AECP Level 2 Complete!

 Good morning, friends!  I am so excited to be able to share with you that I have passed Level 2 of the Altenew Educator Certification Program!  What a journey this has been! 

What does this mean, you ask?  I have now completed 20 courses through the Altenew Academy.  Each course contains 4 - 6 lessons with various techniques around a central focus, such as using stencils, embossing, die-cutting.  They are geared toward taking your card-making up a notch (or a few).  I can't even begin to tell you just how much I have learned, not to mention how I have enjoyed each and every one of the classes. 

Oh, and did I mention that to pass each level, there is a final challenge that must be completed?  Let's not forget those!  I honestly feel that the final challenges were instrumental in forcing me outside of my comfort zone!  

A brief look-back at some of the projects submitted so far (titles will link to the original blog post):

Level 1:

My first course submission - Clean and Simple Boutique Cards

All About Layering 2

 

Seasonal Scene Building

And of course, the Level 1 Final Challenge

Level 2:

With a Twist (One of my ABSOLUTE favorite courses!)

Polychromatic

Masking Unleashed

And lastly, the Level 2 Final Challenge:  Part 1 and Part 2

Now, it is time to move on to Level 3.  I have to complete 5 more courses and then a Final Challenge!  I can't wait to see where the last step of this journey takes me!  

Thank you all for your support, kind words, and encouragement!  Special thanks to Erum Tasneem (@glitternswirls) for guiding me through, and to my amazing friend Kim (@canterburycarddesigns) for allowing me to bounce ideas off of her and continually encouraging me!  

Xoxoxo, 

Kim

 

AECP Level 2 Final Challenge - Part 2

 Hi again!  As I mentioned in my previous post, I am presenting my final challenge for Level Two of the Altenew Educator Certification Program.  Because this project is so intense, I have split the projects into two posts.  My previous post, which can be found here, focuses on the cards, and this post is a photo tutorial of my altered/up-cycled items. 

I really struggled with what I wanted to make for this portion of the challenge. The possibilities were endless.  In the end, I decided to go with my initial idea, which was to dust off an old technique that I haven't used in years and alter some plain candles, turning them into something both beautiful and functional. 

I purchased a trio of plain white unscented candles at Walmart.  I liked these sizes, as I would be able to use a larger stamped image on them.  I gathered up all of my materials and dove in. 

Note:  The steps are exactly the same for each candle.  You can prepare your images for all of the candles at one time, or finish one candle and go back and do the next. 

Step One: 

Cut a piece of white tissue paper (the kind you use when wrapping gifts) a bit larger than your image and stamped your image in whatever color of ink you prefer. 

Step Two:

Color in your image using your choice of medium.  I pulled out my extremely old Stampin' Up chalk pastels and applied with a Q-Tip.  I knew that I could add multiple layers of color to get the depth that I wanted with little risk of tearing the tissue.  You could also use the layering stamps, colored pencils, or even markers.  

Step Three: 

Trim around your image with sharp, pointy scissors, leaving a bit of a white border.  If you know me even a little bit, you know that I will avoid fussy cutting like the plague.  I am terrible at it.  I didn't mind this at all, because nothing about it needs to be perfect.  When you are finished, the white edge will not show at all.  

Step Four: 

Figure out how you want to place your image on your candle.  There is no right or wrong here.  Determine what looks best and go with it! 

Step Five: 

Cut a piece of wax paper (you know, the kind you have sitting in your kitchen cupboards) that is large enough to cover the entire stamped image.  It is perfectly OK if it is larger than the candle, as none of that will matter.  What WILL matter is that your image and the white edge is completely covered. 

Step Six: 

Using your heat tool on the lowest setting, apply heat to the wax paper keeping the heat moving so that you don't burn it.  You will see it start to melt, and as it does, the white edge around your image will fade away.  Make sure that you melt all of the wax over the image, as this is sealing the tissue paper into the candle.   Don't worry about the areas of the wax paper that don't have the tissue paper under them, or edges that hang over the top or bottom of the candle.  They don't need to be heated up.  When you are satisfied that the wax is melted, gently peel the wax paper away from the candle.  

