Baby Humphrey - Spectrum Noir

Is this the cutest little image or what? My niece Amanda Eger is going to have a baby girl this week.. I am so anxious! This is a great baby card for anyone expecting a little someone in their life!

I did this as a make and take at the Anaheim Scrapbook Expo this past weekend.. MAN oh MAN.. was that a busy place! Try doing a make and take for 200+ women all at the same time... did I mention a 20 minute window of time to do them all in! LOL...

Humphrey is by Crafter's Companion and is colored in only three color families.

Spectrum Noir Colors:

Blanket is colored with citrus yellows: CT1, ct4

Ears are colored with Pale Pink: PP1

Elephant is done with Brown Grays: BG1, BG2

Copic equivalents would be

Blanket: Y11, Y15, and a bit of Y19

Ears: R11

Elephant: W1, W3 and an optional bit of W5

March Alcohol Marker Classes - Copic & Spectrum Noir

Hi Everyone!

Here are a few more samples for some of my March Classes. I am so into flowers right now and my students seem to love them. These images are both by Impression Obsession. Are they great or what?

I had fun adding a bit of texture to these flowers. I didn't blend them as much as I normally do and I love the effect.

Tip: To leave more texture - blend less and let each layer dry a bit more than when trying to get a nice smooth blend of colors.

Tip: Note that I put the highlight in the center of many of these petals. That is to show that the petal is bending in the middle causing the light to hit the center of the petal stronger than other areas of the petal. Highlight is often shown only on the tips of flowers, this shows a variation on where to put highlight on flower petals.

Enjoy your day

Jennie

COPIC: R21, R22, R24, G20, G82, G85, And a bright & dull yellow like Y15 & YR24

SPECTRUM NOIR: Reds CR1, CR3, CR7, DG1, DG2, DG3, CT4, GB5

March Alcohol Marker Classes - Copic & Spectrum Noir

Totally love these springy colors! Both image are by Impression Obsession and will be projects in my March Alcohol Marker classes. I hope you can join us for one of my classes.

Both are colored with alcohol markers (see color list below). The phone is layered in several layers popping up the phone as well as the dial. I had so much fun coloring the phone and cutting it out for this card. Both cards use the same colors (the flowers don't have brown). Basic coloring was used focusing the darker colors in the creases of the flowers where there would be more shadow.

Note that in my flower card I colored the bottom of each flower petal darker than the top of the petal. This was done to show layering. It shows that the lighter top of the petal is in front of the darker petal behind it.

SPECTRUM NOIR COLORS: Reds CR1, CR3, CR7, Yellows CT1, CT2 CT4, greens DG1, DG3, DG3, and a brown

COPIC COLORS: Y11, Y15, Y17, G20, G82, G85, E35, R20, R22, R24 (No oranges just used my R24 for the yellow/red color)

NOTE: I saw a similar card to this phone card at CHA I believe it was made by Dina Kowal on the Impression DT...... I do not normally copy cards, but I just LOVED her card and copied her layout! Thanks Dina!

Happy Valentines Day....

Happy Valentines Day Everyone!

Here are a few cute Valentine Friendly images that I have recently colored. Some done with Copic and some done with Spectrum Noir. I love both markers.

Today is design day... so you can bet that I will be posting cards later this week! Have a sweet Day!

Popcorn Bear was colored with Copics.

Strawberry Kisses images are colored with Spectrum Noir Alcohol markers..

Images all available at your local scrapbook store or at Crafters Companion HERE

Spectrum Noir tutorial & Blog candy

Step by step tutorial for coloring withSpectrum Noir Alcohol Markers
Stamp: Crafter’s Companion “Christmas Angels”
Markers: Spectrum Noir

Step by step instructions to show you how simple coloring with Spectrum Noir Alcohol Markers is for colorists of all levels.
BLENDING:
Colors used:
Brown Grays: BG1, BG2, BG4
Citrus Yellows: CT1, CT2, CT4
Gold Brown: GB5
Blue Turquoise: BT1, BT2, BT3
Blender pen

1. Color a layer of BG1 (stay off the edges and leave white space for highlight).
2. Add a bit of BG2 while previous color is still wet.
3. Blend two colors together using BG1 (lighter color of the two) ( Optional: soften edge of light color by touching the edge of the color with the blender pen)
4. Add darkest color BG4
5. Blend the two darkest colors together using medium color BG2
6. Add a bit of darkest color back in and clean up edges while step 5 is still wet
7. Repeat with other color families to complete image

TIPS:

1. When adding a darker color, it will blend easier if the paper is still wet from your lighter color
2. Until you are comfortable on how much ink to use, you might eave a bit of white space near your lines to allow a bit of bleeding, after coloring in the rest of the area, you can lightly fill in any white space you left for bleeding.
3. I used I used Crafter’s Companion Ultra Smooth Premium white cardstock. click here
4. Suggested ink pad is Memento Tuxedo Black (Stayzon does not work).
5. For smooth coloring, color in small circles overlapping each circle. When areas are too small for circles be sure to overlap your strokes to insure even saturation (no white space between strokes - tutorial soon!)
6. Because colors blend together best when both colors are wet, it is best to color one or two areas at a time before going on. IE: finish coloring elephants head before going on to his legs & arms, unless you are quick and can layer colors before the ink dries. As time goes on you will improve and become quicker.

