52 Card Pick-Up

I am taking this wonderful class over at Big Picture Scrapbooking called 52 Card Pick-Up, taught by Tena Sprenger. Five days of the week, we receive instructions by e-mail that allow us to try out a technique that we may never have tried before (For yours truly, that would probably be most of them!). The idea is, that by the time class is over, we will have a nifty little book of cards that we can turn to when we have a creative block or are searching for an idea to add a little 'oomph' to a project. Each card will contain our sample of the tip or technique, and complete instructions on the back (with a supply list) for implementing the technique.

At first I was a little skeptical about signing up and wondered whether it would be worth the money. But I have to say, with only two weeks under my belt and many more to go, I feel like I have gotten my money's worth and then some. So far, most of the techniques have been very simple but they are things that provide enough detail to add all kinds of punch and pizazz to paper crafting projects. Here are some of my favorites so far:

This is what the book looks like. At this point all of the pages are blank. Pay no attention to the meowing guardian of the book.

This technique involved using a molding paste mixed in with acrylic paint, and using the mixture over a template.

For this technique, we used acrylic paint over clear embossing ink and clear embossing powder to form a resist. Is that the correct way to say that?

Clear buttons all dressed up with lots of places to go!

Flowers cut from patterned paper, curled using a bone folder and then layered on top of each other. I added Stickles to mine.

Scanning (or copying) journaling from the backs of photos to use as the actual journaling on a project. This is my grandmother's handwriting from the backs of the pictures of my mother on her wedding day, and my great-uncle who was my grandfather's twin.

Photo printed on a transparency and layered over patterned paper. Embellishments were added on top.

And finally, what a great way to use up leftover scraps of paper!