9th August Week 7 - Summer Sunshine

Welcome to the Graph'It challenge! 

If you have just come across our blog and are a new reader let me explain what this is all about! Graph'It are the new kids on the block in terms of alcohol markers, being launched in 2012 in France - but they are making an absolute storm in the colouring world where the quality, features and fantastic pricing of these markers is kicking up a real fuss amongst professional graphic artists, art students and industry professionals, but also amongst we crafters who are addicted to colouring in our digi images and stamps along our crafty journey! Graph'It are fast becoming THE marker to use amongst crafters! You can often see team Leader Nikky Hall on the UK's crafting TV channel Create and Craft demonstrating techniques and showing us what these pens can do, but we also have lots of information here for you which is updated all the time too. So make sure you join us weekly for our colouring challenge here!

Next Create and Craft TV show

Sunday 18th August at 2pm - join Nikky live with some great hints and tips on 

Sky 671 and Freeview 36

Last week we challenged you to colour Denim and Jeans - but this week we challenge you to show us what you can do with...

Yellow and Orange

You can use ANY brand of alcohol marker to enter our challenges!

Before we get to this week's inspiration and prizes, it's time to announce the winner of our Week 4 challenge which was Black Hair. We're so pleased to announce that our Top 2 entries are:

1. Merkkari

2. Michelle Shirley

We loved all your work and congratulations to Merkkari who won our fabulous prize of £30 of Graph'It goodies!! Well done! Please email Nikky here to claim your prize and please grab your winners blinkies from the sidebar. Don't forget to follow the blog and add us to your subscribe lists - as you can see below this post we are adding new tutorials and information regularly so don't miss out! 

The winner of today's yellows challenge will win the fantastic prize of 12 Graph'It skintones from Premium Art Brands, worth £30! 

....Let's get to the great team inspiration this week...we decided to challenge Yellow and Orange because sometimes they can be the colours we tend to ignore. Graph'It have many colours in their range which are not available in other marker ranges and their selection of yellow and oranges are sublime! Perfect for blondes of course but they work with the browns and earthy colours so well too... go check out the colour palette above. Before we get to the team inspiration, remember to join our Facebook group too, Graph'It Markers UK, where we have daily inspiration and share some of our favourite makes & hints and tips every day, it's a great place to be!

Faye

I've used yellow and orange as the main colours for my image, but then I added a splash of hot pink with my DP too. These colours scream summer to me. I love watching sunsets in the evening, when you get one with the hint of pink in it too, you know you're in for a corker the next day!

Graph'Its used: Skin; 4120, 4155, 4170, 4180, 4135, 4145, Hair; 2130, 3150, 3180, 3190, Yellows; 1110, 1150, Oranges; 2150, 2180, Background; 9100, 0000, Ground: 4110, 3210

Karen

I enjoyed using this colour combo, its so zingy and refreshing, took me out of my comfort zone but that's a good thing!!

SKIN 4120 4155 4170 4145 5115 HAIR 1210 1230 1280  ORANGE 2105 2110 YELLOW 1130 1150 GREEN 8260 8270 PUPPY 9401 9403 9407 JEANS 7105 7140 SHOES 3245 3250

Claire C

I've used one of the fab images from the PolkaDoodles CD DigiStamp Heaven. I don't usually use yellows and oranges but the Graph'It range is fab so it makes a lovely change to use these zingy colours. I've used

Hair: 3210, 1270, 1130, 1210

Skin: 4180, 4155, 4115, 4125 and 4110

Dress: 1250, 1180, 1150, 1140 and 1110

Dog: 2130, 2120 and 2105

Grass: 8260, 8250, 8240

Suzi

I decided to try a different skin tone this week, to go with the bright orange hair and yellow and orange outfit.

I love how it turned out, here's the colours I used;

Skin; 2160, 3210, 3255, 3270

Hair; 0000, 2150, 2160, 2170, 2180, 3210, 4175

Outfit; 1150, 1170, 1180, 2150, 2160, 2170, 2180

Background; 0000, 3210, 8220, 8260, 8280

So there is our inspiration from the fabulously talented Graph'It team this week!...

