Hello! It has been awhile since my last post. Every day life sometimes gets in the way of crafting time, but today's post is a very special one for me. I recently completed all of my Level 3 courses in the Altenew Educator Certification Program. This journey was an excellent way to gain knowledge about different techniques and learn new ways to stretch my crafting supplies. As my final challenge of the program, I held an in-person workshop with four of my friends. After ironing out a few technical glitches, Virginia joined us virtually. Each in person participant made 3 cards using what I like to call the triple A Technique: Alcohol Markers, Alcohol and Aluminum Foil. I originally called it the A & A Technique but then realized I used three items beginning with A.
We began by attaching aluminum foil to a piece of 8 1/2" x 11" lightweight cardstock using double sided adhesive sheets. It is best to use lightweight cardstock as you will add some thickness with the foil. You can apply the foil with your hands or a brayer. AND wrinkles are fine, they just add unique texture and interest.
After applying the foil, we cut it into 3 pieces measuring 5" x 3 3/4 ". Each of these pieces were used in different ways to make 3 cards. One piece was colored in your choice of either a single or multiple colors. The next piece was colored in a green of your choice and cut with a die. The third was colored in a Christmas green of your choice, embossed and cut into 2 pieces at an angle. Some extra steps were added to this piece for added shine.
I was surprised to learn that no one in the class had worked with alcohol markers before, so we had a short session on how they worked. Below is a picture of one of the foil pieces before getting spritzed.
After we colored the pieces with alcohol markers, we spritzed each piece with 90% rubbing alcohol. Below is the result of one of the pieces after spritzing. Be sure to work in a well ventilated area to lessen any fumes.
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As you can see, this piece above has lots of unique texture due to the creases in the foil and the alcohol spritzing. If you hold the spritzer bottle close to the art piece, the mist will make larger splotches. The farther away the spritzer bottle is from the foil, the finer the mist and therefore the smaller the areas of splotching. This characteristic gives you plenty of opportunity to experiment. There is no right or wrong resulting pattern, each is unique in the way it's made. For example, notice the following piece.
Above is a picture demonstrating how the markers react with a large amount of alcohol. This piece created by one of the participants turned out to be one of my favorites!
For the first card, we placed our foiled piece (after it was dry) into an embossing folder, backed it with a piece of black cardstock and then attached our sentiment. Following is a photo of two examples of the first card. Stay tuned until the end for each participant's unique take on all three card projects.
As a tip, before adhering the foiled piece to the solid cardstock, cut a frame from the center for the sentiment. This saves on your cardstock and no one will ever know. This is a good way to stretch your supplies. The Geo Diamonds and Illusion Triangle 3D embossing folders were used for these cards. The sentiment is from the Smiles and Hugs set. This set appears to be a feminine set, but takes on a masculine feel on this card. Again, another way to stretch your supplies. If your foiled piece is not completely dry and the marker transfers ink onto your folder, just clean the folder with a spritz of alcohol and a dry cloth.
Our next project was a mini slimline card. No one in class had ever made this size, nor had they ever used a Misti or layering stamps. No worries, it presented the opportunity for another quick introduction session. It was so enjoyable to hear the oohs and aahs after each one finished stamping!
The sample above has a green frame, but for class I chose black as I wasn't sure which shade of green the participants would choose. They also chose Coral Bliss and Vineyard Berry ink colors for the Poppy layers. The center piece was debossed for added texture. The foiled leaf was cut using one of the leaves in the Just Leaves Die set, one of my favorites from Altenew. If you look closely, you can see the different shades of green in the leaves, which adds depth and interest to the project.
Our last card was slightly more involved and everyone's first Christmas card for this year. This sample demonstrates that you can use a slimline embossing folder to make an A2 card.
This picture does not capture all of the shine and texture on this card. After coloring, spritzing and drying our foiled piece, we used the Classic Pinecones 3D embossing folder to dry emboss. NOTE: We then used a disposable eye shadow applicator dipped in alcohol to remove the ink from the pinecones. After this dried, we applied embossing ink using a VersaMark pen, applied gold embossing powder and then heat embossed our piece. After drying completely, we cut our piece at an angle for the card front. No one wanted to cut their work at first, but they were all good sports and did it with great results! The picture below is a panel before the gold heat embossing and cutting step.
After the foiled and embossed piece was cut, we placed it on a 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" piece of white cardstock, matching the top and bottom edges. NOTE: The gap was marked lightly with pencil and this was used as a guide for our sentiment. The lateral edges of the white cardstock were dipped in the VersaMark ink pad and gold heat embossed. Be sure to heat emboss both sides of the cardstock as the embossing powder is on both sides. Then the sentiment was stamped and heat embossed using the same gold embossing powder. Pencil marks were erased and the foiled piece was then adhered to the white cardstock and then this was adhered to the A2 card.
On a personal note, I truly missed in-person stamping with friends during the pandemic and hope to resume this fun and enriching gathering. Here are each participant's wonderful creations!!!
Below are Robin's creations. She is the only one who chose to add a few gems to her card. She left a few areas of her pinecones with the silver showing through which just adds to all that gold even more!
The samples below are Karon's creations. She has never stamped before! You would never know it by the results. She did a fantastic job and we plan to get together again soon for more stamping fun and creativity.
Below are the wonderful creations from Minerva. I love the bold colors of her first background. She did a great job using alcohol markers for the first time!
Below is Stacey's work and she thinks outside the box. None of us wanted her to cover up that beautiful blending on her first foiled piece. She used the Organic Stones 3D embossing folder and after cutting a frame for her sentiment piece, decided not to use the frame and off-set the sentiment in the corner.
I think all of the participants did a fantastic job making unique and interesting pieces. We all had a wonderful time. I'm already thinking of what to do for our next gathering! I hope you enjoyed this post and will give this technique a try. If so and if you have any questions, please contact me.
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