simple dreams

COPIC Airbrush Mania - Part 2

So we have the airbrush system put together now what? Hit the trigger girls, hit the trigger :D

I have received numerous questions regarding which set of colors works best for airbrushing. Is it the lightest colors that are in the set 12A? or the darkest colors that are in 12D? or is it the ones in the middle?

My answer to that question is not definitive at all - LOL! It depends on the look your are going for. What I tried to do in this example is share with you how wide a range you can achieve when airbrushing. When I airbrush I like to start by holding my airbrush approximately 8" away from my work surface and not aim directly on to my piece of work. I actually will aim to the right of my piece of artwork for the initial trigger pull and then move my airbrush back and forth over the area that I am spraying. To achieve darker/or denser spray patterns move your airbrush slowly closer to your work surface as you continue to move back and forth. To achieve a wider spray pattern hold your airbrush further away.

Pictured above I selected all four Blue-Violet colors that I carry in my store. I began with the darkest color tone on the left and worked my way to the lightest tone on the right. With each spray pattern I tried to achieve a darker tone on the left side of the color allowing it to become lighter on the right side. I then elected to color a strip of the marker at the very bottom edge so that you would be able to see for yourself the difference in color value range that you can achieve with just one marker.

So back to the question - which color range works best? My answer to that question is - do you want a soft misty background? If so select the lightest colors. Do you want a more dramatic look? Then chose the darker colors. You can airbrush with all of the colors, you will just achieve different looks.

OK, so what else should I try?

Sketch markers come with two different tips - one is the chisel tip, the other is the brush. When you utilize the chisel tip you will achieve a very fine, more dense spray pattern. Again the closer you hold the tip to the surface the stronger the color becomes. To keep a smooth and even color slowly move your airbrush back and forth across your work surface.

Next you have the brush tip. Not only does the brush tip allow you to work in very tight spaces when coloring, but it can be utilized with the airbrush system as well :D. See me bouncing :D The Original Copic markers really only have one end, the chisel tip, that works well in the air brush. The fine bullet tip just doesn't give much of a spray pattern, if any. Whereas the brush tip on the Sketch marker gives a very cool splatter (or should I have said spatter?) type of spray pattern. Options, options, options - a girl just needs those :D. That's why I love the Sketch marker.

Well as you can see I've made quite a mess. What do I do to protect my work surface? I do one of two things - either I just use some old paper that I have had underneath my project - this works great because it absorbs the extra spray that goes over the edges. The other option I have elected to use with my alcohol products is this fabulous mat. So where did I get this awesome idea you might wonder - well I got it from "da man", Tim Holtz. Tim is so incredibly innovative and THE product that was on his workstation was a ROLL of this stuff, not one little piece, but, like a whole tablecloth size :D. Boy, do I wish I could spend more time with Tim. Someday I will share my little summer CHA story with you, but now is not the time (OK - am I big tease or what?!?)

So here it is - all messy!

and yes - that is cheap (or should I say inexpensive :D) rubbing alcohol that can be purchased a myriad of places across this planet. Dampen a paper towel and wipe. VOILA!

Beautimous!

OK - so we have sprayed - fine patterns, splatter patterns, different color values. We have paper towels, we have alcohol, we have alcohol inks, we have colorless blender solution. We are airbrushing, we are coloring - oh yes, there is more - SO much more!!! This is only the beginning. Come on back to see what else I've been up to. Yes, these toys are addictive! They are fun! They truly allow you to be over the top creative and experimentational. Gotta love it :D

Witches Shoe Template

ETA: OK, I'm a dork - I'm still working on this post - LOL! I thought I had saved it as a draft - ha, ha. So watch for more to come. I guess I can see if that link works now :D

ETA Yet Again: OK - this time I think I'm done. Now to just check for grammatical errors - :D

Being that the Paper Crafts October 2006 issue is no longer available and everyone is getting all excited about party planning for the fall I thought I would share the shoe template here on my blog for all of you my fabulous customers. I ask that you please not scan the Paper Crafts magazine and post it to other places around the internet being that it is copyright material. Now that the issue is no longer available I will happily provide that template to you, but again please do not copy and paste it in other places. It is for you to use in making gifts for others and not to be used for selling without specific permission given. I am hoping that this attachment link will work. I guess we'll see Ü

ETA: well shoot girls - this prints itty bitty. I'm not certain how I can change it being that the document I have attached prints correctly from my computer. So you will need to enlarge, and then enlarge and then enlarge again to get these the correct size. Be certain to use the same settings on both the insert and the base so that they will fit together precisely upon completion. So sorry it's not quite up to snuff.

