AECP Level 1 Final Challenge Project

 AECP Level 1 Final Project Challenge

     

WooHoo!  Welcome to my longest blog post ever!  Guess what!  It's time for my Level 1 Final Challenge Project.  Can you believe it?  Me either!  Level 1 offered so many fun and informative classes!  These classes are for anyone, so I encourage you to go to altenew.com and check out their class offerings!

My final challenge project for Level 1, I am to create a His and Her card set using 3 components from the ten classes offered, and to use a recycled element (wait til you see what I came up with!  So fun!) on the set or the packaging.  Yep, you guessed it, I will also be making a box to hold the masculine set and one for the feminine set.  So fun!

The techniques I chose to focus on for my masculine set are as follows:  

Easy Die Cutting Techniques

 Celebration: Stencil Techniques 

Easy Ink Blending 

It is pretty amazing how many different techniques we use on a single card.  You will see in some of my cards that I use all three techniques on a single card!

  

For my feminine set of cards I will be using the techniques from the following classes:  

Let It Shine

 Easy Die Cutting Techniques 

Celebration: Stencil Techniques 

Most of my cards really follow the Clean & Simple Boutique class as well.  

So let's get into it, shall we!  

Masculine Card Set

Let's dive a little deeper into the masculine card set.  There are a couple components I used to try and keep the masculine card set cohesive, but also different.  Huh? you're asking.  Well, I didn't want the cards to all look the same, but I did want them to look like they belonged in a set.  So I used the same color palette for all 6 cards and I used similar dies, stamps or stencils on all the cards.  Also, all of the card bases for the 

masculine set are kraft cardstock.  

My color palette is made up of Altenew Crisp Dye Inks in the following colors:

Arctic Mountain

Gray Denim

Marigold

Jet Black

The supplies I used from my Altenew Collection:

Festive Silhouettes Stamp Set

Mega Alphabet U die

Circular Elements Die Set

Broken Chevron Stencil

Faithful Feather Stamp & Die Set

Monstera 3D Die Set

Sentiments & Quotes Stamp Set

Navy Cardstock

Items from my collection:

Ranger Glossy Accents

Ranger Silver Super Fine embossing powder

US Art Supply Modeling Paste

VersaMark Clear embossing ink

White Accent Opaque Digital cardstock

Embellishments

Bearly Art Precision Craft Glue

Vellum

Kraft Cardstock 110#

Let's dive in!

love u

Class:  Celebration:  Stencil Techniques class

Component:  Stencils & Embossing Paste

 The first thing I did for this card was the stenciling.  I used a palette knife to run the modeling paste (which is the same as Embossing or Texture paste) through the stencil, trying to create a smooth surface.  

Once I was done, I set aside to dry.  I ended up letting it set overnight to make sure it was dry all the way through.  In the mean time I ink blended the Marigold ink on a blank piece of white cardstock and used the Mega alphabet U die to cut out the U.  While I was die cutting, I went ahead and die cut the smallest circle element from the Circular Elements die set, using navy cardstock.  I stamped the love sentiment in black ink and then used my VersaMark ink and stamped love again so I could heat emboss the sentiment using clear embossing powder.  Now that my stenciled piece was dry, I ink blended Gray Denim ink all over the surface, to create a gray panel for my die elements to rest on. 

 I just love how this turned out!  What do you think?  Ready to try this technique?  You will love it!  I want to use this technique on all my stencils!!  

happy birthday

Class:  Easy Ink Blending Techniques

Component:  Ink Blend a Color Cardstock

I used a couple different ink blended techniques on the card.  The first being to create a color cardstock that went with my color palette.  I ink blended Marigold ink on a piece of white cardstock and then used the medium element die from the Circular Elements die set to create a focal point for my antlers.  I also used the Arctic Mountain ink to blend over the Broken Chevron stencil to create a background panel.  My last ink blending technique was to do direct to paper.  I dragged the Gray Denim ink cube straight down the white cardstock to create the look of wood grain on my panel.  I love this technique and use it quite a bit!  I totally adore the antlers and stamped them in Arctic Mountain ink and to really draw your eye to them, I covered them in Glossy Accents.  I let the antlers dry overnight and fussy cut them out.  

