Melissa Frances

A Copic marker Gift Card envelope tutorial

With Christmas on its way in only 13 days, the Melissa Frances blog will turn to some awesome inspiration from our talented design team. Today, we have a very pretty way to decorate a Melissa Frances Printed Envelope (GN562) and turn it into a stunning Gift Card Envelope. This great tutorial comes to us courtesy of the talented Sherrie Siemens. So, I'll let her walk you through the steps to making this masterpiece!

1) Stamp Pearl on Copic friendly paper (X-press it blending card). Take a pencil and trace the outside of the resin frame.

2) Color the skin. (I used Copic markers: E000, E01, E11, R20). My light source is coming from the right. Remember to add shadows to the face (ie. nose and eyes).

3) Color the dress (I used Copic markers: RV91, RV93, RV95, RV99). For the skirt, add color in long strokes to help give realism to the pleats.

4) Add a bit of grey to the "white areas" (I used Copic markers: W1, W3, W5, 0).

5) Color the hair using curly strokes and two shades of brown. (I used Copic markers: E33, E39)

6) Get rid of the white look of the paper by airbrushing, (using Copic marker E43) around Pearl. I was able to do this without masking her, but you may want to mask her off if the airbrush system is new to you.

7) Once you have finished coloring the stamped image, you may cut her out, along your pencil marks. Then, apply glue to the back of the resin frame, and set it down onto the image you have colored, so that it is glued onto the back of the frame. Now you are ready to use the photo below as a guide to decorate the front of one of the Melissa Frances printed envelopes (GN562).

And, here's the back of the envelope:

Copic Markers and Pearl Stamp Tutorial

Our very talented design team member Sherrie Siemens has a great tutorial up on the Copic blog showing her step by step process of coloring our Pearl stamp on the card shown above. Sherrie used her Copics, along with the "Just a Little Something" Pearl stamp by Melissa Frances. (A little birdie told me that the Pearl stamps are currently on sale on the Melissa Frances site, so if you've been wanting to purchase them, now would be a great time!)

Click here to check out Sherrie's coloring tutorial.

New Alphabet Stickers

To coordinate with our Classic Elegance collection we introduced 2 new alphabet sticker sheets. You can see the letters in use on this card by team member Sherrie Siemens. Here's the description for this new product from the catalog:

Words are what take a layout from a pretty way to display a photo to something meaningful that tells your thoughts and captures details from a memory. Our "Words Matter" sticker sheet is a 6" wide x 5" high sheet containing 294 stickers, with a combination of letters and words.

The stickers are available in white as seen here, and a teal colored set.
(Red lines are the die lines and will not be on the final product.)

A Christmas Tag

(Supply List: #8 Kraft Tag – by Ranger, Attic Treasures Vol. 2 6x6 paper pad by Melissa Frances, Pearl Cling Stamp Angelic Tidings by Melissa Frances, 5^th Avenue Chipboard accents by Melissa Frances, Tarnished Silver Glass Glitter by Melissa Frances, Reproduction Glass Buttons by Melissa Frances,  clear rhinestone by Melissa Frances, cream seam binding, Tea Dye Distress Ink by Ranger, Ink Applicator with a foam pad by Ranger, Neenah Classic Crest Natural White, cream cardstock, Black ink to stamp the Angel image with, Copic markers in E000, E00, E35, E42, Y23, R30, 0,  High Tack Double-Sided Tissue Tape, 1/4", pop dots, glue dots, a scrap of osnaburg fabric, sewing machine and white thread, scissors, craft knife.)

Sr. Creative Director Carolyn Peeler is participating in the "12 Feminine Tags of Christmas" project hosted by Ellen Hutson. Carolyn made the tag above which features our adorable "Pearl" character stamp, who is dressed up as an angel.

Please head over to Ellen's CLASSroom for complete step by step instructions for Carolyn's tag.

Meet Pearl

Melissa is pleased to introduce “Pearl”, a new illustrated rubber stamp Collection. This Victorian girl embodies the Melissa Frances style and aesthetic with her sweet hair bows and period outfits. There are six designs in this product launch with more to come! Stamps are cling mount red rubber manufactured by Hampton Art. Each design lends itself well to being colored with the popular alcohol ink markers on the market right now. And, with an MSRP of $7.99, you will want to collect them all!

Here are all six of the stamp designs:

Our resident design team Copic Marker expert, Sherrie Siemens has made these samples to show just how adorable Pearl is.

So, what do you think? Isn't our Pearl a sweetie?!