Category: Graduation Card

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AECP – Level 2 Final Challenge – Altered Item/Upcycled Project (Part 2)

Thank you for continuing on my journey.

This is the second half of the final for my AECP – Level 2.  For this portion the challenge was:

  • Altered Item/Upcycled Project: Include an additional project that involves altering or upcycling an item.

I chose an old, dented metal box that has previously held nail clippers.

After lightly sanding the lid, I then painted it with light blue acrylic paint.  I made an arrangement of different flowers in various colors using the Altenew die sets: Pond Flowers, Lovely Floral Hat, and Zero-Waste 3D Floral Cover Die.

Using a piece of paper the size of the lid, I tested placement.

Once I had adjusted the flower placement, I covered the lid with a layer of Ranger Multi Medium Matte as my adhesive.

After adhering the flowers to the lid, I added bit of Glossy Accents to some of the flower centers for dimension.

I placed a piece of black foam on the inside of the box for a more finished look and to cover up the dents.

To complete it, I made a set of four matching gift tags using the Altenew Wild Daisies Press Plate and the following Altenew Fresh Dye Inks: Sapphire, Teal Cave, Berrylicious and Crystal Violet.  The inks were used on the press plate as well as ink blending the edges.

Thank you for stopping by and checking out my upcycled box.  Wish me luck on my final!!

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AECP – Level 2 Final Challenge – Masculine Cards (Part 1)

I have been working towards my Educator Certification with Altenew through their AECP program.  This is my final for Level 2.  For the final challenge I was given these parameters:

  • Select 3 components from Level 1 or Level 2 classes
  • Explain these components
  • Create 4 Masculine cards for the following themes:
  1. Birthday
  2. Love/Thinking of You
  3. Anniversary
  4. Encouragement
  • Altered Item/Upcycled Project: Include an additional project that involves altering or upcycling an item (this will be a separate post).

I chose the following components from the Level 2 Classes:

Beyond Basic Backgrounds:  I decided to push myself out of my comfort zone and try techniques I had never done before.

With A Twist:  I  learned in this class how to try things a bit differently than what you are used to by putting  my own twist on the project.

Beautiful Details:  When making masculine cards I struggle with the finer details, so I wanted to be sure this was a component I focused on.

Birthday Card

For all of the cards I used a neutral color pallet.

I chose the Altenew Essential Textures: Gilded Marble Press Plate.  Using  Altenew Permanent Black Pigment Ink for the first layer on the press plate.  Then turning the plate 180 degrees, inking the plate with Altenew Antique Gold Pigment Ink and running it through again.  Oddly, in some areas, it lost its shine, but the color was wonderful.

I cut the inked panel into 1.5” squares and tested the placement on the card front.  After ink blending the white card base with Altenew Morning Frost Fresh Dye Ink, to add a shadow under the edge of the square tiles, I splattered the card base with Altenew Black Gouache.  The squares were adhered with glue and foam tape for added dimension on a few of the tiles.

Using a word and shadow die from Simon Says Stamp, I cut the sentiment from black cardstock and the shadow from white.

I also added a bit of glue and dimensional foam to adhere it to the card base and finished it with a couple gold and black enamel pearls.

 

Love/Thinking of You Card

I bought the Altenew Craft Your Life: Chocolate Flowers project kit just for this 3D embossing folder.  It looked so unique I could not wait to try it out.

I ran brown cardstock through the embossing folder after spritzing the back with a bit of water.  It embossed beautifully.  I trimmed it to be four complete squares.  I cut wax paper and heavy-duty foil and wrapped the cardstock in the two layers to resemble a chocolate bar.

Wanting it to look like a bite had been taken out, I bit the paper and cut around it.  Not exactly what I was hoping for, but I hope you can tell it was meant to be a bite.  I lightly burnished the front to show the squares in the foil.  By tearing the foil and the wax paper, I was able to make it look like someone had opened the chocolate bar to eat it, the crumpling and folding of the layers helped with this as well.