The photo below shows how I applied adhesive to the Circular Element so I didn't create a big mess.  This worked perfectly, as I only got the adhesive where I wanted it.  Once I adhered that to my woodgrain panel, I used foam squares and placed my antlers on the Circular Element.   Stamped my sentiments in Jet Black ink and I heat embossed in Clear the happy birthday sentiment 3 times to give it more dimension.  I must admit, this is my favorite card!  What do you think?  Ready to try ink blending in different ways to create the look you are going for?  I highly recommend this class!!

MISSING YOU

Class:  Easy Ink Blending

Component:  Ink Blend a Color Cardstock

For this clean and simple design, I again chose ink blending techniques.  I ink blended Arctic Mountain ink, Gray Denim and Marigold ink onto a panel of white cardstock.  I then die cut the leaves and pot from the Monstera 3D die set.  I just love the flexibility you have when you use your inks to color the cardstock.  I love the modern look of the planter and decided to up the modern look a level and used Glossy Accents to give it some dimension.  Now I want a planter just like this one!  I love it!  The other ink blending I did was in the center of the white panel.  I decided to ink blend some Marigold ink in the center of the panel to draw your eyes to the planter and foliage.  This card is so clean and simple, I just love it!  I hope you love it too! 

CONGRATS

Class:  Easy Die Cutting Techniques

Component:  Stamps & Matching Dies

The main technique I used here was using stamps and matching dies.  I love this Faithful Feathers Stamp and Die set.   I enjoy fussy cutting, however, I love it when I have the die to match my stamps!  How fabulous is the way the feathers die cut!    I could not get that same look fussy cutting!  So I stamped all five layers of the feathers and die cut each one out.  They just cut so perfectly, like a real feather!   I also used the largest circular die from the Circular Elements die set and placed navy cardstock behind the open area to add interest.  Here again, I ink blended Marigold around the perimeter of white cardstock to create the look of colored cardstock to match my sentiment.  

Design Tip:  Even numbers create symmetry whereas odd numbers create interest and force your eyes to move around the grouping and it is more natural and appealing to the eye.  So give using odd number of elements on your next card a try!

Find Refuge

Class:  Celebration:  Stencil Techniques

Component:  Stencil to Add Texture

Okay, this card may actually be my favorite!  I love how this card came together!  I used my die cutting machine to dry emboss the Broken Chevron stencil on vellum to create interest and add texture to this card!  I love how it turned out!  I adhered navy cardstock behind the vellum panel so you can better notice the vellum panel.  For my machine, I purchased the silicone mat and plastic plate separately to create the dry embossed look using stencils.  My set up to dry emboss the stencil was #1 platform, acrylic plate, vellum, stencil, silicone mat and plastic plate, and just run through the die cutting machine.   Don't you just love it?  Please try this technique, you will love it! 

 I stamped and die cut 3 feathers to create this free flowing look.  I also decided to stamp my sentiment in black ink and heat emboss clear embossing powder over the sentiment.  I am still not the best at embossing with black embossing powder!!  I make such a mess!  

thank you

Class:  Easy Ink Blending

Component:  Basic Ink Blended Background

My highlighted technique for this thank you card, is basic ink blended background.  I created a square mask and used the negative to mask off the perimeter of the white cardstock panel to create a square focal image.  I used Marigold ink and ink blended the area within the square to create the focal point.  As you can see, I also ink blended Arctic Mountain through the Broken Chevron stencil to create the background panel.  When I was practicing using the modeling paste with the stencil I ended up with a panel that wasn't as smooth as I had liked, but I didn't throw it away, I had it off to the side.  I was really looking for something to use for the antlers to 'rest' on and noticed the stenciled panel.  So, I cut out an area that was perfect, ink blended with the Gray Denim ink and voila!  It was just what I needed!  See, that is why you never throw anything away!!  heehee!!  I stamped the antlers in Arctic Mountain ink, fussy cut them out and used Glossy Accents on them to accentuate the antlers.  There are so many ways you can use your inks to really stretch your supplies and create a masterpiece!  

Feminine Card Set

Are you still with me?  Let me introduce you to my feminine card set!  

On this set you will notice that I chose a soft color palette to create a cohesive look.  I also used minimal supplies to create a notecard set that really looks like a set.  I chose white card bases to really keep things soft and feminine.  

