I have joined the Darkside....

Well... I sold a bunch of stuff at a sale my LSS has and ended up with a ton of store credit. So I have done something I never thought I would do... I invested in copics. Colouring with them is most definately a skill (hence my not having anything to post this week!), and there are some nuances such as what ink to stamp with, what paper to use... and apparently how long to let the ink dry. I am currently working out the paper issue as I would  like not to have to buy special paper when I have so much CTMH in stock. I wasn't having any trouble blending or anything, the issue was that the stamped image was bleeding. I did notice though that when I printed out the colour chart to track what I had, the printer ink didn't bleed, so apparently the heat from the printer set it up a little. I am currently about to colour with some images that have been sitting a few days, so we will see what happens... so far so good though. I am using the recomended Memento Tuxedo Black Dye ink for my images by the way.

The other thing that people don't tell you is that you want to be smart about the first markers you buy if you are looking for a good blending. Don't just buy a random assortment of colours, because you won't have anything to shade with! You want to start out with a few basic colours (ie brown) and then pick 2 or 3 that are just a few numbers apart from each other. You can get away with 2, because you can use the colourless blender pen and a tip to tip technique. So much to learn!

So that is my copic story so far. Hopefully I will have some success and gt some projects up for you later this week!

Little Bit of Whimsy Sketch Contest

Well I have been slacking on my posts lately, but I will try to do better. Below is my entry to the My Little Bit of Whimsy sketch contest. I used Close to my Heart's new "Stella" Collection papers. I cut out the beautiful circle flower and layered it on top of a paper where I inked the edges with cocoa brown ink and a sponge. I used several other papers to layer, and added some zip strip stripes and a little bit of lace ribbon from The Paper Studio. The picture is mounted on a piece of paper embossed in a cuttlebug folder I have long since forgotten the name of. I then used the sponge and a little bit of ink to make it pop a little. The title is stamped with Close to my Heart's Bohemian Alphabet (One of my all time favs). The flowers are layer, bottom is CTMH's new coloured paper blossoms with the lacey flowers from their new Bohemian assortment. I really like this page... the Stella paper is great... even though the stamps make her look like a skinny bitch... teehee.

 Happy Scrappin all!