Altenew Educators Certification Program. Level 2 Final Challenge part 2

 Good morning from a rainy Michigan, we had storms last night and lots of rain so it's a bit cooler this morning - I just hope it stays that way.

I'm back today with part 2 of my AECP level 2 challenge. For this I needed to make an altered /upcycled project. I decided to do something that all us crafters use. Whether gifting cards or sending them envelopes are usually required. We put lots of effort and love into making the card but often send it with a plain white or colored envelope.

 As I did for part one I have chosen 3 techniques on this project too. Monochrome for the inside of the envelope from the Polychromatic class, layering from the All  About Layering Class and masking from Masking Unleashed. I love the layered stamp look, I don't do many monochrome designs and masking has opened a whole new designing world for me so that's why I chose these.

I have used Build a Flower Wild Rose (which is the latest build a flower set) with the Envelope Liner die set to upcycle some plain white envelopes.

I decorated 6 envelopes which turned into a mammoth stamping session each envelope has 52 individual stamping components!

I started with the liner, I die cut this from yellow cardstock for all 6 envelopes.

I then chose an ink collection that was same tone as the card stock so I could achieve a monochrome look. using my MISTI, I stamped the roses on to this.

I did initially start with all 4 inks from the Golden Sunset collection. I didn't use the solid stamp layer as the cardstock was the correct color for this, which meant I didn't need the lightest ink. I continued stamping all layers until I has 6 flowers and their layers on each liner.

Setting these to one side I made my masks for the outside of the envelope. I wanted to keep a white section for where the address would be written so I cut a piece of masking paper 3x2in and placed this on the envelope. I then stamped the flower and leaf outline a number of times on to the same masking paper and fussy cut these ready to use.

Now to decorate my envelopes - I started by stamping an outline flower in the darkest ink and placed one of my masks over this. I wanted this to be my top image so masking helps me achieve this - other stamped images will appear to be behind this. I continued stamping the outlines, leaves, small bunch of flowers and a little sprig that is also included with the set. masking elements as I went.

Then the magic of layering started to come to life when I removed the mask off the leaves and stamped their layers followed by the gorgeous roses.

After stamping the first envelope I did change my mind about the color of the small bunch of flowers and stamped these in black.

Next I turned the envelope over and repeated the masking and stamping process on the back. I also colored the small bunches and little sprigs, both back and front with fine line markers.

The Envelope Liner die set comes with word dies too so I chose 'for you' from these and die cut this into the flap of the envelope.

The address section mask was removed on all the envelopes. This masking technique is known as reverse masking - Where a section of the base color (white in this case) doesn't get any ink on it.

Because I had stamped all around and on to the mask it is quite impactful when it's removed.

The last part of my project was to add the liner. I folded the flap section on the embossed line which the die scores and slipped the liner in to the envelope. 

I decided to use an inverted corner punch on the liner flap for 2 reasons, 1 so the corners didn't show when envelope was closed and 2 because I felt it looked more professional.

Making sure I added glue to all the small parts of the die cut letters I adhered the 2 flap sections together. 

I love the way the words allow the yellow liner to show through.

I wanted to demonstrate with this project that you don't need a ton of craft products to make something pretty. I used a six pack of envelopes, some cardstock, one stamp set, a die set and inks for this.

I am going to make matching cards for these and gift them to a friend so I wrapped them up with a nice big bow!

Oh also waste from the envelope masks is so pretty too - I have kept these and may use them on another project - recycle never throw away!

 I said at the start this is part 2 of my challenge if you missed part one you can find it here.

Thank you for taking time to read my post, if this has inspired you to decorate your own envelopes please tag me on Instagram as I would love to see your creations!

Altenew products I used:

Envelope Liner Die Set Purchase From: SSS | ALW	Golden Sunset Crisp Dye Inks Mini Cube Set Purchase From: ALW	Build a Flower Wild Rose Stamp and Die set Purchase From: ALW	Green Fields Crisp Dye Ink Mini Cube Set Purchase From: ALW
All About Layering 1 Purchase From: ALW	Polychromatic Purchase From: ALW	Masking Unleashed Purchase From: ALW	MISTI Original Purchase From: ALW