Look at the treat we have for you today!! Grab a bowl of popcorn and settle in for Ranger U: The Movie!

 
Time for Day 3 of Ranger U!  And Day 3 was all about….

Adirondack!  The Adirondack line was covered from top to bottom: from Dye Inks, Pigment Inks, Pigment Pens and Embossing Powders to Dimensional Pearls, Color Wash, Alcohol Inks and Acrylic Paint Dabbers!

Doodling on Frosted Memory Glass with Pigment Pens:

Texturizing with Dimensional Pearls:

Dimensional Pearls Watercolor Technique:

Marbling Technique with Adirondack Color Wash:

During the lunch break, German student Sam found where we keep the product labels and had a little too much fun with them:

OK, lunch is over… Time for Alcohol Ink!

Alcohol Ink Monoprint:

Alcohol Ink Splatter:

Students using cans of compressed air to achieve the Splatter look:

It’s been a long weekend full of fabulous techniques and everyone worked so hard and learned so much!  Give yourselves a round of applause!

Congratulations to the Ranger U Class of June 2010!!!

 
So let's see, where did we leave off…? 

Day 1 of Ranger U was full of Perfect Pearls, embossing and Melt Art techniques, and topped off with the semi-annual Ranger U BBQ.

Day 2 began with the lovely Claudine Hellmuth introducing her Studio line of products to the Ranger U students:

The extensive Studio line includes 15 highly-pigmented, creamy acrylic paints, Sticky-Back Canvas, paint brushes, glossy and matte Multi-Mediums, Extra Time slow-dry medium, and Gesso.  Just look at all you can do with this stuff!

The students were eager to jump right in and get some paint on their fingers!  Over the next several hours they learned 11 different Studio techniques, and worked on a mini project too.

Claudine's Faux Batik technique:

The students worked with Inky Rollers and Studio Extra Time when stamping with the Studio Paints:

Watermark Resist technique:

Studio Gesso Etching:

Studio Gesso Transfer:

A variety of techniques including Watermark Resist, Peeled Paper, and Extra Time Tinting:

Embossing on Studio Sticky-Back Canvas:

After a break for lunch, the students worked on a mini project where they created an adorable holder for their technique tags:

Then it was time for Tim Holtz to teach the students a thing or two about Distress!

Distress Powder Chipped Enamel technique on metal Idea-ology Foliage embellishments:

Distress Ink Rusted Enamel technique:

Distress Ink Photo Tinting:

Perfect Distress:

Distress Crackle Paint sampler:

Phew!  Another day of Ranger U is complete!  Day 3 would be all about Adirondack, and of course the students would receive their highly desired certifications as well!  Stay tuned!

 

Phew!  It's been a busy weekend but a fun one too, and now we have 26 new Ranger U graduates!  Over the next few days we'll be re-living their Ranger U experience day by day.

This session's students were truly an international group, with representatives in attendance from South Africa, the Netherlands, Germany, France, the UK, and throughout the United States.  They began arriving at Ranger a bit before 9 on Friday morning and settled in for a breakfast of Dunkin Donuts and coffee while meeting their fellow students and the Ranger staff.  Then it was time for the "Wonka tour" of the Ranger facility!

"Even though you may want to, don't put your hands in the giant vats of Stickles!" Tim warned the group

When everyone returned to the classroom it was time to begin Perfect Pearls lessons!

Doodling with Perfect Pens:

Learning the "Paste Paper" technique:

After a morning jam-packed with Perfect Pearls techniques, the group ate lunch, and then it was time for an embossing overview!

Holographic embossing powder:

Suze Weinberg then took the reins and introduced the students to her wonderful world of Melt Art and UTEE!

Filling Memory Frames with swirls of UTEE and UTEE Brightz:

Experimenting with pouring and drizzling UTEE onto the Non-Stick Craft Sheet:

Using cookie cutters to shape UTEE:

The students learned 8 different UTEE techniques and then combined them all in a framed mirror project, with half of the frame covered in UTEE and the other in beeswax:

Suze seems very happy with the students' progress!

After a long day of crafting, it was time to wrap up Day 1 with the traditional Ranger U BBQ!  And the weather was just perfect too, sunny and warm (a welcome change from the rainy BBQ's of recent Ranger U's).

Happy and full (of both hamburgers and new Ranger techniques), the students rested for the remainder of the evening. Day 2 was still to come, featuring Claudine Hellmuth's overview of Studio techniques and Tim Holtz back at the helm teaching all about Distress!

 
It’s now lunch time on Day 1 of Ranger U.  Let’s sneak a peek at some of the techniques our students have been learning so far!

And just for fun, let’s count how many students are tweeting from their phones now that it’s lunch time

 
The weekend of June 18-20 will be a very exciting one for 26 lucky crafters: the Ranger U Summer 2010 session will be in full swing!  Three full days of hands-on instruction by Tim Holtz, Suze Weinberg and Claudine Hellmuth… what could be better than that??

