Metallic Pens: Part 4

Before we get started on metallic pens today, let me share with you the utterly amazing and incredibly simple contraption I built today (using plans HERE).  EEEEP!!!!!!!!

Overhead Table-Top Tripod for my iPhone

I'll post about the changes I made to the source's plans (very minor) but this was sooooo easy to put together all by my lonesome (with plans, of course, and a saw), and now, with help from my 16-year-old son, I should be able to do video tutorials!!

Of course, once you hear my voice, you may run screaming for the unsubscribe button. Come to think of it, do I really need to talk on the videos? We shall see.

Anyway, today's metallic pen cards illustrate the scariest use of those intimidating pens: edging. While I did a post showing how to do this years ago, I promise I'll do a video on how this works, which will hopefully make it less intimidating for many of you. This is my favorite way of kicking up two-layer cards a notch...or ten. Really, edging makes some cards look so much better!

Both my cards today are Father's Day cards, with two very different styles. Metallic edging works with so many different looks, doesn't it? The first card uses stylized solar system images and silver with a cool colors, while the second card uses leaves and speckles and gold with warmer colors.

Stamps: Hero Arts, Shoot for the Moon, Papertrey
Pond Life (DAD). Ink: Hero Arts pool, soft stone;
Memento Luxe black. Paper: Papertrey white. Accessories:
Wink of Stella clear pen, silver half beads, craft foam,
silver metallic marker, ruler

I shook the daylights out of my Wink of Stella pen, applied two coats, and got a bit of shimmer on the planet and star images.

The  more natural leaf card is mostly flat, except for the bling. This one will go in the post and needs to include a gift card.

Stamps: Papertrey Masculine Motifs, StampinUp speckle background.
Ink: Hero Arts sand, avocado; Memento Luxe rich cocoa.
Paper: Papertrey white
Accessories: rhinestones, gold metallic marker, glue

And that's all I have to say about metallic markers for now. I hope these posts (and the future video) help make these fabulous pens more accessible for some of you. If not, thanks for putting up with my enthusiasm!

Are there other topics you would like to see presented as a series of posts? Are there any topics you want as videos? Please let me know!

Metallic Pens: Part 3

Yesterday's cards demonstrate masking a border on cards, but today's cards will show how you can use a metallic pen to define a stripe across a card.

First up, a sweet way to highlight a single-word sentiment.

Stamps: Hero Arts You're So Lovely; ink: Memento
pear tart, Memento Luxe rich cocoa; paper:
Papertrey white; accessories: rhinestones,
metallic marker, pencil, ruler, post-its

Next, filling in along a diagonal...a popular design if Pinterest is any indicator.

Stamps: Simon Says Stamp Spring Flowers,
Clearly Besotted A Little Sentimental; ink:
Hero Arts red royal, lime, butter bar, orange soda;
paper: Papertrey white; accessories: gold metallic pen,
post-its, ruler, quilting ruler

These two cards have different techniques to achieve the design: by masking either the stripe itself or by masking the two areas on either side of the stripe (with large post-its, in the second card). Either way, it's fun and easy.

To construct the first card, I drew two parallel pencil lines on my card. Using small post-its, I protected the inside area and stamped the two branches. Not a lot of masking needed here, obviously. (If you do need more thorough masking, you can also use washi tape!) Then, placing a ruler just off-set from the pencil line, I ran the marker across the card, covering the pencil line completely.

To construct the second card, more masking was needed, so I used two very large post-it notes, positioning them perfectly parallel using a quilting ruler (as described in yesterday's post).

After stamping, I removed the post-its, lined the ruler up so just a bit of the stamping showed, and drew the gold lines. Easy peasy!

BTW, I adore those large post-its. Very handy!

Ruler Talk
Several people have asked about the ruler I use. Here are a couple of pictures. It's just a 12" metal ruler with a felt backing. Cork would work as well. The main objective with the felt or cork is to lift the edge of the ruler off the paper. That way, ink won't wick up under the ruler and make a mess. The way the large nibs are curved means wicking would be unlikely, but still. Why take a chance?

