Clean and Simple Boutique Cards - AECP Level 1

I am so excited to say that I have been accepted into the Altenew Educator Certification Program (AECP)!  What does this mean?  It is an extensive program that has 4 levels, consisting of multiple classes, projects, and a final challenge at the end of each level.  I am just beginning on this journey, and my hope is that I will learn some new techniques, improve my skills, and become more confident in sharing my work with you! 

For the first course, I chose Clean and Simple Boutique Cards.  The Clean and Simple (CAS) concept is something that I really love, but is a huge struggle for me,  I have a hard time leaving white space, so I felt this would be a great starting point for me. 

For my project, I am using the Stamped Background concept as my inspiration.  Jennifer shared some excellent tips throughout this course.  The one that influenced me the most was to mark the center-point of my card layer and go from there.  I know that sounds ridiculously simple, but it was a game changer for me.  I have found stamped backgrounds to be very challenging, as I like everything to be in a nice straight line.  I tried to challenge myself to not focus on that and to be a “little” bit random. 

I started out using the Altenew Mini Delight: Precious Florette stamp set.  This was the first Mini Delight I received with my subscription; however, I hadn’t used it yet, so I thought it would be perfect for this project.  I inked my image with Versafine Onyx Black (very important not to use a water-based ink if you will be watercoloring or the ink will run and all your hard work will be for nothing) and stamped somewhat randomly all over my card layer. 

I then inked up some acrylic blocks with the colors I wanted to use.  I literally just smooshed my ink pad onto the block.  I then spritzed the blocks with water and used a water-painter to pick up some color.  I added a splotch of color to each gem, and was not particularly careful, as I wanted it to have the loose feeling of watercolor.  Once dry, I added a hint of sparkle using my Wink of Stella brush. 

I heat embossed the sentiment from the set using Wow Opaque White Ultra Fine embossing powder on a black strip of cardstock and adhered across the lower portion of my card panel using liquid glue. Finally, I attached the panel to my card base using liquid glue.  

I actually made a few attempts at this card before I was finally happy with the result.  A few lessons learned: if not using watercolor paper, use heavyweight cardstock (110#).  Anything lighter and it buckles with the water. A little bit of water goes a long way - the more water you add, the less vibrant the color. 

I really enjoyed this course, and am looking forward to trying some more of the techniques that I learned! 

Products used:

Recollections 110# Cardstock - Dove White

Altenew Mini Delight: Precious Florette stamp set

Altenew Crisp Dye Ink: Razzleberry, Marigold, Parrot, Ultraviolet, Galactic Stream

Versamark Watermark Stamp Pad

Versafine: Onyx Black

Wow Opaque Bright White Superfine Embossing Powder

Wink of Stella

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