Masculine Card Designs: AECP Level 2 Challenge | Diseños de Tarjetas Masculinas: Desafío AECP Nivel 2

English below • Español más abajo


Artist's Note: All artwork and card photographs shown are my original creations. AI may be used to stage photos of my work—never to create the artwork itself.

I am now 2/3 of the way through Altenew's Educator Certification Program (AECP). Having 20 classes under my belt, I am now completing a challenge to submit for review, in order to proceed to Level 3. Once approved, I will be on my final leg of the program. I am so excited to be glimpsing the finish line.

I have learned so much and found a talented and generous community of fellow card makers. Altenew's certification program has given me so much more than simply card making tutorials. I am blessed to count it as one of my life's pleasures.

My challenge was to create four masculine themed cards, each for specific occasions and one card using repurposed (recycled) materials. I was also asked to choose three of my favorite design elements studied in Level 1 and 2 classes to highlight and discuss. And, finally, I should present one step by step tutorial.

This challenge involves many aspects to discuss. Therefore, I divided it into two bilingual posts: this post will be for the four masculine cards and my three design elements that I favor. 

The second bilingual post will be my step-by-step tutorial for my card made using recycled materials. Such tutorials contain a comprehensive supply list. This post about my four masculine cards will not offer the detailed supply list, but rather will include the "main component" supplies for each of my masculine cards. This will steer you to the few items that were central and totally unique to each of these four cards.

Now, I have to tell you, this challenge really put me through changes. I make beautiful designs, without a forethought gendered specificity. Also, some of my favorite design elements are not traditionally considered "masculine". But, just as life always surprises me, I found my niche in the mainstream masculine aesthetic!

Since I felt flummoxed by the gender specific part of the challenge, I started by simply googling "masculine characteristics in greeting cards". My heart sank a bit as what kept coming up was a version of "Masculine greeting cards typically feature bold and clean layouts, (more linear than curves) earthy or dark color palettes, and themes centered around nature, sports, or everyday hobbies". Other characteristics included an avoidance of "too much" sentimentality and bling. My art style does not naturally fit within those parameters.

One of my favorite design elements IS bling (or as I say in my professional voice: embellishments). Not to worry, as I reflected on these guidelines, I realized that it is my artistic interpretation of them that create my personal aesthetic. I found that I definitely could work within those guidelines; I may just stretch them a bit here and there.

I am embarrassed to admit that it took me a month of contemplating this challenge to feel I could authentically deliver. Of course, I could have just turned in what I knew would check all the boxes; that would have been easy. Just get through the assignment; take the short cut. But that is not why I create; and that is not the aim of this program. I am studying to find and express my unique design style. Armed with technical expertise, I want to design cards that carry my unique aesthetic within the paper-crafting and card making community.

 

So, here we go. My four masculine cards integrate linear and ordered designs. This is why I incorporated strong geometric shapes in two of the four. This is seen in the geometric repetition used in my Celebrate "birthday" (sentiment stamped within) card.

The linear repetition in the circle grid of my Hello Sunshine "thinking of you" card was a fun use of a cover die I bought a year ago and had never used. I had come to see this cover die as limiting. Now I see that it is how I treat the underlying surface and what I place on top of the grid that actually invites the viewer into a much more nuanced and interactive viewing.

Since our eyes likes to reduce complexity to familiarity. I echoed the circular repetitions by choosing my focal points to be sunglasses. The lenses of the sunglasses are not actual spherical shapes; but they have enough curve and "roundness" to recall the circles in the underlying grid.

My "anniversary" (sentiment stamped inside the card) Come Fly with Me card does use repetitive shapes in the hot air balloon. The background sky and hills are repetitive in nature but more organically shaped. While  traditional masculine designs are said to be linear over organic, I think these large repeating swathes of colors do evoke stripes.

I did have to give a nod to my preference for organic line in my "encouragement" Toucan Do It! card. However, I balanced the overall organic background of curving lines with  thick perpendicular bars.

Other masculine design elements seen in this card collection are bold designs and strong color palettes. I do not consider myself meek. So it is not surprising that my designs can be seen as emerging rather than shrinking. 

Also, instead of framing a central image with blank space, I tend to work the paper surface right up to the edges. (I think this is a way my background as a painter influences my card-making.) My color choices are usually bold as well; I often choose vibrant color palettes.

Now this is where my three preferred design elements intersect with the masculine theme. And this is also where my interpretation of the general rules about masculine aesthetics come into play.

As I have already mentioned, one of my preferred design elements is embellishment and shine. Carisa Wiley's Altenew Academy class "Let it Shine" was right up my alley. And it is a great class if you are a bit shy with adding bling to your creations.

Mainstream masculinity does not embrace sparkle and flourishes.  So I eschewed rhinestones and definitely no embellishments in soft pastel colors.  Choosing enamel dots in a matte metallic for "Celebrate" gave me the little bit of specialness I wanted, but in an earthy, subdued way. 

I used a metallic gold pigment ink as background for Celebrate and metallic watercolors for  the bottom layer of my Hello Sunshine card. Metallics are my favorite earth tone.

I also incorporated small amounts of glitter paper either as as outlines in the Come Fly With Me card or as a bold perpendicular counterbalance in my  Toucan Do It card. These glitter accents are strong and decisive rather than delicate glittery highlights painted on here and there with a small brush.

