Ink techniques with Julie...

What and extremely fun Sunday! I got to go into the city for a class with Julie Fei-Fan Balzer. I became familiar with her super talent via the Studio Calico message boards. When I found out she was 'local' and teaching a class at the Ink Pad in NYC, I signed up right away. I've always claimed not to be a technique girl - but I've always admired said techniques from afar and wished I knew what to do with these things: 

This was a Distress Inks technique class and boy did I learn a bunch of 'mind-blowing' techniques. Here's the workspace I shared with my awesome table mate Lyria.

Here's what I took home - a sampling of Julie's amazing ink techniques. I wrote descriptions right on the tags and put them on a ring so I can keep them on my desk for future reference.

After the class, I walked over to the Ink Pad with classmates and got some new stamps:

That guy on the far right looks just like that guy painted on the wall of the Wonder Bar in Asbury Park so I had to have him. The store was great - there was so much to look at - there's no way I saw everything. Guess I'll have to go back.

I was really early for the class because there was no traffic and I found a great parking spot on the street right away. I was shocked and somehow even managed to parallel park the SUV. (Off to a good start already!) I decided to take a walk, see if I could spot any famous folks. Not sure if I did or not but found a street craft fair.

Magnolia Bakery - really wanted to pop in here for some baked goods but it was jam packed...

This was in front of a potted plant in front of an apartment building - no pee pee on the plants, please doggies...

These people are very serious about protecting their parking lot:

When I got home and was unpacking my tags, I was dying to try out some of my new found skills. Still feeling the Embellish Color Challenge (green black & kraft + butterflies), I made this:

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A few things going on here: I used the "ink puddle" technique (not sure if that is the official name) to make the splatters. Then the blending tool to mask the butterfly shapes.Then I used the blending tool again to add a little darker color to the edges. I can't wait to play some more with these inks and add to my collection of colors. I get it now - what all the fuss is about with these inks! Thanks Julie!