Featured Cupcake Sampler

Happy 4th of July everyone. Aren't we blessed to be here in this great country!

Wow, I was so honored to be chosen as The Featured Cupcake Sampler for this week. You can find out more about cupcake challenges at Taylor’s blog, Taylored Expressions. Taylor's sketches are wonderful and she is sooo nice! My Featured Cupcake Sampler card is named “I Dream of Cupcakes”.

This card was all about that cupcake wall. When you hold this card at arm’s length, those cupcakes appear to pop up right off the wall just like cobblestones would. Here's a closeup. You may be able to get the effect by stepping back from your computer screen a bit.


So for my first tutorial: The Cobblestone Cupcake Wall with Copics

Preparation: Stamp the images on white paper using your Copic friendly favorites. I used Georgia Pacific cardstock and Brilliance Ink (heat set). I tried stamping the cupcakes randomly the first time but didn’t like the effect. These cupcakes are stamped in a loose brickwork pattern.

Step 1. Color lightly over the entire area with your E33 marker. Don’t worry about the streaks.



Step 2. Color lightly over the entire area again with your E37 marker. Again, don’t worry about the streaks.


Step 3. Using your colorless blender (0), remove a little color from the right side only of all the cupcakes. I colored a bit inside the line and the ink spread outward to the line. I only “scrubbed” back and forth about 4 times and then let it set a minute. It will continue to spread a little while you wait. If it needs more, go back one or two more times. If you use too much, you’ll end up with a puddle around the edge of your cupcake.



Step 4. Trace just outside the cupcake on the left side only with E47. I tried to start and finish my lines up on the very tip of the marker so they were thinner at the start and stop and wider in the middle. (The first cupcake in example #4 has one of those “puddles” on the right side where I used too much colorless blender)



Oh, the cap on top of the wall……I masked the area off with post it notes because I can’t ever seem to get my horizon line straight (I especially have a problem when painting water!). I then colored the whole area with the E33. Next I colored the middle with E35. Finally, I colored the bottom of the area with E37. Then I removed the post-it notes and blended the bottom of the E37 line into the wall using E35. I then went back and used a ruler to draw the thin black line across the top and in between E37 and E47 (so it looks like a shadow underneath the overhang of the cap).

Now, what kind of wall can you create?

Stamps: Elzybells Daydreaming Girl from Laurlynn, Inkadinkadoo Birthday Cupcake from Christina13, MFT Can Ya Dig It? (flower in girls hair), Short and Sweet, Canvas Backgrounder (on pink layer), All Night Media DJ Chunky Alphabet
Inks: Chocolate Chip, Creamy Caramel
Paper: Chocolate Chip, Creamy Caramel, Regal Rose
Accessories: Copics, fine black marker, glitter pen, Heat & Set Powder, Dazzling Diamonds (on dreamy cupcake), Virsamark, Swiss Dots Embossing Folder (on chocolate layer under ribbon), Ribbon, Pop Dots, Ruler

Enjoy!
Michelle