If you have questions regarding Spectrum Noir markers, including our accreditation program, please contact me at: Jennie@crafterscompanion.com

Markers now available at your local stamping or scrapbooking stores. If they are not on the shelf ask for them by name, or go here

WIN $100.00 gift certificate to be used on any Crafter's Companion products - that could be 50 Spectrum Noir markers! SEE MY PREVIOUS POSTING FOR DETAILS!

Win $100 of Spectrum Noir Alcohol Ink Markers & blog candy

I love free stuff! Here is a great chance to earn $100.00 of free product by doing two easy steps!

Crafter's Companion is having this amazing contest for customers and our design team! We need to get as many new people to follow the Crafter's Companion blog. The design team member who gets the most new followers gets $100.00 in Crafter's Companion products and one lucky new follower will also win $100.00 in Crafter's Companion products. (see available products Here) You could get fifty new Spectrum Noir Alcohol Ink markers, or stamps, adhesive, and The Ultimate Tool, or a variety of amazing items - you pick the prize with your $100.00 gift certificate! How cool is that! The blog is scheduled to have weekly tutorials, sneek peeks at new stamp lines being released, as well as inspiring projects. My posting will be each Thursday with Spectrum Noir alcohol ink marker tutorials.

Here are the guidelines.
1. You must sign up as a new follower for the Crafter's companion Blog HERE (under newsletter)
2. Send your name and my name to Bindy@crafterscompanion.com

Pretty simple for a chance at an amazing prize!

BLOG CANDY!
To sweeten the deal, if you leave me a comment here letting me know you did those two steps, I will put you in a drawing for this amazing Stamp by STAMP IT... Is it beautiful or what! I just LOVE it. Contest will remain until the end of February 29th - the same as Crafter's Companion contest.

Spectrum Noir Alcohol Markers - new classes

Hello Everyone,

As you know I absolutely LOVE teaching people to color. It is my passion and feel very fortunate that I am able to teach for my job. I have just been spending the past few weeks really seeking out an option for those of you who want to color with alcohol markers, and could not afford them. Although, I am still teaching my Copic classes, I will also be offering Spectrum Noir Classes as well as "Alcohol marker coloring classes (where you can bring whatever alcohol markers you love or a combination). These classes will vary with each store based on what the store carries. I will be making a comparison chart soon as there are many differences.

The Spectrum Noir pens were created to fill the needs of most paper crafters. They offer a wide spectrum of 168 colors, including a blender pen, refills, and replaceable nibs. The number/color system is easy to understand and is as basic as 1-2-3. Its as easy as 1 is pale, 2 is a bit darker, 3 is even darker etc. etc. These pens come with a very nice bullet nib as well as a chisel nib. The bullet nib allows amazing blending results without requiring feathering (a task many have a hard time learning).

So in a nut shell, most paper crafters will find this product an amazing marker for their needs. I have colored the images on this posting with the Spectrum Noir. It was a simple learning curve to understand a few different characteristics of this pen vs, my Copics. I love both brands and believe there is a market for both (I know I need to have both).

Packaging:

The basic set of 72 markers come in pre-packaged 12 sets of 6 markers for only $11.95 (2.00 per marker)

*prevents duplicate markers (no two are repeated in any package)

*no need to determine best colors to go with what?

* basic skin colors are included in the Flesh Skin package

*affordable at about $2.00 per pen

the basic markers will include a variety from each color family so that you can color any style images (faces, hair, landscape, floral etc) After collecting these you can then add in the deluxe sets to increase your color spectrum to 168 different colors/shades. No two are duplicated in any set and will partner up with the basic sets. IE: if the basic set had a 2-4-6 in a color family then the pastels would include the 1, and the darks would include a 9 in that same color family. Easy peasy.

More information soon! Stay tuned.

Jennie

Spectrum Noir Pens - Strawberry Kisses

Whew Hew... Today is my day to post on Crafter's Companion Information Blog. I get to pick anything I want to post today.. how fun is that? I had such a hard time picking. This image was colored with SPECTRUM NOIR MARKERS.... I was able to get a great smooth blend and amazing highlights. I love these new markers... Easy for all level of colorists. So easy to blend without needing to feather (a hard technique for many people to learn).

I had fun playing with this image. The markers really add depth to the image and is just perfect for a bon voy age, graduation (you will go far), or you're a star card. It would also be great in the corner of a vacation scrapbook page.

This stamp is available here - or ask for it at your local stamp store.

Here's how to make this fun fold card.

1. cut base card 5 1/2" x 8 1/2" fold in half then fold front in half again.

2. line the inside of the card with patterned paper 5 1/4" x 4" and a small blank piece to write or stamp a message to the recipient.

3. Add a piece of coordinating patterned paper on the left side of the flap. 2" x 5 1/4"

4. Mount the image on top of the left front panel only.

Stamp Company: Crafter's Companion

Stamp Line: Strawberry Kisses

Stamp: Gorgeous available here