You have until  Sunday 19th August at noon GMT to enter below by adding your creation to Mr Linky below - don't forget you have the chance to win a fabulous prize! 
The winner of this challenge will be announced on Friday 23rd August here on this blog. 

Please check our rules for all entries: 

1. All entries MUST follow the challenge theme. 2. Please link your blog post and not your blog address with the linky tool - this saves us from searching your blog for your entry.  3. No back-linking to previous posts - these will be disregarded from our voting.

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Skin Colouring Tutorial

Hello

Its Karen here today with a little tutorial for you on colouring skin! There is no right or wrong way of doing it the best thing is to just try lots of different techniques and colour combinations and see which one suits you best!  You can get lots of different skin tones with Graph It Markers but this combo is one of my favourites.  You will need the following for this skin tone:

4125  4155  4170  and for blush 4145 and/or 5110.

The image I have used is a Polka Dot Pal from Little Miss Muffet stamps.

Step 1 - I cover the whole area with my lightest shade 4125 and I don't worry about even coverage at this point.

Step 2 - I have now added the middle shade 4155 but not taken it so far in.

Step 3 - I now add my darkest shade 4170 around the edge of her face and under the hairline, I find it useful to turn the image as I do it and don't worry that it looks a bit messy at this stage!

Step 4 - Now I take my lightest shade again 4125 and blend it all together, again turning my image makes it easier.

Step 5 - Now I give her cheeks a little colour by adding 4145 and blending out with 4125.

Step 6 - If you like really pink cheeks like me then you can also add 5110 and again blend out with 4125.

And here she is all finished.

Hope you found this helpful, why not give it a try and see how you get on!

Karen xx

2 August Week 6 - Jeans & Denim

Welcome to another great challenge! 

Last week we challenged you to colour Blonde Hair - but this week we challenge you to show us what you can do with colouring...

Jeans and Denim

You can use ANY brand of alcohol marker to enter our challenges!

Before we get to this week's inspiration and prizes, it's time to announce the winner of our Week 4 challenge which was Black Hair. We're so pleased to announce that our Top 2 entries are:

1. An

2. Lucy

We loved all your work and congratulations to An who won our fabulous prize of over £30 of Graph'It goodies!! Well done! Please email Nikky here to claim your prize and please grab your winners blinkies from the sidebar.

The winner of this week's challenge will win a fantastic prize - a 12 pack set of Graph'It Skintones from Premium Art Brands - so if you're dying to try these wonderful new markers make sure you're in it to win it!

Let's get to the great team inspiration this week...we decided to challenge denim and jeans because there are SO many different colour combinations and cool techniques for getting a great denim look and it's one of those things we get asked about all the time. Graph'It have some fantastic colours which are great for denim...the selection of blues is one of the best around and even the Cool Greys are stunning for stonewashed denim effects - go check out the colour palette. Before we get to the team inspiration, remember to join our Facebook group too, Graph'It Markers UK, where we have daily inspiration and share some of our favourite makes & hints and tips every day, it's a great place to be!

Simonne ... All my digi images and papers are from the Polkadoodles Bonbon Belles double CD and I used them to create a scene for my card. As I don't have the cool greys (...yet, lol!) I used the deepest aqua colour (peroleum 7290) with my Denim (7180) Graph'It marker to achieve a deep shadow for my jeans:

Graph'it Markers used:

Skin: 4155 4125 4115 4120 4135 4145 ... Hair: 3245 1280 1230 1210 4110 ... Jeans: 7290 7180 7115 7110 7105 ... Fence: 3250 3245 3210 ... Trunk: 3250 3245 ... Greens: 8260 8240 8220 0000 ... Purples: 6110 6120 6130 6140 6180 ... Turquoise: 7260 7240 7220 7210 ... Bird: 9503 9501 9500 0000

Cara
I've decided to go with a dark bleached denim look and I also followed the colours through into her hair (I do like to co-ordinate) but it does show that you don't need the full Graph'it Marker collection to colour a decent image - I basically used skin colours, a few greys and a few blues.

