Copic Certification Details

Just a quick note to let you know that I have updated my copic certification details page. You can view it HERE or by clicking on the tab at the top of my blog.

I have also included this years' CANADIAN locations for both the standard and the intermediate certifications for your planning benefit.

Edmonton's class has now opened up to the public....there are limited spots left. You will notice on my schedule that I will be coming to Calgary in June to do an INTERMEDIATE certification. So here is your chance to take the standard class knowing that the intermediate one is coming in June to the area.

Looking forward to a colorful year!

MFT Teaser!

You can see I am having lots of fun with this month's teasers from My Favorite Things. I GASPED when I received this darling new image and knew that I needed to reserve her for a special project. This is "Bee Yourself" from the Claire Kaey line.

Recycled bags and totes are so hot right now....I had this one in my studio that had quite an ugly black logo on the front. I decided to take some Michael Miller fabric and run it through my xyron with fabric adhesive and cover it up....just like you would do when altering a paper album.

The large felt branch is by prima....I just stuck it on. I had leftover of the fabric that I had added the sticker backing to, so I cut out a few flowers with MFT's newest die-namic called "Upsy Daisy Flower Builder". This die has three size flowers, coordinating centers and leaves!
I stamped my image in versacraft ink, heat setting it with my heat tool and then colored with my copic markers. I did a quick post-it note mask and airbrushed the background color to tie in the fabric. See the cute little flourish by the sentiment? That is from the Sassy and Sweet set that I showed you earlier this week.

Here are the details about the upcoming release on March 1st at 10 PM EST:

• The MFT release is on March 1st at 10 PM EST. You can attend the release party from 8-10 PM EST here in the forum for fun, games, and prizes! All the new sets and dies will be available on March 1st at 10 PM EST.



• The guest designer contest is ON! Check out the forum for details on how YOU can win over $100 in stamp sets and play along with the DT for a month.



• If you'd like to see all the teasers for today, please click on over to Kim's blog NOW! Be sure to leave comments as you go for a chance to win one of 2 stamp sets being given away daily, just for leaving a comment. :) Check Kim's blog every day for the winners.

MFT Teaser!

Ready for spring yet? We have had an unseasonably COLD week and I am ready for some warmer weather! I have a cute little Pure Innocence image to show you today called "Warm Fuzzies" from My Favorite Things.
I made a cute little box with my cricut (cindy loo cartridge) that I am loving! These would make great table markers for Easter dinner.
I colored her with my copics and if you click on the photo you may be able to see the bit of texture that I created with my blender pen in the blue. I tried to mimic the egg pattern from the paper.
Time to go and eat that chocolate bunny!

Here are the details about the upcoming release on March 1st at 10 PM EST:

• The MFT release is on March 1st at 10 PM EST. You can attend the release party from 8-10 PM EST here in the forum for fun, games, and prizes! All the new sets and dies will be available on March 1st at 10 PM EST.



• The guest designer contest is ON! Check out the forum for details on how YOU can win over $100 in stamp sets and play along with the DT for a month.



• If you'd like to see all the teasers for today, please click on over to Kim's blog NOW! Be sure to leave comments as you go for a chance to win one of 2 stamp sets being given away daily, just for leaving a comment. :) Check Kim's blog every day for the winners.

MFT Teaser!

Welcome to day 1 of the teasers for this month's My Favorite Things release! Today I am showing you a glimpse of a fun new set called "Sassy and Sweet". This set has a lot of fun sentiments as well as patterns that work with a die-namic and some great flourishes. Here I used a few of the flourishes and the "hey sweet stuff" sentiment.
I thought the reference to sweet was a perfect reason to pull out the Kitschy Kitchen line from Melissa Frances.
Just so you don't think that I didn't use my copics.....yup, the jewels are colored :)
I also wanted to show you the little close up of this fun sticker.

Here are the details about the upcoming release on March 1st at 10 PM EST:

• The MFT release is on March 1st at 10 PM EST. You can attend the release party from 8-10 PM EST here in the forum for fun, games, and prizes! All the new sets and dies will be available on March 1st at 10 PM EST.



• The guest designer contest is ON! Check out the forum for details on how YOU can win over $100 in stamp sets and play along with the DT for a month.



• If you'd like to see all the teasers for today, please click on over to Kim's blog NOW! Be sure to leave comments as you go for a chance to win one of 2 stamp sets being given away daily, just for leaving a comment. :) Check Kim's blog every day for the winners.

Sketch Challenge!

Playing along today with the My Favorite Things Wednesday Sketch Challenge. Sketch challenges can be quite fun as it takes some of the guess work of layouts out of the design process. I had this "Ladybug" sitting on my desk all colored up just waiting for a card.
Details on the sketch challenge are at the bottom of my post.
All the fun dies that you see on this card are My Favorite Things Die-namics. I particularly love the rolled rose duo!
You can check out MFT's felt collection too! This felt cuts really well with their dies and I see that Kim has stocked back up in all her colors.
Here is a close up of the copic coloring I did. I used the cool gray family for the "blacks" and a series of R22,24,27,39 for the reds.
So do you feel like playing along....there are prizes and everything! Here is the link that will give you all the info....If you would like to see some more samples with this sketch then visit Kim's Blog for the designers that played with this sketch this week!

