Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge

Hey everyone! It's time for another Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge and this week's theme is Thanks/Thanksgiving. I have several projects on my desk right now but I took time to color this the other day. It's a digital image from Power Poppy and I can't wait for them to actually make it into a stamp.

I found out quite by accident that I can print digital images from my printer and they are Copic friendly. I printed this on Stamper's Select White #110 Cardstock.  I still prefer watercoloring or stamping over Copic coloring, but it's nice to know that I can improve. Some people have absolutely MAD coloring skills, but I don't fit in that category just yet.  I'll keep practicing though.  I hadn't realized until I went to do this blog post, that Simon Says Stamp carries not only the sketch markers, but also the refills and replacement nibs.  You can head here to see the full line-up of  Copic products. My overall experience with Simon Says Stamp is that that carry almost everything. And if they don't you can send an inquiry to Customer Service and ask.  

I did the simplest style of coloring possible as I am still learning my way around the numbering system that Copic uses for their markers. In fact, I forgot to write down all the colors I was using and had already put them away before I remembered that I needed that information.  I used two shades of green for the olive branches, two shades of orange with 1 red for the oak leaves, and three purples for the olives n the photo.  

If you want to find out how to use Copic and other alcohol markers, you can find lots of tutorials on YouTube.  They are a significant investment so make sure you do your research before you start buying.  I have had mine for about 10 years and most of the markers I have are Ciao Markers rather than Sketch Markers.  I understand that the main difference is that Sketch markers hold quite a bit more ink than Ciao meaning you have to refill or replace less often.  I got mine when Copics were just getting to be popular in the stamping world and we were advised to get Ciao over Sketch.  They are slightly less expensive but it would probably be worth it in the long run just to get the Sketch Markers, especially based on availability. Ciao Markers can be more difficult to find but you can find them at DickBlick.com or MerriArtist.com.

Once I had this image colored, I die cut it with the largest Simon Says Stamp Stitched Rectangle Die then laid it back into the side with a bit of two edges showing and cut it again so that it was just a little smaller than the size of the die. This lets me have a background mat for the image. I cut that from some textured coppery paper that I had on hand and attached the colored panel to it using my ATG adhesive. Next, I cut the Simon Says Stamp Grateful Die from Gold Foiled Cardstock and cut the shadow from some Chocolate Brown shimmer paper. The die comes in two pieces with the word in one part and the shadow is the other part.  You can also use the word without the shadow and have it just as striking. I attached the word with Multi Medium Matte. The coloring took some time, but I did it the other day while I was listening to the TV so I didn't really pay attention to how long it took.  Just like anything else you do in life, mastering the technique requires practice.  

Thank you so much for stopping by my blog today.  I'll be back soon with another project!  This is a really short post for me but I didn't feel I could add much more that would be of use.  So I hope no one minds the shorter post.

This card will be entered at the Card Concept Challenge with their Thanksgiving theme.