There was lots to learn in this class! The instructor demonstrated the use of dies as stencils, embossing with dies, cutting vellum with dies, inlaid die cutting, embossing with die cuts and the use of negative space from dies. (Does that sentence remind you of Bubba talking about Shrimp in the movie Forest Gump? Sorry…I just had to say it!)
For my cards, I decided to try my hand at heat embossing on vellum die cuts. But first I needed a background for my card. Believe it or not, I have never tried an ink ombre backdrop…so this was a first!
Using Altenew mixed media ink colors Arctic, Caribbean Sky and Persian Blue (with a blending brush) on Hammermill Premium Color Copy Cover 100 lb cardstock, I started with light colors on the left and worked to the right with darker colors. This is definetly something I’ll do more often because it was fun and easy. Next I cut my “blessed” from Altenew Mega Blessed Die using 110 lb Neenah Classic Crest. I cut two of the same die and glued them together for a little more dimension and strength. After glueing the die cut to the front of my card, I heat embossed the flower and leaved stems from Altenew Doodle Blooms. My vellum choice is from The Paper Company and it’s called Translucent. It has a beautiful pearlized sheen to it and is not quite as translucent as typical vellum. The emobossing powder is Princess Gold by Ranger. I mounted the card front on gray cardstock. If the leaves look like they are popping up, its because they are. By design, I wanted a little bit of deminsion so I didn’t glue them completely down. For a finishing touch I added three Trinity Stamp “Buble Blow Out” gems. The inside sentiment, “BLESSED TO HAVE YOU IN OUR LIVES,” was stamped in Altenew Jet Black and is from the Many Thanks sentiments by Altenew. I just got the sentiment set and I love it!
Adding an envelope liner to match the card exterior is a must! I also embellished the inside of the envelope with a couple of heat embossed vellum flowers just for fun.
My next card design was all about the negative and the All About Us Altenew stamp set! Using my Altenew Inks Frosty Pink, Coral Berry, and Ruby Red, I stamped the rose from All about Us across a slim line card front in a repeating pattern. The leaves were stamped from the same set using Frayed Leaf and Forest Glades. Next, I used my Altenew Caps Bold Alphabet Die to cut out the words I LOVE U! To make the wording stand out more, I adhered the card front to a dark red card stock and placed both on a slim line card cut from Neenah Classic Crest 100 lb. The finishing touch here was Park Lane pearl hearts.
The final addition was the sentiment “you make my heart happy” once again, from the very versital set “All about Us” stamped in Altenew Jet Black ink.
Another positive to a “negative” die card is the fact that I now have large “I LOVE U” lettering cut from beautiful rose print cardstock. Ready for another new card!
Hope you’ve enjoyed this post. As always, constructive critique is always welcomed!
Thanks for dropping by!
Jan
Craft Chapel 