Welcome to my little corner of the web. I plan to use this space to share inspiration for crafty folk and anyone interested in the inevitable chatter of my daily life.
As I was organizing my studio (ok, I lost some stamps and was just moving piles of paper around), I came across our club layout from August. I wanted to be sure that I shared it with you because if you have not worked with this line yet drop everything and go get some before it retires. It is very vintage and classy in true Graphic 45 style. I did find the colours a bit 4th of July but it was fun to work with as a beachy backdrop to some of the summer pictures I snapped of the kids.
The collection was challenging to work with from a design perspective because even the "solids and stripes" type patterns were very busy. The images were so cute though that it was definitely worth the effort.
The layouts are from the Cricut Artbooking cartridge and I think that they were a perfect match for the playfulness of this line.
Have you been practicing with your Copic markers this week? I hope you are following along with our club as we explore the wonder of working with alcohol markers.
Our club met last Thursday for our second session working with Copic markers. One of our members was truant last time (something about an ear infection...geeesh...no dedication) so we did a quick recap of the types of Copic markers available and the Copic Colour Code. If you missed my post with reference to the Copic Colour Code you better take a quick peek Here.
We attempted two new techniques in this session:
#1 Colouring and shading using only one marker
#2 Transferring ink from a dark marker to a lighter one before colouring
The first technique just requires that you lay down you base layer of ink and then go over the areas that should have a shadow several times. Its important to let the image dry between layers. You can achieve a very nice look using this technique and it is great for all of us that are just beginning to collect markers.
The second technique was a bit harder to get the hang of. The process itself was easy, simply touch the darker markers nib against the lighter colour nib and colour, but it took some practice to get the colours that we were after. I think at the end of the day we decided it was easier to do the 3 marker technique we originally learned as the effect was quite similar.
Next Copic Club we are going to be working on FUR!!!! Lets hope I can find my Popcorn Bear stamps by then.
Hope you are enjoying playing along with our Copic Club.
Our first Copic club was in August and we had so so much fun practicing colouring random stamped images. We began with an overview of the copic colour code. Bet you didn't know there was a code did you? Well, there is, and once you understand it you will be able to follow the rules or throw caution to the wind and create beautiful pieces of art.
So what is the Copic Colour System?
The Copic Colour System identifies and labels each Copic Colour based on the color’s individual: Colour Family, Saturation Number& Brightness Number.
The Colour Family indicates what sort of color, i.e. red, blue-green, orange, etc.
The Saturation Number indicates how “rich” or how “dull” the colour will appear (higher number = more dull)
The Brightness Number indicates how “dark” the color will appear (Higher number = darker)
Is that all clear as mud? Well as you practice with your markers it will start to make sense. You will recall in one of the earlier posts that I suggested you buy your markers in groups of three. Therefore you would look for 3 markers with the same Colour Family, Saturation Number and Brightness numbers within 2-3 levels of each other. This will give you a base colour and then two shades for adding shadows and detail.
We started with the Copic Skin Tone Doodle Pack as I tend to have allot of stamps of children that we will be using. These doodle packs make choosing coordinating colours a breeze.
We focused on the three marker technique using the lightest colour as the base and then building the shadows from there. It takes some practice to lay down a perfect base without streaks. Small circles allow you to keep working on the wet edge. We found flicking the darker colours made it easier to place the shadows. This is a great time to start your copic binder. Print off a free template from the web and practice different colour combinations to see which colour tones you like the best.
Yep, still on vacation with the kids. I can't believe school is just around the corner. Anyone that blogs about great school lunch ideas please get in touch, I dread the idea of all those empty containers to fill with some magical equation of foods that will somehow delight my kids.
It occurred to me that I neglected to tell you that you need to start a binder for your Copic Adventures. You will want to keep a record of different colour palettes and techniques you have tried and liked. Have no fear! Copic had a great library of resources that you can print and use. There are also numerous free printables of other people's creations, but honestly its more fun to make your own.
Last week our papercrafting club decided to do a bit of an introduction to alcohol markers. We basically went over the different kinds of markers that are available, how to use the Copic Colour Wheel and then we got down to just stamping and colouring. Time flies when you are having fun, it was just after 10 when we called it quits. We were having so much fun making all our stamped images come to life.
