Splashes of Watercolor

Let's Celebrate - Color Throwdown #192

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Hey, everyone!  Welcome!

It seems that Wednesday has rolled around yet again and that means it's time for a new Color Throwdown challenge.

The great and wonderful Oz, oh, I mean Tammy, is our hostess this week and she's chosen a totally awesome color combo and inspiration photo:

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Beautiful, huh?

I was in sort of a hurry to get this card done, but I hope it doesn't show too much!  I colored up the banner image from the Unity March 2012 KOTM set with my Copics, then popped it up on foam tape onto a panel of white cardstock which was impressed using my new Lil' Inker Designs Texture Plate - Frame 1!  It's so cool, and it made the perfect backdrop for my banners.  Great design, Laura!

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You really need to visit all the design team members, as well as our Most-Talented May Guest Designer, Kittie Caracciolo, to see their fabulous creations!  Then please join us at the Color Throwdown blog for the challenge!

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Thanks so much for coming by to see me today!  I hope I'll see you back on Friday for my sample of the new A Day For Daisies release!

 

Happy Valentine's Day!

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Well, it's finally here!  My big plans for today include working and going to my grandson's basketball game.  They're in the semi-finals, so it should prove to be very exciting.  Besides, it gives me the opportunity to see the boys on Valentine's Day!

This is probably the last year I'll be able to get away with giving the boys "cutesy" Valentines.  They're getting a little old for that!  Hopefully, they'll indulge Nana this year!

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For these cards I used 2 adorable digital images from A Day For Daisies - Bringing You Love from this month's Club Kit and Bunny Loves You, which is a freebie if you hurry!

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These precious little guys are colored with Copic markers and the large heart is paper-pieced.  The silver hearts are mini cookie cutter decorations that I picked up at Christmas from Hobby Lobby.

Now, here's the card I made for my honey, George, using Heart and Soul, which is the Unity January 2012 KOTM. 

The larger scalloped heart was die cut and then sponged with Ranger Distress inks - worn lipstick and fired brick.  Gotta love those coupon images!  I scored between them using a rotary scorer I had in my sewing stash.

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That's it for today!  I hope you have a wonderful Valentine's Day and get lots of yummy chocolate!!!

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Brave Girl Boots - Color Throwdown #162

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Yee haw, y'all!!  It's time for another Color Throwdown challenge, and in addition to that we've got some very exciting news!!

We decided to expand our current team to give you even more inspiration to play along!  We've added 5 new super-talented members, and we're so excited to be able to introduce them to you today!!  I'd be willing to bet that you already know and love them all!  Here they are:

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Joan Ervin

Keva Brown

Lori Tecler

Lynn Put

Wanda Cullen

InLinkz.com

Can you believe that awesome line-up?  Needless to say, we're pumped!

To make it even better, wait until you see who our October Guest Designer is…….

Amy Sheffer

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As I said before…Yee haw, y'all!!

Now on to this week's challenge with Tammy as our hostess:

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I chose to use my new Unity Stamp Co. Itty Bitty Brave Boots stamp set.  I picked it up at a recent craft show and it's just awesome!

Here's my card:

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Now it's your turn.  With all the fabulous designs on the Color Throwdown blog, you're sure to find all the inspiration you need to play along with us!  Check out the cards there, or just follow these links:

Barbara Anders	Broni Holcombe	Carole Burrage	Danielle Kennedy	Joan Ervin	Keva Brown
Kristin Eberline	Laura Pryor	Lori Tecler	Lynn Put	Tammy Hershberger	Wanda Cullen

InLinkz.com

Thanks for dropping by today!  I hope your week is going well and gets even better as we get closer to the weekend!

 

InLinkz.com

Star Rocker

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Hey, everybody!  I hope your week is going well and that you have fun plans for the weekend.  I'll be doing some gardening, visiting with my Mom, and hopefully getting in a little crafting time along the way too!

Recently I needed a couple of birthday cards for some special guys that I know and I thought I'd show you one of them today.

