Certification Updates

It's been a couple weeks since I posted updates on certification classes. We had some great classes over the weekend and I want to thank everyone for attending. The following classes are open and applications have been mailed out. If you did not get an application, please send an e-mail to nancy@copicmarker.com We look forward to seeing you at a future class!

April 11th, St. Louis MO, Taught by Sally Lynn MacDonald FULL
April, 18 Calgary, AB Taught by Sherrie Siemens FULL
April 19th, Ft. Lauderdale FL Taught by Colleen Schaan Open to the public
April 19th, Phoenix AZ Taught By Jennie Black, assisted by Marianne, FULL
April 23th, Indianapolis, IN Taught by Lori Craig Open to the public

May 2nd, Ottawa, Canada, Taught by Sally Lynn Open to Stores & Designers
May 6th, Sydney, Australia, Taught by Marianne & Lori Craig - send us an e-mail for more info
May 8th, Melbourne, Australia Taught by Marianne & Lori Craig - send us an e-mail
May 14th, Birmingham, AL Taught by Colleen Schaan Open to Stores & Designers
May, 15th Las Vegas, NV Taught by Jennie Black Open to Stores & Designers
May 16th, Concord (Charlotte area), NC Taught by Sally Lynn Open to Stores & Designers
May, 22 Salt Lake, UT Taught by Jennie Black Open to Stores & Designers
May 23, Charleston, WV Taught by Sally Lynn Open to Stores & Designers
May 23, Anchorage, AK Taught by Sherrie Siemens Open to Stores & Designers

Applications have NOT gone out yet for the following locations. Applications go out 60 days from the date of the class. Please do not send us an e-mail about locations that are not open yet:

May 30th, Vancouver, BC Taught by Sherrie Siemens

June, TBA Grand Rapids, MI Taught by Debbie Olson
June 5th, Santa Barbara, CA Taught by Jennie Black
June 6th, Arlington, TX Taught by Sally Lynn
June 13th, Toronto, Canada Taught by Sally Lynn
June 13th, Boise, ID Taught by Sherrie Siemens
June 19th, Los Angeles, CA Taught by Jennie Black
June 27th, Seattle, WA Taught by Sherrie Siemens
June, TBA Branson MO, Taught by Lori Craig

Please note: there will be a class in Chicago the day before Summer CHA

Flowers tag, Just Rite Blog Hop

NOTE: comments are now closed on this post- thank you!!

Blog Candy from Just Rite Stampers

I don't usually play along with blog hops, but my dear friend and one of our Regional Instructors, Sharon, invited me to join them for the Just Rite blog hop this week, so I figured I'd play along. I am busy getting ready for the Portland Certification class this week, so if you'll be joining me, I am really looking forward to coloring with you! Leave a comment today for your chance to win (see below).

Beautiful Blossoms Tag
Everything on the tag today started out white. The tag, the paper, the ribbons- they all began life white, and with a little help from Copic they changed.

First of all, my flowers come from the new Beautiful Blossoms oval set from Just Rite. I stamped it in Memento, London Fog onto Neenah Classic Crest Solar White 80# coverstock. Then I used whatever colors caught my eye to blend this beautiful tag. In this case, I did NOT follow Natural Blending groups, which proves that you can get something to look great without following the rules :)

The image is so tiny that it is very easy to blend, and coloring took only a couple minutes. I started with BV00 for the centers of each flower, then blended in RV00 to create the base tone for the image. To blend, I simply colored in circles over each petal until the BV00 softened out into the pale pink.

For contrast, I added E04, then softened it in with a bit more BV00 and RV00. My leaves were a simple base of YG11, then I added G85, since it is a nice earthy green that is not too vibrant. I went back with the YG11 to blend in the G85. On the final image I darkened any areas that blended out too much by adding a touch more of the G85. This helps keep strong cotrast in my image, and contrast is what makes things look interesting.

Then I scribbled some W3, Y11 and W1 around the image for a soft background (not pictured in this diagram) and blended it out with my colorless belnder, again by scribbling.

Carefully, I tore out my flower image, then antiqued it using a Memento, Sand stamp pad.

Next, I took my favorite white ribbon and colored it with G85, E04, and BV00 to add to the tag.

Now look at the closeup of the final tag. I colored the background of the tag as if it were wood (see this old post for complete directions) however, I used colors that I had already used in coloring my main image. I streaked in W1, W3, and added darker streaks with E04. I added streaks of Y11, and faded everything with more W1. I added some faint streaks of RV00 to tie in that color as well, then carefully with the tip of my marker I added a few tiny dots of each color. Click on the image to get a close-up on the faux-wood background. I also added more of the Sand stamp pad to the background to break up the pattern as well.

