Saturday, June 27, 2009

Shadows Part 11- Coloring Pleats

It was nice having a bit of a vacation, but it's back to the grind again. Today I wanted to talk about coloring simple pleats in fabric. Before I start I'd like you to review this post from last Fall on coloring pumpkins, since the wrinkles on pumpkins are similar to the pleats on a skirt.

To correctly shadow pleats we are combining the technique for wrinkles on a pumpkin and coloring a cylinder. As we get into more complex shading we will be combining more of the basics, so be sure you've reviewed all the old shadow posts.

Simple pleats
I consider this a beginner technique because it is still pretty easy to understand, as long as you color in the right order.

When working on coloring draped fabric, keep a couple things in mind:
• Always color in the direction of the wrinkles- this helps use the natural streaks of the marker to accent your layers of cloth.
• Work light to dark- it's easier to darken shadows than to leave highlights.
• Crisp folds will leave crisp shadows, softer folds will cast softer, less defined shadows.

First, I am coloring this pleated skirt (or tablecloth, depending on how you look at it) as if it were a basic cylinder. I am starting with R83 as my lightest color in the shadow sequence (if you don't understand how I choose colors, view this post).

I pick where my light is coming from and I leave that side lighter and darken the other side of the skirt. Right now I'm not really worrying about the wrinkles in the fabric, but see that I am leaving white areas on the first and the second wrinkles. These stick out more, so they will get more light.

Note how flat the picture looks when you only use one color. I know I have said this before, but the more colors you use, the more things will look like they pop out from the page.

Now I can add my next darkest color, R85. Again, I'm not worrying too much about the wrinkles, except for leaving a few highlights of the lighter pink. Already with 2 colors my object doesn't look so flat, but the pleats aren't showing up much yet. If you look at the one wrinkle in the middle that I have darkened a bit you will see just how much it seems to pop out more than the other fabric wrinkles. Eventually all the wrinkles will jump out this much.

Next I add my darkest pink, R89. Since this is my deepest shadow I need to start being careful about where I add it.

Each time I add a darker color I am layering it on in feathered streaks from the edges towards the middle, along the wrinkle lines of the fabric. This looks more natural and the feathering keeps my edges soft, as these wrinkles are gentle. R89 is added only along the back edge of the shape and in the darkest wrinkle at this point.

Now I look at my shape. Not bad, but I really want to pick out those darkest shadowed areas on the pleats. So I go back one last time and darken all the shadows between wrinkles.

The first wrinkle is an area I colored with R83, so I darken it with R85. Same with the second wrinkle. The 3rd wrinkle is an area where I was switching between R83 and R85 so I shadow with R85 and touch of R89. My last wrinkle will be the darkest, so it is made with R89.

If you compare the last two steps, do you see how much more the final example looks 3 dimensional? Shadows are the key to making an object pop off the page.

For my final artwork today I colored the pleats on this cute cheerleader that I drew with a 0.25mm Multiliner SP on color laser copier paper.

It's easy to tell where the light is coming from in this picture, and you can tell that the skirt curves around her waist, and that there are two layers of fabric.

Look at the close-up of her skirt. One thing that I did differently is that a cheerleader skirt has very flat pleats, that are crisp on the edges.

If you look closely at the shadowed areas you will see that I added an extra dark shadow line where the top pleat overlaps. This shadow line is very crisp and sharp, because the shadow created by the flat pleat is very crisp and clean. Our other skirt had much softer pleats, so I did not need to add this extra dark shadow, rather, I wanted those to be very soft.

Monday, June 22, 2009

New Blank Color Chart

I'm back from vacation and still catching up on things. If you have sent me an e-mail recently and I haven't responded please be patient. I have a lot of e-mails to get through.

Meanwhile, here's a file that should be helpful for those of you working on your Copic Collections. This is the revised color chart including the new 12 extra-pale Sketch colors. Print it on your most commonly used paper type to get the best results. This will be available on the Copic Website for download after the markers are available to the public.

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Coloring Straight Hair

I'm back! It was a fabulous trip to Utah, and I met lots of neat people, saw some great stores, and even had time to visit some family. Before I leave town again, I wanted to post a quick tutorial on coloring straight hair. I will post hair colors, coloring curly hair, and stuff like that in the future. For now, this is the most basic method of coloring hair with Copic Markers.