I used the rocking chair image and coordinating sentiment from the July KOTM Better Together by Unity.

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Masculine with a little funky flair, wouldn't you say?  I like it and I hope the recipient did too!  We're always joking about our age, so how could I resist using this image?

Next week, the Our Craft Lounge team will be joining forces with the incomparable May Arts design team for a very special week long blog hop!  I can't wait!  I hope you'll make plans to join us!

In the meantime, have a very happy loooooong weekend!

• Stamps: Better Together (July KOTM) (Unity Stamp Co.) 
• Paper: vanilla, kraft, chocolate chip, Sweet Threads 6x6 (Basic Grey) 
• Ink: Ranger Archival - coffee
• Tools used on every card: Fiskars 9" trimmer, Scor-Buddy, Tim Holtz scissors, Ranger non-stick craft sheet, Rock-a-blocks
• Other: craft knife, ruler, Woodgrain Impression Plate & Mat Stack 4 die (PTI), circle Nestabilities, Concentric Star die (CB), button & vintage twine (PTI), Scor-Tape, foam mounting tape 

Summer Watermelon - Color Throwdown #147

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Time for another Color Throwdown!  This week Kristin chose a beautiful color combo, but I certainly did have a hard time deciding what to do with it.

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I tried all sorts of patterned paper combinations and couldn't choose an image to go with them.  Then I'd choose an image and didn't like any of my patterned papers with it.  I finally decided to go simple.  I've been doing that a lot lately it seems. 

I had just gotten my new Unity Kit of the Month for June and when I saw the watermelon, I knew it would work perfectly with the colors.  (Besides, I had just had watermelon with dinner and it was still on my mind!  Yum!)

So here's the fresh little number that I ended up with. 

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What do you think? 

Now how about checking out all the deliciousness that the other Color Throwdown gals have dished up for you.

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Barbara * Carole * Danielle * Kristin * Laura

 Tammy * Betty Wright  (June Guest Designer)

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You know their creations will be fabulous!  And we'd love for you to play along.  Check out all the deets on the Color Throwdown blog.

Thanks for visiting.  See you again real soon!

• Stamps: All Smiles (Unity Stamp Co ) 
• Paper: Neenah white 
• Ink: Memento - tuxedo black, Versamark, Copic markers 
• Tools used on every card: Fiskars 9" trimmer, Scor-Buddy, Tim Holtz scissors, Ranger non-stick craft sheet, Rock-a-blocks
• Other: black embossing powder, Ranger Heat-It craft tool, eyelet lace, ribbon, sewing machine, Scor-Tape, foam mounting tape 

Lime Dot Birthday - Color Throwdown #142

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Happy Wednesday, everybody!

I'm hosting the Color Throwdown challenge this week and I've based my color choices on a comforter I had seen with a beautiful bold, graphic design. 

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I used a bold, graphic design for my card as well.  I stamped the polka dot background in a lime green ink, then overstamped it using basic gray ink and a cardboard tube (as in paper towel tube!).  I think the skewed layout of the ovals behind the cake and the cake image itself also add whimsy to the design!

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Please join us for the challenge this week!  First check out what my awesome Throwdown sisters have come up with for you!

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Barbara * Carole * Cathy * Danielle * Kristin

Laura  * Tammy * Jen Mitchell  (May Guest Designer)

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Now show us what you've got!  I love to see your interpretation of my color combo.  Be sure to check out all the details at the Color Throwdown blog and then link up your creation for us to see!

My card also qualifies for the City Crafter Challenge #57 - Stripes and Polka Dots!

Please check back in with me on Friday.  We're having another eclectic Paperie  E-Team blog hop!  It's all about COLOR, and we're being joined by the fabulous design team from Stampavie!!  Woo hoo!

Thanks for joining me today!

