This card is my entry for My Favorite Things Sketch Challenge 665

I turned the sketch on its side - I again used Freshly Picked Bouquet as my stamp set of choice - this is quickly becoming my favorite MFT set.  I ink blended through a stencil in my stash on to the panel with my floral bouquet and to the base panel.

t then die cut the circle - hot foiled the bright pink circle onto the die cut then used Copic markers to color the part of the bouquet that is on the circle.

Finally, I used foam tape to pop the circle up from the base layer of the card but made sure to line up the images.  I stamped the sentiment in black ink and then added black detail embossing powder and heat set it.

I like the focal point provided by coloring in the circle.

My Favorite Things - Color Challenge

 

For this week's My Favorite Things Color Challenge I created a shaker card.  

I stamped my image in black ink and then colored the image in the chosen colors - I used all four colors - raspberry for one of the flowers, Cornflower Blue for the daisy styled flower and teal for the leaves.  I used Altenew inks in various colors to achieve colors as close as I could to the challenge colors.  For the concrete gray color I ink blended around the image.  Afterwards I "smooshed" my ink pads into my craft pad - added a few drops of water and then splattered the card.  I cut a frame from Raspberry designer paper and adhered to the top of the acetate shaker pocket to frame the image.  Mounted the shaker pocket and image on the right edge of Raspberry pink cardstock.  These were fun colors.

Let me know what you think!

 

My 2nd entry into the Color Showdown - same supplies as last card but on white cardstock instead of kraft cardstock.

 

Color Throwdown Challenge - CTD762

 

First time participating in the color showdown Challenge.  Loved these colors on kraft cardstock.

Supplies used:

Altenew Mushroom Garden Layering Stencil and Mushroom Greetings stamp set.  

Loved these colors!

Let It Shine - AECP

 

I am nearing the end of Level 1 of my AECP courses.  Let It Shine taught by Carissa Wiley is the 9th course out of 10 that I have completed thus far.

For the first two cards I chose to use the Mushroom Garden layering stencil and Mushroom Greetings stamp set with matching dies.

This lesson was all about using different methods to add a little glitz and shine to our projects.  For the card above I used the stencils from the Mushroom Garden set to color in my mushrooms and fill up my card panel.  There are 4 stencils in this set.  I used several colors - a lighter color and then back over the same stencil with a dark color to add some shading.  The final layer was the dots and veining of the leaves - this layer I did with Versamark ink which is a very sticky ink and useful for heat embossing.  Once I had everything inked up I poured gold detail embossing powder over the top and ensured everything had sufficient powder before using my heat gun.  I really do like the shine added by just embossing the last detailed area of the stencils.  I used a sentiment from the Mushroom Greetings stamp set - stamped it in Versamark and again used Gold detail embossing powder.  I die cut the image plus 3 more layers to add dimension.  I then placed the sentiment layers on a piece of vellum and fussy cut around it.  I think this provided just a little separation from the main panel.  This is a very fun stencil to use and I am looking forward to using it again.

My 2nd card utilizes the same stamp set, stencils, ink colors 

gold embossing powder.  The difference is I used kraft cardstock as my panel.  This time I only used the leaves and details stencils - stencils 3 & 4 - again I used Versamark and gold embossing powder for the leaf veining and detail dots.  I took the main image from the Mushroom Greetings stamp set and heat emossed it in gold as well.  This time instead of using ink to color my image I used colored pencils and highlighted with a white gel pen.  I embossed the sentiment on kraft cardstock and then added some ink blending onto the sentiment and the main panel.  In order to make the sentiment pop visually from the card I took my Altenew Metallic Watercolor paint in gold and added brush marks across the bottom right of the panel before adding the sentiment.  I also used my paint brush and the gold metallic paint to paint the edges of the card panel.  I really do love how this card turned out and from this side angle you can really see the gold shining through.

As you can see from the last picture of this card a straight on photo doesn't really show the gold very well.  In real life it is really shiny and shimmery.

For my last card I used my Altenew Wanderlust stamp set and both the Altenew 36 color Watercolor Palette and the Metallic Watercolor Palette.  I did a wash over my watercolor paper and just brush greens and blues across the paper until I was satisfied with the color I achieved.  Over the top of that I added a bit of the metallic blue and green paints to add a nice shimmer to the panel. With a flat watercolor brush I took some of the dark green watercolor paint and loosely painted some trees on the bottom half of the panel.  After I painted the watercolored 

trees I added a little bit of a brighter blue, darker blue and purple color to provide grounding for the project.  After I let the panel dry I came back and stamped the trees from the Wanderlust stamp set in Altenew Evergreen ink.  I added a strip of strong adhesive just under the trees and used some glitter that I found in my stash that was a similar shade to the color I achieved with the watercolor paints.  my final steps were to stamp a sentiment in Versamark on vellum, cover with silver detail embossing powder and heat.  I rounded the corners of the sentiment strip and added a little metallic watercolor paint to the back of the vellum.  By adding that little bit of paint it makes it easier to read the sentiment and gives you a great way to add adhesive that won't be seen through the vellum.  The point of this lesson was "a little dab will do ya" - just a little shimmer or shine adds a lot to your project.  Again, in real life this card is very shiny and I love how it turned out.

