Inlaid Die-Cut Birthday Card using the New Beginnings set from Altenew

 Hey there!

I’m excited to share my card design for my Easy Die Cutting Techniques class taught by Yana Smakula. This is one of the courses required for AECP Level 1. Listening to Yana’s beautiful accent is a definite bonus of this course! 😊

Do you ever find yourself unsatisfied with a “basic” technique? I wanted to step it up a bit to incorporate multiple pieces of inspiration from the class. I decided to inlay a flower into the leaves in order to make the two appear to be one nested piece.

Here’s how I made this card using the New Beginnings Stamp, Die, and Mask bundle:

First, I used the coordinating stencil to blend two shades of pink with a concentration toward the centre of the flower. I waited to stamp the outline of the flower until afterward, embossing with a fine white embossing powder as this seemed easier than removing ink from the embossing afterward.  

I then did the same with the leaves and cut everything out using the coordinating dies. 

To create the flower/leaf inlay, I then layered my die-cut pieces to see where I wanted the leaves to ‘nest’ against the edges of the flower. Then, I die-cut in the following order:

1. Flower

2. Leaves (from the edges of the flower space)

3. Inlaid the leaves, re-added the flower die to make space for the flower, die cut and inlaid the flower

4. Used a circle die to cut out the inlaid flower and leaves

5. Used the circle die to cut from the green panel so that I could inlay the white circle

I used some tape to hold things together across the back, then added a sentiment on a velum strip that I wrapped around the back of the panel so I could hide my adhesive. 

I added some dots with a gel pen to give some brightness and texture to my panel before mounting the whole thing on a top-folding card base and adding a few iridescent sequins to catch the light. 

This card has me wanting to try more inlaid designs! Thanks for the inspiration, Yana! 

Until next time, take care!

Teri

A Field of Wildflowers from a Repurposed Snapdragon Stamp Set

This is a card design that's been brewing in my head for ages.  Like, A-G-E-S.

The loose lines of the various layers in the Build-A-Flower Snapdragon Layering stamp set from Altenew have sort of an impressionistic vibe, and when I first bought this set a couple of years ago, I imagined using the smaller stamps and the tops of the larger ones to create the illusion of depth in a field of wildflowers.

When I took the Altenew Academy course called Seasonal Scene Building, taught by Nichol Magouirk, this seemed like the perfect opportunity.  Inspired by one of her lessons in which she creates a framed scene, I set out to create the look of a meadow as seen through a 'window' of sorts.

Here's how I did it:

I started by wetting a piece of watercolour paper all over, and then putting down a light wash of yellow watercolour from the bottom-up, followed by a light wash of sky blue from the top-down.  I added water and pigment as necessary until I achieved a soft gradation.

Then, using Antique Linen distress ink, I used the more solid of the flower stamps to place a light indication of where the flowers would be.  Because I used this pale, warm ink, it easily blended into the inks I layered on top and muting the colours (as would naturally happen when looking at a distant point in a field - the colours diffuse at the further points but maintain their intensity at the closer points).

I started with my lightest purple ink and stamped randomly in the upper portions of the horizon line and down toward the middle of the foreground.  I did this with a couple of the different solid stamps to get a bit of variation in the shapes.

I then did the same with my next-lightest shade of purple, beginning slightly lower down and continuing to fill in the foreground.  I repeated this with another two darker shades of purple, and then went in with some peach and pink inks to add a bit of additional depth and dimension.  I saved the line stamps for last, using them to indicate shadows.

I then went around and dabbed on some muted green watercolour paint in the places where I could still see the yellow background to help fill everything in.  

Once I had built up enough layers -- just enough for it to look right, but I don't know how many, precisely -- I added some splatter with white, black, green, and blue shimmery watercolour to compliment the other colours and add to the loose, artistic feel.

For the frame, I cut a rectangle of heavy white cardstock and added score-lines at 1/4" intervals to give the indication of boards.  I'm really glad that I went with a plain white frame instead of the woodgrain one I tried originally, as I think it anchors the busy card panel.

I cut the banner from the edge of the cut-down card panel and stamped a sentiment from the Altenew Statement Flowers stamp set, added a few little sparkly things, and that was that!

Overall, I'm really happy with how this turned out!  I have to thank Nichol, the instructor, for the inspiration and confidence to finally get this design out of my head!

Thanks for dropping by!

😊Teri

Mini Slimline Card with Dye Inks and Misting

Hey there!  

Today I’m sharing a mini slimline card I created for my sister-in-law’s birthday. It was inspired by some of the techniques in the Altenew Academy course “Irresistible Inking Techniques” taught by Sara Naumann. 

The background was created by inking up an acrylic block and then misting it with water before stamping it on the paper to create three parallel panels. 

I used a similar inking technique for the stamps, the Morning Glory mini stamp set by Altenew, and then added a messy, squiggly ink outline and a few details with a fine-tip Sharpie. 

It was a lot of fun working with this loose, watery inking technique as it creates more of an impressionist image than the original outline-and-solid stamp set creates. 

I added a few holographic details along with a second, darker die-cut sentiment to create a shadow. 

This class was a lot of fun.  I always love when I’m inspired to make something really different from anything else I would usually make. ☺️

Thanks for stopping by! 

💕 Teri