Altenew Educator's certification Program - Beautiful Detail

 Good afternoon and happy 4th July!!!! We are having a quiet weekend at home - well not so quiet if the neighbors fireworks count!

I'm spending my time working on my AECP. The class this time was Beautiful Details by Marika Rahtu. Using different coloring mediums to add detail to your cards. Marika is a fantastic artist I could watch her color all day!

My first card is using techniques from lesson 3 using pencil to add detail:

 I used Crown Bloom Stamps and stamped the first layers with ink before using pencils to add the striations and addition shading to the flower and leaves. This does take time to do as you have to blend the layers of pencils but it gives for depth to the stamped images.

Once I was happy with my work I die cut the leaves and flower before moving on to the next stage of my design. I wanted to add further detail to my card but didn't want to distract too my from the flowers. I added pink washi tape to the side of an A2 white card base. Then using the beach towel stripes stencil I added very light ink blending to a card panel. I cut this doe to 4x5.5inches and adhered it to my card base. I worked out where I wanted my colored images leaving enough room for my sentiment which was stamped directly onto the card using a darker ink than the flower. Finally I added my leaves with wet glue and my flower with foam squares to give dimension.

My next card using a technique from Lesson 5 monochromatic:

The image is almost an 'extra' flower from the Peony Bouquet stamp set I think it is a peony bud but also looks like a sweet pea flower.

Using a pale blue ink I stamped the image multiple times on a piece of watercolor card. I then colored these with one watercolor pencil, I didn't apply the pencil directly to the card but used my paint brush to pick up color. Layering the color by using more or less water gave me the look of shading and detail. you do have to let the the card dry in between layers to stop the color blending out too much. while my images were drying I cut a strip of pearl vellum and stamped my sentiment with embossing ink and heat embossed in silver powder on to this.

Not wanting to distract from the painted flowers I wrapped the vellum around the case of the card and added this to my A2 card base. A few iridescent sequins were adhered to draw the eye in to the card.

 

I wasn't going to add my last card as I cased Marika's she designed in lesson 4 but I thought it was too pretty not to blog about.

This card uses vellum instead of stamping card for the flower and leaves.

I stamped on the vellum with embossing ink and then used clear embossing powder to heat emboss the image.

Turning the vellum over and placing on a piece of black cardstock I was able to color the images using Copic markers without damaging the nibs of my markers. I also used pencil to add detail to the images. The flower center was stamped in brown ink on the side I had colored and I used pencils to give it more dimension.

These were fussy cut as I don't have the dies for this stamp set.

I used grey cardstock for my base and a piece of cream cardstock for my mat. I die cut a fancy square from this before adhering it to my base. Using foam tape I then added the fancy square turning it 90 degrees do the grey showed through.

I added my leaves and flower to this using a tape runner so the glue didn't show through.

My sentiment was added directly to the bottom of the card using the same ink I had used to stamp my flower center. Finally I added a few gold sequins.

I love this class, coloring is my favorite crafting technique and I have loved watching and learning new ways to use my coloring mediums. Marika is mesmerizing to watch!

Thank you for stopping by!

Altenew products I used:

Crown Bloom Stamp and Die Bundle Purchase From: ALW	Just for You Stamp set Purchase From: ALW	Beach Towel Stripes Stencil Purchase From: ALW	Crisp Dye Ink - Dark Chocolate Purchase From: ALW
Spring Daisy Stamp Set Purchase From: ALW	Peony Bouquet Stamp Set Purchase From: ALW	Faithful Feather Stamp Set Purchase From: ALW	Crisp Dye Ink - Sea Glass Purchase From: ALW
Crystal Clear Embossing Powder Purchase From: ALW	Crisp Dye Inks - Red Sunset Purchase From: SSS | ALW	Heartfelt Sentiments Purchase From: SSS | ALW	Crisp Dye Ink - Forest Glades Purchase From: SSS | ALW
Crisp Dye Ink - Frayed Leaf Purchase From: ALW	Embossing Ink Purchase From: ALW	Silver Embossing Powder Purchase From: ALW

Altenew Educators Certification Program Level 2 - Beyond Basic Backgrounds

 Good afternoon! The sun is shining and it actually feels warm when you are in it.

