CHA 2015 Wrap Up Part One: Tools

For the third year I was lucky enough to attend CHA. This year I went with Custom Impressions, my home store and the location I teach at. (We are doing the G45 Celebrations layout classes there soon!!) I thought I would share some of what I saw and did at this year's CHA. So in no particular order here are the products and techniques I found intriguing, exciting and beautiful.

So, let's start with some cool tools:

Sizzix Inksheets
These really cool sheets that allow you to use your dies and embossing folders as stamps are pretty awesome. The come in black, white, gold and silver. I got to play with them in a  card class with Stephanie Bernard and on the show floor. They even won an award for being the hottest product this year! I have a feeling we will see many cool uses for these ink transfer sheets! (To use them with your wafer thin dies you will also need a transfer platform for your machine.) Gotta get my hands on these.

 

Sizzix Precision Plate
I have known about the advantages of using a metal shim with detailed dies for a while. In fact I bought one with my eBosser. But this platform for the Big Shot is the right thickness to replace one of your regular cutting plate and seems way more durable than others I have seen. Watch a video with Tim Holtz using the Precision plate here. If you use thin dies like i do this seems like a no brainer to buy.

Tim Holtz Idea-ology Remnant Rub Tool
This is a jeyal tool with a stylus on one end and a round angled chiseled end on the other. It is amazing for tranfwring rub ons (which were super popular this year.) And i have a feeling a metal stylus will have more than one use. Should be a good addition to my basic tool box.

Tim Holtz Shadowpress Station

This is a cool little gadget to help you in the shadow deboss folders that Tim started releasing last year. The folders are of different words spelled out in the shadows of the letters, and would look very cool in cards, layouts or multimedia projects. Requires a brayer. I am very curious to play with this tool.

Chameleon Markers

 These are alcohol markers that have a blending solution end that you use to dilute/lighten the color so you get a gradient when you color.  This allows you to get more out of less markers. I was really fortunate to try these out at the Some Odd Girl booth on the Gwen cat lady stamp. I really liked the way the blacks look.

 They worked really well, once I got my mind around coloring from light to dark. (I tend to go from dark to light with Copics.) They will work alongside Copics or any other alcohol based marker. I am dying to get alone with these makers!

Water Based Markers

 The manufacturers/importers of the most popular alcohol markers (Copics and Spectrum Noir) are broadening their horizons with new lines of water based markers. These will be joining the water based markers already on the market which range from Timmy's Distress markers to Crayola Markers.  The markers from the Imagine Int'l booth are named Kirarina. They have 2 shades of the same color in the same pen, a darker fine point and a lighter wide point. They are also apparently scented.

The markers from Crafter's Companion are called Spectrum Aqua. They have a Japanese style brush at one side and a very fine point at the other. When I was at the booth, they explained that the pigment is blended with the water previous to being poured into the marker barrel as opposed to being blended as it is added to the barrel. This is supposed to avoid the color separating. As much as I love my Copics I am leaning toward the Spectrum Aquas.

Prima/Julie Nutting Watercolor Pencils

Along with her 2015 stamps (OMG love the decades ones!) Julie Nutting is introducing her own line of watercolor pencils through the Prima brand. I was lucky enough to get a chance to play with them at a make and take station and they are quite nice to work with. They go on very smoothly and you have alot of control over how light or dark your marks go on. And when water is added (with Prima's new water brush if you like.) the penicil takes on a lovely painterly quality as you can see in my sample.  I was able to create dark to light gradients easily.

 This was most noticeable on my Friend Julie's Doll when she used just the black pencil and it looked just like satin. (I really wish I had a picture.) The pencils will be sold in sets of 12 sorted by themes like flesh tones or neutrals. I don't currently have a set of watercolor pencils, but am pretty sure I will soon.

Crop Cutterpillar

The Cutterpillar is a trimmer that you either love or hate. I love mine and want to drag it with me to crops and friends homes etc.  The Crop version is built to be light and portable, but it still has features like the light source at the cutting edge and self sharpening blade. I get pretty good accuracy from this trimmer, but again you should try out trimmers and find the one that matches your needs. The Crop was also partially funded by Kickstarter, so this popular trimmer is manufactured by a smaller company and will be harder to get your hands on right away, I think they have started pre orders on their web site.  I really want one, but think I need to wait to have some extra pin money first.

