Clean & Simple Boutique Cards

Hello Friends.
I hope this post finds you warm and safe! This weather is perfect for staying in and crafting 😀
I went through the Altenew Academy class, Clean & Simple Boutique Cards, by Jennifer Rzasa. What a great class!! I learned a new technique that I will share today. This project actually incorporates four of the class videos by Jennifer; faux letterpress, luxury paper, simple styling, and envelope styling.
Here is my final 5x7 project:

Main supplies used:
Neenah Solar White 80# cardstock
The Stamp Market Ampersand die
140# watercolor paper from my stash (it is the only piece I have, it came in a Hero Arts kit)
Altenew Celebrations stamp set
Memento Brilliance Dew Drop Galaxy Gold

The faux letterpress technique is new to me, but I absolutely love the results!

• I die cut the ampersand six times from 80# Neenah Solar White cardstock (I will do 5 in the future as my machine almost didn’t take 6.) and then glued them together.

• Die cut the image one more time out of vellum and glue that to the bottom of the others.
• Inked up the bottom with gold ink (or not-it would look stunning just white).
• Placed the die cut on the center of my watercolor 5x7 panel and secured with washi tape.
• Using the embossing sandwich for my Spellbinder Platinum I ran through the whole panel. 
• Ooohhh’d and Ahhhh’d at the results.

I then added the mr. and mrs. by hand. This is a nod to the simple styling technique of adding your own handwritten lines or doodles. Finally, the congratulations sentiment comes from the Altenew stamp set.
This is my first try using a less expensive watercolor paper, it had quite a bit of cracking:

After adhering the panel to a 5x7 base, I embellished the envelope using other images from the same stamp set.
The result is elegant and eye-catching! By the way, you don’t have to be part of the Academy to take these classes. They are offered on the Altenew website under the Education tab.
Thank you for stopping by! Michelle

Celebration: Stencil Techniques

Happy Monday Friends!
I have completed the first two classes of the Altenew Educator Certification Program (AECP). This next class is on stencil techniques. I do not own very many stencils at all so my choices were limited. I decided on a simple diamond stencil. Laurel Beard, our instructor for this course, had some great tips for various ways to use stencils and even how to create one; in the end I selected the stencil and paste technique.

Supplies used:
Four Scoops re-inker set
Celebrations Stamp Set
Liquitex Modeling Paste
Neenah Solar White 80# cardstock.
Foam Tape

1. First I taped the stencil to an A2 cardstock panel (it is best to tape on the back side of paper to stencil-this will ensure you don’t cover any of your front with tape).
2. I secured this to my craft mat to protect my work surface.
3. I scooped about 1/2 a teaspoon of paste onto my craft mat for each of the three colors: Cotton Candy, Mango Smoothie, Peach Perfect.
4. I then mixed about 3 drops of each ink into the respective paste sections. The colors are so vibrant this way!
5. I added the paste over the stencil, spreading the mixture evenly. The texture and dimension this gives is beautiful!
6. Immediately wash your stencil and other tools used before the paste dries.
7. Once the panel was dry I cut it in half (2.75 in.) and glued to an 4.25x6.5 card base leaving a 1 inch space in the center. 
8. I then added my sentiment on the blank center area of the panel.
9. Because there was already so much color I chose to stamp and cut the floral bouquets and not color them. I think it went well with the sentiment and really stood out.
10. I adhered the bouquets, one flat, one popped up with foam tape.

Here is a 2nd card I made because I had plenty of paste left.

This was a fun technique that I am sure I will use again and again.

Thank you for stopping by! Michelle

All About Layering 1-Painted Poppy

Happy Monday!
I present to you Painted Poppy...isn’t she lovely? So lovely I made multiple cards. I think they will make lovely Valentine cards.

The simple, three-layered stamp is large enough to be a focal point by itself. When I make a simple card I like to add interest by way of stitched dies, shading with colors and/or a bit of guilding. I also used fun foam to mount different pieces on each card. Other main supplies used:

• Red Sunset ink set
• Coffee Break ink set
• Ranger black embossing powder
• Nuvo Drops Bubblegum Blush
• Penny Black Antique Frames 
• The Ton Stamps Large Double Stitched Rectangle Dies
• 6x6 Wedding Neutrals paper pad from Michael’s

 

I fell in love with this blush-colored paper that is a peachy-pink with a bit of texture. I die cut this frame with the first and third dies from the frame set-this gives me a panel not quite A2 size. I then stamped the image on the center piece and taking the lead from our instructor, Nicole Picador, I heat embossed the outline. I took another sheet of the blush paper and used the A2 stitched rectangle die to give the background a more finished look. I popped up the frame with fun foam. Because there was nothing else but the single bloom I decided to give the small panel some ink freckles (aka splatter). The sentiment is from a set by Crate Paper called Heart Day; I heat embossed it onto vellum and then tore the edges. The entire thing was glued to a cream 110# base.

This piece was done on 80# Neenah Solar White card. I stamped my images using the red ink and Espresso for the outlines. After the panel was stamped I used the double stitched rectangle dies, which gave me a larger center piece. I then popped up the center with fun foam. This sentiment is from the same Poppy set and a few simple Nuvo drops complete this card. In my opinion, I think this is a great stamp set for someone who is starting to use layering stamps. That is all for me today, I hope you have a fantastic week.