It does take a lot of preparation and organization behind-the-scenes to make sure each session of Ranger U goes smoothly.  Here are some photos of our staff pitching in and getting everything all set!

Tim's assistant, Mario, painstakingly organized our Ink Blending Tools by color-coding them with Adirondack Acrylic Paint Dabbers.

Oooh pretty!

 

Baskets of Tim's Kushgrip Snips, Inky Rollers, Mini Misters, Archival Ink, White Opaque Pens and more, all ready for the students to use!

 

Ranger employees America and Gloria prepare dozens of products to be shared amongst the students.  (Anyone want to play I Spy and tell us what products you see??)

Ranger's Photographer/Graphic Artist Debbie prepares even more product kits along with Tim and Mario.

Claudine makes sure every place setting includes the MASSIVE course schedule and syllabus.  The syllabus is chock-full of step-by-step instructions for more than 70 Ranger techniques, including techniques for Perfect Pearls, embossing, Melt Art, Studio paints, Distress products, Adirondack Inks and Paints, and so much more!  Phew, these students are going to learn a ton!

…And of course we have to make sure everyone is nourished and well-fed   (Tim is particularly excited by the Nerds Rope!)

So now that you're insanely jealous of the Lucky 26 (hee hee), perhaps you are wondering how you could apply for a future session of Ranger U?  Head on over to the Ranger U page of our main website for further information.  This January we will be announcing details regarding the 2011 class sessions, so be sure to watch for updates!  We will, of course, keep you up to date on this blog and on our Twitter and Facebook pages as well.

Welcome to the second and final installment in our Father's Day card tutorial series!  Today's tutorial comes in the form of a video by Ranger's Marketing Coordinator, Patti.  Learn how to use Adirondack pigment inks, Embossing Antiquities powder and Liquid Pearls to make a fun card featuring a textured football embellishment, perfect for any sporty dad!

In honor of Father's Day, we will be presenting two different card ideas this week to help get your creative juices flowing before the holiday weekend!

Today's featured card comes courtesy of Ranger's Art Director, Michelle.  Use Distress Inks, some copper Foil Tape, a few Scrabble tiles and a cute buckle embellishment to create an awesome card that your dad is sure to love this Father's Day!

1. Fold a 7½ x 11" sheet of card stock twice so that both ends overlap in the center.
2. Color the top half of the card by applying Shabby Shutters Distress Ink directly to the paper.
3. Stamp polka dots using a pencil eraser and Peeled Paint Distress Ink.
4. Using Distress Inks in Peeled Paint, Shabby Shutters and Broken China, create a background on watercolor paper using Tim Holtz's Wrinkle-Free Distress Technique:
   
- Directly apply the three inks to your Non-Stick Craft Sheet, leaving some space between the colors.
   
- Spritz ink generously with a water-filled Mini-Mister until beads of color are formed, then press paper into ink.
   
- Lift paper and dry with the Heat It Craft Tool.
   
- Repeat pressing paper into the ink and drying until desired look is achieved.
5. Cut watercolor paper to size and apply to bottom half of the card.
6. Wrap buckle with two rows of copper Foil Tape and attach to card to make a closure.
7. Ink Scrabble tiles with Shabby Shutters Distress Ink, wrap with copper Foil Tape, and attach to card.
8. Edge entire card with Peeled Paint Distress Ink.

Pretty neat, huh?  Give it a try and let us know how it goes!

 
Thanks to everyone who left a comment on our Claudine Hellmuth Video post this week!  We received an astonishing 713 comments as of noon EST on Thursday.  All of those comments were entered into a random drawing, and we are happy to announce the winner at last!

Congratulations to Lauri, winner of our super-duper mystery prize in our first-ever giveaway, with her comment:

"Love love love Claudine's products – would feel like heaven if I won a
box of her delightful goodies!!!"

And as for that mystery prize…

It looks like Lauri might be feeling like heaven sooner than she thought…..!

GASP!  It's a HUGE variety of Claudine Hellmuth Studio products!  The prize includes:

• one 2 oz. jar of EACH Studio Paint color!  (That's 15 highly-pigmented colors!)
• one 4 oz. jar of Matte Multi-Medium
• one 4 oz. jar of Gloss Multi-Medium
• one 4 oz. jar of Studio Gesso
• one 4 oz. jar of Extra Time Slow-Dry Medium
• one package of 12 x 12" Sticky-Back Canvas
• one set of Studio Artist Brushes (7 brushes in all, including 4 round and 3 flat brushes)
• a Studio Paint color mixing guide: learn how to achieve an amazing 51 colors just by mixing the original 15 colors!

Congratulations again, Lauri!!  E-mail your shipping details to us at info@rangerink.com to claim your prize!  Have a blast playing with the Claudine Hellmuth Studio line (and feel free to share photos of your creations with us if you'd like, we'd love to see them)!

 
Only 24 hours left to leave a comment on our Claudine Hellmuth Video post to be entered in a random drawing for a box chock full o' surprise goodies!!  So what are you waiting for??