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After I saw the new livestream deal from Scrapbook.com, I knew that I needed to put these pocket heart dies to use!
I decided that the heart could easily hide an interactive card element. I decided to use some watercolor paper that I had previously painted and die cut it with spring florals! I cut a piece of a laminated sheet (you could use acetate also) and added the butterfly and leaves to it. I then stamped ‘miss you’ sentiment from Hero Arts, die cut it, and adhered it below. I then stamped ‘pull here’ and die cut a circle around the sentiment. I die cut an additional circle and adhered them to the top of the laminate. I made a slit midway down the paper to allow for the element to move. I glued the heart on to cover it up and there you have it! A fun interactive card. What would you do with a pocket die cut?!
For this card I hand stamped a popsicle repeatedly in a water safe ink. Then, I used mini cube inks on glass media mat, sprayed it with water, and then applied to the paper with a paint brush. This is such a fun technique for watercolor! Make sure to check out the new challenge! Let me know in the comments so I can visit your creation. Happy Crafting Y’all!
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Hey y’all, whenever I started this card, my goal was to celebrate the awesome Altenew warehouse sale going on and do a giveaway. However, I wanted to edit my video before posting this post but, my littles are both sick right now and their asthma is flared up. Mommying takes priority over crafting. Plus, this card turned into a sympathy card and those are very draining to me. I just pour my heart and soul into them. Hence, I try not to make them too often because it’s hard to. I’m an empath. So today, here’s a little bit of the creative process and how I just let myself loose and let the card take me wherever it wanted to. If you want to check out that sale great and I’ll be doing that giveaway shortly and uploading that video at a later date, promise.
I decided to ink up my Wood pallet stamp with distress ink because I felt like it might hold onto some embossing powder, which would give the wood more texture. I quickly learned it only holds on to a little bit. It probably would’ve held onto more if I had moved faster or used oxide instead. I think it still gave it a unique look though because wood isn’t perfectly smooth and it’s definitely not all one color. It gave it a white look in some places, darker spots in other, raised in some. It made it look more realistic. Then, I used 3 different shades of brown to bring the wood to life with some ink blending brushes.
I felt like one of the most freeing processes is watercolor. Mind you nothing I did was “correct technique.” However, my goal was something earthy and masculine. So, it needed to freeing not perfect. I used several different ink refills to create a green background. I wanted is background to end up being leaves and leaves are not just green in nature. So, I mixed blues, green, gray, and orange throughout the process. Daring but, it worked out. It took me longer than I hoped but, it worked out! I did use my heat gun in between coats of paint to let the color really show through. If you don’t let the paint dry before adding your next coat, they will just bleed together and/or become muted. A good tip is to check with the back of your hand to see if your painting is cold. If it is, it’s actually still cold. I don’t know that I would use the heat gun on a detailed watercolor painting. However, this was just a background. So, it didn’t matter if the heat gun moved the colors a bit.
Now we have this green background and I love it. Then, I stamped green leaves in different shades of green on this background. I diecut them out and put them aside. Now, I told you this card was draining. I took my wood background I created a stamped a sentiment on it. Well, I accidentally put it right where the wood texture covered it. So, I tried embossing it to cover it up. I was okay with how it turned out and finished the card. I got out my sticky mat, taped my card to the back and arranged my leaves on top of the sticky mat. After I was happy with placement, I used tape that is supposed to be lower tack but, it’s not that low. In order to use it, I apply it to my shirt a few times to take away the stickiness. I then, put it on top of the pieces. Flip it over and apply glue. Then, I transfer the leaves to the wood paper. I personally am that most perfect gluer. I use my adhesive remover frequently. So, if you are like me, I recommend taking the tape off ASAP. Just be careful and push down on the pieces as you are doing it. The reason why I do it this way is because when I’ve left it on in the past, my glue has seeped out slightly and attached to the tape. Whenever, I take the tape off, the paper comes with. Ugh. However, if you are a precise gluer and have low tack tape leaving the tape on until it’s dry might be easier for you!
