AECP Level 1 Final Challenge
Hello fellow card makers and crafty friends! I am so excited to be sharing my final project for level 1 of my journey through the Altenew Educator Certification Program. This project took quite a bit of time, but I love how it turned out and I was able to use so many of the new techniques that I have learned throughout the level 1 courses. For the final challenge, there were a few requirements.
1) Create a set of at least 4-6 his and her cards with a cohesive theme
2) Choose 3 elements from the level 1 classes
3) Create packaging for the card sets
4) Use a recycled element in your project
5) This blog post :)
Grab a cup of coffee or tea, and let me take you through the journey of my final project!
The elements that I chose to focus on were the For the Guys course (the artistic backgrounds class), Let It Shine, and the Celebration Stencil Techniques class. These are all things that I wanted to try more, so I challenged myself a little to do so for this final challenge. I chose these 3 because they all had elements/techniques that I wanted to be more comfortable with. I was never really good with masculine cards, but I loved the galaxy background that Jennifer Rzasa created so I gave that a whirl, and thought why not try it for the feminine card too? I also wanted to try my hand at coloring embossing paste and using a stencil, which was featured in both the For the Guys, and the Celebration stencil Techniques classes. The Let it Shine class definitely challenged me to become more comfortable with using a little bling and embossing, as well as placement of these embellishments.
For my feminine card set, I chose to use purples and greens, and for the masculine set, I chose blues and greens. Using greens in both sets was part of the cohesive element to the sets. For my packaging, I chose to use a cardboard box to hold a small paper bag album. I thought each bag could hold an individual card, and then when the recipient used the card, it could be replaced with a new one :)
PACKAGING
For the packaging, I decided to go a little old school and make a paper bag album, with a sleeve for each card, and create a book cover to house it in. Luckily, I happened to be doing a little spring cleaning and found some old shoe boxes that I knew would come in handy one day (only a fellow crafter would understand this logic LOL...that is perfectly good cardboard!). I then cut the top off and cut it into a 6 x 12 book cover. I grabbed some paper bags that have been buried in the waaaaaayyyy back of my craft closet for eons, and cut them to 6"x6" to fit inside.
Once the books were covered with cardstock in matching colors, I was then able to adhere the paper bag album inside. One the spine of the albums, I used Altenew metallic thread in silver for the masculine album, and gold for the feminine album, and wrapped it around the spine a few times for a bit of shine. For the front, I used Altenew dye inks in moss and parrot for the masculine album, and frayed leaf and forest glades for the feminine set, to stamp sets of leaves from the Beautiful Day stamp and die set to make a wreath for the covers. I adhered them to the front with Tombow adhesive. To finish the album, I tied twine around the front, and added a tag that says "For you" stamped with VersaMark embossing ink and embossed with WOW! silver embossing powder. I cut the tag out with a scalloped paper punch and then adhered to a coordinating background with a circle punch.
Now onto the cards!
For the first card set, I chose to create a galaxy background. I wanted to try this so badly but had been so afraid to mess it up. For the feminine version, I used Altenew dye inks in Hydrangea and Ultraviolet as well as Parrot and Bamboo. I inked several spots with each color and then covered areas with Altenew jet black dye ink. I splattered the background with white acrylic paint that I watered down a little. I added some holographic stickles to the background in spots too. I thought it really gave it a true "galaxy" feel.
Once this was done, I took the silver metallic thread from Altenew and wrapped it around the center of the panel several times. I die cut the sentiment "congrats" from the Altenew Script word die set and embossed it with silver embossing powder from Wow! I die cut the sentiment two more times from white 65 lb. cardstock from Recollections and adhered them all together for some dimension, and then adhered to the panel. Once this was done, I adhered the panel to a white 110 lb. A2 card base.
For the masculine card, I repeated the process but instead of the purple inks, I used Ocean Waves and Sea Glass. I stamped the sentiment "Good Luck" from the Altenew Carnation Paint a Flower stamp set with silver embossing powder on a strip of white 110 lb. cardstock. I cut a piece of vellum slightly larger and adhered the white strip to the vellum and adhered to the card panel. Instead of stickles on this card, I adhered holographic stars.
CARD #2
For this card, I used the stencil overlay technique. I cut two A2 panels from Canson 140 lb. watercolor cardstock. I sprayed the paper with water and added Ocean Waves, Dusk, and Sea Glass crisp dye ink from Altenew, as well as Parrot and Bamboo crisp dye inks until I was happy with how they blended. Once the panel was dry, I took the trellis stencil and went over the panel with Sea Glass crisp dye ink.
I die cut the sentiment "love" from the Altenew Script Words die set, and embossed it with Brutus Monroe embossing powder in Gilded. I then adhered this to a !" wide vellum strip. After this was dry, I took the metallic thread in gold and adhered it to both ends of the word using a thin line of Lawn Fawn tube glue. I really love how this turned out because the thread makes it look as if it is part of the word. Once finished and all dry, I adhered this panel to a 110 lb., A2, white cardstock base.
For the feminine card, I repeated the same process as above, except using the Altenew Andromeda, Ultraviolet, Hydrangea, and Wisteria crisp dye inks, mixed with the Parrot and Bamboo crisp dye inks.
I really like how these cards turned out. They are a bit softer but yet the same color scheme, and I love how the embossing ties together with the metallic thread. Love that metallic thread from Altenew! I think it is my new fave!