Voila!  You have a stunning altered candle that will be an amazing gift or look great in your own home. 

Here is a peek at each of the individual candles.

And again, the trio. 

Products Used:

• Altenew Fairy Tale Florals Stamp Set
• White Candles - three varying sizes (purchased at Walmart)
• Stampim' Up Stampin' Pastels (retired, but any chalk pastels will do) or coloring medium of your choice
• White Tissue Paper
• Wax Paper
• Heat Tool
• Scissors

Thank you again, for hanging in there through these posts and for allowing me to present my challenge projects to you!  I hope you have learned something and are inspired to try this incredibly easy technique that produces a stunning gift!   Happy crafting! 

AECP Level 2 Final Challenge - Part 1

 Hello friends!  I am so excited to FINALLY be posting my final challenge for Level 2 of the Altenew Educator Certification Program.  What does this mean?  I have now completed twenty courses for the Altenew Academy.  Level one consisted of ten courses and a final challenge, and level two included another ten courses and this final challenge.  

The requirements for the Level Two Challenge are as follows: 

• Select any 3 components from the Level 1 or 2 courses
• Explain the 3 components that you have chosen
• Share design tips (if any)
• Create 4 masculine cards with the following themes - Birthday, Love/Thinking of You, Anniversary, Encouragement
• Create an altered or up-cycled item
• Blog Post - Provide detailed step-by-step photo or YouTube tutorial, must have a minimum of 10 photos

Because this challenge was so involved, I am breaking this up into two posts (both long so please bear with me): one for the cards, and one for my altered/up-cycled item. 

I chose to focus on the following three courses:  Let it Shine, Celebration Stencil Techniques, and With a Twist.  I had a very difficult time choosing, because I enjoyed each and every course and have learned so many wonderful skills and techniques. 

For the components of Let it Shine, I incorporated heat embossing to add gloss or shine, and the use of metallic items (thread, washi tape, embossing) to take my cards to the next level. 

For the components of Celebration Stencil Techniques, I incorporated different embossing/ texture pastes to add dimension to my cards. 

For the components from With a Twist, I incorporated faux embossing using die-cuts and tone on tone stamping.  

Card One: 

 For my first card, I started with a panel of white card stock and I adhered my stencil down using some spray adhesive.  I mixed three shades of green ink to some Ranger Opaque Crackle Texture Paste and using a spatula, I spread a thin layer of the colored pastes over my stencil starting with the lightest color and moving to the darkest to produce a gradient effect.  Once I was satisfied with the layer of paste, I carefully peeled back the stencil and set the panel aside to dry.  This paste is a lot of fun because as it dries, it cracks and gives a unique texture to the background.  

I stamped the feathers in various shades of the Coffee Break family and I embossed the two smaller feathers using clear embossing powder to add another layer of dimension.  

To complete my card, I adhered my stenciled panel to a brown card base.  I embossed my sentiment on the same brown card stock and die-cut the sentiment strip into a flag.  Prior to adhering my elements, I looped some metallic gold thread around my fingers and placed it on the card stock with a glue dot.  I then attached my feather images and popped my sentiment strip up with foam tape. 

Tips:  

• If you have time, allow the embossing paste to dry naturally.  Do not use a heat tool.  This way the panel will not warp as much. 
• Using a heavier weight card stock with the embossing paste results in less warping. 
• Use a super-strong adhesive to adhere the stenciled panel to your card base or the edges may lift. 
• When embossing over an inked image, leave the stamp in your platform and line your card stock back up.  This will prevent having to line up your stamp again.
• Don't be afraid to mix and match your stamp sets!  It will open up a whole new world of possibilities. 