In my Hello Sunshine card,  I leaned into the shine element even further by making the lenses of my sunglasses reflective. Reflective sunglasses often call up an image of a man in uniform; a common masculine symbol.  Yet I playfully made one of the rims a Miami aqua color. You don't see that with uniforms, lol.

That touch of whimsy brings me to my other two favorite design elements: unexpected compositions and creative twists, inspired by Terese Calvird's With a Twist class, and expressive use of color, explored in her Color Your Day class. I love playfulness and surprises in my compositions. I do this with the images I choose, unusual compositions and color palettes and some quirkiness: evidenced by the mild monotone of the couple in my Come Fly with Me anniversary card and balancing an overwhelming organic flow of purple with an off-center cross in a complimentary color in my Toucan Do it!.

So, I pretty much relied on gold, silver and bronze metallics for my masculine earth tones in all my cards. But some of the boldness called for in masculine compositions came with my bold use of vibrant colors.

I made my jungle leaves in my Toucan Do It! a monochromatic study in purples and contrasted that with the glitter paper orange slashes of color. I broke up the gold dominance of Celebrate with geometric repetitions in primary and secondary colors.

My Hello Sunshine card virtually had a two-color color palette two: metallics and undiluted yellow. I wanted the viewer to conjure up the feeling of stepping out into a hot Florida summer afternoon.  I live in sub-tropical South Florida, and the the intense sun and heat can really pack a punch. 

I used a bland light green to reference the snuggling couple in my Come Fly With Me card. That alone makes them almost appear as an afterthought. This was playing with the conventional masculine aesthetic that warns against much sentimentality. I thought this ghostly illustration was a little fun, since it is an anniversary card (sentiment on inside). But this small humor on my part still works with the theme of romance: let's have adventures together... the hot air balloon offers daring escapes among the clouds. And the pale, monotone couple acts as a foil for the balloon's striped multicolored banding and rolling clouds and hills. Those become the focus for richly saturated color.

So there you have it. It took a while to envision but I am happy with my four masculine cards. Below you will find the supply links for the key components of each card that made them unique from one another. I do get an affiliate commission if you purchase anything from my blog links, so I would be grateful if you use those links if you want to purchase any of the Altenew items I list.

Oh, and please continue reading into the next post if you want to see how I used recycled materials to create this fruit bowl 'For you’ card. 

• My Celebrate birthday card used Altenew's  Antique Gold Pigment Ink , the beautiful and intricate Dodec Cover Die and Light Gold Enamel Dots.
• My Hello Sunshine card used  Altenew's Halftone Cover Die, Metallic Watercolor set and Mini Delight Stylish Shades Stamp and Die set.
• My Come Fly with Me card used Altenew's Up and Away stamp, die and stencil bundle and Brilliant Waves stencil.
• My Toucan Do It! card used Craft Your Life Tropical Vibes

Happy crafting.

English above• Español más abajo

Nota de la artista: Todas las obras de arte y las fotografías de las tarjetas que aparecen aquí son creaciones originales mías. Es posible que utilice inteligencia artificial para preparar la presentación fotográfica de mis trabajos, pero nunca para crear las obras de arte en sí.

Ya he completado dos tercios del Programa de Certificación de Educadores de Altenew (AECP). Después de haber cursado 20 clases, ahora estoy terminando un proyecto que debo presentar para su evaluación antes de pasar al Nivel 3. Una vez aprobado, entraré en la última etapa del programa. ¡Me emociona muchísimo comenzar a vislumbrar la meta!

He aprendido tanto y he encontrado una comunidad de artistas de tarjetas increíblemente talentosa y generosa. El programa de certificación de Altenew me ha ofrecido mucho más que simples tutoriales de tarjetería. Me siento afortunada de poder contar esta experiencia entre los grandes placeres de mi vida.

Mi desafío consistía en crear cuatro tarjetas de temática masculina, cada una destinada a una ocasión específica, y una quinta tarjeta utilizando materiales reutilizados o reciclados. También debía seleccionar tres de mis elementos de diseño favoritos, estudiados en las clases de los Niveles 1 y 2, para destacarlos y comentarlos. Finalmente, tenía que presentar un tutorial paso a paso.

Este desafío abarca muchos aspectos que merecen explicarse. Por eso decidí dividirlo en dos publicaciones bilingües. En esta primera publicación hablaré de las cuatro tarjetas masculinas y de mis tres elementos de diseño preferidos.

La segunda publicación bilingüe incluirá mi tutorial paso a paso para crear una tarjeta con materiales reciclados. Este tipo de tutorial requiere una lista completa de materiales. En cambio, en esta publicación sobre mis cuatro tarjetas masculinas, no ofreceré una lista detallada, sino los materiales principales utilizados en cada una. Así podrán identificar fácilmente los productos esenciales que hacen que estas cuatro tarjetas sean únicas.

Ahora bien, tengo que confesarles algo: ¡este desafío me hizo pasar por todo un proceso de transformación! Yo creo diseños hermosos sin pensar de antemano en un género específico. Además, algunos de mis elementos de diseño favoritos no se consideran tradicionalmente «masculinos». Pero, como tantas veces ocurre en la vida, terminé encontrando mi propio espacio dentro de la estética masculina convencional.

