Tutorials | Copic in the Craftroom

Posted on July 28, 2014July 27, 2014 by Michelle

Making your own stencils

My next tutorial posted at Get It Scrapped this past week. I had several Creative Team members join me to show off their stencil making skills. It actually is VERY easy to create your own stencils and there a lot of things around your house that can already be used as stencils. I just get you pointed in the right direction and the Creative Team shows you how to put them to good use. On my layout I hand cut a stencil to make the waves and I die cut the sun shape, easy peasy!

Good Eats by Michelle Houghton | Supplies: cardstock; Colorbok, spray ink; Ranger, Tattered Angel and Heidi Swapp, sequins; Jenni Bowlin, buttons and gold letters; American Crafts, blue letters; Bella Blvd

I would encourage you to stop by and take a peek at the rest of the Creative Teams work they did a spectacular job with this assignment! Read more HERE

Happy creative week to you all!

Posted on July 4, 2014July 2, 2014 by Michelle

RubberMoon Seashell and Copic

If you are here for the Copic blog hop please scroll down to the next post!

Hello my crafty friends! I have a new tutorial posting today over at RubberMoon. If you love Copic markers and/or like to dabble in mixed media you will want to check this one out! I had a wonderful time combining my RubberMoon stamp, Copic ink and markers and modeling paste onto my latest layout.

Make sure to go take a peek HERE

Happy Friday!

Posted on June 25, 2014June 20, 2014 by Michelle — 2 Comments

RubberMoon, Copic and Vellum

Happy Wednesday one and all and welcome RubberMoon fans! I have another Copic and RubberMoon tutorial for you! I am passionate about RubberMoon stamps, not only do I think the quality and artistry is top notch, the team and Quality of the people running RubberMoon just can not be beat! I am also CRAZY passionate about Copic markers and the amazing versatility that these markers and inks have so when given a chance to share their abilities I try to give you the full view of what these products can do.

This week I have two beautiful stamps created by Kae Pea, See The Moon and New Moon. These two stamps are truly a favorite of mine not only because they are beautiful but because my family used to sing this song EVERY time we saw the moon when I was growing up. Yes…EVERY time. Come to think of it if any combination of us are together in one location and happen to see the moon together we often STILL will be heard singing this song. So you can imagine there is a large portion of personal history and memory tied to an image like this.

For coloring today I am sticking with my Copics but I wanted a much softer look, one that is more suited to the dreaminess of the image. I could paint with the Copic inks, and I will show you that technique another day I promise, but for today I chose working on vellum or in this particular case on tracing paper. You would get a very similar effect working on either, I just happened to have tracing paper within arms reach. I am also using Memento ink in Tuxedo Black, and Copic markers B0000, B00, V01, BV04, B24 and R22. (In the photo you also see V04 and my colorless blender that I did not end up using.) For the card I used a small bit of watercolor paper, natural twine, blue burlap fabric and kraft cardstock.

Step #1 – On your tracing paper or vellum stamp your moon image and on a few also stamp the words to the song. I did not add them to all of mine since I was not sure exactly where I was going to end up with my project.

Step #2 – On the BACK SIDE of the tracing paper color in the entire moon face with B0000. I am working on the back to soften the look of the Copics. If you let the ink dry completely you will not have any issue with smearing even on the vellum or tracing paper if you choose to work on the stamped side of your work. You will barely be able to see this layer but it is putting a wash over the entire face to help the next layers go on smoothly.

Step #3 – Using B00 go into the areas where you would like to add a little shading like under the brows, the nose the cheeks, chin and along side the nose. This should blend fairly well as you go if you work quickly on top of the B0000. You can always come back to soften the edges just slightly if you need to.

Step #4 – Add V01 into the cheeks and down the length of the nose.

Step #5 – Use your BV04 to add your deepest shadows under the brow and small touches under the nose and bottom lip.

Step #6 – Go back in with your B0000 to soften some of these edges. They will not have perfectly smooth blends on the tracing paper or vellum but more of a painterly quality to them. Also add R22 to the bottom lip.

Step #7 – Using your B0000 go around the outer edge of the moon about 3/4 – 1″ again laying a base for the colors to come.

Step #8 – Use both B24 and B00 to add streaking around the moon.