Coloring Long, Straight Hair
The technique I'm working with today is easiest done with brush nib of Sketch or Ciao markers, though it can be done with the fine point from Copics, it will just take a lot more streaking.

The picture I'm coloring today is of this simple girl that I just drew with a 0.2mm Multiliner SP onto color laser copier paper. In the artwork you can already see where the light is coming from and where the deepest shadows will be. Here are a few things to consider before we finish coloring the picture.

To really get nice looking hair you have to understand a few things about hair:
• Hair is not all one color
• Hair catches light in small clumps, not flat
• Healthy hair is shiny, and shiny things have more contrast
• Hair has layers, a front side, a backside, and it curves around your head

When coloring hair, keep in mind:
• ALWAYS color in the direction the hair grows
• Streaks are OK, and the back of the paper doesn't need to be soaked.
• Try lots of different color combos until you get the look you want
• Pay attention to where you put your shadows.
• As you layer colors, leave bits of the base color peeking through to give your hair dimension.

Feathered Strokes
As you begin coloring hair you should practice on some scratch paper to get the technique down. I've noticed in my classes that a lot of people have trouble with basic feathering using the brush nib.

This technique is useful for feather blending, making grass, and other basic coloring so if you are not comfortable with feathering I urge you to practice, practice, practice!

I feather by holding the brush at a slight angle and lifting up at the end of each stroke. Consistency is the key. I want each stroke to start in the right place and lift up in the same place as well.

I want my hair to look a nice golden blonde color, so I'm going to lay down a base color of YR21. (Other good pale blonde base colors include Y00, Y11, Y21, YR31, though you should experiment on your own). You can see that with one color her hair looks OK, but it's not very exciting.

To make the hair appear shiny I am leaving highlights along the sunny front edge of the hair, and along the top of her head where the hair curves down to hang straight. The hair will be slightly darker on the shadow side of her head and down behind her head along the back of her neck.

Now I can accent her hair and darken it up by adding streaks of Y28. To get thinner streaks I hold the marker more vertical and use only the finest tip of the brush. I deepen the darkest shadow areas by letting the base colors dry then adding another layer of color. Always color in streaks and leave some of the lighter areas show through. This keeps the hair from looking too flat.

Notice how the darker yellow really tones down the hair. Now it looks more believable as a hair color and you can see shape of her head better. I hope this helps you as you color. Have a great day!

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Cleaning Copic out of fabrics

I am off to Utah today to teach the certification class for Thursday. It should be a great bunch of people at that class. I can't wait!

Meanwhile, I wanted to post something rather useful. If you have ever spilled Copic ink on your clothes or accidentally dropped a marker on your favorite new blouse then you've noticed how permanent Copics are. I have the solution for you.


Cleaning Marker Ink off Fabric
If you try touching the spot with Colorless Blender you will thin out the color but it will also cause the spot to spread. That's not good. Especially on dark ink colors it will make a bigger mess (ask me how I know).

What we use at the warehouse and we swear by is Grandma's Secret Spot Remover. This stuff works great! I discovered it about 3 years ago at CHA and I figured it would be good for removing coffee stains but lo and behold it works on inks as well. Now every year I go back to their booth and thank them for making this stuff. We have 3 bottles floating around the warehouse at any time and I have 2 at home. Thank You for saving some of my favorite clothes!!!

What I do:
• Put a folded paper towel under the stained area. Add tiny amounts of colorless blender to remove as much ink as possible without spreading around too much (the paper towel will suck up a lot). Be sure you aren't just transferring the ink to another layer of fabric!

• Add a dab of Grandma's spot remover. Let it sit for a while (10-15 mins. is good), then wash your clothes on their regular setting. If you still see a hint of color then repeat.

When we spill at work sometimes we just put it on, wait 10 mins. , do a quick rinse in the bathroom, add a dab more, and then continue wearing the clothes until we get home to really wash it. It works on coffee and rust as well as Copic. I know our warehouse workers love this stuff.

This takes care of most light to medium colored blobs. I spilled black ink on my favorite light khakis and after two washes it was faded to only a tiny hint of blue (equal to about a B00). Even that came out eventually. (sorry- I never took photos and now I don't know where the stain is).