I did not want to leave you all hanging while I wrapped up my summer camping so I put together a quick round up of some really great Copic tutorials you may want to check out. Feel free to follow my Pinterest board Copic Crazy
As I told you I have been enjoying my free time at the camp with my family. This year the children are just that little bit older and I am finding that I spend much of my time on my deck overseeing the activities of the kidlets and their friends and less time actually being right on top of them supervising. It has been a strange shift. I have been monitoring the activities of wee ones for so long I don't remember what it is like to just sit and relax. I have to admit, I am enjoying it.
I promised my hubby to limit the amount of craft material that I take to the trailer this year. Last year he would arrive for a relaxing weekend only to find his side of the bed had been taken over by my cricut and loads of paper. This year I stick to one 12x12 thirty-one bag which holds my marker bag, stamp block bag, paper and stamps. The stamps I have been carrying all summer are my Julie Nutting Paper Doll Stamps. I was talking to Julie a couple of weeks ago about the possibility of joining us here on the blog, but lucky for us she is busy with getting the new designs out. Its ok Julie, we love your work!
If you have not tried using alcohol markers for your stamped images yet, you are in for a treat. Alcohol markers are very pricey so if your budget does not allow you to go out and buy a collection there are some great alternative. Bic makes a great line of alcohol markers that work really well. You won't get the colour variety of some of the big lines but it is a great place to start. If you are ok with slowly building your collection, try to purchase your markers in 3s. You always want to have a light , medium and dark for each colour. I started with flesh tones as I am a huge fan of Magnolia Stamps and now all the Prima Paper Dolls stamps. By using the alcohol markers to define the skin tone I am able to use other mediums to colour the clothing and accessories.
These are a few of the designs I have been working on:
Many of you know that I have a soft spot for Mompreneurs that are raising families, working and building their business as well. I love to do shout outs about all the new ventures that these amazing women are starting. If you have a small business and would like to feature it on My Grandma's Teacups please email me mygrandmasteacups@gmail.com. If you would be interested in a product review please let me know and I will help you with that as well. I also have opportunities for small businesses looking to grow their facebook and twitter following through giveaways. Let me help you grow your business.
Some of my favourite small businesses from past posts
You could be featured next. Contact me for more information.
Part of growing your small business is having a plan. The best way to know if your plan is on track is to constantly seek out new information. One of my favourite resources for small business information is the Scotiabank site
I think sometimes as scrapbookers we get caught up in adding as many sparkles, bling and embellies as we can to make our layouts pop. This layout was a nice reminder that sometimes the KISS principle is the way to go. Mr. McWilliams my highschool art teacher always preached the principle of Keep It Simple Sweetheart. This beautiful paper from Fabscraps lends itself perfectly to a simple design. We used a little bit of distress ink and a few flat backed pearls to create what I think turned out to be a beautifully elegant layout.
We used Fabscraps Secret Garden 2 (1) , American Crafts Smooth Brown Sugar Cardstock (1) American Crafts Smooth Leaf Cardstock (1)American Crafts Smooth Denim (1) Close To My Heart as the base but any sturdy cardstock would be fine. I used my cricut to cut out the damask pattern as well at the flowers, wheelbarrow, vines and tags. The ink that we used to distress the paper was Tim Holtz Vintage Photo as well as Close To My Heart Smokey Plum for the flowers.
Another Pinterest inspired post I know, but have you seen the cute ideas for teacher's gifts? There is still time to whip up these super cute gifts to thank your child's teacher for helping your child learn and grow. These gifts are really easy, super cheap but big on the Wow factor sure to make any teacher feel appreciated.
We all have those special men in our lives that require a card at Father's Day. Though our macaroni necklaces may have seemed cute when we were 5, there may be more appropriate tokens of affection for those of us that have grown up.
Here is my list of inspiring Father's Day cards from around the web. Be sure to click the links to get all the how-to info directly from the creators themselves.
I hope this roundup gave you some ideas for all the father figures in your life. If like me, your father's day message needs special delivery to get to its recipient....here is a little inspiration for your heaven sent wishes.
