Altenew Educators Certification Program Level 1 Challenge - Card Set for Women

This post will detail the cards I made for the Women’s Card portion of the Level 1 Challenge.  I decided to use the same courses that I used for the Men’s cards.  These are the Irresistible Inking Techniques, Celebration: Stencil Techniques, and Let It Shine.  I have used one or more of these three techniques for each of my 5 cards.  I selected the Fragrant Peony Layering Die Set to use on each of my cards as the main focal point.  In addition, one of the criteria was to use recycled materials and I chose to use a portion of a cardboard box, tissue wrapping paper that I had saved, packing paper remnants from making my men’s set, and old book pages.

Isn’t it strange that when I was gathering the materials, dies, etc. for this challenge, I thought that the cards for women would be so much easier than the cards for men?  This was in part because I make many more cards suitable to send to women than I do for men.  As a result, I figured that, hands down, I would not have issues coming up with ideas for the women’s card set.  But the reality has been that I found the men’s set much easier to make.  I thought that was interesting!

Pro Tip: don’t decide you can’t do something just because it is not in your normal bag of tricks.  The results could be surprising!

Card 1: using the larger Peony dies and the leaves that are included in the set, I layered two sets of the flower and leaves cut out of old book pages and then I ink blended them using Fresh Dye Ink colors.  I also ran the blending brush around the edges of the flower petals for more dimension.  For the center of the flower, I inked with Fresh Dye Ink and then added a layer of Glitter Modge Podge for a little bling.  The leaves were inked also using Fresh Dye Inks.  I assembled the flower and then set it and the leaves aside to dry

The base of this card is made from a thicker piece of craft card stock.  Then I took two book pages, glued them together, and dry brushed with heavy gesso.  While the gesso dried, I cut three pieces of white card stock using the Moroccan Lattice Cover Die and glued them together to create a stencil.  I laid this over the dried book page and stenciled using the Honeydew Glow Fresh Dye Ink Pad to give a subtle dimension to the background.  I sprayed with Shimmer Spray and set the background aside while I worked on the sentiment. 

Using a scrap of the craft card stock, I selected a stamp from the Heartfelt Sentiment Stamp Set, stamped with black ink and then restamped using embossing ink.  Then I heat embossed using clear embossing powder.  

Pro Tip: if you want to heat emboss in color, but don’t have the color you want in embossing powder, you can stamp with the colored ink of your choice, restamp with embossing ink, and then heat emboss using clear embossing powder.  This technique works best if you use your Altenew Stamping Wheel or other variety of stamping platform.

When I layered the background panel on top of the card base, it didn’t have quite the effect that I wanted, so I tore the four sides randomly, and inked with black ink.  I used several pieces of scrap card stock, glued them together, and then glued to the back of the background to raise it up off the card base.  I used scrap card stock because the book page needed more support than I felt foam tape would give.  Once this panel was in place on the card base, I decided on placement of the flower, leaves, and sentiment.  I used foam tape behind the flower, and tucked the leaves behind the flower, and then glued the sentiment in place.

Card 2: this card uses two types of recycled materials - cardboard and book pages.  I really enjoyed making this card because I used some mixed media techniques as well as the wonderful techniques I’ve been learning from my Altenew courses and felt like I was managing to blend two of my creative loves into one project.  

The cardboard was used for the base of my card.  I peeled off the top layer of most of the cardboard to reveal the corrugated ridges underneath - there is great hidden texture and dimension under that smooth top layer!  Then I dry brushed the panel with heavy gesso to lighten the color of the cardboard and set it aside to dry while I worked on the floral elements and sentiment.

I used the Fragrant Peony Layering Die Set to once again cut two layers of blooms and leaves - but this time I used both sizes of the flowers.  I layered like to like for each petal set and leaf set for stability, and then used my Fresh Dye Ink Pads to color blend the blooms and leaves.  I remembered the stenciling technique that Jennifer McGuire used in her class during the Secret Garden Weekend, and decided to dress my flowers up a little for this card, using one of the stencils from the Fresh Flower Bed Layering Stencil to add a surprise pop of color to the flower petals.  I also used the Glitter Modge Podge to enhance the centers of the flowers.  

