Beautiful Details (AECP 2)

Today I have three cards to share as part of my Altenew Educator Certification Program.

Here are my three cards, with more info on how I created them below:

The cards were made for my assignment based on Beautiful Details by Marika Rahtu. This masterclass had six lessons, each with a different perspective on adding details to take your cards to the next level.

I really enjoyed this class. Marika's style is very soft and delicate, something I'm not good at, so I've done my own interpretation of the masterclasses. I loved learning her approach to using different methods of colouring. I also love how she said to let go of your expectations of how the card should turn out, as it allows you to create without limitations.

Top Tip: While you might like the style of other crafters, start to develop your own style. It can take time to develop your style but it's worth it in the end. Be the fabulous you!

Card One - Add Details with Coloured Pencils

For my first card, I used the Altenew Inspiration Challenge to use these specific colours:

My idea was to use watercolour for my base and then add details with coloured and charcoal pencils.

I started out by stamping the stunning Altenew Statement Flowers set onto some watercolour paper. Using the Altenew Artist Watercolour Set, I coloured the flowers in Tea Party & Red Sunset, the leaves in Green Meadow & Green Hills, and the background in Tropical Forest & Rain Forest. For the flower centres, I used Fall Harvest & Delectable Delights.

Using Prismacolour pencils, I added shading to the flowers and leaves. I used the following colours: Carmine Red, Crimson Red & Tuscan Red for the flowers, Dark Green & Olive Green for the leaves and Chestnut for the flower centre. I then added more definition to the background creating shading around the images using Derwent Tinted Charcoal pencil in Green Moss with a tortillon (blending stump).

I added some black and white splatters for added interest. Black from the Jet Black watercolour pan, and gouache for the white.

Top Tip: If your card seems to be 'missing something', add some splatter. It always fills the gap.

To complete the card, I stamped the 'You're so kind' sentiment from the Altenew Sentiment Strips 1 stamp set onto white cardstock, which I then layered up with the Altenew Essential Strips Dies.

As I'm new to watercolour, I was really pleased with how this turned out. It took way longer to paint than I thought it would, but the process was so enjoyable.

Card Two - Add Details with Pens

For my second card, I used the Vertical Challenge sketch at Paper Craft Crew Challenges for my second card. Unfortunately, I must have got my time zones wrong as when I went to enter the challenge the linky had expired. Oh well!

I pulled out the Leaf Canopy set for this card. A set I swooned over forever, yet rarely seem to use.

In this masterclass, Marika created a delicate beauty of a card. However, this is me, so I went bold with some strong black lines and black doodling over a watercoloured background.

This time, instead of using paints, I used my Altenew Woodless Watercolour pencils. I LOVE these. They are portable, feel luxurious to hold, and allow you to create some vibrant pieces. What I especially love is that that I can sit on our new sofas and paint without the risk of throwing paint all over the place, 😅

This slimline card was very simple to pull together. I stamped the leaf stem in Altenew Obsidian black ink, that I then heat embossed with clear ink. I hadn't used the woodless watercolour pencils before so I wasn't sure how they fluid they would be. Note: I have since used them without heat embossing first and they are absolutely fine providing you don't add too much water.

Next, I watercoloured the leaves using a combination of Shadow Creek, Grass Field and Lemonade.

Once the panel was dry, I added some detail using various Zentangle patterns.

Top Tip: This technique works really well with stamps that have nice open spaces. Give it a go.

I added the 'You're so kind' sentiment from the Altenew Sentiment Strips 2 stamp set onto some white cardstock. Then, I layered it up with the Altenew Featured Sentiment Dies. I attached the final panel onto a white card base to which I'd added a scalloped white slimline panel and a central black strip of cardstock. I then added the doodled leaves and some Altenew White Satin sequins that I'd coloured with the Shadow Creek Altenew Artist Marker Pen.

It was a fun and easy project, and I'm happy with how it turned out. So much so that I ended up making a few different colour variations while I had the set out, including a rainbow one.

Top Tip: I say this a lot. While you've got your supplies out, play with different colour/design ideas. There's nothing more magical than finding something you've made earlier when you're in a rush for a card!

Card Three - Monochrome

For my third card, I chose to go monochrome. I wanted to create a dramatic backdrop for a single pink rose, so I opted for the Altenew Simple Roses stamp and die set.

I stamped my rose images onto watercolour paper, and using my Altenew Woodless Watercolour Pencils I coloured the monochrome flowers and leaves with Jet Black and varying amounts of water.

Next, I coloured the pink flower using the Rubellite pencil. I felt like it could use more definition after painting and wanted to add colour using my Altenew Artist Markers. I wasn't sure if you could use them together, so I did an experiment to see if they would work and they did.

Top Tip: If you're not sure if something works, do a bit of research or be brave and experiment yourself. You might be surprised by the results and learn a whole new way of doing something.

Instead of choosing the same Rubellite pen, I used Purple Wine, Puffy Heart and Rose Quartz from the Rock Garden set. I painted the green leaves using Shadow Creek and Lemonade watercolour pencils.

Using the Altenew Monochrome Shading Pencils, in 4B and 10B, I added some shading to the monochrome flowers and leaves. I wasn't sure it would make much difference so took some before and after pictures for reference. I was quite surprised at the definition achieved with the additional shading.

Being quite new to using graphite pencils, I wanted to understand the grading system and learned that B stands for Black, and the higher the number, the higher the intensity of graphite. Who knew?! You probably did, but it's all new to me :D

Next, I die cut the flowers and leaves and added them all to a black card base. I stamped the sentiments onto white cardstock using stamps from the Simple Roses set. I fussy cut the 'You are' sentiment and die cut the 'Special' sentiment with a banner die. I layered both sentiments up onto an additional layer of cardstock to give added dimension before adhering them both to the card.

To finish, I added some Altenew White Satin sequins across the panel, and a bit of doodling with a Micron PN black pen.

Supplies Used:

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