Altenew AECP Academy 1 final challenge

Hello crafty friends…

I made it through the Academy 1 courses for the Altenew Educator Certification Program (AECP) so now it’s time to post my final challenge project before moving on to Academy 2. Detailed below are the ground rules for the assignment.

• Create a gift set to include 4-6 “His” and 4-6 “Her” cards and ensure the set has a cohesive theme
• Select 3 components from the Academy 1 courses to use in creating the final project
• Use upcycled materials, either as a card design element or in the final packaging, for the set

The Academy 1 courses contained so many design ideas, tips, and tricks, I couldn’t pick just three techniques to incorporate into my designs. Listed below are some of the many lessons I applied when crafting my cards.

1. All About Layering 3 and 4 – Two of my “Feminine” cards rely heavily on layered stamping and these two courses helped me improve my stamping results through proper stamp alignment. I also learned helpful layout techniques such as arranging florals with an odd number of images and arranging elements in a triangular pattern for a more natural look.
2. For the Guys – Since I was making 5 “Masculine” cards this course was essential and I used the geometrics design theme from Lesson 1 as the primary design idea throughout all of the cards.
3. Easy Die Cutting Techniques – I decided the Grid Cover Die would be the cohesive element I used throughout my designs. I used this one die to create die cuts for backgrounds, a template for stenciling, and I used the negative die cuts to create inlay patterns. All of these are techniques featured in the course.
4. Easy Ink Blending Techniques – From this course I adopted ink blending techniques such as creating an ombre pattern as wells as adding details to my ink blending with a homemade stencil.
5. Let it Shine – All cards need a little bling. From this course I adopted the use of metallic cardstocks, shimmer pens, and metallic embellishments to create sparkle.

When I received this challenge, I knew I needed to stay organized so I could focus on efficiently creating 10 beautiful cards. My first steps needed to be deciding on a theme and determining what my cohesive elements would be.

Theme was easy… I knew I wanted to stick with celebration cards as one can never have too many birthday cards on hand. To keep things simple, I selected the One-Go Birthday Greetings stamp and die set for all of my sentiments. Not only did this set allow me to stamp and die-cut multiple birthday sentiments at one time, but it ensured the general look and feel of the sentiments would be the same across the cards while allowing for a little variety.

The next step, was deciding on what my cohesive element would be, and this turned out to also be an easy choice once I ran across my Grid Cover Die. I could use a number of techniques with this one die ,it would work as my geometric element for my masculine cards, and would be a backdrop for my feminine cards.

Below I will provide and overview of each card and the products used as well as any tips and tricks I picked up along the way.

MASCULINE CARDS

One of the ways to ensure a cohesive design is through color, and for my masculine cards I wanted to keep my color palette dark and moody. I chose colors of dark gray, gold, bronze, and green, which were used throughout. In addition to using the Grid Cover Plate for my geometric element, I also knew I wanted each card to have a feature image so I chose the Boho Vases Die Set. These graphic vases and leaves added in a botanical element without being too fussy or feminine.

When creating these first two cards above, I started by die cutting several cover plates in dark gray, bronze, gold, and a green which I did not end up using. As you can see below, I kept all of my negative die cuts in a bowl for later use. Now time to design.

I decided I only wanted a portion of the gray die cut background for my first card so I used scissors to cut it down to the desired size. And… because no card crafter ever wants to waste paper, I used the discarded die cut portion as a stencil for my next card, where I mixed gray dye ink into a little texture paste to create a fun background.

For my next two cards, I again made two background pieces from a bronze die cut using the Grid Cover die, and then used the negative die cuts I saved in my bowl to create various inlay patterns in the background. To create interest, I added one die cut horizontally and the other I left vertical. I also added a few embellishments to the second card to add a little more interest to the white space, showing that even a masculine card can handle more sparkle.

For my last masculine card… I again went with stenciling using a portion of a Grid Cover die cut, only this time I stenciled a pattern using 3 gray die inks to create an ombre background.

For all five cards I kept my feature images pretty basic, just using die cut vases in alternating colors of gold, dark gray, or bronze. I did mix up the plant leaves in each vase, not only using the different die cuts in the set, but sometimes doubling up the plants or cutting down the leaves to create different shapes. Further, I enhanced the apple green cardstock I used for the die vuts with various shades of green ink blending to create more color variation.

Pro Tip – To create more depth and dimension with petals and leaves, use a pencil, or in my case my picking tool, to curl the ends of the paper in different directions. I then use foam squares on the back to help the leaves pop off the page.

FEMININE CARDS

My plan to use the Grid pattern continued into my feminine cards as well as the dark gray and bronze color scheme. I wanted to be a bit more dramatic with my feature colors and images so I went with roses in bright oranges and pops of silver.