WRMK
We R Memory Keepers are like the king of tools. So I can't make a post about the newest CHA tools without mentioning them.  This year they added a banner maker and a 3 in 1 (envelopes boxes and bows) to their punch board collection. And they expanded the punch board idea with the Template Studio. This allows ypou to make gigatic envelopes, bags, flowers etc. How freaking cool is that? I want to make the envelope boxes for gifting 12x12 paper. Although it does look like it needs some surface space to use. And lastly, one of the items i saw I  loved were the new style of rolling bags with cabana stripes. Wish my current roller bag wasnt in such good shape lol.  I better figure out a way to get my desk cleared off to use the Template Studio cos that may be coming home with me..

 My Next Post will cover Papers and Stamps from CHA 2015, including Graphic 45 and Prima!!

A Card for My Guy While He's Away

I have been seriously missing my guy while his is gone for work. So, I decided to make him a care package with some candy and a card to let him know how much I missed him. 

For the care package I was sent him some Japanese Kit Kats in green tea and vanilla flavors. And I also sent him some Aero bars in green tea. I also added some treats from a dog that is near where he worked.
 

For the card I used some Just Rite stamps I already had. The background stamp is called Time Flies and was designed by Amy Tedder. It features a pocket watch with the banner across that you can add a sentiment to. I added a sentiment (sending my love), also by Just Rite, that was curved to fit in banners like this.

 

To create the card I first did a stamp with brown Memento ink of the whole background. I colored it in lightly with soft E Copics, aiming for a washed look. Next, I stamped the wings, watch and "tail" sections and fussy cut them out. I colored the with Copics (BG 00 & 02 for wings, G22 & G00 for "tail"). I added a touch of stickles to the wings. Then, with Versamark ink,  I stamped just the watch and embossed it with Stampendous bronze powder. I then fussy cut out the embossed pocket watch. Finally, I stamped the image so it was justvthe banner, again with Momento. Inside the banner I stamped my sentiment. (I was originally planning to use a glue stamp pad and fine glitter for the sentiment, but that method did not seem legible.) I once again used embosssing powder, this time in blue. The banner itself was coloered with pale R Copics.

To assemble the card I first put down the large backgrounds now then I added pop dots to the back of all the fussy cut pieces.  Then, starting with the largest piece, I lined the up with the main image and attached. This created a layered, 3D card. The whole image was attached to card base and was ready to mail to my sweetie.

My Methods for Copic Skin & Hair Part 2: Darker & Curlier

This is part two of my Copic technique.  Again I can;t say if I am doing this the proper way.  I am not Copic certified or anything but self trained.  I learned most of what I know about drawing and shading from years of practice and learning how to look at objects in real life.  To be honest I think that is where you can understand shading the best, by looking at a photo and seeing where the lights and darks fall.  In theis post I am going to go over a darker skin tone, black hair with Cool grey and how I color curly hair,  I am using another digi stamp image by La-La Land crafts.  It is called "Coloring Marci." (Again, please respect the artists and designers of these wonderful stamps.)

These are the colors that I have choosen for my skintone. E11, E13, E15 & E18.  I begin by laying down E11 (the lightest color) over the whole face.  It is ok if it is a bit streaky because there will be additional layers of color to cover it and even it out,

I added a shadow in E13 around the edge of the face and below the hairline to start giving depth.

 

I then blended the shadow using E11

   

 I then added more depth by making a darker shadow line in E15.

  

 And blended it with the E13 and E11.

 (For a medium skin tone you could stop here and make sure everything is well blended.) I added a final layer of shadow with the E18.

And i blended it with the E15-E11 pens.

For blush and lip color I used the E04.

 Now I am ready to color the hair.  I am starting with the area above the headband.

And for the black hair I am using: C9, C7, C5, C3 and C1

I started with the C7 along the top for head and behind top of headband. (This part will be similar to the straight hair we did in part 1.)

 I followed that with a layer of the C5.

 Then I blended in the C3.

 And lastly the C1 was blended in.

 I then added a scond layer of color over the first.  I started with the C9. to make the hair even darker.

 

 I then blended in the C7....

 C5, C3....

 

 and C1. And that finished the top part of the hair.

Now using the same set of colors I am starting on the curls at the bottom.

Using the C9 I start by deciding where the darkest parts of the hair would be.  I choose to make shadows below the headband, at the back of hair (by neck and behind shoulders), beneath the ears, the tips of the curls and anywhere the hair goes behind other hair. 

 I then blended that out in the direction of the curls with the C7.

 And the same with the C5.

 And then blend in the C3.

 And finally the C1. 

 And here is finished coloring of the darker skin and curly hair on the La La Land Craft's "Coloring Marci" stamp.

