1. Frame it this way... 
     
    Jamie Pope from America has kindly done this very cute picture frame based on our Planets and Constellation theme.


     
    To start, paint the entire frame using a ZIG® Woodcraft marker in Bluebell.  Once the paint is dry, use a star stencil and ZIG® Emboss Writer to make the star shapes.  Then quickly cover the stars with white embossing powder and then heat embossed the stars.




     
    Next up, add a couple of felt clouds and a chipboard moon.  The moon was painted with a White ZIG® Painty FX marker.  Then, when the paint is dry, covered the moon with a layer of glue using ZIG® 2 Way Glue and then cover it with clear glitter. You'll never see any project of Jamie's without a spot of shimmer.


     
    Next up, simply add a sentiment sticker and outline it with a White ZIG® Chalk Writer.






    Thank you Jamie for once again another fantastic project. 



    If you too would like to have a go at something like then, then check out our shop site for all the products you will need. 

    Thanks for reading, speak soon, Becki x

    Posted by
    Labels: Jamie Pope Kuretake Shop Site ZIG® Emboss Writer ZIG® Chalk Writer ZIG® 2 Way Glue ZIG® Woodcraft Marker ZIG® Painty FX



  2. Layer up... 
     

    American Design Team member, Kirsten Stackhouse has sent me this  work of art which is in keeping with our may theme, planets and constellations. Here is what Kirsten did.... 


     
    Here is my process for making a basic traditional sketch-to-finish character drawing. I use basic recycled paper, a pencil, ZIG®Writer pens, ZIG® Art & Graphic Twin markers, ZIG® Kurecolor Fine and Brush markers, ZIG® Kurecolor Twin markers - and a touch of Photoshop (optional). 







     
    Step 1) The sketch. You can be as messy or as clean as you would like. It can be of anything. Here I decided to draw a girl walking through a star field with a lantern.














    Step 2) Once I like my sketch, begin to outline the sketch with ZIG® Writer pens. It's an easy process of just outlining what is already there. The ZIG® Writer pens are the best for this job, as they're waterproof, fade proof, and do not smudge when you colour your picture later.






     

    Step 3) I think of layers when I'm colouring a drawing. The skin layer will go under the hair layer, then the clothes, then the accessories and so forth. So I will colour all the skin pieces before I move on to the hair, then the rest. I use the ZIG® Kurecolor Fine & Brush markers to colour in the skin completely, I allow it a few minutes to dry, and then I use the same colour to go over the areas of skin that should be shaded to build a darker colour there. It's also fun to experiment with other colours (try a muted purple or blue) to shade skin. 






     
    Step 4) Hair. I use quick, fast swipes of the ZIG®Art & Graphic Twin markers to build the hair. I like to concentrate on the shape of chunks of hair, rather than individual strands. Think of how you want the hair to flow when you're colouring it. 








    Step 5) I follow the same technique for the clothes as I do with the skin: use the ZIG® Kurecolor Fine & Brush and ZIG® Kurecolor Twin markers to colour, I allow it a few minutes to dry, and then use the same colour to go over the areas that should be shaded. It works like a charm.




    And there is your finished character drawing! IF you want to put in online as I do, however, I have an additional tip for those with access to Photoshop!


















    Optional Step 6) Scan your picture and open it in Photoshop (or another image editing program) and go to Image > Adjustments > Hue/Saturation (or Levels) and just play around with the options there! It's fun to tweak colours and brighten the background to add a little flare!










    Thank you Kirsten, I love what you've done :)

    Thanks for reading everyone. If you too would like to recreate this using out fantastic ZIG® products then please take a look at our shop site here.

    Speak soon, Becki x
    Posted by
    Labels: ZIG® Writer Kirsten Stackhouse ZIG® Art and Graphic Twin Kuretake Shop ZIG® Kurecolor Fiine and Brush ZIG® Kurecolor Twin Markers

  3. Everyone meet Sonia Leong... 

    Okay, okay, now I know it's not Halloween but check out this amazing artwork by Sonia Leong. 

    Sonia used Kuretake ZIG® Mangaka flexible fine and ZIG® brushables. I really do love this piece of artwork, the colours are fantastic, so bright and really interesting.  

    Thank you Sonia. 

    If you would like to buy either of the above items then please take a look at our shop site here.
      