Download witches_shoe.jpg

ETA: Thank you to Deanna! I am going to post her suggestion here as to how to get the size larger.

If you wait for the template to finish loading on the page, then you can hover your mouse over the center of the image and then go all the way over to the bottom right corner and click on the box with an orange square and 4 blue arrows pointing out.

It will then open up to the much larger size and we can save it in the larger size to our computer.

thanks again!

Posted by: deanna | August 28, 2007 at 10:45 PM

Some of you may have never seen the shoes that I have designed. Here is the story behind the shoe. The first shoe was designed for a Breast Cancer Fund Raiser I did back in the year 2004. I had seen the Provocraft Coluzzle template in the store and I was drawn too it, but it was just too clunky looking for me - LOL! Yes, miss "elegance" here. (Perhaps I should have been wearing one of these elegant shoes the night I took my not so elegant fall :D maybe it would have helped me be a little more graceful and kept me from my current predicament). As some of you may know my background is interior design and with that came the art of drafting. So I did just that - I drafted my own little shoe.

It was right when SU came out with their fundraiser stamp set and I decided I really wanted to make more of a difference than just selling stamp sets and thus I planned an event titled "Stamp Out Breast Cancer". I love to play on words and so the shoe was used to draw attention to this event (as in stamp your feet as well as stamp your images). At that time SCS also did a special gallery for the DD in which I was a guest that month. I uploaded the shoe to the gallery and it was a huge hit. Unfortunately at that time I didn't really have a good drawing being that I had drafted it and it was pretty "sketchy" at best. I had planned on making a template to distribute on SCS, but with the loss of my father-in-law and the progression of cancer in my own father and then losing him everything just got put aside.

It was when I made a determination that I wanted to pursue a career as a concept artist that I then pulled those sketches back out. When I saw the call for the upcoming fall issue I thought it would make the cutest witches shoe and so once again I revamped my initial drawing and changed it up slightly to make what is now known as the Witches Shoe.

This is the first grouping I created for Paper Crafts. Now many of you who do design work know that there are always changes. So here is the first ensemble I presented them with.

The funny thing was that I absolutely loved it with the green accents, unfortunately they didn't and so it was my first time making changes to one of my creations to fit the needs of the magazine. I still have a soft spot for that snazzy green accent color on the invitation - LOL! But it all turned out being that I salvaged every little tidbit of the original paper because I couldn't get more quickly enough to remake these. I hurriedly remade them according to specifications and got them sent off in time :D. I don't know if you can tell, but the shoe that was stamped on the shrink plastic and on the place card is the Lockhart Party Shoe.

It was this shoe that began my adventure of today. Through this shoe I met Karen Lockhart and my career took a turn to the amazing. I feel so blessed and fortunate! It's because of this shoe that I met the person who has helped me realize some of my dreams and goals. You know the title of my blog - Simple Dreams - it's just that. I do have simple dreams, simple goals, simple aspirations. I am always setting new goals - my goal is to hopefully each day inspire someone, share a moment of warmth or laughter and to share the gifts that I have been given.

Of course this shoe can be used for all sorts of fun occasions, not just Halloween. It can be enlarged and reduced to turn it into a little gift holder, or just a little place card. There are so many ways that you can use this template to create objects for those you love. I know of one group of women who celebrated an event and one lady made SIXTY of these! It has been so delightful to see how everyone has used this little shoe to make an event "smashing". It gives me great joy to know that so many of you are enamoured with this little creation. It gives me great joy to know that what I share makes a difference to you.

So without being totally sappy and making myself cry I'm just going to stop now and tell you that I appreciate you - all of you who stop by here each day, all of you who send me cheerful messages and call me to check on me and.... I appreciate you and I hope that this little template can bring joy to you or someone else you know! HUGS - Ellen

COPIC Airbrush Mania - Part 1

OK - I'll admit it - I am totally diggin' this airbrushing stuff. I'm not certain why that is, but all I can say is that it is completely and totally addictive. I am having such a ball just learning how to finesse this tool. Nothing much to show for my work yet at this point, but I am learning and it has been SO much fun!