Disclaimer: I can't guarantee this will work on all fabrics or with all colors, but we've had really good success over the years. The least you can do is try it to see if it works. If this helps you salvage just one shirt then it's totally worth it. If you've tried it or found another solution then please leave a comment on this post!

Meanwhile, I will not be posting much while I am out of town, so I'll see you next week.

Salt Lake Make 'n Takes
Just a reminder, if you are in the Salt Lake Area come visit me at one of my events on Friday or Saturday. Each store I visit will have some doorprizes of NEW Spica colors, so come and check those out!!

Friday, June 12 – make and takes with OCL

2:30-4:30 Heartfelt Creations
9318 S. 700 E.
Sandy, UT

5:30-7:30 Country Loft
288 E Main
Lehi, UT

Saturday, June 13
– make and takes with OCL

10:00-11:30 Heartland Paper
616 West 2600 South
Bountiful, UT

1:00-3:30 Paper Creations
1140 E. Brickyard Road
Salt Lake City, UT

5:00-7:00 Heartland Paper
5794 South Redwood Road
Taylorsville, UT

Monday, June 8, 2009

Recent Copic Videos

People frequently ask me for good videos showing how to use Copic markers. If you visit YouTube and search for "Copic" you will find many good videos. Here are some new papercrafting videos that you may not know about:

Christine, from ScrapTime just posted a couple new videos:
Basic coloring

Storage cases
Flip back through her archives for many other useful videos.

Last month, our very own Sherrie Siemens posted a new video as well.
Airbrushed Sky
On the sidebar of her blog you can see a full listing of great tutorials she has posted over the last couple years.

I also have a simple tutorial posted on YouTube from CHA winter, so if you haven't watched it yet now's your chance.

If you have any other fun Copic videos that you have uploaded you can post links in the comments as well. Thanks in advance for sharing!

I will be out of town much of this week doing presentations and teaching in Utah, so if you are near Salt Lake be looking for me there. Have a great day!

Sunday, June 7, 2009

East Coast Contest

Want another great prize? Do you live on the East Coast? In conjunction with Pat Huntoon at Technique Junkie Newsletter we are giving away one free seat for the upcoming Belmont, NH certification class.

To enter, you need to read the details HERE.

Go on, enter! Learning new techniques is a great way to start your summer. You can still register for the following Certification classes this summer:

Salt Lake City, UT class on June 11th taught by Marianne is open to the public.
Belmont, NH class on June 14th taught by Sally Lynn MacDonald is open to the public.
Durham, NC class on June 28th taught by Sally Lynn is FULL
Orlando, FL class on July 27th taught by Marianne is open to Stores, Teachers, & Design Team members only.

If you haven't signed up for my mailing list on the right, you should do it now. I use that mailing list to notify you of classes near you.

Applications will be going out in the next week for:


Vancouver, BC
August 15th taught by Sherrie
Eau Claire, WI August 16th taught by Sally Lynn

As I finalize the last few details, applications will also be going out for
San Diego, CA August 17th taught by Marianne
Calgary August 22nd & Edmonton August 29th taught by Sherrie.
Coconut Creek, FL August 30th taught by Sally Lynn
Minneapolis, MN (Date TBA, Mid Sept.) taught by Marianne

So jump in and learn to use your Copics!

As a follow-up to World Drawing Day: So I followed my own advice. I went over to my friend's house and I gave her 2nd grade daughter coloring lessons with her Crayola colored pencils. All I showed her was my simple shadow technique with a piece of plastic and some lines drawn on it for figuring out lighting. She was so excited! Her coloring instantly improved and she proudly showed her mom how she could make the picture look more 3-D. That gave me the warm-fuzzies for the rest of the day. Were you able to get out and inspire someone this weekend?

Saturday, June 6, 2009

World Drawing Day - How I became an Artist

I am frequently asked the question. "Wow! You draw really good. When did you start drawing?" To which I reply "I have always drawn." For World Drawing Day I figured this is a great chance to answer that question. This is a brief story of how I got to where I am today (artistically). The artwork is from a gallery show I did in 2006 about how I became an artist and one-page comics. For directions on how to draw your own one-page comic click here.

