Altenew Educator Certification Program - Easy Die Cutting Techniques

Hi Everyone,

Today I am back with another card I made for the AECP. This time, the class was all about Easy Die Cutting Techniques, and the videos and ideas were led by the one and only Yana Smakula. I adore Yana's creations, so I was delighted to see what she had to share with us. 

Yana did not disappoint - in the class, she shares some great ideas on how we can stretch the dies we already have in our stash. She also *might have* encouraged me to get a die or two, haha! I will admit, I was familiar with most of the techniques Yana showcased, however it was great to be reminded of some of them, and to learn a few new tips along the way. Plus, let's face it, her inspiration was fantastic, too! 

One technique that I really like seeing, and usually forget using myself, is embossing with dies. Whenever I dry emboss, I tend to reach for my embossing folders straight away. Which is a bit limiting, seeing that I only own a few of them... However, I have a plethora of dies, and I really need to remember that for the future, as my dry embossing options are so much wider thanks to the dies! 

For my card, I opted for a rather simplistic design, but I am really happy with how it turned out. And, it pretty much uses only dies, with just a bit of bling and some colouring/ink blending. I used the gorgeous Rose Filament die set for both the focal image on my card, as well as the dry embossing of my background. The fantastic Fine Frames came handy to draw the eye to the sentiment. I honestly don't think this designs needs anything more!

This is a perfect feminine card, and I am sure it will make any special woman in my life happy on her birthday!

I am entering this card into the following challenges:

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Anything goes

I hope you like this design as much as I do, and that you give dry embossing with dies a go, if you haven't already!

Have a great crafty day,
Mirella

SUPPLY LIST (please see affiliate disclaimer & essential supplies info here):

Vellum: Crafter's Companion, Printable vellum
Enamel dots: from my stash 

Altenew Education Certification Program - Easy Ink Blending Techniques

Hi Everyone,

Looks like I will manage to squeeze in one more post just before Christmas. Woohoo! 

Today, we'll focus on the Easy Ink Blending Techniques class over at the Altenew Academy. Whether you are totally new to ink blending, or want to expand your knowledge about this technique a little bit, Amy Lee has you covered. She teaches the class starting with real basics, and slowly steps it up a bit in each class. And let me tell you - her inspiration examples are amazing! I saved a good few for the future - when the mojo is missing, these are sure to help me get crafty! 

I personally love ink blending, and use this technique very often - especially with Distress Inks, and Distress Oxide inks. If you look at my Christmas cards from this year, you'll definitely see the confirmation of that - most of my cards incorporate ink blending in one way or another!

Having finished Amy's class, I was inspired to make yet another card using ink blending. I was going to do some emboss resist on this design also, but in the end decided to skip it, and I am glad I did. However, I did make another card later on, which used the fun emboss resist technique. 

I opted for a circular card, to make it a little bit different from the usual A2 size. I actually don't have any pictures of it, but before I posted the card to its recipient, I decided to punch a small hole at the top of the card, and added some silver thread to it - so that the card ended up as a little hanging decoration/ornament! I was so proud of this idea! 

The background is ink blended with the use of blues in Distress Oxide inks. I left the center of the panel a bit lighter, as this is where I planned to have my focal image. I then stamped the gorgeous little Altenew Winter Cottage image in the center of the lighter area, and added some detailing with my white gel pen, for additional interest. 

I wanted this scene to look snowy, hence I added some white splatters to it. Amy mostly added splatters in the same colours that she used for the blending on her cards, but I needed snow - hence the white. I love how it turned out! 

I stamped my sentiment in a silver glittery embossing powder, and created my own silver glitter paper with the same embossing powder, in order to be able to add a matching layer under my main panel. I popped the matted panel on a white card base, with the use of some foam tape - for a bit of dimension. 

And voila - the card was ready (the sentiment is a bit hard to read in the picture, but it was perfectly legible in person):

I am entering this card into the following challenges:

Altenew - 2018 Year in review (July2018)

SSS Work It Wednesday - Something new (the winter cottage stamp set, and turning the card into a hanging ornament)

This was one of my favourite cards of the 2018 Christmas season, and I really only wish that I had taken a photo of it with the punched hole. But, I'm sure that all you crafty peeps can imagine it?! :o)

Once again, have a Merry Christmas and a crafty New Year!

