Hi friends! Happy Wednesday! Please join me in welcoming back the always amazing Debby Hughes as a special monthly guest on her Doodling with Debby blog series! This amazing way of bringing our new Caramel Apple die to life absolutely knocked our socks off! Read on to learn more!

Hi, it’s Debby here, and for my Doodling With Debby video feature for this month, I’m breaking out my Copic markers, dusting them off and using them to colour some autumn die cuts. I made this card the other day and then afterwards thought it would be good to share a different colouring medium to my usual watercolours. I think the Picture Book dies from Simon Says Stamp particularly suit the clarity and vibrant colours you get with markers, and today I’m pairing the Picture Book Caramel Apple with the Leaf Branch Oval die. 

I used Neenah Solar White card in the 80lb weight as I’ve always found this the best for colouring with alcohol markers. I die cut the Leaf Branch Oval from one piece of card, and this cuts a window into the panel with a lovely leaf branch hanging down and a strip across perfect for a sentiment. I cut the Picture Book Caramel Apple die twice from the second piece of card so that I can layer up a couple of the elements with foam adhesive to create more dimension.

I coloured the die cuts with Copic markers using a range of colours working from the lightest to the darkest and back again. Back and forth, back and forth until I had a smooth blend. I try and maintain a highlight area, and I think the play of darkest shades with lighter highlights brings the die cuts to life. I coloured two leaves, and two caramel dies so that I could mount them together for dimension. The lower of the two dies doesn’t need to be coloured precisely as most of it won’t be visible, but I use it as an opportunity to colour both as best I can and then choose my favourite for the top.

The various elements of the caramel apple are all individual pieces and so to create the finished piece I added Gina K glue runner to a scrap of card left over from die cutting and added the caramel and apple pieces to it before trimming out with a pair of scissors angled to undercut the white card so that it won’t be visible. I added more tape runner to the back of the apple and adhered the lollipop stick to the top.

I added foam adhesive to the back of the apple, the extra caramel piece too and also the one leaves and layered the leaves on top of each other before adding first the caramel piece and then the leaves to the apple. I squidged a little Gina K Connect Glue under the leaf to make sure it was securely held in place. I added a twine bow and trimmed the ends with the awesome Tim Holtz snips which are great for cutting just about anything. I then used a sparkle pen to add some shimmer to the apple and leaf. I then set the toffee apple aside while I worked on the Leaf Branch Oval die cut. 

The leaves are small on the branch, so I only used two colours of marker for each colourway – little of the light colour followed by a touch of the dark colour and a quick brush over with the lightest shade again to blend. I chose an autumn palette of red, orange, green and yellow with a brown branch and then when I’d finished colouring, I rubbed a little Ranger Multi Medium Matte over the leaves before dunking them in my big tub of Tim Holtz Rock Candy Distress Glitter.

For the sentiment on this card, I used the lovely 30 Days Of Thankful 2019 from CZ Design, and the Simple Joys greeting fits just perfectly on the strip across the die. I stamped it in Versafine Clair Pinecone ink for a good impression first time, and also, I thought the deep brown went with the theme more than the traditional black sentiment. I stamped the greeting just slightly above the midway point so that I could add a piece of patterned paper underneath. I ran a thin line of Gina K Connect Glue to the paper and then lined it up underneath the sentiment.

I then added a bunch of foam adhesive to the back of the panel and adhered it to a Neenah Solar White card base in the 110lb weight. I added the caramel apple on top with more foam adhesive making sure to add a double layer of foam tape where the apple sat over the oval opening of the background.

Now that everything was in place, I added the shine to the apple and caramel with Ranger Glossy Accents. You can’t beat adding shine to give extra interest, and the only thing to remember is it takes some time to dry so not to add it until the end when you won’t be fiddling around with the card too much more.

This Leaf Branch Oval would make a great shaker card, but I just added a few sequins here and there and held them in place with Gina K Connect glue. Once the Glossy Accents was dry, I added two googly eyes to finish off the apple.

I think colouring with markers brings these die cuts to life and adds impact to this clean and simple card.

Thanks for joining me today and I hope join me next time for Doodling With Debby.

WATCH THE VIDEO:

SUPPLIES:

Simon Says Stamp PICTURE BOOK CARAMEL… [ SSS ] Simon Says Stamp LEAF BRANCH OVAL… [ SSS ] CZ Design Clear Stamps 30 DAYS OF… [ SSS ] Copic Markers [ SSS ] Tsukineko VersaFine Clair PINECONE… [ SSS ] Neenah Classic Crest 80 LB SMOOTH… [ SSS ] Neenah Classic Crest 110 LB SMOOTH… [ SSS ] Little Things From Lucy’s Cards ICE… [ SSS ] Tim Holtz Distress Glitter CLEAR ROCK… [ SSS ] May Arts BLACK Baker’s Twine Twisted… [ SSS ] Crafter’s Companion CLEAR OVERLAY… [ SSS ] Darice PASTE ON EYES Googly Wiggly ME4 [ SSS ] Gina K Designs CONNECT GLUE Adhesive… [ SSS ] Therm O Web Gina K Designs ADHESIVE… [ SSS ] Ranger GLOSSY ACCENTS Glue… [ SSS ] Kaisercraft FIRST NOEL 12×12 Inch… [ SSS ]

Thanks so much for stopping by, and thanks to Debby for being our special guest!

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Editor’s Note; now is a GREAT time to stock up (or try!!) Copic Markers!