For the past four years, Concord & 9th has done a virtual summer camp. I’ve done the past three. (I realized after the fact that I should have done the first year. I remember seeing something about it, but was new to this cardmaking world and didn’t realize how good it could be.)

Last weekend was this year’s camp, and once again, it was an amazing two days full of classes, and a lot of fun added in.

Concord & 9th has a lot of fun planning this event and putting it on, and it shows. And for a virtual event most of us are watching from across the country (and around the world), that is a huge task.

There were six classes, each with a different “counselor”/teacher, and a special bonus segment - this year with Simon Hurley. I’m not going to go through technique details or step by step here, because that was special to the event and also too much information here, but I’ll share a peek at each class, and coming up I’ll have some other posts and cards inspired by the classes and techniques and will share more there.

The six main colors this year are the 2024 colors that were added to the Concord & 9th color collection earlier this year: Wildberry, Watermelon, Clementine, Grasshopper, Eucalyptus, and Rainforest.

The highlight of this class (well, we all know that really was Laura, herself) was the ink blending technique on the gorgeous flowers (designed by Greg). Both of my cards for this class were exactly the ones she did, but were definitely inspired by. The biggest takeaway was the approach to blending colors that are not analogous (so, not next to each other on the color wheel) in a way that allows the translucency of the inks to show through.

The Turnabout stamp is one of the things that Concord & 9th is known for (beyond the colors, great designs, and people…) and we got a new Turnabout stamp in this year’s kit. Meghann did an excellent way of explaining it, so even those who were new to Turnabouts would be able to create the fun designs with it. Turnabouts have so much potential by varying the inks and number of rotations you stamp it. (Again, both of the cards I made in this class were my own subtle twist on the design, but highly inspired by the class.)

If you’ve met Jaycee, or seen his work, you probably know that he has a passion for flowers, and as a scientist and creative he is very in tune with how to create paper flowers that highlight some of the best of the real thing. This was a perfect class for him to lead - teaching ink blending techniques for flowers and how to enhance that with dimension. I’m looking forward to applying more of that as I create more flowers.

These are the best-detailed paper donuts I’ve seen or made. I think everyone watching had a bit of a donut craving after making these. I loved that Concord & 9th gave us two sizes for the donuts, and the ideal of creating a card that looks like a bakery box of them was brilliant. (And so much fun to make.) I will definitely be making more of these in the future! (The donut box card is almost identical to the one in class, but the “You’re the Sweetest” card was my own variation on the designs.)

Interactive cards are so much fun to make - and to send. Jennifer is expert at coming up with those ideas, teaching them, and sharing tips along the way. These two cards use a layer that spins around a brad. The available Concord & 9th Over the Rooftops bundle creates a very similar effect, but in a slightly different way. I have some other cards I’ve made with this - and with the Over the Rooftops set - that I’ll be sharing in the next few days.

The adorable 3D greenhouse we built in this one is a lot of fun. It can be filled with treats, even a gift card if you fit it in just right, or a battery-powered tea light can be put inside. (With the vellum in the windows it gives a great soft light effect.) My 3D greenhouse is still unfinished - it has a banner to add to the end with a greeting, but I wanted to wait and add that when I knew who I’d be giving it to. I added the detail of the greenhouse on the card opening up for another place to write a note. Anytime I can add another layer of interest like that, I love to take advantage.

Let me know if you would love to see more about any of these products (or the event itself), and I’ll share something similar with available products and show more of the technique and process. IF you want to know about future Concord & 9th events (I highly recommend them!) be sure to follow Concord & 9th online and you can subscribe to their future news emails on their website.

Thank you for visiting! I hope you get some time to create something soon.

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