AECP Family IG Hop: Crate a Card Inspired by a Favorite AECP Class

AECP Family IG Hop: Crate a Card Inspired by a Favorite AECP Class

Hello everyone! Welcome to the Altenew Educators’ Certificate Program IG hop! I decided to create a blog post for this as well so that I can share the process with all of you. We were asked to choose a favorite class that we draw inspiration from. I chose the Creative Coloring with Erum — Advanced Techniques workshop because I have been a huge fan of Erum’s coloring skills and I knew that it will be packed with tons of tips and techniques. I was not disappointed. Erum is immensely talented and is always so generous in sharing her creative process. Thank you so much, Erum!!! You can check out her blog here and her youtube channel here.

Here are the cards I made which were all inspired by her creations. Do let me know which one is your favorite on the comment section, ok?

The first card is based on her watercolor drip class.


AND HERE YOU ARE LIVING DESPITE IT ALL


STEPS:

  1. Stamp the floral image from the Wallpaper Art stamp set on watercolor paper using Versamark ink and emboss with Pure White Embossing powder. Do the same with the leaves.
  2. Watercolor the petals using Altenew watercolor brush markers- Persian blue, Midnight Violet, Ultramarine and Purple Wine using the wet on wet technique. For the leaves, color with Lagoon and Emerald.
  3. Add details using Faber Castell polychromos colored pencils.
  4. On a scrap of watercolor paper, do a wash of Lagoon and Emerald. After the inks have dried, die cut the leaves from Branches and Berries dies and the Just Leaves dies.
  5. For the background, wet half of the surface with water and add a light wash using the leftover inks on the palate.
  6. Add more concentrated ink drips by tilting the paper and allow the pool of water to drip down.
  7. When the panel has dried, add spatters of water. After 10 seconds, pat dry with a tissue to remove the ink.
  8. Add spatters of lagoon.
  9. Assemble the card using adhesive and foam squares.

This next card was inspired by the use of watercolor and stencils.


THANK YOU


STEPS:

  1. Using the Mega Bloom stencil, add color using a blending brush and the Dew Drops crisp dye ink on watercolor paper.
  2. Using the wet on wet technique, mix the Lagoon and Mountain Mist watercolor brush markers and the Persian Blue to add shadows to the petals.
  3. Once the flower is dry, add splatters of purple and black.
  4. Emboss the sentiment on black cardstock using Versamark ink and Pure White Embossing powder.
  5. Cut the panel into 4 pieces and mount the 1st and 3rd panel with foam squares to add dimension to the card.

There were some bleeds at the edges of the petals. I think it’s because I did not heat set the dye ink before I painted the watercolor. 🙁 But I think the roughness of the edges added more character to the flower so I just went ahead and colored the rest of the petals. Cutting the painted card front into panels and adhering some panels using foam tape added more interest to the card.

The third card was inspired by Erum’s splatter watercolor class. Such a fun technique!!!


SO PROUD OF YOU


STEPS:

  1. Stamp the image from the Statement Flowers stamp set with Versamark in and embossing with Rose Gold embossing powder.
  2. Wet the surface of the petals with water and then add splatters of watercolor from Midnight Violet and Persian Blue brush markers.
  3. Allow the petals to dry and add more spatters.
  4. Spray the flowers with water and lift the colors for added texture.
  5. Color the leaves using the same technique with Emerald, Limeade and highlight with a little bit of Sea Breeze.
  6. Cut out a mask then trim out the leaves. Cover the flowers to protect them from the green spatters.
  7. Add green and blue splatters to the leaves.
  8. With the Jet Black ink, customize black and white stripes patterned paper.
  9. Add black and white splatters to the Real Grey card base.
  10. Emboss the sentiment using Obsidian Pigment ink and Crystal Clear embossing powder.
  11. Assemble the card using glue and foam squares.

I really enjoyed making this card. Just make sure to turn your panel when creating spatters for a variety of direction. Adding water droplets to lift some color added more texture to the petals. I loved this technique because it didn’t take a lot of time to create yet it seems to be complicated to make. I also didn’t have black and white striped paper so I just created my own using a black marker. The freehand lines made the card more organic looking.

This fourth card was inspired by Erum’s Playing with Texture class.


THINKING OF YOU


STEPS:

  1. Create a background using distress sprays, distress oxides and distress inks. Make sure to dry between sprays.
  2. Add water splatters and after 10 seconds, lift the colors using a paper napkin.
  3. With the Mega Blooms Stencil, create transparent flowers using the transparent texture paste. Allow it to dry.
  4. Stamp the sentiment from the Ornamental Bliss stamp set with Rose Gold crisp embossing powder. Add gold washi strips to emphasize the sentiment.
  5. Assemble the card.

