PaperFections

Copic Flick Feather Blending

Today in the CLASSroom, I'll show you a different Copic blending technique that's great for covering large areas, making grass, or making two totally different color families blending nicely. I hope you'll join me! Read more →

Copic Certification Class Updates

Hi, All -- I just wanted to let you all know that I'm keeping the Copic Info Page here on my blog updated with a list of currently available and upcoming Copic Certification Classes. I won't bother you too much on a regular basis with updates, but you'll always be able to find the current list on that page. You can get to that page by clicking on the Copic Classes, Info & Tutorials link right under my blog header. If you didn't already know, there's a class being offered here in my immediate Dallas/Ft. Worth area on June 6th. Sally Lynn already had that date & location on her calendar WAY back last year before I was teaching Certifications, so I'll be assisting her ... should be fun! I'll be sure to let you know when that class opens to the public. CURRENT COPIC CERTIFICATION CLASS SCHEDULE: May 2nd, Ottawa, Canada Taught by Sally Lynn - FULL May 6th, Sidney, Australia Taught by Marianne Walker & Lori Craig May 8th, Melbourne, Australia Taught by Marianne Walker & Lori Craig May 14th, Birmingham, AL Taught by Colleen Schaan Open to the public May, 15th Las Vegas, NV Taught by Jennie... Read more →

My Favorite Things-May Calendar

I think you all know one of my favorite things to make are my monthly calendars. Well, this month I'm combining my May calendar with another one of my favorite things ... a brand new darling Jolinne Sweet Spring stamp set from My Favorite Things! :D Sweet Jolinne was stamped onto Neenah Natural White cardstock with Memento Rich Cocoa ink (I like to use a softer color than black when coloring with lighter colors) and colored with these Copic markers: Her dress was paper pieced from October Afternoon's new Thrift Shop paper. My downloadable calendar was die cut with Spellbinders Labels Six die and the edges sponged with Antique Linen Distress ink. The other side of my 4-inch coaster calendar was covered with more of the Thrift Shop paper -- a musical sheet featuring a "Merry Merry May Day" song! I hope you'll visit the My Favorite Things' blog today, where I'm honored to be a Fabulous Friend! I have another adorable Jolinne project over there for you ... just perfect for little girls who love to collect and store tiny treasures (I think I know a few of those)!! I hope you have a wonderful May Day this Saturday!... Read more →

Copic Wallet Winner

Sorry I totally forgot to post the winner of my Copic Wallet giveaway (courtesy of Copic) yesterday. Without further adieu, the winner, chosen by Random.org, is: Random Integer Generator Here are your random numbers: 71 Timestamp: 2010-04-26 00:14:46 UTC who is: 71 jan hunnicutt said... Thanks for the chance to win the marker wallet, love your blog! Reply April 22, 2010 at 08:42 PM Congratulations, Jan! Please email me with your mailing address and Copic will ship your wallet right out to you! I hope you all have been enjoying your weekend. It's been lovely here and we've spent the weekend working in the gardens, reworking some things, getting them ready for Summer! I can't believe school will be out in just 6 weeks! I'll be back tomorrow with more artwork! Read more →

JustRite Friday Challenge: Mother's Day

Today's JustRite Friday Challenge is to create a Mother's Day or May Day card using JustRite's floral stamps. Here's my sample: I love Hydrangeas (and flowers in general -- as evidenced by my blog, LOL!) and this one from JustRite's Plant A Little Love set is a delight to color! I'm very happy to have my Mother's Day card all ready to go early, too! I hope you'll join in the challenge (there are great prizes!) and have YOUR Mother's Day or May Day/Spring card made early, too! You can find more details of how I created my card over on the JustRite Inspiration blog today. Thanks for stopping by today -- I hope you have a wonderful weekend! I'll be back on Monday with more artwork and a fun surprise! Stamps: JustRite Plant A Little Love, Wood Stamper 3-1/4", Times New Roman Lowercase & Times New Roman Lowercase, Horizontal Wood Stamper Dies & Punches: Spellbinders Labels Six Nestabilities & Big Scalloped Border Petites dies Paper: Webster's Pages Petite patterned 6x6 papers-Seaside/Garden/Nature, Neenah Natural White cardstock Ink: Memento Rich Cocoa & Tuxedo Black, Ranger Brushed Corduroy Distress ink Accessories: May Arts taffeta ribbon, sewing machine & chocolate thread Read more →

Graphic 45 Boardwalk Tray

Do you love Graphic 45's papers as much as I do? Well then, this week you are in luck -- it's Ellen Hutson's special of the week! Just use the promo code above when ordering, but you'll want to shop early because it's only valid on in-stock items! Just click on the graphic above to get started! After you shop (or before!), I hope you'll stop by Ellen's CLASSroom blog to get all the details on how I revamped an old tray I had with Graphic 45's On The Boardwalk papers! Have fun shopping! For my Copic giveaway, please scroll down to THE NEXT POST. Thanks! Read more →

Copic Project, News, Giveaway & Updates!