Graph'it Markers used:
Skin: 4125,4145,4155,4135
Clothes,hair and blue parts of weights : Black, 7180,7170,7160, 7130,7110
Grey's for weights: 9108, 9106, 9104

Kevin  I have used this gorgeous image from the Polka Doodles Pretty Sweet cd rom and went with the washed out jeans look.

Graph'It markers used.
Skin 4115. 4135. 4145. 4155. 4170
Hair 3190. 3150. 3125. 3110
Top & Shoes 1130. 1150. 1250. 2140
Jeans 7105. 7125. 7180

Debs

I wanted to achieve and older worn denim look so added Cool Greys as they have a lovely blue tinge to them and they blend so well with the other Blues.

Graph'It Markers used: 

Jeans - 7180, 7110, 7115, 9104, 9102

Tee - 1250, 2105, 1210

Hair - 3280, 3255, 2245, 1250

Grass - 8280, 8240, 8220

Skin - 4180, 4170, 4155, 4110, 5110

Cloudy Sky - 7105 & Blender

So there is our inspiration from the fabulously talented Graph'It team this week!...

You have until  Sunday 11th August at noon GMT to enter below by adding your creation to Mr Linky below - don't forget you have the chance to win a fabulous prize! The winner of this challenge will be announced on Friday 16th August here on this blog. 

Please check our rules for all entries: 

1. All entries MUST follow the challenge theme. 2. Please link your blog post and not your blog address with the linky tool - this saves us from searching your blog for your entry.  3. No back-linking to previous posts - these will be disregarded from our voting.

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26th July Week 5 - Blonde Hair

Thanks for joining us for another great challenge! 

Last week we challenged you to colour Black Hair - so of course this week we challenge you to make a project and colour 

Blonde Hair

You can use ANY brand of alcohol marker to enter our challenges!

Before we get to this week's inspiration and prizes, it's time to announce the winner of our Week 3 challenge which was Candy Colours. We're so pleased to announce that our Top 2 entries are:

1. Jane Savage

2. Sue Bearhouse

We loved all your work and congratulations to Jane who won our fabulous prize of over £50 of Graph'It goodies!! Well done! Please email Nikky here to claim your prize and please grab your winners blinkies from the sidebar.

The winner of this week's challenge will win a fantastic prize worth over £30 which will include Graph'It markers and other stash from Premium Art Brands and Polkadoodles! 

Here is the fantastic inspiration our team have for you this week....we chose blonde hair as our theme because it can be a tricky combo to get right but with Graph'it markers we have one of the best selections of colours around which is perfect for colouring 'non yellow' blonde hair! ....

Faye....I sometimes find blondes difficult to colour, I end up with someone who looks like they have yellow hair, rather than blonde, so I really enjoyed the Challenge this week.

Carpet: 8280, 8270, 7290, Background: 7105, 7110, 0000, Skin: 4120, 4115, 4155, 4170, 4180, Hair:1210, 1230, 1280, 3110, White: 9100, 0000, Yellow: 1250, 2120, Orange: 2180, 3130, 3170, Turquoise: 7145, 7160

Suzi

I love how easy it is to get a great looking blonde hair using the Graph' It Markers, For this image I went for a honey blonde look using 

1250, 1280, 2105; Skin 4120, 4135, 4150; Top 2105, 2110; Cardi and Shoes 5130, 5150, 5160; Trousers 8250, 8260.

Karen

I have also gone for a darker blonde shade as well using 

1230 1250 and 1280. The image is from Polka Doodles and the rest of my colours are  SKIN 4120 4150 4155 4170 4145 BLUE 9102 9103 PINK 5115 5125 EYES 8110

Claire C

I've used the lovely mermaid image from the PolkaDoodle's BonBon Belles CD.

For her hair I've used 

3120, 1250, 1170, 1150 and 4110

Skin: 4180,4155,4115, 4145,4120 and 4110 

blues and greens:7180,7170,7176, 7150, 7140, 7125 and 8220, 8250 and 8280

So there is our inspiration from the fabulously talented Graph'It team this week!...

