Polychromatic

 Hello All,

Today, I am sharing my last project for the Altenew Academy Educator Certification Program.  This project is for the Polychromatic class.  This time I wanted to change things up a bit, so I decided to do a post card instead of traditional card.   I was inspired by the water coloured Daisy card from one of the class lessons.  I used Altenew’s Spring Daisy Stamp & Die Bundle as my main image for the post card.  This is a 6 x 8 stamp set that comes with 15 stamps total, two of which are cheerful sentiment and a cute font.  One of the pros of this stamp set is that you can also use it to create beautiful Sunflowers (my favorite flower by-the-way).  You will definitely get your money’s worth out of this stamp set.

Since the plan was to use water colouring on this project, I started with a piece of Bristol Smooth 270gms card stock/multimedia (red cover).  The card stock is smooth, bright white, and though it is not a “water colour” card, it does well with a limited amount of moisture.  It really worked out well for the water colour effect I was trying to achieve.  

I used the smallest Daisy (floweret) from the stamp set for my main image.  To colour the image instead of my Zig Clean Color Markers, I used Tim Holtz Distress Markers.  I used the Distress Markers because the tips are a little more durable than the Zig tips.   For the floweret I used the colours: Ripe Persimmon, Spiced Marmalade, and Wild Honey.   I love the Distress Markers because they are water reactive, so they give rich vibrant colour.   I cut a mask using the matching die and covered the Daisy image before stamping the leaves.  To colour the leaves I used Peeled Paint and Forest Moss.   I used Ground Espresso, Brushed Corduroy, and Wild Honey for the floweret.   I used a Post Card stamp I had on hand and stamped that with Momento Rich Cocoa.  I did not add any other embellishments because it is a post card and it needs to be able to go through the meter machine at the post office.  I absolutely love how it turned out. 

Wow! The majority of my journey is over for the Altenew Educator Certification Program, next up the Level II challenge.  If you are interested in the Program or Altenew products click here.

 Altenew Products:

Spring Daisy Stamp & Die Bundle  

                

                                                                Joyce

Altenew Magical Markers Class

Hello my crafty friends,

I think this is my last card for the Altenew Educator Certification Program (woo-hoo).  If not, I have only one to go.  Today's card features Markers.  I love my markers! The class title was Magical Marker Techniques.  In this class we learned about using markers in different ways other than shading.  I pretty much use my markers for shading...lol.  The instructor coloured on different types of substrate/mediums such as vellum and aluminum (tape).   My card was inspired by one of the demonstrations card in the class.  

For this card, I did a tent fold slender card.  The measurements for the finished card are 6" x 3 3/4".  I used some off brand alcohol markers instead of my Copic Markers (way too expensive to just play with).  Altenew has alcohol markers in a variety of colour families like their dye inks, so if you intend to shade the guess work is done for you.  They also come in sets of 12.  Another tip is that the price point for the Altenew Alcohol Marker is a little more reasonable as compared to Copics.  

I decided to try something new for me, which was just to use the markers to do colouring.  I really liked the technique the instructor used for the card.  I also love the look of  the shape and the geometry of the image.  In order to achieve this look, I had to first create a stencil since I did not have the stencil used in the video.  I used the information about creating stencils from an earlier class in the program.  The sentiment was created with a die I had on hand.  I cut the sentiment out twice once on white cardstock and then on black card stock.  I offset the black just slightly to create a hint of a shadow.  I used some foam tap to give the "thanks" some dimension.   It looked kind of plain initially, so I add some black dots with of course a marker and that really tied it up nicely.  It is true for my eyes at least, that odd numbers draw in the vision.  Randomly placing the 3 black dots was such a good idea.  I think this would make a nice masculine card.  

See you later...

