AECP - Let It Shine

The next class on the road to certification is "For the Guys".  I've been busy working on a bunch of cards for that class, but I had to pivot away as I found out a (female) colleague is retiring this week.  Since she strikes me as the perfect recipient of a "Let it Shine" card, I decided to take a break from the masculine cards and created my card for this class first.

Let it Shine is taught by Clarissa Wiley and I was happy to see that she was restrained in her application of shine.  I'm not much of a glitter person and I find too much of it overwhelming, so I wasn't sure what to expect.  But I found her projects to be very inspiring and I do love to add some shine and sparkle to my cards.  

The Leaf

We are currently at peak fall colors in the Northeast US and, in addition to the class, I was also inspired by the colorful leaves outside my window.  I started by blending a lot (and I mean a lot - more than I could fit in the picture) of yellow, orange, red, purple and brown ink colors together to create my fall leaf.  Occasionally I would hold the leaf die over the blended panel to see where I should add more color.

Once I was happy with my blend, I cut used the inner die cut of the largest leaf in the Grape Leaf stamp and die set.  Oops!  I realized too late that I should have used the outline die cut on the blended panel.    Fortunately, I managed to keep all the pieces together.  I then used the same inner die cut on gold cardstock and glued the gold veins on top of the blended veins.

Adding Some Extra Shine

Even if it hadn't been the theme of the class, I would have added some extra shine to this card.  I matted a white square with the same gold cardstock used for the leaf veins and glued the finished leaf on top along with some sequins.  Last but not least I added the sentiment using gold embossing powder. The sentiment is from the Gradient Sunset stamp and die set.

The Final Card

This was one of those cards that came together very quickly, and I love the result!  I think this could be a design that could work for pretty much any occasion. 

AECP - Easy Blending Techniques

I love the look of blending on cards, so the Easy Blending Techniques class was right up my alley.  This class was taught by Amy Lee and she demonstrated some wonderful techniques.  I made the following three cards based on her lessons.

Swatching 

I have swatches for my all ink colors, but until I took this course, it never occurred to me to make an additional swatch for  blending. Since blended ink is invariably lighter than stamped ink, I thought this was a brilliant idea.  I didn’t want to take the time to swatch all my ink colors, so I decided to make the swatch whenever I use a new color.

Monochromatic Blending

In my stash, I had an outline of the Fine Bouquet Die that I had cut from an alcohol inked panel. This determined my colors for this card.  I blended the three lightest colors of the Red Sunset Crisp Dye Ink Family. Starting with Crimson at the bottom of the panel, I worked my way up through Rouge and finally Blush.

Next I decided to try my hand at splatters.  I have always loved the look, but the lack of control has kept me from using it.  What if I ruined my beautifully blended panel? Reminding myself that it’s all about the journey, I went for it.  I covered up the bouquet area with a roughly cut mask and splattered with the same colors I used for the blend as well as white gouache.  Halfway through, I was convinced I had ruined it.   At that point I had nothing left to lose though, and a bunch of splatters later I loved the results!

And then I really did ruin it by putting the finished panel on a big drop of water.  Now the panel had a big watermark in the middle and was warped to boot!  After leaving the panel to dry overnight between the pages of a book, both the watermark and the warping had improved significantly.  If I strategically placed the die cut, the watermark wasn’t too noticeable. (Hint: It’s right in the center of the die cut 😉) 

At this point I decided not too push my luck any further. I added some embellishments and considered it done.  The main thing I learned from this experience is that I should not to give up too quickly.  This was the final result.

Emboss-Resist Ink Blending With A Twist

For my second card, I wanted to try the emboss-resist technique.  I started by stamping a 5x7 panel full of flowers from the Starry Flowers Stamp set using Versamark ink.  Then I embossed the panel with white embossing powder. Next I blended the panel with Picked Raspberry, Wild Honey and Fossilized Amber Distress Oxide Inks.  

Now it was time to decide on the next step.  On two scrap panels, I tried two different techniques.  On one, I lightened the color of the flowers by painting over them with water. On the other panel, I added color by water coloring with the Distress Oxide ink colors.  I decided to use the second option. 