• Stamps: Think Happy Thoughts - May 2011 KOTM (Unity Stamp Co.), Large Polka Dot Backgrounder (CHF)
• Paper: white, black, basic gray, textured lime green 
• Ink: Memento - tuxedo black, light green pigment ink (Stampabilities), basic gray
• Tools used on every card: Fiskars 9" trimmer, Scor-Buddy, Tim Holtz scissors, Ranger non-stick craft sheet, Rock-a-blocks
• Other: paper towel cardboard tube, Petite Oval Nestabilities, corner rounder punch, gray ribbon, green hand-stitching thread, foam mounting tape, Copic markers:

Last Easter card…

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Hello, everyone, and happy Easter!  I hope you're all enjoying time with your families today.

I have one last Easter card to share with you today, then I'll be headed to my younger daughter's house for some lunch and an Easter egg hunt with the little ones.

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And the inside:

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This little pink chick is my granddaughter's Easter card.  Yesterday was her birthday too!

Oh, and one last thing.  As I was using the twine on this card, I was getting a little frustrated because it had become a tangled mess.  Let me show you what I did to tame all my piles of Twinery twine…

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Ha!  No more tangled mess for me!!

Thanks for stopping by to take a look.  Have a blessed and happy day!

• Stamps: Small Things Matter Most  (Unity), inside sentiment (Our Craft Lounge)
• Paper: white, bashful blue, Classic K Margo mat pad (K & Company), Beach Babe 6x6 pad (Fancy Pants) 
• Ink: Memento - tuxedo black, Copic markers: R81, R83, R85, RV17, YR12, YR16
• Tools used on every card: Fiskars 9" trimmer, Scor-Buddy, Tim Holtz scissors, Ranger non-stick craft sheet, Rock-a-blocks
• Other: 1-3/8" circle punch, double loops border punch (Martha Stewart), Fishtail Banner DieNamics (My Favorite Things), pink sorbet twine (Twinery), flocked brad (the Paper Studio), foam mounting tape, Star Dust Stickles 

Here Chickie, Chickie!

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Hi there, all you chickies!  I'm working on the grand's Easter cards.  This was a really simple and fun card to make.

The chick is from the Unity April KOTM {small things matter most}.  I colored her, then rubbed some of a darker Copic marker onto a "nasty rag" (using Marianne Walker's terminology here) and quickly dotted it onto the chick.  Kind of a reverse Copic colorless blender technique.  I first tried rubbing some ink onto my craft sheet, but the ink dried too fast that way.

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The fabric covered chipboard letters are from American Crafts.  I won them on the Moxie Fab World blog!  Thanks, you chicks!

This is also for the Unity challenge to use birds.  You can find that challenge HERE.

Thanks so much for stopping by!  Be sure to come back on Wednesday.  I'll have a new Color Throwdown post and also there's a new E-Team blog hop using the new Honey-Pops!!

• Stamps: Small Things Matter Most (Unity Stamp Co.) 
• Paper: white, Material Girl and Early Bird 6x6 mini decks (Cosmo Cricket)
• Ink: Memento - tuxedo black, Copic markers: Y00, Y21, Y35, YR18
• Tools used on every card: Fiskars 9" trimmer, Scor-Buddy, Tim Holtz scissors, Ranger non-stick craft sheet, Rock-a-blocks
• Other: lemon tart ribbon (PTI), Patterned Fabric Thickers (American Crafts), foam mounting tape, rag, button, cotton thread, Scor-Tape 

Get Distress Part 3 - Playing with Reinkers & Stains

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It's time for another of the infamous E-Team blog hops!!  This was definitely a fun challenge from our fearless leaders, Daisy and Sherry!   Are you ready for a tour of Ranger Distress reinkers and stains?? 

First, let's take care of the details of the hop.

• There are 2 fun prizes for this blog hop.
• To be eligible to win, visit and comment on each E-Team member blog post.
• You will have from Tuesday-Thurs to leave a comment.  Winners will be posted on the eP blog Friday, April 8th.
• There are also LOTS of fantastic specials going on right now.  Check out the eP blog for all the details.  There may even be a few surprises!

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Now on to my projects.

I don't have any of the new stains yet, so I decided to play with reinkers. 

One of my favorite things to do is to spritz my paper with a mixture of reinkers and water in a Ranger mini-mister.  For this first card, I decided to use a mask as well.

