The Copic Craze of 2013

So for Christmas this year, my friends and family kept asking me, "What do you want?" Every year around this time, I never seem to know what to say! I usually get gift cards to the MAC store or Michael's. It's hard to ask for physical things because there isn't anything that I really need. (Which is totally a good thing!)

This year, I thought I would ask every person for a Dick Blick giftcard because I decided I wanted to learn how to color with Copics. I've dabbled a bit in the past with the limited supply that I have. (Those things are expensive, ya know!) But I really wanted to dive in because coloring is really relaxing. In fact, I used to buy Disney coloring books in college because it would relieve the stress from all the work I had to do.

Totally my favorite.

So thanks to my parents, my boyfriend (who also purchased two shelves for storage), my boyfriend's brother and his girlfriend as well as my boyfriend's sister and her boyfriend (are you tongue-tied yet?) I received over $300 for my Copics. Success!

My first order of business was to research!! What colors should I get? Which shades go well together? How am I going to figure out where my light source is coming from? I decided to ask someone who definitely knew what she was doing. Ashley from Made Especially For You is a certified Copic designer having taken both the standard and intermediate classes. She also teaches at local craft stores near her and I've been loving all the projects she's been posting on her Facebook. I decided to reach out and she was so nice! She gave me some really great tips and some addresses to blogs that were extremely helpful. Check out her projects below!

http://especiallymade.blogspot.com/

• Get It Scrapped is a site that helped me figure out colors for a starter set.  Michelle Houghton wrote a SUPER helpful article with color combos including some of her personal favs and examples of colors she uses regularly. 
• Scrap Girl is a site that has lots of great youtube tutorials and Angie shows you how to combine coloring Copics with distress inks.  
• Scrap Bitz : Suzanne Dean is a REALLY helpful resource when it comes to Copics. She not only has several tutorials, but offers a GREAT PDF of all kinds of color combos with helpful tips and tricks. She also shows you how to color with distress inks. She uses a lot of Magnolia stamps which I like because they are super cute and can surprisingly, be a bit challenging to color.

A few days later, I was on my way to the Dick Blick store on Long Island. I told myself it was strictly for research purposes only!

 But of course I could not resist buying a few.

However, I do recommend that if you are buying Copics from Dick Blick, buy them online. They are cheaper and if you order enough, shipping is free. #totallyworthit I ordered the rest online and last night I came home to a HUGE package.

Behold thy present from Father Christmas!

I am so excited to start practicing!

Do any of you use Copics? What color combos do you like? What stamps do you use?