We had such a blast last night working with the beautiful Graphic 45 Once Upon a Springtime Collectors Edition. It was so hard deciding which paper to cut as both sides were so pretty. Even after completing 2 full two page layouts we each have enough paper left to complete several more projects.
We fussy cut the fairies and popped them up at different levels to make them look like they are flying right off the page. Just a little bit of glitter on their wings and these fairies seemed to come to life. We fussy cut the book pages and folded the second copy in half along the spine and popped up one side giving it the illusion that the pages were turning.
We fussy cut as many of the characters as we could
in order to add lots of dimension to the pages. I think this could possibly the project that I uses the most pop dots on ever. It was so worth the investment.
I know this layout seems a little plain but I cant wait to add my own pictures to it and really make it pop. These illustrations are incredible and will be a delightful addition to my kids books.
Do yourself a favour and get this paper pack before its gone again. It is pure joy to work with.
I am taking my family on a little mini vacation this week so it will be quiet here on the blog. Hoping that you all have a safe and fun holiday weekend.
Have you been outside yet today. I swear I saw the sun shining. Lets hope that Spring has decided to come to stay. I can't believe that this weekend it will be time to go and open up our trailer for another season of camping. I am already gathering ideas on Youtube and Pinterest to keep the little man busy this summer. One of my favourites as you know is Heroes of the City. The DVD and books are a staple for us on rainy days at the trailer. Now, with the addition of their amazing youtube channel I can get some cute craft ideas and little man can feel like a big boy watching youtube on his tablet. I hope you all had a chance to check out the channel after the last post I did about it if not you can read the post here: Heroes of the City on Youtube
Heroes of the City Movies :
You are definitely going to want to step over and subscribe to the Heroes of the City Channel anyway but just for added incentive we are going to have a little giveaway....YAY! I love giveaways.
Here is what I want you to do:
Grab a coffee...always the best start to any adventure (substitute beverage of your choice)
Heroes of the City are an animated TV-series for preschool children about rescue vehicles in a small town where everybody gets to be a hero! The TV-series contains a lot of warmth and teaches the importance of friendship and what we can achieve by helping each other.
About Heroes of the City’s YouTube Channel.
On the city's heroes YouTube Channel you will find 6 hours of entertainment for the younger children. The videos are high quality and are suitable for children 2-6 years. The YouTube channel is available in 18 different languages.
Make wonderful, simple crafts with things found around the house.
In the Calamity Crow Kids Crafting Show you will get inspiration for all kinds of different kids crafts you can make at home. The show is aimed at both parents and children to make and create together. Link to the video: Calamity Crow Kids Crafting Show EP03 - Characters out of paper rolls https://youtu.be/rqM17EF9XIY
Calamity Crow Sketch and Guess show.
Try to guess what’s being drawn before the picture is completed.
Follow our heroes on patrol in the city. Look closely and help to reconnaissance. On Patrol with Heroes of the City is fun memory training for the younger children. There is an easy, medium and hard version of each reconnaissance missions.
This is my favourite layout that I created with the dies I received from TIANYANG.
This window die is beautiful and the the flowers are just so versatile I can see the possibilities for so many cards and layouts. The stamped images were done using my Close To My Heart acrylic stamps and the freehand drawing was done using ShinHan markers.
This is the fourth layout in our series reviewing the TIANYANG dies. This is one of my favourite dies that I received. The legs on this ballerina are so delicate it is incredible. I found it hard to decide which of the many ideas this cut inspired would make it to the studio table.
One of the wonderful folks from TIANYANG Dies approached me about trying out some of their cutting dies in my work. Generally I do not use dies as I have a Cricut explore but after several conversations I agreed to test their product. TIANYANG provided several dies for me to work with and I wanted to share what I created with you.
Layout #1
I used the TIANYANG product Product ID:32263845233 and 32263845263
to create the lovely flowers in the layout. I was surprised by the number of sheets of cardstock that these dies can in fact cut in one pass. The edges of the cut are very clean and slightly embossed for a professional feel when working with the petals. I really liked the versatility of the design as I was able to make several variations with one die.
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