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Chocolate Musings

Set your goals - make the plans - artfully create your life - live it beautifully. Grab the good chocolate and find your muse.

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Home » tombow markers

How to Easily Create Faded Drop Shadows With Tombow Markers

July 16, 2020 Leave a Comment

How to create faded drop shadows with Tombow Markers | ChocolateMusings.com #dropshadows #tombowmarkers

Using shadows under lettering or around art creates a 3-D effect that can make your pieces come alive. They stand out against the background and create interest. However, creating shadows is the tricky part. Here’s how to easily create faded drop shadows with Tombow Markers.

How to Easily Create Faded Drop Shadows With Tombow Markers

This tip is one I quite accidentally discovered. I discovered this trick while filming my July Plan With Me Video. I used Sticky Notes to block off areas of the page and watercolor paint around them. Well, let’s say I was a little bit too liberal with the water. And let’s face it, sticky notes don’t block all the water or ink. It’s a fun technique to try, by all means, but it is not one to use if you want solid, straight lines when you peel them off.

After peeling off the sticky notes and revealing a slight mess underneath, I decided to try to make the page look 3-D. Like I punched out pieces of the paper, and there was a shadow cast down below.

  • Near Bullet Journal Failure! Peeling away the (supposed) blocked off areas - what a mess! How do I clean it up?
  • Fixing the issue with faded drop shadows gives the page a cool look and transforms the mistake! | ChocolateMusings.com #dropshadow #bulletjournalfix #mistake

Supplies You’ll Need:

Supplies you need for creating perfectly blended drop shadows with Tombow Markers | ChocolateMusings.com #tutorial #howto #blending
  • Tombow Colorless Blender (which comes with most Tombow Dual Brush Marker Sets)
  • Tombow Gray Marker (or another color for different drop shadow effects)
  • Paper (preferably 32 LB paper or super smooth paper, like marker paper or a Rhodia pad)
  • Optional: Plastic Bag, Ceramic Plate or Palette

Tombow Marker Fun – Combining Colors

Tombow Dual Brush Tip Marker Bouquet | ChocolateMusings.com #tombow #dualbrushmarkers #markers

You’ll know that combining colors is fun if you’ve ever experimented with Tombow Dual Brush Markers. One marker essentially absorbs part of the pigment from another marker if you press the tips together or mop up the color from a palette like a paintbrush.

One nice thing about Tombow markers is that they are self-cleaning. Use the brush tip (or bullet tip for that matter), and the absorbed pigment fades into the marker’s regular color. If using a dark color with a light color, there’s no residual effect except you might be left with a bit of staining on the tip of the light-colored marker.

Colorless Blender Marker – The Key to a Perfectly Blended Shadow

Tombow Colorless Blender - The Key to Making Perfectly Blended Drop Shadows - tips, tricks & how to create perfect shadows using the Tombow Colorless Dual Brush Marker | ChocolateMusings.com #tombow #dualbrushmarker #dropshadow

Up until now, I never used the colorless blender for anything other than attempting to blend two colors together. (Which, by the way, I find only works well on marker paper – not even 32 lb super smooth paper.)

But then a stroke of genius hit me! If I absorb some gray into the colorless blender, the gray will fade automatically to clear. Which is precisely the effect I wanted! The colorless blender is the key to creating a shadow that softly fades away with your Tombow markers! And you can do it without rubbing holes in the paper by blending too. You can even create faded drop shadows without water.

Watch the Video to Create Perfect Fading Shadows with Tombow Markers

Watch the July Plan With Me Video

The inspiration for creating faded drop shadows using Tombow Markers. See the mess I made & how the drop shadows cleaned up a mistake.

Here are some examples of what you can do using this method to create shadows with your Tombows:

  • Shadowed Boxes + Blended Handlettering with Tombow Dual Brush Markers | ChocolateMusings.com #lettering #weeklyspread
  • Boxes for appointments and to-dos, large spaces for writing and notes below - I love the flexibility of bullet journals! | ChocolateMusings.com #bulletjournal #weeklies #weeklies
  • Minimal watercolor Weekly - Bright colors + drop shadows make the colors pop on this page | ChocolateMusings.com #weeklyspread #bulletjournal #bujo
  • Large boxes on this weekly spread take care of your appointments and to-dos. Bright, fun colors keep you interested | ChocolateMusings.com #minimalweekly #weeklyspread #weekly

How You Can Easily Create Shadows Using Tombow Markers (2 Methods)

If you press the tips of the markers together, the colorless blender will absorb some of the pigment from the other pen and will mark with that color until it runs out. I found two easy ways to create this effect.

