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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 – Impressive Heat Embossing

Hello and Welcome Back!

The latest set of AECP classes were Impressive Heat Embossing.  This gave me a reason to try out techniques that I thought would be fun and different from everyday heat embossing.

I chose the Altenew: Craft Your Life Project Kit: Wings & Petals for this card.  It has so many elements to it, but I chose the butterfly dies and the large focal stamp.

Like most crafters I have a lot of embossing powders, and if I am being honest, I rarely ever use any of them besides white, black and clear.  So I decided none of the basics would be used on this project.

Using 110 lbs. white card stock I die cut the base layers of the butterflies three times each.  Using repositionable adhesive I stuck popsicle sticks on the back of the card stock pieces to hold them for heat setting.

Using the stick and my fingers, I pushed the entire die cut into the embossing ink pad, making sure every bit had ink on it.

I wanted  the butterflies to have color combinations and not just single solid colors.

On some I added the powder with a small scoop in areas.

Then poured the second color on top of the whole die cut.

Changing up the color combinations on every set of butterflies.

Some I just stuck the die cut piece into pile a of embossing powder and then poured the second color on top.

Using a heat tool I heat set all of the die cuts.  Some turned out better than others.

Using black card stock I cut out all of the top layers and matched them to the base layers.

I assembled them using glue and a strong magnet to hold the pieces together while they dried.

Some of these the bottom layers were so pretty compared to the top.  It was sad to cover them up as they were being assembled.

On a couple, I added some dimensional foam in between the layers.

I heat embossed the floral stamp with Cast Iron embossing powder I found in my stash.  It has a hammered metal look to it.

I ink blended the bottom of the piece using Altenew Fresh Dye Ink – Arctic.  I went over the bottom with a blender brush that had some darker blue in it, to add a bit of an ombre effect.

After testing out which butterflies to use and where to place them, I came up with this.  I really wanted to use them all. Adhering it to an A2 size card base and added a heat embossed HELLO, using the cast iron embossing powder as well.  Then a few embellishments were added for some sparkle.

I hope you like today’s card.  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 – Beautiful Details

Welcome back.  I am so glad you are here.

The next class in my AECP journey is Beautiful Details.

The classes were very informative and taught wonderful techniques.  One class in particular was so intriguing I began searching for a retired stamp set just to be able to try the technique.  I was able to get the stamp set!  The technique was so cool.  It used parts of layering stamps but not as they were intended.

You colored the stamp with watercolor markers.

Stamped the image on a scrap piece of paper, then using 2nd and 3rd generation stamping create the most intriguing flowers.  Then using a micron pen you sketch a flower.

This was fascinating and inspiring.

For today’s card I decided to use my Altenew Press Plate Blossoming Bouquet as the class is Beautiful Details and nothing is more detailed than a press plate.  This is only the second time I have used a press plate, it was so much fun and the details on these plates are amazing.

The ink was Altenew Obsidian Black Ink, I let it dry completely before I began coloring.

I with the stencils that were in the bundle, and using Altenew blending brushes, I colored the flowers using Distress Inks in Villainous Potion, Wilted Violet, and Picked Raspberry.

The leaves were colored with Altenew Fresh Dye Inks in Oak Moss, Swamp Green and Match Tea.

I wanted there to be some organic elements to this card since we are looking for details.  I cut a piece of kraft cardstock down and sprayed it with water.  I wadded it up and then opened it up to dry.  I wanted a lot of wrinkles and ridges so I did not smooth it out and then left it overnight to dry.

I made my base layer using the Essential Textures: Rustic Burlap Press Plate from Altenew and Distress Ink – Brushed Corduroy. After ink blending the edges with Distress Ink Vintage Photo I ink splattered with Altenew’s Carbon Black Artist Gouache.  As you can see I made a messy mistake with a huge glob on the upper left corner on my base later.  I will cover that with my leaf later.