I could not find the sentiment I wanted, so I typed it out and printed it using toner on white cardstock.  The font is Courier New in font size 14.   I used toner reactive foil in iridescent peach.

I wanted the shadow piece behind the sentiment to look chocolatey so I water-colored a piece of paper in a milk chocolate brown.

Cut it all to size and adhered everything onto a kraft card base using glue and dimensional foam tape.

 

Anniversary

This one started with coloring the Altenew Cardinal Love Layering Die Set with alcohol markers.

I colored both the male and female, but I did not like how the female turned out, so I only used the male.

The background is kraft cardstock, embossed using the Altenew Tree Bark 3D embossing folder.  Adding embossing ink directly onto the folder, then heat set the ink with clear embossing powder.

Feeling the result was lighter than I was hoping for, I decided to try something different.  After spritzing the back of the cardstock with water, I ran it through with the Altenew Rows of Squares 3D embossing folder for double embossing.  I really liked the look!

To add a rustic look, I tore the edges, and ink blended them using Altenew Lava Rock Fresh Dye Ink and a large blending brush.  I splattered the embossed panel with Altenew Black Gouache and adhered it to a black card base using dimensional foam tape.

Using the Altenew Versatile Greetings 2 Die Set, I cut the word out of black cardstock twice and the shadow once from brown.  Gluing the stacked word die cuts for dimension and adhering them to the shadow.

Stamping the word anniversary on the same brown cardstock with black ink and heat embossing with clear embossing powder.  The sentiment was adhered with a single layer of foam tape and the cardinal with two layers of foam tape to be sure his foot would sit on top of the sentiment.

 

Encouragement

I started with a kraft cardstock panel and blended various brown Distress Inks to create the look of rocks. I then used the Altenew Calming Reflective Cover Die to cut out the rocks from the blended panel.

Using Altenew Caribbean Sky Fresh Dye Ink, the Water Builder Stencil and a large blender brush, I blended a white cardstock panel.  Then, I turned the stencil 90 degrees and blended again to complete the water effect.

After putting repositionable adhesive on the backs of the large rock die cuts, I attached popsicle sticks to them, pressed the die cut into the embossing ink and then covered them with clear embossing powder and heat set.  While they were still hot, I covered them again with embossing powder and heat set again.

Using the waste portion from the die cut as my guide, I adhered the rocks using either glue or 1mm dimensional foam tape.

Any rocks that had not been heat embossed were then covered in Glossy Accents.

Once everything was dry, I ink blended the panel with Altenew Fresh Dye Inks: Evening Gray using a large blending brush and Moon Rock using a Detail Blending Brush #7.  The panel was trimmed to 4” x 5.25” and adhered to a black card base.

On white cardstock, the sentiment from Simon Says Stamp was stamped using Altenew Permanent Black Ink.  I also stamped on brown cardstock and clear heat embossed it but felt it was hard to read.

Using low tack tape as a mask I covered the stamped image, and ink blended the edges with Altenew Fresh Dye Ink Evening Gray.

Then, the sentiment was adhered with dimensional foam tape.

Tips

Choose a set of colors as your base for your project.  This reduces stress when trying to color match a set of cards.

Try not to rush the project and give it time to dry.  Sometimes heat setting an adhesive will cause it to bubble or crack.

Consider trying a technique that is outside of your comfort zone to stretch your imagination and creativity.

Thank you so very much for checking out my post.  Hope to see you again very soon.

 

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AECP – Masking Unleashed

Hello!!  So glad to see you today!

Today’s card is based on the classes from AECP – Masking Unleashed.

I used two different stamp sets for this card.  A retired stamp set from Altenew called Tulip and another stamp set called Versatile Vases.

I stamped out the tulip images and some of the leaves onto masking paper using Altenew – Permanent Black ink..

Then fussy cut them out staying close to the black stamped lines.  These will be my masks for the layers of stamping.  I needed more than I originally created so I stamped more tulips and one of the vase as well in green ink.

I tested out several ink combinations for my tulips as I wanted 3 to 4 different colored flowers in my vase.

I created a template for my stamping on a plain piece of paper and tested the placement.