This was a quick card to make. It only took longer because of the drying time of the transparent texture paste. I love the subtle texture the clear texture paste gives yet it allows the background design to show through.

I hope you liked the 4 cards I made based on Erum’s Creative coloring class. I highly recommend it. She also included tons of other project ideas that you can get inspiration from.

Do stop and say hello on Instagram where I post my latest creations and giveaway announcements. You can also subscribe to this blog if you want to receive email notifications of my posts.

Again, thank you so much for taking the time to drop by! Don’t forget to leave a comment to get a chance to win a prize! I truly appreciate your kind comments and always look forward to hearing from you. 😊 Please stay safe and happy crafting!

Altenew Educators “Style it with Stencils” Blog Hop and Linky Party + Giveaway

Altenew Educators “Style it with Stencils” Blog Hop and Linky Party + Giveaway

Hello everybody!!! It’s so nice to be with my co-educators again for another blog hop. 😊 If you just came from Maryam Sharara‘s blog, then you’re on the right track. Make sure you drop by the Altenew Blog for complete details of the hop.

This blog hop is all about stencils. Altenew has quite a number of beautiful stencils. Here are some creative ways on how you can make some backgrounds using stencils to create some CAS and dimensional cards. I also included some tips on how to fix mistakes, too.


BE OUR OWN KIND OF BEAUTIFUL


MATERIALS: Bursting Dahlia Stencil, Fine Frames Cover Die, Paint-a-Flower:Paeonia Japonica, Distress Oxide Inks- Broken China, Picked Raspberry, Fossilized Amber, Foam Squares

I made a lot of backgrounds for this blog hop. For this first card, watercolor paper was colored using distress inks. I love how oxide inks are easy to blend together. Water splatters were added to create some texture. When this was dry, the Bursting Dahlia stencil was placed on top then Versamark Ink was pressed through the openings of the petals.

The image was embossed using Crystal Clear embossing powder and this automatically made the image darker than the background. The sentiment from the Paint-A-Flower: Paeonia Japonica was stamped on vellum and embossed using my all-time favorite gold embossing powder- the Rose Gold embossing powder. I added frames to finish the card. The edges of the panel were distressed using a paper distresser then this was mounted on a card front using foam squares.


I’M HERE FOR YOU


MATERIALS: Dog Rose Panel A die, Distress Oxide inks-Frayed Burlap, Broken China and Carved Pumpkin

Here’s another background I made using distress inks. After applying the inks onto Neenah solar white cardstock, I placed the bubble wrap stencil on top and sprayed over with water using light mist only. Then I used a baby wipe to go over the stencil and remove some ink. This is called the ghosting technique and I love the subtle effect of the dots. I learned this technique from Dyan Reaveley.

When the panel was dry, I used the Dog Rose Panel A to die cut the floral image. The sentiment was stamped on black cardstock using Versamark Ink and white embossing powder then mounted using foam tape.


THANK YOU


MATERIALS: Feathery Stencil, Simply Thank You die, Distress Oxide inks-Peacock Feathers, Broken China, Tumbled Glass

Here’s a simple card using foil. The background was colored using shades of blues then I selected only certain parts of the stencil to add the transfer gel. The rest of the stencil was covered with post-it notes to prevent the gel from going to the other areas of the stencil.

I should have die cut the thank you sentiment before applying the transfer gel cause when I ran it through the die cutting machine, the shininess of the foil became dull. 😥 So next time, I’ll make sure to do the foiling last.


TRUE FRIENDS ARE EVERYTHING


MATERIALS: Feathered Leaves Stencil, Bubble Wrap Stencil, Fine Frames Square Die set , Fine Frames Cover die, Gelli plate, acrylic paints, Versamark Ink, Crystal Clear Embossing powder

I had my Gelli plate out since I recently used it for my last blog hop so I thought of creating more monoprints using stencils. First, I added dots of assorted acrylic paints on the Gelli plate. I made sure to use colors that will go well together. A brayer was used to spread the paint on the plate. This was allowed to dry then a thin coat of white acrylic paint was added. Neenah solar white CS was used to pick up the monoprint.

When this was dry, I used the bubble wrap stencil to add some circles here and there using a distress ink tool and frayed burlap oxide ink. The Feathered leaves stencil was then put on top then Versamark ink and clear embossing powder was used to create another layer. I love the layers on this card and the subtle texture the stencil added.

The sentiment was stamped on vellum then I used 2 different sets of frames to highlight the sentiment.


