For the next class in the Altenew educator program, Let it shine, the instructor introduced a lot of ways to add shine to a card. The class inspired me to try a few different elements to add shine including: heat embossing, adding foil with tape and glitter. I noticed that all the card examples were very clean and simple with a lot of white to balance the metallic elements on the example cards. For the card I made, I used Altenew’s Vintage Teacup Stamp set. This is a layering stamp set with a lot of cute coordinating sentiments. Please read on for how I assembled this card.

Todays post is on my inspiration from Altenew’s Easy Ink Blending Techniques class. I’m not new to ink blending but still have trouble with dark edges and selecting colors. My go to ink for ink blending is Distress Ink although any ink would do. Using a dye based ink helps if you’d like to do watercolor or water techniques after the blending. For today’s cards I did an emboss resist, ink blending and then added watercolor for extra detail. I was really inspired by this class and made three cards using the Altenew Botanical Garden Stamp Set.

Sometimes in your life, the right person comes around just at the right time to help you continue on your journey. I recently had this happen to me and it inspired me to do a series on Thank You cards. It is important to let those people in your life know what you mean to them and how they have helped you along on your path; either to get you back onto the path or to help you continue your path. 

 With Christmas approaching, I wanted to make some final cards that sparkled like the season. I had purchased some Nuvo Glimmer Paste and wanted to try it out. As well some Black Friday purchases from Simon Says Stamp came in and I wanted to use these to make some shaker cards. So, join me as I show you how I made these sparkling cards just in time for Christmas....

On my continued kick to spread kindness, I thought that the holiday season was a great time to whip up some quick one layer cards with hand written from the heart sentiments to let people in my life know how much I appreciate them. I was looking for some simple designs as I needed to make a lot of these cards. I came up with 4 designs that I will share with you today. 

A great background can sometimes be all you need to make your card. I started with a piece of Neenah Solar White 80lb paper cut to 5 3/4 x 4 1/2. I applied Distress Inks with my Mini Blending Tool by starting off the paper and moving in a circular motion onto the paper. This process takes patience as you build up the color layers. Wanting to create an ombre effect, I chose three pink colors: Spun Sugar, Worn Lipstick and Picked Raspberry and three orange colors: Dried Marigold, Wild Honey and Carved Pumpkin. Visually dividing the paper into halves, I applied Spun Sugar to the top half, Worn Lipstick to the top third and Picked Raspberry to the top quarter of the paper. After drying the ink, I turned my paper 180 degrees and in the same manner created an ombre of Dried Marigold to the half, Wild Honey to the third and Carved Pumpkin to the quarter of the page making sure to blend between colors. I then used my lightest shade: Spun Sugar and Dried Marigold to go over their respective halves of the paper and blend them into the middle. 

Papercrafting and making cards is so much fun. I really love how an idea pops into my head out of nowhere and then all of a sudden it's realized onto a card. Ultimately paper crafting is a two dimensional medium so even though I may have the grandiose of ideas, it's still got to fit in a 2-D medium. Enter: Masking. Masking allows for a bit of depth to your scene and especially if you have coordinating dies is simple to do.