Author: Susan Little

Posted on

AECP – All About Layering 3

Howdy!!  It has been a while.  Welcome to a new chapter.

I am excited to be accepted into Altenew’s AECP.  I will be making cards and posting them for different levels of the certification.  So let’s get started.

I am making a card today for my first course – All About Layering 3.  I decided that my first project would center around my mom.  She was my inspiration as a child and my cheerleader throughout my life.  Yellow roses were her favorite, and being a Texan, it just seemed appropriate.

The class explains how to use and line up layering stamp sets.  These layering sets can be a little tough to use at times but this class gives you great instruction on how to use them very easily.  I started with gray ink for my outline later to keep the lines of the flower soft.  Then using three different shades of yellow Altenew Ink (Lemonade Stand, Honey Drizzle & Maple Yellow) and two of green (Oak Moss & Matcha Tea) for each additional layer.  I used the die set to cut out the roses and leaves.  I stamped some of the other flowers from the set, also with gray ink, and cut them out using the die set as well.  I used dimensional tape to bring the layers off of the card base.  I stamped the sentiment with Altenew’s Permanent Black Pigment Ink.

I wanted to keep this card simple to show off the two beautiful yellow roses.

All About Layering 3 – Altenew – Beautiful Day Stamp Set

 

Posted on

Paper Smooches Challenge

Today I am doing a challenge from Paper Smooches.  Below is the sketch of what the card layout looks like.  You are to create any card using this lay out.

I used the stamp set Vegtastic colored with Copic markers and an ink blended background from Distress Oxide ink broken china.

This sketch was a lot of fun to work with and got my creative juices flowing.

If this sounds like fun to you hope over to papersmooches.com and check out all the details.

Have a fantastic day!!

Posted on

Quick Birthday Card

 

I needed to make a quick card because I have been purging my craft room and I let my sister-in-laws birthday catch me off guard.  These layered dies are wonderful for making quick, yet beautiful, cards.  This set is from Altenew – Layered Medallions.  

On this card, I used both the A and the B Layered Medallions Cover Dies.  I chose the papers because they were her favorite colors.  It needed a little sparkle so I added a silver glitter layer in between.  This is what they look like as they are cut and before I decided to add the silver.

These help make quick and gorgeous cards.  Picking the colors is what took the longest.

If you find yourself in a pinch and need a quick card, I highly recommend these dies from Altenew.

Posted on

Baby Card

My co-worker had a baby girl, she is so cute!  I wanted to make a card to go with the gift and dinner I took to her family.  It gave me an excuse to buy the Lawn Fawn Little Bundle stamp and die set.  It is just adorable.  I also picked up the Perfectly Plaid paper pack to use along with it.

I stamped several different images and then after changing my mind so many times I chose the onezie, the dress and the blanket.  I stamped in black ink and clear embossed the close line poles after stamping them in brown ink.  The grass was also a Lawn Fawn die – Grassy Border.

This card was so much fun to make.  I look forward to making more baby cards with this set.

 

Posted on

Foil Effects

I have been seeing a lot of foil being used lately so I thought it was time to finally use the Minc my husband so lovingly bought for me for Christmas.  I have been wanting to try the Deco Foil Transfer Gel from Gina K Designs.  She has a great YouTube video using it.  Everywhere I looked was out of it.  I decided to try an experiment with what I had at home. 

I mixed the embossing paste with the Minc Reactive Paint on my craft mat.  Using watercolor paper I taped down my stencil and spackled the mixed paste over my stencil.  I set it aside and let it dry overnight.

I used the silver foil and ran it through the Minc.  It came out pretty good.  My paste wasn’t as smooth as I would have liked but not bad for an experiment.  I then decided to try the reactive paint as it was intended.  I painted it onto another piece of watercolor paper.  I also let it dry over night and used gold foil on it.  It was a nice effect.

Lastly I tried the Reactive Mist.  That was fun.  I did the same as before putting it on watercolor paper and allowing it to dry over night.  I used the holographic foil on it.  That too had a nice effect.

This has inspired me to clean out my craft room to see what other treasures I have forgotten about.  I’ll let you know what I find.

 

 

Posted on

Sympathy Card

I needed a sympathy card and did not have any in my stash.  I prefer to take my time and plan a pretty card but sometimes that isn’t an option.   I made this one quickly with supplies I had on hand.I pulled out some kraft card stock, the With Sympathy stamp set from Avery Elle, Glossy Accents, Hero Arts Unicorn white pigment ink pad and an old Stampendous  jumbo rubber stamp I have had forever.  I used the large stamp with the white ink and repeatedly stamped it on kraft card stock to create a simple background.  I cut this out with the largest die from a stitched die set.  Then using my Misti I aligned the sentiment and stamped it a couple times with Simon Says Stamp Intense black ink to make sure it was dark and crisp.  I backed it with some black card stock, attached it to an A2 size kraft card and finished it with some glossy accents.  It was really that simple.  You will be amazed at how creative you can be when you are spontaneous.  Give it a try!