I cut my cage mask using the Tim Holtz Alterations Caged Bird Bigz Die from some scratch paper.

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Then I spritzed with the mixture of water and a couple of drops of Tumbled Glass reinker in a mini-mister.  I also added some of a Dusty Concord reinker mixture as well.

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After I removed the mask and dried the ink with my Heat-It craft tool, I used Chipped Sapphire ink to stamp the sentiment along the left edge of the card.  I stamped the larger sentiment with Ranger Archival black ink, then added the ribbon, bling and the bird which was die cut from patterned paper.

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My second project involved making my own stamp pad using Ranger Distress reinkers and some Cut-N-Dry Stamp Pad Foam. *** I need to point out that if you want to make your own stamp pad to use with detailed lined stamps, you need to use the Cut-N-Dry Stamp Pad Felt.  I was only using stamps that were for the most part solid, so the foam worked just fine for me.

I cut a piece of the foam and used Ranger Archival black ink to stamp my image onto the foam.

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I applied my reinkers directly to the foam in a fairly random manner, making sure to cover all of the image with ink.

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I used the inked foam as I would any stamp pad by pressing my stamp onto the foam and then applying it directly to a piece of cardstock.

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Using this same new "stamp pad", I stamped a few more images onto cardstock, including these.

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And I used one of these to make a card.

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Next I thought it would be fun to make my own RAINBOW pad.  I know I've seen LOADS of rainbow colored inspiration photos on Pinterest lately.  And throughout this entire process I kept hearing the Muppets (Kermit) singing Rainbow Connection.  Geez, it's back in my head again now!

So here's the RAINBOW pad.

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I used this pad to stamp my sentiment from the Studio 490 stamp set called I Am My Art.  The branch that I previously stamped with the last stamp pad was also from this great set! 

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Next I die cut the sentiment and used an ink blending tool to sponge the edges with some Tumbled Glass ink while the cardstock was still in the die.

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The next step for this project was to cover a page from a shaped grungeboard album with some Core'dinations paper and then sand it with a Sanding Grip Block.

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I spritzed some reinkers onto my non-stick craft sheet and pressed a piece of sticky-back canvas ATC into the ink.  Then I punched a circle from it.

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I created a flower with my Alterations Paper Rosette die and used the punched canvas circle for the flower center.

And here's my completed RAINBOW ART album cover/wall hanging. (I haven't decided how I'll use it yet!)

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I also stamped some other images using the RAINBOW stamp pad.

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And here's a card I created using one of the images.

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Can you tell I had a good time playing with my reinkers?  It was so much fun and my fingers are still RAINBOW colored to prove it!

 

***ETA:  I was asked how to store the ink pads that I made and how long would they last.  I store each of mine in their own plastic baggie.  They should stay moist indefinitely, but if they should dry out, just add more reinker!  (Thank you all so much for your enthusiastic comments!!)

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So now it's time for you to move along on the hop.  If you get lost along the way, be sure to go back to the eP blog for directions!  Here's the list of my mega-talented fellow blog team members:

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E-TEAM

Latrice Murphy

Linda Duke

Linda Ledbetter

Micki Harper

Sherry Cheever

Starla Nelson

Daisy Sparks (eP blog)

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Thanks so much for joining me today!  Don't forget to leave a comment here and on all of the blogs for a chance to win cool prizes!

 

Uncaged Bird card 

• Stamps: Stuff to Say (Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous)
• Paper: watercolor paper, Viola Vita adhesive paper pad (K & Company)
• Ink: Ranger Archival jet black, Ranger Distress pad - Chipped Sapphire, Ranger Distress reinkers - Tumbled Glass, Dusty Concord 
• Tools used on every card: Fiskars 9" trimmer, Scor-Buddy, Tim Holtz scissors, Ranger non-stick craft sheet, Rock-a-blocks
• Other: Ranger mini-misters, Tim Holtz Alterations Caged Bird Bigz Die, twill (PTI) 
   