Pro Tip: it is probably best not to use the Altenew Ultra Sticky Grid Mat when color blending old book pages.  Sometimes the petals can stick too well and leave parts of the page behind on the mat, weakening your die cut results.

Next, I die cut the sentiment and shadow using white card stock for the sentiment and black for the shadow.  Then I rubbed gold Luster Wax Paste onto the sentiment, and distressed that with touches of black ink to dull down the gold just a bit.  I cut the cardboard panel down to 5.5 x 4.25 and layered all of the elements and glued in place.  

And then things got just a little crazy.  I decided NOT to glue the panel onto a card base.  Instead, I cut a long, fairly thin strip (about one and a half to two inches wide), and folded it to make a very lopsided Z shape, and glued it onto the back of the card to use like an easel.  This way, the recipient can place the card upright in her desk at work or on a shelf at home if she chooses.

Pro Tip: cards don’t always have to be the standard card form.  It is ok to try something new to you.  Be creative!  It’s fun!

Card 3: for this card, I decided to experiment again with canvas material.  I tore a larger than card-sized piece of canvas so that I could rag up the edges, and ran it through the Masonry Embossing folder.  Then I cut a piece of two-sided adhesive paper and affixed to the back of the canvas.  Then I placed my canvas onto my card base, making sure that the fabric was centered on the card base, so that all the fringe was hanging off the sides of the card.  Now the Masonry Embossing Folder gave the canvas some great dimension, but it did not stand out quite as much as I wanted.  So I squished Black Soot Distress Oxide Ink onto my mat, spritzed with water, and used a tiny paint brush to add some shadows to the bricks.

While the painted ink was drying, I cut two of the larger Fragrant Peony Flowers, one from white card stock and two from book pages and did the same for the leaves - one from white card stock and two from book pages.  I layered each of the book page die cuts together for strength before I inked and created my flowers.  Once I had inked all of the die cuts, I assembled the flowers and leaves onto the card panel, popping up the flowers with foam tape.  I stamped a simple sentiment from the Heartfelt Sentiments Stamp Set onto a scrap of light brown card stock and placed that below the floral arrangement.

Pro Tip: ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS be sure to READ the pages you plan to create your die cuts from!  I cannot emphasize this enough!  This probably should have been the first Pro Tip I gave for this set of cards.  But I thought it would be more fun to wait and see if I got any gasps!  LOL!  Carefully read your pages, making sure to be on the lookout for anything vulgar or offensive.  I once spent hours and hours hand cutting and rolling petals from an old book, adding color, and gluing together what I thought was a most beautiful flower.  I posted it to Instagram, and a very dear friend quickly messaged me to let me know there was a VERY visible curse word front and center of one of the petals!  Check and re-check!

Card 4: this card was inspired by a paper weaving technique I watched on YouTube by Wendy Lee - CreativeleeYours.  To create this card, I cut a card panel down to 5.25 x 4 inches.  Then I selected a pale pink sheet of wrapping tissue and crumpled it up to texturize it.  I spread glue onto the card panel and then carefully patted down the tissue paper into the glue.  I folded the edges over and then glued them down to the back of the panel.  This was my second attempt - for the first one, I used two-sided adhesive, but it changed the color of the tissue slightly, making it dull, so I ditched that piece and made another.

Pro Tip: don’t be afraid to redo elements of your cards if you don’t like your initial results.  Remember - it’s JUST paper!

Next I cut 12 weaving strips from white card stock.  I tried to cut them all a quarter of an inch wide - if you measure them, I may not be exact.  But that’s ok - it’s the effect that I was after.  Each strip is two pieces glued together.  Then I played around with where I wanted the strips to be placed, finally settling on a corner to corner arrangement.  I glued the ends of three strips to one corner, and then began weaving the other three from another corner.  After I got all six strips woven, I worked on creating space between the unglued pieces until I was happy with how they looked, and then glued all the edges down.  I then turned the panel over and trimmed off the excess strips.