Como la parte del desafío relacionada con el género me tenía bastante desconcertada, comencé simplemente buscando en Google "características masculinas en las tarjetas de felicitación". Se me cayó un poco el alma a los pies cuando encontré repetidamente versiones de esta descripción: "Las tarjetas masculinas suelen presentar composiciones atrevidas y limpias, con más líneas rectas que curvas, paletas de colores terrosos u oscuros y temas relacionados con la naturaleza, los deportes o los pasatiempos cotidianos". Otras características incluían evitar "demasiado» sentimentalismo y los adornos brillantes." Mi estilo artístico no encaja naturalmente dentro de esos parámetros.

¡Uno de mis elementos de diseño favoritos ES precisamente el brillo y los adornos! (O, como diría con mi voz profesional: los elementos decorativos). Pero no había por qué preocuparse. Al reflexionar sobre estas pautas, comprendí que es mi interpretación artística de ellas lo que crea mi estética personal. Descubrí que definitivamente podía trabajar dentro de esos parámetros, aunque quizá los estirara un poquito aquí y allá.

Me da algo de vergüenza admitir que pasé un mes entero reflexionando sobre este desafío antes de sentir que podía presentar un trabajo auténticamente mío. Por supuesto, podría haber entregado algo que sabía que cumpliría con todos los requisitos. Eso habría sido fácil. Simplemente terminar la tarea y tomar el camino más corto.

Pero esa no es la razón por la que creo arte, ni tampoco es el propósito de este programa. Estoy estudiando para descubrir y expresar mi propio estilo de diseño. Con los conocimientos técnicos necesarios, quiero crear tarjetas que reflejen mi estética personal dentro de la comunidad de las manualidades con papel y la tarjetería.

Así que, ¡manos a la obra! Mis cuatro tarjetas masculinas incorporan diseños lineales y ordenados. Por eso utilicé formas geométricas marcadas en dos de ellas. Esto se puede apreciar en la repetición geométrica de mi tarjeta de cumpleaños Celebrate, cuyo mensaje de felicitación está estampado en el interior.

La repetición lineal de los círculos en la cuadrícula de mi tarjeta Hello Sunshine, creada para expresar "estoy pensando en ti", fue una oportunidad divertida de utilizar un troquel de fondo que había comprado hacía un año y que nunca había usado. 

Había llegado a considerar ese troquel bastante limitante. Ahora comprendo que es el tratamiento de la superficie que se encuentra debajo y lo que coloco encima de la cuadrícula lo que invita al espectador a una experiencia visual mucho más matizada e interactiva.

Como nuestros ojos tienden a simplificar la complejidad buscando formas familiares, decidí repetir visualmente los círculos eligiendo unas gafas de sol como punto focal. Los lentes de las gafas no son círculos perfectos, pero tienen suficientes curvas y redondez para recordar los círculos de la cuadrícula que se encuentra debajo.

Mi tarjeta de aniversario Come Fly with Me, cuyo mensaje está estampado en el interior, también utiliza formas repetitivas en el globo aerostático.

El cielo y las colinas del fondo presentan repeticiones más orgánicas. Aunque se dice que los diseños masculinos tradicionales favorecen las líneas rectas sobre las formas orgánicas, creo que estas grandes franjas de color evocan visualmente las rayas.

Tuve que hacer una pequeña concesión a mi preferencia por las líneas orgánicas en mi tarjeta de ánimo Toucan Do It!. Sin embargo, equilibré el fondo predominantemente orgánico, lleno de líneas curvas, con gruesas franjas perpendiculares.

Otros elementos asociados con el diseño masculino que aparecen en esta colección son las composiciones audaces y las paletas de colores intensos.

No me considero precisamente una persona tímida o apocada. Por eso no sorprende que mis diseños parezcan expandirse en lugar de retraerse.

Además, en vez de enmarcar una imagen central dejando espacios vacíos alrededor, suelo trabajar toda la superficie del papel hasta llegar a los bordes. (Creo que esta es una de las maneras en que mi formación como pintora influye en mi tarjetería). Mis elecciones de color también suelen ser atrevidas; frecuentemente prefiero paletas vibrantes.

Y aquí es donde mis tres elementos de diseño favoritos se cruzan con la temática masculina. También es donde entra en juego mi interpretación de las reglas generales de la estética masculina. Como ya mencioné, uno de mis elementos preferidos son los adornos y el brillo. La clase de Carisa Wiley, Let It Shine, de Altenew Academy, ¡me vino como anillo al dedo! También es una excelente clase para quienes sienten cierta timidez a la hora de añadir brillo y elementos decorativos a sus creaciones.

La masculinidad convencional no suele asociarse con los destellos y los adornos elaborados. Por eso prescindí de los cristales de imitación y, definitivamente, de los adornos en suaves colores pastel. Elegí pequeños puntos decorativos esmaltados con acabado metálico mate para Celebrate. Así conseguí ese toque especial que buscaba, pero de una manera más terrosa y discreta.

También utilicé tinta pigmentada dorada metálica para el fondo de Celebrate y acuarelas metálicas para la capa inferior de mi tarjeta Hello Sunshine. Los tonos metálicos son mis colores tierra favoritos.

