Artists' Watercolor 101

So here I am at my last level 3 AECP class. For someone who does not know how to watercolor, I have a ridiculous amount of watercolor paints from several different companies. Watercolor painting is something that I would love to learn but not something that I have spent a lot of time with. So this is why I decided to do the Artists' Watercolor 101 class taught by Emily Midgett.

Emily does a good job teaching the basics of watercolor in this class. She went over the basics  of paints, tools, and techniques of basic watercolor making easy for beginners to understand. Emily explains wet-to-dry, diluted, color movement, wet on wet, color layering and ombre` backgrounds in this class and gives examples of each. 

This is a good way to get familiar with how the paints react. She also showed us how to get a good feel for the opacity of the paints using a glazing chart.

Without further ado here are 2 of the cards I made following Emily's instructions for this class.

Card 1 

For this card the image was heat embossed using Altenew Obsidian Pigment ink and Crystal Clear embossing powder. This card uses just basic watercoloring technique to give the image depth and dimension. Heat embossing the image creates a "well" for the water and paint to stay inside making it easier to control.

I then used Altenew Ornate nesting die to cut a base in Altenew Jet Black cardstock for the stamp image to have a grounding place. After playing around with placement I decided the background needed more color, so I embossed a 4.25"x5.5" piece of Altenew Puffy Heart cardstock with Altenew's Masonry Wall 3D embossing folder. 

SUPPLIES USED

Stamps: Altenew Dazzling Dahlia stamps and dies
Dies & Plates: Altenew One Go: Sentiment Strips press plate, Altenew Ornate nesting die

Misc: Altenew Masonry Wall embossing folder, Altenew Artist Watercolor palette, #4 & #6 Watercolor Brushes

Paper: Altenew Watercolor paper cold press, Altenew cardstock, Neenah cardstock

Card 2

Card 2 uses an ombre` background technique. I have seen so many do this type of background but had not tried it for myself. I love this technique and plan on using it often. It is fairly simple although I can see that I need quite a bit of practice to get a better transition in my colors.

For this technique the watercolor paper was taped to a hardboard and then using Altenew watercolor paint and a large brush you just paint in stripes across the cardstock gradually bring the colors together as you move along. 

You should try to use colors that are close on the ROY G BIV spectrum and you need to be mindful of color theory mixing so that you do not end up with a muddy mixture. 

You can leave it taped to the board and allow it to dry, which helps to stop warping or you can dry it with your heat tool to speed up the process.

Once the background was dry, I used Altenew Just Leaves die to cut a leaf bunch with Altenew Jet Black cardstock and Altenew Timeless Sentiments 2 die to cut 2 of the sentiment for layering to give the card some dimension. The background panel was adhered to a card base and the dies were adhered using Bearly Arts Liquid Glue. 

SUPPLIES USED

Dies: Altenew Timeless Sentiments 2, Altenew Just Leaves
Paper: Altenew Watercolor, Altenew cardstock, Neenah cardstock

Misc: Altenew Artist Watercolor palette, #12 Watercolor Brush

Background Magic

In the Background Magic class, Laurel Beard taught a number of different techniques to create backgrounds for cards using large background stamps. From inking to watercolor to heat embossing. This class has me wanting to pull out my large background stamps and spend a day or two just creating backgrounds with them using the techniques from the class. 

The techniques in this class can be used for so many different themes by just changing up the colors or sentiments.

Cards 1 & 2 - Inking Techniques

For these panels we inked directly on to the Altenew Watercolor Dots stamps set using different color inks and then stamped the image on a cardstock panel. You can get a different look to the panels by spritzing on some water before stamping the image down. The water helps the inks create a watercolor effect.

For the first 2 cards I just inked directly onto the stamp with different Altenew Fresh Dye ink cubes and then stamped the image on a piece of cardstock. The one on the left I used just 2 color families to create and the one on the right I followed Laurel's color choices. While both panels are pretty the one on the right has much more interest and texture due to the colors of ink used being in different color families.

For both cards I used sentiments from Altenew One-Go: Solid Sentiment Strips press plate. I am loving this press plate and how the sentiments look. The panels were trimmed down and layered on to cardstock layers before being adhered to the card fronts.