You have until  Sunday 4th August at noon GMT to enter below by adding your creation to Mr Linky below - don't forget you have the chance to win a fabulous prize! The winner of this challenge will be announced on Friday 9th August here on this blog. 
Please check our rules for all entries: 
1. All entries MUST follow the challenge theme. 2. Please link your blog post and not your blog address with the linky tool - this saves us from searching your blog for your entry.  3. No back-linking to previous posts - these will be disregarded from our voting.

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Blonde Hair Tutorial

Morning Everyone :)

Happy Friday Peeps, it's Faye here. Historically, I have found Blondes difficult to colour. It has taken me years to find colour combo's that I think look Blonde and not yellow, with other markers. But within weeks of playing with Graph'Its, I discovered one I'm really happy with, and I thought I'd share...

So, start with 1210...

Second, lay down 1230...

Then 1280 for the darker areas...

Next go back with 1210 again to fill in some of the white space and add texture to the hair...

Repeat with 1230 and 1280...

Finally add a small amount of 3110 for the darkest root and shadow areas...

Job done...

Hope you join us this week for our Blonde Challenge and don't forget you still have a few days to join our Black Hair Challenge...

19 July Week 4 - Black Hair

Thanks for joining us for another great challenge! 

This week we challenge you to make a project and colour

Black Hair

You can use ANY brand of alcohol marker to enter our challenges!

Before we get to this week's inspiration and prizes, it's time to announce the winner of our Week 2 challenge which was Bright and Bold. We're so pleased to announce that our Top 3 entries are:

1.  No 1, Scatty Jan

2. No 14, Sue Bearhouse

3. No 17, Lucy Patrick

We loved all your work and congratulations to Scatty Jan who won our fabulous prize of over £30 of goodies!! Well done! Please email Nikky here to claim your prize! Sue and Lucy - please feel free to grab your blinkies from the sidebar to add to your blogs!

The winner of the challenge this week will win a fantastic prize worth over £30 which will include Graph'It markers and other stash from Premium Art Brands and Polkadoodles!

You have until Sunday 28th July at noon GMT to enter below by adding your creation to Mr Linky below - don't forget you have the chance to win a fabulous prize! The winner of this challenge will be announced on Friday 2nd August here on this blog. Please check our rules for all entries.

Here is the fantastic inspiration our team have for you this week....

Cara...
As I don't have the full range of Greys I would usually use to colour black hair I decided to do something a little different ..... ombre hair!!!! Had I not had these wonderful markers I doubt I would have ever tried something like this, they really do make those normally challenging projects so much easier!

Simonne...
Although Graph'It have FIVE different sets of grey markers (Warm, Cool, Netural, Pink and Green Greys), I only have the Neutral Greys, so I used these to colour my black hair this week!  I also used Heather (with wings) digi stamp and Apple Lagoon papers from the *new* Polkadoodles Bonbon Belles double CD Collection.

Graph'it Markers used:
Skin: 4155 4115 4125 4120....Blush: 4135 Lips: 5120 Eyes: 8220....Hair: 9509 9507 9505 9303 9501....Jacket & Shoes: 7160 7150 7140....Trousers: 8110 7210 0000....White shading: 4110 0000....Wings: 8110 7210....Flowers 7160 7150 7140 7210 1210 8260 8220

Kevin...
I have used this adorable image from the Polkadoodles Candy Doodles CD Collection, on colouring the black hair I found I could do with another couple of lighter grey Graph'It markers.

Graph'It Markers used 

Skin 4155..4145..4115..4135..4180......Hair  9909..9905..9508..9505.......Dress 8110..8240..8130

Flowers,bird & grass 1110..2140..1130..1150

Debs

I like to add a base colour when doing black hair to give nice highlights so I opted for a blue grey then built up with the neutrals and finished the deepest areas with black..

Graph'It Markers used:
Hair - 9102, 9505, 9507, 9509, 9909.....Skin - 4180, 4170, 4155, 4110, 5110....Pinks - 5120, 5130, 5255......Turquoise - 720, 7260, 7240

So there you have our inspiration this week! 

