I treated myself to a virtual craft retreat for the first time and it was the most creative fun I have had in a long time! I've been following Jenn Shurkus for a while because I love seeing her bright and colorful cards (especially Lawn Fawn and anything with Copic coloring). When she announced a virtual version of her Crop on the Cape retreat, I jumped at the chance to join in because it is usually held in Cape Cod (on the exact opposite side of the country).
I was extra excited to participate in a Lawn Fawn card class that included all the details about Copic coloring these cute critters. Jenn had her team stamp and die cut everything in the kits ahead of time so we could focus on coloring and assembling the card fronts (pictured above).
One of my favorite demonstrations from a sponsor was all about Deco Foil. I don't own a laminator so I've never tried it before. But in the boxes we received, they included Deco Foil Transfer Gel Duo that works with stencils and the pressure of a die cutting machine, instead of laser printed images and the heat of a laminator. I was so impressed with the result of this polka dotted background! I turned it into a Christmas card using the Neat & Tangled Classic Christmas stamp set.
In addition to watching and interacting with demonstrations from the event's sponsors, Jenn posted several challenges to get creative juices flowing. These were so helpful and gave me the extra push to use my time to finish projects during this dedicated retreat weekend, instead of just watching.
The tag on the left was made after a Ranger demonstration with washi tape. I used a Tim Holtz printed tape to cover some paper and die cut the flowers. Then I blended some colorful Distress Inks all over the embossed tag (Sizzix Flower Embellishments embossing folder).
The tag on the right was made after the retreat, when I wanted to try to use the negatives from my foil sheets without having a laminator. It was only semi successful, but I'll keep trying. I pulled out some vintage flower punches and a chocolate bunny Stampin' Up stamp to add to the ink blended tag.
Hero Arts was another sponsor for this virtual Crop on the Cape. They did a demonstration using the Hero Arts Bloom & Grow stamp set, which was in partnership with Altenew. After seeing the large floral stamp used in so many different ways, I decided to emboss it on watercolor paper. I used WOW Coconut Ice embossing glitter, and then painted many layers (over a couple hours) with an old set of iridescent watercolors.
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