Incorporé pequeñas cantidades de papel con purpurina, ya fuera para delinear elementos de Come Fly with Me o para crear un fuerte contrapeso perpendicular en mi tarjeta Toucan Do It!. Estos detalles brillantes son firmes y decididos, en lugar de delicados reflejos de purpurina aplicados aquí y allá con un pincel pequeño.

En mi tarjeta Hello Sunshine, llevé el brillo un paso más allá al crear lentes reflectantes para las gafas de sol. Las gafas de sol reflectantes suelen evocar la imagen de un hombre uniformado, un símbolo masculino bastante común. Sin embargo, juguetonamente hice una de las monturas de color aguamarina, muy al estilo de Miami. ¡Eso no se ve mucho en los uniformes, jajaja!

Ese toque de fantasía y humor me lleva a mis otros dos elementos de diseño favoritos: las composiciones inesperadas y los giros creativos, inspirados en la clase With a Twist de Terese Calvird, y el uso expresivo del color, explorado en su clase Color Your Day.

Me encantan los elementos juguetones y las sorpresas en mis composiciones. Los incorporo mediante las imágenes que elijo, las composiciones y paletas de colores poco convencionales y ciertos detalles extravagantes. Esto se aprecia en la pareja representada en tonos suaves y casi monocromáticos en mi tarjeta de aniversario Come Fly with Me, así como en el equilibrio entre la exuberante corriente orgánica de tonos morados y una cruz descentrada de color complementario en Toucan Do It!. En resumen, recurrí principalmente a los tonos metálicos dorados, plateados y bronce para representar los colores tierra asociados con la estética masculina en todas mis tarjetas.

Pero parte de la fuerza visual que se espera de las composiciones masculinas también surgió de mi uso atrevido de colores vibrantes.

Convertí las hojas selváticas de mi tarjeta Toucan Do It! en un estudio monocromático de tonos morados, contrastándolas con llamativas franjas anaranjadas de papel con purpurina.

En Celebrate, interrumpí el predominio del dorado mediante repeticiones geométricas en colores primarios y secundarios.

Mi tarjeta Hello Sunshine prácticamente tenía una paleta de solo dos colores: tonos metálicos y amarillo puro e intenso. Quería que quien la observara evocara la sensación de salir al exterior durante una calurosa tarde de verano en Florida. Vivo en el sur subtropical de Florida, donde el sol intenso y el calor pueden golpearte con una fuerza impresionante.

Utilicé un verde pálido y apagado para representar a la pareja abrazada en Come Fly with Me. Ese color, por sí solo, hace que casi parezcan una ocurrencia de último momento. Estaba jugando con la estética masculina convencional, que aconseja evitar el exceso de sentimentalismo.

Me pareció divertido representar a la pareja de una manera casi fantasmal, especialmente porque se trata de una tarjeta de aniversario, con el mensaje romántico en su interior. Pero este pequeño toque de humor también funciona con el tema del romance: vivamos aventuras juntos... El globo aerostático nos ofrece atrevidas escapadas entre las nubes. Y la pareja, pálida y casi monocromática, sirve de contraste frente a las franjas multicolores del globo, las nubes ondulantes y las colinas. Estos elementos se convierten en el centro de atención gracias a sus colores intensamente saturados.

¡Y ahí lo tienen! Me tomó bastante tiempo imaginar cómo quería abordar este desafío, pero estoy contenta con mis cuatro tarjetas masculinas. A continuación encontrarán los enlaces a los materiales principales de cada tarjeta, aquellos componentes que las hacen diferentes entre sí. Recibo una comisión de afiliada si realizan compras a través de los enlaces de mi blog. Por eso, les agradecería mucho que utilizaran esos enlaces si desean adquirir alguno de los productos Altenew que menciono.

¡Ah! Y no olviden continuar leyendo la siguiente publicación si quieren descubrir cómo utilicé materiales reciclados para crear esta tarjeta For You, con su frutero lleno de color.

Materiales principales de las cuatro tarjetas:

• Celebrate (cumpleaños): Utilicé la tinta pigmentada Antique Gold Pigment Ink de Altenew, el hermoso e intrincado troquel de fondo Dodec Cover Die y los puntos decorativos Light Gold Enamel Dots.

• Hello Sunshine (pensando en ti): Utilicé el troquel de fondo Halftone Cover Die, el juego de acuarelas Metallic Watercolor Set y el conjunto de sellos y troqueles Mini Delight Stylish Shades Stamp and Die Set, todos de Altenew.

• Come Fly with Me (aniversario): Utilicé el conjunto Up and Away Stamp, Die and Stencil Bundle y la plantilla Brilliant Waves Stencil de Altenew.

• Toucan Do It! (ánimo): Utilicé el conjunto Craft Your Life Tropical Vibes de Altenew.

¡Que disfruten creando!

Creating Victorian Inspired Floral Cards with "The Drawing Room"

These two Victorian-inspired cards were created with Altenew's The Drawing Room bundled kit.

I really love this set. So many period tidbits to mix and create different tableaus. I am dying to make a card with the drawing room furniture. The card fronts were so complete in my mind,  I chose to keep one card blank and include an embossed sentiment on the inside of the other card. 