Method 1:

Create a perfectly blended drop shadow - kiss the colorless blender + gray Tombow Markers together then use the colorless blender - you'll get perfectly shaded drop shadows! Get the full tutorial on ChocolateMusings.com #tutorial #howto #tombow

Kiss the markers together at the tip and slowly rotate the colorless blender, so it is evenly saturated all the way around.
Now line the area with the tip to get the darkest shadow against another object or mark. The pigment will eventually be used up, and you’ll have to ‘refill’ the colorless blender with more gray and complete your shadows.
Don’t start in the same place every time – you’re most saturated pigment will always be at the beginning. So if you need to evenly distribute a shadow effect, start at the top one time, and the bottom another time.

Method 2 (Shown in the Video):

Scribble on a plate with Markers to absorb a different color on the tip of the marker - the color will slowly fade away as you use the marker - Get the full blended drop shadow tutorial on ChocolateMusings.com #dropshadow #tutorial #howto

You could scribble the gray marker (or another color) on a palette or plastic bag or plate (like the ceramic plates from your kitchen). Then roll the tip of the colorless blender around to absorb the pigment.

The example video above uses this method to create shadows with the Tombow colorless blender. Because it the fastest way to cover a larger area. I found pressing the tips together took much longer than scribbling on a plate because of how often I had to refill my shadow color. But if you don’t have a plate or palette, then, by all means, use the first method.

Notes:

By the way, you can do this with any water-based marker. The process is the same!

Question:

What other ways do you use the colorless blender marker from Tombow?
If you want to learn how to handletter using Tombow Markers – check out my workbooks below!

No Matter Which Notebook I use – You’ll Always Find These Supplies Close at Hand

Large Brush Tip Markers

  • Tombow Dual Brush Pens – Full Set | Bright Set | Secondary Set | Pastel Set | Grayscale Set (there are more sets available as well)
  • Karin Mega Box Markers | Karin Mini Box | Karin Metallic Brush Pens
  • Artline Stix
  • Ecoline Brush Pens

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Filed Under: Blog, Dress-Up Your Planner Spreads, Fun with Handlettering, Get Creative, Planner Header Ideas, Tutorials & How To Tagged: Bullet Journal, drop shandows, how to, plan with me, shadows, tombow markers, Tutorial

Hustle Co Notebook Review

January 3, 2019 2 Comments

 

 

Hustle Co Notebook Review

Hustle Co Notebook Review Heavy Bleeds for Crayola, Tombow & Water Pens is a Deal Killer | ChocolateMusings.com Review

Confession

I’m addicted to buying and trying new notebooks. In search of the perfect notebook that will withstand my heavy-handed marker blending and watercoloring (find out how I use markers to watercolor here!), I decided to buy a notebook that advertised thick pages. Spoiler: I’m still searching for my perfect notebook and late setting up my January bullet journal!

Hustle Co Notebook Review is it the perfect Bullet Journal? | ChocolateMusings.com Review

This particular notebook is by Hustle Co & the pages are very thick and smooth but do not have any coating on them, so any blending or heavy use with markers bleeds through. I can see the markers or the water soaking into the pages on the first stroke.

Test Page Result

You can see on my test page, all the markers bled through. Crayola markers, Tombow Dual Brush Pens, and water pens all have a significant bleed. That’s a deal killer for me.

Hustle Co Notebook Review Heavy Bleeds for Crayola, Tombow & Water Pens is a Deal Killer| ChocolateMusings.com Review

Other Features – is it all BAD?

The Hustle Co Notebook has 160 numbered pages. The one I purchased is A5 with a 5mm dot grid pattern. The grid is 26 spaces wide by 39 spaces tall per page. (I call spaces the middle parts between the dots). For a spread, it is 52 spaces wide.

The pen loop is on the spine of the book, which I think is really innovative. There is one bookmark, an elastic band to close the book. On the back cover, there’s a pocket for keeping loose papers. Mine came with a plastic ruler with centimeters & inches. The texture of the cover almost feels rubbery, the spine is dark blue and the front and back covers are matte black. The pages are off-white, just a shade darker than the Scribbles That Matter notebooks, but about the same color as a Leuchtturm.

The pages are very thick and it feels like a great notebook! It did withstand the Dr. Ph Martin’s Copperplate Gold I painted on the key and there was no bleed with the ink on the reverse of the key page.

Hustle Co Notebook Review - What Ink Works Well | ChocolateMusings.com Review

What Didn’t Bleed

Papermate Flair pens, Pigma Micron pens & Tombow Fudenosuke pens did not bleed and there was minimal ghosting with the thickest lines from the Fudenosuke pens. I think it can’t handle anything water-based with a lot of ink flow.

