Technique of the Week: Easy Copic Coloring by Pam Nelson

This week’s technique is quick and easy.  I think it has been around for a while because I mentioned it to a friend and she said that she used to do this technique.  I wanted to share it with you, just in case you haven’t tried it, because it is quick and easy.  Plus I love the vibrant colors you get with the Copic Markers.

When I saw the new Impression Obsession Wallflower Cover A Card stamp (CC285), I knew that I wanted to use it for this technique.  However, any stamp that has a lot of solid surface to it will work great.

To begin, cut a piece of black cardstock to slightly larger than the Cover A Card Stamp.  Use the powder tool to apply anti-static powder over the entire piece of card stock.  Ink the stamp with VersaMark and stamp onto the black cardstock.  I love my MISTI for stamping Cover A Card stamps but you can also lay the stamp face up on your craft mat, cover with ink and then lay the cardstock on top.  Lay a piece of copy paper on top and apply even pressure over the entire stamp.  Gently lift the cardstock off the stamp.

Apply white embossing powder over the entire image.  Let your heat gun warm up well before applying heat to your image as this will help to prevent warping of your paper.  After the image has cooled, gently wipe with a soft cloth to remove the excess anti-static powder.

Now for the fun part!  Select the Copic Markers for your coloring.  I recommend avoiding the very dark colors (they cover the image so much that you can’t distinguish the image from the paper) and the very light colors (they don’t show up well.)  For this example I selected a variety of bright colors.  Apply the color using light, brush like strokes over the white embossed images.  For shading, such as on the leaves, apply one color and then lightly add the next color.  

The ink just glides over the surface of the melted embossing powder.  Since you are coloring on a glossy surface you have time to blend your colors before they dry.  If you accidentally apply color off your image onto the cardstock, the “oops” is hidden by the black cardstock.  Continue until the entire image has been colored.

The tip of your Copic Marker may pick up some white color from the embossing powder.  This won’t hurt your markers.  Just color it off on a piece of scrap paper.

The “have a beautiful day” sentiment (07.969.F) is from Magenta’s 2017 Spring Release and was designed by Dianne Johnson.  Stamp it with VersaMark on a scrap of black cardstock.  Emboss with white embossing powder and color the words very lightly with Copic markers.

To complete the card, I used the Hero Infinity Nesting Die set to cut a 4 ¼” x 5 ½” rectangle from Stardream Amethyst paper.  I adhered that to an A2 white card base.  I used the next smaller die to cut a 4” x 5 ¼” rectangle from the stamped image and adhered that to the card.  Use the smaller dies to cut a 1 ¼” x 2 ½” piece of Stardream Amethyst and cut the sentiment using the 1” x 2 ¼” die.  I love using these nesting dies for this purpose because you get straight cuts every time!

Adhere the sentiment to the amethyst cardstock.  Add a piece of fun foam to the back and adhere to the card.  For the last step, I sprayed the entire card lightly with Imagine Sparkle Sheer Shimmer Spritz Spray to add just a bit of shine to the card. 

Are you looking for another way to use your Copic Markers?  I’m not a great “Copic Colorer” but this technique was lots of fun.  It was also very quick and easy.  You could easily stamp and emboss several images and then just color them all at once.  I hope you will give this technique a try.  Art 'n Soul has great stamps that will work well for this technique!