Copics- Cheaper Alternative??
 

I am new to stamping and I was just wondering if there was something similar to Copics that is cheaper? I don't have a lot of extra money to spend on supplies right now as my hubby is out of work and I am the sole bread winner.

I really love the look of stamps that are coloured with Copics and would love to try something similar, if there is something.

I knew if anyone had any ideas, it would be all the lovely ladies here!

There are alternative on the market - Promarkers, etc. The problem for me is the barrel size. I don't like the 'blocky', square shape because my hands are small. I have some Copic Originals but do not like the barrel shape and I prefer the brush tip to the nib tip. I can get into tinier places with the flexible brush tip than the solid nips. These are observations that relate to my preferences.

I'm sure other with give you names of other alcohol pens that they prefer and the reasons.

Good luck.

You can also use Bic Mark Its and Sharpies to start off with. The colours are more intense, so you would probably need to fill in a couple of the lighter colours (like skin tones) with a couple copics. They work well and you can get whole sets on sale (at least you can in the States - we don't get much good stuff here in Canada :( ).

Bic mark it, SHARPies, you can buy them at Walmart, target, etc. Pair them with few lighter colics and skin colors

Thanks for the all the ideas so far. I am going to look into some of the Bic markers, and price some skin coloured Copics online.

I totally hear you about not getting too much good stuff in Canada. I live in Northern Ontario and really the only store I have in town that sells any art supplies is WalMart. We only have like 5 "Big" stores and 3 of them are grocery stores!

I would highly recommend checking out the Shinhan Touch Twin markers. You can get them for $1.89 ea. at this site. And even less if you buy sets:

ShinHan Touch Twin Markers - JerrysArtarama.com

ShinHan Touch Twin Marker Sets - JerrysArtarama.com

I bought a set of Sharpies to try an alternative to Copics...the colors are pretty intense, but you do get some of the blending abilities from them. Definitely look at Copics for skin tones, since the large packs of sharpies only had a couple "flesh" tones, and they seemed more khaki or pink to me.
I've slowly switched to Copics exclusively, and buy mine through oozak.com. They have the cheapest price I've been able to find, so I buy a few here are there. Not sure if they ship to Canada. I haven't tried Promarkers, but have heard some people really like them.
Another option is to go with Prismacolor pencils. I bought a set with a coupon from Michaels and they give a really nice look. They blend beautifully, better than any other colored pencils I've tried!
Good luck!

Just a word about the pencils. ... I've ready under the prisma color thread that the ones i n Mexico aren't blending well so buy the USA ones. These blend with gamsol ,baby oil and goo gone

I couldn't put the money into Copics either so I bought Prisma markers from Dick Blick. I have about 100 of them. I know I don't get as much blending options than if I were using Copics, but I'm not trying to make my cards look like works of art anyway. I think I paid around $1.85 a piece for mine, but I noticed a while back that they're asking $2.11 now. They seem to be holding up well, I've had them for about two years and they still color just fine.

Dick Blick Marker Sets!

I have the set of 48 and in my opinion they are every bit as good as Prisma Markers and at half the price! They blend beautifully and the 48 set has the perfect array of colors. You can also replace them individually. I've had my set for over 2 years and have only had to replace 4 markers that my grandson left the cap off-so they dried up.

You could order a few to start with and see how you like them. I tried them out at an art supply store in Columbus and I was sold! I went back home and ordered the set of 48 online.

Thanks for giving me more options to look into, I really appreciate it! :)

I'm going to hyjack your thread for a moment here. :) I'm originally from Winnipeg and use go camping in fishing in the Dryden area all the time. :)

Yes, Oozak does ship to Canada. Depends on what you're buying, but I bought the air compressor and shipping to Western Canada was only $30 on that heavy bulky item! Even though we have to pay abit extra on shipping than Americans do, with what you save on Oozak prices compared to buying in Canada....it's totally worth it! I just ordered some more Copics from Oozak. Should be here next week.

I love my Copics, wouldn't use anything else.

I like to order from Terri (Stamps Alive). She has great prices on her products and has SUPER FAST shipping. HTH! :D

Oh cool, so you understand my pain of limited shopping options, lol! I am a transplant to Dryden, moved from Barrie area in Southern Ontario for work. We go to Winnipeg every so often to shop at "real" malls lol. There definitely is lots of camping and fishing here! :)