Altenew Products:

Alcohol Markers 

Cube Builder Stencil 

Halftone Everything Stamp and Die Bundle

Here is picture of the card with artificial lighting

Joyce

Masking Unleashed

Hello,

And welcome back.  I am nearly finished with my Level 2 Altenew Educator Certification Program courses.  This card is for the Masking Unleashed class.  While I have done a lot of masking over my 9 years of crafting, I have to say, this class renewed the joy and magic of the masking technique.  The demonstration card is so very inspiring and beautiful.  I will say this card or rather the technique was a bit challenging, but if you take your time the results are amazing. 

I will not give the details on how to the make card for a couple of reasons.  One, I think your results will come out better if you hear the instructions and watch the person who taught the class and two, because it is a class.  You can take the class individually or you can apply for the Altenew Educator Certification Program.  The class is not expensive and the information you will receive will stick with you throughout your crafting years.  Click here for more information on this class other Altenew products.

This is my second attempt at this card.  My first attempt was okay, but I was not so happy with it and felt I could do a lot better.  I let it go for a couple of days, then gave it another try.  This one turned out beautiful!  Love, love, love it!  The card looks complicated, but it is not.  It is time-consuming; it took me about an hour and half to complete the card, but the result was worth it.  The finished card size 5 ½” x 4 ¼” (A2).   I think I am going to keep this one for myself…lol

I did not have the die that was used in the demonstration, so I used something similar.  Of course, you know I have ordered the die, it was just too pretty to pass up.   Many of the other products used to make this care you should have on hand if you have been crafting for a while or if you are just getting started the products such as vellum, acrylic paint, masking tape, and blending tool can be found at most major craft stores and many privately own craft stores.   I use Altenew’s Sand Dune and Rocky Shore Crisp Dye Ink Mini Cube to ink the card stock.   See the list Altenew products below

 

Coffee Break Crisp Dye Ink Mini Cube Set 

Leafy Wreath Die 

Leafy Garland Die 

Script Words Die Set 

Thanks for stopping by, see you next time. 

Joyce

 

With A Twist

 Hello everyone,

It has been a while since my last post for my Altenew Educator Certification Program.  Besides COVID in the world, there has been a lot going on with me personally.  Thankfully, things are slowly getting better and I can return to crafting.  Not quite crafting full time as before, but soon.   Today’s card is for the “With A Twist” class.  This card was inspired by one of the class demonstrations.  I really like the stamp set and the technique.  The technique was a kind of faux embossing.   

The images and the sentiment are from Altenew’s Bamboo Rose stamp set.  The instructor used the stamp set and matching dies.  I do not have the matching dies (yet…lol).  I used my cutting machine to cut out my images.  This stamp set has nice thick lines, so if you cannot get the dies and you do not have a cutting machine that will outline, fussy cutting is a breeze!  The card base is a standard A2 size (4 ½” x 5 ¼”).  I used Alcohol markers and pencils to colour the images.  Tip: to make sure my sentiment would fit in the space I wanted, after I cut the images out, I used some temporary adhesive on the back of my images to arrange and tack them down to the card base.  Then I lightly drew the outline of the inner edges (the part that would be closest to the sentiment) of the roses.   After I drew the outline, I took a picture of the arrangement so I could place them back once I stamped my sentiment.  I am usually not a wet glue person, but for this card I had to use glue to make sure all the edges of the images were fastened securely to the base card.  This way when I cut off any excess the image would not lift from the card; especially, the outer edge or borders of the card.    

I really enjoyed making this card because I got to practice combining markers with pencils.  The colouring was the most time-consuming part of the card; although, it did not take long at all to colour the roses.  If you plan to make this card, which I highly recommend you give it a try, I would definitely make more roses than you think you will need.  You could use any extras roses in the inside of the card or save them for another project.   

If you are interested in the Altenew Educator Certification Program or any of the Altenew products used to make this card, you can find information here. 

 Altenew Products:

Bamboo Rose Stamp Set 

Bamboo Rose Die Set

Obsidian Pigment Ink 

I did not use Altenew for my colouring; however, for your one stop shopping convenience Altenew has many options for colouring here 

 Until next time, stay safe

Joyce