 Products Used:

• Recollections 110# Card Stock:  Brown
• Neenah Crest 80# Card Stock:  Solar White
• Altenew Feathery Stencil
• Ranger Texture Paste:  Opaque Crackle
• Altenew Crisp Dye Ink Re-Inkers:  Frayed Leaf, Forest Glade, Evergreen
• Wow! Embossing Powder: Ultra Fine Detail Clear
• Versamark Watermark Ink Pad
• Altenew Golden Feather Stamps and Dies
• Altenew Happy Dreams Stamps and Dies
• Altenew Crisp Dye Ink:  Sand Dunes, Rocky Shores, Mocha, Espresso
• Altenew Metallic Thread:  Enchanted Gold
• Altenew Sentiment Strips 2 Stamp Set
• Stampin' Up Embossing Powder:  Gold
• The Greetery Slimline Dies
• Foam Tape

Card Two:

For my second card, I focused on the faux embossing using die-cuts technique.  I love this technique, as it gives your card the dimension and texture of having been embossed, but it is achieved by adhering die-cut images to your panel. 

I began by stamping a variety of the leaf images on white card stock and die-cutting them.  Are these leaves not the most beautiful, ever?!  I was truly blown away by how incredible these stamps are.  

I began arranging my die-cuts on a panel of white card stock, making sure to vary the direction and have them hanging over the edges so that they appeared random.   Once I was happy with the placement, I began adhering them down to the card stock.  I then trimmed off the over-hanging edges with my scissors and used the small pieces to fill in any large white spaces.  

I adhered my panel to a black card base.  I embossed my sentiment on a strip of black card stock in white and trimmed the edge at an angle.  I tied a loopy bow from black metallic thread and attached it to the card front with a glue dot.  Lastly, I popped up my sentiment strip with foam tape. 

Products Used:

• Recollections 110# Card Stock:  Black, White
• Altenew Wild Ferns Stamps and Dies
• Altenew Crisp Dye Ink:  Limeade, Lime, Fresh Leaf
• Versamark Watermark Ink Pad
• Wow!  Embossing Powder:  Opaque Bright White
• Metallic Thread:  Black (purchased on Amazon)
• Foam Tape

Card Three:

For my third card, I adhered the Alphabet Stencil to a panel of Neenah Solar White with spray adhesive and taped it down to my work surface with painter's tape to prevent it from moving around.  I blended Distress Oxide Inks from lightest to darkest. Allowing the colors to blend.  I set my panel aside to dry.  

I stamped three balloons using the same distress oxide inks.  Once they were dry, I stamped them again with embossing ink and heat embossed them using ultra thick clear embossing powder and then used the coordinating die to cut them out. 

As I was getting ready to put the elements of my card together, I decided that it needed something more.  I pulled out my Bubble Wrap stencil and spread a thin layer of transparent gloss texture paste.  I gently removed the stencil and set the panel aside to dry.   

While waiting for it to dry, I embossed my sentiment on a strip of black card stock in white. I adhered black metallic thread to the back of each balloon.  I adhered my embossed panel to a black card base and adhered the balloons to the front of the card, and finally popped my sentiment strip up with foam tape. 

Tips:

• When using Distress Oxide Inks (or any inks really, but I found it especially true with the Oxides), be sure that your panel is completely dry before using a paste over it, otherwise the paste will pick up the tint of the ink.  
• I need to keep some Fray-Check on hand.  The Metallic Threads tend to unravel a good bit.  To combat this, I used a fairly liberal amount of clear liquid glue on the ends and twisted them.  I also used that glue to adhere the ends to the card front.  Find creative ways to use the supplies you  have on hand! 

Products Used:

• Recollections 110# Card Stock:  Black
• Neenah Crest 80# Card Stock:  Solar White
• Altenew Stencils:  The Alphabet, Bubble Wrap
• Altenew Mini Delight:  Birthday Love Stamps and Dies
• Distress Oxide Ink:  Squeezed Lemonade, Twisted Citron, Salty Ocean, Mermaid Lagoon
• Ranger Texture Paste:  Transparent Gloss
• Ranger Embossing Powder:  Ultra Thick Clear
• Versamark Watermark Ink Pad
• Wow!  Embossing Powder:  Opaque Bright White
• Metallic Thread:  Black (Amazon)
• Foam Tape

Card Four:

I have to say that this card was the most frustrating for me to make, but it is my absolute favorite.  For this card, I focused on tone-on-tone stamping, with metallic elements, which created a really striking card. 

