Stencils, shine, and die cuts. (AKA: Final Challenge)

Many of my recent posts have been focused on my journey through the Altenew Educator Certification Program. For my final challenge in level one, I was asked to create a birthday, graduation or encouragement card, and either a masculine card or one appropriate for a teenager. I had to choose 3 components from the Level 1 classes to use in these cards. The 3 components I focused on were stenciling, die cutting, and adding shimmer and shine.

For my first card, I spritzed a 4.5 x 6″ piece of strathmore cold press watercolor paper generously with water. I water colored the card front, first applying a layer of volcano lake ink, then adding persian blue ink toward the center to add some depth. I allowed this to dry, then repeated the process to gain a little more intensity in color, and added some ink splatters.

After this dried, I then took the A layer of my Altenew Kaleidoscope stencils and taped it over the “water colored” card stock. Using my clarity stencil brushes, I blended volcano lake and persian blue inks over the card stock, with the deeper blue more toward the center of the stencil.

Next, I die cut the word “happy” using my Altenew Mega Greetings 2 stamp and matching die set from both the water colored card stock and a piece of white gloss card stock in my stash. I adhered the water colored card stock on a piece of white craft foam to add some dimension to the entire card. I inserted the white “happy” die cut inside the negative space of the water colored card stock, adding the water colored interior pieces in the loops. I decided to repeat the process with the white gloss card stock that had the negative “happy”, filling it with the water colored “happy” left from the my original card front.

I embossed the sentiment “birthday” (also from the Mega Greetings 2 stamp set) in white (Sparkle ‘n Sprinkle white detail embossing powder) on 2 strips of onyx Gina K Designs card stock. I adhered those on the lower right side of the card front, and added several sequins from a Honey Bee mix that I had on hand. I added a strip of teal metallic card stock along the top edge of a card base I had prepared earlier, and mounted the card front just below the teal strip. Finished! I am including a picture of both the water colored card base with the white die cut, as well as my bonus card that is primarily white. Love it when I can get “two cards out of one”.

Teenage card makes me think of bold and bright colors and Graphic designs. I had so much fun with my Kaleidoscope stencil, that I decided to continue using the same stencil. I prepped a piece of Neenah Solar White Classic Crest card stock by ink blending squeezed lemonade and twisted citron Distress Ink. This gave me a rather bright background (it is much brighter than it appears in the photo!).

Laying the stencil over it, I taped it down the edges so it wouldn’t move. I blended abandoned coral distress ink over the lemonade and twisted citron. I was a little unsure of how this would come out….but when I lifted the stencil, I was in love with the sunny design that it resulted in! However, I wasn’t sold on this color combo for my final project. I decided to try a different ink on top. So I repeated the whole process, then used peacock feathers for the top layer of color. Again, I loved the results, but still wasn’t sold on this combination. Back to the craft mat I went, and repeated the whole process, using mermaid lagoon on top this time. The reveal showed a very vivid green and yellow design: bingo! Exactly what I was hoping for: something very bright and not too young (and boy, as my personal added challenge was male teenager).

Using the Mega Greetings 2 set again, I die cut the word “you” out of the bright green and yellow card stock, and out of a piece of plain white card stock. I backed the card front with a piece of black gloss card stock from my stash, to add some shine without making it too fussy. I then adhered the interior of the “y” and the “o” into place. Tip: I used the plain white “you” as a place holder inside the negative space, then I adhered the little interior pieces, and gently removed the plain white you from the card front. Works like magic!

I stamped the word “rock” using jet black crisp dye ink on a strip of white card stack, then heat embossed it with clear embossing powder to add some shine. I adhered the sentiment strip to a slightly larger strip of the gloss black card stock. On a prepared card base, I added a thin strip of the gloss black card stock, then mounted the finished card front. All done! I actually finished the other two card fronts at the same time, and will write about those in a later post.

Inspiration: My set of kaleidoscope stencils I couldn’t wait to use, along with the energy that comes from being close to finishing a goal.

I have really enjoyed my level 1 classes, and look forward to starting my level 2 classes. It has been fun to look back at my progress!

As always, thank you for stopping by, and I hope this inspires you to go out and create something!