    Have a great weekend. 

     Becki x
    Posted by
    Labels: ZIG® Mangaka Flexible Fine Sonia Leong ZIG® brushables Kuretake Shop.



  4. Belgium Design Team Member Laurence Colling has come up with this very creative note pad. Have a read to see how Laurence has created it...

    Material: ZIG® H2O brush, ZIG® Kurecolor Ink Cobalt blue, watercolor crayons or ZIG® Art& Graphic Twins, watercolor paper, eyelets, embellishments (stamp by Hero Arts "Please Notes", stencil Hero Arts, flowers, buttons, …)

    Stencils are usually used with spray ink or with a sponge and acrylic paint. Today I'd like to show you that you can also use them differently for a different result.





     
    1) Place your stencil on your card or the cover of your notebook.
    Using your ZIG® H2O brush, you can grab the color directly from your watercolor crayons or from the ZIG® Art & Graphic Twins and paint your background with the help of your stencil. The ZIG® H2O brush makes it easy to control the water flow so you have different shades of blue: the more water the lighter the color.



     
    2) When dry you can add embellishments (flowers, paper doilies, buttons, stamped images…). I wanted to have eyelets that match the color of my project. I dropped some ZIG® Kurecolor Ink on my craft sheet and used tweezers to dip them directly in the ink.



    Tweezers are recommended for small items if you want to  avoid ink on your fingers.



     
    Eyelets before and after coloring them with alcohol ink.


     
    3) Punch holes in the middle of your paper and add the eyelets. Fold your paper and add pages inside for a notebook.












    Wow and wow, we love it, thank you Laurence. I think its safe to say that a lot of you will be having a go at this, I know I will be :)

    If you would like to take a further look at our Kurecolor range or Art and Graphic Twins then take a look at our shop site here.
     
    See you all soon :)
    Posted by
    Labels: Laurence Colling ZIG® H2O Brush ZIG® Art and Graphic Twin ZIG® Kurecolor Ink Kuretake Shop

  5.  And the winners are...

    So a few weeks ago we mentioned that Momiji Dolls were doing a doodling competition, and the prizes were a selection of our products including ZIG® Cartoonist Kurecolor Fine and Brush set and a set of five ZIG® Cartoonist Mangaka Pens.

    The competition ran for just over a week and Momiji and plenty of finished doodle pages to choose from. Luckily they had guest judge Jon Burgerman to help them choose the winners. 

     First place went to @bibibuttonloves

     

    Here is a link to Momiji's blog where you can see more of the  winners and their fantastic doodles :)

    Have a great day :) 
    Posted by
    Labels: ZIG® Cartoonist KureColour Fine and Brush Jon Burgerman Momiji Doodle Contest ZIG® Cartoonist Mangaka Pens



  6. Here is a write up of what one of our lovely American Design Team Members Jamie Pope has created for us... 

    Wondering how this card was made?  Well, lets get started and I'll show you.  I started with a 4x6 piece of glossy cardstock.  Using a star stencil and my ZIG® Emboss Writer, I covered the cardstock with stars.  Then I covered the stars with clear ZIG® embossing powder and heat embossed the cardstock.


    Next, I inked the entire piece of cardstock with Cornflower Blue ZIG® Kurecolor Ink. The heat embossing on the cardstock will resist the ink, creating a fun background effect.




    Next, I splattered a bit of Orange ZIG® Kurecolor Ink to add another layer of color to the background.





    Now, on to the embellishments.  I used my ZIG® Emboss Writer again to cover the chipboard moon. Then I heat embossed the moon with Wow silver glitter embossing powder. Lastly, I ran it through my Cuttlebug to add a bit more texture.




    And with keeping with the same colors, I used my Orange ZIG® KurecolorInk on a couple of acrylic stars.
       


    Now to layer everything together.  I simply punched a couple of holes in the moon and then attached it to the card with a bit sheer white ribbon.  Next I adhered the stars, and then added a few sentiment stickers.



    Thank you Jamie Pope for this fantastic creation, keep them coming :) 

    If you would like to check out our online shop site, then clink here. 