Now, I thought I had finished my card but, as I was taking photos of it. I was NOT happy with it. And after the amount of time I put into this card, I needed to be happy with it. I decided to grab a strip of paper, direct ink it with a blue, and stamp my sentiment on with the same gray I used for the wood texture. I used the heat gun in between both of those steps and after because pigment ink and distress ink stay wet longer than dye ink (especially pigment ink) and the last thing you want after hours of work is for your ink to be smeared. Been there and hope to not do it again. I then cut the piece down to fit, lifted the leaf up, glued the sentiment strip down, and reglued the leaf on top of it.
So that’s my sympathy card! I love the way it’s kind of like take me away Mother Nature. It’s soothing to me. I’d love to hear your thoughts on it and if you need some new Altenew goodies, check out their sale and be sure to go through my link, it’s until 11:59 PM tonight! Have a blessed week y’all!
Disclaimer: Some links on my site are affiliate links which at no cost to you, help pay for my blog. Affiliate Disclosure Find this card on Instagram
Hey y’all! I’m back with my last card for AECP Level 2! What a fun journey it’s been. Today I’m bringing you a card from the Masking Unleashed course. I knew when I saw this technique with freezer paper and watercolor that I just had to try it! So here goes nothing!
I started this off with doing rough sketches with my stamps to figure out what shapes I wanted. Then I started making masks with sticky notes to prevent certain images from crossing. Since this was only a sketch, I figured sticky notes were better suited than masking paper. Once I was happy with the sketch, I transferred it to sturdier paper. I then cut it out and used it to trace onto freezer paper that I had precut. I then decided to cut on the lines of my sketch rather than slightly around so that I could use the inner piece again. However, this required me to cut further into the freezer paper a second time because I wanted an outer edge of the flowers. If I were to do it again, I probably would just cut the way I want it first and not try to save the inside.
Onto the fun part, painting! To start this off I painted the inside with just water. Then, I applied several different brighter colors. Next, I let this dry overnight. I then added loose black watercolor and then added more potent black watercolor paint throughout the piece. After this had fully dried, I decided every galaxy needs a little shimmer. After I finished spraying it, I attempted to splatter white acrylic paint. However, I did not realize how wet I had made my background and the paint began to spread. I quickly wiped it up with a paper towel. Reapplied some black. I did not want those black areas to not have shimmer though. So, I sprayed my paint brush with shimmer spray and then dipped in black and applied it to the paper. Once this was dry, I added the white paint splatters. Next, I used my heat gun to remove the freezer paper.
Now, we have this huge blob on the paper. Don’t worry, it’s not done. I get out my embossing powder goodies and go to work with my originally stamping design. I made sure to use my sticky notes I had cut out earlier to prevent lines from crossing. I then added my sentiment and backed the card to a matching color base.
I really like how it can blend in slightly depending on the angle. I think that’s cool because it’s almost like a constellation in the sky.
I love this card and the way this turned out! Thank you so much for reading!
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Hey Y’all! I’m back with another AECP card. Rather than packing for our overnight hospital stay for our little one, I put together this card. Priorities. Because who doesn’t enjoy throwing things in a bag last minute?! Lol. In all reality, this card helped me focus on something else. Isn’t that the beauty of art though??
This was probably my favorite course I’ve taken. This really pushed me to try something new, watercolor pencils! I loved the detail I was able to acheive with this flower! I would pencil in a few details and expand the color with water. With this remember, less is more. After 2 or 3 rounds, I decided to do direct brush to pencil to give a few shadows that extra pop. I think that made a huge difference! Then, I took ink directly from the pencil again but, with extra water and splattered it. I did this until I was happy with the results. For the final touch I stamped congrats on your accomplishments sentiment.
My color choices were inspired by the current My Favorite Things Color Challenge. I also really wanted to do watercolor because I just found out that I was accepted to join the Design team for Happy Little Stampers starting next month for their watercolor team! Super exciting! Thank you for reading this post and happy crafting! I appreciate each and every comment!
Before we get to the products I used, did you know Altenew is offering free shipping right now?! Use code HAPPY8AF for orders over $29 until August 31st.
