A couple of weeks ago I did another colouring class with Faye Wynn-Jones. I officially finished my European Copic Colouring Programme earlier in the year and you can read all about my exploits in my earlier blog posts on ECCP 1 & 2, ECCP 3, ECCP 4, but I really benefit from the classes, so when the Crazy Chicks and the Starry Skies classes came up, I had to do them. Especially as the location had now changed to the next town over from me :)
These are two of the shorter classes and were in the afternoon, which was a little odd, but nice as Jen came round to the house for lunch first and drove us both to the venue, where we met up with a lot of the usual crowd, including Dawn.
Both classes were a lot of fun and as always having the shop next to it makes for a nice relaxed atmosphere where you are drawn to purchase things.... of course I did, despite telling myself I didn't need anything!
Crazy Chicks is all about colouring the Stamping Bella chicks as other birds like penguins and robins. This is so much fun! Jen then went off and coloured them as blue tits. It just shows you what you can do with a bit of imagination and some Copics. I learnt a lot about the colours to use for black - we used BV a lot for the penguins - and blending techniques that made the robins look very odd to start with, but with patience (not that I have a lot of that!), it all comes good.
Starry Skies is all about creating, well, starry skies and we coloured in this Gerda Steiner penguin with a very dark blue background behind him with snowflakes. This uses the colourless blender and the white gel pen. I think it would also look great with some Spica pens too.
Had a great time as always, and I'm hoping Faye will be back up north with another class next year. There is talk of Copic backgrounds which would be a fabulous technique to have. These classes always inspire me to break out my Copics and try new things. I highly recommend!
Thanks for stopping by, see you again soon. Happy crafting! :)
Well, it's official, I have finished all four of the European Copic Colouring Programme classes today, with Class 4. Yay! Massively proud of myself :)
Today's class was adding onto what I learnt in Copic 3, folds, and ended with some no line colouring, something I really shy away from, as I struggle so much with light and shade. The folds section really went into more detail with the shading and I think I may be starting to understand.... note the maybe! I shall need to practice a lot more to really test it out.
I also did the colouring on Kraft class in the afternoon which I loved and will definitely try some more. I think the Kraft is pretty forgiving and you get a really subtle look with fewer markers.
As usual Faye was an amazing teacher - and even didn't give me too much of telling off for chatting a bit too much.... it's so nice seeing crafty friends, I can't help it!
Thanks to everyone who bought some of my bags, so that I could invest in more stamping supplies - thank goodness for the pop up shop, eh?
I will be back at more classes in September. They always give me a boost when I've been struggling to colour! If you fancy having a go at any of Faye's classes, all the details are on her website Stampin' Fluff N Stuff.
What do Copics and moving house have in common? They have a great deal for me. Back in February I took the first two classes in the European Copic Colouring Programme with Faye Wynn-Jones. You can read all about it in my post for Copic classes One and Two. The following day, I decided to broach the subject of moving house with my husband. Fast forward 8 months and the week after we moved house, my friend Dawn and I travelled to a venue outside Leeds for Copic 3! Thankfully for my husband, nothing dramatic has happened.... so far...
Dawn is wonderfully kind and takes me in her car. I truly HATE driving round the outskirts of Leeds and Bradford. Junction and roundabout Hell.
Having found the venue and after a quick catch up with our old colouring buddies and a quick whizz round the Dies to Die For Pop Up shop. That was a welcome addition - new goodies.
Copic 3 is all about folds and pleats and practicing feathering and blending quite different colour combinations.
Since getting hooked on Stamping Bella, this has been the most useful one by far. I was prepared to feel horribly overwhelmed as I had convinced myself that folds are really hard, but, like everything, it just takes practice. Do not be put off! In three hours I had begun to understand the basics and am itching to get my SB stamps out and do some more dedicated folds and pleats.
It makes such a difference to me to have someone there to encourage and
also put me back on track. Faye is a superb teacher and I find I learn a
lot and it makes me want to practice more. She is wonderfully
encouraging and has given me some tips on colour combinations for the
future.
Next April Faye returns to do Copic 4 and I will be there with bells on. It's in my planner so no one, but no one, can stop me. Quite possibly my husband will then breathe a sigh of relief that they are all over...
If you've any questions, please drop me a comment. I am a zealot for this course and think it's worth every penny I've spent on it and the markers!
As always, happy crafting!
Today, after many months of build up, my friend Dawn and I travelled to a Holiday Inn outside Leeds to take Classes One and Two of the European Copic Colouring Programme with Faye Wynn-Jones. If you don't already know Faye and her work with Dies to Die For, please look her up, because you will be astounded by her work.
Faye came up to Leeds after I asked her if she ever came North and she
said if she got enough interest, she would look at running a class. I
found a couple of people and it rather grew from there. Something to bear in mind if you are quite far from some of the classes.
So, what did I think? I loved it, absolutely loved it. I was hyper excited about taking it - possibly because I also got a day off from looking after my two little ones! - and sometimes I can get a bit disappointed with things I've got overly excited about (yes I am 40, but everyone gets to act like a 10 year old sometimes!). I was not disappointed at all. It was everything I hoped and more.
Not only do you get access to a European Copic Colouring Master who instructs, encourages and even says 'I like it', which is a massive boost to your confidence :), but you also get six hours of Copic colouring and sit with a group of people who also love colouring and card making. We had a really nice group and shared storied and laughs. Oh, and I also forgot a couple of markers but Faye had spares - obviously she's met people like me before ;)
We covered the Copic markers themselves and cleaning them (something I need to do more!), focussed on smooth blending, hair, skin and backgrounds. The time just flew by!
There is a lot of information on Faye's blog about what is involved in the classes, and the six hours flies by and certainly gave me a bit of a boost to my colouring.
I have a whole booklet, some goodies and a reinvigorated sense of colouring and creating, and a desire now to do Classes 3 and 4 later in the year when I've had a chance to do some more practice. With the 30 Day Colouring Challenge coming up on March 1st, I'll be practising with Copics a lot.
And best of all, I get a certificate all signed to say I've done it. Makes me feel like I've accomplished something!
Thanks for indulging me in my excitement about this class and if there's anything else you'd like to know, please drop me a line. Thanks for popping by today!