To finish the card, I trimmed the blended panel to 6x4 and rounded the corners.  Then I glued together two Mega Happy die cuts in white.  When I put it altogether, there was not enough contrast for my taste, so I added a thin charcoal gray frame behind my main panel. I also die cut another Mega Happy die cut from the same charcoal gray cardstock and glued it with a slight offset underneath the white die cuts.  The sentiment panel was blended with Picked Raspberry distress ink and stamped with Charcoal crisp dye ink.  The sentiment is from the Birthday Greetings stamp set.  Finally, I added some pearl embellishments to the larger flower centers. 

Bonus Card

I was able to create a bonus card from the sample scrap I made for the previous card. I cut the scrap into 1/2 inch strips and also blended 1/2 inch solid strips of each color.  I alternated the scraps with solid strips and glued them on a piece of printer paper. If you look closely, you can see that the flowers are lighter than the background on these strips.

I also created a 5x7 panel and used the Circled Greetings Hugs Die on it.  Putting it all together, I then glued the strips to the 5x7 card base, making sure the strips would be visible behind the circle panel. Then I glued on the circle panel, propped up by two layers of cardstock.  For the finishing touch, I colored some die cut flowers from the Tropical Greeting die set and added pearl embellishments as centers. 

 At this point, I still had lots of scraps to play with, but decided to leave those for a later date.  As it was, I could not decide on a favorite of these three cards and  I didn’t need more choices.  So far my journey in this program has been very inspiring.  Up next: For The Guys.

AECP - Clean and Simple Boutique Cards

   One of my goals in starting the AECP program was that I wanted to take the time to try some of the techniques that I might have seen in the past, but haven't had the time (or nerve) to implement.  So I am trying different techniques and using the stamps and tools in my stash that have not received the attention they should.  On the upside, I'm having a great time and learning a lot, but on the downside, it is taking me a long time to get through each class.  I'm not the type of person who puts together a card in 20 minutes or even an hour or so.  So I'm a little bit worried about my slow pace.

  In this post, I will be writing about my experiences with the Clean and Simple Boutique Cards Class with Jennifer Raza as the instructor.  I should start out by saying that I love CAS cards, but I struggle sometimes with keeping it simple. What can I say? White space intimidates me! 

    In any case, I was very excited to take this class and was not disappointed.  Each lesson gave me a new idea to try out.  I made the following three cards for this class.  As you can probably tell, I didn't quite manage to keep them all Clean and Simple.  That having been said, I love the way they all came out.  In the interest of not repeating the entire class, I am only going to focus on the second card.  I chose this card because it is both representative of the class and a departure from my usual style.

Repeating Patterns

    The assignment for this lesson was to use an image in a repeating pattern. I didn't really have an image that was the right size, so I decided to use three different small images from the Wonderland and Peony Bouquet stamp sets.  Of course, I couldn't just free-hand this, so I started by testing out my pattern on a scrap piece of paper.

    Most of the time, my cards are 5x7 inches. I've started cutting  my scrap paper into 5x7 inch rectangles.  so I have a stack of them on hand to do some quick test stamping.  I tried a couple of arrangements using a stamp block.  Once I had one I liked, I tried to figure out the distances between the images.  Strictly speaking this step was completely unnecessary, but that is the math teacher in me. Finally, I stamped the images on Canson XL watercolor paper.

Coloring the Images

    I used the Color Catalog to choose my colors. I started looking through images that had a blueberry blue and some green and landed on these colors.  I was able to match the colors using the Altenew 36 Watercolor Pan.  I used Midnight Violet for the flowers, Caribbean Sky  with some Midnight Violet accents for the blueberries and mixed Lagoon and Evergreen to create the color for the leaves. Fortunately the images are really small since I am by no means adept at water coloring.

Finishing Touches

    I looked through my colored paper and found the perfect match in my scraps.  (And my family wonders why I can't throw anything away).  I liked the hugs die cut from the Hello and Hugs die set. but the loops of the "h" and "g" got lost in the white space of the card. I cut a second hugs in black and glued it slightly offset from the white.  That gave it just enough contrast to be easily legible.  I considered adding a sub-sentiment or embellishments, but I decided that it was enough.  Below is the final card.

Extra Cards

    I've been wanted to doodle these flowers ever since I first got this Billowing Blossoms stamp set years ago.  I was happy with the result, except that white space in the top left corner!  I had to add some embellishments there to finish it off.  I used the Gradient Sunset stamp set for the sentiment. 