I HAVE BEEN THINKING OF YOU


MATERIALS: Geometric Landscape Stencil, Poppy Garden Stamp and die, Garden Picks 3D die, Nuvo Embellishments Mousse Aquamarine, Pure White Embossing powder, Rose Gold Embossing Powder, Versmark Ink , Uniball Signo White gel pen

I made another background using the Geometric Landscape Stencil and the Nuvo mousse for added dimension. I allowed it to dry while stamping and embossing the flowers from the Poppy Garden stamp set. I also die cut the leaves from the Garden Picks 3d die. The sentiment from the Poppy Garden set was embossed using white embossing powder while the flowers were embossed using Golden Peach embossing powder.

All of the embellishments were arranged using foam squares for added dimension. By the way, when I pulled up the stencil from the paper, I noticed some of the mousse went under the stencil. After it dried, I just used a Uniball Signo white gel pen to cover up the areas. That way, I didn’t have to repeat the whole process and waste material. 😊


YOU INSPIRE ME TO BE BETTER


MATERIALS: Poppy Garden Mask Stencil, Distress Oxide-Mermaid Lagoon, Pure White Embossing Powder, Versamark Ink, 1/8″ double-sided tape, Rose Gold Embossing Powder, Foam Squres

For my last card, I wanted to make use of the Poppy Garden Mask stencil. I laid the stencil on a Neenah Solar white cardstock then used a round distress tool to add Mermaid Lagoon distress oxide ink to the edges of the floral images using a swiping motion from outside going in. This way, the middle of the flower remained white while the edges were dark. This is a fun way of coloring images quickly. I like the steaks that the foam created. Just make sure to follow the direction of the petals when applying the ink. When all the mask images of the flowers were colored, I stamped the outline images using Versamark Ink and embossed them with Pure white embossing powder.

I needed a frame for this slim card so an easy way to do this is to use 1/8″ double-sided tape and heat emboss it using Rose Gold embossing powder. The flowers were arranged on one side and adhered to the card front using glue and foam squares. For a more organic look, just add foam squares to the edges of the petal then glue down the middle of the flower. You can also bend the edges of the flowers and leaves so that they won’t look so stiff.

You can watch a video on how to create these flowers by clicking this link: https://youtu.be/AORyc3Rr2hs . I’m very new at making videos so please bear with me. 😥 Do let me know if the video is helpful so that I can plan to include more videos in the future.


PRIZES



Altenew is giving away a $20 gift certificate to 5 lucky winners! Please leave a comment on the Altenew Card Blog by 9/19/2020 for a chance to win.

Altenew will also draw a winner to receive a $15 Altenew gift certificate from the comments left on each designer’s blog on the blog hop list below so don’t forget to leave a comment! I truly love hearing from all of you. All winners will be announced on the Altenew Winners Page on 9/22/2020.

There’s MORE! Altenew will pick 2 of their favorite handmade creations from those who joined the linky party and they will each receive a $15 Altenew gift certificate!

Next stop is Irina Fonina’s blog. For real-time updates, please follow me on IG: My Little Attic Studio. I also host some giveaways there once in a while so hope to see you there, too. 🙂 Thanks so much for dropping by and please stay safe and well. Take care, everyone! Until my next blog post!

BLOG HOP LIST: ALTENEW CARD BLOG | AMBER RAIN DAVIS | NEHA AGGARWAL | NICOLE WATT | ERIN THOMPSON | TERI WILSON | HELEN KALB | RACHAEL SHEDEED | TERRI MARIE KOSZLER | ROSIE NEUSTAEDTER | AMY HILL | NANDINI KARMARKAR | MARYAM SHARARA | NENETTE S. MADERO | IRINA FONINA | VICKI FINGER | VIRGINIA LU


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Altenew Educator “Love & Friendship” Blog Hop +Giveaway

Altenew Educator “Love & Friendship” Blog Hop +Giveaway

Hi everyone! I’m so honored to be joining the 2nd Altenew Educators’ blog hop and this time it’s all about love and friendship. If you are following the hop, then you should have arrived here from the talented Patty Melo. The Altenew Card Blog is hosting this hop so make sure to drop by there as well.