Step #9 – Use your B000 to soften the streaking around the outer edge.

Hopefully you will be able to see a difference here, in real life there is a striking difference when I turn my image right side up again so I have the stamped image facing me. The black becomes much more striking and the colors all soften one more step to a very watercolor look.

To finish I decided to stamp the words to the song onto a small piece of water color paper and then layer my colored image over the words so they show through. I added a simple bow of tine and layered it on top of blue burlap and a kraft cardstock base.

Thank you so much for stopping by my blog today! I hope you will come back by again! Next Wednesday I have a HUGE announcement that includes a prize giveaway, so you rely need to make it back!

Happy coloring!

Posted on June 23, 2014 by Michelle

Making your own stamps at Get It Scrapped

Today at Get It Scrapped I have a brand new tutorial up sharing how to cut your own stamps. It really is fairly easy and you can start with a kit or with things you already have around your own home. I hope you will stop by HERE and learn how you can create your own stamps and add them onto you next scrapbook page!

Together by Michelle Houghton | Supplies: patterned paper, trims, metal elements, flowers; SEI, wash tape; Bella Blvd., ink; Ranger and Zig

Christy Strickler also adds her amazing talents to this article as well. Thank you so much Christy for sharing your talents!

Floating by Christy Strickle |Supplies Cardstock,Letters: Colorbok; Chipboard: Little Yellow Bicycle; Other; Mist, stamp, ink

Happy Monday!

Posted on May 28, 2014May 27, 2014 by Michelle — 2 Comments

Rubbermoon and Copic Journal Cover

Welcome to my blog for another quick peek at some beautiful Rubbermoon stamps and coloring with Copic markers. I am going to give you all the steps and the colors I used but remember you can always substitute and if you have questions about what might work you can post a question in the comments and I will let you know!

I started with a simple paper journal that I painted with Gesso. This is going to change my coloring surface and make the Copics look very different. Then I used Momento ink to stamp both “Lovely Loft House” by Dave Brethauer and “Spread the Love” by Kae Pea. When stamping on Gesso you will want to heat set your ink OR wait several hours before working. You will see on my art where I did not wait and ended up with some smearing.

Here are all the Copics I used B95, B99, R83, R89, E15, Y11, Y17, Y35, BG93, BG99, G24, G28, E07 and a 0.3 Multiliner.

Then I added one more marker, a wide Copic B32. I decided to keep it very loose and color the sky with this broad Copic.

Next are the little birds, I started with Both the R83 and R89 I colored in the small hearts.

Then I went back in with the R83 to create a little smoother blend. On the Gesso it won’t be totally smooth but more painterly. ** Special note when using Copic markers on top of other mediums or surfaces you might pick up other inks, paints or mediums on your nibs. It is easy to take of, just scrub them off on scratch paper as you work. If they happen to dry you can always change them, but is easy to clean as you go and not ave the extra cost.

The rest of the little birds get colored with E15 on the bodies and E07 for the bellies and wings. The tiny beaks get a touch of Y35.

The Loft House is next and I am starting with the bulk of the building and working with BG99 to start.

Coming in from the opposite side with BG93 and flicking the color into the darker shade. It is easy to see how easily the Copics blend on top of the gesso on this step. Even with colors that are extremes from light to dark.

Use Y11 and Y17 to add light and welcome to the windows and door. I started with the dark first and flicked in the lighter color.

Small brick, roof and shutter details with B99 and B95, no blending here just coloring.

I wanted to add a chorus and verse from the song “Three Little Birds” by Bob Marley. For a fun easy lettering technique I added wavy lines with a Copic Multiliner.

Then I remembered I wanted to add ground under my house so it is not floating so I added scribbly grass with a G28.

I added some G24 in the same scribbly fashion into the grass as well.

To finish I added the words to the song. I allowed the letters to stretch and shrink according to the lines.

My journal is ready for creating or for gifting. Someone might need a smile and a “don’t worry” message today. Thank you so much for stopping by today! Make sure to check the recent art work at Rubbermoon as well. There have been some amazing posts over the past week with paper dolls made from pieces of stamped images with doodling, intuitive painting, and shrinky dink jewelry that I guarantee my daughter’s and I will be trying this summer!

Happy Wednesday!