Placing the template into the Misti stamping tool I set the bottom stamp later in position on the template.  Closed the door and picked up the stamp, removed the template and placed down my card stock piece.  Inked and stamped that bottom stamp.

Then lined up the detail stamp on the bottom stamped layer.  Ink and stamp the detail, repeat that for the other flowers.  I also placed the mask for the outer edge of the vase.

Once most of the flowers were stamped, I add the masks and begin stamping the leaves and stems.

Placing more masks I added an additional flower in the back at the top that would be behind a leaf.

After removing the flower masks.

I added a large piece of masking paper to create the table line at the bottom adding a bit of color from a blending brush.  I also added a bit of Altenew Fresh Dye Ink – Arctic to the vase to add water in the vase.

I cropped the image down and adhered it to an A2 sized card base from kraft card stock.

Stamped the “hello” from the Versatile Vases stamp set onto light blue card stock to create a sentiment strip, added some foam tape and adhered it to the card front.

Then finished it off with some colored gems.  It turned out more with a  watercolor look than I had planned.

Thank you for stopping by today.  Hope you liked this card.

 

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AECP – Magical Marker Techniques

Welcome Back!!  So happy to see you today!

The next set of classes in the AECP Certification are called Magical Marker Techniques.  It was a basic group of classes and  I used a couple of the techniques in my card.

I am using the newest Altenew Craft Your Life Project Kit: Arched Foliage and it is an amazing set. So much goodness in here!

Using the Stampwheel 2.0, I stamped the large foliage image on Hammermill white cardstock a with black ink that is safe to use with alcohol ink markers, letting it completely dry before coloring. I also stamped it on vellum and clear heat embossed the vellum.

On the first set of leaves I used 3 different markers.  I will show you my step-by-step coloring on a single leaf.

Using Copic markers, I colored in the entire leaf with the YG17.

The next step, I outlined the veins with a darker green G17.

Then added just a touch of G99 at the base of the leaf for some shadow.

Then come back in and blend everything so that the harsh lines are gone.

The next set of leaves are done the same way but I used 4 colors this time.  Color the base with G14 and the first set on outlining with YG17.

Enhance the veins by outlining with a darker green, G17, and add a bit of shading at the base of the leaf.

Add the bit of G99 at the base of the leaf where the stem starts.

Then blend it all out with the G14.  As you can see they lighten a bit once they dry.

This is the entire stamped image after coloring it.  Using the included die I cut out the image.

The class taught how to use an alcohol marker on a craft mat and spray with 91% isopropyl alcohol, then smush the paper into the ink.

To be honest it was a failure, but how cool are all of those droplets?

I repeated the steps several times.  After it dried I embossed it using the Altenew – Arched Foliage 3D Embossing Folder.  It was interesting that it shrunk about a quarter of an inch from top to bottom.

I cut the foliage up into several different pieces and added them around the embossed back ground.

I stamped the JUST A NOTE stamp on both white card stock and vellum using black ink and heat embossed with clear powder.  I did not like either by themselves, so I glued the vellum over the white cardstock stamped image adding the glue behind the thicker part of the letters.

In some places I added foam tape for dimension, on others I glued it directly onto the card base.

I added some iridescent pearls to add a bit of interest.  Since my card base shrunk, I left a bit of white showing on the top and bottom of my card.

I hope you like today’s card.  Thank you for stopping by.  Hope to see you again soon.

 

 

 

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AECP – Color Your Day

Howdy!!  Welcome Back!!

This set of classes was Color Your Day.  Lots of interesting ways to add color to your projects.

For today’s card, I used the February Craft Your Life Monthly Subscription Kit – Flower Arch.  The kit has stamps, dies, stencils and an embossing folder.  This whole kit was amazing and I could not wait to use it.

Using the Stampwheel 2.0, I stamped the floral twice on Hammermill cardstock in order color it with alcohol markers. I did it twice in case I made a mistake.

Using my Ohuhu alcohol markers, I colored the floral using the markers shown.  Then cut out the image with the coordinating die.

