Did you know Copic Marker fades?

A lot of people are surprised to hear that.

Copic Marker is not lightfast. Copic Marker is not archival.

So it’s not just fun to make copies, prints, gifts, and home decor. You’re also preserving your artwork beyond the lifespan of Copic Ink!

And no, framing your artwork behind UV glass will not stop the fading. Copic Ink also fades with time. You can block the effects of UV light waves but you can never stop the march of the clock.

So don’t think of Kathy’s Repurpose series as just a bunch of nifty gifts for friends and family. She’s also making it easy to capture the beauty of your artwork now, to save it for years to come.

Kathy’s Re-pur-pose Articles:

• Classic Tote Bag

• Holiday Pitcher

• Artistic Calendar

And here’s today’s fun project-

Repurpose #4: Colorful Coasters

Delicious Coloring

By Kathy, Guest Author

Some days are just full of great surprises. Today was no exception. I opened up my email to find a coupon just waiting for me. Shutterfly sent a coupon for a set of four free coasters.

Now this isn’t something that I would have taken advantage of long ago, but because I’ve been trying to repurpose my coloring projects, I immediately thought, “why not?”

These coasters are 4” x 4” so I knew that I needed to find some smaller projects.

Then I had a thought- if I use these as a gift, they should probably be themed.

Since I’ve completed Amy’s Colored Pencil Plus 12 week course, I knew I had four flowers that would be suitable.

But that idea just wasn’t working for me, so I took another look at all my Vanilla Arts projects and realized I’ve done a lot of food related images.

Perfect! I have enough to create a fruit collection for my coasters.

This coaster project incorporates three Vanilla Arts images. The strawberry is part of Marker Painting Foundations 12 week Copic course. The cherries are from the “Grey Matter” Workshop and the lemons are from the “Lemon Zest” Workshop. The apples are a project I created myself, trying to challenge myself to apply the colored pencil skills I gathered in the Colored Pencil Plus course.

Even though the fruit was colored over a span of two years, I think they look great together! A perfect set of coasters for summertime sipping.

Please note: it is not possible for me to write a detailed tutorial on how to create this project because whenever a computer is involved, there are just too many ways to achieve the desired result.

Even if we use the same computer, software, and scanner, there are lots of ways to get the job done.

Instead, I’ve created a helpful run-down of the process which I used plus a few troubleshooting tips. Hopefully, this can serve as a starting point to guide you through a similar process using your computer and artwork.

My process is available below in a printable PDF download.

Kathy FS is a Vanilla Arts student who enjoys hand-lettering pointed puns, realistic coloring, and getting up early to sleepwalk the dogs.

Colorful Coasters

Supplies used:

• 4 completed coloring projects

• camera or scanner

• basic photo editing software (Adobe Photoshop- any version, Affinity Designer, Pic Monkey, etc.)

• Shutterfly or the print on demand website of your choice

Skills required:

• basic photography or scanning skills

• basic photo editing skills plus the ability to save the photo as a .jpg file

Print Process:

Print on demand website

Subscribe for your Colorful Coasters PDF download:

You’ll receive Kathy’s Coaster Process Notes plus the next issue of my Vanilla Beans 2-minute newsletter. Both are full of handy information and coloring inspiration!

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