I began with a panel of gray card stock and stamped the largest leaf image.  I am so thankful that I used my stamping platform, as I really struggled to get a clean stamped image, even after conditioning my stamps.  I stamped the same image multiple times using ink the same shade as my card stock, until I was happy with it.  I moved my leaf stamp and repeated this process, followed by filling in the spaces with the smaller image.  

Once I was happy with the coverage of my panel, I heat embossed the outline image in gold.  I was not careful with my placement, as I was hoping for an abstract look.  I trimmed my panel down and set it aside. 

I added a strip of narrow gold washi tape to a panel of hunter green card stock and attached it to a white card base.  I then adhered my embossed panel to the right side of the green panel. 

I embossed my sentiment on a strip of green in gold and cut a strip of gray card stock.  I trimmed both of them at an angle and glued them together.  Before adhering them to the card front, I looped some gold metallic thread loosely around my fingers and adhered it to the card.  I then attached my sentiment strips.  Did I mention that I really love this card? 

Tip:

• Don't give up.  I almost did, and this card turned out to be amazing.  I just had to shift my perspective a bit. 
• When embossing the outline image over the solid images, don't freak out if your image isn't perfect.  Pull out an embossing pen (I use a Versamark pen) to fill in the areas where the lines may not be complete, add some embossing powder, and heat it up.  No one will be able to tell.  

Products Used:

• Recollections 110# Card Stock:  White
• Stampin' Up Card Stock:  Gray Granite, Shades Spruce 
• Altenew Leaf Canopy Stamp Set
• Altenew Sentiment Strips Stsmp Set
• Stampin' Up Ink:  Gray Granite
• Versamark Watermark Ink Pad
• Stampin' Up Embossing Powder:  Gold
• Altenew Washi Tape:  Golden Edge
• Altenew Metallic Thread:  Enchanted Gold
• Versamark Pen

Thanks so much for hanging with me for this exceptionally long blog post!  I hope that something inspired you to try something new, or to dust off an old technique that you had forgotten about!  Happy stamping!  

Watercolor workshop with Colleen Balija

 Hi friends!  I hope you are enjoying your weekend!  Yesterday, I had the opportunity to participate in another virtual workshop with Altenew Educator, Colleen Balija (@irishrosecreations).  This time, we focused on watercoloring, and I had an amazing time, as always. 

Colleen provided us with some pre-work, prepping our card panel, and selecting a color palette.  I found an open source photo of a tropical sunrise or sunset, not sure which, and took my inspiration from it.  My color combination turned out much more bold than I had originally envisioned, but it is so striking! 

During the workshop, we started with some basic techniques- focusing on wet on dry application, and wet on wet application.  Once we were comfortable with that, we moved on to painting our card panels.  

I chose to work with the Fairy Tale Florals stamp set again, because the flowers are quite large, which is great for watercoloring.  I had embossed my image prior to the class, as the raised edges make it much easier to stay inside the lines. 

To start, I laid down a wash of water,, followed by Mountain Mist on all the petals, one at a time.  Once the petals were dry, I went back with Lagoon to add detail to the petals, followed by blending with water.   This is when I discovered that I didn't choose a stamp set that provide some artist drawn lines for shading.  And, since I am hopeless with drawing (or painting) those details in, I decided that I would just work with the loose watercoloring.  When the petals were dry once again, I followed up with some Persian Blue, using the same process.  I love how the colors blended together!   For the leaves, I used the same techniques - starting with wet on wet to add a wash of Limeaid, and then wet on dry to add Emerald. 