Grungy Butterfly 

• Stamps: Urban Chic (Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous) 
• Paper: Blue-green textured, vanilla, Dancing Girl (Fancy Pants) 
• Ink:  Ranger Distress reinkers - Fired Brick, Spiced Marmalade, Mustard Seed, Peeled Paint, Broken China, Dusty Concord 
• Other: Lemon Bar fabric tape (Taylored Expressions), big scallop oval Nestabilities, Copic marker BG13, foam mounting tape  

Do Not Disturb Album Cover/Wall Hanging

• Stamps: I Am My Art (Studio 490)
• Paper: Core'dinations, red, yellow textured
• Ink: Ranger Distress ink pad - Tumbled Glass; Ranger Distress reinkers - Fired Brick, Spiced Marmalade, Mustard Seed, Peeled Paint, Broken China, Dusty Concord    
• Other: Cut-N-Dry Stamp Pad Foam, labels ten Nestabilities, ink blending tool, page from shaped grungeboard album, sanding grip block, glue stick, Alterations Paper Rosette die, Sticky-Back Canvas ATC, 1-1/4" circle punch, buttons, Alterations On the Edge die, Lemondrop, Lilac & Caribbean twine (Twinery), foam mounting tape, Scor-Tape 

Chair of Thanks

• Stamps: Just You - Unity Stamp Co.
• Paper: blue-green textured, Old World mat stack (DCWV) 
• Ink: RAINBOW stamp pad
• Other: scallop rectangle Nestabilities, ribbon, Lemon Bar fabric tape (Taylored Expressions), buttons (Basic Grey), Lilac twine (Twinery), foam mounting tape, Scor-Tape 

Color Throwdown is back!!!

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Yay!!  We're back!  It seems like forever since we've had a Color Throwdown challenge!  Are you ready for a new year of exciting color combinations?  I know I am!

And our beloved LeAnne is back after taking some time off to spend with her precious new granddaughter!  We're so happy to have you back, LeAnne!  We also have a new guest designer for January.  The fabulous Lori Tecler will be joining us.  I know you'll be wowed by her fabulous creations just as much as I am!

ALSO…. our very own amazing Kristin has designed digital papers using these colors and you're invited to download them for free to use in the challenge!  The link is on the Color Throwdown blog.

Well, on to the challenge!  Here are this week's colors:

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You may notice that the colors on my card are not quite the exact match to the color swatch.  I didn't use the SU papers, but chose to use some patterned paper that closely resembled the SU colors.  We ask that you do the same.  Just make sure your colors are close!  (You can find all the rules for entry on the Color Throwdown blog.)

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I LOVE this new image from the Iron Orchid Designs line at Unity!  Of course I do…it's all about the beach!  It would look beautiful just stamped and not colored, but I stamped mine twice to get a shadowed effect, then colored some of the elements with my Copic markers.

The sun is a die cut using the Sunshine MFT Die-namics.  It was "sparkled" with Art Glitter in a bronze color from the Turning Leaf collections.  The sand was also created using this glitter.  And I just love the natural look of the Cappuccino Twinery twine.

That's it, folks!

I hope you'll take the time to check out all the design team's works of art!!  Here are the links:

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Barbara * Cathy * Danielle * Kristin

Laura * LeAnne * Tammy * Lori Tecler (January Guest Designer)

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Thanks so much for taking the time to visit with me today!  There's a new E-Team blog hop this Friday.  I hope you'll join us then!

• Stamps: Beach Cottage Collection (Iron Orchid Designs - Unity)
• Paper: always artichoke, spring moss (PTI), Stella Ruby & Periphery (Basic Grey), Cowabunga "Beach Bum" (My Mind's Eye)
• Ink: Jenni Bowlin - malted milk, Memento - rich cocoa, Ranger Distress - antique linen
• Other: Labels Eleven Nestabilities, Sunshine Die-namics (MFT), Ranger Matte Accents, Turning Leaf (Art Glitter), Cappuccino Twinery twine, sponge dauber, twill tape (Martha Stewart), Copic markers: