Polychromatic - AECP Level 2

 Good morning!  I don't know about you, but I am so happy that we are nearly to Friday!  I am trying to catch up on my blogging from my incredibly productive weekend. 

Today, I am sharing with you two cards that I created for my next AECP course - Polychromatic.  I seriously loved everything about this class!  It was all about color and I learned SO much! 

In the first lesson, we created a colorful background, using the warm tones in one corner of the card, cool tones opposite, and the drawing them together using the colors that fall in the middle of the road.  For my card, I used the reds, oranges and yellows on the left, and blues and purples on the right.  I actually had an OOPS! moment, when I picked up the wrong ink pad and stamped the first layer of my flower in an orange tone again, but I picked up the correct ink and stamped it a second time, and decided I was OK with having two flowers of nearly the same color together.  I used the green leaves to fill in the white space and pull the warm and cool shades together. 

Once I was happy with my background, I die-cut the large sentiment from the panel, being very careful to not lose the inside bits, as I would need them again.  I die-cut the sentiment three more times out of white card stock and adhered all 4 of them together, with the stamped layer on top.  I then attached my card panel to the card base.  Once I had this done, I began to construct the front of my card.  I struggled a bit with getting the inner pieces of the letters in place, as when I built up my sentiment, the layers were not lined up precisely so the inner bits did not go in easily.  To remedy this, I turned my sentiment over, placed the bits in, added glue (only to the center pieces) and laid my sentiment die-cut in place, using my tweezers to press the center pieces down to the card base.  Once I had them all in place, I added glue to my sentiment and adhered it. 

I heat embossed a sentiment strip and attached it with foam tape and added some clear sequins to give the card a bit of sparkle and shine. 

I was so excited to see this technique in this class, as I had bought these dies just for this purpose and had not had a chance to try it yet!  I know this is a technique that I will use again and again, as it is relatively simple, but produces a stunning result! 

For my second card, I used the third lesson - Faux Handwatercoloring Technique.  Again, something I have seen, but not tried, and what fun it was!  

I started with a sheet of watercolor paper and a layering floral stamp set.  I pulled out my watercolor markers and using the solid layer of the flowers, I colored it with the lightest marker.  I then spritzed it with water a few times to get it nice and wet, and stamped it on the watercolor paper.  I then used the same process with the leaves, allowing my first flower layer to dry just a bit.  Using the detailed layer of my flowers, I inked them up with the darker marker, spritzed with water and stamped it over the light layer and repeated the process for my leaves.  Once they were dry, I die-cut them with the coordinating dies and set them aside.  

To create my panel, I wanted a soft background with just a hint of color, so I pulled out my new Altenew Blending Tool, and I have to tell you that this was a game changer for me!  It covers a lot more space quickly, and gives a beautiful, soft blend.  I used the lightest blue from the Tranquility color family to lay down my color and then added a touch of the next darkest shade.  I added some black ink splatters using my liquid watercolors and set it aside to dry.  Once it was completely dry, I heat embossed my sentiment on to the panel.  I had another OOPS! moment when I smudged the embossing powder when trying to clean up stray bits of powder.  I took my heat tool to it anyhow and let it work its magic, and then I used my Versamark Pen to draw in the missing area, added more powder and heated it up.  I adhered my panel to the card base and went to work gluing my flowers in place.  I decided not to trim the leaves that were hanging over the edge, and will just use a larger envelope to send it.  To complete my card, I added some gold sequins to tie in the gold sentiment.  

This process was a bit of a challenge for me, as I am a color inside of the lines kind of girl, and there are no lines. I do love the soft, flowing look of hand watercolored images, though and I am so happy with how this turned out!  

Products Used:

Both cards:

• Recollections 110 # Card Stock:  White, Black (first card)
• Versamark Watermark Ink Pad

Card 1:

• Altenew Watercolor Wonders Stamp Set
• Altenew Enchanted Rose Stamp Set
• Altenew Mega Hello Die
• Altenew Crisp Dye Ink:  Sunray, Chamomile, Snapdragon, Marigold, Limeade, Lime, Fresh Leaf, Wisteria, Hydrangea, Ultraviolet, Iceberg, Eastern Sky, Ultramarine, Frosty Pink, Coral Berry, Ruby Red
• Wow! Embossing Powder:  Opaque Bright White
• Simon Says Stamp Clear Sequins

Card 2:

• Arches 300gsm/140# Watercolor Paper
• Altenew Peony Bouquet Stamps and Dies
• Altenew Fancy Greetings Stamp Set
• Altenew Watercolor Brush Markers:  Citrus Burst, Watm Sunshine, Autumn Blaze, Limeade, Moss
• Altenew Crisp Dye Ink:  Misty Morning, Cloudy Sky
• Stampin' Up Embossing Powder:  Gold
• Altenew Ink Blending Tool
• PinkFresh Liquid Watercolor:  Black
• Simon Says Stamp Gold Sequins

A s always, thanks for popping in!  I hope you found something to inspire you and get some crafty time in today!  Happy stamping! 

