Lucinda joins the team :)

This morning we have another lovely new Design Team member to introduce...

Joining us today is the lovely LUCINDA

"I am an aspiring Copic Colourist. I have been crafting for years now and I wanted to do something beautiful for the start. This design was kept simple, red, green and has the focal point of the candle. I wanted to capture a simple focal point towards the candle and keep the card elegant and raw. This is only the beginning to more designing I am extremely excited"

Lucinda has coloured and created a beautiful card using the NEW Christmas candles digi image

CARD DETAILS:

- Image coloured on X-press IT blending paper with the Copics listed in the above photo.

- Stampin up papers; whisper white, real red

- Scallop hole punch – Stampin up

See more of Lucinda's beautiful cards and colouring on her blog :D

Christmas is Coming!

There are only 55 sleeps till Christmas .... WOW!! I know I need to gt more organised ... for those who still need to make cards or other Christmas Creations hopefully these images will come in handy... I know I'll be using them for cards and maybe some other decorations too!!

You can get them individually or buy the whole set... from our WEBSITE HERE :D

Birthday Wishes Girl Paper and Panda Girl

Good morning, I hope you are having a lovely weekend! 

I just wanted to share with you a card that I made using the Echo Park - Birthday Wishes Girl paper pad - that you can purchase in the store here :) the flowers (from Prima) are also available for purchase here and the image was drawn for SMASH last year and I just added her to the store yesterday - Panda girl :)

Copics used:
Skin: E000, E53
Hair: RV63, RV66
Hat: C8, 110
Shirt: V22, BV00, BV000
Jeans: B91, B93, B95
Belt & Shoes: N4, N7, V17
Eyes: BG02
Ground: E31, E41

Ribbon: coloured with BV11

2 Year Birthday Celebrations begin!!

Good morning everyone! I am excited to post today as it is the start of our birthday celebrations.. on this date in 2010 I nervously sat in the NSW Dept of Fair Trading to see if I could register the name Mad for Markers... and voila! The name was registered... the next month was spent getting in stock and waiting for the website to be designed and then for me to enter all the product... on the 22 March 2010 the website went LIVE!! And so we are celebrating Mad for Markers birthday ALL MONTH LONG!!

I am very grateful to my Customers, Readers, Design Team and of course my friends and family to help Mad for Markers continue! Without you all I would just be sitting here with a bunch of markers hehe!! This way I get to share my bunches of markers - SO THANK YOU EVERYONE!!!

So what's going to happen all month you ask??

Well.. we will have a bunch of giveaways... you will be able to enter each day on either the blog here or on our facebook page depending where the giveaway is held ... We have... a sample pack of Xpress It blending card for each day of the month, a load of digi images, Spicas and maybe more... so don't miss out!!

We might have an extra challenge or two ... perhaps some games....

The Celebrations will culminate on the 22nd March with a BIG Copical blog hop!!! WITH more fun prizes!! You will be able to sign up to participate on Monday right here :)

I thought it would be fun to have some Mad for Markers Birthday Digis to colour... so I have drawn up a number of images... which are available in the store TODAY for you to purchase... and they might sneak into some prizes throughout the month also ;)

First up we have Lady Copical Cupcake

Birthday Girl #1

Copical cupcakes

Copical balloons

+ there are a few others including a fun birthday scene.. which you will see on the cover of Copicendium this month (should be about a week away)! Oh and in case you were wondering Lady Copical likes to hang out with a bunch of her friends and colour, colour, crop and colour... Here she is below with her bag ready to join her friends... if you are lucky you might just get to meet them this month!!!


OK... I couldn't go without giving you a sneaky peek at the cover of the next Copicendium! :)

OK... Let's kick off the prizes... If you comment on this post and leave your blog address (where you have linked up our party using the badge at the top of this post) you will go in the draw to win a free digi (winner revealed tomorrow)!!

Saturday Sharing

Oh My Goodness!! - I almost forgot to share a post with you today - but as my Mum would say "Better Late Than Never"! - and hopefully, it was worth the wait... because... I have.. not, one, but two cards to share today :)

The images are both digital stamps from Mo Manning - "Pineapple Girl" and "Kalei"....an adorable tropical feel to these island cuties!