The colorful, layered florals appear vibrant against the neutral backgrounds. I chose four different colors to stencil the flowers and four for the leaves. While this had potential to look like a paint store exploded, it all works because I kept the colors in the same color family and increased the saturation in fairly even levels. Big tip: you can let others do the work for you by purchasing color sets already assembled with these considerations in mind. If you do not have a pre-packaged color set, then you can will likely need to whip out your (two level) color wheel. Here's my supplies and the steps I used to create them. 

Supplies

• Altenew's The Drawing Room Craft Your Life kit
• Altenew's solar white cardstock
• Altenew's black cardstock
• Altenew's pigment ink Permanent Black 
  
• Altenew's crisp ink in Parrot
• Altenew's fresh dye ink in Bamboo, Olive, Just Green, Evergreen
• Altenew's mini cube ink sets in Chasing Shadows and Enchanted Garden
• Altenew's Instant Dimension Foam Tape 
  
  
  
• Altenew's blending brushes
• Double sided tape
• Die cutting machine
• Embossing powder
• Heat tool 

Optional: 

• Anti-static powder (I use corn starch)
• Washi tape

1. Cut and fold an A2 card (4.25"X5.5"), cut a piece of 4"x5.25" black cardstock and a piece of 3.75"X5" white cardstock. Set side.
2. On a separate piece of white cardstock, use the kit's layering guide to stencil the flowers and leaves. I find it helpful to use a blending brush for each color. If you plan on continuing making cards, it is a good idea to invest in several. It's not a good idea to use a damp brush (recently cleaned) to stamp a new color. It will majorly slow you down if you need to wash and dry brushes between colors. 
   
3. Using your die cutting machine, cut out the flowers with their leaves. I use low tack tape (washi tape) to keep my die in place while cutting.
4. Using the desired stencil on your 3.75"X5" piece of white cardstock, create your neutral background with your gray tones. I originally made the stenciled background gradient in color by using an ombre effect with my inking. This is seen in my supplies photo above. It looked unfinished, so I later changed it to the solid color background seen in final card. This kit provides many options to use for backgrounds; ranging from stamps, stencils and an embossing folder.
5. Assemble the pieces of the card. I used flat double sided tape to center glue the black cardstock over the card front. And I tried two different layering approaches with my two smaller pieces of white cardstock. On one, I centered the white panel over the black. And on the other I nestled the smaller white cardstock to the lower left, leaving more black edge around the top and right sides. This is evident in the supplies photo. However, again, I changed my mind and centered it. I like asymmetry and planned on adhering my flower at an edge with her leaves partially extending beyond the card. I felt that was enough asymmetry. 
   
   
   
6. Using the foam tape, adhere the flower onto the card. I placed it lower right, with a tiny bit of overhang.
7. I chose to include an embossed sentiment inside one of the cards. True to form, Altenew kept the fonts and the wording in keeping with the Victorian feel. I love their attention to details.

I hope you can see that even though one might have a step by step process in mind when creating, you are always tweaking and changing course. Even re-doing entire cards to get the desired one. Some of your best creations will be the result of happy accidents. Have fun with your artistry!

Drawing on vellum

I took a class with Marika Rahtu, in Altenew's Academy,  called Beautiful Details. Oh, how I loved her drawings on vellum and her pencil and marker shading. From the six lessons in her class, I made over 12 flowers until I felt I had one to two to use for these two cards. Part of the problem was that I was substituting some of her supplies and that made a difference. But part of the issue was my inexperience with working with vellum. That comes with time. And as I like to say, I have more time than money, so no worries. 

I was most happy with this wild western rose against a green frame. I ended up with several other roses drawn on vellum awaiting other projects. TIP: When I am setting out to make a card, I am now making several of the main design motifs so that after I finish one card, I have several design elements to use in other creative projects. It saves time to make several at the same time than only one design and card at a time. I save the extra design elements with the corresponding card making set which I keep in a flat storage bag. I guess this is only an aha! tip if you are really into card making, lol.

I have been missing in action for almost 2 months because I underwent a serious spinal crisis and had two cervical surgeries in March. I am recuperating with two neck braces and a walker but alas, I am only able to do my art or typing, etc., for half hour at a time. This is so frustrating as creating is healing for my soul and brings me so much happiness. But I am nothing if not tenacious.

So I aim to do one to two 1/2 hour sessions at my art table or computer a day however, since I have to do computer work just to manage my life, that leaves me working in tiny bits of time at my art table. It will get easier as I heal more. So, after two months, I am proudly, displaying my card, lol.

Supplies

• Altenew's Nostalgic Floral stamp and die set
• Altenew's stamps of sentiments from their Fruits and Flowers set (This is a wonderful bundled set to have but any sentiment you already have will suffice. Later, I will show a card with this complete set ;)
• Altenew's white cardstock
• Altenew's fresh dye ink in Evergreen
• Altenew's foam tape
• Altenew's glue (with needle nozzle)
• Green cardstock
• Vellum (you can substitute tracing paper in a pinch.)
• Cornstarch
• Embossing ink and clear embossing powder
• Heat tool
• Prismacolor pencils in chartreuse, lime green and olive green
• Alcohol markers in three shades of warm grey, light to dark. 
• Foam dots
• Clear drop embellishments 
  
  
  

1. Measure, cut and fold your cardstock for your A2 card (4.25"x5.5"). Cut the green panel to measure 4"x5", cut another white cardstock to 3.75"x5"and finally a white piece of cardstock to 2.5"x2.75". 
   