Once again using the Fragrant Peony Layering Die Set, I cut a large flower from Altenew Glitter Card Stock.  Then I used ink to gently add color to the glitter stock, and made sure to darken the edges of the petals.  Then I layered that up and glued the flower to the strips using foam tape.  For the sentiment, I used a scrap piece of the glitter card stock to cut my sentiment.  Then I cut the shadow from vellum.  I inked the glitter card stock with two different inks to give the sentiment a sort of ombré effect and layered it onto the vellum.  To bring some snap to the sentiment, I used some textured yarn that was in my stash that almost exactly matched the blue of the flower and added silver metallic threads to give a little more bling to the sentiment.  The yarn and thread is held in place behind the sentiment with foam tape carefully added to the back of the vellum shadow.

Pro Tip: use all of the artsy things you have tucked away in your stash - cards don't have to be made just from paper and inks.

Card 5: for this card, I used another piece of pink tissue and distressed it by crumpling it and then spraying with lots of different sprays and painted with mica powders to make it multi-colored and yet still allow the pink tissue to peek through.  After the sprays dried, I set them with hair spray so that the micas would not rub off of the panel.  I glued that to a 5.25 x 4 inch card panel following the same steps as I did for Card 4, and pulled the excess tissue to the back and glued in place.  Then I distressed the edges of the panel with black ink.  I used the Fragrant Peony Layering Die Set again and cut two layers from book pages, and glued the pieces together.  For this flower, I decided to lightly ink only the edges of the petals and the center piece of the flower.  Then I painted all of the pieces of the flower and the leaves with Glitter Modge Podge and set them aside to dry.

When the floral elements were dry, I played with placement on the tissue panel.  But the flower and leaves just did not fill the panel as much as I wanted.  I thought that another book page flower or book page leaves would be too much, so I decided to cut some leafy springs from vellum using the Fresh Flowers Die Set from the Secret Garden Retreat.  I placed these behind the book page elements, and allowed them to spread across the card front.  The sentiment was stamped with the Teal Tempest ink onto a craft card stock scrap and fussy cut.  

I layered the panel onto a white card base, but it lacked punch.  So I decided to use a distressed piece of packing paper that I had left over from making the men’s card set.  The piece had some of the same coppery blends as in the pink tissue panel so I thought that would be a good match.  I dragged my Black Soot distress oxide ink around the edges of this and then glued it down to my card base and centered the tissue panel on top to complete the card.

Pro Tip: don’t be totally married to an idea.  Sometimes that idea can be enhanced by adding something you had not intended to use.

Creating the Packaging: For the packaging of this card set, I made another box from black card stock based on the video made by the Serene Stamper.  This gives a sense of cohesion between the two card sets that wasn’t really necessary but made me happy!  LOL

Next I glued two layers of book pages together, creating several sets to embellish the front and side panels and top of my box.  I dry brushed the pages with heavy gesso to knock back the text of the pages.  When this was dry, I used my Faber-Castelle Gelattos to swarp (that IS a word in the South - it means to slather) colors onto the gessoed pages.  Then I took a damp baby wipe and smoothed out and blended the Gelatto colors.

The next layer in the panels was created by cutting two pieces of card stock using the Curtain Leaves Cover Die.  I glued these pieces together to create a stencil.  Once I had my stencil made, I layered it over the book pages and used an old credit card to pull gold metallic acrylic ink down to create dimension and yet not completely cover the gesso and Gelatto work that I had done previously.

Once I had the box made and my decorative panels were made, it was time to cut down the panels and glue them to the box.  (Remember that Pro Tip I gave you from the men’s box - well, I forgot to follow that!)

I got the front, side, back, and top panels glued on, but didn’t want to just use full strips on the box lid edges.  So I tore down some of the book page panels into creative strips and used those to decorate the lid flaps.  

There were two book page flowers left over from my cards.  So I decided to place one in the upper corner of the box lid for some surprise decoration and this packaging told me that it was complete.

Pro Tip: sometimes a piece that you are working on will speak to you (figuratively, not literally).  Listen when that happens.  That little voice can lead you to some interesting and creative places if you will let it.

Thank you so much for going on this Altenew Challenge Journey with me!  I hope that you enjoyed learning about my creative journey and process - even better, I hope you have been inspired.  That would just be the icing on top of the cake!