    Posted by
    Labels: Jamie Pope ZIG® Kurecolor Ink ZIG® Embossing Powder ZIG® Emboss Writer



  7. Hello you lovely lot, 

    Here is a fantastic piece from European Design Team Member Miria Molinari 

    1. Colour a craft sheet with ZIG® Art and Graphic Twin in colours Yellow, Deep Blue, Light Green and Deep Violet.  Then rub a manila tag on it.

    2. Spray with water to let colours mix.
     

    3. Let it dry and scribble the edges with ZIG® Millennium Pen black.

    4. Draw some stars with ZIG® Post Chalk and ZIG® Wink of Stella Pen in black

    5. Draw a moon and colour with ZIG® Wink of Stella Pen in yellow.

    6. Add some text using ZIG® Millennium Pen again and colour some white seam binding with the same ZIG® Art and Graphic you used for the background.

    Finished result... 




    Thanks for reading. Look out for more projects coming soon. 

     Why not take a look at our shop site here for more inspiration. 

    Back soon :)

     Becki x
    Posted by
    Labels: ZIG® Art and Graphic Twin Kuretake Shop ZIG® Wink of Stella ZIG® Millennium Pen ZIG® Post Chalk Miria Molinari

  8. WOW, I love this. 
    Our Spanish design team member, Cuchy Sanchez has created this lovely project based on our May theme Planets and Constellations.



     

    I started applying a coat of gesso to a canvas board. With ZIG® Clean Color Real Brush I applied different shades of blue ( blue, persian blue and light blue) and spread the ink with the waterbrush pen.





    Using a star die, I cut 3 stars and painted them with silver ZIG® Writer Metallic.


     

    I made a circle stencil and applied a coat of texture paste, not so even, so it looked like the "moon". Let it dry.


     

    Using ZIG® Art and Graphic Twins, I painted the moon. I grabbed the ink directly from the tip of the pen with the ZIG® H2O Waterbrush pen.




    I added a bit of sparkle with the clear wink of stella brush, both to the moon and the stars. With a ZIG® black Painty FX pen and the white opaque ZIG® writer for journaling, I wrote the text.

    You can buy the above products from our Kuretake Shop here.

    Thanks for reading and have a great week.

    Becki x

    Posted by
    Labels: ZIG Clean Color Real Brush ZIG Writer Metallic ZIG Art and Graphic Twin Writer for journaling Kuretake Shop ZIG H2O Waterbrush Zig Painty FX



  9. Hi all, 

    Becki here with a lovely post from Laurence Colling, one of our European design team members based in Belgium.

    Here is Laurence's step-by-step guide to create a finished card like below... 

    1.Adhere on the front side of your card
    a scrap of pattern paper. Cut out circles 
    from the pages of an old book and glue
    them on top.



    2.Paint gesso to unify your card.



    3.When dry, scribble with watercolor 
    crayons (you could always try  
    ZIG® Art and Graphic Twins) 
    and using your ZIG® Brush H2O  
    wet the color.



    4.Punch stars and color them 
    with the ZIG® Painty silver 
    marker. Adhere to your card 
    and add a stamped image.


    Thank you Laurence for the post. 

    I hope everyone is having an enjoyable weekend. 

    Take a look at our shop site here.
    Speak soon, Becki x 
    Posted by
    Labels: Laurence Colling ZIG® Painty ZIG® H2O Brush ZIG® Art and Graphic Twin Kuretake Shop

  10. So the other week we bought you a cushion designed by one of our Marketing Executives, Danielle. Well, we just couldn't get enough so we did another one. Well I see 'we', but what I actually mean is, is that Danielle did it and I'm blogging it  :) 

    Here it is with it's 5 easy step's to follow...


    1. Get a plain cushion (without the stuffing in it)

    2. Drawn on your pattern with pencil then go over it with a black ZIG® Fabricolor Opaque. 


    3. Iron over the top of it. Depending on how clean/new your iron is you might want to put some parchment paper in between the iron and the fabric. 

    4. Colour in your pattern. Danielle used ZIG® Fabricolor Opaque in Gold, Silver and Copper. 

    5. Iron again, fill it with a stuffing of your choice and hey presto one snazzy cushion. 




    If you would like to have a go at creating something similar to this with these pens, then visit our Kuretake Shop Site Here. 
     


    Have fun, Becki x




    Posted by
    Labels: Kuretake Shop ZIG® Fabricolor Opaque
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