I sprayed 110 lb. white cardstock with some water and then embossed it with the Flower Arch embossing folder from the kit.

After the cardstock dried, I began ink blending the stone areas with Distress Oxide Inks in Pumice Stone, Gathered Twigs and Hickory Smoke using Altenew blending brushes and the stencil from the kit.

I kept adding color until it looked like stone.

I cut the sculpted upper piece from silver cardstock and aged it a bit with Distress Black Soot Ink. Then blended some blue ink onto  a small, scrap piece of cardstock to create a bit of sky.

I then fussy cut the arch, glued on the silver piece and then glued the entire piece onto the embossed card base.

On a scrap piece of kraft cardstock, I embossed the door section and inked it with the same Distress inks listed earlier.  I fussy cut it and glued it onto the card base as well.

The detail in this embossing folder is crazy. There is a lion’s head door knocker on the door!!

Not sure of the placement for the floral element, I moved the flower around several times before making a choice.  Added foam tape and adhered the floral element to the card base, trimming off the excess.

I used several of the cut off leaves to fill in some spots to make it look fuller against the stone wall.  Then adhered the entire piece to an A2 card base and a sentiment from the One-Go: Solid Sentiments Strips Press Plate.

The details in the embossing folder are just amazing.

This card was so much fun to create.  I look forward to finding new ways to use this floral stamp as well as this gorgeous embossing folder.  The kit also included beautiful door dies I haven’t even tried yet.

Thank you for stopping by.  Hope to see you again soon.

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AECP – Creative Watercolor Media

Howdy!  Hope you are doing well today.  I am glad you stopped by.

My latest class from Altenew is Creative Watercolor Media.  I was very excited for this class as I love watercolor.  I chose the stamp set Painted Butterflies from Altenew.  The butterflies are so whimsical and have a beautiful flow to them.  It has a matching die set but I did not use those today.

I used the outline images of the butterflies and stamped the images on Canson XL Cold Press watercolor paper with watermark ink and embossed with gold embossing powder.  Since I was water coloring the images I did not use the layering stamps this time.

The water colors I used were a set I have had for a long time and I am not sure of the brand.  Use what you have, even if it’s your kids Crayola set for school.

I used blues and purples to paint the butterflies with the wet-on-wet technique.  This is a technique where you paint the image or area with clean water then come back with wet paint on a wet brush and tap the paint to the water you put on the paper.  The paint will flow and move magically, it is so much fun.  I added several colors and allowed them to mix.

Once dry I used the same technique on the background but with a very pale blue and lots of water.  Once dry, I added gold splattered paint for some shine.

I did not have a colored cardstock on hand that worked well with the colors of the butterflies.  I taped off A2 size card base and ink blended the edges with Altenew Sapphire Fresh Dye Ink. I felt it needed some green tones so I added some Altenew Teal Cove Fresh Dye Ink as well, then added some gold paint splatter for a little more sparkle.

I cut the card panel to 4″ x 5.25″ and added the sentiment from the stamp set “You Inspire Me”. and some sequins for embellishment.

I am inspired by so many crafters and artists.  We should take time to tell those people how much they mean to us because we could all use kindness and encouragement.

Thank you for being here today.  I hope your day is amazing.

 

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AECP – In The Mood For Color

Welcome back!  Thank you for being here.

This set of courses for Level 2 are In The Mood For Color. I always struggle with color combinations.  For this card I chose the Altenew – Lovely Rose Peony stamp set.

The images were stamped onto Strathmore Bristol smooth watercolor paper with black ink and heat set with clear embossing powder. The flowers were ink blended with Distress Ink – Worn Lipstick.  The color variation is from lighter and darker saturations of the same color.  The leaves are a combination of Distress Inks – Rustic Wilderness and Mowed Lawn blended with the Altenew Detail Blending Brushes 7 & 5.  The vase was blended with Altenew Fresh Dye Inks – Caribbean Sky and Blue Horizon, then covered with Glossy Accents to give it the glassy look.