Mirella

SUPPLY LIST (please see affiliate disclaimer & essential supplies info here):

Circle dies - Nesting Circles by We Are Memory Keepers

Altenew Educator Cerficiation Program - Clean and Simple Boutique cards

Hi Everyone,

Today, I want to share with you another card I made for the Altenew Educator Certification Program. Yes, I know, I haven't shared anything for AECP for a long while now, and I am quite behind, but I really want to try submitting a few more entries before the end of the year, so fingers crossed I'll manage. I have been really busy with life recently, and sadly card making had to suffer as a consequence...

Anyhow, on to the class and the card.

I must admit, the class was very interesting to me, as it covered quite a variety of different techniques and approaches to what one can call a clean and simple design. I was mostly inspired by the stamped backgrounds lesson. And yes, my card design might not be 100% clean and simple per se, but let me tell you - I am anyway impressed that I managed to salvage the card, and not throw it into the bin ;o)

Anything that you can imagine going wrong with a card, went wrong... I smeared and slightly bent the panel when stamping my final image. I wanted to just emboss the panel with a die, for additional interest, but the die shifted in my die-cutting machine, and it ended up being all wonky... Fair enough, I ended up trimming the panel, and that helped with eliminating both of these issues :o) I was determined to keep going... But then, when I wanted to embellish my "merry" part of the sentiment with red glitter, the glitter bottle exploded! I had to remove the letters and replace them with new ones... And believe you me - I think I heat embossed the white "Christmas" bit like 20 times - I never have issues with heat embossing sentiments, so don't ask me how I managed that... 

All in all, I was very close to just dumping this card, but I really prefer to avoid doing that, and so I continued... And you know what? The end result is actually quite decent! Maybe not as CAS as I planned, and maybe not 100% perfect, but I am truly proud that I persevered. 

What do you think? Did it deserve to be salvaged? :o)

We're really close to Christmas now, hence I wanted to wish you all 

a very merry Christmas. 

I hope you get to spend it surrounded by the people you love and care about, 

and that you won't get caught up in all the nervous 

preparations - sometimes it's good to just take a step back, 

relax a bit, and devote the time to your loved ones! 

And here's to a great and crafty New Year!

Mirella

SUPPLY LIST (please see affiliate disclaimer & essential supplies info here):

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Poinsettia and pine by Altenew - elegant Christmas cards in a breeze

Hello Everyone,

I know I haven't been around for a while, but sadly writing blog posts is something that I really don't have a lot of time for at the moment. I prefer to craft instead, when the spare moment comes, I'm sure some of you can empathise? :o) I update my Instagram account really regularly and frequently, though, so if you want to see more of my work, I would suggest you look for me there!

Today, I am sharing with you two cards that I made with the gorgeous Poinsettia and pine stamp set by Altenew. At first, the stamp set might not look like much, but once you start combining the various elements, and making arrangements out of them - you end up with gorgeous, Christmassy and elegant cards in no time! I don't have the coordinating dies, and I can imagine that they can make the job even easier, even though I must say - I kind of prefer the fussy cut (or masked) looks for these particular stamps (so in other words, I like them more where there is no white border around them)... However, it all depends on the card design, of course!

Here are the two cards I made with this set so far, I can't wait to play with it more (although it might be for Christmas 2019, since I still have lots of sets I want to use for this year's cards...):

CARD 1 - coloured with Copics

CARD 2 - coloured with ZIGs

I am entering the first card into the following challenges (the second card was made a few weeks back):

SSS Wednesday Challenge - All that glitters is gold

Altenew - Current November colour challenge (entry through IG)

As you can see, both arrangements of the stamped elements are quite similar, yet the end result of the whole design looks totally different!

- in both cases, I coloured two poinsettia images, and fussy cut the elements in a way that allowed me to layer the image - that way, I achieved some dimension and a more realistic look (in my opinion)

- the colouring, although done with different mediums, is pretty similar in terms of colour choices. However, the Copic colouring was done on images simply stamped with black ink, whilst for ZIG colouring I heat embossed the images in black (or, to be more precise, I used clear heat embossing powder over black ink)

- there are white and gold splatters on both designs, and golden embellishments also --> one card has sequins, the other one some golden confetti

- the sentiment is also the same, but one was stamped directly on the card front, whilst the other was heat embossed in gold on a strip of cardstock

- and, of course, the shape and texture + colours of the backgrounds - here's where the most noticeable difference occurs, and where the magic happens --> two theoretically similar designs end up looking totally different

I had loads of fun making these, and I love how both of them turned out. 

Which one is your favourite?

Have a great crafty weekend,

Mirella

SUPPLY LIST (please see affiliate disclaimer & essential supplies info here):

Glitter paper from my stash