How did I become an Artist?
Growing up, my mom was an art teacher. That doesn't mean that she sat me down and formally taught me as she did her students, rather, she always had a pencil and paper in her purse and to keep me occupied she would hand them to me.

She has kept many examples of my early artwork to this day, and I can see the progression in my drawings. One of the earliest things I could draw well was an Elephant. I loved elephants (and I had a ratty old baby blanket in the shape of an elephant). So when I was little, my mom would fold paper and write the words and I would draw the illustrations for my own little books. (One of the first stamps Our Craft Lounge had me draw was a cute elephant, I thought this was very ironic). My next favorite things to draw were dinosaurs (because they were the only things bigger than elephants). When I was in 1st grade there was a program at school called "Young Authors" and I wrote a book about dinosaurs.

Although she would encourage me to draw and give me supplies, she didn't seem to approve of the things I would choose to draw later on- the characters from comic strips or from cartoons on TV.

Really, the main reason I would draw these is because this was what my friends wanted. I would draw Garfield, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and Simpsons characters and sell/trade them to my friends. I had a cool collection of toys by 5th grade because of all the artwork I would trade for them. It made my friends happy and I got neat stuff.

In elementary school my teachers would also ask me to help them draw special things to decorate their doors or bulletin boards, or help make posters for school plays and things like that. Thus began my graphic designing- combining pictures and words into books and on posters. Once someone asks you to design a poster then it's kind of contagious and you keep getting asked to draw posters, so you keep getting better, so that you get asked more often to make them... and then you see what happens.

I was also lucky enough to be one of the first kids in school to have a Macintosh computer. By this time my mom was self-publishing quilting books and I would help her touch-up her artwork in Mac Paint because of my "sharp eyes". My best friend would come over and we would spend hours drawing crazy things in Mac Paint, then Kid Pix and then I got into middle school where I was the computer lab assistant and I'd spend my free time drawing on the computer. I was also in art class, but I didn't really like the teacher, so I didn't get much from it.

Can you see what I'm getting at so far? If your child likes to draw then let them draw! Encourage them without pushing or forcing them to do it a certain way, just let them explore what they are interested in. Art is NOT encouraged in public schools after 5th grade, so if your child is good at drawing wheny they're young, don't let them give it up as they stop getting encouragement at school. It's much harder to re-learn as an adult.

I appreciate that my mom never forced me to draw, and she also knew that I wouldn't have listened to her if she had tried to give me advice anyways. She would always tell me "Don't get a degree in art (like she did), you'll never make any money." I also was never good at drawing hands or people realistically enough for my mom (she was a landscape and portrait painter and I still can't draw people up to her standards). Now my mom has said many times that she wishes she were 30 years younger so that she could do what I do now.

In High School the art teacher I didn't like moved up to teach at our school, so I never took art. I took stained glass instead because that teacher would let me explore the medium. I would make blown glass dragons and flowers and things like that.

In 9th grade the Journalism teacher came to our class "recruiting" students for the newspaper. I thought it sounded like the dumbest thing based on her presentation, so I wasn't interested. But many of my friends joined the next term. One day, a couple weeks into the new term my friend invited me down to the newspaper room so she could finish an article. I saw a room full of computers, so I sat down and started drawing on one. The teacher came out to chew me out about being on off-limits computers. Then she saw what I had drawn and "hired" me for the newspaper. Thus began my formal graphic designing.

For the next four years I never left the computers. I learned PageMaker 3, Photoshop 2.0, Illustrator 3, and all the old software in black and white. Oh how this helped me in college!!! We also worked on tight deadlines, and by my Junior year our High School newspaper came out every two weeks, and we were winning State awards for layout and art. This is also where I learned photography.

We picked up freelance graphics jobs from around our school district and earned enough money to pay for training trips to Seattle, San Francisco, and other cool places. I got my first illustrating/graphics freelance job on my own when I was 17 doing a series of books/workbooks teaching kids to be safe. I would also draw comics of my friends and their exploits, and I would draw some really complex stuff for my best friends.

