Handmade Greeting Cards by Ann4U
Let’s make a Card
Today I enjoyed an Altenew class using the Courageous You stamp set. Our instructor was Lydia Evans. I
used the Altenew 36 pan watercolor set for both cards. It was a 1 hour class, so I had to paint fast. I’m not very good at speed, so this was good practice for me.
I admit that I only had the painting done at the end of the class. So I finished the cards tonight. Here they are!
Thanks Lydia!
Here’s a one-layer card using Altenew’s Garden Grow and Wood Pallet stamp sets.
The whole card front is attached to the orange base with fun foam. The sentiment is popped up with foam squares.
You can make a one-layer card by masking items so that some appear in the foreground and some in the background without lines going through them. You can use masking paper or stick- it-notes to make the masks. The picture below shows part of the stamp set with the masks on top of the stamp so they can be resused later.
For this card I stamped the hand shovel, rake, spade, boots, and large pot with the plant in it. Then I placed masks on all of those items, and stamped the bench. Next, I put a mask on the bench and stamped the boarded background.
I used Prismacolor pencils to color the images, and then I used Gamsol to smooth the coloring. Gamsol is an odorless mineral spirit available at most craft stores. It is applied by using “blending stumps.”
The picture below shows a close up of the board background. The set is really great because it includes the board divider line and dots for the nail heads. Great for a wall or floor.
Don’t you just love the cheery yellow boots?!
Stay safe and have a great day.
The paper you use for Ink blending can make a big difference. I have found that the smoother the paper, the easier it is to blend ink. I use Strathmore Bristol Smooth. The paper can be found at most craft supply stores.
All the products I used for this card are from Altenew. I used the Mighty Corners stencil with Heartbeat ink and a blending tool. I love the new Altenew small blender brushes. Here’s a picture of them. They come 4 to a package.
I used masking paper to cover the stenciled area, and then I added the blue shading with Iceberg.
On a separate piece of paper, I stamped the flower & stem from the Wall Paper Art set. I used leaves from the Dearest Friend set. I stamped the images in Jet Black ink. Then I added clear heat embossing on top of the outline image before coloring it. The embossing helps contain the watercolor. I colored the flower with Altenew’s Watercolor Pens: Warm Sunshine, Fresh Lemon, and Crimson until I was happy with the result. I used the Emerald watercolor pen on top of Moss to get the dark color I wanted on the stem and leaves.
After I colored them, I die cut all of the images. To avoid having a white edge around the flower & leaves, I used a black Copic marker. I also colored the edge of the flower & the fun foam with the Copic marker.
I attached the flower using fun foam. See how thick it is beneath the flower head?
I used some Jet Black ink spray for the splatters to finish the card.
That’s all for this post. Hope you have a beautiful day! Stay healthy.
Here’s the 2nd card.
This card was made with Altenew’s DEAREST FRIEND stamp set.
Before I used my Misti stamp positioning tool to stamp the image with VersaMark ink (any embossing ink will work), I dusted my paper with anti static powder. I heat embossed the image with Altenew’s Antique Silver embossing powder.
I used Altenew’s 14 pan Metallic Watercolor set to color the image. I love the rich colors and shine.
I mounted the colored image onto the card with fun foam. Using fun foam works well with large images. It processes through the mail much better when it is completely supported.
To finish the card I rounded the corners and added 3 black sequins.
That’s all you need for a Simple Boutique card! I hope you’re having a great day.
Today I’m posting 2 cards. Here’s the first one. The 2nd card will be in a separate post.
The flowers are from the Altenew WATERCOLOR WONDERS stamp set. All inks are from Altenew, also. I used Frosty Pink for the first layer of the large flower. After I inked the stamp, I misted it with water and then stamped it. I did the same misting on all layers, on all of the flowers & leaves. The 2nd layer of the large flower is Coral Berry. The 3rd layering piece is inked with Ruby Red. The center color is Warm Sunshine. I also created a sticky note mask & covered the flower.
Next, I stamped the purple flower. The colors are: Wisteria and Hydrangea. I created a sticky note mask & put it in place. With the 2 masks in place, I stamped the blue flower and created a sticky note mask for it. The blue flower is colored with Mountain Mist, Lagoon, and Aqualicious.
With the masks over the flowers, I stamped the leaves with Frayed Leaf & Evergreen.
After stamping the leaves, I removed all of the masks and let the ink dry completely.
Now it’s time to add some details.
I used a black Copic liner pen to add the detail lines on the leaves and the dots in the center of the flowers.
I used my Misti stamping tool to position the sentiment from Altenew’s FANCY GREETINGS set using Jet Black. I added 3 clear sequins in a triangle design highlighting the greeting . I added the card front to a layer of glossy black card stock, and attached that to the A2 sized blue card base.
That’s all for this card. Please see the next post for the 2nd card.
Yeah! I finally published my first blog. Here’s the next card in my journey.
I used several techniques to create this card. I created a side fold A2 base. Then I added a black die cut layer. I cut the Burlap Texture die out of white card stock. I used Altenew Gold Pigment ink on the die cut piece. Since it takes a little longer for pigment ink to dry, I used clear embossing powder on top and heat set it. I wish I had used a little thicker stock because then wouldn’t have curled up.
I used the flower from the Celebrate Us set. I stamped the outline image in Jet Black and used clear embossing powder on top and heat set it. I used the layering stamps with Mountain Mist (stamped a few times for a darker shade), and stamped the detail layer with Cloudy Sky. I also used clear embossing powder on the detail layer.
I only used the detail layer stamp for the leaves, and stamped it in Pure Graphite. I wasn’t satisfied with the color for this card, so I re-stamped the leaf detail in Dark Night. I was much happier with the result.
From this side view, I hope you can see that I used foam to pop up the flower. I used the Celebrate Us die to cut the foam to the same size as the flower & leaves.
Then I added detail to the center of the flower with gold DIAMOND DOTZ. A little glue & patience placing the gems and the card is complete!
That’s all for this post. Have a great day & stay safe.
This is the first card I have made for the Altenew Educator Certification Program (AECP). In the class we learned how to use the layered stamp sets. I used the Watercolor Wonders set. I started by stamping the bottom layer piece (lightest blue) using Eastern Sky, then added the 2nd and third layers using Ultramarine and Azurite. I used Orange Cream to stamp the first layer of the small flowers. Then I used the Firebrick Altenew Artist Marker on my stamp to add the dark orange. I don’t have an ink cube in Firebrick. It worked for the card to use the alcohol marker on the stamp, but it did discolor it. Thankfully, it doesn’t harm the stamp in anyway.
In the class we also learned about the benefits of adding “bling” to cards. In the class they used a marker called “Wink of Stella.” I wanted a little bit more bling, so I added gold to the center of the flowers by using the Altenew Metallic Watercolor 14 Pan Set.
For a little extra bling, I used a layer of glossy black cardstock behind the front of the card. You can see the black shine in the picture below along with part of the stamp set.
I’m ready to play with more layering stamp sets. Such fun!
That’s all for this post. Thanks for visiting!
Handmade Greeting Cards by Ann4U 