Copic Marker Getaway!

This weekend, after several years of waiting and dreaming, I was able to attend the Copic Certification workshops. I traveled to Portland to learn from the uber-talented Sherrie Siemens.

Two days of child-free, husband-free, no cooking, cleaning or laundry days to color to my heart's content!

I love that we got great instruction on light, shading, creating depth and also some skin and hair coloring techniques. I'm still lacking confidence in the hair department, but I have to practice, practice, practice!

I posted a cardstock comparison over on the CutCardStock blog, along with a 15% coupon code for the cardstock that turned out to be my favorite for coloring with Copic markers. Be sure to check it out!

Now I just have to convince my husband that I need to expand my Copic collection....

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I want my mummy......

I couldn't resist the cuteness of this design when I saw something similar in a magazine as I was waiting in line at the grocery store.  I knew the Felt cardstock I have would be perfect for the texture I wanted in his wrap.

I simply cut strips of the cardstock and inked the edges with a little distress ink.  The googly eyes are from Martha Stewart and add just the cute/spooky I was going for.

I might still have a couple of Halloween projects in me yet.... stop back by next week to see what I have up my sleeve!

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Autumn Cozy Coffee Candle

I love decorating for the holidays, and if it involves having to make something from my crafty stash, I'm even happier! To bring some of the Fall indoors, I made a simple candle that I can keep on my entry table or kitchen island for the entire season.

Starting with a leaf cut pattern that I had included on my Silhouette, I cut three copies from Red Lacquer metallic cardstock. If you don't have a silhouette, you could trace a leaf pattern and cut it out to create a version of your own.

I inked up the edges of all three leaves, concentrating mostly on one of the leaves that will be the focus of the embellishment. I also stamped a crackle look with gold pigment ink to give it some more interest.  I love the sparkle from the metallic cardstock!

I stacked all three leaves, adhering them together with Tombow 3D foam tabs.

For my candle, I grabbed a quart mason jar, filled it with coffee beans and then wrapped it with a burlap scrap and brown twine.  Not only does this project have a great look, it smells good too! I used a flameless candle to top it all off.

Attaching the leaf embellishment to the front was super easy using the Glue Dot 1" strips. They are super strong and easy to bend into whatever shapes I need.

What Fall projects are you working on? Do you decorate for the seasons? I'd love to hear from you so leave a comment!

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In the Spooky Spirit of things

I've always loved Halloween. I mean really, dressing up as something other than yourself and collecting a big bag of candy... what's not to love about it? In the early days I loved making costumes for my boys, and I tried to match them up as much as possible.

In the early days, when I was able to get away with it, I had the final say in Halloween costumes. I was able to fun with it, making pairs like Cowboy & Indian, or the spider and Spiderman.

But then they got older and it wasn't cool to let Mom dress you up as something cute. It then progressed into the zombie and vampire, and custom Minecraft heads.

I'm not sure which direction we're going this year, but I'm making cute cards in my crafty studio. So even if I have to make scary costumes for the boys, I can at least play with my card stock and dress up my dog, right?

Here's my first Halloween card of the season. The image was part of an online class I took for learning how to color with Copic markers. I shared my flower card with you; here's the robot vampire image I colored and then turned into a card.

Thanks for stopping by.... I'm working on more Halloween projects to share and my mind is turning to Thanksgiving and Christmas! I'd love to hear from you so feel free to leave a comment.

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Autumn Wine Tag

With the change of seasons comes the season of holiday entertaining and gift giving.  I happen to think one of the best hostess  gifts you can give is a nice bottle of wine. And with my crafty nature, I can't just give the bottle as it comes, ya know?

This is a super simple tag to make. I think everyone should have a stash in a drawer, ready to throw around the neck of a bottle of wine as you step out the door, especially if you're coming to my house for dinner. Don't worry, I'll reciprocate!

I started this tag with some stamping and die cutting from a set called "Autumn Blessing" from Simon Says Stamp. I used Fall colored inks for the images and sentiment, and stamped them on Basis Natural cardstock.

The tag itself is just a strip of Neenah Desert Storm cardstock, stamped with the "Hardwood" stamp from Stampin' Up. Remember when I used that background stamp in this Fall card? I love it!