Tonight's post is more of an educational post. I have had many of you ask me about the ease of use, what color value range works the best, etc. and so I am hoping to help answer some of those questions with this post and future ones.

It all begins with this - the tools:

I have selected to carry the ABS-1 system in my store being that I believe that when you purchase something you want it to do the best job it can and again be able to be stored in a realistic manner. I also want to have everything that is necessary to do the job when I set forth to try something new. The other products offered by COPIC are all well made, but in my opinion this is the best set to start with. The system comes with everything above, except the larger air can. I must say that the small air can it comes with is really only a "starter" can. The Air Can 80 that it comes with supplies about 15-20 minutes of air to work with. The Air Can 180 lasts for about 40-45 minutes. You will be pleasantly surprised by the number of projects you can create with this amount of air. When you air brush you typically use just short little bursts of air using only seconds at a time. You can not spray for long periods of time with this type of system being that the air can gets too cold and will not work after a while. This means you can't just sit there and air brush for long lengths of time. So I have found that my air can is lasting well. I will also admit that I am such an addict that I am looking in to purchasing an air compressor being that I believe that this is going to be a life-time addiction for me :D

I am going to share some pictures of how easily this system goes together. It comes with complete instructions and I HIGHLY recommend reading these before beginning to do anything with your new toy. There are precautions listed and advice that will really improve the quality of your work. Following are the basics.

Unfortunately I forgot to take a picture before I attached the air adaptor (the can in the picture above) to the air grip (the little trigger mechanism). It easily screws together - sorry I missed this piece, but I didn't want to waste any of my precious air by pulling it apart again - LOL!

At the other end of the hose is a valve that houses the air regulator. The regulator does just what you think it will - it regulates the amount of air that is released from the can. The little screw at the top of the system is how you release the air.

I find it easier to attach this valve by holding it firmly in my left hand and turning my air can on to the valve/regulator by rotating it counterclockwise.

Be certain that your valve is opened as shown above before attaching, otherwise you will hear a "psst" as the air starts going out and it might startle you. If your hose is attached at the air adaptor/air grip it will stop you from loosing air, but I still recommend that the screw is in the position shown above. You will also want to be certain that you don't open that screw too far because guess what it comes COMPLETELY OFF. At that point the air just goes escaping in to the air. Guess how I found that out?!? LOL. So play with all the parts before you start putting your gadget together to familiarize yourself with all the little twisty parts before attaching it to your air can.

As soon as you have your pieces attached it is best to place the air can in to the foam grip stand that is provided in the kit.

Please note that you must NOT shake the air can or lay the air can on it's side while operating. The liquid within the can becomes so cold that it can cause frostbite. Now that's cold! Somehow this liquid can escape if the air can is on it's side, so be certain to place it in the foam grip whenever you are using your air brush. Fortunately I can tell you that I have not experienced this little dilemna (yet) - which actually surprises me being that I am apparently accident prone - LOL!

So with that you are ready to snap your marker in place and start creating magic. COPIC has put together some information on their website that is also helpful. This is only the beginning of the Airbrush Mania series I am putting together. I believe that as it becomes more common place we will see some incredibly innovative ways of using it. Hmm - what about temporary tattoos, or streaked hair, or ... OK - that may be a little much, but it is so fun to think about. I hope to share some of my innovations with you being that I am just having fun with it right now. I like to try spraying everything, including my fingers (but that is purely by accident :D)

OOPS - I forgot to add - the markers came in and went right out to their respective homes. Guess what - I am now completely sold out of some of the sets yet again. More are on order, many more - but patience is a virtue and I refuse to put them back up as a preorder item until I know what the correct ship dates are going to be. I am so sorry we continue to sell out of them at lightning speed, but please know that I am doing my best to get an inventory in stock that will not keep you waiting. So once again I am doing my utmost to be patient. Thank you all again for your continued support and I hope that I receive some magical news from my COPIC representative when I call tomorrow. I'll be updating on all items again once I receive updates. THANK YOU!

2007 Limited Edition and Other Surprises

There are a few of you who have noticed a little surprise that was snuck in to our online store. Some of you have already been purchasing this darling little image that Karen has just released. For those of you who are not familiar with the Lockhart Stamp Company line of images I am going to share the story behind the Limited Edition pieces.