Becuase I was a teenager and just to irritate my parents, I went to the University of Oregon (which my dad hated) and studied Art (which my mom was opposed to). I earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Multimedia Design with a Minor in Journalism Communication (Advertising). I graduated a year early and I got to study cool things like animation, sculpture, (almost had a minor in geology), photojournalism, advertising, and all sorts of cool things. One of my professors, Ken (who is important later on) taught comic drawing classes and animation classes. I liked Ken because he would let us explore in whatever direction our art would take us, as long as we were productive.


I also did a lot of freelance work in college, some of which included Learn To Read and Write books (all graphics, only some of the illustrations), sports programs for Eugene Thunder Hockey Team (1 season), and Thurston High School (6 years). One other freelance project I worked on when I was 20 years old was for this little company called Imagination International, Inc. (who you know as the North American importer for Copic).

I also spent 2 years earning independant study credit by teaching art once a week to 4th graders in my brother-in-law's classroom. When I graduated college I continued teaching comic drawing at many of the local galleries, museum of art, and through the city recreation department and the public libraries (I'll be teaching a couple teen-Manga workshops this summer if anyone is local). At one point I was working 30 hrs./week for Copic and teaching 5 different workshops to kids each week. That's a lot of art!

When I was still a Sophmore in the U of O Art department an e-mail went around the department for some company (Imagination International, Inc) looking for a graphic designer. Paid position! I was between freelance gigs at the time so I replied. I guess I was the only one who did, so I was given a Japanese brochure, a disk of images, and an English translation. My task was to make a US version of the brochure for these new markers. I hadn't seen Copic markers before, so the more I worked on the project the more intrigued I got.

When I finished the brochure I got my very first 12pc. set of Copics (which I still have today). The president of the company is Ken O'Connell, who was my drawing professor the next term at the university. That was over 8 years ago. Over the next few years I did a couple more projects for Copic and shortly before I graduated they offfered me a full-time job as the graphic designer. Thus my employment with Copic. Slowly, over time, I moved from the graphic designer on to being the product specialist and getting to travel, meet new artists, and help others learn how to use their art supplies.

I would teach Manga drawing at conventions for Copic (come see me at Anime Expo in LA) and travel to art stores and art schools (This fall I will be doing class visits to Savannah College of Art & Design) sharing how to use Copic products. So I had to look proficient in many styles of artwork- from the Japanese Manga/Anime, to Landscape Architecture, to product design.

Then a few years ago papercrafters really got excited about Copic products. So I have slowly become a papercrafter as well, and now for my freelance artwork I illustrate stamps for Our Craft Lounge (you can read that story here).

Now I get to help other people improve their art, learn how to use Copic markers, and I get to teach kids how to draw. Every day I am thankful that I had encouragement to keep drawing and the opportunities to work on so much.

Today, for World Drawing Day, I challenge you to inspire a child to draw.



Give them encouragement. Sit down and color with them. Give them a set of crayons, or pencils, and of course- markers :) Go visit a gallery and leave a message of encouragement. If you don't think you can draw today, it's because someone way back never gave you the chance. You can change that! Know that what you do today changes the next generation (the photo is of my daughter doing what she loves the most-drawing).

If you have no way of helping someone locally, then help people who will appreciate it far away. You can donate to Pens for Kids, an organization that donates used ballpoint pens (like the ones you steal from the bank) to kids in rural Africa who have no writing supplies. This gives them the chance to go to school and learn to write and draw.

Friday, June 5, 2009

Friday Art Links & basic blending

To finish up the fabulous week of prizes I want to announce the winners for the Salt Lake Certification giveaway.
Congratulations to Lesa Rapp and Mollie Farnsworth !


In the world of Twitter there is a phenomenon called "Follow Friday" where people suggest great links to visit/follow. I want to start posting more fine-art and illustration related links on Fridays.

World Drawing Day 2009
Tomorrow, June 6th is World Drawing Day. The organizers are trying to get 1,000,000 people to commit to not only making art, but displaying what they drew and linking back to their homepage. I know that EVERYONE who reads this blog can doodle something. Papercrafting is a form of creativity and any form of creativity is a form of Art. Even if you don't consider yourself an "artist" if you can add color to a picture you are giving your own artistic representation of something. So I urge you to share your creation with World Drawing Day. If you need ideas, just click on the draw-it-yourself at the end of this post.

For more details visit the World Drawing Day website. Tomorrow I'm going to post a brief history about myself and art (adapted from a gallery project I did a few years ago) to celebrate World Drawing Day.