Thank you with sticking with me through two long tutorial posts.  I hope they help explain my thought process when coloring hair and skin with Copic markers.  I am going to add some other projects where I have used these techniques at the bottom of the post.  And I would love to see how you color hair and skin.  Have fun crasfting and coloring and I will see you again soon!

Another LaLa Land Crafts stap "Winter Marci" I colored her lips a deeper red here.

Here is one of the Gorjuss girl stamps with the darker hair and a much looser curl.

My Method for Copic Skin & Hair. Part 1: Light Skin & Brown Hair

When I color with my Copics at a crop or somewhere I often get asked how I do skin and hair.  (Ok I get asked more about hair, lol) So I wanted to make a post that kind of explains my method.   For this post I am going to do a pale skin tone with a medium (golden?) brown hair.  I am using a La La Land digi stamp - Angel Marci for my demo pictures. So, here we go!

These are the colors I am using for the skin- E000, E00, E02 & E11. To Start, I cover the whole face with E000. This first layer may be streaky or uneven- it will get covered. I try to leave a blank area around the eyes.

The next step is to add a line of the E00 around the hairline, ears and cheeks. basically any where there would be a shadow or where the edge of the face recedes.  Anything that is further away should be a bit darker than what is closer to the viewer. I then go over the lines of E00 with E000 with a "flicking" motion toward the center. (Trying had to avoid the eye area I left blank.)

 

I then basically do the same process with the E02 of shading around the edge of the face the blending toward the center. First with the E00, Then the E000.  The skin will start to get a gradient or I guess ombre effect that gives a more rounded appearance.

And this is the last of the flesh color pens added in the same way, E11. Which is then blended out with the E02, Then and E00 and finally a last blend out with the E000.  This last blend is where I try to get the skin even and well blended.

 

This is where I would add blush or lip color. I used R20 here. (ou will see it better on hair pictures.) and blend it with E000 to soften.

 This is also a good point to do any clean up with the blender pen. If there are any stray marks in the eye area or hair they an be gently lightened with the blender.

Now on to the hair!

I choose A blending set in the E20 range. The lightest and darkest tones will be used sparingly so focus on middle shades when picking a color. I wanted to do a mid range brown with a golden sheen to it.

I start with the second darkest coloe In this case I am starting with the E27.  I color the roots or part of the hair this color. I also color the tips of the hair and out side edges or shadows.  Remember that we want to make the head appear rounded by having darker shades further away.

I then feather out the darker color with the next two colors (E25 then E23.)  I blend in from the darker colors toward the middle where the highlight or lightest color will go.  When I first stated (and sometimes still if I am being very exact) I will make a light curved mark with the lightest color to show where the highlight should be.

I now add the lightest color over pretty much all the hair to blend and soften any hard lines and add the highlight color.  And now I move to the second "layer." of color.

Starting at the part, tips and edge of head, again, I color in a small amount of the darkest color- E29.  You want to use a really light hand and just to a bit to deepen the shading that we already put down with our first layer of color.

I then blend toward highlight from darkest to lightest like I did before.  Adding E27 and E25.

And then E23. As you can see the highlight area is much smaller on this layer.  But we only want a sliver of that bright sheen for it to look more natural or real.  One of the best suggestions I read or heard when I was learning about Copics was to look at magazine photos. Ads (especially for make up or shampoo) will have girls with super shiny hair which is the look I am trying to duplicate. And I can look at how their hair is naturally shaded for guidance.

I add one more blending layer with the lightest shade (E21) and stop.  I left some harder lines between some shades, you can take more time and blend it out softer.  But basically this is my method for hair.

I suggest you look at and try all the different techniques or methods out there. (There are so many tutorials!) And find a method for coloring and shading with Copics that feels right to you.  Because there is no right way to color there is just fun. So go have some!!

Below are samples of some cards I made with Copic colored stamped/digi images.  All images are the property of the artist/manufacturer please respect that!!

This is another La-La Land digi stamp by the wonderful Irina Blount.  It is called "Best Friends Luka."  I colored the hair a similar brown, but went a tad darker on the skin tone.

This card features a stamp by The Greeting Farm called "Cheeky Nurse."  I used the same technique with a strawberry blonde coloring

These adorable dolls are made with the Julie Nutting/Prima stencils. While most of the image is done with paper piecing, the hair on all four were colored in Copics. 

 

And lastly, another La-La Land digi card.  On this one I combined "Umbrella Marci" with some of the accessory stamps Irina designed. The hair color is more of a red brown, but I used the same technique of dark to light shading and layering.

Coming soon - Part Two: Darker skin tones, and Curly hair techniques.