Altenew Educator Cerficiation Program - Clean and Simple Boutique cards

Hi Everyone,

Today, I want to share with you another card I made for the Altenew Educator Certification Program. Yes, I know, I haven't shared anything for AECP for a long while now, and I am quite behind, but I really want to try submitting a few more entries before the end of the year, so fingers crossed I'll manage. I have been really busy with life recently, and sadly card making had to suffer as a consequence...

Anyhow, on to the class and the card.

I must admit, the class was very interesting to me, as it covered quite a variety of different techniques and approaches to what one can call a clean and simple design. I was mostly inspired by the stamped backgrounds lesson. And yes, my card design might not be 100% clean and simple per se, but let me tell you - I am anyway impressed that I managed to salvage the card, and not throw it into the bin ;o)

Anything that you can imagine going wrong with a card, went wrong... I smeared and slightly bent the panel when stamping my final image. I wanted to just emboss the panel with a die, for additional interest, but the die shifted in my die-cutting machine, and it ended up being all wonky... Fair enough, I ended up trimming the panel, and that helped with eliminating both of these issues :o) I was determined to keep going... But then, when I wanted to embellish my "merry" part of the sentiment with red glitter, the glitter bottle exploded! I had to remove the letters and replace them with new ones... And believe you me - I think I heat embossed the white "Christmas" bit like 20 times - I never have issues with heat embossing sentiments, so don't ask me how I managed that... 

All in all, I was very close to just dumping this card, but I really prefer to avoid doing that, and so I continued... And you know what? The end result is actually quite decent! Maybe not as CAS as I planned, and maybe not 100% perfect, but I am truly proud that I persevered. 

What do you think? Did it deserve to be salvaged? :o)

We're really close to Christmas now, hence I wanted to wish you all 

a very merry Christmas. 

I hope you get to spend it surrounded by the people you love and care about, 

and that you won't get caught up in all the nervous 

preparations - sometimes it's good to just take a step back, 

relax a bit, and devote the time to your loved ones! 

And here's to a great and crafty New Year!

Mirella

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Poinsettia and pine by Altenew - elegant Christmas cards in a breeze

Hello Everyone,

I know I haven't been around for a while, but sadly writing blog posts is something that I really don't have a lot of time for at the moment. I prefer to craft instead, when the spare moment comes, I'm sure some of you can empathise? :o) I update my Instagram account really regularly and frequently, though, so if you want to see more of my work, I would suggest you look for me there!

Today, I am sharing with you two cards that I made with the gorgeous Poinsettia and pine stamp set by Altenew. At first, the stamp set might not look like much, but once you start combining the various elements, and making arrangements out of them - you end up with gorgeous, Christmassy and elegant cards in no time! I don't have the coordinating dies, and I can imagine that they can make the job even easier, even though I must say - I kind of prefer the fussy cut (or masked) looks for these particular stamps (so in other words, I like them more where there is no white border around them)... However, it all depends on the card design, of course!

Here are the two cards I made with this set so far, I can't wait to play with it more (although it might be for Christmas 2019, since I still have lots of sets I want to use for this year's cards...):

CARD 1 - coloured with Copics

CARD 2 - coloured with ZIGs

I am entering the first card into the following challenges (the second card was made a few weeks back):

SSS Wednesday Challenge - All that glitters is gold

Altenew - Current November colour challenge (entry through IG)

As you can see, both arrangements of the stamped elements are quite similar, yet the end result of the whole design looks totally different!

- in both cases, I coloured two poinsettia images, and fussy cut the elements in a way that allowed me to layer the image - that way, I achieved some dimension and a more realistic look (in my opinion)

- the colouring, although done with different mediums, is pretty similar in terms of colour choices. However, the Copic colouring was done on images simply stamped with black ink, whilst for ZIG colouring I heat embossed the images in black (or, to be more precise, I used clear heat embossing powder over black ink)

- there are white and gold splatters on both designs, and golden embellishments also --> one card has sequins, the other one some golden confetti

- the sentiment is also the same, but one was stamped directly on the card front, whilst the other was heat embossed in gold on a strip of cardstock

- and, of course, the shape and texture + colours of the backgrounds - here's where the most noticeable difference occurs, and where the magic happens --> two theoretically similar designs end up looking totally different

I had loads of fun making these, and I love how both of them turned out. 

Which one is your favourite?

Have a great crafty weekend,

Mirella

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Glitter paper from my stash

Monkey hugs with SugarPea Designs

Hello Everyone,

A super quick post today, with a CAS (Clean and Simple) card I made for the current Mix it up challenge over at SugarPea Designs. 

I think it turned out really cute - I got inspired by both the colours and the sketch of the challenge. I gave the monkey a little present to hold, and the sentiment is versatile enough that the card can be used for various occasions - I like to keep my options open! :o)

A bit of fussy cutting, some foam tape here and there, and - of course - lots of sparkle (in this case, on the leaves and the gift), and voila!

Hope you like it:

I am entering the card into the following challenges:

SugarPea Designs - Mix it up challenge 48

Have a great week ahead,

Mirella

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Enamel dots - from my stash