I completed and passed my AECP Level 1 so I'm back today with the first class of my level 2. Beyond Basic Backgrounds by Lydia is filled with great lessons and I have loved the different techniques she taught.

I chose to show case 2 or these techniques, the first one is a DIY stencil:

Using Scribbled Flowers Dies, I chose one flower die and cut this multiple times into scratch card which gave me a a floral stencil. I then took this one step further, using a pencil I traced through the DIY stencil on to a second piece of scratch card. This gave me the positions of the flowers so I could add leaves in between. I die cut the leaves into the second piece of card so I have a stencil with leaves.

I then taped the floral stencil to a piece of 4x5.5in card stock and inked through the stencil. I repeated this with the leaves stencil. Once the ink was dry I used the coordinating stamps, versamark ink and clear satin embossing powder to give a subtle image of each flower. This was added to a cream A2 card base with foam tape.

Using the green ink I inked all over a piece of white card. I then die cut this with Happy Die and stamped the Halftone Happy stamp with versamark and embossed it with the same powder as my floral design.

Using foam squares I added this to my card. Anniversary was stamped in black ink, cut into a strip and added to the 'Happy'.

I finished the card with some sparkly gems.

My second card used the Matt Watercolor Resist technique. 

I die cut Ornate Cover die into a folded piece of freezer paper. I then laid these onto  A2 pieces of white watercolor cardstock. Lydia uses a Minc machine to melt the wax from this onto the card which holds the paper in place. I couldn't get my machine to melt this so I used my heat press - the higher temperature worked!

Next I used my watercolor paints to add color all over the piece of card, left this to dry then very carefully lifted the freezer paper. This leaves a matt version of the die pattern on the card, a similar effect to emboss resist but without the shine embossing powder gives.

I added this and a color coordinating mat to a white card base.

 I didn't want to cover much of the pattern so I die cut a circle from white card and stamped this using the Mini Hello Stamp set. So this stood out I inked the edges of the circle, and adhered it to the card with foam squares.

Finally I added a few coordinating enamel dots.

As I had 2 die cut pieces of freezer I repeated the card in a blue but faded the paint towards the bottom corner:

Supplies used:

Altenew Scribbled Flower Dies and Stamps

Altenew Ornate Cover Die

Altenew Mini Hello Stamp Set

Altenew Happy Die

Altenew Halftone Happy Stamps

Altenew Inks:

    Jet Black

    Forest Glades

    Deep Iris

    Midnight Violet

    Ocean Wave

Other Inks:

    Picked Raspberry Distress Ink

    Bundled Sage Distress Ink

    Versamark

Altenew Watercolor 24 pan set

Arteza Metallic Watercolor Paints

Hero Arts Satin Pearl Embossing Powder

Neenah Solar White 110lb Cover

Fog Grey Cardstock

Cream 300gsm Cardstock

Bristol Smooth Cardstock

Watercolor Cardstock

Crystal Gems

Enamel Dots

Glue, Foam tape, Foam Squares

Thank you for stopping by I hope you like what you see if so please leave a comment to let me know.

May your troubles be less

Good afternoon, We have started preparing for the start of school Mollie is really looking forward to finding out who her 3rd grade teacher will be. 

My post today is a simple card with a lovely little message:

The sentiment is May Your Troubles Be Less from Riley and Company. I stamped it on to water color card with versamark and heat embossed in white. I then used my watercolor markers to flood the sentiment with color.

I matted a printed card base with dark orange card and once dry added my stamped topper. A die-cut flourish and mulberry flower along with some enamel dots balanced the design.

Thank you for stopping by, you can find the stamp I have used over on the Riley and Company online store. For more inspiration check out the Riley and Company Blog. Or for more news about what the Moose and his pals are up to head on over to the company Facebook page