Card 3 - Inking Techniques Watercolor

For this card we used the same technique of stamping various colors of Altenew Fresh Dye ink cubes on to the stamp and then lightly spritzed the stamp with water before stamping the image on to a piece of watercolor paper. I then die cut the Altenew Circle Greetings: Hugs die three times and used liquid glue to layer them for added dimension to the sentiment.

 
Card 4 - Inking Techniques Heat Embossing

To create this card panel, the same Altenew Watercolor Dots stamp set was stamped on to a black piece of cardstock with white pigment ink. Pigment ink take a while to dry so you can use a heat tool to dry the ink faster. Once the dots were dry, we then took embossing ink and embossed the additional small images randomly on top of the dots using Altenew Antique Gold embossing powder. Then layered the card panel on a piece of Altenew Gold Metallic cardstock before adhering it on to a card front.

TIP: You must make sure that your pigment ink is completely dry before doing additional stamping on top of the pigment ink otherwise the powder will stick to the pigment ink too.
 
Card 5 - Partial Heat Embossing

This card was create using Altenew Rustic Linen background stamp. You could just ink up the whole stamp with embossing ink and it would be perfectly lovely. However, for this card we randomly tapped the embossing ink pad on to the stamp leaving only part of the stamp inked before stamping on to the cardstock panel. We then heat embossed the image with Altenew Antique Gold embossing powder. 

This technique gives you a different look every time since the ink is randomly applied each time.

Cards 6 & 7 - Watercolor Techniques

One of Laurel's design suggestions was to stamp your image and heat emboss it. Then turning your card base 90 degrees and repeating the stamping & embossing a second time to give you more options with your backgrounds.

The card on the left used Laurel's suggestion of double stamping the design by turning your panel 90 degrees. You can see what a difference you can get. Both of these cards were created using the same background stamp. I used a second piece of watercolor paper to "clean" the extra inks off of my glass mat giving me 2 more panels to use at a later time.

Left card - After stamping and embossing a watercolor panel with white embossing powder, I tapped the Altenew Fresh Dye ink cubes on to my glass mat, spritzed them with water and dipped the card panel into the color. I dipped it several times always drying with my heat tool between each layer of ink. Once the ink was dry, I stamped a sentiment from Altenew's Classic Greetings set on to a piece of vellum using Versamark ink and then heat embossed it with black embossing powder. After allowing the embossing powder to cool I used some Scarpbook.com Clear Double-sided Adhesive on the back of the vellum to adhere it to the card panel. The panel was then layered on to a black cardstock panel and then adhered to a card base.

Right card - I again stamped a piece of watercolor paper with Altenew Pattern Play - Diamonds stamp set and heat embossed it in white. I then spritzed the panel with water and sprinkled on some Lindy's Magical powders. Spritzing with more water to break up the powder and get the colors to move on the paper. Using my heat tool, I dried the panel and dipped it a few more times to get more texture to the image.  For the sentiment panel I used 2 sentiments from Altenew Cascading Flowers and a leaf image from Altenew Garden Bouquet stamping them in embossing ink and heat embossing with white embossing powder.

SUPPLIES USED
Press Plate - One-Go: Solid Sentiment Strips

Stamps - Altenew Watercolor Dots, Altenew Rustic Linen, Altenew Pattern Play - Diamonds, Altenew Classic Greetings, Altenew Garden Bouquet, Altenew Cascading Flowers

Dies - Altenew Circled Greetings: Hugs Die

Inks - Altenew Fresh Dye ink cubes, Versamark, Hero Arts white pigment ink

Paper - Altenew cardstock, Hammermill cardstock, Ranger Distress watercolor

Misc - Altenew Antique Gold embossing powder, Brutus Monroe Alabaster & Raven embossing powder, Lindy's Magical powder (Danny Zuko's Denim, Lucky Shamrock Green, Every Picture Teals a Story)

Demystifying Mixed Media

Here I am once again with another class towards the Altnew Educators Certification Program. For this class I chose Demystifying Mixed Media taught by Tania Ahmed. I have a love-hate relationship with mixed media. I love the look and all the texture you can get but I hate the usually messiness of the techniques to get the look and texture. 

