Two long Years...... and It Was Worth the Wait

Ooohhh, ohhhoohhh, Finally a class with Michelle Ward. And it was awesome! It a long wait but so worth it. Mixed media techniques and learning how to use my journal to plan and capture my ideas for a project. (hint, hint, this works for any project) I can see me using this for scrapbooking and jewelry making.

I started with an thread of an idea, something based on Halloween cause its my second favorite holiday. I pulled out my stash of Halloween based scrapbooking stuff thinking this would inspire me to make something Kitschy for this year's holiday.

Many revelations later, the only thing remaining is the skeleton hands! But oh boy, what I learned. The journal lets me capture all of the ideas and track my progress. I had to remember not to go off testing ideas on the box without capturing those in the book. I learned some awesome mixed media techniques with gesso and paint. (loved the fact that Michelle said go for the cheap stuff)

Technique #1 gesso and paint, Technique #2 was spray paint and stencils. Yahoo, take a look at a page I did before I jumped in and did my assemblage! This is my favorite. So what my new favorite thing to do, spray paint and stencils. It was amazing what got created when you overlay stencils and paint overlaps. So shopping I must go, I can tell you I just sold a bunch of stencils at the last garage sale, I am kicking myself now.

So what came all this, take a look! Missing element to be added something red and dripping for that broken heart.

What did I take away from this? First Michelle Ward classes are worth the wait. Second, it was good to get out of my box. Third, I can't wait for next year's classes.

So you want to know how to find Michelle? Three ways:

I found Michelle Ward's web site Green Pepper Press http://www.greenpepperpress.com/ through Yahoo groups and stamping. I bought stamps and longed to take a class with her. You can also find her at her blog http://www.michelleward.typepad.com/

Or if you want to journey to beautiful Wisconsin in May of 2008. She will be teaching classes there again. See the link for Valley Ridge Art Studio click on the link for a preview of the schedule for 2008. Kathy and her husband own Valley Ridge Art Studio in Wisconsin. It's the nicest studio and workspace I have been too. http://www.valleyridgeartstudio.com/schedule.asp

Plus I got to enjoy Wisconsin's main agriculture products: cheese and the cheese producers.