2. Center and adhere the green and larger white panel to your card front. Line your smaller piece of cardstock flush against the top left side of the white panel. I find that working asymmetry into a card creates visual interest.
3. Use cornstarch to brush a fine layer over vellum. Stamp your western rose onto your vellum with embossing ink.
   
   Sprinkle clear embossing power over the embossed ink. Then use your heat tool until the powder turns shiny. It may be difficult to see the clear embossed outline; good lighting helps tremendously.
4. Use lightest of your warm grey markers and begin shading in your rose. Do not outline shadows but rather lay swaths of color where you see shadows. Progressively shade in darker ares. You can use darker shades to delineate edges of the flower.

Use the rose die to cut out the flower

6. Adhere the flower to your card with small foam dots. I chose to cut off the leaves and use foam dots for the rose but flat glue dots to adhere the leaves. I felt showing the flower in two layers made the rose appear to flutter a little. 

7. My finishing touch was to add a tiny bit of embellishment. I chose iridescent drops that are flat on one side and convex on the other. They bring to mind raindrops.

This class was rich in lessons that taught me novel ways of drawing. I found it challenging and know that I will return to watch and work this class again in the future. I am far from Marika's skill with pen and marker drawing on vellum.  Also, I did not have some of the crucial supplies for several of her techniques, so that will also be remedied in the future. I have a feeling, this will be one of my toughest but one of my most favorite classes in the AECP (Altenew Educator Certification Program). 

Here is another card I made inspired by Marika's lessons. It features drawing over a stamped image with colored pencils. As an artist who has a strong hand in all my work, this suited my style more than the delicacy of drawing on vellum. 

Playing with alcohol markers

I like to keep my eyes and hands busy playing with beautiful  colors and shapes, even when relaxing. So it is no surprise that I enjoy coloring. I found a love of coloring when I was in hospital. And I continued with it when I got home.  I bought an inexpensive medium set of alcohol markers and now you can often find me coloring pages in front of the tv. And that satisfied me. That was the extent to which I used my alcohol markers. 

I had been hearing about alcohol inks and of course, I wanted to get my hands on few bottles of spray alcohol ink. But I told myself that I had many art supplies and was not sure I would get a lot of use with these sprays as they only work on non-porous surfaces; and I love working with papers or canvases. So I only explored my alcohol ink markers coloring adult coloring books.

Then I took a class with Sara Naumann called Magic Marker Techniques (offered through Altenew's Academy). And I learned I was sitting on those alcohol markers with a myopic eye. I learned I could use my alcohol markers to create beautiful effects on my cards. 

I created this simple flower card using those alcohol makers on metallic paper. While not totally non-porous, metallic card stock was a suitable enough non-porous surface. At first I was not keen with the effect I saw. But when it dried and I looked at it with fresh eyes, I saw a graceful speckled effect. I like it! 

Here is how I achieved that look.

Supplies

• 
  Altenew's Nostalgic Florals outline stamp and die set
• Altenew's permanent black pigment ink
• Altenew's solar white card stock
• Altenew's black card stock
• Altenew's ornate nesting die set
• Altenew's double sided tape, foam tape
• Altenew's permanent black pigment ink
• Altenew's scissors
• Metallic card stock
• Small spray bottle filled with rubbing alcohol
• Embossing ink and powder
• Embossing powder tool
• Heat tool
• Die cutting machine

Optional: Altenew's Stampwheel 2.0, Altenew's fine line brush

1. Cut and fold an A2 (4.25"X5.5") card and set aside.
2. 
   
   Using the largest of ornate nesting dies, cut out a large piece with your black card stock
3. Using the next smallest die (from the largest), cut out a piece with your white card stock.
4. Affix the large black nesting cut-out to the center of the front of your card. Then affix the white nesting cut-out centered onto that black background.
5. Prep your white card stock with an anti static medium. I use corn starch with an embossing powder tool. Stamp your selected sentiment with embossing ink. Then pour embossing powder over the ink. and shake off excess. You may need to repeat pouring powder to get complete coverage. If you find stray powder on your powder close to your design, use a fine line brush to brush stray powder away.
   
6. Use your heat tool to emboss the sentiment. Cut out the sentiment.
7. 
   Select alcohol markers in the desired colors for your flowers and leaves. Cover large areas (at least 4"X8") with your alcohol markers onto the metallic card stock. Since the alcohol makes the markers dry quickly, you will need to work fast. After you cover a large area with your colors, immediately spritz the area with your alcohol spray. I kept my spray around 6-8" from the metallic paper. The spritzed alcohol will react to your alcohol marker and create beading and movement of the pigment on the surface of your metallic paper. This effect is more dramatic if you use an even more non-porous surface, like a craft aluminum sheet of about 0.15 millimeter thick. You can find that in craft stores. Let dry thoroughly. I did around three passes of this process to get the effect I desired.
8. Now stamp your flowers and sentiment onto the metallic cardstock with the dried alcohol ink. Use the black permanent ink. Using the Stampwheel 2.0 helps me ensure I will have dark uniform outlines. 
9. Use your die cutting machine and dies to cut out the flowers from the inked metallic card stock. Use scissors to cut a framing piece to go under your sentiment.
10. Design the card layout and glue on your cut-outs. For visual interest I chose to incorporate heigh differences with foam tape for the larger flower and leaves. I also purposefully let my flower overlap the edge of the frames. I used flat double sided tape for the smaller flower and leaf. 
    
