A while back I registered for Jennifer McGuire’s Inspiration Showcase 2 week workshop:
I had missed Kristina Werner and JM’s summer card camp, and I really didn’t want to miss out on this one, so I registered right away. Back then it seemed like September 12 was so far away!
Yet, here we are!
The workshop is set up so that you make a heart for each technique taught and then mount all your completed hearts onto a canvas at the end of the workshop… so you have this “Inspiration Showcase” to put up in your craft room to remind you of all the fun techniques you learned. Each row of hearts represents a different category of techniques. The workshop runs for 12 days straight, during which you will learn all the techniques, make all the hearts, and lots of cards!
So today (Monday Sept 12th- this is posted a week late!) I spent a good part of my day off playing around with resist techniques. The first class covers the entire first row of hearts (all resist techniques). I am really impressed with the quality of this class! Having done a lot of resist techniques already, I wasn’t sure this particular class would teach me much, but I learned oodles of new tips and a few new techniques. There is also a forum to ask questions, a gallery to post your work, and prizes to be won!
Here is my first row:
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| Inspiration Showcase: Row 1- Resist |
Resist on glossy paper (I had never worked with glossy paper, and actually had none, so I used photo paper, which doesn’t work quite as well, but will do for now), resist with paint, resist embossing, embossing on canvas, and a kissing technique.
I decided to try all the cards presented in the first class as well, although I don’t love how they turned out for me.
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| Inspiration Showcase: Class 1 card 1 |
This card was supposed to be made using a resist with versamark on glossy paper (I used photo paper), then running a distress ink pad over it. The ink doesn’t spread as nicely on photo paper- my blending tool kept getting stuck and jumping around the page. The result is more mottled than I was intending, but I actually like it better than the smooth look. I just wish I had double-stamped the sentiment, because it kind of gets lost on the background. Even so, it’s my fave of the cards I made from this class.
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| Inspiration Showcase: Class 1, card 2 |
I don’t love this card, but I really wanted to try the technique on a larger surface than the little heart. This is called trapped embossed, where you clear- emboss over a patterned paper and then ink over the surface so the pattern only shows in the embossed parts. The ink didn’t cover the paper very well, so you can see the pattern where it’s supposed to be solid. I intentionally put darker ink at the bottom and lighter at the top to look like an evening sky, but I don’t think it makes much impact. I did the edges of the sentiment with part of the Stampin Up tab punch. Ok, it’s hard to get excited about a sympathy card. On to the next:
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| Inspiration Showcase: Class 1, card 3 |
This card was fun to make, but it doesn’t have much pizzaz. This card uses all Stampin Up papers and stamps, and 2/3 buttons are SU as well.
