Saturday, March 20, 2021

Let It Shine - AECP Level 1

Happy Saturday!  I hope you are enjoying your weekend and that wherever you are, you got a bit of sunshine!  Today, I am excited to share with you some of the cards that I made for the next class I have taken for the Altenew Educator Certification Program - Let It Shine. 

 This class is all about adding sparkle and shine to your projects and I absolutely LOVED it!  I learned several new techniques, including some that I had completely avoided because I thought you needed special equipment to do it.  I was wrong!  We worked with glitter, specialty card stock, foils, and embossing powders to name a few.  I will let you in on a secret...  The first lesson focused on glitters and it gave me hives!  I just couldn’t bring myself to break out the glitter, but I did find several alternatives to the messy stuff.  
Some of these lessons were truly magical for me!  For my first card, I focused on Lesson 4 - Shimmer and Sparkle Pens.  I love any reason to break out my Wink of Stella pens. I started with a white card panel and using the largest die from Stampin’ Up’s Brilliant Wings dies, I embossed the panel.  I then painted all over the raised edges with my Wink of Stella pen and set it aside to dry. Using the Altenew Halftone Smile stamps and dies, I created an ombré sentiment.  This stamp already gives you a bit of an ombré look; however, I wanted it to be more pronounced, so I inked the entire stamp with Altenew Petal Pink and stamped it on a scrap of white.  Using a cosmetic sponge, I inked the lower 2/3 of the stamp using Coral Bliss and stamped it, and then using the same sponge, I inked the lower third of the stamp in Crimson.  I then die-cut my sentiment using the coordinating die.  I heat-embossed the remainder of my sentiment in white on a strip of vellum.
I adhered my butterfly panel to a strip of Stampin’ Up’s Butterfly Bijou Designer Series Paper, and then adhered the entire panel to my card base. I determined where my “Smile” sentiment would be placed on my vellum and I attached the vellum to the card panel by placing small dots of glue behind where the sentiment would be so that it didn’t show.  I then glued down my large sentiment and finished it off with some sequins. 
For my second (and favorite) card, I was a day late for St. Patrick’s Day, but seeing all the wonderful green cards posted on social media must have inspired me, because I just knew I needed to work with greens,  I was really struggling with this card, which focused on Lesson 5 - Metallic Paper.  It wasn’t coming together the way that I had hoped, and then I saw that Nicole at Pixel Maven’s Retreat had posted a sketch challenge, and the pieces all fell into place. 
I didn’t follow the sketch exactly, but it was fairly close.  I actually began my card with the sentiment and then selected components to go with it.  I used the Altenew Bold Thanks dies, and cut the background die from a scrap of Rose Gold card stock.  I cut the letters from a scrap of white.  I then taped them back into the negative space, and using my Stampin’ Blends in Granny Apple Green, (both light and dark) I colored the letters in starting with the light on the left and gradually getting darker as I moved to the right.  I then glued the letters into place on the background.  
I took a small white panel and adhered it to a slightly larger lime green panel of card stock. I then cut several banners out of various card stocks and printed papers.  I lined them up on my white panel and placed a piece of Press N Seal over them to keep them in place for adhering to the card panel.  This technique was a game changer for me,  I don’t know how I had never used it before.  
I wrapped some Altenew Metallic Thread around the entire panel a few times and added a loopy bow. I then adhered the panel to my card base, and added my sentiment, which is popped up with some foam squares. 
My final card was a lot of fun to make, but it was the most involved.  For this card, I focused on Lesson 6 -Foils. I love this because I learned how to use foils without any other supplies than what I have on hand - no additional equipment required.  I started with two narrow panels of white, but the same size.  From one, I cut a square window using Stampin’ Up’s Layering Square dies.  Using that as a template on the second panel, I marked the edges of my square faintly with a pencil.  I then used my Zig Two-Way Glue pen to add polka dots to the area.  I let the glue dry until it was tacky, placed a sheet of foil (not kitchen foil) over it and ran it through my die-cutting machine to add pressure.  I then peeled the foil sheet away and was amazed by how beautifully the foil had transferred to the card stock.  I also love how the polka dots are not uniform.
I cut my sentiment using the Altenew Waterbrush Hello die.  I taped the die-cut sentiment in to the negative space and using my ink blending tool, I created an ombré effect with Dew Drops, Aqualicious, and Galactic Stream.  I then inked up the lower portion of the sentiment with my Versamark pen and heat embossed it using Wow Vintage Peacock embossing powder. 
I added a square frame cut from a deep teal card stock and attached it behind my window.  Using foam tape (I am really not a fan of the stuff that I have here as it is terribly sticky), I attached it to my foiled panel.  I adhered a panel of brushed silver metallic card stock to a panel of the same teal (unfortunately, the photo does not do the color justice.  No matter what I did, the color would not come out true), and attached them to my card base.  I then attached my white window panel.  I added some foam strips to my sentiment and attached it.  Lastly, I added some clear sequins. 
Key Learnings:
  • Loose glitter isn’t the only way to add sparkle!  
  • You don’t need special equipment to foil your project.
  • A little bit of sparkle goes a long way to dress up your card.
Products Used
  • Recollections 110# White Card Stock
  • Recollections Shimmer Metallic Card Stock:  Brushed Silver, Rose Gold
  • Smpin’ Up Designer Series Paper:  Butterfly Bijou, Oh So Ombré, Berry Delightful
  • Stampin’ Up Brilliant Wings Dies
  • Altenew Halftone Smile Stamps and Dies
  • Altenew Bold Thanks Dies
  • Altenew Waterbrush Hello Die
  • Stampin’ Up Layering Squares Dies
  • Altenew Crisp Dye Ink:  Petal Pink, Coral Bliss, Crimson, Dew Drops, Aqualicious, Galactic Stream
  • Versamark Pad
  • Versamark Pen
  • Wow Embossing Powder:  Opaque Bright White, Vintage Peacock
  • Wink of Stella PenAltenew Metallic Thread
  • Simon Says Samp Clear Sequins
  • Zig Two-Way Glue
  • Deco Foil Transfer Sheet :  Silver
I hope that you have found something that inspires you!  Thank your for popping by.  Happy stamping!

3 comments:

  1. Wow, great cards and techniques! I look forward to working on this class. Looks like fun!

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  2. Thank you! It was definitely a great class! I can't wait to see your creations.

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  3. I am glad you enjoyed the class even though it was out of your comfort zone. You created some lovely cards!
    Thank you for sharing your wonderful work with us and submitting it to the AECP assignment gallery.

    ReplyDelete