I finished the Altenew Educator’s Certificate Program (AECP) in November of 2018 and it has been one of the most inspiring and fulfilling programs I’ve ever joined. There were quite a number of wonderful classes to choose from. Even if I knew some basic techniques, the talented instructors have shown me other ways to improve and enhance my skills. Their tips and tricks are invaluable. Virginia Lu and Nicole Picadura‘s support and encouragement throughout the course have made the experience very inspiring and memorable. AECP has made me realize that I find so much joy in teaching others! It has also been a wonderful source of new friendships– the Altenew family, the Educator’s group, the students I teach locally, and my online friends from all over the world. Through this program, I’ve been inspired countless times by the creativity of the participants and the generosity of the instructors in sharing their knowledge. I truly believe that crafters are the most generous people on earth!!! 🙂

“Many people will walk in and out of your life, but only true friends will leave footprints in your heart.” Eleanor Roosevelt

I love the theme for this blog hop. I treasure the new friends that I’ve made thru AECP and look forward to meeting more people through this wonderful crafting community. My lifelong friends are kind, sincere and most importantly, genuine people. I’ve learned so many life lessons through their experiences and always find comfort and support in their presence.

For this blog hop, I was so inspired to create backgrounds using distress oxide inks and Altenew watercolor brush markers. I suggest you make several backgrounds using the same coloring mediums. Just change the color combination. It’s best to choose analogous colors or colors next to each other on the color wheel. But if you want high contrast, then choose complementary colors (colors opposite each other on the color wheel). Just take note that if these colors mix, you will end up with “mud” which I also love. Below are some of the cards I made for friends and loved ones.

EVERYTHING WILL BE OK  CARD

MATERIALS:

I wanted this card to look like an abstract painting. Arches watercolor paper was cut to 5.5” x 4”. Distress oxide Candied Apple, Ripe Persimmon and Fossilized Amber inks were pressed onto a craft mat and water was spritzed for the colors to react. The paper was then dabbed onto the colors then dried. I went back to add cool colors but making sure that the first layer of colors was dry before adding the next.

The flower image from the Dotted Blooms stamp set was stamped using Versamark Ink then heat embossed using Rose Gold embossing powder. Notice that I used the other second layers of the stamps separately thus creating more flowers that I can paint and use on my card.  The sentiment was stamped on watercolor paper then distress oxide pistachio was added heavily at the bottom of the strip then blended upwards to create an ombre effect. One of the main flower images was mounted using foam tape to add dimension. The sides of the card panel was distressed using the Tonic paper distresser.

WISHING YOU ALL THE JOY YOUR HEART CAN HOLD HAPPY BIRTHDAY CARD

MATERIALS:

I stamped the image from the Geometric Landscape using Versa Mark onto a 5″ x 5.5″ watercolor paper and heat embossed using Altenew pure white crisp embossing powder. Using the wet on wet technique, I colored in the shapes using  Lagoon, Turquoise, Sweet Leaf, Persian Blue and Mountain Mist watercolor brush markers. The edges were distressed using Tim Holtz paper distresser.  Velum sheet was torn to create a frame and the sentiment from  Sincere greetings sentiment was stamped using Versamark and embossed using Rose gold embossing powder.  I chose vellum as a frame/mat for the sentiment so that the background can still be seen.

I painted a light wash using the same colors I used for the background and sprinkled salt to create these wonderful “blooms” and used the 3D dies to create the flowers and vines of the leaves. The leaves remained white so that the flowers will stand out more.  The die cuts were arranged in one corner and adhered using glue and foam squares. The whole panel was adhered to a top folding Neenah Solar white CS with foam tape for added dimension.

YOU ARE STRONGER THAN YOU THINK CARD

MATERIALS:

I wanted to make a card that has a lot of white space this time. Neenah Solar White CS was cut down to 4.25” x 11” and scored at 5.5” to create a top-folding card. The Beveled Square stencil was placed on top of the card front and Altenew embossing paste was spread using a spatula.  While allowing it to dry,  wet on wet technique was used to add some color washes of blues and purples on watercolor paper. Salt was sprinkled while the paper was wet to create some effects.

The Rose Flurries 3D leaves and the Garden Picks 3D flowers and leaves were used to die cut the watercolor papers. A strip was also colored and the sentiment from the Delicate Flower Bed stamp set was embossed using Versamark Ink and Altenew Pure White Crisp embossing powder. The flowers and leaves were assembled and adhered with glue and foam squares.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONTINUOUS SUPPORT CARD

MATERIALS:

I just love the Teal Shadow Washi Tape because you already have watercolored flowers and leaves instantly!!! <3 This card was pretty simple to create.  Fabriano watercolor paper was cut down to 5.5” x 4.25”. With a blending tool, the background was colored using Fossilized Amber, Spiced Marmalade and Abandoned Coral.  Water was sprayed to create droplets. The Watercolor Stripes cover die was used to cut out the stripes from Neenah Solar White CS.  I stuck the beautiful Teal shadow washi tape on white CS as well then fussy cut the images.  (this washi tape comes with a coordinating die set) These images were then arranged on the left side of a side folding card and adhered using Glossy accents.

