Altenew Educator Certification Program (AECP) – With A Twist

I’ve finally started on the Level 2 courses for the Altenew Educator Certification Program (AECP). With so many great topics I opted to start with “With a Twist” taught by Therese Calvird. I’ve watched several of her videos and I love the way she explains things. This class is all about adding unusual elements to your cards, like using unexpected colours or cuts to your cards. I decided to make my twist adding a unique spin on a traditional stamp. My inspiration for this card is a sad one. A dear friend of mine recently lost his mother, and I wanted to make sure I sent the family some paper love, so I opted to make a Sympathy card for the family.

What makes this “With a Twist”? Well….You wouldn’t normally stamp with dye inks on dark cardstock…so I did! I also liked the idea of heat embossing in silver on the dark cardstock to add another little twist, while keeping the foliage in just a black outline. I love the look of this card!

I started by cutting a panel of Simon Says Stamp’s Slate cardstock to measure approximately 5.5×4.25 inches. I treated my cardstock with an anti-static powder bag as I was planning to heat emboss all over the panel.

I took one of the flower stamps from Altenew’s Build-A-Flower: Anemone Coronaria stamp set and stamped repeatedly over the panel using Versamark Ink.

Then I heat embossed the panel using Brutus Monroe’s Sterling embossing powder. I love the way the silver shines on the dark cardstock.

I grabbed Altenew’s Tide Blue Crisp Dye Ink and stamped the second layer of the flower stamp. I stamped it a couple of times to get a richer colour and make sure it filled in nicely. This stamp set has a more artsy look when you fill it in, which can help to hide imperfections a bit 😉

I completed adding the second layer to all of the flowers.

Then I took one of the smaller leaves and used Altenew’s Jet Black Crisp Dye Ink and filled in some of the open space. I opted not to add the second layer of the leaf stamp for a more artsy and unique feel.

I wanted a clean looking sentiment so it wouldn’t take too much away from the image. I grabbed Altenew’s Fresh Freesia stamp set and used the “With Deepest Sympathy” sentiment. I stamped the sentiment using the Jet Black ink on Simon Says Stamp’s Fog cardstock and then trimmed it down to a strip slightly larger than the sentiment.

I adhered the sentiment to the bottom right of the card panel. I cut down my floral panel slightly to approximately 5.5×4 inches and then glued down the panel to an A2 sized card base of Neenah Solar White Cardstock. This allowed just a smidge of the white to show at the top and bottom of the front of the card. I didn’t want too much of the white to show as it would’ve been a harsh contrast considering that the floral panel is on a dark cardstock.

I then stamped the same flower on the envelope using Jet Black Ink, then for a little element of colour I used the Tide Blue Ink but instead of stamping the second layer of the flower, I stamped the center of the flower as I didn’t want too much colour on the envelope.

Voila! I unique sympathy card for a dear friend. I can only hope that sharing a little paper love will help his family in their healing process.

Altenew Stamps:

– Fresh Freesia

– Build-A-Flower: Anemone Coronaria

Altenew Crisp Dye Inks:

– Jet Black

– Tide Blue

Other Supplies:

– Tsukineko’s Versafine Onyx Black Ink

– Tsukineko’s Versamark Ink

– Neenah Solar White cardstock

– Simon Says Stamp’s Cardstock – Fog, Slate

– Brutus Monroe’s Sterling Embossing powder

– Tombow Mono Multi Liquid Glue

– 3M Foam Tape

Tools:

– My Sweet Petunia’s MISTI Stamping Tool

– Tim Holtz Mini Comfort Trimmer

– Simon Says Stamp’s Acrylic Blocks

– Simon Says Stamp’s Grid Transparency

– WOW Dual Speed Heat Tool

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