Hello, hello….so pleased you stopped by! I finished Altenew Academy\’s Level 2 Classes and wanted to share my final project.  I was challenged to make four masculine cards for four different occasions. I had loads of ideas and had a lot of fun creating.  To make my cards masculine, I used my husband\’s favorite colors….aqua, blue and green.   Mark probably wears an aqua or blue Columbia fishing shirt five days out of seven…he calls it his uniform!    I also used lots of die-cuts because Mark loves those on cards.   The unifying elements are handcrafted backgrounds and embossed sentiments on navy cardstock.   I\’ve learned so much over the past three months but I decided to spotlight three favorite classes:

• Beyond Basic Backgrounds – We learned to make beautiful backgrounds to enhance our cards.
• Celebration Stencil Techniques – We learned to expand our stenciling repertoire. 
• Masking Unleashed – We learned various masking techniques that up the \”wow\” factor of our cards.

Encouragement Card:

This first card is my husband\’s favorite of the group. Mark\’s beverages of choice are coffee and hot tea….he makes a pot of each every day and  the color yellow is very encouraging and optimistic (In The Mood For Color). My idea was to make inlaid circle die cuts that coordinated with a hand crafted background.  We worked on inlaid die-cutting in Beyond Basic Backgrounds and stencil overlays in Celebration Stencil Techniques.  

• I started by taping my Altenew Watercolor Stripes stencil to a watercolor paper panel.  I then wet the paper with clean water and then dabbed and pounced three colors of distress ink onto the paper.  I LOVE this technique and think it makes a very fun background.  
• Next, I took a second watercolor panel and used the wet on wet technique to dab the same three colors of distress ink on the panel.  After the paper dried, I die cut three 1 1/2\” circles.
• I die-cut a white watercolor paper overlay for the inlaid technique.
• I stamped, Copic colored and die cut three coffee/tea elements from Altenew\’s Tea Time stamp and die bundle.
• I heat embossed an encouraging sentiment on navy cardstock.
• I assembled the card using liquid glue and foam squares (for the cups and sentiment).

PRO TIP:  Don\’t over-wet the watercolor paper.  If you do, the ink will flow under the stencil and you will lose the white lines.  You do want it watery enough that you achieve a casual watercolor look.

Birthday Card:

This card was inspired by the class on Color Blocking and the negative masking we learned in Masking Unleashed.  I think the bold colors are both festive and masculine.

• I started by negative masking three 1 1/4\” squares.  I then used ink blending brushes to liberally apply ink to the squares.
• I stamped and die cut three images from Altenew\’s Garden Grow stamp and die bundle.  I wanted the colors to be the star so I left the images uncolored.  I think this makes for a very eye-catching look.
• I heat embossed a birthday sentiment on blue card stock and then assembled my card.

PRO TIP:  For a sharp edge, be sure your mask is evenly and securely adhered to the card panel.

Love/Thinking of You Card:

I love ink blending and negative masking so I again drew upon the lessons learned in Masking Unleashed.

• I masked off a large negative mask around my card panel.  I blended in a medium blue and then applied a vivid blue around the edges.  So pretty and fun to do!
• I stamped, Copic colored and die cut two images from Altenew\’s Garden Grow stamp and die bundle.  This is one of the first stamp sets I purchased and it is still a favorite!
• I heat embossed my sentiment, assembled my card and attached to a top folding A2 card base.

PRO TIP:  I think using two shades of blue added depth to my one layer card background.  

Anniversary Card:

• I Copic colored the wreath with 3 different shades of yellow-green and green.  
• I started by taping my Altenew Watercolor Stripes stencil to a watercolor paper panel.  I then wet the paper with clean water and then dabbed and pounced four colors of distress ink onto the paper.  I told you above that I love this technique!  
• I die-cut and assembled the card on a top-folding A2 base.    

Here is a photo of all the cards.  To see what I did with the muslin bag, please keep reading.

Upcycled Item:

Finally, we were asked to upcycle or alter an item. I ordered some muslin favor bags for my daughter\’s wedding and have quite a few left so I thought this would be the basis for my upcycle project.  I thought they would be cute \”envelops\” for cards given in person or fun little gift pouches. A lot of the techniques we learned at Altenew Academy can be applied to non-card projects and I would like to share the processes I used to  decorate my muslin bags:

·        Stamping on fabric

·        Coloring on fabric

·        Ink blending on fabric

·        Felt die-cuts adhered to fabric

·        Stamp layering on fabric

I started by personalizing a little bag for each of the cards that I created above. 

For the first two cards, I ironed the bag, secured it in my Misti and stamped just once.  That is all it needed and I was afraid the fabric might shift if I stamped it a second time.  I then did some easy coloring with my Tombow markers.  The fabric colors well but you can’t do much complicated shading.

 

For the Encouragement Card, I masked three squares and then ink blended white pigment ink inside the squares. I let the ink dry and then I stamped (with black Pigment ink) 3 coffee mugs.  I finished by drawing a black border around each square with a permanent marker.  Simple but graphic looking.

For the Color Block Card, I again masked three squares and then ink blended with the same (distress) inks I used on the cards.  It is interesting that the colors change a bit on fabric, but the result is a bright fun pouch.

PRO TIP:  I inserted a piece of paper inside the bag to prevent the ink and glue from bleeding through to the backside. 

While I was at it, I wanted to do some felt die-cutting.  For my first card I die cut five balloons from felt and glued blue thread to the back.  For the second card I die-cut a Mega Alphabet B and added a sprig of die-cut greenery.

PRO TIP:  To keep the felt from stretching and tearing while die cutting, I first glued a piece of regular paper to the back of the felt.  I let it dry overnight and did my die-cutting the next day.  This makes a huge difference in the quality of the die-cut!

My final idea was to do a bit of stamp layering on fabric.  I used pigment ink, dried with my heat tool and then moved on to the next color.  This card is definitely feminine but I wanted to try the technique on muslin and all my layering stamps are flowers. 

Featured Altenew Products:

Altenew Watercolor Stripes stencil

Altenew Tea Time stamp and die bundle

Altenew Garden Grow stamp and die bundle

Altenew Weekend Doodles stamp and die set

Altenew Bride to Be stamp and die bundle

Altenew Mega Alphabet B die

Altenew Card Base Envelop set

I really enjoyed putting this project together!

Karen