Then it was just a matter of adding a little ribbon detail and attaching my cardstock pieces. I used Tombow Mono Multi to adhere the wreath, but then "popped" the leaves and sentiment with foam tabs.

So now go and arm yourself with a stash of hostess gifts. Spoiler alert: You know what I'm bringing if you invite me over!

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Copic Coloring: Little Moments card

And we're wrapping up another week.... I'm enjoying a quiet day at home - that rarely happens. So of course I'm in the craft studio and I thought I'd spend a little time coloring this morning. I wanted to test how my Copic markers handle themselves on Cougar White Super Smooth 100lb cardstock.

The cardstock took the color really well, and I didn't have any issue with feathering outside of the lines. There was a lot of bleeding through, but that's no big deal if you're adding over a separate piece that is the card base.

After I cut the flower out, I ran around the edges with a black marker just to give it a more finished look. This is a tip I picked up from Kristina Werner.

I wanted to add some other elements to the card, so I turned to my Project Life inserts. I haven't really been scrapbooking a lot lately, so I decided to repurpose these little guys and add them to my card. I cut the sentiment out from one of them and cut a little banner end on it.

I adhered down the background stuff with Mono Multi liquid glue, then added some dimension to my flower with Tombow foam tab.  To finish off the card I added a touch of twine from Lawn Fawn.  The card base is made from Environment Raw Grocers Kraft from CutCardStock.

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World Card Making Day ~ Give Thanks card

While my love of paper crafting really started with scrapbooking, I find myself really drawn towards cards. I don't know if it's my short attention span or that I love being able to actually start and finish something in the span of an hour or so. I'd like to say that I also love sending these cards with hand written expressions of love and all that sappy stuff, but anyone if my family and circle of friends can verify that these cards rarely make their way through the mail. I guess that can be my resolution for the new year.
But today we celebrate World Card Making Day... this is one that surely wasn't made up by Hallmark! Crafters across the globe are meeting virtually to share their creations and inspire each other. So I thought I would do my part...

I die cut the banners from a Stampin' Up! Die (Hearts a Flutter) with patterned paper from the collection "The Pumpkin Patch" from DCWV.  The base of the card is Royal Sundance Felt cardstock from CutCardStock.com. The texture of the card is really amazing! The sentiment is one I created for my silhouette and it's cut from Curious Metallic cardstock, again from CutCardStock.com.

I stitched the banners on with my sewing maching and then adhered the sentiment with Tombow Multi Mono glue - the best for these little, detailed pieces.

Hop of over to the CutCardStock blog to see what a couple of others from the Design Team are working on today!

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Embossed Dahlia Thank You

It's Friday.... yeah! This weekend will be filled with apple picking and honey bottling.  It's that time of year; I love the cooler temps and the colors changing. We harvest our honey once a year on the farm and this weekend it's time to jar it all up, getting it ready to store and to sell. Even with the busyness of the weekend, I hope to find time to get into the craft studio to get a start on some holiday projects.  I'm sure so many have already started theirs, but it's really a challenge for me to put my holiday design thinking cap on until the leaves start to fall.

Tomorrow is officially "World Card Making Day" and I hope to do my part! Check back to see what I've got crafting up. For today, I have a card I made using a really fun technique - heat embossing and coloring on acetate.  Remember overhead projector sheet? I know I'm really dating myself here... I don't think my kids will ever know what those are in this day of white boards and smart boards. But I remember them; that's what acetate is.  I used it to create the window in this card.

I head embossed the dahlia image with white embossing powder.  Then I colored the back side of it with Copic markers.  I love how it turned out, but I think this is one of those projects that's better in real life.

I hope you enjoy your weekend and I'll be back tomorrow with an official World Card Making Day card, and then again next week with some holiday projects!

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Halloween Treat Tag

It's October 1st, and that means it's time to kick off the holiday season! I love this time of year and find every excuse to turn every holiday into an excuse to craft up a storm. It starts with Halloween, so I'm sharing a treat tag I made on the CutCardStock blog.  I've got all the steps for this project and links to the cardstock I used, so be sure to check it out.

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