Karen began her stamp company the end of the year 2005. I believe at that time she had something like 13-15 stamps. She decided that each year she would release an image that would be limited to 250 pieces. She selected a theme that is so very charming and began with a celebration from their lives - the arrival of her little grandson Nicholas.

The first image released was "The Flurries". Unfortunately there are none to be had at this point and I refuse to sell mine - LOL! If you are lucky to find one you will want to snap it up. In fact the most recent sale we noted was someone selling it for $20. Who would have thought that one little stamp could become so valuable?!?

Sorry for the not so perfect picture, but I took my boot (cast) off and it is a royal pain to get it back on to go and find a better picture. So instead I am sharing this one which was easy to attach. Here we have Grandma and Grandpa Flurry with baby Nicholas.

Last year Nicholas was a year old and like all little children loved being tossed in the air. So "Nicholas and Daddy" came about. If you think that you would like to purchase this Limited Edition stamp you should probably do so as soon as possible because once my inventory is gone, they are completely gone.

This year Nicholas, now two, has gotten to know his grandma and grandpa a whole lot better and I do believe that he is the light of their lives. Karen shared a story with me just recently that gives me the giggles. Nicholas came to spend time with Grandma and Grandpa and upon arrival was thrilled to see "Big Daddy". Karen was then wondering what she was going to be called and had her fingers crossed that she would not be called "BIG Mama" - LOL! Thankfully Nicholas is wise for his age and began calling her "Nanna" instead. What a relief for Karen! But we continue to giggle about it each time we talk about Nicholas. We are being treated this year to "Grandma and Grandpa with Nicholas" - I am so delighted with this sweet image!

What could be more fitting for this occasion then a little pocket card to record some of Nicholas favorite holiday memories? The inspiration for this design came from my friend Kendra. Today Kendra shared a picture of one of her creations and I just loved the layout - thank you Kendra for inspiring me! Please stop by her blog and check out her WAY cool creation!

Being that I love an old-fashioned Christmas style I decided to go with the new Cosmo Cricket papers that have been sitting here beckoning me from afar. I know that the Lockhart image is pretty "crisp" in nature and so I began with a color palette that would bring it into a realm that would coordinate with the Cosmo Cricket papers and in addition figured out a way that I could then age the whole creation, hopefully without muddying it too much.

I took a picture of my work in progress to share some of my coloring technique. First I lay down the lightest color. I then scribble some of the coordinating colors on a piece of plastic (or in this case my acrylic block being it was right there - LOL!) Next I use the light colored marker to pick the dark color up off the block and add shading to the image I am coloring. Once I have the color added to the image I then scribble off any excess dark color until the marker is once again "clean", as you can see by the example in the lower right hand corner of this picture.

I created a mask (Debbie has done a WONDERFUL job of explaining how to do this at her blog here) and airbrushed the sky with the blue-green color (BG72 - this is a color I hope to add to my store soon being that I have decided I just can't live without it - LOL!) from the trees and then added some E31 to age the appearance. I removed the mask and as you can see it still was a little too white! So I airbrushed additional E31 over the entire image, leaving the faces and bodies of the snowmen a little lighter.

In the image above please take note of the tree on the far left. As you can see it is brighter then the other trees and not nearly as well blended. Many times rather then using the blender pen to bring the colors together I will select one of the markers from the lightest color set to bring all the colors together. In this instance I selected E00 being that the colors in the Cosmo Cricket papers are not a true bright value. The addition of the E00 over top the BG72 and BG72 combined with E29 bring all the color tones together to work beautifully with the papers. 

As you can see in the image above I used my colorless blender pen to then remove some of the caramel from just the bodies of the snowmen to add a little contrast to the snowmen themselves - this helps make them pop just a little more. Sneaking out from behind you will notice this awesome  "Ribbon of Lights". These were also stamped on white cardstock, colored with Copics and airbrushed with E31 to age the strip and allow it to blend with the papers. Airbrushing is so quick and easy and it is quite simple to learn to control the amount of color that goes on to the paper.