I decided not to use any foam tape on this card and only use glue and super sticky tape.  I found which parts of the wrinkled kraft layer would touch the base layer and added sticky tape to those areas.  I carefully added it to the base layer being careful to not smooth out the beautiful wrinkles.

The same technique was used to adhere the floral piece.

Altenew’s One-Go: Solid Sentiment Strips Press Plate was amazing for creating the sentiment strip along with Obsidian Black Ink.  It took a couple passes to get it as solid as I wanted, it but it came out beautifully and cuts a bunch at one time.  I used a black marker to color the edges of the strip to hide the white cardstock.

I attached it only using glue under the floral piece and a tiny bit on the edge of the wrinkled kraft paper.  No foam under the strip.

I took a pair of sharp scissors and ran them along the edge of the burlap press plate layer to roughen the edges as they looked too crisp for the organic look I was hoping for.

To finish it off I added three iridescent gems to bring a little shine.

I brightened the center of the flower with a little bit of white watercolor pencil.  The messy, black glob is hidden under the leaf in the top right corner (in case you were wondering).  I hope you liked today’s card and hope to see you again soon.

 

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AECP – Polychromatic

Welcome Back!!

Today’s class is Polychromatic, which means of two or more colors; multi-colored.  I am very excited about this class.  My mind immediately went to butterflies and flowers using two specific Altenew Craft Your Life Project Kits: Butterfly Garden and Seasonal Blooms.  These are both amazing and beautiful kits.

I used the stencils to color blend the butterflies from the kit with Altenew Fresh Dye Inks: Persian Blue, Caribbean Sky, Sapphire, Blush Rose, Mauve Toasted Mauve, Dew Drop, Aqualicious, Alpine Aster, Water Hyacinth and Alpine Aster.  The kit includes a Zero-Waste die to cut out the entire background.  I colored the flowers from the Seasonal Blooms using the stamp and stencils from the set, then cut them out using the die from the set.

Using an Altenew Large Blending Brush I ink blended using Arctic Fresh Dye Ink on a 5.25″ x 6″ card base.  This is a non-standard size but I wanted lots of room for the flowers and butterflies on this card.  I then ink splattered using Altenew Metallic Watercolor using Topaz.

I put the card base and all the pieces in my Misti to see how I wanted everything to be arranged and where I thought the sentiment would fit.

Using glue and dimensional foam tape I added everything at different heights.

I also added a couple Pinkfresh Studio glitter dots to add a bit more dimension and interest.

Using color is so much fun and in these winter months a bit of Spring makes me smile.

I hope you enjoyed today’s card and have a fantastic day.  Thank you for stopping by.

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AECP – With A Twist

Welcome back!

This set of classes was “With A Twist” and so much fun. I was very inspired. I am using the Altenew – Bamboo Roses stamp and die set.  One of the classes taught us how to make a double sided shaker card.  I had never seen this before and knew I wanted to try it.

I watched a video from Jennifer McGuire showing how to do mirror stamping.  I tried it and it worked.  I am using the mirrored images on the inside of the card.

I colored the images with Zig brush markers and die cut them out.  For the mirror images I held the colored image up to a light.  With the die on the opposite side I lined up the image and taped it down, then ran it through my die cutting machine.

After cutting all of my images I cut the frame for my card out of a card base and an A2 size piece of cardstock.  Testing out the placement of the die cuts on the front and the inside, then glued them down.

I created the shaker with 2 layers of foam tape and packaging plastic.

I filled the shaker with chunky glitter as well as red and clear sequins.  I sealed it up with the second piece of packaging plastic and then added the panel to my card base that I cut the shaker window from as well.

I added a butterfly and a sentiment inside with a little ink blending with Altenew – Caribbean Sky.

The inside of the card is the mirror image with a couple yellow roses to change it up slightly.

I learned a lot with this set of classes and and it has inspired me to get out of my comfort zone.  This is not the card I first envisioned when I started but with change comes growth.

 

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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.