AECP-Transcending Tattoo Techniques

 Hello! I hope you are having a great day.  I recently completed another Altenew class and really found this one fascinating.  The instructor, Jaycee Gaspar, researched different tattoo techniques and transferred them into card making techniques.  Not only did I pick up a few card making techniques, I learned a little about tattooing. I will note the tattoo technique that inspired each card as we move along.

The above card was inspired by the tattoo technique called Trash Polka.  I was so intrigued by this that I actually googled several tattoo images-give it a try yourself. I found some truly beautiful artwork. All images were stamped onto a sand colored cardstock from my stash and then adhered to a white A2 card.  The background was partially stenciled using black ink and the Woven Stencil. The circles were stamped in red and the image is from a bicycle stamp in my stash.  I also added black splatters.  The blooms are from the Wallpaper Art set (one of my favorites) and the leaves are from the Darling Rose set.  The sentiment is from the Halftone Happy set. 

Here is a close up of the flower.  I did rough up the edges of my background and lightly ink blend the edges in black to add to the organic feel of the card.

This card utilizes the Loose Watercolor Technique.  After stamping and heat embossing the butterflies from the Painted Butterflies set in black onto watercolor paper, I wet specific areas and scraped dry pigment from the 12 color pan watercolor set onto the wet areas.  I did move some of the pigment around with a wet brush.  I used the same method on another piece of watercolor paper, then stamped and heat embossed the word happy and the sentiment from the Halftone Happy set. The background is dry embossed using the 3D Cloudy Day Embossing Folder.  The clouds were enhanced by adding highlights with white craft ink.

I hope you can see the pigment in the enlargement.  Can you see the variation of pigment? 

This card refers to the tattoo technique called Old School/Graphic Coloring.  To do this, first stamp the outline and then stamp the most detailed layer.  Hand color using your preferred method and use to create your card. I added some splatters and black gems to complete my card.  

The blooms and leaves are from the Always There set and the sentiment is from the Japanese Mum set.  The small white and black images are the tips from the Starry Flowers set.

This card was inspired by the Dotwork/Pen Shading Details technique.  I was slightly intimidated at first, but found it relaxing as I went along. Below is the stamped image prior to any dot work.

I used the Dotted Scales Debossing Cover Die, the Fancy For You Die, and the Just Leaves Dies to complete my card.  The bloom is from the Build a Flower-Gardenia set.

I hope you enjoyed this post and will give this class a try.  

Happy Stamping!

AECP-Stunningly Simple Watercolor Techniques

 The journey to become a Certified Altenew Educator continues and so does my learning!  Another great class was just completed.  If you have ever considered taking one of Altenew's many classes, I encourage you to do it.  You do not have to be part of the Educator Program to do so and I assure you that you will love it!  This class is taught by Lydia Evans and simplifies watercoloring.  

This is a sample of no line watercoloring.  For the card base, I ink blended over the Classy Stripes Stencil using Gray Denim ink and then stamped partial images using the Tall Foliage stamp.  The sentiment and bloom are from the Build A Flower-Gardenia set.  

The bloom was stamped on watercolor paper and then colored with purple and blue ink pads. I smooshed some ink from the pads onto my worksurface.  

This card uses an embossed image to "catch" your watercolors.  The raised embossed outlines help to keep the colors from bleeding into each other.  For the background, I ink blended Aqualicious around the edges and left the center mostly untouched.  Using the Garden Trellis Cover Die and a circle die, I cut my cardfront. After adhering it in place, I stamped the sentiment from the Vintage Garden set in black ink.

 Again, the bloom was stamped onto watercolor paper. Ink colors used for my watercoloring were Hunter Green, Aqualicious, Heart Beat and Caramel Toffee.

The focus of this card is the background.  I wet the entire piece and then added my colors and allowed them to blend on their own. The butterflies are from the Painted Butterflies set and the sentiment is from the Tall Foliage set.

If you look closely, you can see that the butterflies have a slight blue tint.  After heat embossing them onto vellum, I ink blended light blue onto the backs.  They are adhered with tiny glue dots behind the gold embossed areas.

The birthday card above used ink smooshing for the background.  The card on the right uses an ombre technique for the background.

This class was fun and I hope to utilize more watercoloring techniques in the future.

Happy Stamping!