SMOOCH INKS

This is my post from the Cricut MB for Barbara.  A few days ago Barbara was clearing out her craft space and asked on the MB what was a Smooch and should she get rid of them. 

 "Hey Barbara,

This is why you need to keep your Smooches.

Found this in among my swatches. It's a reject because it has a big oopsie. (One of the hearts got messed up and I tried to fix it.)

This is a dry embossed place card, made with a stencil and stylus (also from Paper Wishes), and then patiently painted with Smooches. Isn't it so pretty and girly and sweet?

Anyway, as you can tell the Smooches are pearlescent. The color is intense and the brush makes it possible to get into the tiniest of places. I love my Smooches. There's even a pearl white.

SMOOCHES!
 Let's do lunch."

Now, in case you don't know what Smooches are, they are "Pearlized Accent Ink." I like to call it nail polish for paper.  You can get Smooch ink in lots of colors from PaperWishes.  Look around while you're there.  It's one of my favorite places.

Thanks for stopping by.

COPIC COLORING AND PAPER

We have a new follower.  Welcome!  That makes six of us here.  I will try to make this a place of learning and time well spent when you stop by.

I posted this earlier on the Cricut MB:

"This paper came from PC, I think. I really can't remember, but it's with my other TC stuff from PC, so I'll make that assumption. It's a really good paper. It has a good feel; and as you can see from the pics, you can get good color on it.
   On this pic I used a lighter hand and much less ink. And on the backside of the pic you can see the saturation is near perfect, which is what you want to achieve. I'm learning that some folks don't want their ink to go through the paper, but so far this technique works for me.
  I'm still developing my own style of coloring with Copics. I will get familiar with the different papers out there, especially the ones you all suggest here on the MB.
  Thanks again for sharing your knowledge and wisdom about Copics."

Thanks for stopping by!

STILL COLORING WITH COPICS AND WHAT I'M LEARNING

Awwww.  Sooooo cute.  And it took many oopsies to get her that way.

I purchased this Magnolia stamp, “Tilda Longing,” from a seller on the Cricut MB.  It's a Magnolia stamp.  There are some really cool videos on the web about coloring Magnolia stamps.  I'm loving the MakeItCrafty channel onYoutube that was mentioned on the Cricut MB regarding coloring with Copics. 

Thanks, you guys, for sharing :)

On to the oopsies.  I was coloring this swatch late at night when I really should have been sleeping.  I decided to finish it at another time, so I propped it up on my E2 until later.  This is what happened in the meantime.

I could immediately see what happened but not why.  This has never happened to me before. The problem is that my ink didn't dry quickly.  Usually you don't have worry about Copics drying or staying "wet" for a long time. But because it was "wet" and I propped it up, the ink ran or migrated downward until it dried  :(



This one is more like what I was trying to achieve.  There's a big oopsie on it one, too. (Surprise. Surprise.) I didn't intend to color her skin this way.  Because of "wet" ink and accidentally getting my darker color on top of my medium color, she is much darker than intended. Some of the areas are nicely colored. Most of it is oopsie :(

This one is much better. Too bad I didn't stamp it right (her hand is messed up). The coloring on her face is pretty good, and the hair is not too bad.  Still working on staying in the lines.  Easier not to make a mess than to try to fix a mess.  The arm she has under her chin has really good coloring as well as her face and neck line. 

So what did I learn?

I learned that you need to know the properties of your paper when coloring with Copics so you can adjust your style to get the best effect from that particular paper.  I also learned not to prop up a "wet" project. You have to consider the amount of ink/color you lay down on certain papers.  Be patient and let an area dry before you try to "fix" a mistake.  Using the least amount of ink to achieve the color you want will speed up the drying time.

Please feel free to share your wisdom, thoughts, and comments on working with Copics here.  It would also be helpful if you let me know what, if anything, you would like me to post here.  I have stamping, cardmaking, and coloring projects that I would like to post, craft kits that I would like to make up to post, books I have, and tools I use, relate my experience and encourage you to comment on your experience, things that are not appropriate for discussion on the Cricut message board. I know there are lots of blogs and videos to keep up with.  If there is something you specifically would like to see or know about - tools, books, supplies - let me know.  If I have it, I'll tell you my experience with it.  I have lots of crafting stuff, but, then, don't we all. :)

Thanks for stopping by!



Am I joining the Martha Stewart pep squad? My gift subscription to Martha Stewart Living

With one of my recent MS purchases, I received a one-year gift subscription to

MS Living. I usually avoid magazines like MS Living.  Quality magazines take time to fully appreciate, and I have magazines from 2006 I'm catching up on.

I just finished the November issue of MS Living -- I also have the December 2011 and the January 2012 issues -- and I thoroughly enjoyed it.  It's like a Martha Stewart DVD, without the DVD, and without Martha, but subscribers do have free online access.  I tore out pages I thought I would use like always, but I'm keeping the hard copies for my library. 

MS Living is true to Martha's style.  There are instructions for almost any craft item in the magazine and recipes for the food items.  Even the tear-outs are pure Martha.  They come out perforated and/or glued, so when you tear them out, you get a little booklet.  That is soooo Martha!

If you received a gift subscription, I hope you'll enjoy yours, too.

Thanks for stopping by.