OCC Relax & Rewind Holiday 2023 (part 1)

Gosh it truly feels like the silly season is here and we're out and about, the days are sunnier so less time stuck inside. My partner & I have just returned from a weekend trip to Waiheke Island to catch up with friends and this weekend we're back up to Auckland for 2 lunches and a show on Saturday night. I almost groaned so loud that I'm sure Kristina and Jennifer could have heard me in America when they announced a new Online Card Class; titled Relax & Rewind Holiday 2023. I wouldn't be around when live as away and unlike the USA it's Summer here and lots to do outside but their classes are awesome value and you can do them anytime with lifetime access so it seemed silly not to sign up.

This "CLASS" is a bit different than others I have done, it's shorter and all done in one day and is technique focused.

Session one is Jennifer McGuire and Cathy Zielske teaching 6 techniques over 2 hours. The second session follows the same format with Kristina Werner and Dana Joy teaching 6 techniques in 2 hours.

I managed to achieve the first three techniques yesterday so I'm a quarter done already. It was fun to just play and make a background. I used Strathmore Bristol Smooth card stock for the 3 inky backgrounds below.

The first technique to start it all off was ink smooshing. I've never done it by smooshing to glass before then wetting with a mister bottle. 

This is the inks smooshed down on my wee WRMK glass mat, before misting with my water bottle.

I started off using my Concord and 9 inks as they were similar to Cathy's blend. I'd already made my first panel when they commented C9 inks weren't probably that water reactive as a response to someone asking that question in live chat. The Lilac ink is definitely not dark enough and I tried re-smooshing it 2x more I couldn't seem to lose the "white space" where it was supposed to be.

I had a scrap of Strathmore left over so thought would try again with some Distress inks and instead of using water use my Shimmer "Sparkle" spray, the picture doesn't show the sparkle but it's there IRL.

The second technique was ink lifting using water or your shimmer spray I chose to use my shimmer spray again. In a nutshell make an ink blended background by inking directly to paper with the inkpad. I then used a blending foam to add a slightly darker colour for a more dramatic effect. This technique works better with darker inks.

I'm pretty sure I used Pine Needles and Prize Ribbon distress inks for my ink to paper. I used a red rubber background stamp Winter Foliage (PFS) to ink lift the image. In real life the panel looks real velvety with the shimmer spray.

The last technique I played along with was Colourful Paper Strips as I've never used a metallic in my mix before. I grabbed 2 colours and a matte gold that I had big enough scraps to make my panel out of, I used a die from Pinkfresh Studio that cuts 1/4" strips (x4) to speed up the process and the accuracy of the strip width.