The background was masked off to create the table and wall line.  The table is a blend of Altenew Fresh Dye Ink – Teal Cave and Distress Ink  – Prize Ribbon.  The wall is a blend of Distress Ink – Fossilized Amber and Scattered Straw.  I did not like how dark it blended so I took a wet 3/4″ flat brush and brushed the top only going from the middle out to the sides to lighten the colors.  I did this several times drying in between to check the colors.  The added a bit of gold splatter using Brutus Monroe – Gilded Aqua Pigment.  I fussy cut the images and attached them with dimensional foam tape 1 mm and 2 mm to have different levels.  The sentiment is from the Altenew Lovely Rose Peony stamp set.  I stamped it onto a tiny card and put foam tape inside to make it look like it was open and that it came with the flowers.  I added the panel to an A2 size light blue card base.

Thank you for stopping by.  Hope to see you again soon.

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AECP – Beyond Basic Backgrounds

Welcome Back!!

Today is the beginning of my Level 2 journey.

This set of courses centered on making different backgrounds using non-traditional methods.  I learned something from every lesson.  I chose to make a background using the Altenew – Mini Delight: Strength stamp and die set.  I really like the feather image and the sentiment.

I repeatedly cut the feather image out of a 4.25″ x 5.5″ A2 white card panel.  I placed a new white cardstock panel of the same size in my Misti and placed the cut panel on top.  I then lined up the feather stamp through the cut panel onto the full panel below.   I stamped the feather image with black ink into every cut opening.  I smushed some of Altenew’s Fresh Dye Inks – Teal Cave and Aqualicious onto my glass mat and using water brush I colored the images.

Using a combination of the two inks, I splattered the top cut layer.  The after adding dimensional foam to the back of the cut layer I adhered the two layers together.  Adding a few colored sequins for a bit of sparkle.

I hope you liked todays card.  I look forward to see you again very soon.  Have a great day.

 

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AECP – Final Challenge: Gift Card Sets

Welcome Back!!

I am very excited to share that I made it to the Level One AECP Final Challenge Project.  This is going to be a lengthy post as I will be sharing some instructions and insight.  Grab a snack and your favorite beverage, relax and ride along with me.

The rules for the final challenge are as follows:  Make 2 gift card sets – one masculine and one feminine.  Use three components from the classes taken, and create unique packaging for each gift set using one recycled element.

Step One:

I decided to make sets of personalized note cards that could be used for any occasion, a note to say hi or a thank you.  The central design for each set will be around the Altenew – Mega Alphabet Dies K (feminine) and M (masculine).  I wanted each card to be unique but with a masculine or feminine feel to them not necessarily a single-color pallet.

I went through my stamps and dies and sorted them to what was masculine  and feminine.  I sketched out some ideas that I was excited to try out.

I also created templates in order to keep everything uniform and centered.  This was very helpful when using both the negative and positive die cuts on a card.

Step Two:

Trying to narrow the components down to three was harder than I expected it to be.  In all honesty, I am sure I used some aspect of all 10 classes in these cards but these are the components I chose and why:

  • Clean & Simple Boutique Cards – This technique creates classic cards and works well when making sets.
  • Celebration: Stencil Techniques – Using stencils was something I felt would work well when making masculine cards.
  • Easy Die Cutting Techniques – This was an element I could use in every card whether it was the initial (both the positive and the negative cuts) or added die cut images.
  • Let It Shine – We all love a little shine!

Masculine Cards

Using the Altenew – Banana Leaves 3D Embossing Folder I inked the folder with white ink, then sprayed it lightly with water, placed my dark blue cardstock in the folder and ran it through the die cutting machine. This gives the leaves more dimension and colors the background.

Cut the card stock panel to 4” x 5.25” and adhered it to a gray A2 size card base.  I added a brushed silver die cut using the Altenew – Mega Alphabet Dies M.

I used stencils on the next 3 cards.  The first is the Altenew – Mountain scene building stencil.  Using different shades of browns, blues and greens I ink blended the scene.  I cut the panel to 4” x 5.25” and added it to dark teal green A2 card base.  I used the Altenew – Wood Pallet stamp and Gathered Twigs Distress Ink on brown card stock to create the wood grain M for the front of this card.