You have until Sunday 28th July at noon GMT to enter below by adding your creation to Mr Linky below - don't forget you have the chance to win a fabulous prize! The winner of this challenge will be announced on Friday 2nd August here on this blog. Please check our rules for all entries.

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Easy Blending with your Mix'it Palette

Hi there, Claire  here with a quick tutorial to show you how you can use your Mix'it  Palette with your Graph'it markers to make blending loads easier. The Mix'It is a translucent surface that enables you to mix your Graph'It markers to blend beautifully and even to make new colours

 There are quite a few ways to use the Mix'it for example with the blender pen or to create totally new colours but today I'm just going to concentrate on blending with your markers I've used these colours and one of the lovely images from the Pretty Sweet CD from Polkadoodles.

I've used 5140 in the areas where the shade would be darkest

Next I've miixed 5140 with 5270 on the Mix'It and applied it with 5270. These pens are so juicy its almost like painting with this technique. Using the mix of ink I've gone around the coloured areas and extended in to the white space a little

Next I used 5270 on its own and then I've used the next shade 5120, mixing it with 5270 and again applying with the lighter shade extending a little further in to the white space.

Once again use the lighter shade 5120 on its own and then repeat the process using the lightest shade 5110 to apply the mix of inks 

Lastly, go over the entire area with 5110 to blend the colours. You may want to go in and add some depth to the darker areas

Finish colouring your image

and its ready to make your card

I hope you  enjoy using your Mix'It, you can clean it with your blender pen but I've had mine for about a year now and I never clean it. The colour looks as if its dried out but re-activates instantly with your blender pen so no need to worry about wasting ink 

Thanks for visiting, hope you're going to enter our Candy Colours Challenge, scroll down to see all the gorgeous projects from my teamies!

Claire xx

12 July Week 3 - Candy Colours

Thanks for joining us for another great challenge! Don't forget you have until Sunday to enter last week's challenge too and a chance to win some lovely stash! We've had some great feedback from you all about this fab new challenge blog and we're blown away by all your positive comments - thanks so much for joining us and spreading the Graph'It word!

So, it's been great weather here and this week we challenge you to make a project and colour it with your favourite

Candy Colours

Before we get to this week's inspiration and prizes, it's time to announce the winner of our first challenge which was New Beginnings. We're so pleased to announce that our Top 2 entries are:
1.  Leona
2. Kim

We loved all your work and congratulations to Leona who won our fabulous prize of over £50 of goodies!! Well done! Please email Nikky here to claim your prize!

The winner of this week's challenge will win a fantastic prize worth over £30 which will include Graph'It markers and other stash from Premium Art Brands and Polkadoodles! 

You can use ANY brand of alcohol marker to enter our challenges!

You have until  Sunday 21st July at noon GMT to enter below by adding your creation to Mr Linky below - don't forget you have the chance to win a fabulous prize! The winner of this challenge will be announced on Friday 26th July here on this blog. Please check our rules below to make sure you are counted within the entries!

In the meantime - if you are heading to Doncaster this weekend for the fabulous Summer Crafting show then make sure you call and see Nikky on the Polkadoodles stand - Nikky will be demoing Graph'It markers all weekend and showing you how amazing they are, together with all her favourite hints, tips and techniques! She has a whole lot of stock with her to show you so make sure you head over and say hello to her! 

Here is the fantastic inspiration our team have for you this week....

Faye... Rhubarb and Custard... 

I used to love going into the sweet shop for a quarter of Rhubarb and Custards. In fact, if I see an old fashioned sweet shop, I still go in for a quarter, reminds me of my youth!

 Markers Used... Ground; 4110, 3210, Background; 9100, 9102, Bear; 1210, 1230, 3245, Balloon; 1110, 1140, 1150, 1250, Hat; 5280, 3170, yellow as per balloon

Karen - Opal Fruits....

These colours really remind me of my favourite sweeties! Hope you love the colours too.... Markers used 5110 5115 6120 6140 4120 4115 4155 3120 2105  - Digi papers and sentiment Pretty Sweet CD Polkadoodles 

Suzi ....Marshmallows

I love Pink and White Marshmallows, all squishy and delicious, even better dipped in chocolate!!

