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! 

Fairy Tale Florals Virtual Workshop with Erum

 Good morning, friends!  I hope you are well!  I am enjoying a respite from the blistering heat wave that we just experienced here in the Northwest!  We broke several temperature records for our state!  I am so grateful that all of our animals survived.  Many in the area did not.  

Yesterday, I had the absolute pleasure of spending my lunch hour as a participant in the Altenew Fairy Tale Florals Virtual Workshop taught by the amazing Erum Tasneem.  It was one of the most enjoyable lunch hours ever!  The lovely Lydia Evans hung out behind the badge and kept us all in line.   Now had I known when I registered that we would be watercoloring, I might have been scared away, so I am thankful I was blissfully unaware or I would have missed out! 

We began by embossing our floral image on an A2 panel of Watercolor Paper.   Using Watercolor Brush Markers, we scribbled directly on to the petals randomly.  Once we had our color down, we used a wet brush to move the color throughout the petals.  The raised edge of the embossing kept the paint inside the lines.  (This is such a game changer for me, as I struggle with how much water to use and often make a huge mess and ruin my panel).  I have to admit that I was terrified to apply the paint directly to the image, but I went with it, and it worked!   We used the same process to apply color to the leaves. 

Then, things got really frightening.  We created our background.  She gave us the option of die-cutting our floral image out and creating a separate background panel or to make it all one layer.  I decided to pull my boot straps up and attempt the one layer panel.  I added water using my brush around the image and then picked up the black paint from my pallette and touching the brush lightly to the wet areas, let the water and paint work their magic.  Again, the raised edges of the image kept the black paint from bleeding into the floral.  I also dripped water onto the lower part of the panel so that the paint would run down towards the bottom.  I continued adding color until I was happy with my background.  At first, I was pretty distressed by how dark my background was, as everyone else had beautiful light gray backgrounds, but when I looked at the panel as a whole, I loved how the dark allowed the bold flowers to really stand out.   I finished the panel off by adding some gold splatters using the Altenew Metallic Watercolor Set.

To complete my card, I adhered my panel to a black card base.  I embossed my sentiment on to a strip of black card stock, trimmed the right edge, and adhered it to the card.  I decided not to add any other embellishments.

I am so very glad that I participated, as this card was a huge win for me!  More often than not, I end up throwing my watercolor projects in the recycle bin.  This technique was truly quick, relatively easy, and produces stunning results! 

Thank you, Erum, for such a fabulous workshop!  I learned so much and am excited to try this again! 

Products Used:

• Recollections 110# Card Stock:  Black
• Oat Art Studio Hot Press Watercolor Paper 300gsm/140#
• Altenew Fairy Tale Florals Stamp Set
• Altenew Wild Ferns Stamp Set (Sentiment)
• Altenew Watercolor Brush Markers:  Ruby Red, Midnight Violet, Emerald, Limeade, Jet Black
• Altenew Embossing Powder:  Antique Rose Gold
• Versamark Watermark Ink Pad
• Altenew Metallic Watercolor Pan

As always, thank you for dropping by!  Please make sure to leave a comment letting me know what you think!  

Featured Creator - Make the Cards Challenge - Tropical Color Challenge

 Good afternoon, crafty friends!  I am so excited to share my card as the Featured Creator for the Make the Cards Challenge.  

This week, we have a Tropical Color Challenge, which seems especially appropriate for me, as we are under an extreme heat advisory here in the Pacific Northwest.  It feels like a steamy jungle at the moment. 

For my card, I chose to work with the colors Moss, Lagoon, and Autumn Blaze from Altenew, and of course, white. 

I began by embossing my images from the Altenew Sweet Ginko Stamp Set on a sheet of watercolor paper using white embossing powder.  I then VERY loosely watercolored them using the Altenew Watercolor Brush Markers in the colors mentioned above.  When I say that I loosely watercolored them, I mean I was not careful, and I watercolored outside the edges of the image intentionally.  I wanted the color to show when I die-cut them, especially as the embossing really fills in most of the image.   Once they were dry, I die-cut them using the coordinating dies and set them aside. 