To complete the "coloring" of the image I added some 2-way Glue and Hero Arts Prismaglitter, Spica clear glitter pen, and Sakura Clear Glaze pen on the lights. Again the paper and ribbons are all from the Cosmo Cricket "Be Good" collection - I adore this collection and hope to have some awesome things to share with you soon :D

So the "surprises" I was referring to in the title above are a wonderful new collection from Karen Lockhart called the Millinery series. To allow you a comparison of sizes I have taken a picture of the collection and shown it here below. Each of these was colored by Karen herself.

Hopefully the combination of these pictures along with the one above that shows the Ribbon of Lights "in action" will allow you to get a feel for how these would fit on a card front. Each "ribbon" is 5 1/4" in length and approximately 1/2" high. With time you will see these ribbons and embellishments come to life in some other fun creations. I'm taking it one day at a time around here and trying so hard to get as much done as possible.

Thanks for stopping by to share in my excitement - sorry there was no fun build-up this time for these latest releases. I just couldn't pull it off this time round. Maybe my next celebration will be when I am up and around again.

So go and get your "Nanna and Big Daddy with Nicholas" stamp as soon as possible being that my guess is that this year they are going to fly out the doors. Have a wonderful weekend!

Yet another update - LOL!

Well it's Monday - maybe I should start calling it Monday Maintenance being that I make a lot of phonecalls on Mondays!!!

Spellbinders Nestabilities: Here is the latest update - they are scheduled to be air freighted here to the U.S. the first of September which means now that we are looking at mid-September for actual delivery. Fortunately we (Ellen Hutson LLC) are at the very beginning of the list of those receiving the dies and we are SO ready to ship these out as soon as they arrive here in Seattle! Please keep your fingers crossed that the manufacturer has NO delays above this timetable. All Spellbinders can do is keep those phonecalls going to make certain that work is proceeding and that these are being made correctly and then we wait, and wait and hope for the best.

COPIC: I am thrilled to report that this morning I was told that ALL merchandise has landed. I would have danced if I could have, but instead just grinned from ear to ear and bounced in my chair. We have our team prepped and ready to go to blast those babies out of here as soon as they come. The crew is madly working at their warehouse in Oregon to get these out to us pronto! NO MORE BACKORDERS on COPIC I hope! By next Monday I hope to have all Preorders taken away from the COPIC section of the store. I am trying to stay ahead of the game as well on new order possibilities and therefore I am so very hopeful that in the future we will have a better understanding as to how much inventory to carry. Being so new in this business of selling has made it a challenge to "guess" and yes, it is truly a guess each time I place an order for a new item. If anyone has a secret formula for how to inventory I would LOVE to hear it - LOL!

Foot: WOOHOO I am SO excited! I went to see the doctor again today and they sawed that cast off!!! They took another x-ray and the bone has signs of putting that initial layer of "glue" down, so the healing process has just begun!!! They have allowed me to have a boot instead of a cast. For this I am eternally grateful - it's the little things that matter at this point :D To be able to take it off and allow the skin to "breathe", to allow me to ice it and rub those aching muscles and gently stretch out those charlie horses, to be able to shower or bath that skin and apply lotion - it is SUCH a relief!!! Oh yes, the little things in life :D Casts are claustrophobic!!! - LOL.

Unfortunately I am not allowed to walk yet. I must use my crutches and only put a tiny amount of weight on it. In fact they want me to use both crutches for at least another week and then I can slowly work myself down to a single crutch by six weeks. Oh the patience I must continue to have - I have true empathy for those who don't have an opportunity to do this and are permanently injuried. My heart goes out to these people more then ever before! At  six weeks they will do more x-rays and reevaluate whether I am able to start weight bearing and Physical Therapy. Hopefully at six weeks they can then "work me" out of the boot. I learned so much more about the break that occured at my visit today and the ramifications of putting weight on it too soon are not good. So it is going to be another LONG three weeks, then two more weeks of working up to using it. The bone I broke takes 7-8 weeks to "clinically heal" and then 18 months to strengthen back to normal. Ouch!!! I am so "not good" at sitting around and therefore I am slowly beginning to lose my mind - LOL! The only bright spot is that being I can't get myself any food except stuff like chips or stuff I can carry in a bag I haven't gotten myself anything. I refuse to gain one more ounce sitting in this chair and so I think I may actually loose a couple of pounds with this adventure - woohoo!