I've used; Skin 4120, 4135, 4150, 4155;  Hair 3160, 3210, 3270; Socks and Sleeves 1210, 3210, 0000; Dress 5110, 5115, 5120.

Claire C.... liquorice allsorts ....

(the yummy blue and pink ones covered in little balls - love em)

I've used:  Dress 5270, 5140, 5120,5110;   Blouse: 9104, 7125, 7105;   Skin:4180, 4155, 4115, 4120 and 5110;   Hair: 3140, 2105, 1230 and 1150

So there is our inspiration for this week! We hope you love our theme and we look forward to seeing all your entries! Don't forget, some lucky person is going to win a whole lot of yummy colouring stash!! Closing date for entries is Sunday 21st July at noon GMT. In the meantime we'll see you again next Friday, but make sure you also signup to follow us as the team will be posting regular tutorials for you too - and you really don't want to miss them!

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5 July Week 2 - Birthday Bonanza challenge

Welcome to the second of our challenges here at Graph'It Challenge! This week we want you to join in our
Bright and Beautiful Birthday Bonanza!

Our team was challenged to use bright and bold happy colours this week and we'd like you to do the same - we want to see all your brightest and most cheerful colouring! 
You can use ANY brand of alcohol marker to enter our challenges!

The winner of this challenge will win a fantastic prize worth over £30 which will include Graph'It markers and lots of other stash fromPremium Art Brands and Polkadoodles! You have until  Sunday 14th July at noon GMT to enter below by adding your creation to Mr Linky below - don't forget you have the chance to win a fabulous prize! The winner of this challenge will be announced on Friday 19th July here on this blog. Please check our rules below for all entries.
Don't forget you still have until Sunday to enter our first challenge below this post - come on please enter, we'd love to see all your creations!

Here is the fantastic inspiration our team have for you this week....

Cara....I'm loving using my new Graph'It markers, it's so easy to get vibrant and bright colours with Graph'It, I love them! ....

Simonne....I wanted to use this great boys image this week - it's perfect for getting bold with colours!

Graph'it Markers used:
Skin: 4180 4155 4115 4120
Hair: 3290 3250 3245
Reds: 3180 5245 5220 5210 4135
Yellows: 3250 3245 1280 1180 1150 1110
Blues: 7180 7170 7125 7115 7105
Greys: 9505 9503 9501
Whites: 9501 9500 Blender
Greens: 9505 9280 8220

Debs.....I think bold colours are great for using with male themes...

Graph'It markers used:

Skin - 4110, 4155, 4170, 5110

Hair & Shoes - 3110, 3125, 3190, 3280

Reds - 5240,5245, 5280

Yellows - 1150, 1170, 1250

Turquoise - 7420, 7620, 7290

Sails & Ground - 9505, 9503, 9501 & blender



Kevin....I wanted to use colours which were a bit different to go with this image (this is Claude from Polkadoodles Pretty Tuff CD)...

Graph'It Markers used:

4115 4155 4135 5120 Skin

1250 3150 3125  Hair

   5140  5270 5245  Reds 

   7290 7210 7105  Blues  

8240  8280 Greens

9580 9403 Greys

And Blender 

Nikky...

I find it really easy to use bright and bold colours with Graph'It - in fact the rich and vibrant tones positively encourage me to be more adventurous with my colour choices, I've never used so many strong colours in my colouring but I totally love being pushed out of my comfort zone and I ADORE Graph'It markers! This image is from our new Bonbon Belles collection...

Graph'It markers used:

Skin: 4115, 4155, 4170, 4175, 4135

Hair: 9503, 9504, 9505, 9508 Neutral Greys, 9909 Black

Dress: 5115, 5120

Wings: 5120, 5130, 1180.... plus 5160 and 1180 mixed

Roses: 5115, 5120, 5130

Leaves: 8240, 8280

Blender

....So that's our inspiration for you this week- now it's your turn to get creating! You have until  Sunday 14th July at noon GMT to enter below - don't forget you have the chance to win a fabulous prize! The winner of this challenge will be announced on Friday 19th July.

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