simple dreams

Modern Influence

In my previous post I talked about how the black and white with the pop of an accent color was inspired by the Spring magazine from our local mall. Well the cover of this same magazine also grabbed my attention in a big way and so I decided to replicate it in a card as well. When I saw this very modern, artsy cover my mind immediately went to the butterflies. I chose the Checkered Butterfly because I was drawn to the two circles in the lower portion of the wings. The boldness of this image is so different from the typical "Ellen" look - I just had to share this side of my personality with you Ü

Being a multi-tasker and all I decided to nail down a number of the CHF challenges in just one post - LOL! Time is of the essence these days Ü

The first challenge I missed was partial backgrounder stamping - fading or stamping part of a layer. The texture in the dress and artwork in the magazine photo were wonderful to emulate for this particular challenge. I used the Rice Paper backgrounder to create the striations in the Raspberry cardstock and the Scratched Grid backgrounder to create the uneven appearance on the Lagoon cardstock. To create this uneven texture I place my backgrounder face up on my worksurface. I do not ink it evenly to begin with and then when I place my cardstock on the surface I let my fingers do the walking, so to speak. Rather then pressing evenly over the entire surface I only lightly press in an uneven manner on the areas I want to catch the detail. To really make the white pop off the raspberry cardstock I did use white embossing powder and was careful to only leave a small amount on the surface, brushing away any excess from many spots.

The next challenge was to stamp on anything but paper. I have been dying to show you why I purchased and added clear buttons to my store. VERSATILITY - gotta love it. I began by creating a little tab pull for my button as shown below. I love using blue painters tape for this type of use being it always comes off easily.

As you can see I placed my Scratched Grid backgrounder face up and then inked it with Palette ink. Using the tab on the button I was then able to set it straight down on to my backgrounder, ink it up and then pull straight up. I then allowed this to sit and dry. Now how long it needs to dry I am not certain being I never get to complete a project once I start it - LOL! So mine sat for maybe an hour before I got back to airbrush it. I doubt it takes anywhere near this time to dry, but... I'm just not certain. To add color to the buttons I then airbrushed them with my Copic Markers. Gotta LOVE versatility! Being the buttons are clear I used embroidery thread to attach them - neatly stitching them into place.

Last but not least I just needed to add some additional texture to the base white. Piercing is always one of my favorite fallbacks for adding texture in an inconspicuous manner. I love the fact that the Nestability dies are open in the center. I used a larger size Nestability circle as my outline to aid in keeping my piercing "round". I could never eyeball round - LOL!

Hopefully this post will once again leave you with a "cool idea feeling!" Gotta love a few good challenges for bringing out the creativity within each of us and the CHF challenges have been so much fun! So I challenge you to try something from this post - use the sketch, use the partial stamping, use the button idea, use the piercing or use the magazine ad with the mod colors. Just sit back create and enjoy!

Backgrounder Blitz - Hot and Spicy

Sometimes I just have to create to have fun - this creation was one of those! I am constantly inspired by the things that I see around me. Recently a brochure from the local shopping mall arrived in my mailbox. It was fun to sit down and quickly browse through it. What impacted me the most in this particular issue was the clothing in multiple ads - they were all black and white with just a touch of some sort of accent. That accent was a bright/bold color! This inspired me to just go for it and see if I could bring a similar feeling to a card I had in mind.

I stamped the backgrounder (Open Circles) and the image (Chilis and Cilantro) using Palette Noir. The stamped image was immediately followed with embossing powder. I had thought that I would just leave the image black and white and so I wanted to the black/white detail to pop.

The color pop was added with this beautiful, wide red satin ribbon. BTW what do you think about this ribbon - I would love to hear your response as to the width! The I added the black gemstones. I must admit that I was wondering what on earth one would do with black gemstones, but this hit me like a lightning bolt - talk about bling!

Well as you can see it just didn't feel as "hot and spicy" at this point as I thought it would. It was OK, but... So I pulled out my Copic Markers and added some color Ü

Now we're talking! A little Crackle Accents on the Cilantro and Glossy Accents on the Peppers, another larger black gemstone to cinch the waistline and voila - we have "Hot and Spicy". 

So what can you do with a "Hot and Spicy" card? I thought this bold little number would make a wonderful congratulatory card for someone who has been making an effort to lose weight - or how about an anniversary card?