Let me know your thoughts.

2nd Entry for Inky Paws Challenge

 For my 2nd entry into the challenge I had the idea to use the Spooky Line stencil for the angled portion of the sketch.  I masked the areas off and ink blended each area then stenciled the Tombstones in a graphite gray and the moon and stars in a sunny yellow orange color.  Afterwards I used Overheated Solar Paste on the moon and stars and Royal Flush Solar Paste to stencil the ghosts in.  To the top and bottom I used the Trick or treat sentiment from the Candy Corn Newton stamp set.

I then stamped Candy Corn Newton and colored in this image with COPIC markers - my favorite type of cat is a grey tabby so, of course, I needed to create a grey tabby.  I fussy cut the image and then used a black COPIC marker to outline the image before foam mounting to the card panel.

I was thinking about making this a shaker card too because I had a cute packet of little ghosts, pumpkins and witches hats BUT I loved how vibrant this ink blended background turned out and didn't want to cover it up with acetate.

Let me know what you think.

Inky Paws Sketch Challenge #207

Today, I worked on my idea for a card to participate in the Newton's Nook Inky Paws Challenge.  This week it was a sketch challenge.  Instead of using patterned paper I chose to interpret the sketch as a watercolor design.  I used Altenew's Watercolor 36 pan palette for the colors.  I used some of my favorite autumn colors.  Then I took Newton's Nook leaf stencil and applied solar paste to the watercolor panel.  So shimmery and fun and still lets the watercolors shine through.

I then took a cute image from the Pumpkin Spice Latte set also from Newton's Nook.  Did a little masking to get the 3 pumpkins in the background and then watercolored the image in using similar colors to the background.

I used a rectangle frame die to cut the image and create a shaker card.

I had some fun autumn fillers and added a few sequins as well.

I like how this turned out - so much fun.

Let me know what you think.

 

Irresistible Inking Techniques - AECP

 As I am working my way through the Level 1 Courses in the Altenew Educators Certification Program I am learning new things and challenging my creativity.  I am really enjoying this process as it is causing me to try new techniques.  Quite a fun process to be honest.

Today's class is the 8th course and it is Irresistible Inking Techniques taught by Sara Naumann.  One of the techniques was to heat emboss your image before watercoloring. 

I used my new stamp set Rose Reverie and stamped the main image on white cardstock using Versamark clear ink - this is a sticky ink enabling embossing powder to stick to an image.  I used Altenew Rose Gold embossing powder and heat set it.  I then took an acrylic block and smooshed my ink pads into it leaving a little ink on the block.  Using a waterbrush I added a drop of water to the ink on the acrylic block and then watercolored my image before die cutting.  For the background panel I spritzed with water and sprinkled with Lindy's Magical powders and spritzed with water again.  After a quick dry with my embossing gun I mounted the flowers onto the panel.  I stamped the sentiment from the same set in Versamark and embossed it in Rose Gold as well as the small butterfly.  The sentiment has a matching die so I die cut the image and 3 additional pieces to give it some dimension when adding it to the card.  As my final touch I used a little foam mounting tape on just the edge of the butterfly and set it just to the right of the sentiment and curled it up a little.  This method made for a soft color on the card.

For my second technique I again smooshed ink onto an acyrlic block.  But this time I used brighter inks

and spritzed with water before pressing the ink cover block onto the center of my cardstock panel.  I pressed it down quite firmly to ensure all the ink on the block was being transferred to the cardstock.  I stamped the main image from the Rose Reverie stamp set over the top of this color and added my sentiment to the bottom left corner.  As my final touch I cut a single black frame and set it askew over the image.  I liked how this turned out so I chose not to add anything else to this card except for a little clear glitter using a Wink of Stella marker.  Very simple but fun.  Another great class.  Please let me know what you think.

My Favorite Things - Color Challenge #219

I created this card to participate in the My Favorite Things Color Challenge.  I used MFT Freshly Picked Bouquet stamp set.  To color my image in I used COPIC markers.  After coloring in the flowers and leaves I used a stencil to add a flower in yellow to the background.  To finish the card I added orange baker's twine around the image and stamped the sentiment in black right onto the panel.  I used foam adhesive to pop the panel up onto some pumpkin cardstock.  Oh, and I added just a touch of Wink of Stella clear glitter marker to the center of the orange flowers.

