Copic coloring and paper

Everyone crystal here, I hope everyone had a great Halloween and a very happy Thanksgiving, and a safe black Friday shopping experience. It has been forever since I’ve posted yet again on my blog, the last time was that on October 7 so it’s been about two months now a little over.

So when I started this blog I have it dedicated just for my crafts, but as my life is changing I have decided to simplify things in my life. So what I’m planning on doing is making my blog not just for crafting but for my everyday life. I’m going to see how this works. If down the road I start picking up a lot of followers for my crafting then I might switch it back just to make this blog dedicated to crafting.

I really would like to start documenting my life and I do many other things besides scrapbooking and card making. I have some personal issues going on right now, so I’ve also decided to start blogging about them as well.

So for today’s post is all about copic markers and paper! I started buying copic about 6 months ago, it really started to play around with them here lately in about the in last month. The one thing that I discovered is that the paper really does make a difference. What I’m going to do today is compare six different papers from different manufacturers, and give you my opinion about them. I will also include six pictures of my copic coloring all with the same image and pretty much the same color combination. I am no expert and I have not been coloring with copic for a while. Like I said I just started buying copic six months ago and really start coloring here in the last month. If you’re looking for a lot of copic tutorials check out YouTube that is where I look for inspiration on different color combinations. But with me I more or less teach myself that’s usually the way I learn best! And to leave you know this post will be long and picture heavy. So grab a cup of coffee or cup of tea or be like me a glass of soda and enjoying!

 So the first paper that I have purchased to do copic coloring was from Michael’s and it was either $11.99 or $15.99. I’m sorry I can’t remember the name of it but it was a whole ream of white paper, and it was located in the scrapbook paper. It is either a 60 or 80 lbs, weight. My opinion for this paper is I do not like it or recommended for any coloring, again this is just my opinion. The ink soaks in to the paper very quickly and it spreads very easily. I don’t really know how else to explain it but that’s not what you want to happen when you’re using your copic’s, I guess you could say it’s another word for it is bleeding. So when you’re trying to stay in the lines the ink will bleed outside the lines. I really hope that made sense. You can take a look at the picture below I have marked all of my color combinations down in  the  stamp is from all that scraps and it is called sweet pixie elf Lucy, and I stamped her out with memento tuxedo Black ink.

The next paper is going to be reviewing it’s from Wal-Mart and it is called Georgia-Pacific white card stock and I think if one is 80 pounds as well. Now I really do like this card stock but in my opinion I use it for my rough drafts of my stamps. So basically what I’m saying is I use this paper for my practices but I would probably not use it for my final  project unless I absolutely have to. I think his papers like between $3-$5 for whole ream of paper which is a really good price and I don’t feel as bad when I make a mistake and have to throw away my image. But I do recommend this card stock for any beginner to practice on because that’s what it’s good for.

So on to the third paper now, and to be completely honest this paper really surprised me; it is from paper try ink and is called stampers select you get 40 sheets for six dollars. This paper is 110 pound weight it is very sturdy. When you look at the picture don’t mind the different color piece of a hat on top, I was trying out a different color combination. On the next 4 sample photos I do not have the color combos mark down on paper but if you referred to the second photo the color combos are all the same. The colors blended out really well on this paper and overall I was very happy with this paper. In my opinion I would definitely recommend this paper to do copic coloring on.

 
 The fourth paper that I’m going to do the review on is from all that scraps it is called C.C designs copic quality white 110lbs card stock. They also have an 80 pound weight card stock in this as well. You get 10 sheets in a package the 110 sells for $4.00 and the 80 sells for $3.00.  I do use both of them but I prefer the heavier card stock more. This is my go to card socks that I use not only when I’m using my  copic’s but also my prism colors to. I really really do love this card stock and I highly recommend it for copic coloring. It’s a very smooth card stock and the copic’s land very well on this paper. This is my favorite card stock to use.

 This paper surprised me as well it is the copic X-press blending card stock. You can purchase this card stock from several retailers online, just do a Google search and you’ll find it. Like I have said this paper really surprised me and I really really really really like. It is very smooth, it almost feels like a glossy paper but it doesn’t have the gloss. The copic’s just glide over the paper when you’re coloring and it takes very, very little effort for the colors the blend. Again in my opinion I would also recommend this paper for copic coloring.

 Now on to the last and final card stock for me to review. This paper is called Neenah solar white card stock and it is an 80lbs weight card stock. You can also purchase this card stock from several retailers online, again just do a Google search and you’ll find. Again with this card stock I really liked it as well it is very smooth as well not as smooth as the copic paper but still smooth and it blends very easily as well.

After reviewing the six different types of papers I have learnt that not all paper is created equally.  If I was to give any tips for copic coloring I would say practice, practice, practice, and use a good card stock.   I really think that it is a personal preference on which paper you use. I have watched a lot of YouTube videos some people liking the copic paper some people not, and vice versa with the other papers that I had review. I personally did not want to buy all these different types of card stocks but I was also curious on how my coloring would look on them. I am happy now and that I did get to try them out and to be completely honest with you I would use all of them again except for the paper from Michael’s. The Georgia-Pacific card stock I really enjoy that paper but just for my practicing I would much rather waste that paper before my expensive paper.

