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!