Thanks for visiting and let me know what you think.

 

Simon Says Challenge - Tim Holtz Background

Today, I decided to take a little break from creating cards for my AECP courses and participate in the Simon Says Challenge - Use a Background Stamp - use Tim Holtz products.  Now to be honest, I thought it said use Tim Holtz products to create a background and so that is what I did.

To begin with I used a Tim Holtz Ideology mask and placed it on my white cardstock.  I then used 3 Distress Inks - Old Paper, Tumbled Glass and Walnut Stain and blended the ink over the swirly mask. I used the Tumbled Glass in the center and Old Paper on the edges and blended Walnut Stain between the two colors.  After I got the saturation I wanted with the ink blending I removed the mask.  Once I removed the mask I used some drywall tape (I believe that's what it is) and applied some paper glaze through the tape using it as a stencil in several areas.  I sprinkled Tim Holtz Rock Candy glitter to the top of the paper glaze.  Then I used a Versamark ink pad and applied ink around all the edges of the panel and added Tim Holtz Distress Embossing Powder in Old Paper.  I also randomly applied the ink pad to the center of the panel and add embossing powder there as well.    Since I didn't have any Tim Holtz stamps I used some word dies I had and die cut the so grateful friend sentiment out of navy glitter cardstock.  Finally, I mounted the panel on a navy glitter cardstock panel and then added that to a kraft card base.

This was my first time to any type of project like this but I found it interesting and a nice departure from what I usually do.  I do like the way my card turned out.

Let me know what you think.

For the Guys - AECP

 "For the Guys" is the seventh (7th) course I have taken in the Altenew Educator Certification Program.  The course is taught by Jennifer Rzasa and gave me several techniques that I have never done to create a card for guys.  

 For my first two cards I chose to use this cute little set from Altenew - Mini Delight : Polar Bear stamp and die set.  One of our lessons was creating a card that looks like pop art.  I have to say I would not have thought of creating a card like that.  However, it did make for a fairly quick and fun way to create a card.  For one card I chose 4 different colors of cardstock - I was able to use some of my stash of scraps for the squares and the polar bears.  I decided to add a little visual interest to the cardstock by ink blending through the Altenew Square Weave stencil.  I like the texture it added.

For the second card I had the idea of ink blending bright colors on white squares of cardstock.  I thought this would be a fun twist to the pop art look and it also incorporated another technique from my class.  That technique is using geometric shapes - I think the square weave counts don't you?

For my last card I chose to make a card that incorporated "galaxy" and "interactive" - 2 other lessons.  I decided I wanted to try my hand at ink blending a Northern Lights background.  

I used multiple colors for the ink blended "Northern Lights" - all inks used are from Altenew.  I used Easy Breezy, Razzleberry, Bamboo and Crystal Violet for the lights.  After laying down the base colors for the Northern Lights I ink blended Desert Night and Navy along the edges and randomly over the lights and just a touch of Jet Black along the edges to finish the ink blending.

I then took the mountains image from Altenew's Wanderlust stamp set and stamped it across the panel in Jet Black.  One I had the mountains stamped I stamped the trees 3 times across the bottom of the panel.  I used Altenew Fresh Dye Ink in Evergreen to stamp the trees and then to ink blend over the trees and the bottom edge of the panel.

After I finished stamping and ink blending I put a small amount of water in my hands and flicked it across the panel then blotted with a paper towel.  For the finishing touches I splattered a little white and gold shimmer paint onto my Nothern Lights panel.  For the interactive portion of the card I used the Bridge Fold.  This creates a card that "pops" open when you take it out of the envelope.  Due to the way you fold the card it can be put into an envelope fairly flat.

When creating a Bridge Fold card you need to take a piece of cardstock that has been cut to be 10.75" x 5.5" then you score the cardstock from each end at 1.25", 2.25" and 3.25" - then mountain/valley fold those scores.  I cut my Northern Lights panel and cut pieces off the end to fit the front fold - just slightly smaller then the 1.25" front fold. I then cut the piece for the back panel of the card - this one was slightly smaller than 4.25" the width of my card.  After adhering all the panels on to a piece of grey cardstock I embossed the sentiment - "say yes to new adventures" in silver.  I then fussy cut around the sentiment - mounted it onto left over piece of the Northern Lights panel and fussy cut that as well.

 

A little bit of adhesive on each end of the sentiment and then attached it to each of the front folds of the card.

This was a fun class and I really LOVE the way the Northern Lights turned out.  Not sure I captured it well in the photos but it is really pretty in person.  Yes pretty but still masculine enough for a guy!

Leave a comment and let me know what you think.