Color and Texture Workshop with Colleen Balija

Happy Saturday, crafty friends!  It is gray and rainy here today, so I did something that I have never done.  I participated in a virtual workshop with Colleen Balija, Altenew Certified Educator.  It was a wonderful way to spend the morning and connect with other ladies who share a passion for crafting.  The topic of the workshop was Color and Texture and oh boy, was it fun! 

Colleen had sent us some pre-work that included creating or finding a pre-made color/mood board.  I had to Google the term, as I had no idea what that was.  

I started looking at stock photos until I found one that caught my eye, and then using Coolor, I created my board.  

This color palette is so far out of my comfort zone, but I had to use it as the colors called to me.  Once I had my color board, I went about identifying the colors that I would use.  I  found that I didn't have the orange inks that I wanted to use, but I did have alcohol markers, so I worked around that.  

She also had us stamp, color and die-cut our focal images ahead of time, along with preparing our card bases and panels.  This allowed us to move through the projects relatively quickly.  

I had prepared enough focal images for three cards.  I only completed two during the workshop, but because I had all of the supplies out, I whipped out the third card shortly after.  

For the first card, we smooshed our inks onto our crafting mat and added water.  We then laid our panel directly down onto the ink and allowed it to absorb the color.  When the panel was dry, we dry embossed it to add texture and then added some paint splatters.  Because I didn't have any abstract embossing folders, I used the Garden Trellis die to emboss it.   I wasn't totally in love with my panel as I felt the ink was too concentrated in places and the texture is not nearly as pronounced as with an embossing folder. However, when I added my floral images and sentiment, it all came together.   I finished it up by adding some enamel dots that I made using Nuvo Drops.

For the second card, we used Saran Wrap to apply ink to our card panel.  I can't believe that I have never tried this technique.  It might be my new favorite.  For this, I used liquid watercolors in yellow and orange.  I just added a drop of each to my craft mat, added water and picked it up with the saran wrap.  I then dabbed it on to my panel.  When I was happy with the background, I dry embossed it using the Burlap die.  Unfortunately, it really doesn't show well in the photos.  I sprayed some Antique Gold Metallic Spray and splattered some black liquid watercolors to my panel and then heat set it so that it would dry.  After adding my focal images, which I colored with Altenew Artist Markers, and sentiment, I finished up with some enamel dots. 

For the last card, I used the same technique as the second card; however this time, I used the Enchanting Vines 3D Embossing Folder.  I added my focal images and my sentiment (which I used my alcohol markers to get an ombre effect) and then added some black rhinestones. 

I really enjoyed this workshop!  I learned several new techniques and ways of using supplies that I have on hand.  One of my favorite learnings was pulling together the color board and then identifying what colors to use. 

Products Used:

• Recollections 110# Card Stock:  White
• Arches 300gsm/140# Cold Press Watercolor Paper
• Spectrum Noir Premium Ultra Smooth Card Stock: White
• Altenew Stamps and Dies:  You Are Amazing, Scalloped Ornaments, BAF:  Cornflower
• Altenew Dies:  Garden Trellis, Burlap Texture, Waterbrush Hello
• Simon Says Stamp Hello Die
• Altenew Enchanting Vines 3D Embossing Folder
• Altenew Crisp Dye Ink:  Wisteria, Hydrangea, Deep Irish, Ultramarine
• Memento Ink:  Tuxedo Black
• Altenew Artist Markers:  Y817, Y608, Y514, Y513, Y207, Y316, Y106, C004, R826, R823. C006, R801, G446, G425, G515, G503
• Pink Fresh Liquid Watercolors:  Orange, Yellow, Black
• Altenew Metallic Spray:  Antique Gold
• Stampin' Up Shimmer Paint:  White
• Nuvo Drops

Colleen, thank you so much for putting on this wonderful workshop.  I learned so much and am looking forward to using these techniques again and again!  Happy stamping!