#TBT #ThrowbackThursday #StampinUp - Sharing my older SU Demo Cards 7 of 9 Watercoloring with Radiant Pearls and Retrigrade Technique

It's been amazing going down memory lane as I unearth all these old jpeg images from my old laptop to share here.

I distinctly remember this "stamp camp" at my monthly crop.   I'd been taking heavy classes from the esteemed Carolyn Holt and was mad in love with Radiant Pearls.   So I came up with these two cards to share my new found skills.

I was and madly still am in love with this Serengeti set from SU. This was about when I started developing my tastes and preferences for more vintage, collage and realistic images rather than the cutesy style with that quilting/sewn look that was prevalent at the time.   

In this card, we applied various sunset colored Radiant Pearls with brushes and then used my Niji Barrel brush pen filled with water to create a water color effect by blending the colors together to get rid of those definitive lines every time a new color was introduced.

I finished it off by matting in underneath, if you can call it that, a piece of Old Olive cardstock.  So that the diligently created scene could be appreciated, I had everyone tear in the center to create a rustic texture to add to the safari scene.  We then finished it off with some colored raffia to further the African safari theme. Yup, there was a time when we were collecting all sorts of colors of raffia! I probably still have my collection somewhere. Everyone was pretty pleased with themselves upon completion of this card in my technique demo. I'm sure I sold a lot of product too because I was certainly all about the add on tools/embellishments which this demo was chock full of.

This first image was scanned when I was just learning how to capture digital images. I had no idea how to edit at the time. So here's a more recent and clearer snapshot I took of my friend Eva's version with my phone as I was getting ready to package this to donate to From Our Hearts to forward to our troops. (Both her's and mine were donated several years apart.)  I added a quick sentiment from my Verve basket that was sitting in front of me to meet their criteria for the themes they were seeking.

Next up, was another time intensive technique that required everyone's attention.  I can't believe I demo'd this card in the same day crop. Thankfully, my crops were 12 hours long and my friends were eager as sponges to learn whatever I could share with them. And I love them for that. Did I tell you we had an amazing collective creative thirst or what?

The retrigrade technique was the hot thing at the time and SU was releasing the Toile style of stamps at this time.  I guess I decided to combine them all for a lush effect by introducing the use of sponging and masking with 3 x 5 post it notes.  I remember cutting up a good number of full round sponges into quarters so that everyone could work at the same time at my round table reserved for my demos.  We had soo much fun!

This card had a lot going on with two large background stamps along with yet a 3rd stamp set, tons of sponges and lots of colors.  I remember asking everyone to be mindful of following the same colors as my sample so as to not contaminate my dye ink pads.

Sorry some of my image sizes are so small.  I blame it on my early lack of knowledge with photoshop.  I'm just grateful to even have these images to reminisce on those wonderful monthly crop memories.

This "stamp camp" demo day was definitely a satisfying day for both me and my attendees.

All of these cards have been donated to our troops via From Our Hearts. :)


 

"Serengeti" Radiant Pearls Blending Technique Card 
Paper: SU Smooth White CS; SU Old Olive CS
Stamps: SU Serengeti
Ink: Black Stazon; Various Radiant Pearls 
Embellishments: Raffia
Tools: Niji Brush Pen; Water
Size: 5.5" x 4.25" rectangular 


"Happy Mother's Day" Retrigrade Technique Card 
Paper: SU Smooth White CS; SU Brilliant Blue CS; SU Old Olive CS
Stamps: SU Serenity; SU French Script; SU Wreath of Roses ("Happy Mother's Day")
Ink: SU Old Olive, SU More Mustard; SU Brilliant Blue; SU Black 
Tools: 3x5 Post It Notes; Sponges
Size: 4.25" x 5.5" rectangular