These are the six cards I made during the lessons for this class. I have to be honest and say I still have a love-hate relationship with mixed media but I am happy with the results I got with each of these cards.

Card 1 - Embossing Paste Textured Background

For this lesson we used stencils, embossing paste, and watercolor paints to create the background for this card. I watercolored the floral image from Altenew In the Woodland set and then die cut it. Once the background was dry, I stamped the sentiment from the same set in the lower corner. Tania used a cool looking spider tulle ribbon to embellish her card but since I didn't have that I used some of Altenew's metallic thread behind my image.

Cards 2 & 3 - Gesso Ghost Background

For this lesson the cardstock panel was coated with gesso. When it was dry Tania used watercolor paints for hers but since I have so many of the Lindy's Magical powders I decided to use those for my background. Once the background was dry I placed the Altenew Leaf Drop stencil on the background and used a baby wipe to gently wipe over the open areas to remove and lighten the design.

When I was happy with the background I used a circle die to cut out a circle in the backgroun panel. That circle was temporarily placed on a card base and then stamped with Altenew Sweet Pea stamp. We then colored in the stamped image with a white colored pencil to highlight the image.

When stamping the image on a card base, I messed up the first try and hated to toss it out. Fortunately the panel with the circle cut covered up my stamping boo-boo so a second card was created using the messed up card front. Amazingly the circle I had cut was the perfect size to fit Altenew's Circled Greetings: Thanks die. The sentiment strip was stamped from Altenew's Gracious Peonies set on black cardstock and heat embossed with white embossing powder.  

Card 4 - Creating Mixed Media Backgrounds

To create this background we used the letter dies from Altenew Fine Alphabet die set and randomly placed them on a cardstock panel and cut them out. Once the panel was die cut we used Altenew Fresh Dye ink Autumn Blaze and swiped the ink on the panel then spritzed it with water to "blend" the ink out. Tania use shimmer spray instead of water. Then using a brayer and some turquiose paint we add the blue in a few areas. Once we were happy with that we then used embossing ink to dab in random places. We poured on gold embossing powder and then wiping off some of the embossing powder to allow the background colors to show. After it was heat embossed we then added some more of the blue paint using the brayer again. After the panel was complete it was then adhered to another white cardstock panel.

The sentiment is from Altenew's One Go: Solid Sentiment Strips Betterpress Plate and die.I wrapped the panel with some of the Altenew Metallic thread and adhered it to a card base using foam adhesive strips.

And finally cards 5 & 6 - Book Text Collage

I think these 2 are my favorites from this class. In this lesson we used made a collage on the background. Tania used old books that she tore pieces of the pages to create her background. Since I didn't have any old books to use I had to find an alternative and instead used some Tim Holtz Idea-ology Collage Papers - Archives in my stash to create my collage background.

After the collage medium was dry the cardstock panels were coated in a thin coating of gesso. After drying the panels with a heat tool we used Altenew Fresh Dye inks and put the ink on our surface and added water then dipped the panels into the ink. Drying in between the ink layers to get more texture and movement. Because I have taking a number of classes with Tiffany Solario on ink sprays, once I was happy with the way the panels looked I had to use my water bottle and flick some droplets, as well as splatter with some white on to the panels to create even more texture to them.

The panels were stamped with the floral image from Altenew Sulfur Cosmos and heat embossed in gold. The left panel sentiment was stamped and heat embossed in black and the right panel I used another of the sentiments from Altenew One Go: Solid Sentiment Strips Betterpress plate and die. They were then layered onto colored cardstock using foam adhesive before being adhered to the card bases.

Coloring Beyond Boundaries

Another Altenew Educator Certification Program level 3 class. I enjoyed this class and learning some coloring techniques.

Card 1 - Monochrome Shading Pencils

For this card we learned monochrome shading using pencils and blending stumps. With this technique you can create shading and shape to each of the flowers. Once the shading was complete we used black ink to splatter the card front. The card front is layered on a black layer of cardstock, then attached to a card base. 