I had originally envisioned a soft, muted background, but as you can see that is not what I ended up with.  I used Autumn Blaze to add a wash to the background, and then came back and added more color around the image to provide some shadowing.   Once the background was completely dry, I added some splatters of Jet Black. 

I adhered my panel to a black card base.  I took a small piece of black card stock, backed with an adhesive sheet, and die-cut my sentiment,  and then placed it on my card front.  I finished up by adding some Obsidian Rhinestones.  

I am so glad that I was able to participate in this fantastic workshop!  Thank you, Colleen!  

Products Used:

• Recollections 110 Card Stock:  Black
• Arches Cold Press Watercolor Paper 300gsm/140#
• Altenew Fairy Tale Florals Stamp Set
• Altenew Signature Words Dies
• Altenew Watercolor Brush Markers:  Mountain Mist, Lagoon, Persian Blue, Limeaid, Emerald, Autumn Blaze, Jet Black
• Honey Bee Stamps Obsidian Rhinestones

As always, thanks so much for stopping by!  Happy crafting! 

Masking Unleashed - AECP Level 2

 Hello world!  I hope your weekend is off to a great start.  Today, I am sharing the project that I made for my final Level 2 course in the Altenew Educator Certification Program - Masking Unleashed. 

I'm not going to lie... this class was challenging for me.  I am not a fan of masking, as it is so much work.  That being said, this course was FULL of techniques for masking, some that I was completely unfamiliar with.  I may have been living under a rock, but I didn't know that masking fluid was a thing.  Needless to say, I had to order some to try it out! 

For my project, I used traditional masking - with a stamped image on copy paper that I fussy cut.  (This is the part of masking that I dislike, as I am terrible at fussy cutting.)  The good news is that for masking, you don't have to be great at it.  

To begin, I stamped the images I planned to use on plain white copy paper and cut them out, INSIDE the stamped lines, but just barely.  This will ensure that when you stamp another image over the masked image, you will not be left with a line because the mask is slightly raised. I then stamped the outline of the image that I wanted in the foreground, followed by the subsequent layers.  I adhered my mask using removable adhesive and stamped the leaves and then moved on to my second image.  I repeated this process one last time to add my third flower and leaves.  

Once I was happy with my flowers, I masked them off and blended my background using Distress Oxide Ink.  I was not overly careful with my ink blending, as I wanted to create the appearance of some texture and it softened the intensity of the flowers.  Once I was happy with the background, I added some water splatters.  I love how the Distress Oxide Ink reacts to water.  It is pretty magical to watch!  I then added some purple metallic splatters.  

To create a layer behind my card panel, I ink blended the edges of a 5 1/4" x 4" piece of card stock with the same purple I used in the irises.  I trimmed down the card panel to 5 1/8" x 3 7/8" and adhered it to the purple panel.  I then attached the panel to my card base. 

To complete my card, I embossed my sentiment on a black strip of card stock and adhered it, followed by some Dew Drop embellishments. 

I don't know about you, but I love everything about this card!  I had to force myself to stop stamping the irises.  This may be my new favorite stamp set.  This was definitely a labor of love, but well worth it.  

Products Used:

• Recollections 110# Card Stock:  White, Black
• Neenah Crest 80# Card Stock:  Solar White 
• Altenew Build A Flower:  Bearded Iris Stamp Set 
• Altenew Sentiment Strips Stamp Set 
• Altenew Crisp Dye Ink:  Iceberg, Eastern Sky, Hydrangea, Ultraviolet. Frayed Leaf, Forest Glade, Evergreen
• Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Ink:  Antique Linen
• Versamark Watermark Ink Pad
• Altenew Metallic Watercolor Pan Set:  Amethyst
• Altenew Embossing Powder:  Antique Rose Gold 
• Mini Ink Blending Tool
• Copy Paper
• Tombow Removable Adhesive 

As always, thanks for dropping in!  Please be sure to leave me a comment to let me know what you think!  Happy stamping!