Monday Smiles

What a way to begin a "Monday"...with a smile:)
I think my American friends are smiling because it is a holiday today for them. My Monday consists of hubby and son home sick....oh well, it does make for a lazy, quiet day (which I don't mind).
This adorable image is My Favorite Things....it is from the Claire Kaey Line called..."Enjoy Every Moment".
I colored her with my copics and airbrushed the grass base and a few puffy clouds in the sky.
Just a short post today, back to sickies....

Primrose Duo

Thursday already! Where did this week go? Today I am sharing a couple more images that I colored at CHA. I wanted to play around with skin tones so one of the girls has a deeper complexion than the other.
This is "Primrose" from the Pure Innocence collection at My Favorite Things. I used a wedding cricut cartridge for the card base and then just cut out the girls once I was finished coloring them with my copics.
Here is the darker complexion. I used the combo of E11,13,15. I also took my blender pen and gave her skirt a subtle pattern (you may have to click on the actual photo to see that up closer).
Here is my "standard" light skin tone combo of E50,21,33 (R20 for the cheeks). I love how changing their skin tones makes a completely different look. I need to remember that not everyone is as pasty white as myself.....

Enjoy your day!

VIP Blog Hop and Shop

Welcome here! If you are on the MFT VIP Hop and have come from Susan's blog then you are hopping along great! If you are a regular visitor to my blog and would like to start at the beginning of the hop then you can go to Kim's Blog.
Today's card is a very practical one for me. I am ALWAYS in need of musical thank you cards...between piano teachers, choir instructors, marching band leaders (all for both of my kids) you can imagine that this card will get used in no time flat!
I have the kids' piano teacher in mind for this particular card.
Embellished with Melissa Frances papers and a little bit of prima lace trim.
I paper pieced the woman's clothing and colored the piano bench with my copics. Rounded the corners and sewed it together!
I know I will get lots of ink on this set!
The graphic shows a glimpse of what is included in this month's VIP kit. Look at all those goodies....yum!


Looking for more inspiration? Hop on over to Barbara's Blog and see what beautiful creation she has come up with! Enjoy the hop!

A La Modes Teaser

Welcome to MFT Teaser Time! It's just about time for the mid-month release, when the newest VIP Collection and à la modes stamp sets are available for purchase. The new à la modes are, once again, FANTASTIC!

Today I am sharing a peek at "Wishing You Luck"!
I love how the a la modes are always carrying an oversized item. I added a few water droplets to this clover for fun. I colored her with my copics and sprayed one of the stickpins with my YG25 as well (because I didn't have the right color).
The patterned paper is from Cosmo Cricket's DeLovely line, which I think is really nice and fresh looking for spring time.
Here is a little close up on the copic marker coloring. Notice more sharp shadow lines.....this is because she is out in the bright sunlight therefore the shadows she is casting are harder. Trying to break out of my diffused lighting world a little.

Here are some details about the release this Tuesday night:

• The MFT release is on February 15th at 10 PM EST.
• If you'd like to see all the teasers for today, please click on over to Kim's blog.

See you tomorrow for the VIP hop!

Need a taste of summer?

I know I could use a taste of summer right now. I don't know what it is like where you are at but it is another wet cold day here. I thought a summery card may chase the winter blues a little.
This is a stampy/scrappy card. I used a large sentiment strip from a MME patterned paper line and then stamped a Hero Arts fruit image. I think the image may have intended to be an orange, but today it is a lemon! I colored it with my copics and added a bit of glossy shine. Here are all my supplies for this fun card:
Stamps:
Antique Fruit Engravings (Hero Arts)
Paper:
Kraft (Bazzill)
Breaking Free Collection (My Mind's Eye)
Ink:
Tuxedo Black Memento (Tsukineko)
Accessories:
Copic Markers
Butter Spica Glitter Pen (Copic)
Glossy Accents (Ranger)
Tiny Type (Cosmo Cricket)
Opaque White (Copic)

Have a fantastic weekend! Ours is chalked full of band gigs/volleyball tournaments...lotsa runnin' around!

Homemade and Handmade

Thought I would share something that went into the Melissa Frances catalog. This is from their Kitschy Kitchen Collection....which I LOVE!
Here is a close up of the card. This collection is filled with sweet tags and rub-on sentiments. I particularly love the crepe paper. This is so fun to spray with my airbrush system.
Here is a close up of my homemade jam. I wrapped the crepe paper around the jar first, airbrushed the edges and them when I placed the label over the crepe paper then I stretched the edges of the crepe paper. I did the same thing on the lid.

Mmmmm homemade jam....I think I need a scone....Have a great day!

Sweet Little Bug

I am starting to put together some of the images I colored while demoing at the copic booth at CHA. I had my cricut out for my nieces to play with the other day and noticed this sweet little mushroom that I thought would make a great card base for my ladybug. It is the "Freshly Picked" cartridge for those fellow cricut users.

I went away from the traditional black/red combo for this ladybug....mainly because I couldn't find my C8 copic marker....it was a good thing as I like this softer look to "ladybug" from My Favorite Things.