    
    
11. I made the sentiment really pop by foam taping both the white sentiment cut-out onto the metallic base cut-out and in turn, foam taping the entire sentiment onto the card.

The end result was highly dimensional card with unique inking. There are many points of interest on this card. What started as a simple design in my mind turned out to be intricate in it's

subtlety. I am so happy to have dipped my toe into working with alcohol inks in more artistic ways.

If you would like to purchase this card, head on over to my EBay store VanGoghChicaStudio The link is in my link list on this blog side panel.

Create a Dynamic Background using ombre inking techniques

 

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

1. 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).
2. Select the single blossom stamp and die from your Nostalgic Floral set and begin making your stencil. To do this, you will cut (the slightly bigger card stock) repeating die cuts of the blossom falling down the sheet. Make sure to have some of die cuts falling off the page and facing different directions. My photo of the supplies show my stencil after use. If you are careful, you may be able to reuse it. Leave space at the bottom, as if the falling flowers have not all fallen down.
3. Situate the stencil over your folded blank A2 card. Use a low stick tape to keep your card and stencil from slipping out of place.
4. Using your four pack mini set of fresh dye ink (does not have to be purples) and four separate blending brushes, begin softly blending ink over the stencil from the top down, using darkest to lightest in colors. Use one blending brush for each color and be careful to not mix them up.
5. Now you are ready to take the design up a level. Lightly brush an anti static powder (i.e. cornstarch) on the cards surface.  Use your outline stamp of the same flower and stamp all the falling flowers with embossing ink. Be careful to line up the outline stamp with the inked blossoms.
6. After inking the flowers with embossing ink, sprinkle your white embossing powder all over the stamped flowers. Shake off the excess embossing powder. And slowly rotate your heating tool over your embossed design (about 4-5 inches away from surface) until the powder melts. You will see it turn to a shiny patina. Be careful to not linger too long over an area so that the paper and ink do not burn.
7. In a similar step, take a separate piece of white card stock, prep the surface by brushing an antistatic medium like cornstarch all over. Then stamp the sentiment of your choice with embossing ink. Sprinkle white embossing powder over the embossing ink and shake off the excess. Use your heating tool to emboss the sentiment. 
8. Cut the card stock approximately 1/8" around the embossed sentiment.
9. Using your four mini inks, softly blend an ombre effect on your sentiment strip from top to bottom with darkest at the top again and lightest at the bottom.
10. Cut a slightly bigger piece from the vellum. You will then use your foam tape to mount the ombre sentiment to the vellum. Then use regular adhesive to glue vellum framed sentiment to your card.
11. For a last touch, I glue a few different size sequins floating among the falling blossoms. Beautiful.

The ombre inking is the star of this background. Sentiment, vellum and sequins can all be adapted to your taste. You may want a colored border around the sentiment or matte enamel dots for embellishment. Make it yours. I would love to see what you come up with!

AECP Challenge Tutorial: Card Making Challenge Part 2 (How-Tos & Techniques)

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 permanent black
• Altenew scissors
• Lindys Gang flat fabio spray in Luscious Lime and Mango Mania
• Lindy's Gang starburst sprays in Shabby Turbine Teal, Rusty Lantern Lime and Glory of the Seas Gold 
• Tim Holtz Distress Oxide spray in Antique Linen
  
  
  
  
• Metallic gold card stock
• Iridescent gold/orange paper
• Rhinestones, and sequins
• Alcohol markers

As far as process goes, I found it easier to think about two designs at a time. I thought of a unifying concept (a certain sentiment or feature) and then tried to make a men's version and a women's version. (Note: I express my views about using  binary gender concepts as a design aesthetic in the previous post. For simplicity sake though, I will refer to the sets as men's and women's.)

I chose inking techniques, die cutting and bling as my main components for this project. I like experimenting with inks as I am a painter. My tip for creating colors with depth is to use several inks close in color and in the same color family. 

Many of my embellishments come from clearance barrels at craft and stores. Oh, how I lament the closing of A.C. Moores stores! They were wonderful in this regard. But these kind of large projects invite creativity. Don't be afraid to dig into your stash of embellishments. Almost every budding craftsperson has glitter and glue. That will do.

As I began imagining two different cards at a time, I found it helpful to work from big to smaller. By that, I mean I began thinking conceptually of the characteristics of the two sets and worked down into details from there. I decided the focus of the men's set would the honey pot; and the focus for the women's set was the leaves and flowers. That is easily observed in the two photos of the men and women's set above.

I am choosing my pair of "Don't Worry,  Bee happy" cards for the how-to. I really enjoyed creating the women's version in this pair. I felt I was truly designing this card myself and not just relying on photos of compositions from the packaging or tutorials. My confidence as a card maker is growing.