    The last card was inspired by a blue and gold artwork I saw online.  I created the background by smooshing Persian Blue and Sapphire Crisp Dye Ink as well as  Tumbled Glass and Blueprint Sketch Oxide Inks on blue cardstock.  I foiled the leaves in the Leaf Cluster stamp set using Versamark ink and embossing powder. The sentiment is from the Eucaluptus stamp set.  I wanted to foil that too, but the fine text became too difficult to read.  The circles are from the Fine Frames Circles Die.

AECP - All About Layering #2

For my second All About Layering card for the Altenew Education Certification Program, I decided to use the Big World stamp and die set.  Like the Vintage Roses, this stamp set does not include outline stamps, so it can only be used by layering.  

Layering the Focal Point

To create this card's focal point, I started out by stamping the ocean layers in Dusk crisp dye ink.  I then layered the first land layer and stamped that in Grass Field crisp dye ink.  I considered stamping the second layer, but decided that the colors were already dark enough.  Instead, I lightly inked up the outer edges of the first land layer with Shadow Creek crisp dye ink and feathered the ink with a blending brush before stamping a second time.  Then I stamped the same stamp a third time.  This time I used VersaMark ink and embossed the land with pearlescent embossing powder to add some sparkle and dimension.

I then die cut both hemispheres (although I only used one) with the coordinating dies.  While I was die cutting, I also die cut the included stand and "World" dies in glitter brown because it was closest to the bronze color of the Globe I have in my living room.

Pencil-on-Scoring Background

I recently learned the pencil-on-scoring technique from Sandy Allnock and wanted to give it a try. The idea is that you lightly pencil over scored lines which then highlights the scored pattern.  I debated using an embossing folder to create the score lines, but in the end, I just used a score board.  As you can tell from the close-up, my scoring wasn't perfect, but I think that just added some rustic charm to the background. I used a couple of brown pencils for the table and blues and grays for the wall.

Final Touches

It was time to add a sentiment, but I did not want to introduce any new colors at this stage.  While I do not have this color ink, a little experimenting showed that if I double stamped the sentiment in rustic shore and citrus burst, the shade matched the color of the table pretty closely. 

I also added some sequins from on old mix that I had in my stash.  The colors matched remarkably well.  I love it when things work out that way!

I matted the card on the same brown glitter cardstock I used for the Stand and World die cuts.  I had initially planned on making the globe spin, but I was happy with the way the card looked and didn't want to mess it up at this point.  Below is the completed card.

AECP - All About Layering #1

I am super excited to have been accepted to the Altenew Educator Certification Program.  My motivation to apply was twofold:  I want to challenge myself to try new techniques and approaches.  The second reason is that I would like make my card making more social from time to time.  After this time of isolation, it would be lovely to both attend and run some in person workshops.  As an added bonus, taking these classes will allow me to play with my large stash of Altenew products.

So, without further ado, let’s get to the first class.  For the certification program, we have to take two of the four stamp layering classes.  If you are interested, they are available for free on Altenew’s website.  

For my first set of cards, I used the vintage roses stamp set, which is my all-time favorite.  It was one of the first stamp sets I bought and I love the realistic roses you can create with it.  That having been said, it was also very intimidating to me. The details that  make it so beautiful are also a bit more challenging to layer.

Stamping Using Templates

I decided to make templates to help me line up the layers, one template per layer. To use the templates, I start by lining up each template on the top and left side with the grid of my stamping platform. Then I use the templates to line up my stamps.  Once the stamps are in place, I simply line up the top and left edge of my paper in the same place on the grid, apply ink and stamp.  If this all seems like too much effort, don’t worry.  It turns out that the less-than-perfectly aligned roses look just fine on a card.  

Using this method, I stamped a couple of each flower and leaf in the set.  For the roses, I used the Cool Summer Night color family and for the leaves I used the Field Greens color family. Finally I cut them all out with the coordinating dies.  Now it was time to play!

Bouquet in Vase

For my first card, I arranged the flowers into a bouquet.  I created a soft background by doing some ink blending using the Square Weave Pattern Stencil.  The vase and sentiment are both from the Versatile Vases stamp set.  

Birthday Hugs

For my second card, I arranged the die cuts around a rectangle.  I stamped the word birthday using the Tall Alpha Lowercase stamp set in black and ink blended the Hugs die in the same colors are the roses. The Hugs die is from the Hello and Hugs die set. I then re-stamped the parts of birthday the were covered by the Hugs die.  Finally, I added a black matte to coordinate with the black of the birthday.