Die cutting fun

Hi y'all,

I'm here with my 9th class in the AECP program.  The class is called Easy Die Cutting Techniques, taught by Yana Smakula.  The class teaches different, outside of the box ways to use your dies.


During my recovery from surgery, I've been binge watching a tv show on Netflix that is set in the 70's.  I've been kind of obsessed with the imagery, bold lines, and funky color combos.  So fun!  My creations for this class has obviously been influenced by this show.

I recently received my new Altenew Fine Frames dies, both circle and rectangle dies.  I loved the thin circles these dies make.  They are versatile and perfect to use with for my 70's inspiration this week.  This first card uses the circle die.  Each of the colors die cut created a whole SLEW of circle pieces.  I've saved all the pieces I didn't use for this card for future projects.

 Loving how these die cuts stack up!  The white panel was cut with the die so the fine frames would fit recessed inside, this keeps the card to a single layer.  The panel was then attached to another piece of card stock to create a base for the die cuts to adhere to.  Each die cut circle was attached separately into the frame in concentric circles in an ombre effect based on value instead of color.

After completing the circle frames, the sentiment is then die cut from the panel and gold mirror paper using letters from the Inline Alpha Set.  The gold mirror letters were then added into the negative pieces on the front panel to give the sentiment some shine!  All of this and it's essentially a one layer card despite all the die cuts!....well, and the 'you're amazing' strip but does that really count?.....  This card is being submitted to the CAS on Friday challenge this week.  It's perfectly CAS and it needed a die cut sentiment, PERFECT!!

The second card was created using the scraps from the first card.  Again, using the circles gave this card a very graphic image.  The circles were layered off center and the layers were overlapped creating a funky grid.  This card is also being submitted to the Just Us Girls Challenge this week!  Actually, all the cards could be submitted with all the layering, but this one has the dies stacked onto each other, for their Stacked Die Challenge.

This card needed a sentiment that was bold and fun, thus the 'You rock!' from Altenew Label Love and the Bold Alphabet Dies were used.  Seven layers of the dies were cut and stacked and placed in the negative space of the die to make the word literally pop of the card!  The stamped image was cropped down and adhered with some foam tape.

The card was finished off with some white enamel dots and some old peach pearls found in the embellies stash, it matched perfectly!

This final card was inspired by this funky image.  The play of color with the orange vs. the purple is shocking and has great interest.  A bit of green was added to complete the die cuts which gave it more of a rainbow effect, not what was intended, but its still a fun card!  This card was also completed at 10 pm.  When taking the photos today, I realized I didn't crop the stamped sentiment!  I tried to peel it off, but alas, it tore the paper.  I decided to include it anyway as I liked the design.  I'm adding this to the Paper Players challenge this week, use Metallics!

The front panel was cut with the rectangle Fine Frames die at a diagonal.  A piece of Press N' Seal wrap was added to the back so the corner pieces would stay in place to make the layering of the dies easier.  After all the frame pieces were attached, the panel was run through the die cutter so it would have good adhesion to the wrap.

The sentiment was then die cut into fun foam and the assembled panel to give the front dimension and the gold letters were set back into the recessed space.  The sentiment from Label Love was added in the orange.

Off to complete my last class for Level 1!

Have a colorful day!

A hard week

Hi y'all,

I'm so glad this week is over!  It has been hard.  We had 3 deaths touch our lives this week.  Watching our loved ones grieve is difficult.  It truly makes you grateful for all the blessings in our lives.

With these announcements, I realized I didn't have a single bereavement card in my stash of completed cards.  I created a few more cards to use this week and more for my stash.  I really put my Mist to work while creating these!  The Altenew layered floral stamps are perfect for multiple card making.

This first card I made 2 of.  I used my Misti which made it a simple way to create them.  I stamped out multiples of the flowers from Altenew's Peony Bouquet with leaves all at the same time. 

For the background, I stamped the outline images to create movement across the card.  I finished it off with the sentiment and some splatters of gold watercolor paints.

The second set of cards I again used my Misti  I used the new Altenew Hellebore stamp set. 

I really like this stamp set.  The image is very bold and graphic!  I repeated stamping with my Misti so I could whip these out quickly. 

