AECP Magical Marker Techniques

One of the aspects of the Altenew Educator Certification Program (AECP) is that it forces you to try new techniques, even those techniques that push you outside of your comfort zone. Magical Marker Techniques is just such a course. The focus of this class is to use unconventional crafting techniques involving alcohol markers. For my featured project, I chose to try something I have never before done which was featured in Lesson 3, Copic coloring on vellum.

To start, I grabbed my Sunshine Flowers stamp set, and using one of the large floral images, I started with heat embossing my flower onto heavy-weight vellum using black embossing powder. Now there are a few things I have learned about heat embossing through these courses to ensure a crisp image. USE YOUR ANTISTATIC POWDER!!! When you think you have added enough, go on and add some more. This is especially important when embossing with black as any stray flecks will easily be seen.

Next, after embossing my image, I got to coloring. I used a few shades of red violet, yellows, and yellow greens, not worrying too much about shading on the vellum. Things to note with this technique, since the vellum is basically plastic, the alcohol will not be absorbed and just sits on the surface. This not only makes blending quite the challenge but it also means it is very easy for your marker nibs to pick up any colors they may be touching on the surface. I picked up so much red violet on one of my yellow markers I had to replace the nib. For someone who uses their alcohol markers daily, this technique was not for the faint of heart.

After I colored all of my surface area, it was time for the fun to begin. I grabbed a paintbrush and a bottle of 91% Rubbing Alcohol I keep on hand, and I used the brush to flick alcohol onto the surface of my vellum. Anywhere the alcohol droplets fell, a fun mottled look was created as the alcohol ink on the vellum surface reacted.

Once I had finished treating my image and letting it dry, I die cut the image using the coordinating die from the Craft Your Life Sunshine Flowers set, and went to add it to a card panel I had embellished with a strip of black and white striped paper. Too create a little more visual interest, I decided to create some dimension between the flower and the leaves. To do this, I carefully fussy cut the leaves off of the flower following along the embossed lines. I then used foam tape to adhere the center of the flower to the card panel, and I followed up by tucking the leaves under the petals in such a way as the cut lines would not show. Because there was so much color added to the vellum, I didn’t have to worry too much with glue and the foam tape showing through, which is a common issue when using vellum.

Once everything was glued down, I added a simple “Hello” sentiment, also from the kit, cut from black glitter cardstock and added a few embellishments. My card was now complete and definitely a fun one to make.