My copic marker storage

When I was at Jenn Dove's Arizona boot camp, I saw so many wonderful, clever ideas for storing copic markers.   I liked bits and pieces of all of them, but I also know that I will never have all 358 markers.  And I want the re-inkers for the markers I do have.  So I combined what I saw and came up with something that is going to work for me!

I took the big copic storage bag  (I hate the flimsy little storage bags in it) and inserted these chipboard boxes that I found at Hobby Lobby.  It is an extremely tight fit!

Next, I cut the fluorescent light grid to go over just the bottom half of the boxes.  Glued it on top of the boxes using E6000.   There are 3 individual grids - 1 in the bottom of each of these boxes and my markers go perfectly straight down through the top grid and snap inside the bottom grid.

If I filled up all 3 grids I could easily store 147 markers across the bottom.  More than enough for me!

My re-inkers are in the 2 top left boxes and the right top box stores my colorless blending solution in a variety of mister and drip bottles - plus my re-inking pens are in there.

It will sit on it's side with the top flap back up over the top on my shelf.  I LOVE this!  I can pull the markers out quickly to use....and there's room on the sides for a few other items (like the book I use to keep track of the colors I have)

and when I don't want to look at it, I just close the top!

Yet it's all in a single bag that has a nice shoulder strap and I can simply grab this and go when I'm off to the next crop or class.  My airbrush system is on the shelf right under the copic storage.

Sometimes, you just have to give it a little thought to come up with the perfect solution for what works for you.  Thanks to all of you at boot camp who shared your creative ideas!!

(just as a side note - my auto spell check wanted to use "ringer" or "reindeer" every time I typed in "re-inker"!!!  Pretty funny!!)

Mercury glass - day 3

Today I'm sharing some of my favorites - and some of the easiest to do!    This first one was a clear glass candle holder.  Maybe 3" tall.  Airbrushed with copic marker RV09 , then Amaco's pewter die cut, with a broken earring attached to the front center.  What do you think?  This one was 47 cents at one of our thrifty stores here in town.

This one was blue glass.  So I simply sprayed the outside with the looking glass paint, spritzed the vinegar/water mix on top of that, then waited 2 minutes and lightly blotted it off so the blue glass would show through.  I used Spellbinders S4-365  Create-a-flake four die for this.  I think that die has been discontinued, but look for it on ebay.  I took apart an ornament from Hobby Lobby for the center of the die and added some bling to the round points.

This was another clear votive holder and I simply love it!  I used Copic marker B06 for the color and this time, I used a ton of color with very little of the looking glass paint.  The pewter is a different element from the Create-a-flake four die above with another pice of the same ornament.  So simple, yet so elegant!

This is a tiny little votive, about the size of a shot glass.  I die cut the border and airbrushed it with colic's B06 as I wanted color on this one.  The snowflake is from the same die.  I love this die - so many different flakes and I haven't even started layering them!

And the last one today.  This is my favorite - so far!  This one is about 5" tall.  The rim around the top of the glass was chipped so I got it for 50 cents.  It was already faux mercury glass, so I didn't have to do a thing with the glass.

I used the large die from the Venetian Motifs, S5-119.   A rather large ornament from Hobby Lobby on the front.  How fun to get these at half off and then take them apart with undue!

The top border is cut from S5-042, Fleur de Lis accents and then…..

Folded over the top rim and pressed down around the top and the bottom to fit snugly against the glass. You can no longer see or feel the cracks that were in the rim.  

All of these just glimmer and shine in the sunlight.  So incredibly pretty in the day, but I have lights under them and at night, it's just stunning!

Tomorrow, I'm going thrifty store shopping in Co Springs with my sis.  I hope we find a ton of clear glass so I can come home and play some more.  Can you believe that I am completely out of glass???

Mercury glass and more - 1

Oh what fun it is to play…..

I'm going to spend the next few days sharing how I made these.  So first, you need to go to your local thrifty store and find glass.  Almost anything will do.  Clear glass, colored glass….all sizes and shapes.  Here's an example of a bottle and a candle votive that I found (of course, they were clear glass when I picked them up).  

While you are in the store, stack them together.  Get different heights.  Get some that will use votive size candles, tall tapers, short fat candles….and pick up used candles while you are at it.  I have several youtube tutorials showing you how to repair, restore and reuse old candles.  

In the days to come, I will share a variety of techniques, but for the look above, you will need Krylon's looking glass paint  (Walmart is the cheapest place if you can find it there).  You need a fine mist spray bottle filled with a mix of 1/2 water to 1/2 vinegar.  I don't think it matters what type of vinegar.  

For this particular bottle, I sprayed 1 coat of paint on the outside of the glass, then patted it off with a Viva paper towel (Viva is soft and flat, no embossed design in it).  Let it dry for a couple of seconds, then sprayed another layer, patted it off….did that 3 or 4 times.  