Today however, for the papercrafter I want to share a quick blending technique. I read through most of the nearly 800 comments I got this week and the consensus is that you want to see:

• More blending
• More shadows
• More color theory
• More basic techniques

So I'll happily share all this and more over the course of the next year, along with more Draw-it-yourself techniques and Fine Art, Comic, and Design information.

Simple Blending, dark to light
This is a quick card I made for my son to give to his teacher to celebrate the end of the school year, and the end of my old elementary school (they're building a new one for next fall).

I made this card using Gina K. Pure Luxury 80# cardstock, which works very well with Copics. The patterned paper is by Reminisce.

I wanted the stars to be lopsided, so I cut them myself crookedly to give them a fun feel. I colored the stars using Y17 first and then I added Y11. This is another way of blending, which workd very well on open areas like these little stars.

This technique is easiest with the brush nib, but you can do it with any of our markers. Always work on clean scratch paper so if you go over the edge of your cutout it won't stain your surface and you won't have stray color bleed through from your scratch paper. It also helps if your hands are clean so you don't get inky fingerprints on your yellow (ask me how I know!).

First, with your darker yellow color each point, lifiting up at the end of your stroke as you work your way in. Leave the middle open.

Next, take your lighter color (in this case Y11) and really soak the middle of the star. This will start to push the edges of the darker yellow out. Don't let a ridge build up! (if you look at the diagram close-up you'll see a slight ridge of darker color- this needs to be smoothed out). You want to lightly feather the ligter color as you get deeper into the dark yellow. Then all your edges stay soft and blend smoothly. Push with the lighter color until you get a smooth blend. If the dark color gets too light, then add more of the dark, again feathering the darker color so you don't get harsh edges.

I know I have said this before, but ANY lighter color will push a darker color out of the way if you soak it enough. You can always keep layering colors as much as you need to get the blend that looks right. With Copic markers you'll never have a problem with the paper pilling.

Have a great weekend and keep drawing!

Thursday, June 4, 2009

Final Winners for blog prizes

This has been a crazy week for prizes! I want to thank everyone who viewed my prizes or those on our design team member's blogs. Thank you so much for your support of our blogging efforts. It's always fun to give (and receive) gifts, so without further ado, here are the winning numbers for my fabulous prize giveaway:

#546 is Cheryl said...

Inspiration. I've been inspired and motivated. I was an art student with aspiration to become a graphic designer. Life, marriage, motherhood, etc took over my life. I haven't colored or pulled out art in over 15 years...until your site motivated me to start shading and drawing again! Thanks.



#244 is Carol said...

Great blog, happy blogaversary! :) - what I learned from your blog is to not be afraid to doodle :)


#173 is Melio said...

Happy 1 Year!

I have a couple dozen markers and have found your blog to be a great resource - on the proper ink and paper to use and how to understand the marker codes and how the blender, umm, doesn't actually blend :)


#352 is Joyce said...

Happy Blogiversary!!! I love your blog because it inspires me. I love learning tricks and techniques and drooling over your artwork.


#716 is cherylstampgirl said...

I just got my set of 72 markers today....I have already been playing with them. Can't wait for
Certification to come to Texas.


#570 (runner up) is Louise Dubord said...

Thanks for the inspiration, the tips, the color combinations, etc.

If you haven't received an e-mail from me, please contact me with your address so I can get these prizes out to you. Thanks!



Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Rumors and Prizes

I want to thank everyone who has participated in the giveaways this week. You still have through tonite to enter my giveaway by making a post here.

If you want a chance to come to the Salt Lake City Certification on June 11th you can send an e-mail to ilikemarkers@gmail.com (the odds of winning are pretty good right now, so don't hesitate). Click here for more details.

Rumors:
You may have heard rumors on the internet this Spring about new colors coming from Copic.

The rumors are true and confirmed!!
Copic is coming out with 12 new colors, available in Sketch and Various ink only. This will bring the total to a whopping 334 colors of markers available. Wow! That's a lot of choices.

They are NOT available for purchase...(yet)...just keep reading...