Continue reading “Sympathy Card”

Posted on

Mother’s Day Card

I made this card for my daughter for Mother’s Day, she is a pastry chef.  The stamp and die set I used for the dishes is Kitschy Kitchen from My Favorite Things Stamps and the wood look came from the Altenew background stamp Wood Pallet Background.  My daughter’s favorite color is purple so I chose shades of purple that would accent each other. I began with a piece of Neenah Solar White card stock 4.25” x 5.5”.  I placed the Studio 490 Basically Bricks stencil down and masked off the area for my brick background with painters tape.  On my craft mat I put down some Brushed Corduroy Distress Ink and mixed the embossing paste into it until I had the color I liked for my bricks.  For you, if your color is too light simply add more color to it and too dark add a little more embossing paste.  Be creative with this.  When I liked the color I smeared the paste onto my stencil keeping it thin and fairly uniform.  They are bricks so perfection is not necessary.  I set this aside to dry overnight.I stamped several of the cups, plates and coffee pot onto Neenah Solar White card stock using Simon Says Stamp Intense Black ink because it is safe to use with alcohol markers.  I used the Misti stamping tool and stamped them several times to get a dark solid image.  I then heat embossed the images with clear embossing powder.  Using Spectrum Noir alcohol markers, I colored the flowers with PL1, PL2, PL3 and LV1, and for the leaves and stems I used LG5 with FL3 .  I blended on some Brushed Corduroy Distress Ink onto a piece of beige card stock to add dimension to the wood.  I then stamped it with Sepia Archival Ink to create wood for the shelf.  Using the die cut set I cut out the plates, coffee pot, cups and the shelves.I changed my layout several times, initially using both shelves and all of the cups and plates with one coffee pot.  In the end I went with only two plates, a coffee pot and several cups.  I cut out the word “love” using the Scripty Love die from Lawn Fawn to add at the top.  I really enjoyed making this card.  Sometimes it is fun to make a card with someone specific in mind. Continue reading “Mother’s Day Card”

Posted on

Honey Bee Card

Today I am sharing a card that was so much fun to make using the stamp and die set Busy Bees from Honey Bee Stamps and the sentiment stamp set Bee-You-Tiful Sentiments. I used my Misti to plan out my card layout.  I used Simon Says Stamp Intense Black ink because it is a nice dark black and can be used with alcohol ink markers.  I also stamped and die cut extra bees and flowers so I could use them to add dimension when assembling the card.  I test stamped the sentiment on scratch paper so I could check placement before I stamped it on the card. To create the look that some flowers are behind others, you need to create and use masks.  To do this, stamp onto a Post-It note and then cut close to the edge of the image.  Place this over the “front” image and then stamp behind.  Save these masks for future use.  They can be used over and over.  I put them on the page from the stamp set so it all stays together.Using Spectrum Noir alcohol markers I colored the centers of the flowers, the stems and the bees with True Black, CT3, CT4, GB3, FL3, LG5.   Tumbled Glass Distress Ink works well to create the sky effect behind the bees and flowers.  I put Glossy Accents on the center of the flowers to give them a raised effect.  Adding a little Wink of Stella to the bee’s wings gave the card some shimmer.When assembling the card I used foam tape behind the center flower and doubled the foam tape behind the bees so they would stand out a little more.  Yellow polka dotted background paper made the flowers pop.  A couple iridescent sequins finished off the card nicely.

Continue reading “Honey Bee Card”

Posted on

Graduation Card

Today I am sharing a graduation card I made with the stamp set graduation2celebrate from The Stamps of Life.  This set allows you to create a cute and quick card.  You can customize it to the colors of each school so the card can be individualized for each graduate.I decided to make this into a shaker card.  The schools colors were red and white, so I chose papers and sequins in those colors.  I stamped the cap with Simon Says Stamp Intense Black ink and colored it with Spectrum Noir alcohol markers DR4, DR5 and DR6.  I also cut out a graduate out using the Taylor Expressions die Hooray Grad to use on the front of the card.  After cutting out a frame for the shaker, I put adhesive on the back and put the acetate on the back of the frame.  To assemble the shaker card, I put the sequins inside the frame and then placed the red star paper over it.  Then attaching this to the black card base, I used A2 size.  Using adhesive I placed the graduate on the lower front corner and used foam tape to add the cap to the upper left corner.

Continue reading “Graduation Card”