Portland this weekend!

Color Spotlight and Events
Happy Monday! I'm in a whimsical mood today, but I have a bunch of things to get done, as I have a very busy week coming up.

For those of you who do not regularly check out the Copic blog, you should, as last week I posted a color spotlight for YG17.

I drew this little blue butterfly for the color spotlight. I started with a rough drawing in pencil, then colored over it, trying to keep it loose and relaxed. If you look close, you can see that I dripped colorless blender on the edges to break up the image. You can read more at the Copic Blog.

Copic Demos and Classes
Meanwhile, I have a quick event update for things I am doing this Fall:

Friday we will be having a Standard Papercrafting Certification in Portland, OR taught by the beautiful Jenn Balcer. If you would like to come, we still have a few spaces left.

Then, on Saturday, the spunky Colleen Schaan and I will be hosting an Intermediate Certification in Portland, OR. I don't teach this class very often, and Colleen and I always have fun when we team teach, so if you have been waiting to take this class, wait no more! If you ask us real nice, I bet we'll even sign books for you :)

November 4 & 5th, I will be teaching Standard Certifications in Honolulu, Hawaii. The class on the 4th is pretty full, but we still have a few spaces on the 5th. The Intermediate class is on the 6th, and I only have a couple spots left, so register now. We may have a Free event in Hawaii on the 4th, in the evening, so keep this open on your calendars if you are in the area (I will know later this week, so stay tuned).

To register for any Certification Class, please visit our website. For questions about certification classes, please contact Nancy at nancy@copicmarker.com

November 10th, I am back in Eugene, OR demoing at the Tools of the Trade show at the U of O Bookstore. This event runs from 10 to 6pm. Here is a picture of what I drew and colored last year at this event. Stop by, and who knows what I'll be drawing or coloring this year! The Bookstore always has great specials and wonderful demos from a variety of artists during this event.

November 30th I will be hosting a Copic demo at Karen & Friends Scrapbooking store in Springfield OR from 4 to 6 pm.

Whew! What a busy fall! I hope to meet you at one of these many fabulous events.

Certifications 2011

Upcoming North American Standard Certification classes
I can't believe that 2011 is winding down! Here are the remaining locations for 2011 classes. These will be the last classes before Winter CHA. If you have hesitated to take a class, take one now, or you'll have to wait until Feb. of 2012. We also have a new way of applying for classes online that is much simpler than the old process, so what are you waiting for? Register today!


Oct. 17th Sacramento, CA taught by Debbie Olson Open to Public
Oct. 28th Portland, OR taught by Colleen Schaan Open to Public

Nov. 5th Lansing, MI taught by Debbie Olson Open to Public- filling fast!
Nov. 4th Honolulu, Hawaii taught by Marianne Walker Open to Public*
Nov. 5th Honolulu, Hawaii taught by Marianne Walker Open to Public*
*Note: There is a non-refundable deposit for Hawaii Classes. Only a few spots left in those classes, so register now!
Nov. 11 Kansas City, KS taught by Lori Craig Open to Public

Upcoming North American Intermediate Certification classes
Again, these are the last Intermediate Papercrafting classes in 2011. These classes are open to ANYONE who has taken the standard Certification class, and who wants to learn how to color and design more like an artist.



Oct. 16th Sacramento, CA taught by Debbie Olson now accepting applications
Oct. 22nd Langley, BC taught by Sherrie Siemens now accepting applications
Oct. 29th Portland, OR taught by Colleen Schaan now accepting applications

Nov. 4th Lansing, MI taught by Debbie Olson now accepting applications
Nov. 6th Honolulu, Hawaii taught by Marianne Walker now accepting applications

Dec. 1st, Atlanta, GA taught by Colleen Schaan now accepting applications- filling fast!!

To register for any of these classes or to download class info, please check our Certification page on the Copic Website. If you have any questions, please e-mail Nancy@copicmarker.com for details.

Just Keep Swimming

Swimming For Katie Bloghop & GIVEAWAY!
From October 10-12 some of the best stampers are joining together to support and encourage our friend and fellow stamper, Katie Renz, who is currently battling inoperable gastric cancer. Katie is also dear facebook-game friend of mine, and I want all of you to know her struggles, as she really needs friends and support now more than ever before.

If you're not familiar with her, Katie’s cancer story started just before Christmas last year. This young, beautiful, healthy, vibrant mother of 3 with her infectious smile was suddenly diagnosed with an inoperable cancer, virtually overnight. A few tummy aches and then stage 4 gastric cancer. Her first post about it is here. The idea of “Swimming for Katie” came from her recent post here.

The card I made is using a digi image I drew for Katie. I have always loved the elegance of mermaids and I felt the sea stars symbolize the enduring light of stars, whose brilliance is shining upon us from the distant past, guiding the way for travelers over the eons.

I colored the mermaid with E00, E11, E15, BV00, RV21, B12, BG10, B32, B34, Y02, YR02, BG13, R29, and a clear glitter pen. The paper is from Recollections, and I popped her tail up with dimensional tape.

The card that I made today is going to be given to another dear family friend who is also suffering from a terminal illness, which began over 12 years ago, and who, sadly, is not doing well. Again, my heart goes out to anyone who has to endure the pain and sorrow of debilitating illness.

I designed this digi stamp specially for Katie. 100% of the profits go to Katie's fund to help her and her young family. Her husband Kevin and her three young children need our help and support.

In addition to the Keep Swimming Mermaid, Becky Oehlers and True =D Doodle Designs both also donated digis that are for sale (you can purchase Becky's octopus as a clear stamp as well). Direct donations are also being accepted. Information central is HERE. This is a permanent page that will stay active at i {heart} papers with current information and the full 3 day blog hop listing, as well as the donation button.

Here is a full list of contributing designers for today's portion of the Blog Hop:

AJ Otto
Beate
Carolyn Mustopa
Dawn Burnworth
Deb Felts
Gretchen Belknap
Heather Jensen
Jen del Muro
Julie Ranae
Kate - i {heart} papers
Kendra Wietstock
Lisa Johnson
Loretta Lock
Lori Tecler
Lynn Mercurio
Marianne Walker
Michele Gross
Stacy aka Twinshappy
Tracy Schultz
Debbie Olson
Cindy Lawrence
Cindy Haffner
Julie Koerber
Christine Okken
Tammy Hershberger
Danielle Kennedy
Barbara Anders
Makiko Jones
Ashley N Newell
Shannan Teubner
Taylor Usry
Jen Tapler
Jenn Balcer
Jenny Chesnick
Jess Larsen
Jessica Knutsen
Jimmi Mayo
Joan Bardee
Joan Ervin
Julia Aston
Julie Day
Julie Ebersole

Now for the giveaway: Please leave a special note on this post for someone living in the US or Canada that you know is going through hard times. On Friday, Oct. 14th, I will randomly choose a winner. If you are chosen, then I will contact you for an address for that person, so I can send them a special Copic prize pack to help them feel your love and prayers.

Thank you again for supporting Katie and her family!

Awesome video!

This morning I was forwarded this amazing video link of Copics being used in a Volkswagen ad. Enjoy!



In case you're wondering why they didn't use blue Copics to color the images, remember, the outlines are drawn in black Copic, not multiliner, so they had to color in the areas with water-based markers.

Then, if you wan to see the making of video, here you go:

New All-Marker Carry Case

Holds 380 Sketch Markers!
For a long time, we have wished that we had a good way to carry ALL of our markers. I have a hard time when I travel, trying to get them to all fit in cases that are not too bulky, but also wouldn't break.

Finally, Copic developed a perfect solution. This soft-sided carry case is sturdy, with reinforced sides, yet holds the markers compactly. We filled one of these cases and started turning it upside down, shaking it, tossing it around, and it held all the markers in place nicely!

In fact, the Copic carry case can hold up to 380 Sketch markers...that means your entire collection, plus room for a few of your favorite inks or other pens. The markers sit in removable mesh cups that allow you to hold Sketch, Ciao, Copics, Inks or Wide markers with ease. So, if you like to take ALL your markers with you, then this is going to be your best, compact solution.

I can't tell you how excited I was, yet, I didn't like the idea of having my markers unorganized in little cups, so I thought of another solution.

If you already have your markers in the plastic marker cases, and you only have a couple hundred markers, not the full collection, you can just pull out the carry pouches and it will easily hold your existing plastic cases.

I like this because my markers live on my desk in plastic cases but if I want to take some somewhere, then I don't have to un-organize them and put them in the cups if I don't want to. If you use 36 pc. plastic cases (like I did for this photo), you can hold 288 markers. Not bad! Otherwise, it holds 3 of the 72pc. cases, with spare room on the sides for other tools.

So, what do you think about the new Copic Carrying Case? Would you like to *win* one? Copic Marker is proud to partner with Splitcoaststampers the entire month of October for their annual Hope You Can Cling To campaign for breast cancer awareness.

Splitcoast is hosting daily challenges through the entire month of October, and asking members of the paper crafting community to create cards in support of cancer patients and their families and mail them to national partner MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, TX. Copic Marker is pleased to offer FOUR of these great new Copic Coloring Cases as prizes for four lucky participants in the Hope You Can Cling To campaign. It's a campaign of the sweetest type - you have the opportunity to color, spread a little hope with your handcrafted cards and be eligible to win!

You can find general information for the Hope You Can Cling To campaign, including information on how to play and a handy tracking sheet to keep track of your entries, here. You can find a master list of the challenges presented thus far right here. It's updated daily for new inspiration, and there are a variety of themes, so participation easy. And, just in case you aren't familiar with Splitcoast, it's a free papercrafting community where thousands of card ideas and tutorials are shared in the galleries and their resource archives. It's a fun place to be. You can find the details here. You can sign up for your free account and start sharing here.

I HOPE you'll find a few opportunities to color and participate with me this month. We'll announce our *FOUR* Copic Coloring Case winners the second week of November! Good luck!

Just a note: If you are not a cardmaker, there will be other opportunities to win one of these cases in October, so keep checking here, the Copic Blog, and the Copic Facebook Page.