CARD #3
This is one of my favorites and was so fun to make. I LOVE the Altenew Watercolor stripes stencil. The possibilities are endless with this! For the masculine version, I cut an A2 panel from white 100 lb. cardstock from Recollections and then used Altenew crisp dye inks in Desert Night, Dusk, Ocean Waves, Sea Glass, Moss, Olive, Parrot, and Bamboo. I stamped the sentiment from the Altenew Carnation Paint a Flower set in Jet Black crisp dye ink. I cut the panel down ever so slightly so that just a peek of the card base shows, and adhered it to a white 110 lb., A2, cardstock base with Scotch foam tape to make it pop a little.
For the feminine version, I again repeated the process but used Andromeda, Hydrangea, Ultraviolet, and Wisteria crisp die inks along with Moss, Olive, Parrot, and Bamboo. When I was finished I cut the panel slightly and this time adhered it to a portrait 110 lb., A2, white cardstock base.
CARD #4
For this card set, I used the Altenew Beach Towel Stripes stencil. I decided to try one of the other stenciling techniques; coloring textured embossing paste from Ranger. For the masculine card- the darker blue, I used Ranger alcohol inks Denim and for the lighter blue I used Stonewashed. For the green, I used a mixture of Lettuce and Botanical alcohol inks from Ranger. For the feminine card, I used Lettuce alcohol ink and for the purple I added Purple Twilight and Amethyst alcohol inks together. I placed the stencil on a piece of A2 sized 110 lb. cardstock from Recollections and taped it to the back with Washi tape. Once the paste was mixed up, I had to work fast so that it didn't get thick and start to dry out. Because of this, I mixed only what I needed for the card I was working on at the time.
For the masculine card, I stamped the sentiment from the Altenew Beautiful Day Stamp set in VersaMark embossing ink and embossed with white detail embossing powder from Recollections. I stamped it on black, 110 lb. cardstock from Recollections. Once this was heat set, I cut it out and adhered to the card panel, which I trimmed down slightly just to remove some of the messy edges that the texture paste left behind. Before I adhered the sentiment, I took some Parrot ink as well as Desert Night crisp dye ink, and made watercolors from them and added some splatters to the card panel. After this, I wrapped a few strands of the Altenew metallic thread in silver around the panel, and then adhered the sentiment over the thread to the panel with Scotch foam tape for some dimension. I then adhered the entire panel to a 110 lb. , A2, white cardstock base.
For the feminine version, I added some purple and green splatters with hydrangea and parrot crisp dye inks. I repeated the above process for the sentiment but this time tied the metallic thread around the sentiment before adhering it to the panel with Scotch foam tape.
To add just a wee bit more shine, I added some iridescent sequins to finish the card.
CARD #5
Last but not least, as this is one of my favorites! I chose to make a background using the Billowing Blossoms stamp set. This card set does incorporate the stamped backgrounds from the CAS class, because I just think this stamp set is the PERFECT set to stamp a background!
For the feminine card, I stamped the flowers in Andromeda and Wisteria crisp dye inks. For the leaves I used Moss and Olive crisp dye inks. I then used Ultraviolet to stamp the flower centers. I die cut the sentiment from 110 lb. white cardstock using the Script words die set, and inked in an ombre pattern with Andromeda, Ultraviolet, Hydrangea, and Wisteria. I die cut the sentiment 2 additional times from 65 lb. cardstock and adhered the 3 layers together. I then added Glossy Accents and let dry. Once it was dry, I had found some scraps of a matching green gingham paper in my stash so I cut a strip and adhered to the card panel which I had trimmed down 1/4" on each side. I then glued the sentiment on top and finished off with some rhinestones that I had gotten from Amazon.
For the masculine card, I repeated the process, except using Desert Nights and Sea Glass crisp dye inks for the flowers, and again using Moss and Olive for the leaves. To stamp the flower centers, I used Dusk crisp dye ink. I repeated the same process for the sentiment using Ocean Waves, Sea Glass, and Dusk crisp dye inks.
Here are pictures of the card sets all together.
Supplies used:
Altenew stamp sets: Beautiful Day, Billowing Blossoms, Carnation Paint a Flower
Altenew Stencils: Trellis, Watercolor Stripes, and Beach Towel Stripes
Altenew Crisp Dye inks: Moss, Olive, Parrot, Bamboo, Desert Nights, Dusk, Ocean Waves, Sea Glass, Andromeda, Ultraviolet, Hydrangea, Wisteria, Jet Black, Frayed Leaf, and Forest Glades
Altenew metallic thread in gold and silver
VersaMark embossing ink
Embossing powder in gilded from Brutus Monroe
Embossing powder in Silver from WOW!
Embossing powder in detail white from Recollections
110 lb. white cardstock from Recollections
65 lb. white cardstock from Recollections
Canson 140 lb. cold pressed watercolor paper
Glossy Accents
Stickles
Lawn Fawn Tube Glue
Tombow permanent adhesive runner
Iuile 1/2 pan watercolor in gold
Assorted Cardstock (Juliana from K and Company for feminine album cover), blue and gingham patterns from Hobby Lobby
Ranger Alcohol inks in twilight purple, amethyst, lettuce, botanical, denim, and stonewashed
Ranger texture paste in opaque matte
Ranger blending tool and sponges
Miscellaneous rhinestones and sequins
Thank you for stopping by and accompanying me on this amazing journey!