Today I am posting a new project I just completed for the Altenew Educator Certification Program (AECP) class, Beyond Basic Backgrounds. This course pushed me outside of my comfort zone a bit as I am someone who tends to prefer a clean and simple background for my feature image versus letting the background be the star. I had a lot of fun doing something a little different, and listed below are some tips and tricks from the class will be highlighting with my project.
- Making my own pattern paper featured in Lesson 2 of the course,
- Creating a grid to ensure proper spacing of my stamped images,
- Stamping my images off the edges of the paper to create a more natural pattern paper look.
For my card, I knew I wanted to create my own pattern paper to be featured in my overall card design. I hunted through my Altenew stash for ideas and came across the Fancy Star Builder Stamp and Stencil Set. I knew this set would be perfect for creating a unique layout and that it was going to be essential to create a grid pattern to ensure all of my images were lined up evenly.
In the class the facilitator, Lydia Evans, made a grid pattern with a ruler on her card stock which she later erased after stamping. Instead of making pencil marks on my cardstock, I instead decided to create a separate template I could use with my Misti stamping platform to assist in lining up my stamps. This is a trick I picked up watching a video from the amazing Jennifer McGuire.
I started by taking a piece of 5.5″ x 4.25″ copy paper and a ruler and finding my center. I created both horizontal, vertical, and diagonal lines as shown in the first image below to assist with stamp placement.
Next up I grabbed my Misti and followed the steps listed below:
- I used a piece of 5.5″ x 4.25″ cardstock and placed it in the center of my stamping platform. I currently have a Waffleflower Grip Mat in my Misti to hold the paper in place,
- Next, I laid my grid paper over the top of my cardstock and aligned my first stamp in the center of the page,
- Once my stamp was in place, I closed the lid of my stamping platform to pick up the stamp,
- I removed the grid paper, my cardstock still in place, inked up my stamp with a light pink color, and then pressed the stamp into the cardstock,
- I repeated this process until I had all of my base star pattern stamped into place.
Once my basic layout was established, I used the remaining designs in the Fancy Star Builder set to add in new details in coordinating shades of darker pink. I made sure with my design that I stamped some images overlapping the edge of the paper so that the design looked like a piece of pattern paper I had cut from a larger pad.
Once my paper design was complete, I trimmed the edges of my paper and I matted my design using a 1/16″ mat in brushed black cardstock followed by a 1/4″ mat in a deep cherry color. I loved the font of the sentiment in the stamp set, so I first stamped the sentiment in black onto white cardstock followed by clear Versamark ink as I wanted to use an iridescent shimmer embossing powder for a touch of shine. Just a few embellishments later and my card was complete.
Thanks for following along!
Super classy!