My color palette is made up of Altenew Crisp Dye Inks in the following colors:

Gray Denim

Cotton Candy

Mango Smoothie

Jet Black

The supplies I used from my Altenew Collection:

Build a Flower: Bellaroma Hybrid Tea Rose stamp & die set

Fancy hello die

Leaf Clusters stamp & die set

Halftone Stencil

Satin White Sequins

Gold Foil Cardstock

happy birthday sentiment from: Dotted Blooms stamp set

congrats sentiment from: Columbine stamp set

Thank you sentiment from: Coneflower stamp set

 you're amazing sentiment from: Versatile Vases 2 stamp set

thoughts and prayers sentiment from: Sentiments & Quotes stamp set

The supplies I used from my collection:

White Accent Opaque Digital Cardstock

Ranger Princess Gold Embossing Powder

VersaMark Clear Embossing Ink

Bearly Art Precision Craft Glue

Vellum

US Art Modeling Paste

White Thread

Gold sequins

Art Philosophy Metallic Watercolor paint for gold splatters

Black acrylic paint for splatters

Let's dive in!

you're amazing

Class:  Easy Die Cutting Techniques

Component:  Stamps & Matching Dies

You're amazing!  We can never hear that enough, can we!?  For my first feminine card, I chose the Easy Die Cutting technique using matching stamps & dies.  Isn't this flower beautiful?!  I created the background by ink blending Gray Denim on white cardstock and using my paper trimmer to cut 1/8" strips.  I just laid out the strips vertically the way I wanted and wove the horizontal strips, adhered them together and done!  I also created a square frame using some nesting square dies from my collection.  I really wanted to create a frame that really allowed the beauty of the bloom to shine!  I kept this card very simple as to not take away from the star of the show, the flower.

 

What do you think?  Do you have any matching stamp & die sets?  

If so, get them out and make a beautiful card!

Thank you

Class: Celebration:  Stencil Techniques

Component:  Creating Texture with Stencils

For this card, I used the Halftone stencil 2 different ways.  First stencil technique, I ink blended Cotton Candy ink over the stencil on the card base behind the circle window.  The second technique I used was to dry emboss the stencil on my card panel.  I just love this technique!  It gives the panel some interest without stealing the show.  For this card, I stamped the sentiment on cardstock and attached it to the card panel.  Another technique you can try, is to stamp the sentiment first, then dry emboss with the stencil as you normally would.  You would easily be able to see the sentiment, it would just be raised in spots!  I used the Leaf Clusters die set to cut two different branches of leaves just to mix it up a bit!  That bloom is just so beautiful!  

hello

Class:  Let It Shine

Component:  Metallic Paper

Who doesn't love some shine?!  This class was so fun!  For my hello, my friend card our star was the Gold Foil cardstock, which I used as the card panel.  I then cut 1/2" strips of white card stock and adhered them to the metallic cardstock, leaving a bit of space between each 'slat.'  I decided to raise every other strip (slat) with foam adhesive to give more dimension.  I used the hello die to cut the hello and then decided to cut the hello in white cardstock 3 times.  I adhered all 4 hello cutouts together to really give it dimension.  Just look at that shine!  I added some bling with some gold sequins and finished it up with stamping MY FRIEND in Cotton Candy ink and heat embossing it using clear embossing powder.  To top it all off, I stamped and die cut leaves from the Leaf Cluster stamp & die set.  Dream.  Sparkle.  Shine!

congrats

Class:  Let It Shine

Component:  Embossing Powder

As Good as Gold!  I love what gold embossing powder brings to a card!!  It is just so beautiful and classic!  I chose to stamp the flower and leaves in VersaMark embossing ink and heat emboss using gold embossing powder.  I also die cut the flower element from the front of the card base and stamped on the inside of the card.  This card is very clean and simple (for me) and I love how it turned out.  I did use some gold splatter and finished the card off with the sentiment heat embossed in gold embossing powder!  