The fabulous new colors are:
COPIC Sketch BV0000 Pale Thistle
COPIC Sketch V0000 Rose Quartz
COPIC Sketch RV0000 Evening Primrose
COPIC Sketch R0000 Pink Beryl
COPIC Sketch YR0000 Pale Chiffon
COPIC Sketch Y0000 Yellow Fluorite
COPIC Sketch YG0000 Lily White
COPIC Sketch G0000 Crystal Opal
COPIC Sketch BG0000 Snow Green
COPIC Sketch B0000 Pale Celestine
COPIC Sketch C00 Cool Gray 00
COPIC Sketch W00 Warm Gray 00

Then the question comes, What do I do with all those super pale colors?

Well, I know that our design team will love the pale yellow (Y0000) and pale blue (B0000) , as they have been making their own markers in these colors right now. The color "Snow Green" is perfect for...well...snow. That pale red is going to be great for subtle, rosy cheeks, and I would use YR0000 for a pale skin color. Once I get my hands on these I'll try to color something and use these soft colors (see, I can't even play with them yet!! my patience is wearing thin...)

So when will they be available??!!!
Soon. I know you want them NOW. It is very hard to know exactly when the boat is coming over from Japan, but the first few may arrive in time for an Anime Expo sneak peek (July 2-5, Los Angeles Convention Center) Keep your fingers crossed! If you are coming to Summer CHA from July 28-30 you can see them in our booth (not the Supershow). It may be a while before these are in your retail stores or online though. Just be patient and keep looking for them.

Meanwhile, check out the giveaway from Monday and I'll have more ideas tomorrow.

Monday, June 1, 2009

Happy 1 Year of Blogging!



Wow, a whole year I have been at this, and my way to finish up this week of celebrations is with more prizes.

See this assortment above? It includes 1 each of all the new Spica Glitter Pen colors, 5 assorted Ciao Markers, and 6 multiliners, all in a sleek, black wallet. Retail value of $80!

I'm giving away 5 of these sets.

Leave a comment on this post between now and 12am Thursday morning for your chance to be entered.

Tell me what the most valuable thing you have learned from my blog this year has been, or what you want to learn, any other suggestions for Copic (colors, new products, etc), or just say hello. It's that easy!

Good Luck!

Come back later today for more prize opportunities and updates on other winners.

Rules:
• US & Canada only, sorry!
• One entry per person
• Must include a way for me to contact you (e-mail address or blog link)
• After I announce the winner you have one week to contact me or your prize is void and will be passed on to a runner-up.
• If you can't leave a comment you need to set up a Blogger profile. This is super easy and allows you to vote on other blog prizes.

More Blogsiversary Updates

I want to thank everyone who has left comments this week on our designer's blog posts. There is a lot of enthusiasm out there for Copic markers and learning how to use them... Thank You!

There is still time to leave comments to win my prize for today
, but I want to give a big congrats to all the other fabulous winners this weekend.

The Winner for Sharon's giveaway is Ann Clack.

The Winner for Michelle's giveaway is Tessa Wise.

You can still leave comments on Debbie's giveaway through Midnight tonite.

Last, I have one Big Giveaway to finish off my Blogsiversary Week:

For those of you near Salt Lake City, UT
I am giving away 2 free seats in the class on June 11th

To enter simply e-mail Marianne (ilikemarkers@gmail.com) and put SALT LAKE CLASS CONTEST in the title. Give us your best paragraph about the papercrafting things you enjoy and are passionate about and why you should win.
Please include your NAME, E-MAIL,ADDRESS,PHONE NUMBER
(Serious entries only please)

Winner will be chosen Friday, 12am. and I will contact you with more information.

If you live near Salt Lake I will be doing Make-and-Takes all day on Friday and Saturday in the SLC area. HEre are the places I will be, so come and visit if you can!

Friday, June 12 – make and takes with OCL

2:30-4:30 Heartfelt Creations
9318 S. 700 E.
Sandy, UT

5:30-7:30 Country Loft
288 E Main
Lehi, UT

Saturday, June 13
– make and takes with OCL

10:00-11:30 Heartland Paper
616 West 2600 South
Bountiful, UT

1:00-3:30 Paper Creations
1140 E. Brickyard Road
Salt Lake City, UT

5:00-7:00 Heartland Paper
5794 South Redwood Road
Taylorsville, UT