I die-cut the Altenew Circled Greetings Hello three times, trimmed the sentiment from the circle and glued all three together.  I also die-cut a square frame using the Stampin' Up Layering Squares Dies. 

Once I had all of my card elements ready, I began arranging them.  This part took me the longest, as I always seem to struggle with the placement.  Once I was happy with how they were arranged, I picked them up in place using a piece of Press 'n Seal and started gluing the loose bits in place.  Then, I added glue to the back of the entire arrangement and adhered it to my card base.  I glued my sentiment in place, and finished up with some clear sequins.  

I really enjoyed being the Featured Creator for this challenge!  It was tough to limit myself to just three colors; however, I loved watching it come together!  Thanks so much for the opportunity! 

Products Used:

• Recollections 110# Card Stock:  White
• Oat Art Studio Hot Press Watercolor Paper - 300gsm/140#
• Altenew Sweet Ginko Stamps and Dies
• Altenew Circled Greetings Hello Die
• Wow!  Embossing Powder:  Opaque Bright White
• Altenew Watercolor Brush Markers:  Moss, Lagoon, Autumn Blaze
• Altenew Watercolor Brush: Size 4
• Simon Says Stamp Clear Sequins 

Thanks so much for visiting!  Please be sure to leave a comment letting me know what you think, and please make sure to hop over to Make the Cards Challenge and play along with us!  

 Happy Stamping, friends!  ❤

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! 

Creative Watercolor Media - AECP Level 2

 Happy Monday, crafty friends!  I don't know about you, but I am not ready for it to be Monday!  

Today, I am bringing you not one, but two cards for my most recent AECP course - Creative Watercolor Media.  I am not kidding when I say that I was dreadimg this class, and I dragged my heels all the way through it.  Watercoloring is a HUGE struggle for me, but I pulled my bootstraps up, and powered through.  I am SO glad I did!  I learned a lot, and FINALLY feel like I had a few wins with my watercoloring.  

For my project submission, I made a mini slimline card using several of the lessons in the course.  I began by prepping a piece of watercolor paper with my powder tool so that I could emboss my image and not have a mess of embossing powder all over.  Using an embossed image really helped me stay in the lines with the watercolors.  

I smooshed several green ink pads onto my pallette and picked the lightest ink up with a water brush that was mostly dry.   I painted a simple wash over each of the leaves to give them a base.  I then came behind with the midtone and added some depth, and then blended it out with just a bit of water.  Lastly, I added some shadows using the darkest shade of green, again blending with a bit of water.  I love how the leaves nearly glow!  I found that starting at one point on the page and rotating through the leaves allowed the previous layer a bit of time to dry, which prevented me from making a muddy, wet mess, which is what usually happens.  

Next, I moved on to the flowers and followed the exact same process, just changing up the color family I used. 

Once I was happy with my image, I set it aside to dry and moved on to my card panel.  My card base is 3 1/2" x 6", so I cut a panel at 3 3/8" x 5 5/8".  Using the darkest teal ink, I applied ink directly to the edges of the panel and set it aside to dry.  I die-cut my image using the coordinating die and adhered it to the panel using foam tape.  I heat embossed my sentiment on a strip of vellum and adhered it to the center of my card.  I finished up by adhering the panel to my card base,, trimming off any overhang with my scissors, and placing down gold sequins.  

I am so happy with how this card turned out!  I am thankful that I powered through the class and didn't give up!

My second card is actually the first card I made for this class. It didn't turn out quite as I expected, but it is growing on me. 

For this card, I stamped several images on watercolor paper and painted them with liquid watercolors, again starting with a basic wash, and then adding several layers to add shading.  My first attempt was a miserable failure as I broke the rules and used the wrong ink.  Lesson learned.  I just wasn't thinking and picked up my Memento pad out of habit.  Once my images were dry, I die-cut them using the coordinating dies.  

Next, I trimmed a piece of patterned paper to 5 1/2 x 4 1/4 and die cut a square.  I realized that I needed something to ground my critters, so I watercolored a strip in greens and die-cut the blades of grass.  I adhered the grass pieces to the back of the patterned paper and adhered the panel to my card base.   