The lack of ability to create has been extremely frustrating. Not being able to multi-task is not something that is easy for me to accept - LOL! It is all I can do to keep my family moving along preparing them to get ready to go back to school, keeping them helping do the laundry and cleaning house, and trying to promote loving behaviour between these two monkeys!!! Believe me when I say that I think it is time for them to have more of a break from the 24/7 time together stuff - LOL! They are so loving and yet all this "togetherness" is just a little too much. The remainder of my time is spent here in a chair with my leg up doing computer work and keeping the girls who help me up to date with the webstore as well.

There is so much on my creative to do list that I would like to do and share, but all good things are worth the wait. Right?!?

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU to all for the well wishes - your cards brighten my day like a ray of sunshine. I plan on taking a picture of these beautiful creations once I am a little more able to be mobile by myself and share it with everyone.

Hopefully I'll be back with something creative in the next couple of days because the long-awaited Limited Edition 2007 release is right around the corner along with some spectacular new Lockhart images. I can hardly wait to share these with you!!!

COPIC and Nestability Updates

WOW - you all never cease to amaze me. Your generosity and patience are so very much appreciated!

First I want to update you on your Nestability orders. We are still slated for the product arriving here in the U.S. the end of August and thus we hope to turn it right around and get it out to you without delay immediately upon it's arrival. I will continue to keep you posted as to the arrival date and if it should shift in either direction you will be the first to know. But as it currently stands we are still looking at the end of August/beginning of September.

Your enthusiasm regarding the new Spica Glitter Pens has also taken me by surprise. We have immediately placed a much larger order and so hopefully this time we will not sell out in two days. It is scheduled to arrive here by Monday I believe. At that time we are thrilled to be able to provide you with a wonderful zippered storage pouch for just pennies more. If you would like to purchase all 13 colors it will now be easier, instead of having to enter all 13 colors separately you can just use this item - COPIC Spica Glitter Pen Set and you will receive the glitter pens in the pouch shown below.

Last and certainly not least we are still on track with the dates of product arriving at COPIC on August 17th. They will then be working madly to get the product pulled and shipped to us ASAP and we in turn are ready to roll with shipping your markers as soon as they arrive here. I can hardly wait to get these markers to you. I know that you will enjoy them for many, many years to come.

Spooky Treats...

When Nichole sent the latest sets and goodies to get started on this month's projects my jaw dropped. I can not believe the brilliance behind these creative sets. The projects that she has been creating are just over the top FANTASTIC!

So what does someone like myself do to try and come up with anything just a "little clever" to add to the mix. When I saw the Spooky Sweets set and those darling little "grins" it brought back a craft from the "good 'ole days". Remember all those old egg carton "things" we made. Well my thoughts went to those cartons and thought how clever these little "grins" would be when combined with a little glue and paint. So with that I created these "Littlest Pumpkin Treat" containers. I sent my girls on a scavanger hunt through the toy box to see if they just might find one of those old plastic spider rings to add as a prop for this photo, but no such luck. I've also kept all of the sweets out of reach so that I don't get an even wider back side. So please envision these filled with the most enticing array of little goodies for your little Halloween monsters. Or set by their plates in the morning before they head out for a day of adventures on the 31st.

All you need is a cardboard egg carton, green twist ties, linen thread, green paper, some orange paint, Nichole's Spooky Treats stamp set, (and I did use the Beautiful Blooms for the leaf), some of those fab little Making Memories Tag Rims, and some ink.

Cut your egg carton apart and trim it down until you can get an even top as shown in the photo below.

Place your treat inside the bottom carton, run a ring of hot glue around the top rim and set the other half on top. Paint orange, add a slightly different shade to make stripes. Ink lower portion of "little grin" and stamp mouth. Clean stamp and ink up the eyes and nose - stamp. Add the twist tie for the stem, stamp and affix the leaf using a little more hot glue, add your cute little tag and you have a treat fit for any child or child at heart :D

I hope this little project brings back some fun memories and gives you just one more way to use your new Spooky Sweets set!