A second use of the felt or cork is to keep the marked edge of the ruler off the paper...where it might smear when you move the ruler. The metallic ink dries pretty quickly on paper but takes a bit longer on the ruler. If you touch the wet edge to your card, you'll regret it. When I draw a line, I immediately wipe the ruler with a slightly damp cloth to remove as much of the ink as possible. This will prevent slip-ups as you reposition the ruler.

I hope all this makes sense. If you have any questions, please ask in the comments!

Metallic Pens: Part 2

For a detailed discussion of metallic pen brands and use, please read the second half of this post. If you're just interested in the cards, I've put them first. 

Yesterday's metallic pen post showed one way to use straight lines in a design, while today's post will show cards with a single metallic line that creates a simple border on a card.

Stamps: Hero Arts You're So Lovely. Ink: Memento Luxe
pear tart, rich cocoa. Paper: Papertrey white. Accessories:
rhinestones, Prismacolor metallic pen

Stamps: Hero Arts You're So Lovely. Ink: Hero Arts soft sky,
Memento Luxe black. Paper: Papertrey white. Accessories:
rhinestones, Prismacolor silver marker

To make these cards, I masked off the top of the card with post-it notes. To get the mask totally straight, just place a quilting ruler 1.5" up from the bottom of the card, making sure the bottom edge of the paper is perfectly aligned with the grid on the quilting ruler. Then, place the post-its' sticky edges right up against the quilting ruler. Works great!

After setting the masks in place, I randomly stamped the images. (Side note: I'm a lot happier with the random placement of the leaves than the flowers!) After removing the masks, I lined up a metal ruler with a felt bottom over the stamped part, with just a bit of the stamped images peeking out from the ruler's edge. If you make sure there's an even amount of the stamped image peeking out, your marked line will be as straight as the mask was. Then, making sure the pen was fully primed (see below), I drew the line against the ruler.

Note that if your stamped edge at the mask is a little ragged looking, the opaque metallic ink will cover it up, which is super!


Discussion of Metallic Pen Brands, Widths, and Use
First up, silver pens. In my experience, there's very little difference in color or quality between these three brands: Pilot, Prismacolor, and Sakura Pen-Touch. All three are silver ink pens (as opposed to paint pens), and all three give essentially the same pretty silver color and opaque coverage.

Note that the Sakura silver pen is a calligraphy pen. It has an extremely wide nib for very large lettering. I bought it to experiment but haven't really played with it yet.

Now, the gold pens. The top one is a Pilot paint marker with an extra-fine nib, the middle is a medium point Sakura Pen-Touch, and the bottom is a Prismacolor broad-tip pen.

I have found more variability in the gold ink colors. Below, you can see a huge difference in the paint pen (far right)...it's just not as shiny (although I may not have shaken it quite enough...it's new). The left pen is the Prismacolor, which is slightly lighter and brighter than the Sakura ink. Note also that between brands, labels like "medium" and "broad" are meaningless. The broad Prismacolor line is narrower than the medium Sakura. On the whole, the Prismacolor works a bit better for me, but the Sakura is perfectly acceptable. Not so much the paint pen.

Take a closer look at the nibs.

Upon first opening, all three nibs require priming (pushing up and down on scrap paper to load the ink into the fibrous nib) . Once the ink is fully loaded into the nib, additional priming is occasionally necessary. I typically push the nib into the pen a few times before each use, just to keep the ink flowing well. If you don't get a smooth line of ink, you can always go back over it after priming it a bit. Just don't move your ruler until you're satisfied!

Metallic inks tend to separate when they sit, so ALWAYS vigorously shake your metallic pens before using. There's a bead inside each barrel to stir the ink, so just shake the pen so you hear the bead clacking around inside for a bit.

Several people have reported that their nibs frayed. I've never had this happen, but trimming with a small, sharp pair of scissors would probably fix the problem.

I hope my babbling on this subject helps you dive right in and start playing with these fabulous, inexpensive, and gloriously pretty pens!

