Hello everyone,
I'm back after a long hiatus! We're moved in and although my craft room is still more of a storage space at the moment, its time to get back in Crafty Gear!
I've got a trio of cards to share with you today for the White Rose Crafts Monthly Sketch Challenge, featuring Halloween & Autumn themed products from the store! I had a lot of fun with this simple sketch that really works for a lot of different designs and images. I decided to build some cute seasonal scenes for my cards today using images from the Waffleflower Boo stamp set, as well as the Pumpkin Spice mini set from Lawn Fawn. I paired them with papers from the American Crafts Spooky Boo! collection & a pack of Halloween themed, glittery word stickers called Ghostly Greetings by K&Company.
I also knew I wanted to test out the Nuvo Creative Pens (NCPs) that just arrived in the store this month, but more on those at the end of the post!
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For my first card, I decided to stamp the adorable Bear Witch image from the Waffle Flower Boo stamp set, with the two bat images as accents to add more movement to the scene onto 65# smooth white cardstock, using Memento Tuxedo Black Ink. Then I colored the images using the NCPs Natural Browns set for the bear, the Stormy Greys for the bats and witch hat, Fragrant Oranges for the jack-o-lantern & a combination of Sunshine Yellows & Cookies & Cream sets for the broom. Using a 3 inch stitched circle die from my stash, I cut out my little scene and used the darkest of the orange markers to color the border outside the stitch line, to look like it was layered.
Next, I selected 4 papers from the Spooky Boo! paper collection & cut my largest piece to 4 1/8 x 5 5/8 inches and mounted it on an A2, orange card base from my stash with Double Sided Sticky Tape. Then I cut strips from 3 other patterns to the following measurements: 2 x 3 1/2, 3 x 1 1/2 & 3 1/4 x 1 1/4 inches and layered them on orange cardstock from my stash, 1/8 inch larger than the panels & adhered with Sticky Tape. I assembled the elements following the October Sketch (see above) and then added some glitter bat stickers in place of the suggested floral embellishments on the sketch.
I decided to finish the inside of the card by adding the Glittered WICKED sentiment from the K&Company Ghostly Greetings sticker pack & stamped "Have a...Halloween" using the Lawn Fawn Pick of the Patch stamp set, from my stash.
For my second card, I followed the same steps, stamping the ghosts, spider and web images from the Waffleflower Boo stamp set & coloring them with the NCPs Stormy Greys. For this card, I turned the spooky ghost concept on its head and made the ghosts afraid of the spider, then I added the EEK! & glittery star stickers as embellishment.
I followed the same formula for the inside of the card, using the "Spooky" word sentiment from the sticker pack.
For my final card, I combined images from the Lawn Fawn Pumpkin Spice mini stamp set and a pumpkin from the previously mentioned Pick of the Patch set. Again, I embellished the design with a sparkly pumpkin and some stars from the K&Company sticker pack.
As expected, I went simple on the inside again, using the "Halloween" glitter sentiment from the same sticker pack & "Happy" from the Pick of the Patch stamp set.
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Okay, I know I promised to talk more about the Nuvo Creative Pens, so let me start by giving you some basic info about them.
They're an inexpensive Copic alternative (alcohol based ink) that is sold in 3 packs of blendable shades (light, mid-tone & dark) at a very affordable $5.99 price point. The colors are rich and saturated, without being too juicy & I found I really liked the extra fine bullet nib much more than I thought I would (its much smaller than other brands I've tried on the market, making it more precise for small images), and the other end is a broad chisel nib. I liked the color options and found them pretty easy to use. The only negatives for me were the weird shaped caps that like to roll away and off my table & the odd shape of the marker took some getting used to, especially on the broad tip end.
As many of you know, I'm a big fan of Copic markers, but I'm always on the look out for a good, affordable alternative to recommend to people & I would definitely say these Nuvo Creative Pens fit that description. I was pleased with the ease of blending and really loved the colors in the blending packs I tested. I think the fine bullet nib would have a shorter learning curve than a brush nib does for a beginner, while allowing them to achieve very detailed results. I will definitely continue to use this set, especially because its a smaller set, even in full (there are 24 color packs in the collection right now), and will be great for taking with me on the go when my son has appointments or hospital admissions. Plus, its easy to grab my marker bag and take it to the living room to color while spending time with my family or to color with my 4 year old nephew, rather than rolling out my Lexington Cart where I store my Copic markers, now. I definitely recommend Nuvo Creative Pens to anyone who is looking to get started coloring with Alcohol markers, but either doesn't have the budget or desire to invest in Copic markers--or even for someone who is looking for a great travel marker set, like me!
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