Teaching a Class: “Background Check”
I would like to first thank the lovely, ever-so-talented Erum Tasneem for her guidance and inspiration. Next I’d like to thank the participants in my class who gave a couple hours to listen and watch my class and then furnish me with photos of their work: first to enroll, Ann Taylor and Saskia Lammerink, both of whom have been especially supportive of me in this endeavor; Helen Bates; Jennifer Jordan; Carrie Sheridan; Tamara (surname deleted per her request); Pam Korte; and Alysia Johnson.
My assignment was to teach 4-10 people, on-line or in-person. At first I thought I’d teach a stencil class, had a very clever name for it and a good selection of cards and techniques…then considered alcohol ink techniques…and then Altenew’s Calming Koi was released!! It was then that I created a class I named “Background Check.” In this class we focused on the Altenew watercolor brush markers and how to tweak the same technique to get three different backgrounds for the Calming Koi (from the stamp and die set).
Background Number One
We started by making three puddles of our chosen watercolors (I used Desert Night, Turquoise and Sweet Leaf) to a craft mat or other palette. Then we applied water to our pre-cut A2 watercolor paper using a brush or spray bottle. Next we created a vignette look by applying the darkest color around the edges, then filled in the center with the other two colors. Finally, we applied scrunched-up plastic wrap, being careful to get the wrap to stick to the still-wet paint.
Background Number Two
For this background we did the same technique, more or less, but added Altenew’s Iridescent Ink Spray to the paint, and then applied bubble wrap instead of plastic wrap.
Background Number Three
Again, repeating the process as in the first background, but this time, in addition to adding the iridescent spray to the paint, we sprinkled coarse salt on the wet paint. A liberal or a sparing application makes a big difference in the effect. This was by far the favorite amongst the group.
Creating the Focal Elements
With the backgrounds drying, we moved on to creating our focal images, our Calming Koi. We die cut, ink blended, and stamped our white cardstock and adhered it to our die cut vellum base and curled up the fins of the vellum base. I ink blended Fresh Lemon and Chamomile, then stamped Autumn Blaze, Firebrick, and Jet Black, all Altenew Crisp Dye Inks.
Bringing it All Together
Now we took our background, heat embossed a sentiment, applied foam tape to the background and adhered this to an A2 card base. Next we adhered our Calming Koi and then added the dorsal fin to each, and finally used a black Gelli Glaze pen to add eyes.
Card One: Plastic Wrap
Card Two: Bubble Wrap
Card Three: Coarse Salt
This was a really fun class that I completely loved teaching. I look forward to teaching many more!