Using Copics to Coordinate Project Elements

It makes me really happy when I try something new and it turns out so cool that I have to keep picking it up and looking at it.  Here's one of those things.  It contains paper techniques that I haven't tried before.  I'll definitely be using these techniques again!

Interactive cards are fun to make and receive. I've seen some really nice pop-up cards and decided to give it a try. Easel cards are also fun to make and display (see my previous post here).  Cards provide good surfaces for experimenting.

Keep in mind that I usually experiment by creating a "dud."  My duds don't necessarily coordinate, they're full of imperfections and they're usually put together using scraps.  I hang on to my duds for future reference so I can see where improvements can be made.  This dud is almost gift worthy and definitely post-worthy.

To decorate the inside of my pop-up card, I used a piece of My Mind's Eye patterned cardstock.  The tiny light blue dots cover a light background that won't distract from any writing on top of it.  I cut my scored insert for a single centered pop-up.  Wow!  First try and it pops up just like it's supposed to.  That was easy!

I adhered the cut insert to the inside of my card over some matting.  Keeping it simple, I added a layered rectangle for my pop-up sentiment.  The cardstock is really firm and sturdy so the card stays open on its own for displaying the inside of the card.  Wow!  This process is really very smooth.

I picked up this Motivet fairy image at this week's Creating Keepsakes Convention in Valley Forge, PA and wanted to give her the spotlight.  She's a little bigger than many of the nesting dies I have.  I got most of her into the Spellbinders scalloped oval die but couldn't fit her wing inside.  I placed the die over the image and pencil marked both sides of where the die met her wing.  I cut around the part of her wing that extended beyond the die edge and cut a little further into the image so the die would slide under her wing.  With her wing resting on top of the die's edge, I ran the image and die through my die cutting machine.  Nice!  I ran it through the machine again to emboss it.  Oh, that's neat!  You'll be seeing a lot more of that!  It's a great effect that I've only done before using hand drawn templates.

I filled my fairy using B91, B95 and B97 to coordinate with the blue of my paper.  I wanted to add some contrast and the opposite of blue is orange.  My blues are very dark and dull so I tried to go for a peachy color and selected R12 for the butterfly wings.  I used E53, E55 and E57 for her hair and pulled that into the butterfly's body and grounding at her feet.  I used B000 to give her wings some transparency.  B0000 with 0 gives a very soft, barely there, outline shadow.

I brushed some glue onto the fairy and butterfly wings and sprinkled some glitter over it.  I'm happy that the wet glue brushed over the butterfly wings didn't react with the Copic marker dots to cause any feathering.  That's good to know.  I added a little more glue and glitter to the flower above the fairy's ear.

I rarely use flowers on my projects.  It's not that I don't like flowers, I do.  It's just that someone once told me that if I make a mistake on a project, don't worry, just cover it up with a flower.  So, many years later, whenever I see a project with flowers all over it, I immediately think that there's a big, messy mistake under the flowers.  LOL!!!  I prefer to find embellishments that are related to the subject of my project.  Sometimes flowers are the most appropriate embellishment.  I think this fairy with a butterfly should be amongst flowers.

I buy white flowers and leaves whenever I see them.  They're my absolute favorites because I know that I can add whatever color I want to match my project.  Here I've taken some Prima frost leaves and airbrushed first with B97.  Yep, I airbrushed blue leaves because I want them to coordinate with my blue paper and blue fairy.  I applied a light top layer using BG93 to give them a little more greenish tone so they wouldn't look too outlandish.

I've airbrushed Bazzill tropical and bachelor white flowers using R12 to match the peachy tone of my butterfly.  I added a pearl to each layered flower for a little glam.  The additional Petaloo flowers with rhinestones seemed to coordinate well enough so I just added them as they were.  I added more to the inside sentiment with the hopes that they'll help to pull it all together.

The fairy and sayings are from Motivet stamps.  Check 'em out!  They have nice, big, open image stamps that are good for filling with Copic colors.  Comment on their blog (here) for a chance to win weekly prizes.

I hope that I've been able to reinforce how using Copics allows perfect coordination for all elements of your projects.

I'm not sure that this card will make it to the dud pile.  I have to pick it up, take another look and think about it again.  LOL!!!