Archive for May, 2010
Artist’s Corner – New Manga Dual Brush Sets
Because our company has Japanese roots, we have opportunities to collaborate with the team in Tokyo to create new products. One of the newest products that we’ve developed is the Manga Dual Brush Pen sets.
Manga is the Japanese comic art form that is wildly popular in the US. Our sets are named after two traditional types of manga, shojo (boy) and shonen (girl). Our Shojo sets have bright purples, blues, pinks and reds, while the Shonen sets contains warm browns, oranges, yellows and greens. Wait until you see some of our Manga drawings…
This week Tombow is partnering with Graphic 45. Be sure to visit both the Tombow blog and the Graphic 45 one for chances to win product. There are some super fun ideas on both blogs too!
Do you ever make anything and love it so much you have a hard time giving it away? This is one such project. I had so much fun making this. The idea actually started out as a baby basket using this paper, but didn’t have any baby items to fill the box AND I didn’t know anyone expecting. LOL!
1. The box. This is a 2-drink carrier from McDonald’s. (seriously!) We went to McDonald’s drive thru asked for 2 waters (we did order their 3 chocolate chip cookies for a dollar…okay getting off the subject here) in the 2-drink carrier. As soon as we pulled away, I had my son get the cups of water out of the carrier and put it in the back so I could use it later. I brushed all the edges of the box with tan ink.
4. For the scallop edge, I used my new favorite EK Success punch.
5. I adhered all the pieces with Tombow’s Mono Adhesive Power Bond.
6. Several elements of this box is inspired are inspired by my friend Michelle Wooderson (you SERIOUSLY have to check out her blog if you aren’t familiar with her work!) First element is using old pattern tissue for tissue paper. I found some old patterns at a shop for 5 cents each. Pretty inexpensive tissue paper! On one side of the carrier is a bottle of Coke and a Twin Bing candy.
7. On the other side of the carrier is this cup that I found at a local store for $1. How cool is this???!
The colors match my paper perfectly. I was looking all over for a Coke glass and found this AFTER my box was made. I was tickled pink…I know, doesn’t take much for this farm girl to get excited. I included a cello bag of chocolate covered cherries (if I would have had the time I would have made homemade candy, like Black Forest Fudge)
8. Another inspired item on the second side is a recipe card. Mish decorates her recipe cards so cool. I can just imagine how cool her recipe book looks! You can buy Cherry Coke, but I thought I’d Google a recipe for making your own and found this simple recipe and what fun that it uses cherry Kool-Aid…another decorating element I can use for my gift box. (hey did you know that Kool-Aid got it’s start in Hastings, Nebraska? I live some place famous. Ü You can read about it here.)
If you think Tombow adhesives are just for craft or school projects, think again! How many times have you had an office project pop-up and you found yourself poking around in the supply closet in looking for an adhesive? Well, Tombow has created quality adhesives for any situation. From our tried-and-true glue sticks to our MONO Multi Liquid Glue, you know that Tombow adhesive will help you get the job done.
Leave a comment and let us know how you use adhesives in the office.
Stefan G. Bucher is a writer, graphic designer, illustrator and creative genius behind design studio 344 Design. He has received accolades worldwide for his amazing designs and illustrations, and he’s spent two years writing and illustrating “ink & circumstance,” a column on life, love and graphic design, for STEP inside design magazine. Imagine our surprise when we learned that his artist arsenal contains Tombow Dual Brush Pens! Pretty impressive, right?
Even more impressive is Stefan’s Daily Monster website. For 100 days, he filmed himself drawing a new monster every night, based on random ink blots. Visit Stefan’s website or his YouTube channel to watch as he transforms ink blots into frighteningly cute monsters.
There’s more than one way to make a handwritten mistake, which means there’s more than one way to correct it. Tombow offers correction tape to fit a variety of needs. With tape in varying widths and three distictive applicator styles, correcting just got a whole lot easier – and more personal. Now the only question is, which Tombow correction tape is right for you?
so, i got a little ambitious with my graduation inspired project. perhaps too ambitious. but the result is unique and something i’ve never pulled off before, so i’m feeling pretty good right now!
graduates of all ages have received the beloved dr. seuss book oh the places you’ll go as gifts for their special occasion. i’ve been wanting to create a dr. seuss inspired page for a while now (wanted to try the doodling) so this provided the opportunity i’d been waiting for.
this page was created with Tombow MONO Permanent Adhesive Runner and the Tombow MONO Glue Pen. and lots of Doodlebug crushed velvet flock.