thoughts and prayers

Class:  Easy Die Cutting

Component:  Stamps & Matching Dies

I just love this card!  Usually when I make cards, I make them for a specific person.  I actually enjoyed making the cards for this project for a technique or stamp set.  I could just really enjoy the process.  I felt so serene whilst making this one and it really just came together.  It was my last card and I really had no idea what I wanted to do.  So I started off cutting 1/2" strips of white cardstock and laying them horizontally on my card panel and the card went from there.  I stamped the images in Gray Denim to create a softer look than black ink and simply stamped and die cut the flower and coordinating set of leaves.  I like mixing and matching some of my stamps and dies, so I die cut my favorite leaf die from Leaf Clusters and left it unstamped.  Ahhh...then I heard the vellum calling my name!  So I die cut all three elements out of vellum and offset behind the matching element in cardstock.  I really felt like this softened things a bit too.   I hope you enjoy this card as much as I do and give die cutting a shot!  

happy birthday

Class:  Celebration:  Stencil Techniques

Component:  Stencils & Embossing paste

So I think I mentioned previously in this blog, how much I love using embossing paste with stencils!  I just think this is such an easy way to add interest that doesn't compete with the design of the card.  I just love it!!  So for this card I started about 1/3 of the way down the card panel and ran the embossing paste through the Halftone stencil.  I set aside to dry and started working on the rest of the card.  

I decided to stamp the floral image using all the layers for this card while still only using the colors Cotton Candy & Mango Smoothie.  I just stamped the second pink layer twice so it gives the appearance that it is a darker color.  If you don't have many inks in your collection you can get creative and really stretch the inks you have to create the look you want.  Just experiment, remember, it's just paper!!  

Another technique I like to use when creating a bouquet, is to use Press n Seal!  That's right, it's not just for your kitchen!  Doesn't that drive you crazy when you create a beautiful bouquet and mess it up when you go to adhere to your panel!?  So the Press n Seal helps you keep all the elements in place while allowing you to apply the adhesive and place it exactly where you'd like on the panel.  Give it a try!

So if you need to, get up, stretch your legs, grab a snack and come back.  We are almost done!  

The next challenge for my Level 1 Final Project is to create a box to store my sets of notecards and to add a recycled element.  With this challenge, we were also challenged with creating a YouTube video or a Step by Step tutorial.  I chose to create a Step by Step tutorial on making my notecard boxes.  I am a visual learner and photos really help me out more so than words.  

Ya ready for some more fun?!  Here we go!

Notecard Gift Box Set Tutorial

Supplies to create A2 card size gift box: 

1- 8 1/2" x 11" sheet of heavy cardstock

1- 3" x 8 1/2" sheet of heavy cardstock

Scoring Board

Scissors

Steps:

Starting with 11 inch side:  score at 4 3/4" and 6 1/4" 

Rotate to 8 1/2" side

Score at 1" and 2 1/2"

Now working with 3" x 8 1/2"piece of cardstock:

Starting with 8 1/2 inch side; Score at 3/8" and 1 7/8"

Rotate and do the same with the other 8 1/2" side

Your panel should look like the above photo.

Now working with the 8 1/2" x 11" sheet:

Cut along the score line as I did in the photo above.

Then cut on the score line as shown above.

Your sheet should look like the above photo.

Next, working with the 3" x 8 1/2" sheet:

Cut the little corner pieces like shown above (cut on score lines).

Then cut along the score line as shown above.

Your piece should look like the above photo.

You still with me?  I hope so!!  We are almost there!

Place your double sided adhesive strips as shown in the above photo.

Place double sided adhesive as shown above.  

Okay, so for the next couple of steps where you attach the 3" x 8 1/2" panel to the base, please use the photos, I am not sure how to write the next steps out better 

than what pictures can show.

Don't forget to peel off adhesive backing!

TaDa!  This is what it should look like!  Great job!!

Are you ready for my recycled element?  So this sheet of thin styrofoamy stuff came with my new vacuum cleaner!  I saw it and thought, 'hey! I can use this on cards'  and here we are!  It is my ribbon for the gift box!  What do you think?  

Next, I decorated the box with some of the elements 

I used for the notecard set, to tie it all together!

Wow!  The end!  Thank you so much for reading my blog!  I greatly appreciate it and hope it inspires you to try a new technique or to use an old technique in a new way!  I am enjoying the AECP so much and love learning new techniques!  I highly recommend the Altenew classes, even if you are not interested in the program!

Again, thank you and remember, it's just paper!

Lori