Different thickness of foam tape was also used to create dimension. The sentiment from the Handpicked Bouquet was stamped using Versamark Ink then embossed using Altenew pure white crisp embossing powder. Tuck in the sentiment strip under the leaves for added interest.

SENDING LOVE AND HUGS CARD

MATERIALS:

Feeling Dotty stencil was placed on the watercolor paper and Versamark Ink was added to certain areas then embossed with clear embossing powder. Next,  Peacock Feathers and Cracked Pistachio Distress Oxide inks were added to the watercolor paper using a distress tool.  Versamark Ink was again added to certain areas of the watercolor paper using the Feathered Leaves and Beveled Square Stencils then heat embossed using clear embossing powder.  Just make sure that the first layer of inks is completely dry. It helps to use an antistatic tool before applying the Versamark ink over the stencils. Water droplets were also added to create more contrast. Lastly, Wilted Violet was added on top revealing the stencil patterns using the emboss resist technique. 

The intricate Altenew Flora Frame Die was die cut 4 times then adhered on top of each other.  This was then pasted on vellum sheet to make it more sturdy. The vellum was cut out to follow the shape of the heart using scissors. The sentiment from the Adore You stamp set was stamped on black cardstock using Versamark Ink then heat embossed using  Pure White Embossing Powder.  The edges of the card front were distressed using the Tonic paper distresser then mounted on a top folding A2 card with foam sheet.

I APPRECIATE YOU AND I’M HERE FOR YOU CARDS

MATERIALS:

I’ve been seeing layouts and card designs with watercolor drippings and have been inspired by Erum Tasnim and May Sukyong Park’s beautiful cards so I thought of trying out the technique.

I started out by choosing 3 colors that will blend well together.  I don’t mind seeing touches of “mud”. This happens when 2 complimentary colors mix.  In fact, for the cool colored card, I purposely mixed blue and orange to get a brownish color to add to the mix.  The 3 Distress Ink Pads were directly swiped onto the watercolor paper.  The colors were sprayed with water and allowed to drip. The paper was held perpendicularly to the table and a watercolor brush was used to help move the pigments downwards. When this was dry, flower and leaf images from the Adore You stamp set were stamped on watercolor paper and embossed using Pure White Embossing powder. The coordinating die cuts were used to cut out the stamped images. The flowers and leaves were arranged temporarily so that I could color them according to the color drippings. Salt was added while the images were wet for added texture.

The images were then adhered using glue or foam squares. The sentiment was stamped using Versamark Ink and embossed using Pure White Embossing powder.  Clear Round Drop embellishments were added to the cool colored card while staples and thread were added to the sentiment for the warm colored card to finish them off. These were then adhered to A2 top and side folding cardstocks.

WISHING THE BEST FOR YOU CARD

MATERIALS:

This is another quick and easy card to create.  I first created a background. This stamp set is so dainty and soft so I wanted to create a card that represents this stamp set. The images were stamped to cover the entire cardstock. For the shadow stamp, Limestone dye ink was used to keep it soft. The Mountain Mist and Volcano Lake were layered using the leaves and stem stamp sets then the Iceberg and Eastern Sky dye inks were used for the flowers.

The letters Y, O and U from the Caps Bold Alpha was used to die cut the word on the lower right side of the card. Additional letters were die cut on plain CS and layered to add dimension. The sentiment from the You Are stamp set was stamped on black cardstock using Versamark ink then heat embossed using Pure White Crisp embossing powder.  The strip was adhered on to the YOU using foam squares. Paper distresser was used on all sides of the panel and this was then glued onto a top folding A2 card base. 

DISCOUNTS AND PRIZES

To celebrate this blog hop and to encourage more people to join, Altenew is giving away 20% discount on the following bundles from 7/19 – 7/21: LEVEL 1 CLASS BUNDLE and LEVEL 2 CLASS BUNDLE. This is your chance to take advantage of this great deal!!

Altenew is giving away a $30 gift certificate to 3 lucky winners! Please leave a comment on the Altenew Blog by 7/26/2019 for a chance to win.
We’ll also draw a winner to receive a $15 gift certificate from the comments left on each designer’s blog on the blog hop list below. All winners will be announced on the Altenew blogs on 7/30/2019.

In case you are lost, here is the HOP ORDER:

If you liked these cards, I would appreciate it if you can subscribe to my blog and follow me on Instagram @mylittleatticstudio. <3 Do leave a comment below and get a chance to win some giveaway prizes!

Next stop is the talented Vicki Finger! Thanks again for dropping by! ❤️

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