My first two cards feature layered stamping techniques. For the first card above, I used my stamping platform to stamp out several roses and leaves from the Vintage Roses Bundle using orange and gray dye inks. After die cutting each image, I created a cluster of flowers and leaves draping along the center enhanced with brushed silver leaves cut from the Itty Bitty Branches die set. Liberal use of both thin and thick foam squares added dimension. For the second card above, I created my own pattern paper using the Golden Days layered stamp set. To enhance each card I took one Grid Cover die cut and cut it in two pieces of varying widths, one for each card.

These next two cards, are easily my favorites. I adore all the depth and dimension you get from the layered die sets used in their creation.

For the first card above , I mirrored my masculine set by creating just one horizontal card, and also creating a background using a Grid Cover die cut stencil with gray-dyed texture paste. The floral cluster for this card was made using the Charming Foliage Die Set along with a few die cuts from the Itty Bitty Branches die set.

For the second, I used the Craft-A-Flower Antique Rose die set to create this beautiful feature flower. To enhance the dark gray leaves, I used my Zig Wink of Stella shimmer pen to add subtle sparkle and shine. For the background, I started with a soft layer of light gray ink to follow the outline of my flower, and then did an overlay using one of my Grid Cover die cuts as a stencil in a slightly darker gray to add a layer of visual texture.

To complete my feminine cards, I went back to my Golden Days bundle, and this time I pulled out the hot foil plate and the coordinating layering stencil. I first foiled using the Altenew’s Rose Gold Hot Foil, and then used the 4 accompanying stencils to create this glorious image. To create a little visual interest, after fussy cutting out the stenciled rose I used a frame die to cut the image into parts that I could then arrange onto a dark gray background and pop up with foam tape. I finished things off with a bronze cardstock mat and a few embellishments.

Pro Tip: If you want to hide the white outline around an image, look for a corresponding marker in the same color as your background and color your edges. For this card, I colored the edges of my rose using a Copic W7 which was a close match to my gray cardstock.

FINAL ASSEMBLY

Now that my cards were complete, it was time to find a recyclable element I could upcycle into packaging.

For this portion of the assignment I was really out of ideas and unsure what to do, so I decided to just start combing through my craft room to look for materials and inspiration. I started looking through old packaging when I stumbled upon a bunch of old chipboard packaging I kept saved in the event I wanted to use it when mailing a card that needed a little extra care. I then found a mini album I had created with my daughterthis past summer for photos, when I realized I could created a similar cover for my cards.

Step 1. Measurement

First I needed to know what size to cut my chipboard, so I took all 10 cards along with 10 A2 sized envelopes and stacked them together to find that they reach a height of about 2 inches. As A2 cards, they were all about 5.5″ long and 4.25″ wide. Using these measurements, I cut 2 pieces of chipboard for the front and back cover a little larger at 6″ x 4.5″ which would give me an allowance around the cards. For the spine I cut one piece of chipboard 6″ x 2″ to accommodate the height of the cards together.

Step 2. Making the Cover Jacket

Now that my chipboard cover pieces were cut I needed to cover them in pretty patterned paper. I decided to create my own paper and keeping with my main design element, yet again use my Grid Cover Die to create a stencil. This time, I used the ombre pattern idea from my masculine card set in the orange dye inks pulled from my feminine set.

Step 3. Adhering the Cover Jacket and Ribbon

Upon completing my background stenciling, it was time for assembly. I first scored each edge of all 3 papers at 1/4″ per side and then cut out the corners, just outside the score lines, to assist with folding in the edges cleanly. After cutting my corners, I then wrapped each piece of chip board with my papers and taped down the edges with double-sided score tape.

Next, I lined up my 3 pieces, chipboard side up, leaving a little gap for the seams, and cut two pieces of orange ribbon 18″ long. I glued the ribbon, again using double sided tape, to the center of each cover page as shown above. You will see I used a little low-tack tape to keep everything lined up. I carefully removed the tape when dhering my inside cover page.

Step 4. Final Assembly

For the final assembly I needed an inner cover page to adhere each of the 3 cover pieces together as wells as to hide all of the seams and ribbon edges. I grabbed a piece of orange 12’x12″ cardstock and I cut a large piece 10.75″ by 5.75″. Using both score tape and glue I carefully glued each of the 3 pieces together and lightly scored the paper on either side of the spine. Once assembled, I again pulled out my Boho Vases die set and cut an image to adorn the cover and finished the everything off with some gold embellishments.

FINAL RESULTS

Thank you so much for checking out my post!