Blog Archives

Color theory in action

1/27/2019

Altenew Color Your Day

Today’s card was an exercise in instituting color theory. The instructor in the Altenew Color Your Day class follows a simple formula to determine amounts of different colors: 70-20-10. The colors in the formula could be complementary meaning that they are opposite on the color wheel, analogous meaning that they are next to each other on the color wheel, or part of a triad meaning that the three colors form a triangle within the color wheel. Adding a neutral somewhere within the formula helps to balance the colors. For this card I used analogous colors yellow and green which are next to each other on the color wheel and balanced them out with a soft cool grey. Please read on for how I made this card today using color theory and Altenew’s Bold Blossom stamp set.

Coloring on vellum

1/20/2019

Beautiful Details class

The Altenew Beautiful Details class is my 16th class from Altenew Academy. This was by far the most inspired class. Not only did the instructor have a lot of tips and tricks, the card examples and especially the color combinations she used were inspiring. One of the examples was no line coloring on vellum. Please read on for how I put together this card.

Partial fussy cutting

1/19/2019

Altenew AECP Polychromatic

As part of the educatior program at Altenew Academy, I watch classes from Altenew and translate some of the great ideas into a card design. For the polychromatic class, the one piece of advice that kept sticking out to me was when stamping a multi colored pattern, have warm colors on one side of the card, cool colors on the other and in the middle of the card, use like colors to subtly blend all the colors together. The design today eluded me for a while because what I had wanted to do was build my own rainbow pattern. However, I persevered and while looking through my stash of unfinished card backgrounds, I came across an idea I had using Altenew Hennah elements stamp set. I like this stamp set because it has bold, graphic images that you can color in a variety of ways as well as small elements that can be used in different combinations. Please read on how I took an unfinished idea and used ideas from the Altenew Polychromatic class to put together this card.

Water coloring on cards

1/13/2019

Using Watercolor For Card elements and backgrounds

My latest post is exploring the use of embossing powder with watercoloring flowers as well as using ink sprays as watercolor. To showcase some of the watercoloring, I’m using the Altenew Adore You stamp set because the flowers are large, open images perfect for coloring. This post was inspired by the Altenew Academy class, Creative Watercolor Media. In the class, the instructors used different ink types as watercoloring mediums. When I watercolor, I typically use my Distress Inks so I wanted to try Gansai Tambi watercolors. I also have some metallic ink sprays and wanted to see how they worked as watercolor inks. I also stamp the image in archival ink before painting but this time I wanted to see the difference in the image if I emboss the image in gold versus clear powder. Please read on for how my cards turned out.

Double shaker card

1/11/2019

With a twist...

Making shaker cards can be time consuming but the result is really worth it. For today's card, I was inspired by the Altenew course: With a twist, which focuses on some different takes on tried and true card making standards. Within the course, the instructor focused on using different color combinations, cutting out different parts of the card front to reveal images inside and making shaker elements on cards. For this card, I would like to show you how I put together a double shaker. A double shaker means that the shaker can be seen from both the front and inside of the card. Please read on for some tips on how to make this card.

Color as a focal point

1/7/2019

In the mood for color

For the latest installment of my Altenew Educator Certification Program, I was inspired by a class called, In the Mood for Color. In this class, the instructor discussed how different colors evoke certain moods, I wanted to explore this so I made two cards that contain the same elements and design but in different colors. I chose yellow which signifies energy and blue which signifies calm. I used Altenew Peony Bouquet stamp set to build the flower which will be the main design element on the card. Please read on for how I assembled this card. And leave me a comment about which color you like the best.

Building backgrounds

1/6/2019

Altenew class on beyond basic backgrounds

So it begins...moving onto level 2 of the Altenew Educator Certification Program. I’m really enjoying how these classes are providing such interesting challenges that are pushing me to rethink how I use my current supplies. The class, Beyond Basic Backgrounds, had a lot of different ideas in building backgrounds using stamps, foil, inks, bleaching and dies that I was inspired to try a few ideas. In this card, I built a background using the Altenew warped speed stencil and gold transfer foil. Read along for the process of making this card.

Bold and graphic card

1/4/2019

AECP Level 1 final project

Hello and thank you for joining me on today's post. I have been working through the Altenew Educator Certification Program and have completed 10 lessons within the program and submitted a total of 10 posts with 19 card designs. I have been very inspired by the classes I have been taking on Altenewacademy.com. For today's card, I was issued a challenge to make a card that could be suitable for a masculine card or for a teenager and have the theme of either birthday or encouragement or congratulations. In building this card, I used techniques and inspiration from four different classes at Altenew Academy: For the guys, Easy Die Cutting, Let it shine and Easy Ink Blending. Please read along for how I put together this card.

Using inking as a focal point

1/1/2019

This is my last installment for the Altenew Education Certification level one courses. This is the tenth card I have made for Level One certification. I have been very inspired by the classes I took from Altenew Academy and was glad to have a push to restore some crafty mojo. I also got some great ideas of how to use the stamps, dies and inks in my stash to make some different designs. For today’s card, I used Distress Ink blending as a background and die cut a window to expose the colors. Read on for how I put together this simple card.