Evernote Short Video

Hello Friends!

I got a lot of response to share this video so instead of emailing separately, I’ll just post here :)
I initially sent it to a friend named Margaret so I do address her in the beginning.
There are other more detailed videos on YouTube as well. This is just the way I use it. Get as detailed (or not) as you like! I apologize for the poor quality, I will learn how to better do this!

Thank you for stopping by! Michelle

AECP Level II-Beautiful Details

Hello!! Wow I have completed the last class of Level II, Beautiful Details, taught by the amazing Marika Rhatu. I have long been a fan of Marika’s unique style and technique but I never had the nerve to try it! Well, I had to do just that for this project. I worked the majority of today practicing and working on a few cards. This class was by far the most challenging for me. I was more focused on actually getting comfortable with the technique as opposed to coming up with a card design. I chose to try and replicate two of Marika’s cards.

I will start with the card I was most pleased with! I was dazed and amazed I actually pulled this off and really enjoyed it!! Here’s that card:

This sketchy floral with doodles was done with a leaf image from the Altenew Painted Rose set! Yes, leaves! I used gray and violet Zig markers on my stamps and did first and second generation stamping (second generation stamping just means that you ink up your stamp, stamp off on scrap paper and then stamp the second time on to your project producing a lighter image). Per the class tutorial, I doodled some lines to give the illusion of flower petals. I also added stamen and stems. Various leaves and even certain parts of an individual leaf served as buds and petals. And voila, I have flowers!

I hand wrote “you” to keep the card simple and a few splatters from the same violet zig marker completed the look. Here are a couple of other test images I did with the leaf stamps, I saw butterflies:

On to the second and third cards.

I used Altenew inks to stamp the images’ first three layers and Prismacolors for details. The sentiment on the coral image is from Painted Inspiration. On the purple flower I also used a purple Wink of Stella marker to add the darkest shadows and some sparkle, the sentiment comes from the Wild Hibiscus set. There is no question that practice, practice, practice is needed to master this technique. My hat’s off to Marika!!!!

What a great learning project! I hope I’ve inspired or intrigued you to try the above techniques, and if you aren’t following Marika, you are missing out!! Here is her Instagram page .
Thank you for stopping by! Michelle

AECP Level II-Beyond Basic Backgrounds

Hi Friends!
I have completed another Altenew Academy class, this one by Lydia Evans. All of these amazing instructors make this whole card-making process look so easy. But, like everything else, it takes practice to get something that I am pleased with. In one of the classes Lydia made a gorgeous ombre background with images that seem to float from the top of the card. I was inspired by her to try this technique. It started out with only the embossed butterflies, but there was just too much white space for the panel (4.75 x 6.25) so I added more.....and more.....and more. LOL. Certainly this is a ‘version’ of Lydia’s card, hers was more clean and simple. Anyhow...

 I began by creating a stencil template and then used Altenew inks to blend on color. I then took the outline layer of each image, stamped and embossed them and set the piece aside to dry.

For the sentiment I embossed this vellum circle with a sentiment from the Wild Hibiscus collection. I also die-cut vellum leaves from the Fantasy Floral set and in matching hues colored the backside with my Altenew Artist Markers. I grouped them along with the circle and secured them to the lower right corner of the panel. I hid the glue with a heart embellishment I had in my stash. When I went back to my panel I felt it was too plain and so decided to take the solid layer of each image and stamp them in the same inks, I ended up with a full panel.

 The panel was then glued to a 5 x 6.5 card base. That’s another Mother’s Day card completed.

Supplies Used:

Altenew- 

Painted Butterflies, Wild Hibiscus

Green Meadows, Sweet Dreams, Shades of Purple

Artist Markers sets A & B (G702, B204, R702)

Ranger Princess Gold embossing powder

Neenah Solar White 80# cardstock

Thank you for stopping by! Michelle