Feel free to share your experiences, questions, comments with these or other metallic pen brands in the comments!

Metallic Pens: Part 1

A note for email subscribers: this is Monday's second post. Please scroll down to read my correction on the story of the Dippy Dave. 


It's no secret that metallic pens are one of my favorite stamp accessories...if only for providing a crisp outline for white-on-white layering. So today's post is the first in a short series highlighting various ways of designing with broad-tip metallic pens.

Reasons I Love Metallic Markers

1. Metallic markers provide opaque coverage, so they are perfect for edging stamped panels or masked areas because they will provide a clean line over every ink I've used.
2. They are easy to use and quick-drying. 
3. They last a long time. 
4. They are inexpensive and provide big bang for the buck.
5. A touch of silver or gold can really make a design special.
6. The fine tip markers work great for labelling the black tops of spice bottles that must be stored in a drawer. Sure makes finding the right spices easier!

Okay, that last tip didn't have anything to do with stamping, but some of you might appreciate it. 

For today's card, I used a combination of gold metallic marker and Delicata silver ink. The results are shimmery and fun!

To make spacing the lines easier, I drew pencil lines and then lined up a metal ruler with the lines. There's a little bobble on the middle line (see? there on the left?), but that was my fault. I got cocky and didn't make sure the pen was on the edge of the paper before drawing the line. When I went back to fix it...well, you see the result. If you exercise a modicum of care and don't rush, that won't happen.

As for the design, the little starbursts provide a nice visual triangle and move your eye around the otherwise static design. Movement is good. Static is bad.

Helpful Tips: The lines dry quickly but NOT instantly, so pause a few seconds before moving the ruler. Also, don't let the inked edge of the ruler touch your paper...the ink will dry more slowly on the metal. Rub the ruler with a damp cloth between applications to remove most of the ink from the ruler's edge so you won't have to worry about layers of build-up ruining the straight edge.

Supplies
stamps: Papertrey Birthday Bash Sentiments
ink: Delicata silver
paper: Papertrey white
accessories: gold metallic marker, metal ruler

Dippy Correction

I want to thank CSThelen for her questions that made me look more closely at the story of my grandfather's B-24 crash, which I stated was in the Himalayas when he was flying "the Hump" in the China-Burma-India theater of World War II.

While Papa did, indeed, fly the Hump, the crash of the Dippy Dave happened on a later mission, when he was stationed at Yankai Air Base in Yunnan Province, China. My timing was off. I conflated two different stories into one, so let's separate them out.

The primary operation of the Hump was to airlift supplies into China from India because the Allies didn't have any forward operating locations in China from which to attack Japan. This supply operation took place in 1942. My husband found out years ago that Papa flew cargo aircraft in addition to bombers, and this operation was part of his airlift experience...certainly part that prepared him to fly in the Berlin Airlift in 1948-49.

In 1943, the Yankai Air Base was in place, and Papa was assigned there, flying the B-24 with the 373rd Squadron. The bailout happened after a mission on May 4, 1943, targeting a Japanese airfield on Hainan Island. Interestingly, the book Chennault's Forgotten Warriors by Carroll V. Glines gets a detail of the Dippy Dave's crash wrong. It says that one of the crew (unnamed) died when his parachute failed to open. According to Lt. Williams' diary, however, all the crew made it out safe and back to base. Lt. Williams was the bombardier for the mission.

Glines' book says the cause of the crash was a failure in the fuel pump system that kept the fuel in the bomb bay tanks rather than allowing transfer to the wing tanks. The book also contains a facsimile of the one-page report (marked Secret), dated May 5, 1943, of the attack on the airport, listing Papa's plane as missing.

Lt. Williams also wrote an account detailing the bailout, which has some minor discrepancies with his diary account of events. (See his son's note at the end of the transcript.)  The diary also makes a statement that is physically improbable (that he walked 50-60 miles in one day...probably meant 5-6 miles, though I imagine it felt like 50-60 miles!).

