Hello again I have been eagerly awaiting my order with new products from the new Annual Inspirations book, and after a little glitch and some help from Santa’s sleigh in getting my order through Customs, picked up by the courier company in Auckland and arriving in Wellington in 2 hours, (normally this takes over 24 hours)  I have finally started to play with my new toys.  My family had to prize me away from the catalogue in order to have tea!  There are so many gorgeous products coming and my wish list really does not match my budget. I have bought a couple of new paper packs and I will look at posting my efforts with them at another time.  But what I have been waiting so long for is the new ShinHan Touch markers.  I have done a lot of research since CTMH announced we would be carrying these markers and I am very pleased to see that the Touch markers are rated as highly as Copic markers, which I have never got around to purchasing.  The markers are so easy to use and the tips are fine, yet juicy, for a good control of colouring. I am still playing with different cardstock for these markers but today I would like to show you what the markers can be used on. Here are some acrylic flowers that I have coloured.  These need to be allowed to dry before using them. The markers coloured the sparkles really well and I will always have coloured sparkles to match my projects. Here I have used Stazon black ink and stamped butterflies and flowers on the feather vellum from the Free to Be Me paper pack that was a constant campaign a few months ago.  I have stamped on the shiny side and when the ink dried I coloured in the back of the image and then fussy cut them out.  I love the effect of the colours on the vellum.   Here is a card that I have made using the flowers, butterflies and sparkles.  I have used two new stamp sets that are going to be available next month – Your Own Kind of Wonderful and Pretty Petals.  I have stamped the background flowers using the rock and roll technique with the new Canary ink with Pear ink.  The leaves are stamped with Pear and Topiary inks using the same technique.  I have used the new Thistle cardstock and matching Thistle ribbon on the Pear cardstock.  I love the new colours and can’t wait to do more with them.   Here is another card that I have completed using the markers.  My understanding is that Memento ink is the best to use with the markers but with this card I have used the CTMH dye inks and the markers have performed well with the ink. Here is a close up of the coloured image.  I love the softness of the colouring and the colours matched the papers beautifully. Materials used: Cardstock – Pear, White Daisy, Thistle, Sorbet, Creme Brulee, Sky, Colonial White, Saddle Inks – Stazon Black, Saddle, Sky, Thistle Stamps – Your Own Kind of Wonderful, Pretty Petals Papers – Balloon Ride paper packet Acrylic flowers Sparkles ShinHan Touch markers:  Butterflies – LavenderP83, Peony Purple P282, Marigold YR24, Golden Yellow Y222 Flowers – Lavender P83, Peony Purple P282, Marigold YR24, Golden Yellow Y222 Balloon Ride – Golden Yellow Y222, Marigold YR24, Light Orange R140, Leaf Green GY234, Vivid Green G46, Sap Green GY235, Clay BR116, Mahogany BR96, Bronze  BR99 I am looking forward to playing more with my new markers and will post some of my results here. All these products will be available from the 1st of August. Have a great week. Happy Crafting Patricia