I inked a couple of fountain pens with Noodler’s purple ink (a Lamy Fine point & a medium nib Konrad Flex Demo). The fine nib didn’t bleed, the medium nib wanted to bleed, but didn’t. I think it would bleed if you applied any more thin-ink to the page.

I also tried gel pens & some new Bic Roller Glide pens I found one day (which bled through horribly in all my other notebooks). Both the gel pens and the roller glide pens were great!

In Summary:

I really wish this notebook didn’t bleed! Since this notebook won’t work for my daily needs, I’ll have to postpone my January Bullet Journal set up. I thought I found a gem when I bought it because of the advertised thick pages. If you don’t blend Tombow Markers or use multiple layers when coloring with Crayola Markers, the price is very good for the thickness of the paper and might work wonderfully for you.

I decided to turn it into a book-reading log instead of wasting the notebook and will be very careful when I watercolor on pages and skip a page between if needed. I’ll post a video set up of the reading log this week – which I am very excited to share with you.

Oh Well…On to the next notebook to try!

question mark - chocolatemusings.com

What notebook do you use? Do you love it or does it flop? I’m on a search to find the perfect notebook that withstands Tombow Marker blending, light watercoloring with water pens. Leave a comment with your suggestions. I’d love to check them out!

 

Check out the products I used/referenced here:

2 Comments
Filed Under: Blog, Bullet Journal, Get Inspired, Get Organized & Start Planning, Notebook Reviews, Product & Book Reviews Tagged: Bullet Journal, honest opinion, notebook review, product review, review, tombow markers, watercolor

I Did It…Or at Least Started – Getting Healthy and Changing Habits

November 15, 2018 8 Comments

Backstory & Disclaimer

Remember a while back when I said my husband was an evil genius? Well, I’m still scared, and he still is a genius. Not that I didn’t want to lose weight, but the whole idea of permanent change scared me. I’d have to give up sweets, treats, soda, all the things I knew I binge-ate and showed on my hips. If you didn’t read the first post, I would recommend it. This is my journey to get healthy and change habits.

Disclaimer: Here’s the deal, I write this for my benefit and accountability. I also write in the hopes that I may help and inspire someone else. I won’t approve comments that trash or are ‘judgy’ to me or anyone else. Fair warning: if you’re here to cause drama, move on. These are my opinions and my thoughts based on my own body and research. Now, as Forrest Gump says: “That’s all I have to say about that.”

Getting Healthy and Changing Habits

I window-shop for a program to help me change my soda-drinking, junk food eating ways. (I say I window-shop because I wasn’t fully committed and casually acknowledged various options.) But I hadn’t decided on a plan because I wanted to make the change permanent. No yo-yoing back to my original size/weight afterward.

I WANT permanent changes, not just a quick fix where I would balloon up again after falling off the proverbial wagon. Years ago, I tried The South Beach Diet, and that had the most profound effect on my body than anything else I’ve tried.

But it didn’t last. Boredom set in with the food. Sweet treats constantly bombarded my thoughts. I never reached Phase 3. Invariably, I started eating the sweets and treats before I was entirely over the cravings and fell back into the sweet-eating consistent consuming pattern.

scale icon tracker for your planner | ChocolateMusings.com #bulletjournal #bujo #weightloss #tracker #scale

What Makes this Time Different?

The desire was always there. But not the will to change it forever. Other than that, nothing is different, other than I have studied habits and understand my habits better. In addition to making a drastic change, I work on changing the triggers and patterns behind the behaviors I want to modify. See the list below for books I’ve read this year on habits.

But is the Time Right?

What in the world was I thinking to start a program heading into the holiday season? I was tired of looking/feeling the way I felt. Waiting for the end of the holidays and the start of a new year made me feel sad. I didn’t want to wait. I wanted to have control over the holidays and not be controlled by them.

My friend, Elizabeth, told me about Whole30 and what a difference it made in her mood, her ability to think clearly, and her body. I know it’s not a new program, but I got the book from the library and read it.  It made sense to me. And I love that there is a way to reintroduce foods once you’ve broken the cycle after 30 days.

(To read about Whole30 visit their website: whole30.com). This post is not sponsored in any way, but it is simply my journey to a healthier, happier me. My hopes are that you will research and acknowledge your own habit cycle and make a change according to what you want and feel. If change is what you’re seeking.

Elizabeth was itching for an excuse to jump on the wagon again, so we jumped feet first, together. So with the support of my best friend since junior high (yep, I can say we’ve been friends for most of our lives). I started what I fully intend to be a life-changing endeavor.