What inspires you? Where do you get your ideas? Curious minds would love to know Ü

CHF Backgrounder Blitz and Blog Candy!

ETA: Please note that there are new posts following this one - I placed it as a sticky until the drawing for the blog candy is complete. Thank you for stopping by!

Have you heard the news? Cornish Heritage Farms is having a major league "Backgrounder Blitz" over this next week!!! We here at Ellen Hutson LLC are thrilled to be playing alongside them and will do our best to stimulate your creativity and give you new ideas as to how to use these wonderful stamps as well!!! In honor of this special occasion we will have a week long promotion beginning today on the CHF backgrounders in our store. Be certain to enter the code: CHFFun in the Promo Code area as you are checking out to receive a 10% discount on all backgrounders that you order from us during this week.

Today's post is to play along with the wonderful challenges CHF has created for this week. The first backgrounder challenge is to create a card using Lisa's awesome sketch!

There are two techniques I would like to share with you that I used as I created my project for today's challenge. The first is a real WOW in my opinion and I haven't seen it done much lately.

VELVET STAMPING

The key to success with this technique is the velvet that you select. I find that a man-made velvet works the best. In this case I used a velvet ribbon that is 100% rayon. This technique is one that works beautifully with the deep-etched red rubber backgrounders!!!

Place your backgrounder face up on your work surface, I used the new Sophisticated Swirls. I preheat my regular large iron with it set on rayon/polyster. Spritz the face of the ribbon generously with water - I have a mini mister filled with water that I always keep by my work surface, it works fabulously for misting the velvet. Place velvet face down (fuzzy side down) on the backgrounder and then iron from the backside of the velvet. I would typically place a piece of typing paper between the ribbon/backgrounder and the iron, but I wanted you to see the layering process without it being covered. Press your iron down firmly and move it about on the ribbon surface so that you do not create a hot spot.

It is SO beautiful and elegant in real life - I hope that you can get a sense of the beauty from this picture.

EMBOSS RESIST

This next technique is one that I have always loved. From the beginning of my stamping adventures there has always been a sense of wonderment as I watched embossing powder melt. Now being I photographed and worked this portion of my project before deciding to use the velvet I didn't quite think it through enough - LOL!, so my final project doesn't even use this beautiful creation. But at least you get the idea as to how to complete the background of the card I will share below.

Tip: Before I  begin I want to share how it is that I keep my Clear Embossing Powder. Being it is one that I use a LOT I purchased a large supply and placed it in a rubbermaid type of storage container. I do this so that I do not have to clean up the powdery mess that can occur if you use a tray. I love the convenience of just spooning the powder on to my project and letting the excess fall back into my container!

OK - on with it Ellen! To begin I place my backgrounder face up on my work surface and ink it completely with a "sticky" ink. In this case I used Perfect Medium, but Versamark or any other Clear Emboss Ink will work as well.

I then spoon the embossing powder on to the inked paper surface and dump the excess powder back into my tub. I then heat set it using my embossing heating tool. Be certain to watch the surface as you do this so that you don't overheat it and melt the powder until it is completely gone. When it becomes glossy that is the time to move on over with your heat tool. It is like magic as you watch the surface begin to glisten in the light.

Now it is time to make the background pop! Ink your brayer using a dye ink - I love using the large brayer being it covers the background completely in one motion. This does not mean that you do not need to go back and forth across your surface a number of times, but it does make it so simple to get an even ink coverage. I used Adirondack Lettuce as the main color for this project.

Being that I wanted a more distressed look and did not want the white to pop off the paper I then used my iron to "melt" the embossing powder into a piece of scrap paper. Iron over the paper covered image completely - then move your scrap paper to a new location and repeat. Do this until all sheen has disappeared.

I then used my Ink Blending Tool and Adirondack Pesto to distress the edges and "buff" out some of the white in the center of the image.

My focal image is the Lockhart Delphinium and Peony Watering Can. These are two of my favorite flowers and I can't believe that I hadn't given this beauty any "love" yet. To color the image I used a combination of Copics and Prismacolor color pencils. This truly is my favorite combo. The intensity and dense coverage that the Copics provide, followed by the Prismacolor pencils which just grab the tooth in the top surface of your paper gives such incredible depth to your image.

I began with the Copic Markers - BV000, R46, R81, Y21, Y21 Special, YG00, YG63, YG95, B21, B23, W1, W3.