Next, I immediately spritzed the outside of the glass with the mix.  Let that set for 2 minutes.  It might not be dry, but that's ok.  Pat it off with your paper towel.  It will remove a little bit of the paint.  If you want a different look, rub it a little.  If you don't like the results, just soak the glass in 1 cup of vinegar in a sink full of water and rub all the paint right off.  I make several mistakes so always need a useable remedy!

I've made 23 of these in the past couple of weeks, so lots of experiments, loads of failures, and I'll be sharing different shots of the sun reflecting through them all.

 First up is this little glass bottle.  Remember - it started out clear.  It was someone else's junk.  Now it's my little treasure!  Rows of adhesive crystals around the top and then at the bottom of the top, a row of sequins.  These are the kind that you can buy by the yard in the fabric section at Hobby Lobby.  Note, you can slide them apart, or scrunch them up close together which is what I did here.

Below that is a Spellinder's die.  This is from the Fleur de Lis Motifs and the center was removed using #3 from the Standard Circles Large die set.  Cut using Amaco's pewter - which is very flexible and will bend down around the glass and stretch to fit whatever you need.

In the front center of the glass, I used the medallion from the Fleur de Lis Accents set.  The bling on top of it comes from a half off ornament at Hobby Lobby.  Look at the ornaments carefully as most of them will just pop apart with a little bit of undue.  

Note that I'm using just the paint on these.  Tomorrow, we'll add a bit of color using the Copic Airbrush system!  Can't wait to share!!!

Sneak Peek Sunday

Me, Amaco's Pewter, Copic airbrush, Spellbinders dies and glass.  I have had so much fun playing  all weekend on this little fun project and while I'm not quite done, I couldn't wait to share a sneak peek!!!

It all started with an empty bottle from the thrifty store.

I combined my copic airbrush, and a few other ingredients to come up with this colored faux mercury glass look (which I absolutely love!)  And it's just so easy with the airbrush!!!

Took some of Spellbinder's dies and some pewter and made a gorgeous bottom border…

and a ring for the top...

Used a label die for the center with a little wedding bling from Hobby Lobby….

and the end result is something that I absolutely love!!!

Just a little sneak peek of things to come in a few days!!!  Can't wait to share it all!

Without you.....

Two sets of Monkey stamps by "Talk About Images".  And Lucy.  I'm learning.  I used a medium weight copic paper....too thin to layer.  But I still like the concept.  Color the images with copics, then cut out and layer, then adhere to white cardstock and distress ink the edges.  The paper would be fine for just plain coloring, but it just doesn't work for layering.  

"Without you it's just a barrel...."  isn't that just the truth?  I went through a phase last summer of collecting ladybugs and putting them in a corner in my garden.  I think I'm going to collect sock monkeys this winter.  They are just so cute and they remind me a lot of my childhood.  Grandma Moore made me one once.  I'm sure it got loved to pieces!  We went to lunch at Cracker Barrel today and I found this little guy.  Wrapped him around a pen in my craft tool tote.

Did you know that Cracker Barrel has Moon Pies?  They taste just like they did when I was a kid!  Always good to find things that remind you of your childhood.  :o)

More ideas for your copic airbrush

On the third Thursday evening each month, we have a girls night out at the local scrapbook store.  I take a different topic each month and share ideas. I think using the copic airbrush system was probably the most fun night I've had!  Of course...it's "work" for me to come up with creative uses for some of the products I play with, but this was just plain fun!

I found this old wire basket at a thrift store - it was browns, greens, reds and oranges and I just do not like those colors at all.  I sprayed the entire thing white - using a 2 part primer and paint spray.  Then I "hit" spots with pink and mint copics and now I love how it looks!  I love how the airbrush fades to the white edges.   Yes....full of cards I've made in the past few months - great way to store them.

The airbrush is great for giving fresh color back to doll cheeks and skin....but not on this little cutie!  She's wearing a Bonnie Jean dress I picked up for $2.49.  I was able to trace the flower petal pattern, cut it out in white satin, airbrush the satin pink and make the matching flower to add to the hat.

Airbrushing fabric is so easy and can give added color to existing fabric (no you probably can't wash it but I'll never wash this dolls hat) or create matching fabric to any project your are working on.  What have you airbrushed lately?

doll repair

From about 1990 to 1997, I did doll repair while living and working in San Diego.  I studied under a master - Georgia Millan.  When I moved back to Colorado, I sold almost all the dolls I had.  But I did keep all my tools!  About 3 months ago, a dear friend gave me 3 of her dolls to repair.  I just had a blast working on these little cuties!

This is a Patsy doll from the 40s.  She is made of composition and here hair was cracked and coming off in huge chunks.  I filled it up, sculpted "new" waves, then used my copic airbrush to add color back.  You can hardly tell that her hair was repaired!  Gotta love the creative genius and multitude of colors that copic has....that allows me to create a variegated color in the hair from pale to deep reds and browns!  Worth around $200 even in her restored condition.  I'd guess she's dated from 1925 - 1930.  For her age, she's in very good shape.  She has sleep eyes.

