Wednesday, August 13, 2008

COPICs, The Learning Curve, and Booty Bella

Guess what came in my mail yesterday? Yep, you guessed it, my COPIC CIAO markers that I ordered from Hanna Stamps. I ordered one of each of the 5 sets she has. I really loved how they were organized seasonally! FUN! So I immediately began to color . . . and I was surprised by how much of a learning curve they have, I mean, I had heard that they did take some learning, but WOW! I threw out at least a full page of images that did not look right when I colored a spot on them, so I tried again. But, I am proud to say, I finally managed to get an image to look decent enough for it to adorn a card. YAY! This is the stamp I refer to as Booty Bella and it was the first time I managed to get her inky! Here are the sites that helped me to figure out coloring with these babies:

http://ilikemarkers.blogspot.com/
and
http://ellenhutson.typepad.com/

Without those two sites, I would never have figured it all out. Ellen's site had great tips on how to color with the markers as well as a whole assessment of different inks and how they work with the copic markers. Super useful stuff. The I Like Markers blog is all about copics and there is TONS to learn on there. I know I will keep learning as I play! Anyway, on to my card!

I saw today on SCS that in the Stamping Bella forum, they had a sketch challenge going (and we know I can't resist one of those). I followed the sketch for this card. When I put the image against the card stock, the image popped and the card stock seemed to just blah away. It needed something to make it stand up and say hello too, so I sponged the edges of the creamy caramel and then I stitched with the sewing machine and white thread around the edge. Oh and about the image, I tried a few of the inks I had, but none seemed to produce a crisp enough image with no smudging, even with heat setting, so I decided to emboss it and I was pleased with the results.

The other cool thing on this card, when I was looking for the perfect prima flower, I could not find just the right color, so I decided to color them with my markers. It made them looks almost fuzzy, but they match perfectly!!! I was so excited about that. So how do you think I did on coloring? Any tips???

Stamps: Stamping Bella Paper: Stampin' Up, Creamy Caramel, Whisper White Ink: Versafine Onyx Black Accessories: Clear Embossing Powder, Copic Ciao Markers, Dotted Organdy, Prima Flowers, Clear Dew Drops, SU circle punches

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

First of all love your card. Second glad i am not the only one who had the learning curve issue. Thanks for the blogs on learning to use copics

SeaStar Creations said...

fun bella! great coloring :) tfs!

Anonymous said...

your coloring is terrific! Thanks for the tips. Love all your cards!

Unknown said...

Great card...great coloring! You're going to have so much fun with your copics.

Terri said...

I think you did a great job coloring with them.

Loreen said...

Nice job coloring =) Your card looks great!

Holly Young said...

Just found your blog through SCS and wanted to have a look around. I think you did fabulous with the copics. They do take some practice, but they are such fun to use. I love the layout on your card too! I'll be back to visit often because you've got an awesome blog!

Cris A said...

Pretty! I love the Bellas...I NEED MORE!!! Great coloring!

Jaymerz said...

Your coloring looks fabulous!! I have thrown away so many images because I didn't like the coloring. Thanks for playing this sketch with us!! I love your card.

Rochelle W said...

Awesome card Amanda. I really love the "shadow" you put around her. That is a nice touch.

Lesly said...

Your coloring is fabulous! Love the card.

*Sally* said...

She is beautiful! Love the stitching too.
Sally x

Mandy said...

What an adorable Bella! :)

Jessy said...

What a FUN card, that's such a cute Bella. Great job!!