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.

Sweet 16

Its been a while since I've posted.  I have not stopped making cards, I just have not had the time to post them here.  I needed a birthday card for a red and black themed sweet sixteen party for my daughter's friend.  Inspired by the beautiful results I've seen on the blogs, I thought I'd try my hand on coloring the image with pencils.

Take the Time to Stop and Smell the Roses

I have been admiring layered stamps for a while so this week I picked up a stamp set and gave it a try.  There is definitely a learning curve in lining up the different layers and well as picking colors for each layer.  All in all, I'm happy with my first attempt, and looking forward to playing around with them a lot more.

I'm entering this in the Simon Stamp Monday Challenge: Time Out, because you have to take the time to stop and smell (or in this case make) the roses once in a while.

Happy Birthday Card

With this card, I tried some of the stamps, dies, and embossing plates that I have not had a chance to use yet.  I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out.

I'm entering this in the Simon Says Stamp Monday and Wednesday Challenge.