Donna T Crafting: AECP Level 1 Final Challenge - Part 1

Today's blog will cover my Altenew Educator Certification Program Level 1 Final Challenge Part 1. For this part, I was asked to make a set of Masculine cards along with some type of packaging. I am also to use several techniques from the Level 1 Courses.

For this set of cards, I utilized the following techniques:

Ink Blending --- I did a lot of ink blending on these cards. I especially utilized the adding details to ink blending and blended a background.
Layering --- I layered several things especially where I was layering the house, jeep, snow and trees which also led to a scene (which was another technique).
For the Guys and Let It Shine -- I used the artistic technique in my For the Guys course and also used several Let It Shine techniques, including sparkle pens on the jeep and using some pastes for a bit of shine in the snow.

Let me now talk a little about each card and some of my process. The first thing I did was to emboss a background using the Altenew Layered Snowflakes 3D Embossing Folder on white cardstock. This was beautiful and I set it aside to use as a background. I then got the idea that I wanted to ink blend my cardstock using blues (darker on the outer areas and moving to lighter in the center). I then used this in my embossing folder and got a beautiful blue embossed image. I actually make two of these. But I felt the snowflakes needed to stand out a bit more. So I took some silver pigment ink and blended that very lightly over the top so to get most of the ink on top of the snowflakes and leaving the background blue. I love the result!! I set this aside to dry while I worked on other items.

Next I took some cardstock and put it in my splatter box (an old Amazon box). I used an ivory and a dark blue mica stain along with some water to make a silvery/blue background. I set this aside (still in the box) to dry.

I stamped several images from the Altenew Cozy Winter Vibes Stamp and Die Set. This is my newest stamp set from Altenew and I LOVE it. I stamped 2 of the house, 2 of the jeep and the sledding image. I also stamped out some of the sentiments. I colored these using my Copic Alcohol markers. For the jeep, I added a little shine by adding some Star Dust Stickles on the lights in the front of the vehicle. I die cut all these images.

By this time, my cards were starting to form in my head (and no, I did not have a complete idea until this point). I knew I would use the 2 house images on the snowy blue backgrounds.....one with a jeep and one without. But I needed some more backgrounds for my sledding image and my other jeep.

That is when I decided to use my Winter Scene Maker stencil. I first took the trees and started with a light layer of a medium blue ink about 1/3 of the way down my card panel. Then I moved the stencil down and using the same color, made a darker layer. Last, I moved it down again and used a darker blue for the bottom layer of trees. I could have used all one color for this and just varied the amount of ink on each layer. After I completed that, I used the snowy scene to stencil in some snow using Beluga Solar Paste. You can only see a hint of this until it catches the light and the blue is just beautiful. I cut this down to 4 x 5 1/4", added my sledders on some foam tape and stamped out a sentiment from the Cozy Winter Vibes stamp set and added it at the top. Once on the card base, this card was done.

For the next card, I also used the Winter Scene Maker stencil. I first in blended a background about 2/3 of the way down the card panel. I then added some trees and then some houses. I stenciled in the lights and doors using some Slippery When Wet Lunar Paste. Then I took some Royal Flush Solar Paste and added some dye ink to it. I used this to stencil in the snow in the sky making a beautiful effect. I cut this down to 4 x 5 1/4", put on a card base and added my jeep and another sentiment (embossed in white) on foam tape and card #2 was done.

I cut down one of my blue embossed snowflake panels to 4 x 5 1/4" and the other to 4 1/4 x 5 1/2”. This is when I realized my houses were on snow that would not reach across the panel and this bothered me. So, I took some white cardstock, added a little color randomly for snow shadows using my Copic Alcohol markers. Then I layered this on top of my house snowy front.

I also cut a few trees for backgrounds from a die I had in my stash. I used a little dark green ink to add some layering effects. Then I started assembling these two cards. I put the trees on the sides, then the house on top of that. Then I added my new snow panels. For one card, I added the jeep. I added sentiments to both cards and put on card bases. I think these are going to be great masculine cards!

Next came my packaging. I noticed I still had my original white embossed snowflake panel and I had my mica spray panel. Plus I had some blue ink blended areas from my card panels after they were cut down.

So, I took the white snowflake panel and cut off 2 1" strips where the majority of the snowflakes were embossed. I used red line tape to attach the strips in back. In the front I put a velcro circle to allow this to open and close. Then I cut a white snowflake from a die set I had in my stash. I also used that blue leftover to cut a blue snowflake. Then I cut a small circle from my mica sheet as a background for the snowflakes. I glued this all together, added a jewel on top and attached to the front flap of my band. I really like the way this is simple, but certainly festive for gift giving.

And there you have my masculine set of cards. I love how all the blues look together and how these winter cards could be used for many different occasions.