Duncan Street Designs : Amaryllis

Showing posts with label Amaryllis. Show all posts

Thursday, August 5, 2021

Altenew Academy Level 1 Course: Easy Die Cutting Techniques

Hello Friends! Today I'm sharing my project for the Altenew Educator Certification Program Level 1 Course: Easy Die Cutting Techniques. This is a great course, loaded with ideas and tips for easy but effective die-cutting. My card features layered die cuts and ink blending.

I've used the Altenew Craft-A-Flower Morning Glory Die Set to create 4 Morning Glories and leaves in shades of Purples and Greens. This is a lovely set and appears intimidating, but actually it was enjoyable and therapuetic putting the pieces together.

To start, I ink blended 80 lb. white card in the shades I wanted for the flowers and leaves. I'll admit I have colored card to use but I was in the crafting zone, home alone, candle lit and ink blending just sounded relaxing.

After allowing the inked card to dry completely, I proceeded to die cut the pieces and here's a Tip: I used small tin trays to keep all the die cuts separated; organizing by color. Once all pieces were cut, I started adhering the pieces together with liquid adhesive. The die set has a guide to assist you in putting the elements together so it was not intimidating at all. Once the die pieces are together, they become dimensional, chipboard-like embellishments, which I like a lot!

Naturally, no card of mine would be complete without sparkle and/or shine so I brought out some gold foil Washi tape I've had in my stash for several holidays but why wait for the Christmas Season? I applied the Washi to a 2" panel in a diagonal pattern and adhered to the 110 lb. card base.

I did a dry run layout for the floral and leaves and once I was pleased with the look, using Press and Seal Plastic Wrap, I picked up the die cuts and applied liquid adhesive to the backs. The Press and Seal keeps everything together and makes adhering the layout to the card quick and easy.

I stamped the sentiment, which is from the Altenew Amaryllis Layering Stamp and Coordinating Die Bundle, die cut with a circle die and mounted on craft foam before adhering to the card front. Lastly, I applied enamel glitter dots for additional interest.

I enjoyed the process of creating this card and the course was very informative and inspiring. This is the first layering die set I've put together and probably wouldn't have tried using these types of sets had it not been for the course. I'm glad I took that step...now I do believe I'm hooked!

Thanks for visiting today and until next time, Happy Crafting!

Donna

**Challenges Entered:

Creative Knockouts

Aud Sentiments

Cardz 4 Galz

Outlawz Twisted Thursday

Let's Craft and Create

Sunday, July 4, 2021

AECP Altenew Academy - All About Layering 2

Hello Friends and thanks for visiting me. I'm back with another Altenew Academy post and today I'm sharing my homework submissions for the All About Layering 2 Course. Following suit with the Layering Lessons 1-3, Lesson 4 continues with stamp layering instruction using stamps with more layers to line up.

It's July and my projects feature a "Christmas in July" theme using non-traditional holiday colors and florals. 1st up is an A2 sized card created using the Altenew Amaryllis Stamp and Coordinating Die Set. For this card, I thought a 1950's Pastel Color Scheme would make a beautifully Retro Holiday card.

To start, I decided on a pink and turquoise blue color combo for the florals and started the stamping process with the outline stamp in black pigment ink, then proceeded through the layers with light to dark tones of blues and pinks. This Amaryllis has 8 layers, which may seem intimidating but trust me on this, it's not hard to line up the layers at all. Here's a Tip: If you aren't confident, or if like me, shaky handed at times, a stamp postitioning tool works wonders for flawless layer stamping. Pick a couple areas that line up, take your time, pick up the stamp with the positioner lid, ink up and stamp....Easy Peasy!

After inking up the florals and cutting with the coordinating dies, I did a "dry run" layout before picking with the Press and Seal plastic wrap. Setting that aside to work on the panel, I stenciled with the lightest of the Pink and Blue to create thick horizontal lines. I adhered the floral arrangement to the stenciled panel, adhered to a card base, stamped the sentiment and popped on foam pads for dimension.

My second submission is an A2 sized, Easel Card using Kraft and tones of Purples, Greens and Golds. Using the Altenew Majestic Bouquet Stamp and Coordinating Die Set, I followed the same procedure above to stamp through 6 layers for the florals and 2 layers for the leaves.

I chose Kraft card because I wanted to see how different the Purples and Greens would look on a darker background. This was an experiment gone Right..sometimes experiments go wrong but it's always fun trying! The purples are subdued and the greens are rich; if I had stamped on white, they would be very vibrant and bright.

I embossed a Matte Gold and Kraft card panel with a Vine design, arranged the florals, did my "dry run" layout, picked up with Press and Seal and adhered everything down flat. To create the card stop, I stamped and heat embossed the sentiment, die cut, then mounted on foam pads to give it the dimension needed to allow the card front to stand up.

I love creating Holiday cards with "non-traditional" florals and colors. It's fun to step out of the norm, do some experimenting and create something clever and unexpected. Thanks for stopping by and until next time, Happy Crafting!

Donna

Supplies Used:

Altenew Amaryllis Stamp and Die Bundle

Altenew Majestic Bouquet Stamp and Die Bundle

Catherine Pooler Inks

Neenah Solar White Classic Crest 80 lb and 110 lb Cardstock

Recollections Kraft Cardstock

Recollections Gold Mirror and Matte Gold Cardstock

Darice Vines Embossing Folder

Gina K. Designs Sparkle & Shine Stamp Set (for sentiment)

Season's Greetings Block Stamp from Hobby Lobby

Clear Sequins from Michael's