Today I have a Copic project for you, some exciting Copic news AND a Copic giveaway, so please keep on reading! EDITED: Ellen has all Lockhart stamps on sale through TODAY only for 15% off! See the bottom of the home page, HERE, for details and the discount code! I wanted to try out this beautiful new Lockhart Stamp Company Bird's Nest Wreath and give it a watercolored look with my Copic markers. So I started by stamping the nest with Memento Rich Cocoa ink onto Soft White Auturo paper. This paper is the perfect choice for water color projects. The "Corona" felt finish, an exclusive design of Cartiera Magnani of Italy, gives this paper a luxiourious feel! Now I know what you may be thinking ... I thought you couldn't use Copics on "watercolor" paper. It's not that you CAN'T -- you'll just want to be aware that the more porous watercolor paper will wick/use a little more of your Copic marker ink than working on a less-porous, traditional cardstock. But for this smaller image, using light colors and a light hand with the markers, I doubt I used very much more ink than I would have on traditional... Read more →

JustRite April Release Blog Hop!

Welcome to the JustRite Stampers design team April release blog hop! Today, each of our designers will be showcasing a different project using one of FIVE new stamp sets from the April release, so we hope you'll sit back, relax and enjoy! All these stamp sets are now available for preordering, two are shipping now, and the remainder will be shipping by this Saturday, April 24! If you haven't visited my blog in the past few days, please scroll on down below -- I have samples for each of the four April stamp sets that have been introduced so far! Today I'm using Applique again -- I love these square medallions and how versatile they can be! As opposed to yesterday's soft, pastel Spring card using this set, today I decided to go shabby and create my own patterned background! I stamped the medallion with chocolate ink onto cream cardstock and then colored the flowers in the pattern with Copic R20 marker, to coordinate with the blush Labels One die cut cardstock I used. You can see the subtle difference this makes in the pattern: Think of all the different colors you can use to create your own custom papers,... Read more →

JustRite Applique Sneak Peek

Today is another sneak peek for JustRite Stampers' April stamp release. This set is called Applique. It begins shipping this Saturday, April 24, but you can preorder it, and April's whole release, from JustRite today ... check it out HERE! I used different colors of Ranger inks (see supply list below for colors) to stamp this medallion and use it for quilt squares, and then machine stitched between each square: The border sentiment, "stitched with love" was die cut with Spellbinders Classic Square Nestabilities-Lg Dies 4 and then the corners rounded with the smaller 1/4" We R Memory Keepers Crop-A-Dile Corner Chomper, which matched the shape of this stamped stitched border perfectly! I hope you'll check back tomorrow for JustRite's design team blog hop where we'll be showcasing samples from the whole April release! JustRite Stampers: JB-09760 Applique & JB-08407 2" Square Wood Stamper Dies & Punches: Spellbinders Nestabilities Classic Square Lg Dies 3 & 4 Paper: Neenah Classic Crest Natural White cardstock, Memory Box Kraft cardstock Ink: Tsukineko Memento-Rich Cocoa; Ranger Adirondack dye ink-Peach Bellini; Ranger Distress Inks-Worn Lipstick, Mustard Seed, Dusty Concord, Tumbled Glass & Shabby Shutters Accessories: My Mind's Eye Buttons, Prima Wildflowers Pillar Pack-White, Maya Road... Read more →

JustRite Hope Sneak Peek

Today's JustRite sneak peek is a beautiful set called Hope: I stamped the floral border with Adirondack Lettuce dye ink onto Neenah Natural White cardstock and colored it with Copic markers RV35 & RV25, accented with Blossom Spica Glitter Pen: The Hope sentiment center was stamped with Memento Rose Bud ink, die cut with Spellbinders Nestabilities Classic Squares die and the embossed border covered with glitter -- hopefully you can see all the pretty sparkle in the close up photo above (click on it for a larger view)! I matted the focal image with Spellbinders' beautiful Fair Isle Pendant die cut from green Basic Grey Green At Heart 6x6 patterned paper and I backed it with pink paper from the same pad. You can see some more great samples of this new set at the JustRite Inspiration blog today! JustRite Stampers: JB-09745 Hope + 2" Square Stamper Dies & Punches: Spellbinders Fair Isle Pendant die, Spellbinders Nestabilities Classic Squares-Sm Die 3 & Lg Die 4 Paper: Basic Grey Green At Heart 6x6 patterned paper, Neenah Classic Crest Natural White cardstock Ink: Ranger Adirondack Lettuce dye ink pad, Tsukineko Memento Rose Bud ink pad, Copic markers RV35 & RV25, Copic Atyou... Read more →