I layered everything together, and I think I am ready to use this fun tag on an upcoming gift. I hope you feel inspired to try something a little different today as well, but before you do, leave a comment for your chance to win...

Just Rite Blog Hop Details:

30 designers, FIVE shopping sprees each day. No one knows where the prizes will be! Each day of the hop JustRite will have five Mystery Blog Candy Prizes hidden along the hop with a total retail value of $600. JustRite will randomly select five mystery blogs each day of the hop and randomly allocate each of the shopping sprees. For your chance to win, simply leave a little love (a comment) on each designer’s blog including the JustRite blog. The more designers you leave comments with, the better your chances of winning. Each day’s comments will remain open for three days. A winner from each of the mystery blogs’ comments will be randomly chosen using Random.org. Consult the listing of designers at the JustRite blog each day (each day’s designers will be different) and start out on your way! Beginning Friday, March 26, summaries of all the winners will be posted on the JustRite blog. Good luck to everyone and enjoy all the JustRite eye candy along the hop!

Today during the JustRite Mega March Blog Hop (Day Two) JustRite and its sponsors will be giving away the following five prizes:

· $200 JustRite Shopping Spree
· $100 Spellbinders Shopping Spree
· $100 Stamp Simply Ribbon Store Spree, and
· Two additional $100 JustRite Shopping Sprees!

Blog comments for Day Two will be open until Friday at 6pm EST. On Saturday, JustRite will announce on their blog which five blogs have the mystery candy for Day Two. You will need to go to the JustRite blog to determine where you need to go to find out if you are one of the five lucky winners.

Now, take this chance and go check out the other fabulous blogs on the hop for more inspiration, and more chances to win!

JustRite Inspiration Blog
Sharon Harnist
Sankari Wegman
Marianne Walker
Michelle Wooderson
Linda Duke
Barb Schram
Eva Dobilas
Liz Weber
Jeanne Streiff
Lori Craig
Sharon Johnson
Michelle Woerner
Sherry Cheever
Keri Lee Sereika

Lauren Meader
Michele Boyer
Lucy Abrams
Janine Blackwelder
Edna Morrisedie
Deb Saaranen
Melody Rupple
Charmaine Ikach
Michelle Giraud
Amy Crockett
Lydia Fiedler
Kelly Landers
Amber Hight
Margie Higuchi
Mary Pfaff
Debbie Seyer

Australia Certification

Copic in Australia
Those of you who have been eagerly waiting for a certification in Australia need to wait no more. We are finalizing the details for two certification classes in Australia in May in conjunction with the Australian Copic distributor, XPress Graphic Supplies. Lori Craig and I will be teaching classes and meeting everyone, so clear your calendar and join us!

For those of you in Australia attending the SIA show (the Australian equivalent to CHA), Lori and I look forward to meeting you in the X Press Graphic Supplies / Copic booth on May 5th. Note: This is a wholesale only show, however, the class on the 6th and 8th will be open to more people.

Australian Certification Classes:
Sydney, Australia, May 6th, 2010 Taught by Marianne Walker and Lori Craig.
Melbourne, Australia, May 8th, 2010 Taught by Marianne Walker and Lori Craig.

To get in the classes:
Please send an e-mail to nancy@copicmarker.com to get on the Australian mailing list. As soon as final details are arranged X Press Graphics will contact you with class information and payment options. Get your e-mail in quickly so you can reserve your spot!

We look forward to meeting everyone and having some exciting classes. Don't miss this rare opportunity- tell your friends, and we look forward to coloring with you!

Tomorrow I will show a fun tag I made for the Just Rite Stampers blog hop, so stay tuned!

Certification Updates

March, April May Papercrafting Certification Classes
Applications have been sent out for the following locations. If you need an application for one of these cities, please send an e-mail to nancy@copicmarker.com Even if you are not eligible at first for a class, please submit your application. Waiting lists fill quickly, and are filled in a first come, first serve basis.

Register NOW for the following classes:

March 21, Long Island, NY Taught by Sally Lynn FULL
March 28th, Columbus, OH Taught by Sally Lynn FULL
March 28, Portland, OR Taught by Marianne Walker, and Jennie Black Open to public

April, 18 Calgary, AB Taught by Sherrie Siemens FULL
April 11th, St. Louis MO, Taught by Sally Lynn Opens to public this week
April 19th, Ft. Lauderdale FL Taught by Colleen Schaan Open to Stores & Designers
April 19th, Phoenix AZ Taught By Jennie Black, assisted by Marianne, Filling Fast. We will not open a second session at this time, we will come back in a few months and offer another class.
April 23th, Indianapolis, IN Taught by Lori Craig Open to Stores & Designers

May 2nd, Ottawa, Canada, Taught by Sally Lynn Open to Stores & Designers
May, 15th Las Vegas, NV Taught by Jennie Black Open to Stores & Designers
May 16th, Concord (Charlotte area), NC Taught by Sally Lynn Open to Stores & Designers
May, 23 Salt Lake, UT Taught by Jennie Black

Applications have NOT gone out yet for the following locations:

May 23, Anchorage, AK Taught by Sherrie Siemens
May 23, Charleston, WV Taught by Sally Lynn
May 30th, Vancouver, BC Taught by Sherrie Siemens
May, TBA Grand Rapids, MI Taught by Debbie Olson

Oregon Asian Celebration Poster, 2010

Computers and Markers working together
I wanted to share a recent illustration project with you so you can see part of my process. This was a poster I designed for the Oregon Asian Celebration which is held each year in February. This year I was out of town so I could not attend the event, but I still wanted to share what I made for it. For the last 5 years I have designed their posters and each year I use Copic in some aspect. (You can see last-year's poster design notes here).

This year I made my illustration more digitally than in years past, but I still want to show you how I started with Copics.

For this first picture you see, I drew the pagoda in the background, and scanned it in. I showed it to the client and they loved the image, then they told me what else they wanted to see in the picture.

Their theme this year was "Reflections on 25 years" as it was their 25th anniversary of the event. They wanted the moon reflecting in the water along with a turtle on a rock, some cranes, and other symbolic images.

So I drew the turtle and cranes as separate images and scanned them in. Using Photoshop I arranged them how I wanted them to look and made the pagoda gray instead of black, so the cranes and turtle would stand out more. I printed these onto color laser copier paper and colored them in very lightly.

This image looks great, but I knew the final picture was to be at night. By getting my basic shading in at this point I knew that I could always darken it on the computer. I also left the water and sky uncolored, as I was not sure how much shading or light I wanted to do, so I left it as areas to color on the computer.


Here is the final computer colored version. You can still see hints of my basic coloring. By using Photoshop I was able to darken the whole image, add in my water and background without worrying about making mistakes, and pull the whole thing together.

As you can see, I use both the markers and the computer when I need to. Neither one is better, as they are both tools and I use each one for it's strengths. I hope this gives you some ideas. Have a great weekend! I'll have updates on certifications tomorrow.

Certification Updates

Time for a quick update on Certification classes. We have some great events coming up in the next couple months, so plan ahead and attend a class, or retake a class to get the new manual*.

If you have hesitated over taking a certification class, there has never been a better time than right now!

• Coupons: This year, each store that attends a certification class get a page of coupons from many different manufacturers. These are good for wholesale orders only, and you can easily make back the cost of the class by taking advantage of these special deals. Valid ONLY for stores who take a Certification class.

• New Manuals: Even if you have taken the class before you may consider retaking the class. Retaking only costs $40, and you'll get a new manual to help you remember everything you forgot.

• New Instructors: It helps to take the class from a different instructor the second time, so you can see techniques in new ways. Each teacher brings their own flair and strengths to the program, so come a second time and ask all the questions you wish you could have asked the first time.

Applications are now available for the following locations:

March 6th, Des Moines, IA Taught by Lori Craig and Sharon Harnist Open to Public
March 7th, Memphis TN, Taught by Sally Lynn FULL
March 21, Long Island, NY Taught by Sally Lynn Open to Public
March 28th, Columbus, OH Taught by Sally Lynn Open to Stores & Designers
March 28, Portland, OR Taught by Marianne Walker, and Jennie Black Open to Stores & Designers

April, 18 Calgary, AB Taught by Sherrie Siemens Almost Full! Open to Stores & Designers
April 11th, St. Louis MO, Taught by Sally Lynn Open to Stores & Designers
April 19th, Ft. Lauderdale FL Taught by Colleen Schaan Open to Stores & Designers
April 19th, Phoenix AZ Taught By Jennie Black, assisted by Marianne, Almost Full! Note- if this session fills we will add a second class on April 20th.

May 2nd, Ottawa, Canada, Taught by Sally Lynn Open to Stores & Designers

Applications have NOT gone out yet for the following locations:

May 16th, Concord (Charlotte area), NC Taught by Sally Lynn
May 23, Anchorage, AK Taught by Sherrie Siemens
May 23, Charleston, WV Taught by Sally Lynn
May 30th, Vancouver, BC Taught by Sherrie Siemens
May, TBA Central Michigan, Taught by Debbie Olson
May, TBA Las Vegas, NV Taught by Jennie Black
May, TBA Salt Lake, UT Taught by Jennie Black

*The new manual is still at the editors, so please be patient! We are printing only as many as we need for each class right now, so if you can't wait any longer, just retake a local class and you can get the manual now, rather than waiting for the final, wire-bound manual that we will eventually have back.