Valentine's Day cards are on the minds of us who prefer to make our own cards. Dianne has put the stamps you'll want to use on the front table while we await the delivery of additional stamps for Valentine cards.

If you want to make an early start on your Valentine projects, like this weekend, you'll want to come into Art 'n Soul tomorrow (Friday) anytime between 10 and 6 because the store will be closed this weekend (see next paragraph).

why do I immediately think of asking
my little honey-bee to finish the honey-do list?

there wasn't a name or initial on the
back of this sample card, but it appears
to be one of Marj's designs?

Have you come into the store to look through the 2012 Hero Arts' catalog? Here are a smattering of new stamps that Dianne thought you might want to consider ordering. Dianne also wants to remind you that several of their stamps coordinate with matching dies. Pink sheets are being taken, aka orders, for Hero Arts right now.

 

 

the catalog is on the front counter

 

If you've been into the store in the last day or so, you might have seen adding machine tape  hanging from the shelves. It's inventory time and it was finished today. Dianne and Deb did an awesome job . . . next, it's my turn to do the same for all of the papers and ribbons. I hope that side of my brain will be able to endure that marathon!

Art 'n Soul will be closed this Sunday so our dedicated staff can celebrate the New Year with their families and friends. The store will also be closed on Saturday so our Art 'n Soul family may attend the memorial service for Anna Joy Peppley at the Mt. View Church of the Nazarene in Tumwater; the service begins at 11:00 a.m. We still hurt and shed tears for Alissa's loss of Anna Joy, and we hope that you will continue with us in prayer for Alissa and her family. For more information, you can go to Alissa's blog (she did post a message this evening) at http://babyannajoy.blogspot.com and to also view photos of beautiful Anna Joy if you haven't already viewed them.

If you are planning to attend the service for Anna Joy and do not know where the church is, here are directions from their website.

Directions to Mt. View Church of the Nazarene

From I-5 take Tumwater Blvd. exit number 101. After the exit, turn East. (From southbound, turn left. From northbound, turn right.) Continue on Tumwater Blvd. staying in the left lane. At the light, turn left onto Linderson Way. At Israel Road, you will see the church on the left, across from Tumwater High School.

Address:

940 Israel Road SW
Tumwater, WA 98501




From Copic's blog . . .

Guest Tutorial: Marbleizing (posted December 6, 2011)

"In this week’s guest tutorial, mixed media artist Bianca Mandity shares some tips for creating marbleized paper with Copic Various Ink. Enjoy!"

'When I was in school I learned how to marbleize paper traditionally using a chemical bath. I loved the look of the papers, but was concerned about the chemicals needed to produce the marbleizing effect. Ever since, I’ve been searching for a way to marbleize without the chemicals. I tried doing the shaving cream process, but found it expensive since you can’t reuse the shaving cream and the results didn’t really look like the real thing. One day when cleaning up my craft mat, I noticed my Copic ink was floating in some hand sanitizer that I’d spilled while cleaning my hands. A light bulb went on over my head. This process creates beautiful results without the chemicals of traditional marbleizing or the expense of using shaving cream.

For this tutorial you will need: Copic Various Ink, antibacterial hand santizer, palate knife, non-stick craft sheet, comb and X-Press It blending card or marker paper.

Step One: On your non-stick surface place a large amount of hand santizer and spread out with the palate knife. Don’t spread it too thin, as this will mess up the surface tension when it comes time to marbleize. You want it be no thinner than the thickness of heavy card stock.

Step Two: Drop a single drop of each of your colors onto your hand sanitizer.

Step Three: Take your comb and drag it through the ink and the hand sanitizer. You want to make sure and mix it well or it will transfer as one giant blob of color.

Step Four: Gently lay your paper down onto the gel. Let it set for a minute, don’t push or move it, just let it set. You’ll start to see the patterns showing up. If there are any spots where the colors don’t show up, gently press it down into the mixture.

Step Five: Grab your paper by the corners and lift straight off. Flip over and take a look at your beautiful marbleized paper.

Hint: If you have extra sanitizer setting on the top, you can hit the bottom with a heat gun to help set the colors and then lay a paper towel on top to soak up the extra sanitizer. Be careful not to drag or rub it. Just let it set and soak for a while and then lift off. You can also leave the extra sanitizer. It will eventually dry and might crackle slightly, but won’t destroy the marbleizing.