I completely fell in love with this little cutie.  When I first got her, her dress was on another doll and quite stained. Her wig was nearly hopeless and she had no left cheek.  Once again, I was able to identically match the cheek color using Copic markers.  Her wig came off and was washed and reset.  I just think she has the sweetest little face ever!  I've also used Creative Impressions silk ribbon in her hair (helped keep some of the curls in place!)

She is c1928,  E.I.H. Co. Inc Rosebud doll - books around $250!

This little porcelain bye-lo baby had a chip in the porcelain under her left eye.  Again....copic to the rescue!  Silk ribbons in her hair and I literally took a baby sized christening gown and tied it to this doll's body.  You know - a temporary fix until I have time to resize the dress.  But for now, she has turned into a complete cutie!  She's a tiny 1920's doll with blue sleep eyes, so her value is $200 and up - even in her restored state.

When I started working on these little treasures (my friend is 72 and these belonged to her mom), I wondered why on earth I ever quit working on dolls.  I love taking something that is "trashed" and bringing it back to life....why wouldn't I just continue to do something that gives me so much pleasure?

So I checked on craigslist just to see if there were any old dolls.  Imagine my surprise when I saw that there was a doll estate up for sale!  As it turned out, I missed the first 3 sales the gal had.  I can't begin to fathom what she sold!  But I emailed her and asked if she had anything left and she said "a house full!"  So we arranged to meet and I sort of went nuts picking out terribly distressed, broken down old dolls.

Well, hang on, as in the next few days, I will start sharing some of the repairs I've made.  The estate was from a woman who had done doll repair for years in Colorado Springs and had passed away.  Her daughter started setting aside items, tools, wigs, eyes, parts, that her mom had used to repair dolls.  I made a second trip and purchased boxes of product to repair dolls with.  And then, she told me that they had taken everything left to an auction house in Pueblo....and the auction was that Saturday.  Dare I share that I filled my car up at the auction as well???

I think we can safely say that I am now officially back into the doll repair business!  I really love working on dolls from the 40s to 70s, composition or hard plastic dolls.  I love restringing dolls that have fallen apart.  I enjoy cleaning and repairing clothes.  When I was in San Diego, I could take a photo of a dress and make it for the doll - no pattern needed!  Well, that's been a few years now, but I'm going to give that a try as well!

Isn't it amazing how many craft supplies that I didn't have years ago - I can put to use today to make doll repair even more fun!!!

Back to "work"!

Don't you wish you had my "job"? LOLOL!!! Today I'm experimenting with Mr. Ellie Pooh paper and the cuttlebug and a variety of inks. I can't tell you how much I have loved this paper ever since I first saw it in 2005. Wow! Has it been that long???

Can you find 8 diecuts in the photo below?



How about in this photo?



OK, let me show them to you! Go back and see if you can find them now! When you put this paper in with other items...it sort of turns "real"!!! Now, be sure to read their story on their website (link above).

100% recycled, 75% pooh, 100% fun!!!



diecut with a cuttlebug die, then embossed in a variety of folders. OK, think outside the box when you think of a "folder" - the seahorse is using one of the hearts folders in a 2-part die.



And this piece of seagrass is using a folder form the make-a-flower set.  I used Colorbox queues to ink these  Sort of fun on the Pooh paper!

This paper is beyond amazing when it comes to diecutting and embossing!  Like cutting through butter!  And of course, this is one of my fav folders......I used copic markers on this one: 

Actually looks like puff paper to me:

And then I had to do my "standard" test using Ranger's distress inks....oh yumm!!!

Every now and then, a diecut comes out that I HAVE to have! This was one of them!  I just think this is way too cute!  For this one, I used copics in the air compressor.....totally love how the inks went on Pooh paper with air behind them!

Yep, even those stitches are diecuts!  Too cool!  And look how cute when it opens up!

This is the back of the numbers piece....just wanted to show that on each one of these, I'm using the cream, thin, Ellie Pooh Paper.    My favorite color is Robins Egg Blue, but I stock up on "white" because I just love how it inks up!

And finally, a real test...how does it work with Tim Holtz's new alcohol ink pens?  Just about perfect!!!

Wow! What a great way to return from vacation.....start playing the first day home!  Next up?  Turn these into cards of some kind?  No...I seriously have to start focusing on the

Metal Clay World Conference

....just 6 weeks away!  I have to teach 2 different classes - Diecutting & embossing Paper Type Metal Clay (and quilling) as well as a photography class and a pre-conference workshop!  YIKES!!!

Back to work!!!

Grunge birds

Just too cute! Grunge paper (new), Spellbinders nested birds, Cuttlebug and Sizzix embossing folders, Copic markers airbrushed on



Susan was here today and we did a little playing!



You can sand the embossed side to take off the paint. The wings were made with the paisley die. Your dies will not cut all the way through the grunge paper, but it will give you an excellent cut line.



3 sizes of birds, threaded together with invisible thread and a needle



Grunge birds. Do they need a "house" next? LOL!!!