AECP-Level 2 Final Challenge-Part 1

 I received my Level 2 Final Challenge  and knew it would take me awhile to complete. And then my husband and I both became ill with sinus congestion/head colds.  That put us out of commission for about a week.  But it did give me some time to think about my planned projects.  

If you have been thinking about applying to the Altenew Educator Program, I would recommend it!  I have learned a great deal and really enjoyed each class.  

The above cards are my set of masculine cards for the challenge.  I will go into detail for each card creation and mention the classes that taught a specific technique or inspired me.

Techniques/Classes

*For The Guys-geometric design

*Easy Die Cutting-inlaid technique

*Let It Shine-brushed silver cardstock

*Magical Marker-coloring inlaid pieces

Instructions

*Cut 2 pieces of midweight white cardstock 4 1/8 x 5 3/8

*Position triangle die cuts on one piece and run through die cut machine TIP-KEEP INTERIOR TRIANGLE PIECES OF EACH TRIANGLE TOGETHER FOR EASIER ASSEMBLY LATER

*Adhere die cut cardstock to solid cardstock

*Cut matching triangles from brushed silver cardstock TIP-SAVE INSIDE PIECES FOR CARDFRONT

*Inlay silver triangle frames into triangle cut outs 

*Color white inside triangle pieces with 3 shades of alcohol markers and adhere to matching triangle cut out

*Cut "happy" 3 times from navy cardstock and adhere together. Adhere to card front.

*Silver emboss "birthday", trim and color edges with alcohol marker. Adhere to card front with foam.

*Attach white piece to navy cardstock measuring 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 and adhere to an A2 card

*Adhere brushed silver inside triangle pieces randomly on card front

Techniques/Classes

*Easy Die Cutting-leaves

*Celebrations-stencil technique

*With A Twist-color combination

*For The Guys-geometric design

*Let It Shine-silver embossed sentiment

Instructions

*Using the diamond builder stencil, follow the included guide and ink using Gentleman Gray ink set.

*TIP-CUT CARDSTOCK LARGER THAN WHAT YO NEED  AND TRIM TO SIZE AFTER COMPLETING STENCILING

*Trim stenciled cardstock to 4 1/4 x 5 1/2.

*Adhere to an A2 card front.

*Use leaf die to die cut 2 pieces from matching cardstock.

*Stamp sentiment and heat emboss in silver.

*Adhere pieces to card front

Techniques/Classes

*All About Layering-stamped globe

*Let It Shine-heat embossing sentiment

*Beyond Basic Backgrounds- stenciled and heat embossed background

*Impressive Heat Embossing-background

*Polychromatic-color choice

Instructions

*Using Stacked Diamonds Cover Die, cut from masking paper the size of your card front.

*Adhere mask to gray cardstock cut to 4 1/4 x 5 1/2.

* Cover entire card front with Versa Mark ink.

*Remove mask and apply embossing powder. TIP-USE A SCRAP PIECE OF CARDSTOCK TO SAMPLE DIFFERENT COLORS OF EMBOSSING POWDERS TO ACHEIVE YOUR DESIRED COLOR.

*Stamp one layer of world stamp using black ink and another layer using Versa Mark ink. Heat emboss. I used silver.

*Cover a piece of cardstock heavily with Versa Mark ink and heat emboss with silver. Cut the word "world" from this. Cut 2 more from plain cardstock and adhere all 3 together.

*Stamp remaining sentiments in black ink on gray cardstock.

*Cut globe piece from cardstock. (I inked it slightly for an aged look).

*Adhere pieces to card front. TIP-USE A STRONG ADHESIVE AS CARDSTOCK MAY WARP SLIGHTLY FROM THE HEAT EMBOSSING.

Techniques/Classes

*Let It Shine-sequins

*Irresistible Inking Techniques-ink blended background

*Beyond Basic Backgrounds-bokeh technique

*Easy die Cutting-card front

*Masking Unleased-inside of card

Instructions

*Ink blend colors onto card front. I used Gray Denim, Galactic Stream and Vineyard Berry. TIP-INK BLEND LIGHTLY AT FIRST AND THEN GO OVER AS OFTEN AS NEEDED TO ACHEIVE THE COLOR DEPTH THAT YOU DESIRE.

*Cut circles in varying sizes from scrap cardstock.

*Apply white craft ink with a sponge dauber into circles. TIP-WALK AWAY TO LET THE CRAFT INK DRY OR USE YOUR HEAT TOOL, BUT MAKE SURE IT IS DRY BEFORE CONTINUING.

*Use a circle die large enough to contain your sentiment and cut it out of card front in desired position.

*Lightly trace the opening onto a piece of masking paper cut to the size of the inside of your card.  Cut the circle out of the masking paper.

*Adhere masking paper to inside of card.  Ink this circle in the same way that you inked the card front. TIP-AGAIN, LET THE CRAFT INK DRY BEFORE CONTINUING.

*Remove masking paper and stamp sentiment on the inside of the card.

*Adhere sequins.

I hope you received some inspiration from today's post. I really enjoyed the creative process for these.  This is Part 1 of the challenge.  Stay tuned for Part 2. Happy Stamping!

AECP-Level 2-Polychromatic

 

I can't say enough about the Altenew Classes!  Each one is filled with tips and techniques to help you with all your crafting.  The cards below were inspired by the Polychromatic class.  Polychromatic is defined as using 2 or more colors. The class consists of 6 different lessons, each using a different technique.

This technique is called Faux Watercolored Effect.  I really enjoyed this technique and made 3 different cards using it.  I colored my stamps using waterbrush markers, spritzed with water and then stamped onto watercolor paper.  You will get a slightly different look each time.  The stamps used were from the Coneflower set and the Stunning Cosmos set.  I wanted the emphasis to be on the flowers so I opted to not use sequins or jewels.

As you can see in the above photo, each flower is slightly different as well as the leaves.

I used the Gardenia set for this card and did add a few black splatters.  The sentiment is heat embossed with black embossing powder and is from the Coneflower set.  I ink blended my card front with Kitch Flamingo Distress Oxide Ink and also added a die cut using the Garden Trellis Die.  I mounted my stamped piece onto a slightly larger piece of black cardstock, added a few gems and mounted it to the card front.

This card was made using the same technique.  The stamp set for the flower is Antique Roses.  The sentiment is from All The Hearts set as is the sentiment.  This stamp set has a matching die that cuts out several small hearts. I attached several to my stamped piece and used the stamp to stamp the edges of my card front.  The edges are also LIGHTLY ink blended with a green ink that matches the leaves.

As you can see from the picture, I used Heart Beat, Honey Drizzle and Azurite inks to watercolor my background piece. The inks are lighter when spritzed with water and added to the watercolor paper. I used the same technique on another piece of watercolor paper and die cut the balloons using the Birthday Greetings Die.  I added 2 more balloons to the back of each one for added dimension. The sentiment and balloon strings are from the Faithful Feathers set.  The balloon strings are the center stamp for the feathers.  This is a way of stretching your stamps! I added Glossy Accents and tiny stars to the balloons as well.  To finish them off, I added some white twine knots.

Happy Stamping!