Marbled Backgrounds with Copic Various Inks

Hi All - this week I'm going to share something fun that you could even get the kids involved with if you want to!  Though I must warn you, once you start playing this can be a little addictive, and it only gets worse once you realise all the things you can use it on!  I'm talking about marbling with Copic Various Inks of course :)

To try this for yourself you will need:

• shaving foam (the cheaper the better) 
• a flat surface, tray or dish that is longer than the object you'd like to colour
• 3 or 4 colours of Copic Various ink, I used: BG15, BG34, BG49 and YG07
• a palette knife, spatula, and maybe a toothpick 
• and if you'd like to include a little luxury a pearlescent or metallic ink, I used Silver iZink
• things to marble, paper, card etc.

 Spread the shaving foam onto a flat surface using a credit card or palette knife, I make sure mine is about 3cm thick so I can make a few different marbled items.  Once the surface is relatively flat, drip the various ink on top, making sure to keep each drop separate.  I like to use only 3 - 4 colours at once or you run the risk of making mud - my most successful patterns have either been all cool colours or all warm colours, BUT if you are careful you could use all the colours of the rainbow - you just won't be able to make as many prints.  

You can add a few drops of metallic or pearlescent ink for a luxury look,

a few drops = delicate swirls of metallics, lots of drops = pure luxury!  I just added a few.

The Various ink will eat into the foam a little, don't worry this won't be a problem.

Using the tip of a palette knife or a toothpick, draw parallel lines through the shaving foam.  Then rotate your project 45 degrees and repeat the process, keep rotating your project and drawing parallel lines through the foam until you have a pleasing pattern.

Place your cardstock onto the surface of the foam and lightly press down with your fingers, you need to make sure that all of the card makes contact with the foam or you will have blank spots on your design.  Some of the foam may squash around on to the back of your page - don't worry, just wipe it off later.

Gently peel the card from the surface of the shaving foam - don't worry this isn't the design that will be on your card.

Place your paper foam up onto some newspaper and use a paper towel to gently wipe to foam off the paper, I've also tried a spatula to remove the foam, but it can damage the paper surface and drag colour across the design - so I prefer a paper towel.  This step is really messy so be careful.  Once the shaving cream is removed, the design printed onto your paper will be revealed, the FIRST print will look something like this, notice the white space and clean lines.

Now if the pulled pattern left in the foam looks really pretty like this one, then grab another piece of paper (or your journal) and place it onto the foam - no need to waste it, and yes I've placed a double page journal into the foam - messy but so pretty!

Your print may look something like this, wouldn't this be an amazing and unique background for a scrapbook layout, page or a card.

Hmm - there is still a LOT of shaving cream and ink - I like to draw more lines add a little more ink and create a 2nd generation marbled print - notice this one has less white space and the pattern isn't as crisp, the lines are all softer and this second print has more of a watercolour appearance - still beautiful though!

To be honest I just keep dipping pages into the ink until either the ink or the shaving cream run out, it's messy, fun, unpredictable and completely addictive.

Wondering what else you could use this on?  Following is a brief list of things I've marbled:

• journal pages
• scrapbook pages
• card backgrounds
• chipboard letters (this looks AMAZING!)
• ribbon - oooh this looks yummy
• doilies
• Easter eggs
• notepaper
• envelopes
• handkerchiefs - though this was a bad idea as it's so pretty I've never used it!

I hope you've enjoyed this tutorial on marbling with Copic Various inks - if you have felt inspired to give this a go we would love to see your results over on the FaceBook page.

Back with more soon,
KatePin It

Copic Backgrounds using Colorless Blender

I'm so excited to share my first post for Copic Oz with you all, my tutorial this week is on creating Copic Backgrounds.  Now any of you who already know me from my blog, know I LOVE backgrounds, I love making them, I love using them, I just love everything about them, so this topic was perfect for me.  My biggest problem was narrowing down what to show you all, there are just so many options, I decided to stick to backgrounds that use the Colorless Blending Fluid in some way - I hope you enjoy these and don't forget we would love to see how you use our ideas, so leave a link to your blog post in the comments section if you have used this technique on something you have created.

Grunge Splatter Background

For this technique you will need several colours of Various Ink, Colorless Blending Fluid, a mini mister, a non-stick craft sheet or waxed baking paper and glossy or coated cardstock.

Drip about 5 drops of each colour (I used V28, V06, V17) onto the craft sheet, making sure the droplets no not touch.

Add a little of the Colorless Blending Fluid to a mini mister, and spritz ink on craft sheet  - this is very important, if you forget to spritz you will end up with 'spots' of intense colour.  Spritzing ensures the colours move and blend a little.