 

COPIC Markers - How do I package these, what paper do I use and answers to other questions

This post has been WAY too long in coming on so many levels. Once again I thank you for the beautiful cards, warm emails and posts to my blog in regards to your concern for my well-being. Please keep your fingers crossed that I will be able to walk on my foot tomorrow. Being that I was diagnosed with an acute foot fracture (or more specifically I broke a major weight bearing bone in my foot) I must start with a minimum of use after staying off of it completely for the last two weeks. It still hurts and therefore I am hoping that the bone has laid down the "glue" necessary for it to heal correctly over the last two weeks. If this hasn't happened... well I don't even want to think about it - LOL! I've been a good girl and so I am thinking positively at this point :D Thank you again for your thoughts, prayers and advice!!!

I just want you all to know that hopefully you will find your long wait for your COPIC markers worth while. The one thing that is important to me is to make certain that I am providing my customers with accurate, educational information - but also a good value for their dollar. I know that you can find all sorts of other places to purchase your products through and I thank you again so much for supporting us here at Ellen Hutson LLC. We are trying to give you the best value for your dollar and bring the products to you in a professional manner that will make your life easier.

Our sets of 24 will be sent to you in a beautiful COPIC wallet - as pictured below :D

These wallets make it convenient to travel with the markers and will help keep your markers organized. If you have purchased both sets I would highly recommend that you reorganize them by color family once they arrive in your homes. Mine are organized by color families starting with the lightest color and working to the darkest. For example I start with the BV colors and organize them as follows: BV000, BV02, BV04, BV08. Then they go in the following order: BV, V, RV, R, YR, Y, YG, G, BG, B, E, and other neutrals. By ordering them this way it is easy for me to quickly reach for a combination of colors that will make blending easy. Even though I have a multitude more colors I have been limiting my use to these 48 to be certain that what I have provided really "does the job".

Many of you have asked if I will add colors over time and I want you to know that that is a possibility. There are some other neutrals as well as a few other "colors" that I would love to have included in these sets, but being a pragmatist I wanted to make these sets more of a reality for the many who would delight in the use of these markers and thus I limited myself to the 48. If you would like to see me add to the line please let me know, but again I do not want to assume that you all have oodles and oodles of dollars to spend on markers and so I will keep it as is, at least for now.

The sets of twelve that I have put together come in a cute little clear case.

These little cases can also be reorganized as you add to your markers so that you once again have them organized by color family, similar to how I organize my wallets above. I will be adding both the empty clear cases and the wallets to the store for you to be able to purchase separately, but being that the markers aren't even here yet I haven't put those items up yet. Please know that they are here and will be added to the store soon. If you are in need of either item please let me know and I'll try and get them posted sooner rather than later.

Many have asked about paper. What paper is it that I recommend for use with the COPIC markers? I have not had the opportunity to study paper as thoroughly as I have studied ink pads. This is probably due to the fact that I use the Neenah Classic Crest series of paper for most of my work and it has done well by me. I typically use the Solar White which is listed in the upper right hand corner of the above link. I have used the markers on a few others as well and so I will put together a "model" or example for you all to see as soon as time (and my ability to motor around this house of mine) allows.

See you tomorrow night - I'm trying to get a couple more projects done for Nichole's new release - this has indeed been a challenge for me this month - LOL! (Can I admit out lout that I'm behind on EVERYTHING in life :D that is tough for a type A individual to do!) The projects are incomplete not because of the lack of inspiration and an INCREDIBLE product, but because it is SO hard to get to my supplies :D. The packaging and stamps that Nichole has put together this month will blow your socks off - that is if she hasn't already done so with her exquisite samples! So put those socks back on so that they can be blown off just one more time tomorrow night. Head on over to Nichole's blog for an annoucement regarding a pre-release party she has planned :D

COPIC - At You Spica Glitter Pens

So what can I tell you about the Spica Glitter Pens? Being that these are brand new to the market place I have to admit that I don't have a ton of information to share with you. So rather then go on and on about these pens and what they can do, I will once again share the information that has been provided by COPIC themselves as to what the features of these pens are and then add my own two cents worth (and believe me - it is only two cents - LOL!):

• water based pigment ink
• acid free
• non-toxic
• archival
• micro glass flakes for maximum sparkle (this is such a cool feature - these babies REALLY sparkle in the light. I am LOVING putting the color on a project and just watching it. As the ink comes out there is this amazing little "pool" - for lack of a better word" - of color that quickly dissipates in to the paper leaving the most incredible sparkley finish on your work.)
• twice the writing length of other pens, 360 yds. (Well this is something I just have to take their word for being that I don't have a clue what other pens writing distance is - LOL! But I am thrilled that these will last a longer time being that they are SO enticing.
• perfect for card making, scrapbooks and doodling
• transparent ink - great for color and bling overlays
• 12 bold colors, 1 clear pen

I have tried to make this color chart so that you can get a better understanding as to what these markers will look like. This chart was made on plain white paper and each circle is colored only with the Spica Glitter Pen indicated. To add a comparison I also used the Sakura Stardust Clear Glitter Pen. As you can see the Sakura pen clear really isn't clear. The advantage of the COPIC clear is that it truly is clear. It was REALLY hard to try and show the effect of the clear pen in a picture. All it lays down is sparkle - I was fascinated by this and can hardly wait to experiment more with it.

For all those of you who have placed orders this month the little thank you notes that are included with your order have three of the colors used on it to add sparkle - red, melon and gold.

One of my favorite ways to use the pen is to add highlights to a colored design (be it Prismacolored, watercolored, COPIC colored - whatever) to emphasize, or add details. For example on this angel I have used the pen to add shimmery red highlights to the berries, the plaid design on the dress, and the candlestick. Gold was added to the leaf wings, hair and dots and tassles on her dress, and melon was added to the ribbon on the candlestick. What is interesting is that you won't see the same color line that you get with other product being that this goes on transparent. What I do get is an amazing shimmer with the added interest of transparent color that I just can't seem to capture with my camera.

Hopefully this is somewhat helpful information, but as with all things new it is going to be an experimental process for me to see what exactly I can do with these other then just add amazing bling to my work :D

Make a Wish... Part 2

If you love to color (like I do :D) then the new Make a Wish, Stamps for a Cause set from Gina K Designs will be one that you really enjoy!!! The bold nature of the images makes them easy to use, in fact my 7 and 13 year old DD's really, really like this birthday cake and have decided that this will be an image they want to use for making their friend's birthday cards. Maddi saw the card that I made today and she said, "CUTE Mom, I think I'd like to make some of those for my friends!" Both girls love to stamp and make cards for their friends. They have taken to bringing out my supplies this summer, as they are also "stranded" here at home, and are "sharing" them with their friends. To say the least - I'm EXTREMELY excited to share my supplies with them and encourage their creative spirits. So if you have kids in your family, this set is not only to raise funds for a cause that benefits kids, but it is also a stamp set that will be PERFECT for kids to use.

To make this card I once again used COPIC markers to color the image. The bold, vivid nature of the colors truly makes this cake look scrumptious. The background paper is new from Memory Box and is called Enlightened. I hope to have it up in my store soon. It was this paper that I used to develop my color scheme. I love the look of tall skinny cards and felt that this image is well suited for this type of design. I love that the font of the greeting is so classic.

The one thing that I find difficult right now being I can't make it out to my little photo studio is capturing accurate colors and the sparkle in my cards. So I took a second picture and I hope this gives you a better idea as to the glitter that is on this cute little cake. So how did I create this gorgeous color? Well, the stars are created using a FAB NEW product from COPIC called the Spicas. These babies rock!!! The colors I utilized on this card were gold, black, melon and pink. To watch these go on is an absolute delight. As the ink comes out the glitter just rocks! Talk about bling - these are bling supreme!!!

Rather then the typical powdered mica look these appear to be more of a crushed glass look - the sparkle is SO over the top! To add a more iridescent nature to the cake icing I did use a second medium as well. I have learned so much about the Ranger product line from Mona Lisa. At CHA she gave me a grand tour of the Ranger booth and introduced me to some of the most rockin' products. Now many I already have in my stash but watching and meeting Tim, talking with Lis and just my own experimental nature has pushed me to release some new innovative ways to use these. This morning I consulted with Lis and asked if I could use Liquid Pearls in a watered down version. Being that Lis has used Perfect Pearls this way I thought why not give these a try. I dropped one little bead of Liquid Pearls on a piece of plastic, added some water from my Water Brush and voila - instant glamour - yum, yum, yum :D

So with that I'm going to leave you with a little enticement to please help a worthy cause! Purchase the stamp set and share it with a child in your life, purchase the stamp set and use it yourself, or just go directly to the Make a Wish Foundation and make your donation. I plan on doing the later being that I have this fabulous set. I challenge you to do the same - some child and their family will be eternally grateful.