A Phrase in the Whole30 Book Impressed Me

While reading the Whole30 book, I came across this paragraph. These words are how I knew it was time for me to make a significant change in my life. It was time to get healthy, make changes, and modify long-standing habits.

“Don’t even consider the possibility of a ‘slip’. Unless you physically trip and your face lands in a box of donuts, there is no ‘slip’. You make a choice to eat something unhealthy. It’s always a choice, so do not phrase it as if you had an accident… Don’t give yourself an excuse to fail before you’ve even started.”

Its always a choice quote | ChocolateMusings.com #quote #weightloss #bulletjournal #handwriting

That paragraph empowered me. I have a choice. After reading Gretchen Rubin’s Better Than Before and discovering that I am a Questioner tendency, the need for having choices and making choices is a very clear need for me.

For the longest time, I was afraid of losing the markers (again – see original story of why my husband is an evil genius) and worried I would revert to old ways and lose those coveted beauties. (If you’ve ever used the markers, you’ll understand.)

The package is 96 markers plus the desk-stand. Can you imagine earning those lovely markers in 96 shades and then having to give them back because of a poor choice? The thought terrified me. That’s not 50 shades of gray, that’s 96 shades of sad.

Bullet Journal Tracker

I made a tracker in my Bullet Journal to help me visually track my progress. 110 squares for success! I’d figure out what to do with the extra squares later. Maybe a check in every 10 days? It’s kind of like a candy-land game. I sent one to my sister, and she used it in her elementary classroom at school as a reading tracker. I’m very excited to select some shades and fill it in. Find it in my shop!

Gameboard Tracker for Bullet Journals, Planners, & Teachers | ChocolateMusings.com #printable #tracker #game #candyland
  • handmade game board tracker for classrooms, teachers & bullet journals | ChocolateMusings.com #bulletjournal #bujo #tracker #gameboard
    Printable Tracker Game Board – Turn anything into a game!
    $6.00
    Select options

It’s a Choice – My Choice

Preparing for dinner today for the kiddos, I licked my finger, and it had something on the ‘no-no’ list. I actually spit it out in the sink and not letting it go any further. Here’s a secret: I’m proud of myself. I took the advice seriously that it was a choice. I told my husband that hypothetically I’d just fallen face-first into a box of donuts and didn’t lick my face.

Do you know what else? Since I’ve taken it to heart that I have a choice, the Halloween candy hasn’t really tempted me. It has a little, but not much. I hope this is life changing for me, just like the woman in the introduction from The Power of Habit (see below) who completely changed every aspect of her life because she modified her habits and rewired her brain.

The biggest thing is, after a week, I haven’t opened the box of markers and picked out the first colors as rewards. Oh, I will…don’t you worry. But the prize has now changed to the accomplishment of setting a goal and altering a habit for the better. The markers are now just a bonus. Fingers crossed I feel like this next week, and the cravings continue to subside.

My Advice?

My recommendation for anyone wanting to make a huge change in their lives? Figure out what your habits are, then study ways to change them. That’s how I did it. It may not work for you, but it’s made all the difference in the world to me. For those of you wondering: I still do the dishes every day.

Here are some books I’ve read on organizing, decluttering, and habits. I’d love a recommendation and add it to my list. Let me know if you have more to add in the comments below.  

 

Whole30 Books

It Starts with Food

Whole30

Whole30 Slow Cooker Recipes

Whole30 Fast & Easy

Turn anything into a game! Tracker Game Board | ChocolateMusings.com #bulletjournal #weightloss #readingchart #chorechart #selfcare

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Filed Under: Blog, Bullet Journal, Find Your Happy, Get Organized & Start Planning, Habits, Health Journey, Planner Spreads Tagged: goals, habits, healthier, tombow markers, weight loss, weight loss tracker

About Me


Hi! I'm Tricia, the creative behind ChocolateMusings.com, I know how it feels to lose your inner muse. After years of darkness (which I call the dark ages of my life), I found my inner muse hiding in the forgotten corners of my soul, I vowed never to lose sight of her again.

Bullet journaling helped reignite the passion for art and living life again while organizing my days. I also discovered modern calligraphy and watercolor. Since then, my use of the bullet journal system has evlolved and I call it 'creative planning'. Here on the blog, I show you how to use your planner to ignite your inner muse and explore creativity and art while staying beautifully organized and living a joyful life.

I invite you to grab some good chocolate and dive into my musings. Let’s ignite your inner muse.

Read more on the about me page. You can also find my policies and disclosures here.

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