The diary and the bailout account are fascinating reading, if you have the time, and I'm comforted by the discrepancies. If one of the men who lived this situation got a detail or two wrong, and if historian Carroll V. Glines got a detail wrong, it's understandable that I would, with my oh-so-human memory, conflate two different experiences told to me years ago.

Wouldn't it be wonderful if all eight men had written their accounts? I would especially appreciate reading something from Stanley Marshall, a flight engineer, who never linked up with the rest of the crew and arrived much later at Yankai...how scary to be without company for so long! I'm sure there would have been more discrepancies between the eight accounts, but also more of the human story we glimpse through Lt. William's diary and account.

Again, thank you, CSThelen, for making me look a little deeper. I hope this clears up any confusion.

Dippy Dave Crew at Yankai Air Base.
My grandfather, D.L. Willis, is standing
at far right. Source

Butterflies Revisited

Yesterday, I walked on my church's team in the Relay for Life here in my hometown. The Relay for Life is a fundraising event for cancer research. Our church walked this year in memory of my friend Karen Wenzel and Janet Jackson, two of our congregation who died in the past year from this terrible disease. It was a moving event. If you've never participated and have an event in your area, I encourage you to look into it.

Cancer sucks.

My friend Karen loved butterflies, so today's card is posted in her memory. I'm going to send it to her BFF Anna. Karen called Anna her sister-friend, and Anna, who is on the altar committee, makes sure there's always a butterfly up front in the church for worship services. This morning, I noticed it in the flower arrangement. I love Anna!

Anyway, here's the card, which uses just the block image from Clearly Besotted's A Better You and Kaleidacolor ink, spritzed with water.

I love the combination of soft, blendy feel of the spritzed ink and such bright, crisp colors. Very dramatic and pretty!

To assemble, I placed the top square with dimensionals, then the middle square, then stamped the sentiment, and then placed the bottom square. That way, the spacing worked nicely. By placing the sentiment between two squares, rather than at the bottom of the column, I had hoped to unify the design a bit. I like how it turned out.

Here's a picture with the envelope flap. The Simon Says Stamp Envelope Sentiments set is awesome. It's so easy to create coordinating envelopes!

Supplies
stamps: Papertrey Birthday Basics, Clearly Besotted A Better You, Simon Says Stamp Envelope Sentiments
ink: Kaleidacolor Blue Breeze and Fresh Greens; Memento Luxe black
paper: Papertrey white
accessories: StampinUp dimensionals, square punch, rhinestones, envelope

Two Cards for Contrast

The more I looked at these two card, the more I felt they needed to be posted at the same time. They demonstrate the power of focal points.

First, the strong focal point.

This whole design screams birthday. A candle and a clear sentiment, both positioned in direct relation to each other, mean that at a glance, the purpose of the card is incredibly clear, even though the word birthday doesn't appear on the card. Blow out that candle and make your birthday wish!

Second, the weak focal point.

The strongest design element is the bold yellow knot...that definitely carries all the visual weight on this card. A yellow knot is "undetermined," indicating it could mean anything...though probably something cheerful as yellow is a happy color. The words might relate to birthday or perhaps graduation or another happy major life event, but they don't scream birthday. Even the little yellow starbursts and bling don't directly relate to birthdays.

So the second card, while clearly celebratory, is more flexible.

Whether you prefer one over the other, together they do make a strong point about design. Generally speaking, stronger focal points are preferable from a design standpoint, but I do like words, words, words.

And thus endeth the lesson.

Happy Weekend!

Supplies
Candle Card
stamps: Papertrey Birthday Bash Sentiments, Polka Dot Basics
ink: VersaMagic red brick, Memento Luxe rich cocoa, Delicata golden glitz
paper: Papertrey white
accessories: none

Word Card
stamps: StampinUp Endless Birthday Wishes 
ink: Hero Arts butter bar, raspberry, orange soda, lavender
paper: Papertrey white
accessories: yellow ribbon, craft foam, leather punch (for hole behind the knot)