I truly wish that you could all see this image up close - the detail that jumps out when you add the Prismacolor color pencils (Limepeel, Goldenrod, Burnt Ochre, Process Red, Warm Gray 80%, Pink Rose, and Imperial Violet) along with Spica Glitter Pens (Gold, Sky and Pink) is so "purdy".

As you can see I used a square nestability to cut out the image and emboss it. Little mini brads were added to the corners just to draw extra attention to the focal point. Instead of the Sophisticated Swirl background I created above I changed it out for a much more subtle Weave pattern. It would have been great if I would have actually thought ahead to the completed project, but hey now I have an awesome sheet of patterned paper that I can use for a future project Ü

To help celebrate this fun learning experience and backgrounder blitz we would like to give away two of my FAV backgrounders - yep that's right. All you need to do is leave me a comment below telling me which backgrounder is YOUR FAVORITE! You have until Tuesday morning to leave your comment - at that time we will do the Random Number Generator thingy and select two names from the comments section.

The first number drawn will receive the Lined Paper backgrounder and the second number will receive Grid Paper.

For yet another FABULOUS technique you must head over to the CHF Forum and read Mona Lisa's Distress Ink Burnt Edge it is WAY cool. They also are running some of the most fun challenge's - like the one I posted above.

Have a wonderful weekend! I'm going to give it my best effort to play along with the Backgrounder Blitz challenges - I have been missing creating!!! So check back in soon if you get the chance Ü

Stamp of the Month, April

It has been a long time since I posted anything using the beautiful parchment paper we carry. When creating using this paper one achieves such a soft, elegant look. So for the April Stamp of the Month packet I thought I would share this art form with you in a very elementary way to expose more of you to the beauty that can be created using these simple tools.

I began with specific limitations - as you well know one must think in advance in order to have supplies at the ready. This month I had preselected a beautiful springy ribbon and brads to use in my project, but I had not determined what stamp I was going to use. It occurred to me that April is Tulip season here in Washington state and I just knew that this image would translate into Pergamano so well. When coloring flowers I often times Google the particular flower I am coloring to use as a reference. Little did I know that there are EXQUISITE blue tulips! You must click this link to see some other incredibly gorgeous blue flowers Ü

Photo by Nedko

To begin I stamped my Tulips image using Palette, New Canvas on Parchment paper. I then gently heat set it being I am an impatient stamper and don't like waiting for ink to dry - LOL! Be careful to hold your heat source away from the paper though so that you don't "curl" it. Place your parchment paper stamped side down on a dark padded surface. I prefer to use one of the Pergamano Embossing pads, but beginners can use a black piece of cardstock atop a stack of papers. Next I used my Fine Stylus Embossing Tool to trace all the details of the image. As you can see the Fine Stylus, shown on the bottom, has a much finer tip than any other stylus I carry. I really like this stylus for detailed work. You can achieve an embossed look with other embossing stylus, but it will not be as precise.

Copic markers work fabulously on parchment paper! To color this image work on the back side (or opposite side) of the stamped image - the same side as you embossed on. Begin with the lightest colors - B23, YG00, and Y21 (special). Add depth and dimension with B29, YG63, G85, Y21, YR14 and E39. Below is a close-up of the finished image.

One of the little quandries that one runs in to with vellum and parchment is that all detail shows from behind. In this case I really wanted the image to pop. As a solution I then stamped the Tulips image once again - this time I used a very light blue ink pad, Adirondack 's Cloudy Blue - to stamp my image on white cardstock.

To hide the adhesive can be tricky. There are many new adhesives on the market - one is made by Tombow and I tried it at CHA, unfortunately I could still see it through the vellum and so I try to be clever in attaching my projects so that no adhesive will show. I punched holes in the parchment using my Making Memories Slot Punching Tool. I love that I can punch a slot in any location with this tool. I did learn though that one should use the Making Memories cutting board that comes with it rather than the Basic Grey Magnetic Precision Mat - I managed to punch my slot right through to the metal surface - oops! Fortunately I was able to reinsert the little piece and my mat looks as good as new, but I thought I would forewarn you so that hopefully you don't make the same mistake.