The background was done by dry embossing with the Layered Plaid dye, it makes a great background for simple cards.  I also splattered the background with gold and black watercolor paint.  I finished it off with enamel dots in black.

The final card I made I used the Beautiful Peony stamp set.  The back ground I painted with my new Altenew watercolor brush markers  The colors are SO intense!  I have to learn how to use them, but they are fun to use so far.

After I made washes of grey, blue and dusk, I then added a wash of gold watercolor paints.  I love the shimmer of the gold.

I finished the card off with the flower images, masked and embosssed with black embossing powder on vellum paper.  Its super artsy, and perfect for my cousin and his wife. 

It was good therapy for this weeks events.  I'm glad I have this outlet.

Have a colorful week!

They like me!

Holy cow!

I was voted a winner with Altenew's August Inspiration Challenge!  I'm so excited!!  All these classes are paying off!

BUT... I've got to get a camera...I noticed how terrible my photo looked compared to the others!  I guess the iPhone 7+ isn't as good as I thought....

Scene Stress

Hi y'all!

I'm on my 8th AECP class today, I'm just cruzin' right through them!  Until today that is....  I actually watched all the sessions over a week ago.  It's just taken me this long to figure out what to do!

Nichol Magouirk taught this class, and let me tell you her Copic skills are AMAZING!!  I bow to her mastery...  This class is Seasonal Scene Building.  I have to admit, this is not something I normally do while I create.  I don't have a ton of 'scene' building stamps and literally none from Altenew.  I had to get creative and think outside the box to make this assignment work.

This first card, I'm not really sure it meets the parameters of the assignment.  You see, I was to create a scene using stamps using masking techniques.  Check out this beauty here that Nichol made...

Created by Nichol Magouirk

See what I mean?  And just one layer!  I don't have anything resembling that in my stash.  So....outside of the box I went.  Far outside the box....like Siberia far....  Hemmin' and hawin' over this assignment for a week, I finally thought I would make a garden trellis with the Altenew Grid stencil and the Leaf Clusters stamp set.

So, not as creative as Nichol's beautiful creation.  I do like how it looks like the leaves are behind the trellis for a far off garden in the background.

 I added some little embellies of sequins and enamel dots since it looked so plain.

The second card I made is a shaker card, I haven't made one of those in a bazillion years!  To say I was rusty was an understatement, but I mustered thru.

The background was created by using ink blending die cuts from Altenew's Wreath Builder as stencils to create my scene.

I added some of those die cuts to the front to give it a feeling of tree decorations.  I also added an ornament from Brilliant Baubles.

I love this color combo for Christmas, traditional red and green are not my thing.  I've used these colors to create for years like this Paper Crafts Stampin Royalty card and this Paper Crafts blog hop creation.  What are your favorite holiday color combos?

I'll be eager to hear if this meets the parameters of this assignment!!!

Have a colorful day!

Stencil Techniques

Hi y'all!

I am here today to show you some really fun stencil techniques!  I am continuing my journey with the AECP today.  The class I just finished was Celebration: Stencil Techniques.  I have recently developed a strong affection for mixed media papers.  I love using stencils while making these, first they're affordable; second, they're versatile, and lastly, they're just fun!

I've created 2 cards for this class, and my Very.  First. Video!....YIKES!!!....  But lets get started on how to create these cards.

This first card, uses the Altenew On the Plus Side stencil to create the background.  First the stencil is laid down on Cool Caribbean card stock and inked it with Altenew Sea Glass ink.  It was simple....aka not extra....and needed something a little more.  Then, using a translucent matte medium, the stencil is shifted over and the medium is spread over the stencil.  Quickly removing the stencil after, it is sprinkled with a super fine glitter with lots of shimmer and sat aside until it dried.

I LOVE how it came out!  The shimmer is so lovely.  I mean, photos don't do it justice....

With such a beautiful background panel, it needed to be finished off simply, using the flower and leaves that were inked up while creating the second card.  More on that in a bit.  Next, a sentiment from the Wonderful Wycinicki was heat embossed with white on black paper, then assembled all together and mounted onto a black card base to compliment the sentiment strip.

My second card, I stenciled the ba-geezses out of it!