Copics Used: Pineapple Girl

Skin: E000, E01, E11, Cheeks: RV42
Hair: E25, E27, E21
Dress: Y38, Y26, Y21,YG11, YG13, YG17Lei: RV55, RV02, RV10, Y38 - Blossom Spica Pen
Pineapple: Y38, Y26, Y21, YG11, YG13, YG17 - Buttermilk Spica Pen/White Gel Pen

Copics Used: Kalei

Skin: E33, E35, E37, Cheeks RV42
Grass Skirt: YG97, YG95, YG91
Hair: Black, E04, E77, E79
Top:Y38, Y26, Y21
Lei: RV55, RV02, RV10,

It was fun to use the same combination of colours on both these cards - and end up with different results. I also experimented with different skin tones (very new for me). I even added "rosier" cheeks by using RV42 instead of my favoured R20 - actually, I reached for a whole new colour combination of pink for these cards - I felt my usual combination of R81, R83 and R85 was not vivid enough for a tropical theme. If you are looking for new pink combinations yourself, be sure to pay a visit to the Mad for Markers Challenge Blog the DT have been sharing some gorgeous creations using R or RV Copic Makers - don't be afraid to join in too :)

Happy Colouring,
Chris x

Australia Day freebies to colour

Just a quick note to say HAPPY AUSTRALIA DAY!!! In honour of this I have drawn up some images and am giving all who email me an image of their choice... see the updated temporary header above!!!

Saturday Sharing

Hello and Happy New Year's Eve to our Copic Lovers!

This card is "Hot off the Press" and my very last for 2011. On behalf of the Mad for Markers team I would like to thank you for your loyal following of our blog and colouring creations. We would also like to take this opportunity to thank you for joining in on the fun of our blog challenges and sharing your amazing Copic colouring with us throughout the year. We wish you love, happiness and even more Copic fun in 2012.

The sweet little image is called Kisses and is a Mo Mannning digital stamp.

Copics Used:

Skin:  E11, E00, E000
Cheeks/Lips: R20, RV42
Hair: Y21, Y23, Y26
Dress: R81, R83, R85/ Frilly Edge - C1, C3/ Ribbon BV000, BV00, BV02
Flowers/Leaves: R85, R81, Y08, YG41, YG45, YG67


Happy New Year!!

Chris x

Saturday Sharing

Hello & Happy Weekend to our Copic Lovers !

Today, I thought I would share a card I made as a thank you for a dear friend. I really should be making Christmas cards - yes! I know!... I have left my run a little bit late, but life has been very busy in my part of the world and Christmas preparation hasn't arrived on my agenda yet!! Although, I have to say, I have seen the most beautiful array of Christmas cards etc at the Mad for Markers Challenge Blog. Thankyou to everyone who has participated in the challenge.. your creations are very inspiring :)

 ...here is my card. The image is a digital stamp called Sophie from Mo Manning and perfect for the senitment, I wanted this card to portray.

Copics Used:

Skin: E11, E00, E00, R11
Clothes/Socks: R21, R22, R24, Y21, Y23, Y26
Hair: E33, E35, E37
Doll: B21, B23, B24, Y21, Y23, C1, C3

If you are a little like me??... and still have Christmas cards to make or gifts to purchase - don't forget to check out the Mad for Markers online store - you will find an assortment of cute Christmas Stamps , Volume 2 of Copicendium a mini idea book ( this edition has a focus on Christmas creations ) and don't forget... every purchase of a Copic Marker earns you a token in the Copic Rewards Program.

Chris x

New Challenge - Use Digital stamps

Good morning everyone. Do you know how super excited I am....?? Hahaha probably not. It is Tracey and I am bringing you a new challenge for this month. As host I get to show you the first creation for the current challenge which is to 'Use a digital stamp' on your creation. Also as host I get to show you the creation I made with the Sponsor's product this month - Spesch Designer Stamps. As owner of Spesch Stamps I am giving you a sneak peek at the new Goth/Halloween stamps being released this coming Wednesday. This is 'Halloween'. hahahaha not very creative but she is so cute.

The prize this month is a $10 voucher from Spesch Stamps to spend on any of our products.

For those of you not familar with Digital stamps than I will give you a little information. This is just how I do it but others do it differently. I open up my image in Windows Photo Gallery, right click and copy the image. I open a new Open Office document and paste the stamp in to the document. You can resize to any size. Some other programs will work differently to this. If you want to be tricky and combine your images than you will need a photo editing program such as Paint NET (which is free) and follow these instructions here (a wonderful tutorial by the lovely Debbie P).

Copics used:

Skin: E000, 00, 21, 02

Cape: C10, 9, 7, 5

Hair: 100 black, C5, C1

Pumpkin skirt: YR12, 14, 15, 18

Top & Hat: BV000, 00, 02, 04

gloves/eyes: YG25, 23, 67

Cane: B000, 01

I will give you a warning and let you know that some inks on inkjet printers will run when you use your markers on them. To ensure this doesn't happen, sprinkle over clear embossing powder on the printed image as soon as it comes out of the printer and heat emboss the powder. This will allow you to colour in the image without ruining your tips.

Hope you like the sneak peek and get those entries in. There are a lot of Digital stamp companies out there with fabulous images.