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

 

A Rainbow of Thanks

Hello Everyone,

Thank you for stopping by.  It has been a minute since I have posted something.  That does not mean I have not been busy though.  With the current events of the world, we have all had to shift gears quite a bit.  I am starting to settle in to the new normal (as folk say).  For me I have been favored, as there has not been much interruption to my day to day.  I have been praying hard for the physical and mental health of the world and know that all things happen with purpose (though we may not know what it is or understanding it…HE does).   

Now that the shock of the situation has passed, it is time for me to get it going again.  I want to share a card I did for a special challenge. This card is also close to my heart as I am a healthcare worker.  I am NOT on the front lines, but I want to send the front line workers a message of gratitude and thanks for every moment they have given to this cause.  They have not asked much of us (the general public) and whatever they have asked is FREE!  STAY YOUR TAIL INSIDE!  Not much in the way of an ask when you consider they are putting their lives on the line to save ours. 

I cannot take credit for the design of the card.  The design was created by Mindy Eggen.  Mindy was a guest designer for Altenew some time back.  When I looked at her card, it brought to mind the new symbolism of the rainbow.  The rainbow has become a symbol of hope and encouragement.  To me the branches of the wreath represented the extension and preservation of life.  As the branches touched it made me think of how the Corona Virus has touch every one of us (the world).  And the formation of the branches creates an unbroken circle, to me it says we can not and will not be broken. So, MANY THANKS to our front line workers from the small businesses struggling, but still pushing through to serve us, to ALL the healthcare workers (worldwide) and EVERYONE on the front line serving in any capacity in between.   And thank you to Mindy Eggen for such an inspirational design. 

A Rainbow of Thanks card: to find the items used to make this card, click on the links.

To make my card, I started with a card front using 80# Neenah Classic Crest Solar White Card stock (CS) cut to A2 size or 4 ¼ x 5 ½ inches.  I taped my card front down onto my Tim HoltzTravel Glass Media Mat at with some Washi Tape.  I took Altenew’s Wonderful Wreath Stencil, centered the wreath stencil image over the card front and taped the corners down with pieces of Washi Tape. (Optional) on the Wreath stencil there are some little holes, which represent berries. I did not cover them; however, if you want a clean center, you will need to cover the holes with a piece of paper before you start inking.   I am not sure what colours Mindy used on her card.   I decided on the colours that I thought came close to the ones in the photo of her card.   I used my blending brushes to lay down the initial colour with medium pressure.  After the first layer of colour was complete, I removed the Washi Tape from the stencil ONLY.  I rotated the stencil image so that the branches would touch or overlap just a bit, then I taped the corners of the stencil in place using the Washi Tape as before.  To get the shaded or lighter colour, I used a lighter pressure and the ink that was left on the brush from the first layer.   The colours I used were Altenew’s Crisp Ink Cubes-Marigold, Honey Drizzle, GrassField, Tide Blue, Ultraviolet, and Magenta.  The greeting is from Altenew’s Halftone Circles stamp set.  This is a 6 x 8 inch, high quality, photo polymer stamp set that comes with 14 total stamps, 8 graduating circle images with textured gradient dots and 6 sentiments.  I used the Obsidian Black ink pad (my new love) to stamp the greeting.   I trimmed the card front down by 1/16^th and mounted it onto a white A2 card base.   The sentiment (inside) is something I made up and used my Cricut Maker to write on the base of the card.  

Until next time, stay in and stay safe! 

JOYCE

Season Scene Building Revisited with Altenew

Hello, hello, hello!  I am so excited to share a re-do of one of my class submissions.  I got my Altenew Stamp Set GARDEN GROW in the mail and could not wait to do the card example from the class.  I got as close as I could to the demonstration.  I absolutely love how the card turned out!  I followed the class tutorial, so I won’t be able to give you step-by-step; you'll just have to take the course "Seasonal Scene Building" to see how this fabulous creation was made...lol.  I think you will really enjoy this class if you take it, it is sooooo worth it!

Altenew products:

Garden Grow Stamp Set 

Many Thanks Stamp Set

Here I am showing the dimension on the frame I created. 
I used my Cricut to create the frame and cut it out 4 times

On this photo I am showing the use of the black and white gel pens.

I used the following Copics to colour my image:

Terra Cotta Potts E13, 15, 17

Red Pot R59, 29, 27 plus Black Gel Pen

Table Pot E43, 42, 41

Ground Pot E53, 51, 50

Plant (Lg) G99, 85, 20 plus White Gel Pen

Table Plant G93

Under Table Plant G93, 95, 97

Blue Pot B91, 93, 95, 97

Sign W7, W4, W0

Ground E44, 43, 42

Table E49, 59

Seeds E49 plus White Gel Pen

Joyce

Easy Die Cutting Technique

Hello, welcome back,

I am doing two post today for my Altenew Educator Certification Program.   This is the last class for my level I courses.   The class was Easy Die Cutting Techniques.   For my submission I did a partially hidden message card with the inlay technique.   This card started out as a practice to the practice (lol), but once again I was so please with it, I decided it would become the submission.   Another love, love card.    My inspiration was the stamp set packaging.  I didn’t think I would like the orange flowers but the green really made the images pop.

   

For my card I started with a 3 ¾ x 3 ¾” white card front.  I used Altenew’s Painted Flower Stamp Set.  This is a layering stamp set that includes an outline for each flower as well as layered leaves with an outline image.   It has three different flowers in the set.  I used two of the flowers and all three of the layers to both the flowers.  I used the Warm and Cozy, Golden Sunset, and Green Field mini cube sets to colour the images.   I die cut the word “thanks” from the stamped card front.  I cut an additional three “thanks” in white card stock.  I stacked and glued the three white “thanks” together, then I glued the “thanks” cut from the stamped card front on top of the other three.  I attached the negative portion of the card front onto some green patterned paper (had in the stash for years) cut an 1/8th larger than the card front.  Then I glued the stacked “thanks” back into the negative space of the card front, so it appears to be one piece of card stock again but this time the “thanks” is raised above the card panel. Part of the thanks has the flower pattern and seems to fade into the panel.  I call it a partially hidden message card.  I stamped the sentiment at the bottom using the Jet Black ink mini cube and one of the stamps from the Many Thanks Stamp Set.  I took several pictures to show the dimensions.  This was a lot fun to make.  I think I’m going to do couple more using different layered stamps set and words.   Something I learned from making this card was that, I didn’t like the colours initially, but I kept going with the colours and when I added the green it totally changed the look. 

Stay tuned next up…the level one challenge!

Altenew products:

Warm and Cozy Mini Cube Set

Golden Sunset Mini Cube Set

Green Fields Mini Cube Set

Painted Flowers Stamp Set

Many Thanks Stamp Set

Joyce