It started by stenciling the background using the Buffalo Plaid Builder stencil by Altenew using a sponge for ink blending with Sea Glass ink.  After completing the blending, the stencil is flipped it over so it would create a herringbone pattern. The process is repeated in the opposite direction using Frayed Leaf ink.  This created a lattice/gingham type pattern.  Due to the nature of the stencil, it leaves a small white stripe, which was covered with a simple thin strip of white paper.  It looks like a room at the Greenbriar Resort!  So soft and pretty.

Wanting to keep the foreground with the flowers as soft as the background, I decided to try stenciling them.  I actually used the Garden Pick 3D flower die set for this.  I thought it would be too difficult to explain the process, so below is the video explaining how I was able to create them.

The card is finished off by using a chipboard frame I've had in my stash for ever!  It was inked up with Versamark and heat embossed with white powder.  The flower and the leaves....using the same process as the flowers....were then assembled over the frame and a sentiment strip on vellum was created with the One Friend stamp set using white embossing powder.   The back of the strip was inked with Sea Glass ink to make the sentiment pop!

Ok!  On to my next class!

Have a colorful day!

Shimmer and Shine!

Hi y'all!

I've been in resting mode this week, recovering from a little surgery.  I haven't been in the art studio all week and it was fun to be there for a few hours this morning!

I have 2 new cards I created for the AECP class Let It Shine.....remember you can take this class too!  hit the link.... This class is TOTALLY up my alley!  I love to add glitter and shine to anything I can.  I'm just 'extra' that way....at least that's what my teenage daughter calls me....  My first card has MEGAWATT shimmer and shine to it!  The second is more subtle...

I started off with my favorite background die from Altenew, Layered Plaid.  This is such a versatile die for backgrounds.  I find myself grabbing it often.  This time, I decided to create a background with a monochromatic scheme, but with some glitter paper.

I first die cut a piece of plain card stock with the die.  Before I removed the paper from the die, I firmly pressed Press and Seal Glad Wrap paper to the back of the paper still in the die....following me so far?....  After I had the wrap well adhered to the back of the die cut paper, I then carefully lifted the metal die off the front of the paper.  What should be left for you is the entire die attached to the wrap paper, negative and positive pieces....some may fall off, just set them aside to add later....  I then carefully peeled off the positive part of the die cut and set aside the wrap with the negative pieces still attached.  I repeated the process with the glitter card stock.  I then swapped the positive pieces with each other and ended up with this fabulous background paper!!  I just trimmed the wrap paper edges off with my trimmer, but its still under there, holding it all together.

Next, I got to creating those fabulous flowers from the Fantasy Floral 3D Die set.  I water colored 2 pieces of Bristol paper, one in a contrasting color to my background, the other in green for the leaves.  I assembled the flowers, but added some gold embossing powder to the final layer for some extra shine.....'cause I'm extra.....

I finished off the card with a die cut sentiment that I added some glitter glue to since the plain white seemed so lacking.  Don't you think?

This second card, had me cursing for a while today.   Backstory, I have a laminator I was given 7 years ago that was probably already 15+ yrs old when I got it from a printing company.  It's been in storage for 5 years.  This was the first time it's seen the light of day since going into storage.
Fast-forward to today....

I've never used foil on a card before, but after Jennifer Rzasa's and Carissa Wiley's tutoring, I thought I'd give it a try.  Using my 22+ yr old, hasn't been used in 5 years...laminator.  AND....it didn't work.  First, the paper got stuck.  Then it was too hot and the image smooshed.  Then, it was still too hot.  Then, the foil wouldn't stick.  So, I scrapped the foil.  I think I need to use a laminator that isn't professional grade and perhaps invest in a new one.  I WILL conquer this!!!

BUT,until them.... I have these fabulous little place cards with gold foil around the edge I thought I would add to this card and then used more of the fun gold mirror paper I have on hand.

I continued with the Layered Plaid die for the background, but just as a dry embossed panel.  Using the Garden Picks 3D die set, I created these flowers using vellum.  I cut them out, and added ink to the backs of the first 2 layers, I left the 3rd layer clear and the 4th layer is done with the gold mirror paper.  The leaves are water colored and I added splatters of the green, pink and some gold shimmer watercolor paint to the background panel.

And then I was on to my next class.....

Have a colorful day!