Then thread your ribbon through the slots and apply adhesive to the back side of your cardstock placing it directly behind your pergamano piece. Place your project into position and adhere the cardstock to your cardfront. As you can see I removed the parchment from the ribbon so that I could adjust the ribbon to be in the correct spot for tying my knot. Next apply adhesive to the back side of the parchment piece directly beneath where you will run the ribbon. At this point I realized that I wanted to "frame" the parchment and so I ran my E39 Medium Broad tip around the edge of the parchment.

Thread ribbon through slots and adhere the parchment attaching two brads in the upper left hand corner of the parchment aligning them with the knotted ribbon below. I also sponged a little Vintage Photo distress ink on the Ocean Blue notecard to pull it all together.

OK - so I'm a goofball - LOL! I made this post go live and I wasn't even finished with it. So there you have it - a sneak preview of what is to come later tonight Ü I hope that you enjoy this month's project and jump on board with a Pergamano style or parchment craft project!

Inchies from A-Z: B is for... continued

Product Updates:

Nestabilities have just arrived in Phoenix today! Can you see me doing a happy dance? So what does this mean for timing? It means that unfortunately our waiting game will continue just a little longer, but I want to assure you that these items will be included in our sale on Monday, March 17th as Preorder Items. If you haven't looked at or received our Newsletter Coupon please let us know so that we can forward it to you in time for Monday's sale. Or join our mailing list at the bottom of our homepage and we will try and get a current copy of our newsletter to you before Sunday evening at 6:00pm. It will be essential for you to enter this code to receive the discount.

Our Copic supply is also not quite at the levels we would like. We are awaiting the arrival of more sets of CD24D and Copic Gotta Have It All's. Our delivery dates for these items will be the end of March, so with perhaps a little anxiety (OK - so maybe it is more than a little being I truly like to ship your orders immediately) I will go ahead and put them up as Preorder items as well so that you can use your coupon.

B is for Bunny GIrl

Created using: Bunny Girl (this is the last opportunity to pick up this darling stamp being it will no longer be available once our inventory is gone); Copic Markers - Custom Y21, RV11, RV34, E55, E27, E39; Pale Gold Leafing Pen; Gold Glitter Pen

B is for Background

1. Basic Copic Background

Copic markers on the White Inchie Squares are BEAUTIFUL! There are so many ways to create intricate backgrounds, but for that post you are going to have to wait all the way until W. Can you make any guesses as to what the letter W stands for? So for today we are going to look at the Basic Copic Background.

Creating backgrounds for basic designs is simple. By basic design I am referring to an Inchie I create when I stamp directly on an Inchie Square. There are not a lot of layers to this type of design.

Begin by placing your stamp, rubber face up, on your work surface. Ink the surface of your stamp image determining where it is that you would like to position your Inchie on the image. Being that this stamp had recesses in the rubber on either side of the Inchie I was able to easily set my square atop the stamp. If I didn't have this recessed area I would have used my little "pull tab" for the back of my Inchie Square.

This pull tab is created using Blue Painters Tape. This tape is ideal for this application being it will not mar your surface when you remove it from your project.

After inking your Inchie Square using Adirondack ink it is essential to heat set your square. I have found that the porosity of the Inchie Squares does not allow the ink to sink in to the surface as readily as the Neenah paper and therefore if you go straight to coloring on a stamped surface you will more likely than not cause the ink to bleed.

As I colored the background of the image I began with my new Y21. (See this post for information as to how to make your own custom colors.) To create the sunshiney window effect I did pick up my darker Y21 from my palette and added it around the edges.

2. Paper Covered Background

So what can you do with all those bits of paper that you have left over from a large project? Well turn them into 1"x1" squares of course!

Or if you are not fortunate to have saved all your scraps then we do have a packet of Inchie Papers available for you to purchase. This fun collection of 108 patterned paper 1-1/2" squares will keep you supplied for quite some time. You can die cut or trace and trim before attaching them to your Inchie Squares. Each of these packages also contains two (2) Inchie Finders. These little 1" squares of yellow acetate are the perfect tool for "finding" a section of a prestamped image or part of a pattern. Simply place, trace and trim. The yellow color will hopefully help you spot it easier amongst the mish mash that occurs on most of our tabletops when we get in a creative swing.

Karen always has the best organizational tips! I absolutely adore this beautiful box she has put together to keep her Inchie backgrounds prepped and ready to use.