Pencil is soft and will rub off with handling so it will need to be sealed. I used Krylon Kamar Varnish to seal the image.

Card 2 - Ink & Graphite Alchemy

For this card we used Altenew Sulfur Cosmos to stampthe image and used the coordinating stencil with Altenew Fresh Dye ink to color the image. Then using pencils we shaded in the image for additional depth. After creating a mask for the image we used the background stencil that is part of the coordinating stencil set for Sulfur Cosmos to create a background with blending brushes. Again we used black ink to splatter the card front before attaching it to a card base.

Card 3 - Metallic Stenciling Magic

For this card we used the Altenew Rustling Leaves Simple Coloring Stencil. Using the Altenew Sticky Mat to hold the black cardstock piece and the stencil. We then used the Altenew Metallic Watercolors and a foam applicator to "paint" in the leaves starting with the gold moving to the copper and then to the garnet to get a varigated blended look. Then using a thin brush and gold watercolor we painted in the stems for the leaves. Heat embossed the sentiment on the black panel. Layered the black piece on to a piece of Altenew Brushed Gold cardstock. 

For the background we used the Sulfur Cosmos stencil to embossing a white panel. Layered the embossed panel on to a card base and layered the gold and black panel on to the top. 

Card 4 - Metallic Watercolors

For this card we used the Rustling Leaves 3D embossing folder set off to one side of the card front. Using the metallic watercolor paint and a small brush we started at the top painting the leaves & stems and going from gold to jade and then to topaz slowly going from full color to a blended color by mixing the colors with each other. Using the 3 paint colors the card front panel was splattered.

We used a white piece of cardstock and blending the 3 paint colors. When that piece was dry we used the Altenew Birthday Wish die set to cut the sentiment. Using the Hero Arts circle dies I cut a small black circle to fit inside the embossed circle then layered the sentiment on top for a little bit of depth.

SUPPLIES USED

Stamps, Dies and Embossing: Altenew Sulfur Cosmos, Rustling Leaves Embossing Folder
Paper: Hammermill cardstock, Taylored Expressions cardstock, Neenah cardstock
Ink: Altenew Obsidian Pigment, Altenew Fresh Dye, Versamark
Misc: Altenew Metallic Watercolor, watercolor paint brush, Altenew Antique Gold embossing powder, Staedtler Mars Lumograph 10B pencil, blending stump, Altenew small and mini blending brushes, blending tool and foam, Krylon Kamar Varnish

Chromatic Harmony

I made it through my AECP level 2 final project and now get to move on to level 3 classes. For my first level 3 class I chose to do Chromatic Harmony taught by Aditi Mahajan. In Chromatic Harmony Aditi does a great job of teaching about color theory and using a color wheel when creating your projects. 

Aditi's projects really stretched my creativity using ink colors from different color families to ink blend each project. I have done ink blending on stencils and dies but Aditi takes it so many steps further than I have ever tried before and the results are fantastic.

Chromatic in art is the use of colors that have a dominant wavelength or hue, and are rich and vibrant. Harmony in art is the use of colors, shapes, and other elements to create a pleasing or balanced effect.

There are 13 cards that you can create in this class. All of the projects were terrific but the three above were my favorites. 

In lesson 2 we learned about analogous color composition. This lesson uses the Altenew Craft-A-Flower: Hellabore die and for the bonus project in the middle I chose the Altenew Craft-A-Flower: Sulfar Cosmos die. I accidently made extra flowers so instead of stashing them or trashing them I made the 3rd card to the right. We used variousink groups to blend the die cut pieces before assembling them giving them depth.

We started out by die cutting all of the flower pieces using colored cardstock. Once we had all of the pieces cut, we then started ink blending each of the pieces with various ink colors. Aditi showed how you can mix inks from different color families to give you more options and to give your project added depth. When everything was ink blended we then assembled the flowers. Altenew's keyhole system and step-by-step insturctions makes assembly of their layered flowers so easy.

We finished off by using Altenew Metallic Watercolors to splatter each project for a little extra shine.