I then arranged my images and glued them down.  I heat embossed my sentiment and attached with some foam tape and finished up with some black rhinestones.

Even though I really struggled with this class, I am so thankful that I persevered.  

Products Used:

Both cards: 

• Recollections 110# Card Stock: White, Black
• Arches 300gsm/140# Cold Press Watercolor Paper
• Versamark Watermark Ink Pad

Card 1:

• Altenew Bouquet of Love Stamps and Dies
• Altenew Crisp Dye Ink:  Wisteria, Hydrangea, Ultramarine, Warm Sunshine, Autumn Blaze, Dew Drops, Aqualicious, Teal Caves, Limeade, Lime,  Fresh Leaf, Baby Pink, Fuschia, Magenta
• Vellum
• Stampin' Up Gold Embossing Powder
• Simon Says Stamp Gold Sequins

Card 2:

• Altenew Hug Me Stamps and Dies
• Stampin' Up Layering Squares Dies
• Honey Bee Stamps Horizon Slimline Dies
• Altenew Pastel Dreams Paper Pack
• Altenew Pigment Ink:  Obsidian
• PinkFresh Liquid Watercolors:  Pink, Orange, Yellow, Light Green, Emerald, Blue, Purple
• Wow! Embossing Powder:  Opaque Bright White
• Honey Bee Stamps Black Rhinestones

Thanks so much for stopping by!  Happy stamping!  

Hello Card - Scribble and Spritz Watercoloring

 Hello again, friends!  I guess today is a two-fer!  I saw a post by the incredible Erum (@glitternswirls) on the Altenew blog and I had to try it out!  (Blog post here).  If you know anything about me, you know watercoloring is my nemesis!  I just cannot seem to get the hang of it, no matter what I do.  You may also know that I am in awe of Erum's amazing talent, so I wanted to give this a try. 

This card uses the Scribble and Spritz Technique, and it looked like something I might be able to achieve some success with.  I started by heat embossing my very favorite stamps onto watercolor paper using clear embossing powder.  These floral images were perfect for some simple watercoloring, as they really don't need any detail added to them.   I then cut them apart so that when I added water, it didn't spread to the other flowers.  

Using the glorious Altenew Woodless Watercolor Pencils, I scribbled my color in very lightly and when I was done, spritzed the image with water.  To note, I was not careful in the least... I set the image aside to dry and moved on to the next.  Once they were done, if I wasn't happy with how the color moved, I added color directly from the pencil to a wet brush and applied it to the paper.  Once they were all dry, I die-cut them with the coordinating dies and set them aside to work on my card panel. 

To create my background, I lightly scribbled on a watercolor panel with my pencils.  I then spritzed it with water.  I think I added too much water, as there was very little color left on the panel.  Oops!  I added more with my paint brush and then used my heat tool to dry it.  I added some black liquid watercolor splatters to the panel. 

I arranged my flowers on the panel, and using Press 'N Seal to keep the arrangement in place, adhered them down to my card panel.  I embossed a sentiment from the Altenew Painted Butterflies stamp set onto a black strip and trimmed it down.  I adhered my panel to my card front and then added my sentiment strip with foam tape to give some dimension.  Lastly, I added some clear sequins for a bit of sparkle.  

Products Used:

• Recollections 110# Card Stock:  White, Black
• Altenew BAF: Coneflower Stamps and Dies
• Altenew Painted Butterflies Stamp Set
• Arches 300 gsm/140# Cold Press Wateecolor Card Stock
• Altenew Woodless Watercolor Pencils:  Crimson, Rubelite, Heart Beat, Coral Bliss, Ultramarine, Lavender Fields,  Grass Field, Shadow Creek, Maple Yellow, Orange Cream, Dew Drops, Mountain Mist
• Versamark Watermark Ink Pad
• PinkFresh Liquid Watercolor:  Black
• Wow! Embossing Powder:  Clear, Opaque Bright White
• Simon Says Stamp Clear Sequins
• Foam Tape

I am so excited to have found a watercolor technique that even I can make look pretty!  If you haven't checked out Erum's video, be sure that you do. 

Thank you for stopping by!  Have a fabulous weekend.  Happy Stamping!