When sorted by color it makes it easy to find the perfect background for your art. Prepare some of these backgrounds for your projects in advance if you are not feeling "it". You know those times when you would like to relax and create, but you just don't have a long-term vision for what it is that you would like to create. Then start at a later time to create the elements or embellishments to complete your Inchies.

I will be sharing more of the backdrop for this little assortment at a later date. For now I just want you to focus in on the assortment of papers that Karen used on these little creations and how she added the focal points to each Inchie. I have to admit I am a bit envious of her beautiful handwriting Ü I would hate to think about how many beautiful Inchies I would ruin if I were to write in cursive on them - LOL! So if you are like me perhaps you might consider printing and cutting out words or stamping them and adhering them to the finished creation instead.

3. Other Background Ideas

• Stamped Backgrounders
• Prismacolor Color Pencils
• Twinkling H2O's or Watercolors
• Old Book Pages
• Word Documents such as Definitions, Special Words

These are just a few of the ideas that I could come up with today/tonight. I hope that they inspire you to try a myriad of different background techniques when creating your Inchies!

Creating Custom Color Copic Sketch Markers

In the Bunny Girl Inchie post above the background is created by using a special VERY light yellow marker that I created. I have not found a yellow in the Copic line that I have fallen in love with. Most are too high chrome and my desire for a more buttery yellow led me on today's mission to create a yellow I love.

Begin by removing the Medium Broad tip from your empty Sketch marker. I just use my bare fingers to pull out the tip. Being the marker is empty the tip is dry at this point. Once the tip is wet you can still pull it out with your fingers, but they will become inky, so if you prefer clean hands you can use the Copic Tweezers or other Tweezers you don't mind getting ink on to remove the tip.

To mix my special color I used an Empty Various Ink Refill container and filled it up to the 5cc mark with Colorless Blending Solution. I then added Y21 Ink Refill drop by drop until the color appealed to me in the bottle. I was going to count the drops, but part way through I got so excited I forgot what my count was - LOL! Perhaps next time I will get my personal assistant (my 8 yr-old Ü) to help me count - she would remember! When I achieved "that" color I would then drip the color on to a sheet of white cardstock to determine if it was dark enough. I continued to add Y21 drop by drop until I arrived at the color I was looking for.

Above shows one drop of ink with the new color on the left and Y21 on the right.

To fill the empty sketch marker, place the tip of the refill container directly into the marker opening. Don't try taking a picture at the same time as you fill your container though. If you do, you too can spill ink over the sides of the marker - LOL!

I then removed both caps from the marker and laid it flat on my work surface and watched the color wick to the tips of the marker. I then replaced my caps and left it for a couple of minutes.

The picture above shows the color difference between Y21 and my new mix. I am very pleased with the end results and it made it so much easier to create the soft blended out background on the Bunny Girl Inchie.

I also want to link you to my pal Mona Lisa's amazing discovery - check it out - I am excited!!! Adirondack was the first ink I fell in love with six years ago and I still love it - needless to say I can hardly wait for Lis to share her other discoveries with you!!!

COPIC Easter Eggs

I just had to interject an inspirational Easter Egg post in the midst of Inchie Mania Ü One of the first things Marianne, of Copic Marker, told me about last year was how fun the airbrush system is with Easter Eggs. Since that time I have been anticipating what I can try with this concept. So today I will share a couple of different ideas I played with.

This first egg was created by inking the Dottie Bunny stamp and laying it inked image face up on my work surface. I then VERY carefully rolled my egg across the inked image. Needless to say this is try number three - LOL! - but persistence paid off. I then created a mask out of Eclipse Tape and secured it firmly over the bunny. Using the airbrush system and Sketch Marker colors Y38, BG45 and YG03 I sprayed the egg using the Medium Broad tip. The really cool thing about this is that as I sprayed, the air from the brush gently rolled the egg from one side of my work surface to the other. This allowed me to evenly spray the egg without even having to touch it. I then sprayed each end with it's coordinating color. Finally I removed the mask and used E55 and RV34 to color in Dottie.

