JJ: Technique Journal #3

I don't know about the rest of you, but I have been learning some great new techniques! The problem is my brain can't always retrieve all that info when I need it, so I want to make a small journal with a different technique on each page. It will be a great reference for the future! We are going to make these pages 4x6", big enough to see the technique but small enough to be easily stored or carried.

Our technique this time is marbleing with shaving cream and inks. NOT alcohol inks, just the kind you use to re-ink an ink pad. Take a cookie sheet and, using shaving cream, squirt a pretty even layer larger than your paper. I usually do a full sheet of paper and then choose which parts I like the best to use. You can use just one color, as in the green sample above, or up to 3 colors, as in the purple, orange and black sample. You really don't want to use more than 3 colors because they will get muddy. YUK! One at a time, drip drops of ink all over the shaving cream in a random way. Then take a piece of dowel, a pencil or the end of a wooden spoon and drag it through the ink and shaving cream. You can drag it in just one direction. or in both directions, up and down, and side to side. Experiment and see what you like the best. You can't do it wrong, and if you don't like it, do it again. It's just paper! Now that you have your ink marbled into the shaving cream, lay a piece of paper down on it and press it down gently. You want enough pressure to get the ink on the paper, but not enough to use all the ink on one sheet. Take the paper by a corner and gently lift it off the shaving cream. Use a spatula (the kind you fry with) or a wide putty knife and scrape the shaving cream off the paper, leaving a wonderful marble-look to your paper! You can use the same shaving cream/ink combo until you no longer like the look, and then wash the cookie sheet off and do it again. It's really a lot of fun! Let your papers dry and they are ready to use.

Last, but not least, put a copy of these directions on the back of the page, so your partner will have them for a future reference. You can copy and paste, type them out or write them by hand. As long as they are legible, you're good.

I think this will be a fun series, and a great tool for us to have in our arsenal, so let's get started! Have fun with these techniques, but remember to do your best work!!! We want these little books to last for years, so make your pages sturdy. And make them something that would make your mama proud. (This is always my guide in everything I do....would my mother be proud to show this to her friends and tell them her daughter made it?)

Now here's the business blah blah. You must have a 4.75 rating, with no unexplained 1s or 3s in the last year. I will be checking profiles for things like late swaps and low ratings. And, of course, NO FLAKERS!!!! I will angel if I need to, but if I have to angel for you, you will not be allowed to join any further swaps unless you notify me ahead of time with a very, very good reason! Life happens to us all, and I will make an exception for that as long as you notify me in advance. Newbies will be allowed as long as they have well-filled-out profiles. This may alarm some of you, but I was once a newbie, and they have to start somewhere!

Now, go get started and have some fun!