Using the Altenew – Pine Forest 3D Embossing folder and stencil set I inked the embossed panel with Altenew Crisp Dye Inks – Hunter Green, Just Green and Sweet Leaf.  Placing the negative stencils over the trees I used the Altenew – Cloud stencil to create the sky behind the trees with Arctic Fresh Dye Ink.  To add more dimension, I added a bit of pink with an Altenew #7 detail blending brush.

This one uses the Altenew – Aztec Motif Stencil and Clear Skies Lunar Paste.  After creating the background, I struggled with what color the M should be.  I cut it out of heavy vellum, and it was ok but not what I was looking for.  I then decided to crumple up some lightweight vellum and cut the M from that.  I loved that look.  Once it was adhered it to the card panel the love was lost.

I cut a brushed silver M and used the vellum as a shadow instead.  I cut the panel to 3 7/8” x 5”, added a brushed silver panel cut to 4’ x 5.25” and added this to an A2 black card base.

The final card was inspired by an Instagram post I saw from Jaycee Gaspar.  I loved how he colored his koi fish.  I cut the fish out of white card stock using Altenew’s – Calming Koi stamp and die set.  I stamped the spots for one with VersaMark ink and embossed it with clear embossing power then inked it with Altenew – Crimson Crisp Dye Ink.  The second I stamped the spots with Altenew – Crimson Crisp Dye Ink.  I cut the fins from vellum and glued the pieces together.  I embossed a blue card panel with the Altenew – Ribbon Waves embossing folder and splattered it with white gouache mixed with a bit of water and using a paint brush and a stamping block.  Once dried I sprayed the panel with a shimmer spritz and inked the edges with Altenew – Sapphire Fresh Dye Ink.  The panel was cut to 4”x5.25” and added to a black A2 card base.  The M was cut from matte copper cardstock and added to the panel along with the koi fish using dimensional adhesive.

I decided to make the packaging for the masculine cards a rustic, manly looking envelope made from the inner paper core from a roll of wrapping paper as well as a Guinness bottle cap for my recycled elements.  The twine is glued under the bottle cap that is on 6 stacked layers of foam tape.  It wraps around the envelope and then around the bottle cap for closure.

Feminine Cards:

I am going to be very honest.  I had so many “great” ideas for the feminine cards and so many of them failed.  A couple I salvaged and used but others remain in the garbage can.  It makes me have even more respect for all of those crafters out there that make it look so easy.

I tried to stretch my creativity with the feminine cards.  Each one is very different but they all had a technique I learned in the classes.

I started with the Altenew Build-A-Garden Pristine Peonies stamp set.  I stamped and heat embossed the large image on gold card stock with black embossing and then on black card stock with gold embossing.  I taped the template I created onto each panel.  Using the Altenew – Mega Alphabet Dies I cut the K out of each.  I used a nested frame die to cut the frame from each.

I alternated the gold and black to create the layers and then adhered them to an A2 card base.  I chose the black background card to add to the set as I felt it was cleaner and had nice shine.

For this card, I chose a piece of floral patterned paper I thought was pretty.  I really like the Altenew – Woven Basket 3D embossing folder and felt they worked well together.  I cut the K from the floral paper.  I covered the embossing folder with Vintage Photo Distress Ink, misted a piece of kraft card stock cut to 4.25″ x 5.5″, added it to the folder, then ran it through the die cutting machine.  Using the same brown ink, I blended the edges a bit darker to show more detail.  Using Altenew inks Hunter Green, Just Green and Teal Tempest I blended them onto card stock and cut the leaves out using the Altenew Fresh Flowers die set.  After gluing the leaves around the K, I added veins to the leaves with an embossing tool and some Wink of Stella for some shine.  The panel was then attached at a kraft A2 sized card base.

