swatch book with Copic coloured images that I can use when needed!

I made these 2 quick gift cards the other day for Naomi and Dee.

Until Next Time!
Marie

Copic Colouring: Pumpkins

Fall is coming...

Yesterday I cleaned my furnace and vent filters and this morning I set up the thermostat for the furnace to come on in the mornings.  It's getting colder and colder every morning since the kids started back at school.

I really don't mind fall.  There are lots of great colours and fun things to do in the fall - including celebrate my birthday!

One of the iconic images of fall is pumpkins.

I have this old pumpkin patch stamp from Great Impressions and it's one of my favourite fall themed images to colour.

There are so many Copic colour combos to colour something simple like a pumpkin.

I used this image to help me create a reference sheet for my swatch book for colouring pumpkins.

 Here are some close ups:

And here are a few combinations to help you colour your pumpkin images.

YR000+YR04
YR000+YR04+YR09
YR12+YR16+YR18
Y13+YR02+YR04+YR07
YR01+YR04+YR12
YR000+YR02+YR04+YR09
YR000+YR02+YR04
Y15+YR02+YR07
For pumpkins with a bit of red
YR02+YR07+R39
Y15+YR02+YR07+R39
For pumpkings with a bit of brown
Yr02+YR07+E25
Y13+YR-2+YR04+YR07+E35
If you've got limited colours try adding a gray to add shadow and tone down the brightness of the YRs
YR02+YR07+W5

Until Next Time!
Marie

MIA

Sorry I've been MIA (Missing In Action) lately!

I've been busy getting the kids off to school, prepping for upcoming classes (repeats) and colouring!

I'm going to do my Intermediate Copic Certification next month and I've been trying to colour as much as I can in my free time.

Images from Beccy's Place

Until Next Time!
Marie

TIP - ID your Copic Markers!

One of the things that I tell everyone BEFORE attending a Copic class is to label their markers.

There are a few ways to do this easily.

1.  Use another Copic marker (Black)  to write your initials on the barrel of each of your markers.  The advantage to this is that if you ever need to get rid of it (ie. if you sell/trade your markers) you can just use the Blender solution (or hand sanitizer) to remove it. 
If you don't have a Black Copic marker you can use a Sharpie pen but be careful not to use your blender pen to remove that ink as the Sharpie ink will stain the Blender pen nib and may transfer later when you don't want it to! 
Another advantage is that if you ever leave behind or misplace the marker it will make it easy to identify it with your initials.
The disadvantage to this method is that you can't label the marker your using to label your markers.  In this case I would just borrow someone else's (same colour) to label that marker.  DYKWIM?

2.  Use your label maker (who doesn't have one of these???) or print labels off your computer to make personalized labels and apply those to the barrell of your marker.

3.  Use some kind of coloured tape to wrap around your marker.  I personally use thin purple coloured masking tape for my markers.  I like that I can easily visually spot which markers are mine.

My daughter has her own markers now and I used the tape idea to label hers. 

She picked out PINK hockey tape!

Since she's also taking them away to school with her in the fall I'm going to add her initials to each one as well.

Whatever method you use make sure that as you add to your collection of markers you are able to continue with the same labelling process.

If you have any other ideas for labelling your markers please leave a comment.  I'd love to hear it!

Until Next Time!
Marie

Copic Culture Colouring Class Sample

This is the card project that was completed in my recent Copic Culture Intro to Copics Colouring Class.

This stamp is from Crafty Secrets and it's called Poppy.

I asked everyone to bring in whatever reds they had to colour the poppies.

For this example I used: R24, R27, R29, T3, W1, W3, YG13, YG17, YG25

Until Next Time!
Marie

September 11 Copic Colouring Class - Hair and Makeup!

I checked with Shelley today and she has confirmed this class for Sunday, September 11th with a time of 1- 3 pm and $20 class fee.

Please stop by the Scrap Arts store later this week to see the card sample and sign up in person!


Until Next Time!
Marie

Hair and Makeup Copic Colouring Class

I'm working on the finishing touches for my next Copic Colouring Class at Scrap Arts called Hair and Makeup.

I'll give ONE guess as to what we'll be colouring!  If you guessed skin and hair - you're right!

Here are a few sneak peeks from my work sheets:

In this class we'll be colouring faces and "heads of hair" as well as making a card with this Santa image.

If you're local and interested in taking this class please call Scrap Arts at 604-980-8811 to register. 

Space is limited and this class has only been tentatively scheduled for one date - Sunday, September 11th.

These classes fill up fast and to avoid disappointment call TODAY to reserve your spot!

Until Next Time!
Marie

Future Copic Colouring Class Samples

I'm working on some samples for another Copic colouring class.

The stamps are both from Flourishes.

Until Next Time!
Marie

July Birthday Card

Here is a card I made for a friend - Happy Birthday Shelley!

Since it's a July Birthday I used Flourishes Year in Flowers 2

- Tiger Lily -

and I added a Ruby gemstone for July.

Copics used: YR01, YR04, YR07, YR09, YG13, YG15, B91

Tip: I didn't like the way the stem just ended so I used my Copic fine liner to extend the stem to the end of the die cut.

Until Next Time!
Marie

Card of my dreams - Take 2!

Since I had my Copic markers all over my desk I decided to add some YR07 Chinese Orange to this flower image I used in my Card of My Dreams post.  FYI - I stamped the ruffled flower with Memento Ink on Stampin' Up! Calypso Coral cardstock.

I really like how it turned out!

 I know it looks kind of weird in this photo but IRL (in real life) it looks really cool! 

I also added some W3 to the middle of the flower.

I was on a roll so I used this bird cage stamp to make the same card in another version.

Yep - I used my Copics again to colour it in!

Until Next Time!
Marie

Copic Swatch Book and Work Book

If you are a Copic "user" with a lot of markers then you understand how overwhelming it can sometimes be trying to find the right colour for your projects.

A few years back - when I first started "collecting" my markers - I made myself a swatch book from a file that was shared online. 

It was great for keeping track of all the colours I had and what I "needed".

After the addition of the new colours last year, my book was out of date and so I made myself a new updated one and changed the format to one that worked better for me.

ETA: 08/05/11 I've got a few of these made up and ready to mail out.  Please check out the Copic Reference Booklet page tab at the top of my blog for more information.

As well as updating my Swatch Book I put together a Work Book for myself.  In here I keep all of my stamped and digi images that I've coloured and any blanks I have waiting to be coloured.

If you haven't done this for yourself I highly recommend it!

Until Next Time!
Marie

Cover your eyes!

I've seen other bloggers post what's on their desks but I haven't had the nerve to do one of these posts lately.

The truth is my desk is a mess - but I know where everything is and what I'm working on!

For those of you who really want to see and are brave enough - this is what my desk looks like as of this morning....

 I've been working through my Copic swatch book. 

 And paper testing samples:

I hope you don't have nightmares after seeing this mess!

Until Next Time!
Marie