Hi, crafty friends. We’ve reached the end of 2023, can you believe it? I thought I’d round out the year with a thank you card, featuring one of my favorite images – Penguin Hug from Rachelle Anne Miller. This is actually my card number 137 for 2023.
I’ve used this image a few times in the past, but I’ve never colored the penguins blue, which kind of blew my mind when I realized. I decided to remedy that and created soft blue penguins and a corally pink scarf. I cut my panel down to a square, die cut a heart in the center using a die from Papirdesign and mounted the negative onto a square card base I created from Berry Sorbet cardstock from Papertrey Ink.
Onto my colored heart, I stamped a sentiment from the Mini Messages stamp set from Mama Elephant using Berry Sorbet ink from Papertrey Ink. I adhered the heart to the card front and added a few sequins from the Starry Night mix from Little Things from Lucy’s Cards to finish my card.
Thanks so much for coming with me on this creative journey, and I wish you a happy, healthy and creative 2024.
Oh, and before I forget, I used a super simple color palette for this one.
Papirmølla 
I always look forward to your emails, and so enjoy your work. Can I ask for your advise? When I have filled a dry Copic and it still won’t work, then I change brush tip and it still won’t work……does this mean that I have to give up on that pen? Not sure if this happens to you too. I cringe at the waste of ink, yikes.
Wishing you a very happy, healthy new year, Sylvia x
Thank you so much for your sweet words, I appreciate it. As for the markers, I sometimes let them sit overnight to soak up all the ink if they seem dry at first. I also clean the inside of the caps (both ends) to check for cracks. They might be tiny, but if there’s even a hint of a crack, the marker will eventually dry out. I keep a few extra caps on hand in case it happens. The older your markers are, the better they are. They seem to have changed the production slightly over the years, and the newer ones are more likely to crack, unfortunately. They’re aware of the problem and have replaced caps for customers, but they’re not saying anything officially about it, they’re trying to keep quiet. 😅
Thank you so much for your reply, Elin. I have a couple of markers which I’ve filled, then replaced the brush nib, and the ink still hasn’t come through, so frustrating.
I ordered the PTI white cardstock from the States. My granddaughter has a pickup point near the border to Canada, so it was delivered there. My granddaughter is visiting me in UK right now and just brought it over. Sooo disappointed it didn’t work with copics, it’s just their white cardstock, ……I think I should have ordered Stampers Select? I got three packs too 😢 The trials of being a would be artist 🙄 Thanks again, Sylvia x
Hi again 🙂 For Copic coloring, I use X-Press It blending card, which I think you can source in the UK. I’ve been using it since it first came on the market in 2012, and in my opinion, there’s no better cardstock for Copic coloring (I’ve tried sooo many others, but always go back to the X-Press It). I use the white PTI cardstock for most other white cardstock needs. I find it is the whitest cardstock out there, and it’s nice and sturdy and heavyweight, and I use it for so much I ordered 20 packs in my last order. I hope that helps 🙂