VanGoghChica Studio

  When I first started making cards, it was all I could think of to find pretty paper and an interesting stamp to ink a pretty  card. Hey, we all start somewhere. Nowadays, I like more interesting designs and I love creating eye catching backgrounds. This tutorial shows you how to create a background of falling ombre colored flowers.  Supplies Altenew white cardstock Altenew Nostalgic Florals outline stamp set Altenew Shades of Purple fresh dye ink set Altenew pure white embossing powder Altenew blending brushes  (You will need four) Altenew glue tape Altenew foam tape Altenew clear sequins Die cutting machine Heating tool Washi tape Vellum (or tracing paper) Cornstarch Cute an A2 (4.25"X5.5") folding card out of white card stock. Also cut a slightly bigger  (approximately 1/8"  bigger on each side) piece of card stock (any color). Select the single blossom stamp and die from your Nostalgic Floral set and begin making your stencil. To do this, you will cut...

A challenge I completed 1/3 of the way through my AECP course involved making ten cards and the boxes packaging the two sets (I present an overview of the sets in the previous post). This post will list supplies needed for these cards and packaging. I will also highlight key parts of the assembly.  And, finally, I will do a how-to on one pair of men's and women's card.  Here, I am showing both sets packaged in their own boxes. Then follows a photo of the women's set and then a photo of the men's set follows. Altenew's  white cardstock , glue tape ,  Honeycomb Haven  Craft Your Life set,  and  Summer Afternoon fresh dye mini ink set were used on all cards. Other products used in different cards: Die cutting machine Altenew green card stock Altenew satin gold sequins Altenew You Matter die set Altenew's die set from the Craft Your Life Project Kit: Illuminated Scenes Altenew fresh dye ink in olive  and grass field   Altenew pigment ink in perm...

Note: I am writing a separate post on the process of creating these  cards. This post looks at the design of the project as a whole. My teacher in the Altenew Educator Card Making (AECP) Program, Erum Tasneem , issued me a challenge one third of the way through the program. The challenge consists of designing two sets of cards drawing on similar motifs and theme, but making one for men and the other for women.  I need to incorporate and explain three technical components I learned so far. These his and hers sets were to be packaged creatively and I should incorporate the use of at least one recycled item in the packaging. Everything was to be hand made. If you ask most people what a his and hers set means, the majority would come up with similar characteristics: durable vs delicate, plain vs frilly, bold vs soft, flowery vs architectural, you get the idea.  Now, I know exactly what my teacher meant. On a personal level, I lean towards traditional feminine aesthetics. But ...

This was a very fun card to make. I used stamps and dies from different sets to compose this scene. And my cat, Bimini, wanted in on it so she made an appearance in my card. Rarely do I have the luxury to buy complete sets that include rubber stamps, dies and stencils. Those large sets tend to include a couple complete scenarios that you can choose from.  Most of us have smaller sets; either single rubber stamp elements or just die cut sets. It is up to us to put these together to create a nice scene. I used four sets to stage this whimsical scene of my cat getting into mischief. The hanging shelves were one set of rubber stamps. The planters with greenery was another set. My cat came from a die set and the champagne glasses came from yet another set. Aside from visualizing how different elements will fit together, you will need to plan carefully. Work from the bottom up; so that the items further back are inked or glued first. Aside from overlapping elements, light shading adds to...

  In this Clean and Simple (CAS) cardmaking tutorial, I share a fun geometric card design suitable for anyone who is a no-frills type of person. Yes, cardmaking does include many floral designs, but that is not all we can make. If you want to make your card along with me, watch my You Tube video , complete with a blooper right at the end! 👉 The blooper shows up around the 27-minute mark, so you can either craft along with me as I stamp and assemble my card or skip ahead for a laugh. I f you enjoy DIY cardmaking, stamping, or beginner-friendly handmade card tutorials, this video is for you! Don’t forget to like, comment, and subscribe to help my channel grow—I’d love to connect with fellow crafters. Supplies Altenew's Doodled Triangles Stamp set Altenew's pigment ink in Permanent Black Fresh dye in in  Aqualicious ,  Warm Sunshine ,  Frayed Leaf , Sweet Leaf , Limestone Altenew white card stock First you are going to cut and fold your white card stock into a fold-ope...

This is my third card that I have made to illustrate how I use vellum (tracing paper) in my die cutting machines for an airy effect on my cards. And what better imagery than a hot air balloon for airiness. In my last post, I addressed the mistake of not having a strong focal point with my design. Wouldn't you know it, I made the same mistake with my second card. D'oh! In an effort to correct it,  I colored in my sentiment with marker, as well as as my vellum cut out butterflies. But the look was muddled up close. So, onto card number three. My sailing balloon theme is perfect for incorporating vellum. the sheer paper brings to life the balloon's fabric. Supplies Altenew's Up and Away bundle of stamp, dies and stencils Altenew's fresh dye inks in aqualicious , caramel toffee , mocha ,  crimson  and ultramarine Altenew's  white card stock   Altenew's white embossing powder Embossing ink Heat tool Vellum or tracing paper Die cutting machine Glue  Cut an A2...

I achingly remember the crisp autumn colors of Fall in Louisville (my home town). Living in San Francisco for 13 years and now South Florida since 2000; I have long missed that foilage. As well as bonfires, frosty breath and well worn boots. That was my favorite season. So, I was eager to use my leaves cover die. I have several leaf themed dies. It's only natural as I am such a tree lover. I conjured up the feeling of dry, jewel toned leaves by preparing card stock ahead of time. The night before, I sprayed them with vibrant Fall pigments by Lindy's Gang. This paper would be for the central two leaves on my cover. For a video on this whole process, check out my video here . I also painted swathes of Autumn colored Dylusian paints onto another card stock sheet. My thinking was that the Dylusian colors would shine through the die cut windows around the perimeter of my card front.  Then, I individually tiled the leave's tiny components into the two central leaf windows. I  th...

  A favorite past time for adults to relax with is coloring. In this tutorial, I will show you how to use your stamping ink pad to paint watercolor on your cards. And it is just like coloring in that you can easily brush on washes of color with three simple tools - a paintbrush, a paper towel and water. If you would like to see the accompanying video on how to achieve this look, click here .  Supplies Altenew's Nostalgic Florals stamp  and die set White and light orange card stock Altenew's Satin Gold Sequins Altenew's Summer Afternoon fresh dye ink mini set Altenew's Coffee Break fresh dye ink mini set Altenew's Fresh Dye Ink in Grass Field   Altenew's Crisp Inks in  Parrot Altenew's gluetape Liquid glue Altenew's watercolor brush Paper towels Water spritzer Stamp a 4"X5.25" card stock rectangle with your flower image and sentiment. Cut a 4.25"X5.5" yellow card stockout rectangle. Glue the yellow card stock to the front of your A2 si...

  While those of us who love, love, love Halloween are already crafting cards for our holiday, my topic of masks today does  not refer to those kinds of masks we hide behind at Halloween. I am talking about masks in card making, which conceal a portion of your card so that ink or blending done over that area does not take to the portion covered. This creates depth and a natural look to your composition.  When crafting a mask, you can use specialty masking paper, masking fluid or even a stencil. But I chose to simply stamp and cut out the image I wanted to cover from a post-it. Here, you can see I stamped a monstera leaf, then I stamped and cut out the same image  from a post-it and placed that post-it over my initially stamped image. My next stamped image will overlap the first one and appear partially hidden, under the first stamped image.   Now, do not be scared by my supplies list. I used quite a bit for this card, mainly different inks. You can streaml...