February Card Class

February card class coming up next week - these are the cards we'll be making.

Inspired by/CASEd from Jenny Watson,
http://stampingjourneywithjenny.com/1/category/leadership%20retreat/1.html

Inspired by/CASEd from Char Leasor
http://charsjourney.com/index.php/2016/08/14/can-case-133-color-challenge/

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Down by the Sea

 
I had a couple of thank you cards to make, and somehow seahorses seemed "right" today!

CASE-ing Jeanne Bobish

I've discovered a fellow Fun Stampers Journey coach who makes great cards AND posts daily live how-to videos on FaceBook!  Jeanne Bobish is a very talented lady, and I love her cards.  If you get a chance, check out her teaching videos at 3:30 PM (5:30 PM EST).  Here's a link to her FaceBook page. You can see all her videos by clicking on Photos, and then scrolling down a bit to Videos.  Jeanne Bobish.

Here's a card she made on January 19th.  I love the colors, so decided to Copy And Share Everything - CASE in stamp-talk! CASE-ing is a great way to get started - or keep going - in card making.  You can find amazing cards on Pinterest, FaceBook, or in your handy stamping inspiration catalogs and magazines.  Change as much or as little as you like.  I copied pretty closely this time, just substituting a different sentiment and ribbon.
 
It looks like I'm going to have to work on taking better pictures!  Here's one more I CASEd from one of Jeanne's cards - I switched a few more things around on this one, but followed her layout and made it a shaker card like hers.
 
So...if you get a chance, check out some of her work.

January Technique Blog Hop

Welcome to a Year of Card Techniques 2017: 

JANUARY-Shaving Cream Marbling

This year I've joined a group of very talented card makers in a year-long series of monthly blog hops.  Each month will focus on a different fun technique.  We're playing with shaving cream and color this month, to create marvelously unique backgrounds for our cards and tags.  This is SO MUCH FUN!  Run - don't walk - to your nearest dollar store and get a couple cans of plain shaving cream.  Try it with different colors of card stock, different kinds of paint or ink or food color.
This is an easy technique - here are the basics:

1. Squirt some shaving cream into a flat pan or paper plate.  Let it foam up, and smooth it out a bit.
2. Drip or dribble one or more colors of paint or ink onto the shaving cream, then swirl and mix with a toothpick or the end of a paintbrush.
3. Lay card stock on surface of shaving cream, and press in lightly with your hands.
4. Lift card stock off carefully, and set aside for a couple of minutes. (You can press another piece of card stock onto the first one and then pry them apart to double up on the dip!)
5. Wipe off the shaving cream, and let dry completely.  (At first I tried wiping off the shaving cream with paper towels, but that got pretty messy and used WAY too many paper towels.  I had much better luck using a soft plastic ruler to scrape it off.) 

After the first card, smooth the shaving cream again, add more color, and repeat the process. Each dip reveals a new surprise, and before you know it, you have a whole stack of marbled card stock ready to use. Here are some of the cards I created - and I still have quite a few pieces left for future projects.

This background reminded me of water - so it had to have a mermaid!

The marbling on this one is silver and blue on gray paper.

I went wild with scraps - definitely not my usual style, but kind of fun!

I think this is my favorite - and it was so fast and easy! 

Purple and yellow?   Easter of course!

The colors in the marbled background inspired this card. 

I colored this little digi quite awhile ago.
Seems it was just waiting for the colors in this background!

Thanks so much for stopping by today.  We love to hear from you, so please comment on the blogs to enter for the prize drawing.  This month, one winner will be chosen from all the comments on the hop as of February 4th to receive a Sending Love Designer Series 6x6 Paper Stack and Ribbon Combo from Theresa at ScrapsByGracie.

  

Time now to hop on over and check out what Sandy has done with her marbled masterpieces.  You can use the list below if you happen to get lost along the way!

Today's lineup:

Theresa: http://scrapsbygracie.blogspot.com/…/January2017TechHop.html
Kim: http://katydidcards.com/january-technique-blog-hop...
Lisa: http://lisaslittlerascals.blogspot.com/.../a-year-of-card...
Claudia: http://claudiahenderson.blogspot.com/.../a-year-of-card...
Wilma: You're HERE!
Sandy: http://www.scrapbookblessingsclub.com/2017/01/welcome-to-year-of-card-techniques-2017.html
Jodie: http://stampin-jodie.blogspot.com/.../a-year-of-card...

I hope you'll join the hop again, the third Saturday of each month, for a new technique. We love comments and sharing on social media!

January Class Cards

I just realized I hadn't posted pictures of the cards we made last weekend at our January class!  It was a fun day with a great group of ladies. I always enjoy getting together with them.

Watercolor lift

Pan pastels and stencils

Inspired by (and totally copied from!) Jeanne Bobish,
fellow FSJ coach

Sneak Peek

I've been lazy - not doing much posting lately.  But I have been creating a lot of cards for a blog hop that launches this Saturday.  Each month a different TECHNIQUE will be highlighted.  I really LOVE playing with different techniques, so I'm delighted to be part of this group.  January's technique is a bit messy and smells really good!  Here's a quick and easy card to pique your interest:

I'm pretty sure this isn't finished yet, but I'm a little stumped about what more to do to it!  Any suggestions are welcome.

Be sure to stop by Saturday to check out what I've been doing lately, and follow the links for a lot of inspiration.  There's a prize too!

Virtual Las Vegas!

Next week, many FSJ Coaches will be attending a conference in Las Vegas, NV.  I won't be one of them. :-(  BUT...I'll be joining others who can't attend in a "virtual" conference on Facebook.  We've already started some of our challenges.  Here are my entries:

My Conference ID lanyard

A bank so I can start saving up for the BIG conference in June!

   

Happy New Year!

Wow!  I hadn't realized just how long I'd been on a "break!"  I didn't even get the December technique posted, and it's almost time for the January class and technique.  Life during the holidays did me in, I guess.  But the Christmas decorations are down and it's 2017, so I'd better get busy.  I did manage to get all my Christmas cards finished and mailed *PHEW*... I'm starting to think I need to get going on next year's cards now (I actually have an idea!).

The December technique was a very simple one I borrowed from a children's activity:  Bubble Paint Background.  All you need is a straw, a container, a little paint, and some liquid dish soap.  Mix paint, water, and a little dish soap together in the container, and use the straw to blow bubbles!  Fun, huh? (Be sure to cover your work area with newspaper or paper towels!)

Now, simply touch your card stock lightly onto the bubbles to create different backgrounds for your cards or stamping. Experiment with different colors and more or less paint. 
I'll try to catch up on my blogging and do better in 2017.  Happy New Year!