JustRite Sneak Peek - Kaliedoscope

Today's JustRite Stampers new April release sneak peek set is called Kaliedoscope: It's a wonderful collection of medallion centers and a combination of decorative and sentiment borders: For my sample, I had fun using the medallion to make a custom background paper, by stamping it with a hot pink dye ink (Ranger Adirondack Watermelon) on Neenah Natural White cardstock. I also used the medallion as a focal point by stamping it in Adirondack Slate dye ink, cutting it with Spellbinders Classic Circle Nestabilities die, and layering it onto the sentiment border that was stamped with the Watermelon ink and die cut with Scalloped Circle Nestabilities. I love this sentiment "Do one thing every day that makes you happy"! It was accented with a pink Zva crystal. The October Afternoon Cherry Hill 8x8 gray dotted background paper edges were distressed and then it was machine stitched to a cream 5.25" square card base. A pink satin ribbon, tied up with the Bow Easy, finishes this card. I hope you'll check the JustRite blog today for some more great projects using this wonderful set! I'll be back tomorrow with another sneak peek! JustRite Stamps®: Kaliedoscope Dies & Punches: Spellbinders Nestabilities® Classic Circle-Lg... Read more →

JustRite By The Sea Sneak Peek & Friday Challenge!

Yes, I think everything would be JUST FINE if I were By The Sea right now, LOL! In the mean time, this fabulous brand new stamp set from JustRite Stampers will have to suffice! It's time for JustRite Stampers' April release and we're starting previews AND PREORDERING today! Yes, JustRite is now accepting preorders for April's FIVE new stamp sets! You can find all five sets and brand new preorder terms HERE -- you won't be billed for your preorders until the order ships! For the next five days, we'll be sneak peeking each new set at the JustRite Inspiration blog, so be sure to check there each day. I could not wait to use this wonderful new beachy, sea set, By The Sea -- I'm a beach bum at heart and would be oh-so happy if I could just sit in that adirondack chair under an umbrella, with my feet in the sand ALL DAY LONG!! Aren't these new illustrations fabulous?!! The details are amazing -- I'm in love!! We like to collect sand and shells from the beaches we visit and we're planning a family trip to St. Thomas this summer (can.not.wait)! So I thought I would go... Read more →

Recipe Wallet

Today over in the CLASSroom I'm showing you how to make this Recipe Wallet I designed, using a brand new Lockhart apron stamp paper pieced and accented with Copic markers! I hope you'll join me to find out how to make it! Read more →

Inchie Card Sketch #2

Did you know Lisa is now posting weekly sketch challenges over on Ellen Hutson's Inchie INKlings blog? It's been WAY too long since I've made an Inchie card, so I decided to play along with this week's challenge! You can enter your creation over at the Inchie INKlings blog for the chance to win a little giveaway, so we hope you'll play along! I started my card with a Memory Box Licorice notecard and then layered a piece of Basic Grey Kioshi paper on top that I used Tim Holtz's Paper Distresser on (love that tool!). Following the sketch, I added a vertical piece of striped Kioshi paper, matted with more scallop-punched licorice cardstock. To frame my Inchie Squares, I used Spellbinders' Long Scalloped Rectangle Nestabilities die to cut more licorice cardstock. This sweet little caged bird was selectively stamped from Karen Lockhart's larger new Bluebird in the Window stamp. To do this, I punched a 1-inch square out of Eclipse Masking Tape, placed it over the rubber stamp, exposing only the caged bird. Then I inked up the stamp, removed the mask, and placed anInchie Arts Ivory Inchie Square over the inked part of the stamp, gently pressing and... Read more →

Sew Right!

Sewing on papercrafting projects is a big trend right now and this week's JustRite Friday Challenge is to make any kind of sewing-themed project or use some kind of machine, hand or faux stitching on your project. It can either/also include fabric, buttons, felt, quilting, embroidery, etc. I chose to use JustRite's Stitched With Love stamp set for this card AND included threaded buttons, twill tape (originally used in sewing), and machine zig-zag stitching! I stamped two of the centers from Stitched With Love with Memento Rich Cocoa ink, die cut them with Spellbinders Classic Square Nestabilities, and then colored them with the Copic markers markers listed below in my supply list. A tiny real button adorns the flower center on the pin cushion. Copic's Silver Atyou Spica glitter pen makes the needles and pins shimmer like they are real (hopefully you can see that by clicking on the photo above for a larger view)! Spellbinder's Long Scalloped Rectangle Nestabilities die was used to cut a frame for the stamped impages from Memory Box's Kraft cardstock. Cornish Heritage Farms' beautiful Art Nouveau backgrounder was stamped with VersaMark on the blush cardstock. If you play along in JustRite's challenge, you have... Read more →