So I hope this helps somebody out. And until next time have a safe and happy holiday season.

Sister love layout

I did this layout for a challenge on YouTube. I am extremely happy with the way this layout turned out. If interested in learning what products I have used please check out my YouTube channel. There are two videos for this layout the first video is layout prep, and the second video is a finished layout. I want to talk about the layout I back this on medium weight chipboard, because I plan to put this in a shadow box. There’s just so much dimension with the flowers that if I would put in a regular scrapbook it would just get smashed. This photo means a lot to me and I am extremely satisfied with the way the whole layout turned out that I want to display it so I figured shadowbox with you the best way for that. I titled the name of this layout sister love because it is a picture of me and my baby sister. This photo was taken back in December 2005 which is going to be going on seven years here. Even though it is an older picture it still looks like me and my sister, I mean don’t get me wrong we have aged a little bit but in my opinion not that much. And I do not mean to come off conceited but that’s just my opinion. I have to say even with just looking at this layout right now I am so happy with the way it turned out I just love love love this layout. I think a lot of it has to do with the picture, you know how they say a picture can say 1000 words I believe that this photo the can. For me when I look at this photo there are just so many memories… With it and I believe that’s what scrap booking is all about.

I have decided not to include the two videos for this layout in this blog post, but here is the link that will take you to video one layout prep http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RF_JbASYSBw               Until next time have a wonderful day! Bye

Crystal

Ur so sweet card for YouTube challenge

So today’s post is going to be about a card that I had made for a challenge on YouTube.  The challenge is currently closed, I had really wanted to get this post up a while ago, but it had taken me a little while longer to get the card completed than expected. So for the challenge it was hosted by Vanessa who is 77Butterfly Luv on YouTube.  She had currently reached 500 subscribers and had a giveaway, in order to be enter into the giveaway you had to participate in her challenge.  The rules of the challenge were quite easy, meaning that there were not so many. You either had to do a layout or a card, use Chevron’s, three butterflies, stamps preferably alphabets, and thickers. So for me this was a bit of a challenge because I don’t own anything Chevron or thickers.  But I am very happy that I decided to participate in the challenge, I had a lot of fun making my card and I am very happy with the way my card turned out. Now if you would like you to watch the video below it is just an entry video and it doesn’t go into a lot of detail about the card.  If you would like more information about the card please continue reading this post.

For the card I started out with a black card-based, then I added some purple, Chevron, light blue card stock which are all from the Chevron paper pack from Michael’s and it’s the recollection brand. The butterflies were punched out using a Martha Stewart butterfly punch, and then I added some diamond stickles to them to make them pop. The stamped image is from The Greeting Farm, stamp set, sweet and toxic. I colored in the girl with my Prisma color pencils, then created a mask and added the blue color behind her. The ribbon is from American crafts and it is just a jute ribbon. The thickers are from American crafts in the fantastic collection. And I just added some white stitch lines using a gel pen. The inside of the card is pretty much set up the same way as the front again with the purple, Chevron, blue card stock. The three butterflies, the skull stamp is from the same stamp set is on the front.  The sweet is from a recollection alphabet stamp set. I had also mentioned that in my video I like to have my envelopes sort of match my card says you can see in the pictures below I had incorporated some butterflies, and on the back flap I had white embossed the skull  from the same set again.

 So thank you so much for checking out my channel I hope you really enjoyed this post. Until next time have a great day.                     Crystal

Update

It is a long time since I’ve been able to post here on my blog, and my YouTube channel. I have decided to change the name of my blog from crystals craft and stuff to crystals creative spot. However for the mean time my YouTube channel will remain the same as crystals craft and stuff. I may decide later in time to change my YouTube channel but for now it’s going to stay the same. 

I haven’t been able to post in such a long time when I first started my blog it was something I wanted to do on a daily basis.  But life has thrown me so many curve balls in the last few years that my craftiness has really been put through the ringer. Don’t get me wrong I have been crafting, but not as much as I have been wanting to.  And aside from that I haven’t had the urge to share my projects, layouts, cards. So I do apologize. Not to get into much detail about my personal life, but I’ve had three miscarriages in the past four years, one of my cousins had passed away, and me and my fiancé have bought a house in the past year that we are remodeling. So a lot going on in my life not only emotionally and physically as well.

So it’s our last past few weeks, I’ve been playing around with the layout of my blog and it has been getting me back into my craftiness so to speak.  So I have been doing all these changes with my blog I finally got it looking the way I wanted to and then I realized that Halloween is just around the corner and I will be making more changes with my blog to suit Halloween and then Christmas. I will have a new blog post, here in the next day or maybe today from lucky. On a card that I have made for a challenge on YouTube so hopefully I can get that posted here soon.

I also went to add on a quick note, that a few months back Jason had bought me that Dragon software that writes what you speak. And that is what I am using for this blog post, so if something doesn’t make sense the software probably wrote the wrong thing and I didn’t catch it. So please forgive me in advance for any mistakes, even though I will be proofreading this, it is still 4 clock in the morning for me and I haven’t been to bed yet. That’s all for now and hopefully I will have that post up on here later. Have a great day and until next time bye!!!!!!

                                                                 Cystal