Thank you for stopping by! Michelle

All About Layering 1-Whimsical Flowers

Hello Friends! It’s an ombre, whimsical kind of day today. At least it is on my card.

These playful images from the Whimsical Flowers stamp and die set were very easy to line up, they only have one solid image and an outline for each flower (so how did I misalign the top large bloom, you ask? The answer is I didn’t use my MISTI (sigh)). I chose to stamp and die cut the flowers to make an arrangement on my embossed panel. 

Other main supplies used:

• Cherry Blossom inks 
• Green Fields inks
• Beautiful Inside sentiment set
• Penny Black Antique Frame set

I thought it would be fun to color the flowers in the same ombre order as the inks and then arrange them on my panel accordingly. I kept this card mostly flat by adhering the flowers and sentiment with liquid adhesive. Speaking of sentiments, I’m rather liking the idea of using the Beautiful Inside set on the outside of the card (this is me living on the edge) and a main sentiment, in this case Thank You, on the inside. Random thought: I can’t look at these images without thinking about Alice in Wonderland and the garden scene😄. I hope you laugh today, it is a healthy thing to do.

Thank you for stopping by! Michelle

All About Layering Lesson 1-Scribbled Flowers

Hello there!
Today I bring you another floral card using the fun Scribbled Flowers set.

Other supplies used are:

•  Coffee Break ink set
• Tropical Forest ink set
• Build-a-flower: Gardenia (for the sentiment)
• Penny Black Antique Die Frame 

This was a very easy set to line up and layer. Inspired by a monochromatic card I saw by the amazingly talented Erum Tasneem, I stamped the images with brown inks on to a cream-colored panel. I added just a touch of green in the leaves and sentiment. I then added a slight bit of dimension by adhering a thick piece of cardstock behind the panel. While this set has its own collection of sentiments, I felt this positive message from the Build-a flower: Gardenia set was what I wanted to say. Everything was then adhered to a coordinating cream-colored 110# base. This card took no time at all to create and I love that with so many individual stamps, 29 in all, you can create countless layouts.

Thank you for stopping by! Michelle

All About Layering Lesson 1-Layered Lily

Hello Friends! Welcome to my Altenew Class Chronicles 😊. 

Today I am bringing you a pop of summer during these cold winter months. For this homework assignment I used Layered Lily.  Isn’t it gorgeous?

This is a pretty easy layering stamp to use as the shape of the stamps are very clear, no guess work. However, when using layered stamp sets I generally use my MISTI stamp positioner to get perfect placement. The tool is especially helpful if I need several images to cut out or if I am making several cards.  Inspired by a past trip to Hawaii I chose orange, purple, gray and black accents for my color palette and did some masking to give the illusion of floral clusters.
Altenew inks are probably my favorite inks to use for layered images:

• they stamp and dry very crisp and smooth
• they come in color families
• they come in a wide range of beautiful colors 
• they don’t stain your stamps. 

Stained stamps are not a problem and do not affect the stamp or image, in fact, staining means you are probably using a high-quality stamp. The staining issue for me, with layered stamps only, is that if one layer is stained to the point you cannot see the detail, then it can make it hard to see how to line up the stamp. But back to the card, here is a close-up shot. You can see I’ve added clear Nuvo Crystal Glaze for dew drops. The sentiment comes from Label Love. I popped my panel onto a gray card base to accentuate the gray leaves.

That is all for me today. Stay warm and thank you for stopping by!
~Michelle

All About Layering Lesson 1-Painted Flowers

Hello again! I am posting the second homework assignment. This one using Painted Flowers, one of my all time favorite stamp sets. I just love these layered flowers and the countless ways they can be used and for so many different occasions!
By the way if you are new to layering stamps, Altenew has layering guides on their website. These guides are great if one is not sure how to properly line up the different stamp layers. Practicing is key!
I decided to heat emboss the images with different embossing powders, gold and magenta onto Navy card stock.
Inks used are: Cherry Blossom and Warm and Cozy sets. for added interest I rounded two of the four corners.
The lovely sentiment comes from Beautiful Inside.

Thank you for stopping by! Michelle

All About Layering Lesson 1-Golden Garden

Happy 2018, Friends! I hope your holidays were all things special. One exciting thing that happened for me at the end of 2017 was being accepted to the Altenew Educator Certification Program. I am a true fan of Altenew and have been since I started card-making in 2015, so to be part of this program is a true  honor! I will be posting all homework assignments here on my blog. The first Class is All About Layering. This technique is my absolute favorite in card making. I am more comfortable with inking rather than coloring or watercoloring. Because layering stamp sets are created with shadows and accents all ready in place on each layer, it takes the guess work out of the equation and gives a life-like result! The first is using Golden Garden floral stamp set.

I love the sketchy feel of this set, not to mention how forgiving this set is as you don’t have to line the images up exactly. I chose to make my own background on this first card.  The sentiment, also from Altenew, is Label Love.
For all of my homework assignments I will use Altenew Inks, I’m obsessed with them! For this project I used the Cherry Blossom set and Jet Black.

Thank you for stopping by! Michelle