Copics and Close To My Heart - Doesn't Get Any Better!

I finally ventured into the land of the Copic Marker. A few weeks ago, while at the Convention in Minneapolis, we girls took a trek to the Mall of America. As we were wandering, we spied a Scrapbook Store. I guess we hadn't had enough stamping and scrapbooking and went in. The store had a display of Copics. I have several markers and always said that I wasn't going get myself hooked on these things. First off, I never knew what to buy to get started. Well, the store had sets put together of just 4 matching markers. Hummmmm....the one set perfectly matched the CTMH Jingles paper pack so as a treat to myself I took the plunge. When I got home, I started playing. OK, yesterday on the way home from work, I stopped at the local Art Store and bought just a few more. Here is my first completed card.

I am here to tell you, don't be afraid to take the plunge. The ease with which the color applies is unlike any other marker I have ever used. The colors are based on family groups such as Yellow Green, Red Violet, Blue and on and on. Each marker is designated with a family group and then a number that further defines the intensity. I started with the very few markers and yesterday when I stopped at the store, I knew enough to purchase markers that were the same family group and a few numbers apart so that I was able to begin to practice my shading.

To complete this card, I first heat embossed the little elves in Cocoa. I used my "babies" errrr....ahhhh....Copics to color them. (R02, R27, R29, YG 95, YG99, Y38, YR 00, BG10, 0 Colorless Blender) I heat embossed the New England Ivy mat with silver snowflakes and sponged the edges of the papers with the corresponding ink colors which were Bamboo and Cranberry. The stripe paper is from CTMH Holiday Creative Basics. The chip board is stamped and sponged with Cranberry. The little elves are from Merry Pursuits and the sentiment is from Holiday Hoopla My Acrlyix Stamp Sets.

Copics are an expensive proposition, but with some prudent planning and purchasing, I think these markers are a frugal addition to the stash. For Now, Happy Crafting!