Adventures in Watercolor!

Apparently, March was National Craft month. OK?! I had to do something about it! I wanted to do something like that Valentine's Day card making class I did with my friend Gale at Paper Source so long ago. Unfortunately, she couldn't join me but I decided to sign up for an Easter card making class anyway. Suffice to say, it wasn't as enjoyable and I've decided not to write about that particular experience.

However, they mentioned having a class on water color creations and I knew I wanted to try that.

How lovely do these projects look?

A few Facebook comments later, I had five friends signed up with me and we actually ended up being the whole class apart from one other person. So it definitely felt like a private class. I find that these experiences are better if you do it with a buddy.

Ignore our plug for Subway there. We all had cravings after work!

Our supplies and some examples for us to draw inspiration from 

Our instructor showed us some water color techniques before we started which honestly, wasn't much. She was chatty and informal and while it made for a comfortable atmosphere, I remember thinking that the instructor at the Upper West Side Paper Source seemed more professional and knowledgable. Each experience is subjective and each Paper Source store works autonomously. While this location is close to my job, I may try to explore other venues.

Soon we were off to work!

Chloe was looking forward to creating her poster with the water colors!

The Force was however not strong with water colors.... Tracy stuck to stamping and embossing ;-)

Jennifer had clear goals! She needed a birthday and anniversary card!

It got a bit messy....

I just love Rachel's face here....

All in all, did I enjoy watercolors?


Hmmmm.... no. I went into it thinking it would be similar to Copics but I was dead wrong. First off, the amount of control you have with water colors is very limited. I kept over saturating my paper until it curled up into useless messes. Then blending wasn't as easy as I thought it would be. Usually with Copics, I just keep adding color until I like the blend, but I couldn't do that here. I used regular brushes as well as their special water color ones that had water already in the brush- all I had to do was squeeze. No luck with either method. The one thing I walked away from was kind of hideous, but at least it was a good learning experience!

I got the song in your head, didn't I?

I did however discover these wonderful Martha Stewart glitter pens that I purchased with the 10% off coupon they give you after every class so it wasn't a total loss.

The girls had way better luck!

She may not like water colors, but Tracy will be invited to the next embossing event!

"I Am Inimitable" from the best song in HAMILTON. No really, it's the BEST  song.

Rachel is the sweetest...

Jennifer's water color birthday card came out lovely!

My coworkers have problems with expletives, but didn't Melanie's rainbow come out so well?

So maybe I won't be adding water coloring to my card making repertoire, but that doesn't mean I didn't totally enjoy this random Wednesday night with friends!