Make sure you only spritz a little, add too much and your colours will be very pale.  As a rough guide - I used 4-5 pumps of the mini mister nozzle.

Place card glossy side down, onto the ink drops, then press down gently with fingers to make sure you have contact.   I like to then drag the card through the ink to pick up the colour.

 Turn card over to check the coverage you have achieved, you may like to leave the white areas, I prefer to keep swiping the card through the remaining ink until most of the white is covered.

 When your card looks something like this you are ready for the final step.

Spritz some of the Colorless Blending Fluid onto the tips of your fingers.

 Then 'flick' the blending fluid onto your card, the more fluid on your fingers the larger the droplets, for finer droplets either flick with more force or use less blending fluid.  I like to have a mix of large and fine droplets.  Wait about 1 minute for the pattern to fully develop before deciding if you want to add any more blending fluid.

I consider my background complete when it looks a bit like this. 

You could die cut this to use on a project, use it as a layer or even stamp directly onto this using an oil based ink pad like Archival ink, to create a simple but stunning card.  This technique can also be used on clear acetate for fabulous results and looks simply beautiful when used as an accent panel.

Now, my next background is fun - heaps of fun and there are so many ways you can adapt this idea, though you will need a Copic Airbrush. I currently use the X-Press It Air Compressor Auto - which I adore, though this technique will also work with any of the Copic Airbrush kits.

Stencil Background using the Copic Airbrush

For this technique you will need several colours of Copic Marker, Colorless Blending Fluid, a mini misting bottle, a Copic Airbrush, a stencil or template and X-Press It Blending Card.

 Start by airbrushing your palest colour (which in this case was YR09) onto the blending card - don't cover the card, just add colour in patches like I have.

Then add your deepest colour (R37) with the air brush, overlapping the colours a little - you should still have some white areas at this point.

Next add an intermediate tone (R17) again overlapping colours, this helps any visible lines or edges disappear.  You should still have a little white.

Finally add a bright, strong colour (RV09) filling in all remaining white areas and use this same colour to blend any lines, patches or edges between the other colours.  I know this is bright, but you will find that the brights and dark colours work best for this technique.

Fill a mini mister with  Colorless Blending Fluid and tape a stencil over your background, make sure your stencil or mask will not move about during this next step.

Carefully spritz the airbrushed card with the blending fluid - very lightly.  You can always go back and add more later, but if the liquid seeps underneath the stencil then your design will be ruined.  Lightly spritz, then wait for a minute to see if more blending fluid is needed, if it is, lightly spritz again.  Very rarely, will you need to spritz a piece more than twice.

 No need to wait, you can carefully remove your template from the card right now - and you will have a wonderful background with a pattern or design all in coordinating colours.

I'm hoping you have as much fun making these backgrounds as I did and that you have enjoyed my first post for Copic Oz.

Kate Pin It

Making Your Own Background Papers

Hi Everyone--my name is Bianca and I am a new addition to the Copic team in the fine-arts division. My specialty is mixed-media and I do a lot of art journaling which is basically a journal with drawings, photographs, doodles and words.

Today I'm going to be talking about ways to turn recycled paper (such as old textbook pages, vintage sheet music or ledger paper) into your own unique background papers using your copic ABS, some large foam stamps and antibacterial hand gel. Yep, you read right, hand sanitizer.

Since hand sanitizer has a high alcohol content, it bleaches the Copics out and since it is in gel form, it doesn't spread or bleed, leaving a clean crisp image on the paper. It's a similar process to stamping with blending solution on glossy card-stock, except you can do this process on ANY paper.

Here are a couple of samples of what you're going to be learning how to do both are on vintage ledger papers:

For the first two projects you'll need: recycled paper, non-stick surface, antibacterial hand gel, foam stamp, ABS and copic markers in the same color family. And for the third project you'll also need the re-inkers.

I decided the easiest way to show you the process was a video, I'm including thesteps for the basic technique at the bottom of the post:


Here is a page from my art journal that I made using papers that I made using the hand-sanitizer gel process for the house, roof, heart, and background sheet-music. To get a closer look, you might need to click on the image!

A big thank-you to all the folks at Copic OZ for letting me post today. If you have any questions you're welcome to contact me through my blog. If you're going to be stateside or are just interested on keeping up with my copic mixed-media classes you can sign-up for my mailing list.


Stamping with hand sanitizer basic instructions:
1. Airbrush three different colors from the same color family onto your paper
2. Put a small pile of hand sanitizer on your non-stick sheet and sink up your stamp by tapping it into the hand-gel.
3. Stamp your sheet with the foam stamp, lifting straight up to avoid smearing, then wipe off on a towel.
4. Repeat until sheet is covered, then set aside to dry.Pin It