You can reuse your sanitizer by scraping it together the the palate knife and adding more color. But eventually it will turn brown and no longer marbleize cleanly. How long this takes depends on how much ink you use each time. When the sanitizer becomes dirty, simply wipe up with a paper towel and begin again.' "

Find Bianca on the web:http://biancandm.blogspot.com/


And here's to really thinking outside the traditional way to color with Copic markers . . .

Guest Tutorial: Acrylic Skins by Colleen Schaan

"Papercrafting designer Colleen Schaan is one of our Design and Education/Instruction team members, and this week she’s sharing a unique project that utilizes Copic Various Ink. Enjoy!
'While I like to use my Copic markers to color images in the traditional way, I also like to experiment a bit and see what other fun ways I can use them. I’m really excited to share one of my favorite “non-traditional” Copic coloring methods with you today.

As a mixed media artist, I’m always trying to… well… mix my media! I did just that, combining Copic Various Inks and acrylic gel medium to create funky, colored skins which I then used to “color” an image.

You will need:
Non-stick craft sheet
Various ink (2 of each color)
Palette knife
Gel medium (glossy was used here)
Canvas board
White acrylic paint
Paintbrush (flat)
Copic marker(s) (not black)
Scissors or Xacto knife
First, you need to make your acrylic ski
ns. Typically, thin layers of acrylic paint are used for this. I wanted a very vibrant yet transparent mix of colors, so I used Copic Various Inks to create the color for each skin. It’s imperative to use a non-stick craft sheet when making your skins.

Apply 3-6 drops of Various Inks onto the surface of the craft sheet. This can be all one shade or a mixture of 2 different shades or colors. Here I am using YR15 and YR18.



Using a thin palette knife, slowly spread the ink across the surface of the craft sheet. Initially, the ink will condense and reform beads. As it dries, it will stick to the surface and remain spread out. Blowing lightly on the ink as you spread it helps to speed up this process.


Once the ink is completely dry (no longer sticky), apply a layer of gel medium over the ink with a palette knife. Spread the gel medium gently and try not to “mix” the ink into the medium. The medium should be approximately 1/8 – 1/4 “ thick. I like to leave stoke marks in the medium for added texture.



Repeat the previous three steps with the additional colors necessary to “color” your image.


While the skins are drying (typically overnight), draw an image onto the canvas board (try this technique first with simple, open images and move onto more complex and detailed images as your experience with skins progresses). Outline your image with a dark Copic marker (do not use black as the pigment in black sometimes feathers when combined with acrylic mediums). Apply a thin layer of white acrylic paint over the drawn image. This gives a nice bright base for your skins and the Copic ink of the drawing will become visible once the paint dries.



Once the skins and the drawing are dry, you can move on to the next step in “coloring” your image (if your skins have “cracked” during the drying process, the layer of gel medium was too thin. You can apply another thin layer over the cracks and let dry before proceeding). Carefully remove each skin from the craft sheet by sliding a large palette knife under the edge and gently lifting. The Copic ink will be pulled from the craft sheet and “stick” to the bottom of the skins. Do not let the skins fold or touch each other as they will stick together.

Place a colored skin over the area of the image that you want “colored” and trace around the outlines of the image.



Using an Xacto knife or scissors, cut along the lines of the image.



Once you have all of the pieces cut, the “coloring” begins! Apply a thin layer of gel medium to a section of the drawing and then place the corresponding skin over it. Press down gently to adhere. Continue gluing skins into place. Layer individual colors to create more depth and texture.



 
Once the colored image is dry, outline the image and add final details with a dark Copic marker.



While this obviously takes much more time and effort than traditional coloring, it also gives a completely different look. The mix of texture, translucency and depth create an almost stained-glass effect – perfect for an array of mixed media projects.' "

Products Used:
Golden Glossy Gel Medium
Golden Titanium White Fluid Acrylic PaintCopic Sketch Markers – RV09/RV19/RV69/G17Copic Various Inks -B12/B18/YG13/YG25/G03/G09/YR15/YR18/Y35/Y17/V04/V05/R43/R46/RV66/RV69

Find Colleen on the web:
Web Site: http://www.distinctivetouches.com/
Copic Color: http://www.copiccolor.com/cschaan