Level 1.2 - ALTENEW Educator Certification Program (AECP)
Hello everyone and welcome back to my blog!
It seems like I've taken my birthday month off from card making... but in reality I've been busy with "real life work", watching ALTENEW videos, planning out cards in my head, overthinking everything and finally last week then I went back to work on my second set of cards for the AECP program. YAY!
“R.I.P. to all the hours I've lost to Overthinking...”
The "All about Layering 2" class which I recently took, consists of 10 different lessons, in which I learned lots about more complex Layering Stamps and how to create cards with more interesting backgrounds, (more) well arranged objects and also how to add some extra sparkle and interest.
"Celebrate" card
I have had the ALTENEW "Vintage Roses" stamp and die set for some time, but was always afraid of using it. Probably because there are so many tiny stamps in it and I was a little confused about how to actually layer them. After taking in the lessons I knew, NOW was the time to get this set back out and finally turn it into a card!
Every time I looked at the set in the past, I was inspired by french vintage photos and postcards or my 80's German "Poesiealbum" - a little album containing verses and pictures contributed by family, friends and teachers.
As usually, I started by using white, extra heavy (110lb) Neenah card stock for the card base. Being inspired by things vintage, I was kind of set on the color scheme of whites and pinks.
Since I knew that the roses would be the red/pink accents on the card, I decided on creating some interesting layers of color and texture in the background to add some more drama to the oh-so-pretty flowers.
I used a layer of soft pink card stock (Michael's 80lb) as a middle layer and the ALTENEW "Dotted Starburst Debossing Cover Die" for the actual background. To frame the focal point - the word "Celebrate" (ALTENEW "Fancy Celebrate Die" - died three times and glued together for dimension) - I used the same light pink cardstock (in combination with vellum) and cut a frame from the ALTENEW "Nesting Frames Die Set".
I really had fun stamping the five different types of roses and countless leaves - probably because I just received the new and improved Misti stamping tool for my birthday and was dying to try it out. And what can I say? It worked like a charm and helped me a big deal.
The inks and colors I used are the following: For the roses - ALTENEW Crisp Dye Inks - "Tea Party" (Pink Pearl, Coral Bliss, Heart Beat and Vineyard Berry) and for the leaves - ALTENEW Crisp Dye Inks - "Green Fields" (Forest Glades, Frayed Leaf and Evergreen).
I arranged the roses around the frame and while doing that I tried to let the arrangements look natural, but also girly / romantic. As for the leaves: I did let them "grow" over the edge - it felt very wrong to cut them off in the end. Which means, I will probably have to use a bigger envelope when it comes to sending the card :-)
To finish up the card, I decided on a couple of ALTENEW "Enamel Dots" from the Tea Party collection to match the colors.
"Hang in there" card
For my second card I decided to use my very first every bought ALTENEW product and still one of my favorites: the "Grateful Heart" stamp and die set.
For the colors I knew I wanted to get away from the pinks and reds, so I decided on blues and grays.
For the card base I used a turquoise card stock (no name) which matched the medium tones in the "Sweet Dreams" set of ALTENEW Crisp Dye Ink mini cubes.
For the background I decided on using the ALTENEW "Leaf Bed Stencil" with a very light layer of "Dew Drops" Dye Ink. I think the shape of the stenciled leaves works very well with the shape of the laves in the stamp set. And by keeping the background very light in color I wanted to make sure that the focus was on the front of the card and not so much the background.
As mentioned before, I used the ALTENEW Crisp Dye Inks from the "Sweet Dreams" mini cube set for the flowers. Starting with the lightest color (Dew Drops - like in the background) and working my way over "Aqualicious" and "Teal Cave", I decided on using grays from the "Soft Succulents" mini cube set for the middle part of the flowers as well as the outlines. These grays (Limestone, Gray Denim and Pure Graphite) would then also be a connection to the leaves.
After arranging the flowers and leaves in opposite corners of the card for a mirrored effect, I used foam squares to underline some leaves and parts of the blossoms for extra shadows.
For the sentiment I decided on the ALTENEW "Hang In There Die". I cut the words three times in white and one time using holographic paper - I then layered them up for dimension & stability and attached them on to the middle of the card also using foam squares.
The added clusters of embellishments are ALTENEW "Enamel Dots" from the "Cool Summer Nights" set.
I have to admit: Those "All About Layering 2" - lessons had so much information in them - I think I was overwhelmed by that. I felt like going back to school - taking notes and trying to use those tools learned in the cards. Which, in the end, was probably what took me so long: I was afraid of missing something and so I started overthinking.
I think my mantra for the next class will be: "Take it easy and just do it!"
With that said ... Thank you for stopping by and for reading.
Please make sure to like and comment this post and let me know if you have any questions :-)
Love,