I did learn that Adirondack ink needs to be heat set for quite some time when used on an egg surface. I also had to be careful to stay within the lines being that my marker did pick up hints of the ink when I colored in the image. Perhaps Brilliance ink would have worked better for this project, but time was of the essence Ü

This next series of eggs I will call my "Masked Eggs". Once again I created a mask out of Eclipse Tape for the bunny stamp. This time I secured it in place and once again sprayed using the same series of colors. The middle back egg was sprayed with the same three colors. I then came back using Y38 and created the flowers with the COPIC Marker Sketch Brush technique I shared with you back in February in this post. The last egg in this series was created by punching the little flower masks out of Avery Color Coding Labels. Ribbon and bling was added to create this fabulous little trio. Other totally fun embellishments to use would be pearls, flowers, and Dew Drops.

Or you could load up one of the mini mister's with some alcohol blending solution and alcohol ink refill or Color Wash, add a little Perfect Pearls to it and give it a Tim Holtz like whirl. Ohhhh - shimmery misty eggs. Or load up a paper towel wtih alcohol blending solution and after airbrushing give your egg a very unusual tie dye effect. Or put some alcohol ink on a felt applicator and pounce it on your egg, then roll it on a stamp.

You are going to have to watch Mona LIsa's blog - I know she has something cooking as well :D

OH NO - this gives me more ideas and I don't have any more time!!! So help me out ladies - create some wonderful Easter Eggs and link me up to them!!! I want to see what it is that you will be inspired to do with this concept.

COPIC Marker Sets CD24C and CD24D Update

Yes, unfortunately it is true. We are already sold out of these sets, but we are working to try and remedy this as best we can. Over the next few days we will be adding a few at a time to the store as we get supplies to make them up. We apologize for not having more on hand. As I said in my last post MANY more are on order, but today I found out that most of that big order will not be available to us until mid-February.

Thank you so much for your incredible support and please watch for them to appear in our store in little bits and pieces over the next week or so. If you would like to be put on a please notify us list you can email us at customerservice@ellenhutson.com and we will send out an email each time we are ready to put more back up.

Don't forget to read to the bottom of the previous post if you haven't done so you will find some blog candy posted there Ü Remember you need to post before Friday Midnight because the Random Number Generator will be used for all posts before that time :D

COPIC Marker New Color Sets

The moment has arrived. Yesterday we received our shipment of new COPIC Marker sets! So once again I have been glued to the computer screen typing and editting rather than creating. Hopefully soon the creating part will have time to happen Ü

Tonight at 10:00pm PST we will make the markers go live. It will be a first come, first serve basis, being that our supplies are currently limited. MANY more markers are on order, but I do not have word yet when they will arrive, so please hang tight with us as we await word on the arrival of more sets.

Now for the long winded explanation of what is here - LOL! I wish I knew how to say this in just a few concise words, but...

Before I begin I want to share with you that all my testing for colors was done on Neenah Classic Crest, Solar White cardstock. The white color base you begin with does affect your final color outcome. Solar White is a white that compares closely to Stampin' Up!'s white cardstock, only it is a more "sturdy" paper (for lack of a better word). I have found that Neenah Classic Crest is my paper of choice when working with both Prismacolor Color Pencils and Copic Sketch Markers.

First we have added seven, YES (7) new sets of 12 markers each. For your reference we have attached the picture below. I hope that I don't make typepad explode with the enormity of the files I will be attaching today Ü As you can see from these lists some of the colors are duplicates to the colors we already have in our line.

I am uncertain at this point as to whether or not this chart is even readable so you may need to wait for a second or third draft of this post to be able to read these charts. I apologize in advance if the font on the colors is so tiny it is unreadable, but I'll keep trying until I get it to a size that you should be able to view. After 10:00 pm I will come back to this post and add links to the store. This will allow you to read the color information at full size.

The first four sets listed showcase the colors that I believe compare closely to Stampin' Up!'s primary color families. The next set, which we are calling Trendy Tones, is a set of colors that were/are a part of Stampin' Up!'s color line last year and this year. Again, please know these are NOT Stampin' Up! colors, but colors that I believe after thorough examination, compare as close as possible to the Stampin' Up! cardstock I own and use.

Next you will find a Neutral Tone set. This set is comprised of colors that compare to the Neutral colors, but in addition it also has numerous neutral tones added to it that will allow you to combine with the colors in the first five sets to get a more accurate depiction of the colors in Stampin' Up!'s line.

The last set of colors, the Completer Set, is significant if accuracy is important to you. Many of the colors that are included in the first five sets do not compare closely if used on their own. They need to be blended with the colors that are in the Neutral set or Completer Set to gain in accuracy. I know the thought of blending colors may be scary to many of you, but remember this is art. It is about learning and perfecting over time.