 
In lesson 3 we continued with blending analogous colors but this time we used Altenew Build-A-Garden: Lovely Rose Peony and the Altenew Peony & Lilac Swag stamps, dies and coordinating stencils. 

For these cards we heat embossed the stamps on white cardstock. Then using the coordinating stencils we again used a variety of ink colors to ink blend each flower and the results are just stunning. Aditi showed us how to take our ink blending further than just using one color family but how to get added depth and dimension by using different ink from multiple color families. 

When the ink blending was complete we cut each of the pieces using the coordinating dies. The dies leave a white border around the images but for these we used a black marker and colored the white border which gives the colors much more pop. 

On the card on the left we used the back textured side of the Altenew Sticky Mat to stamp and create a background with gold ink. This was something I had not thought of doing but it gives a terrific look.

For the card on the right we again ink blending the image and colored the white border left by the die. We used an embossing folder to create our background for this card. For mine I used the Altenew Deck Planks embossing folder. This is a fabulous embossing folder that I can seeing getting a lot of use. Because the images is such a large image we were able to cut the image in half and create a different layout than we would by just placing the image on the card front. 

Lesson four had us watercolor with analogous colors. We again used the Lovely Rose Peony stamp for this card.

We stamped the image on a piece of cold press watercolor paper using Versamark ink and heat embossed with white embossing powder. The images were watercolored using a variety of Altenew Fresh Dye inks. The inks were smooshed onto a palette and then water was added to get a good consistency for painting in the images. A wet-on-wet technique was used to get the inks to blend.

This class would be great for a beginner and for those more experienced cardmakers who wants to learn more about color blending and mixing.

AECP Level 2 Final

This is going to be a long post…sorry! But I hope you read through the end and let me know what you think about my final project.

I have reached the end of Level 2 of the Altenew Educators Certification Program. This level consisted of me doing 10 classes with projects and then a final project. I learned some new things and brushed up on some old techniques during all the classes.

For the final project for this level I have been tasked with making 4 masculine cards with birthday, love/thinking of you, anniversary, and encouragement themes + an altered item/upcycled project.

I had to pick 3 components from the 20 classes I have completed so far to use in my cards. I chose Let it Shine, For the Guys, Easy Ink Blending, and Beyond Basic Backgrounds. To be honest there are probably even more components of other classes that I used in these projects.

In the Let it Shine class Carissa went over all things shiny from embossing powder to glitter to metallic cardstock and everything in between that adds shine to a project. In For the Guys class Jen talks about way to create masculine cards using geometric shapes, die cuts, ink blending, and interactive elements. Easy Ink Blending is pretty self-explanatory in this class Amy talks about different ways to use ink blending to create backgrounds and give your card a little something extra. In Beyond Basic Backgrounds Lydia showed many different ideas to create background techniques using embossing, ink blending, stencils, and more.

Without further ado here are my Level 2 final projects.

Card 1 – Birthday

For this card I used a geometric stencil and ink blended it on my white panel using Altenew Fresh Dye inks and small blending brushes. I randomly placed the colors around the panel. 

TIP – Use ink colors that are beside each other on the color wheel so that you do not create a muddy brown color.

When I was happy with my ink blending, I then used a gold gel pen to randomly trace some of the blocks to give a little extra something to the background.

I used the Altenew Birthday Wishes die to cut the sentiment in Altenew Brushed Gold cardstock and the shadow in a dark blue. The card panel was then layered on a piece of brushed gold cardstock and the same dark blue cardstock.

Card 2 – Encouragement 

For this card I started out with Altenew’s Masking Paper and cut a piece to A2 card size. I then just randomly tore an ovalish shape in the center of the masking paper. The mask was stuck on the white cardstock panel and I used the lightest shade to ink blend the shape. I then placed the Altenew Dotted Waves stencil over top of the card panel and started in the center with the lightest shade in the ink set at the middle and then used the next shade towards the outer edge of the “oval”. When I was happy with the center, I removed the outer mask and used the piece I tore from the center to cover the center ink blended section so I could use the 2 darker shades, as well as navy blue and black to continue ink blending around the panel to the outside edges.

