My latest Altenew Certifed Educator Program Course focused on the topic, Clean & Simple Boutique Cards. While I love a great CAS card, this style is one I rarely ever attempt. If you follow my work, I love to make intricate and elaborate cards, so this class definitely pushed me to stretch outside my comfort zone. Jennifer Rzasa , the course instructor, featured many techniques across the 6 lessons, but the two I adopted for my featured project are as follows:
- Using gold to create interest, and
- Using luxury paper to add pizzazz
One of the sets I had had for a while and not yet used was the Spark Joy Fluttering Butterflies hot foil plate and stencil set. I knew this would be perfect to both keep things simple and to add a touch of gold.
I started my design with the layering stencil. To create my leafy branches I used a gentle gradation of teal, green, and bright yellow dye inks. Choosing colors in the same hue that are adjacent on the color wheel always helps to create a harmonious blend. Next up, foiling.
To do my gold butterfly I decided to use the hinge method of foiling to ensure proper placement. While my Glimmer Hot Foil machine was heating up, I cut a piece of gold foil to the size of my selected butterfly plate. Next, I placed my butterfly foil plate in place onto my stenciled image and taped the top using washi tape. I lifted the plate gently using its washi tape “hinge,” inserted my foil, and then laid the card foil-side down onto my Glimmer machine for heating. Once heated, I ran my hot foil plate through my die machine and pulled off the foil paper to check out my results… A perfect butterfly image!
To keep the card simple, I knew I wanted to stay one-layer with the card panel so I decided on a stamped sentiment. I went through my stash and found a wonderful scripted “Thanks” from the Sketched Florals stamp set, which I stamped in black ink using my Misti stamping tool.
Now for a little extra touch of gold. First, I pulled out my Altenew Metallic Watercolor Pan Set and a brush and added some gold spatter across the front of the image. I then grabbed a piece of Gold Mirror Cardstock to create a mat for my card panel. I adhered the card panel and the gold mat to an A2 sized card base and I was good to go.
I am so happy with how this card came out, I may even try clean and simple again sometime!
This is truly stunning!