To try and make it easier for each of you who purchase the Copic Sketch Marker sets through us we are including a chart with each set you purchase. On that chart I share how it is that I was able to create a color that compared closely with the Stampin' Up! cardstock I own.

You may ask why on earth do I need these two additional sets when there are 330 colors in the Sketch line of markers? Well there are 100's of 1000's of combinations that colors can be mixed and unfortunately COPIC and Stampin' Up! just don't have all of the same color selections. So how did I come up with these colors? The first thing I did was to go through the entire COPIC line and select one color that was as close in comparison as possible to the Stampin' Up! color. When that didn't suffice I then went back through the entire line combining and blending colors to achieve a color that compared to the Stampin' Up! colors. Believe me when I tell you that I tried MANY combinations - LOL!

These seven sets are for those of you who have never purchased Copic Markers before and would like to try them in one color family. It will allow you to add to your marker sets over time and hopefully not make such a huge dent in your crafting budget. Please remember when you purchase your first set to add a Colorless Blender Marker. No place in these seven sets is a Colorless Blender included. You may also want to consider getting the Colorless Blender Refill at the same time to help with clean up and to create special effects.

I would like you all to note this important item. In creating the sets of markers so that individuals could purchase one set only it became necessary to repeat a couple of colors in the sets. You will find that color Y21 is used in both the Pastel and Jewel Tones sets, marker R89 is used in both the Jewel and Trendy Tones, and marker YG63 is used in both the Pastel and Trendy Tones sets. Unfortunately if you purchase these in sets you will receive duplicates.

My suggestion for those who will be purchasing your markers one set at a time is to purchase the markers individually that are in these sets to avoid duplication. I wish there were an easier way around it, but I couldn't think of anything that made sense other than to purchase the markers individually or as a whole.

These seven sets will be sent to you in a Clear Copic Sketch Case. The retail value of these sets including the case is $75.40 - we will be selling these for $59.49.

For those who like to just make one big purchase and be ready to go we put together a COPIC Gotta Have It All (GHIA) for the first time COPIC user. This marker set is for those that wanted to have all the colors necessary to create the colors that coordinate with Stampin' Up!'s many beautiful colors as well as a few others that are just too good to pass up.

Hold your breath - the retail value of this set is... $631.05. Gulp - why so much you ask? Well included with the 96 markers, which are valued at $5.95 each, we have opted to include 3 wallets that each hold 36 markers. Each wallet retails for $19.95. But here is where the good news comes in - you will be THRILLED to know that the cost for the Ellen Hutson Exclusive GHIA is $456.96. (Well, perhaps I should say exclusive until another retailer comes along and reads about all this hard work and decides to sell the same package - LOL!)

In order to truly make this a one stop set of 96 (these were originally designed to fit into four wallets that only hold 24 markers) I had to leave out just a couple of colors that you can purchase separately in the store. YG23-New Leaf, W2-Warm Gray No. 2 and W4-Warm Gray No. 4 can be purchased seperately. At this time there is plenty of room in the large wallets these are coming to you in to add those other must-have colors you have been dying to try.

All coloring reference charts will be included with the GHIA.

Now you ask - I already own the two sets of markers in your store - I own 24A and 24B - what should I do? We have tried to simplify this for you. You will need to purchase 24C and 24D to complete your color collection.

Sets 24C and 24D include the YG23 - I believe YG23 is one of those Julie Ebersole must have colors - LOL! You know how much Julie (and Ellen Ü) love greens. It does not include W2 and W4, but I do believe that you will be able to suffice with the W3 it does include. It also does not include a Colorless Blender Marker in these sets because I figured most of you will already own one. As well, all of my coloring reference charts will be included with the 24C and 24D sets.

These will come in the same wallets as 24A and 24B come in. The retail value on this particular set is $155.75 and our price is $118.49. As you can see from this picture you can set these markers upright on your desk or you can stack multiple ones horizontally as I have shown using the sets of 36 above. When I use my markers I prefer to have the markers lying flat as shown above in the GHIA. This allows me to see all the colors simultaneously.