typically i advise crafters and scrapbookers not to be adhesive abusers. but in this case, abuse away.
using two different adhesives achieves differing results. the glue pen holds the flock a little more clumpy, where as the permanent tape runner is more an even and smooth texture.
there are pros and cons of each, for instance, when using the glue pen you have to work quickly to get the flock on it before it dries. I suggest doing a section at a time and pressing the flock into the glue. then shake off the excess.
the permanent tape runner does not have a quick drying time, so i was able to roll it out in several places and then cover a larger area with the flock. in this case, dump flock on the paper and then move it around and rub it into the adhesive.
i’ve got some sweet pictures of my son finishing up pre-k from last year that will finish of this page.
now i’m not telling you that you will be able to get all the excess flock back into the bitty bottles (even if you use a tidy try) or that you won’t accidentally spill one of the bottles of flock on the table (like i did twice), or that you need to try a 12×12 layout like this one, but do try to doodle letters or a small drawing on a card or tag and fill it in with the flock or even glitter.
and remind me… i need to tell you all about Tombow’s MONO Glue Pen sometime. it is a fabulous, must-have adhesive, and i’ve got a few tips for you.
-sarah
Our Dual Brush Pens are, by far, one of the products that Tombow fans absolutely rave about, so we expanded the line and created Professional Dual Brush Pens sets for artists. Our new packs come in primary, secondary, landscape, portrait and grayscale color palettes in both 6- and 10-packs. We worked with well-known illustrator Jim Nichols to create packaging artwork that would showcase each color palette. Jim’s amazing artwork showcases the range of technique that can be achieved using these pens. We’d love to see some of the artwork you create using the new sets. Fan us on Facebook to upload you creations!
i have to admit, i found graphic 45 at my local archiver’s and called joanna immediately. she got on their website while we were on the phone, and before our conversation was over she had contacted them to do a partnership….and here we are, less than a month later, creating with their gorgeous paper! we’re doing a graphic 45 partnership later this month and i was just too excited not go give you a little sneak peak so keep watching for this fun team-up.
there is so much that i want to do with it…but for my first project using graphic 45 i was loving the fact that i could mix and match several of their lines. i ended up using two sheets of paper from the botanicabella collection, one from times nouveau collection, and the tags from the communique collection. i added my journaling with tombow dual brush pens. i love that they have a brush tip and a fine pen tip so i have more flexibility in my work. my adhesive is my trusty MONO DOTS adhesive runner. one thing is for sure, graphic 45 is now on my list of companies to watch… remember to check back soon for this fun upcoming partnership.
This week is Teacher Appreciation Week and I have a fun project to share with you. I found this fun tutorial on Shannon’s blog.
I used fun papers from Cosmo Cricket’s Early Bird and The Boyfriend lines. These papers are perfect for a teacher gift. I used Tombow’s MONO Adhesive Dots, MONO Aqua Liquid Glue, MONO Glue Stick, and MONO Adhesive Power Bond.
Here is a tip for how I cut the curve for the carton closer flaps. I inserted my piece into an oval punch like shown below. Super easy!
For the ruffles on the chipboard circle, I just hand-sewed a running stitch along one edge of ribbon and then gathered up and knotted and placed behind the chipboard. I glued it with the MONO Liquid Aqua Glue.
This was so much fun to make that I think I will make some more. I filled these with paper clips, erasers that go on the end of pencils, and candy! Ü
To showcase the variety of projects that can be created with Tombow products, we’ve dubbed Thursdays on our blog as Tombow’s Artist Corner. Every Thursday, we’ll highlight an artist and artwork that has been created using their favorite Tombow products.
Today, were featuring the work of Chuck Lukacs. Chuck is a fantasy freelancer and has been illustrating for the Sci-Fi and Fantasy art communities for the past eight years. In terms of technique, he has been influenced by the many craft revival movements throughout history; Japan’s Ukiyoe period, the Pre-Raphaelites, Art Nouveau, Music Poster Art of the 70′s, and Hip-Hop Graffiti imagery.
Chuck is a raving fan of Tombow pencils, which he uses to sketch all his creations. He fell in love with our pencils after picking some up from his local art shop in Michigan.
“After sketching for a week with the Tombow MONO B, nothing else could compare to its smoothness, and I went back to the shop and bought all they had.”
Chuck used our pencils to sketch this beautiful picture of Karen and her dog, Remy. Click here to visit Chuck’s website to see more sketches and get more insight into his artistic technique.