I die cut the 2 koi fish from Altenew Calming Koi set in white cardstock and vellum paper. Then using the coordinating stamp set I stamped the marking on the fish before adhering them together. Using my stamp positioner, I carefully heat embossed the encouragement sentiment in the center of the card panel, placed the fish around the sentiment and using some shimmer I splattered the card panel before layering it on the card base.

Card 3 – Anniversary

For an interactive feature I decided to make a shaker card. I used a piece of Altenew Watercolor paper to create an embossed resist. Going with more of the geometric, I stamped the Shine Like a Diamond background stamp using Versamark ink and white embossing powder. 

TIP – If you have a stamp positioner this is a perfect use for it because of the texture of watercolor paper it can take several stamps to get complete coverage.

When the panel was cool, I lightly sprayed the watercolor panel with water and then used Lindy’s Magical powders and more water to do my ink blending. I dried the panel using my Ranger Heat Tool. Once the panel was dry, I used a circle die to cut the circle out for the shaker area.

I heat embossed the sentiment from Altenew Ambridge Roses set onto heat resistant acetate.  I also heat embossed in Altenew Antique Gold embossing powder a smaller sentiment to add on to the card front on a piece of navy-blue cardstock.

TIP – Make sure that your acetate is heat resistant because it will melt. There are several companies that sell heat resistant acetate. 

Card 4 – Thinking of You

Just like with the anniversary card I did the emboss resist technique. I continued the geometric theme and this time I stamped the Altenew Whimsical Herringbone background on to a A2 cardstock panel and using my Distress Stain and Oxide sprays I “ink” blended the background.

TIP – I would definitely suggest using a piece of watercolor paper to do this type of technique because you will get a better blend. However, I do like the way this turned out even if I was too lazy to dig out another piece of watercolor paper.

When I was happy with the background, I used my Ranger Heat Tool to dry the panel and cut it down to the size I wanted for my card front. I then used cardstock to die cut the Altenew Bird of the Mountain die. Altenew makes die cutting so EASY with their keyhole system. The die was super easy to put together.

Using Versamark and Altenew Antique Silver embossing powder I heat embossed the thinking of you sentiment from Altenew Heartfelt Sentiments set on to a piece of dark blue cardstock cut to the size I needed. Adhered the 2 background pieces to the card base and then adhered the bird where I wanted him to sit.

Altered Item

When we purchased our home a couple of years ago my husband created an Art Studio for me in our basement rec room. It is a huge room that gives me a place to do all the paper crafting, painting, sewing, or quilting I want. The one thing it has lacked is anything to decorate the space. So, for my altered item project I decided to make something that I can use to hang on the wall for décor.

Since we have decluttered our home and try not to allow things we are not using to hang out for long I had to purchase a blank canvas to use for my project. I purchased a black gesso painted canvas from our local craft store.

I have said for quite some time I wanted a sign in my art studio that said “Create something every day even if it sucks”. So that is what I have made for this altered item. Using Adobe Photoshop Elements I did a mockup of the sign so that I could decide on what font I wanted to use, what size the words needed to be and how I wanted to the layout to be.

Once that was all determined I used Word to print out each word. I placed the words on the canvas where I wanted them. 

Using some transfer paper from my sewing supplies and my dry embossing stylus I transferred the words to the canvas.

Then I used heavy-body acrylic paint and a small round paint brush to paint the words onto the canvas.

I let the painted words dry overnight and then came time to stamp the flowers from Altenew Sulfur Cosmos stamp set. This is where I ran into some problems. Even though my husband had cut some scrap wood pieces for behind the canvas I could not get a complete image when I tried to stamp on it.

After much thought on how to make this work, it dawned on me to remove the canvas from the wood “frame” stretcher. Once the canvas was flat, I was able to use Versamark ink to stamp the flowers on to the corners of the canvas and then heat emboss with Altenew Antique Gold embossing powder.

As you can see from my mockup, I originally was going to paint in the flowers using metallic paints but after seeing them embossed on the canvas I decided I like the clean and simple lines of it without the extra color. This clean and simple look goes much better with the midcentury modern aesthetic that I am working to create in our home.