Using Altenew Mauve Fresh Dye Ink I used a technique learned in the Irresistible Inking Techniques class to color a piece of card stock.  You use the ink pad directly to the paper.  Then using Altenew Antique Gold pigment ink I inked the edges of the card stock.  I cut a K from gold and patterned card stock.  Using the gold as a shadow I added them to the card front using dimensional foam.  The panel was cut to 4″x 5.25″ and added to a white A2 sized card base.

The next card uses a similar technique as I used on the gold and black card but I added an embossing folder to the mix.  I embossed 2 pieces of white card stock using Altenew’s Charming Heliconia 3D embossing folder.  I used the coordinating stencils and ink blended one of the panels.  After I finished I felt the background was too white.  I inked the embossing folder with Altenew Arctic Fresh Dye Ink and misted the folder.  Placing the panel back in the folder I ran it through the die cutting machine to add the ink.  I did not think about how the misted water would react with the ink that was already on the panel, it created a unique droplet effect (happy accident).

As I did before, I taped the templets onto both panels and cut out the K using the die.  I swapped the colored and white die cut K’s, then embossed everything again as the die cutting flattened the images.

Once embossed the panels were attached to a orange A2 card bases.  I added only one to the set.  I chose the white background as it looked more unique to me and showed off the beautiful embossed image.

My final card had a bunch of learned techniques in it – layering, shine, ink blending, scene building, die cutting, embossing and stenciling.  Using Altenew’s Dancing Sunflowers stamp set with matching dies and stencils I stamped the image on white card stock and heat embossed it with gold.  Using the stencils I colored the sunflowers with Altenew’s Warm Sunshine and Velvet inks and the leaves with Just Green ink. The centers were colored using Hero Arts Cup O’ Joe and Caramel inks.  While that dried I ink blended a panel with Altenew Sapphire Fresh Dye Ink and splattered it with white gouache. The butterfly was stamped using Altenew’s Dream Big stamp and colored with the same inks used in the sunflowers.

For the packaging, I created a template to be sure the packing for both sets were the same.  In the end I did not round the edges as I liked the rustic envelope look.

After much contemplation about the feminine packaging I decided to make them cohesive but use a button instead of a beer cap.  I used the remainder of the inner roll from the wrapping paper to create this packaging. I considered a large gem but did not feel it went with the simplicity of the packaging.  I did watercolor and cut out a hummingbird from Altenew and add shimmer spray to it in order to add a little something extra to the feminine packaging.

This experience has been one of failure and liberation, excitement and defeat, happiness and disappointment.  I loved every minute of it.  I have tested and experimented with ideas that were in my head that I thought would be fabulous and failed miserably.  Others I was so happy with and took one step further and completely ruined.  Some I hated and then tried again and loved.  It has been a wild ride so far and I am only at the end of Level One.  I cannot wait to see what is around the next curve of this ride.  Thank you for joining me!

 

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AECP – Irresistible Inking Techniques

This is the final course in Level 1 AECP.  This set of classes included several very interesting techniques.  One was to add ink with a brayer.  Another was to add ink to the paper by placing the ink pad directly on the paper.  Yet another was to add color to the edges of your paper by dragging the ink pad along the edge at different angles and pressures.  I used all three of these techniques in this card.

The green layer is made using Sweet Leaf Crisp Dye Ink from Altenew onto a craft mat, adding a bit of water and then using a brayer to add it onto the card stock.  The pink layer is the straight to card stock method using Pink Pearl Crisp Dye Ink mini cube.  I rubbed it back and forth all over the card stock until it was the saturation I wanted.

I then stamped the pink layer, as well as, a blank piece of white card stock with Altenew’s Paint-A-Flower: Spider Mums stamp set using black ink.  I water colored the image on the white card stock only with Altenew’s Crisp Dye Inks Lavender Fields and Sweet Leaf.  I also added each of the corresponding inks along the outer edge of the layers as well as the Lavender Fields on the outer layer.  I stacked the layers and finished it off with a few clear sequins.

This first level of courses has been very interesting and I learned a lot.  It was also a refresher for several techniques I have not used in a long time.  This has been so inspiring for me.  I hope you enjoyed it as well.  Hope to see you on the next level.