This card is 5.5" square so it fits nicely into a square envelope. I hinged the top of the card by sewing on a felt little butterfly. This is the new "butterfly die" from My Favorite Things as well. It is a sweet trio of butterflies in which I used the smallest two.
Here is a close up of the coloring. I used E11,15,18 for the browns. R22,27,39 for the reds. E50,21,33 and R20 for the skin and a little bit of yellow for the hair.

I'm off to put together some more cards with pieces I have colored meanwhile listening to Greg Laurie on the ipad. Here is the link to his Harvest crusade sermons. I read his autobiography "Lost Boy" while sitting many hours in the plane to and from California....what a great way to spend my time. I was very inspired by his own personal story and highly recommend it!
Have a great day!

What Little Girls Are Made Of....

It was fun pulling out a picture from my daughter's archives...she was about 2 1/2 in this photo (she is now 15). You can imagine how it pulls on this momma's heart strings.

Showing you some brand new 5th Avenue papers from Melissa Frances. You can see the whole collection HERE.

I decided to mimic the banner in the paper design with a couple of paper banners of my own. Airbrushed the crepe paper a little for color and added a few vintage buttons.
If you click on the photo you can see close up and read the darling little verse on the paper itself....so sweet.
One of my favorite products at Melissa Frances is their rub-ons....so darling! I love that you can put rub-ons on uneven surfaces as well. Here I have part of the "L" on my photo and the rest is on the background paper layer.
A little bit of a closer shot of the top banner.....tied up with string that the little birdie is holding.

This is the Banner Day Die from My Favorite Things and it went so perfect with my papers in this design! I used it to cut all the matching papers from this 5th avenue collection.

Wishing you a day filled with "Sugar and Spice"!

Reflections of CHA

I'm home! I wanted to take the opportunity to share just a few glimpses of CHA. I had a lot of coloring time demoing at the copic booth so I am sharing a couple of images that I colored for my portfolio.

These are My Favorite Things images, both from the Pure Innocence Collection. The little boy is "Splish, Splash" and the little girl is "Butterfly Kisses". If you click on the photo you should be able to see close enough all the COPIC colors that I used.
Here is a shot of me at the copic booth beside my little wall. All of the copic designers had their own board to display their art. This was a neat personal element that I loved in the booth this year! What an honor!
Have you heard the buzzz yet about the INTERMEDIATE COPIC CERTIFICATIONS?
This is the newest copic class that is being offered. I had the joy of team teaching this class with Debbie Olson. She is a fabulous instructor and I had the chance to snap a few photos when it was her turn to instruct. We have a power point presentation that we follow complete with videos! The attendees really enjoyed those!
This class is for those who really want to take their coloring to the "next level", you learn things about color theory, composition and down to the nuts and bolts of coloring skin, hair, working with reds....etc. This is the class that most papercrafters that I know have been asking for!

The intermediate certifications will not be happening as frequent as the standard certifications, as of right now there are just three of our instructors that are teaching them. If one is ANYWHERE close to you I would encourage you to snap up the opportunity to take one....as you may not get the chance very often!....don't be intimidated by the application process either (we just want to make sure you can blend and have absorbed the information from the standard certification as we do not cover those techniques again in this class).

Below is my tentative list of CANADIAN locations for both the Standard and Intermediate certifications for 2011. Some dates have not been made in stone yet but I wanted to share the tentative months I have scheduled so that you can plan as well.

STANDARD CERTIFICATIONS
March 14th Edmonton, Alberta
May 28th Toronto, Ontario
June 4th Kelowna, BC
October Montreal, Quebec

INTERMEDIATE CERTIFICATIONS
June 18th Calgary, Alberta
July Chicago Summer CHA
September (Mid-late) Toronto, Ontario
November Vancouver (closer to Langley), British Columbia

For updated copic information and links you can always check my copic page.

I love this photo as no one was paying any attention to me with the camera, but rather very engaged with their evening portfolio project!
Here is photo of Jonny (our Australian distributor for Copic) taking the class. The Australian stores are blessed to have such a wonderful distributor to deal with. I had a chance to meet his delightful wife this trip too. Such special people....and I love him for bring X-press it Blending card paper into my life!

MFT BLOG HOP AND SHOP!

Welcome to release day at My Favorite Things! This is the official hop, so if you have joined me from Jodi's blog then you are hopping along just great! If you are a regular visitor to my blog you may want to start at the beginning of the hop....which is Kim's blog!

I am flying home late tonight after we take down the booth here at CHA....it has been a BLAST and so great to see all my stamping/papercrafting friends!
My card tonight is using the newest Jolinne "Catch a Star"....which is exactly what she is doing!
My little crystal moon (from Melissa Frances) is my light source casting down moonlight on Jolinne. This is a ONE layer card. I colored her first with my copics and then masked her and airbrushed the background.
The net was fun...all I did was push some of my airbrushed color out with my blender pen.
The stars and the sentiment are embossed in white.

Now I send you on your way to one of my FAVORITE gals....Michele! She is fabulous...isn't she!
Enjoy the hop!