Well... as you can see we try our best to give you plenty of versatility and at the same time provide a good value for your dollar. We try and make certain that we share as much educational information with you as possible regarding how to use this product. We try to provide you with the best customer service possible. We thank you for supporting us in our endeavours and fully realize that you can purchase your product wherever you choose - we thank you for choosing us. I feel blessed to know that you value what it is that we do and that you continue to support us.

Insert long sigh here - WOW - what a WORDY post - LOL! Did I lose you? Are you still there? If you are still there I have a special bonus for you for reading all the way through this monstrosity of a post!!! BLOG CANDY Ü I think all that reading deserves a little fun.

Included in this treat will be a brand, spankin' new set of papers from Memory Box that I haven't even gotten up on the store yet - these are yummy! Included is a WONDERFUL new backgrounder, three fun COPIC Sketch Markers, and a little Fun Flock to top it off. To enter please post below - only one post per person please. I would love to hear what your experience with markers OR backgrounders is. Have you tried the COPIC markers or the CHF Backgrounders before? and what is it that you love about them. Just one little reason - you don't need to write an epistle like I have - LOL! Oh, and you must post before Friday, January 25th 11:59 p.m.

Thank you for stopping by and thank you so much for supporting us in what it is that we do.

Masked Love

Surprises are coming and I am wondering if any of you might figure out what we will be adding to our line of products over the weekend based on what has been used in the project below! This is a brand new product for us and I am thrilled to be carrying this product! I can hardly wait to spill the beans, so stay tuned and hopefully before Monday I will be able to share our latest excitement with all of you Ü

I'll take one of the guesses out of the equation though - it's not the additional Copic markers we are all waiting for. I am hoping that these will arrive this next week as well, but I have been hoping that for a LONG time now and therefore I am no longer holding my breath for fear of fainting - LOL!

I also want to let you know that we are making progress on the Scalloped Heart Nestabilities. The design has been redone and sent off - Spellbinders is hoping to have them in within the next two weeks. We have sent out an email to all of our customers who have ordered this product through us - if you have not received an email from us please let us know ASAP - we hope we didn't miss any of you. We will be sending another email out shortly with how and when it is that we are going to get this new improved product to you Ü

Masking and airbrushing - what a cool combination this is! I have fallen in love with creating some of my own background papers by combining masking, airbrushing and stamping.

In creating this card I made a couple of discoveries that have nothing to do with masking though. The first is that the Urban Couture ribbon line looks fabulous with the Memory Box Enlighten paper series. Secondly, I discovered that it is fun to color over patterned paper with Copic markers. I stamped the Lock Heart on patterned paper so that it would tie the color scheme together, but realized that some of the detail disappeared in to the pattern. By highlighting the special features of the stamp with just a light touch of marker it emphasized them just enough to bring those details to the forefront. The little key is made by Jolee - I picked some up to put in the store, but of course they aren't up yet - LOL! Could I please have just a little more time in my day, so that I could get all these things done?

Of course I forgot to take pictures of the background as I created it and so I needed to recreate the key steps to share with you for the pictures below. For the card above I used the Newsprint alphabet and for the examples below I used the Damask mask.

The first thing I would like to remind you to do is to lightly tap your finger tips over the entire sticky surface of the mask before adhering it to your project. This is important being that the masks are SO sticky they might pull your paper surface off if you attach them directly to your project first. Be certain not to overdue this step though being you want it to still stick to your project.

Lightly stick the mask on to your paper by pressing it down gently all over. I then selected a pink Copic marker in a darker value of the pink color and airbrushed over the entire piece.

Upon completion remove the mask and adhere it back to it's "plastic-like" surface so that you can reuse it for your next project. Also don't try taking pictures with your right hand as you spray with your left simultaneously, or you will get a "hot-spot" like I did as shown above - LOL!

If you do not own an airbrush please do not hesitate to try this technique. Instead what you will do is select an ink pad that is a slightly darker value of the color of cardstock you have selected.

Then using the Ink Blending Tool pick up color from the ink pad and smudge and smooth it over the entire surface with a smooth motion. The results are slightly more mottled, but this is a fun effect as well.

I finished the project off by using the Spanish Script backgrounder from CHF, a little piercing, ribbon and accent paper. Another idea that you could spin off of this project would be to write out the sentiment "i heart u" (using the Lock Heart as the heart). What other ideas do you have that you would like to share?

Well put your thinking caps on and get ready - what do you think it is that I have fallen in love with this time? I can hardly wait to share our exciting news!