This pair used unique inking techniques and die cuttings as well as items I fussy-cut (by hand). And the shine or rather, the bling element, in both cards came from the borders framing the compositions. I found an iridescent orange-gold paper that I used to frame the women's card. The changing colors of the iridescent color invites movement of the card in your hand.  Playful. I chose a thick, plain gold border for the men's card. I think the unadorned, thick, metallic gold border lends itself to a "masculine" aesthetic.

I decided both cards would, aside from the same sentiment, prominently display the whole honey jar. However, I can not say the honey jar is the focus on both cards. On the women's card, the cut out flora, 

with it's elegant floating lines resting on top of the honey jar and even meandering into the border draws your eye all over the image. The interesting inking of the flora also make it stand out visually. 

Throughout this project, I used several different inking techniques. I used colored paper, stamped single colors, layered stenciled colors, alcohol markers and for her card, I sprayed different colors of inks to create one mixed color. In my previous post, I describe the texture as velvety.

You can see how different inking techniques change a look in the next two photos. The detail in the women's "Don't Worry, Be Happy" card shows the speckled look to the sprayed ink. It creates more of a textured feel than even the layered stamping shown in the other detail from another card (women's "We Bee-lieve in You" card).

If you want to play with spraying inks, I have another tip for you. No matter how careful you are, no matter if you lay down lots of paper around your project, you will get mists of ink on many surfaces. It might not be that apparent at first, but you will see it when you clean up.

One solution is to use a large cardboard box with one side and a third of the top cut-out.  Use that as a spray box. It really helps cut down mists of color everywhere. Here is a photo of mine. Opps, lots of shimmery purple left over from Halloween cards!

Another major difference between my two "Don't Worry, Bee Happy" cards are the backgrounds. In the men's version, I am visually captivated by the embossed bee hive background. What I love about looking at handmade cards (or looking at works of art for that matter) are the fascinating details you get with deep viewing. What I mean by deep viewing is simply looking beyond the quick once over. You find happy surprises in the details.

One last tip before I write the technical how-to. If you think you may want to create images with cut-out details. I suggest you get different types of adhesive for different purposes. The Altenew glue tape is a staple of mine. It is great for glueing down larger cut-outs. But get yourself a glue dispenser with needle nose applicator  for small cut outs like the trailing leaves in my women's card. Another option are glue pens that give you control in placing tiny dots of glue on the smallest bits and pieces.

OK, enough of my musings. Down to the nitty gritty. Here are the instructions for these two cards.

Women's "Don't Worry, Bee Happy" card supplies

• Honeycomb Haven Craft Your Life set
• Altenew's white cardstock
• Altenew's glue tape
• Altenew's glue dispenser with needle nose applicator
• Altenew scissors
• Altenew's Summer Afternoon fresh dye mini ink set
• Altenew pigment ink in permanent black
• Lindys Gang flat fabio spray in Luscious Lime and Mango Mania
• Lindy's Gang starburst sprays in Shabby Turbine Teal, Rusty Lantern Lime and Glory of the Seas Gold 
• Tim Holtz Distress Oxide spray in Antique Linen
• Die cutting machine

1. Prepare an A2 folded card from your white card stock.
2. Cut a 4.25X5.5 piece of the iridescent gold paper and glue it to the front of the card.
3. Cut a 3.75"X5" piece of white card stock.
4. Using your Honeycomb Haven layered stamp set, stamp the honey jar. (I definitely rely on my Stampwheel to stamp layers. This kind of stamping tool is an investment but if you see stamping in your ongoing crafting repertoire, it is well worth the investment.)
5. Center and glue the white card stock with the honey jar onto the front of the card.
6. Cut out the dies in the Honeycomb Haven kit. Use white card stock.
7. Spray layers of colors onto your cut out leaves and flowers with the spray inks and let dry.
8. Glue the cut-outs onto your card front. Allow the cut-outs to float over the honey jar and into the border for a more 3 dimensional look.
9. Finally, stamp the sentiment in permanent black.

Men's "Don't Worry, Bee Happy" card supplies

• Altenew's Honeycomb Haven Craft Your Life kit
• Altenew's die set from the Craft Your Life Kit: Illuminated Scenes
• Altenew's white cardstock
• Altenew's glue tape
• Altenew pigment ink in permanent black
• Altenew scissors
• Metallic gold card stock

1. Prepare an A2 folded card from your white card stock.
2. Emboss the front of your card using the embossing folder from the Honeycomb Haven kit.
3. Cut the die set from the Illuminated Scenes kit. You will be using the metallic gold card stock.
4. Glue the largest frame/border cut out to the front of your card.
5. Use the layering stamps from the Honeycomb Haven set to stamp the honey pot and honey dipper.
6. Cut out the honeypot and honey dipper with scissors.
7. Glue the honey pot and dipper to the front of the card. Design their placement in your head before gluing. Overlapping part of the dipper with the jar makes it more 3 dimensional.
8. Stamp the "Don't Worry, Bee Happy" sentiment in permanent black ink.
9. Cut out a pieces of gold card stock that you can glue the sentiment to so as to make it a border around the sentiment.
10. Glue the framed sentiment to the front of the card.

So, there you have it. Two cards, similar in concept, but executed very differently for different effects.