Hearts Abound!

On October 25, 2021October 25, 2021 By Erika L HayesIn ACEP, Altenew LLC, Die cutting, Inlay Die Cutting, Radiating Heart Cover Plate Die2 Comments

I began my next class at AECP and one of the techniques that were shown is a personal favorite of mine. I admit it, I kind of like mundane tasks sometimes. While picking through a bunch of hearts may seem like it will take forever, it really went fast because I was organized and thought out my plan.

Originally, I was going to use four colors on one card, but as I started putting down the hearts, I decided that sticking to fewer colors more repetition would be better. I am happy with the results.

Of course, as many people are working on Fall and Christmas cards right now, I got an idea to make a few valentines cards. I just made an Alice in Wonderland card for my niece’s birthday and was in a Queen of Hearts mood.

First, I needed to cut out the die cuts. With the very small hearts, I realized I needed to have adhesive on the back of my cardstock. I ran out of my Altenew sheet adhesive. (Never fear, I have more on the way.) I rolled out my adhesive and laid out the cardstock and left a very small gap to avoid waste. (Figure 2)

Once I had cut them apart, I used my Radial Heart Cover Die to cut each color one at a time. When I cut a plate, I used a dish to dump each color. (Figure 3)

While I was removing all those hearts… I found that some of them wanted to hang-on and needed to be weeded out, weeding is just a term for removing negative space cuts from the die in this case, the hearts are the negative space of the cover plate. I wanted to pass this little tip along for adhesive-backed die cuts. that want to stay in place. I flipped over the cover plate cut and used my pokey tool to trace the lines of the adhesive and they would pop right out (Figure 4)

I adhered the cover plate to a card front and then put the hearts back in according to the color and size I liked. This is called an inlay.

One of the things I really love about this technique is that it can look so different when you change the pattern or colors.

One last tip for you: invest in some small plastic baggies. Anytime, you have an extra die that you have cut place it in a baggie and slide it in with the storage pouch or package for later use. Figure 5

Have a fantastic day my friends. I have lots more coming soon!

Sometimes you just need to KISS

On October 21, 2021 By Erika L HayesIn ACEP, Altenew LLC, Clean & Simple (CAS), Die cutting, Fancy Thanks Die Cut, Letter Press, Letterpress, MIni Branch, Scoring, watercolor2 Comments

Hello my friends! I am so glad you are here today. I wanted to share some simple fast techniques you can use together or separate. These fun ideas can be used to create a card completely like I have here or to dress up a card that seems to be missing that one thing.

I first learned KISS to mean Keep it Simple Stupid, but quickly changed it to Keep It Simple Sexy because I don’t actually believe there is such a thing as a stupid person…. stupid actions maybe. Anyway, I digress.

Today we are going to head back down the AECP road as I am up and moving again. It was a hot minute there wasn’t it. I am sharing a card today that has some simple elements to it to create a card that is not only simple and fast to make, but also is beautifully hand made.

First, is creating a Letterpress image. All I did was stacked several thanks diecuts (6), and layered them to create the press (See Figure1). Just like dry embossing but the trick is to add a non-porus die cut at the bottom of your stack and allowing the stack to dry completely before moving on. Once your stack is dry, I . added some ink (pigment/hybrid work best.) to the bottom die cut as it should be slick because of the non-porus paper it will not absorb your ink but instead let it sit right on top (See Figure 2). Next, use a very low-tack tape to secure it in place Once you have that completed, you should head to your manual die cut machine. Now carefully flip your inked die cut stack and run it through your machine using the stack recommended with your machine that is for embossing folders. As simple as that you have a letterpress sentiment on your paper.

Now the best part is your card has that lovely letterpress look and you can do this with any die cut you have. Do yourself a favor, slip that letter press into your stamp sleeve so you can use it again and again. Eventually, you will need a new one made but I like to keep them until I am ready for a new one. Sometimes I just replace the bottom paper.

You will get some seepage, depending on what ink you use, under the non-porus sheet but it won’t ruin your stack at all.

Once I had the image on the front, I used a very simple stamp and then a few drops of watercolor. Try a drop of a different color while the water is still wet. If you look closely, I added a blue drop of watercolor to the green in the leaves. Then splatter a little purple on the card face. I didn’t wory about it overlapping or mixing because I waited until the green was completely dry.

It is hard to see in the photo but if you look at the “h” and the “a” you can see the imprint that the letterpress created.

My final detail on this card is another fun simple way to add fun to your card keeping with the press feel is to run a few lines with your scoring tool. I just like how it adds a little visual interest. I flipped my paper to have the sentiment face down when I added score lines so they would emboss verses a deboss look.

I used my scor-pal to create these simple but fun textured detail.

I hope you are able to use a few of these ideas on your next card or project.

Keep It Simple Sexy!

Keep Crafting!

A Celebration of Stencils

On March 17, 2021April 5, 2021 By Erika L HayesIn ACEP, Altenew LLC, Colored Pencils, Copic Markers, Embossing Paste, Faber-Castell Polychromos, Paper Art, Prisma, Stencils, Uncategorized1 Comment

Stencils one of the most versatile tools in your crafting stash! They are easy to use and also are relatively inexpensive! This is one reason I love them so very much.

One issue I have when using stencils is shifting, especially the edges. It can be really annoying when you have a beautiful start to the stenciling and then it shifts. Using a bit of removable adhesive on the back of your cardstock and press it into your work surface. I found especially on this card when using the embossing paste on the edges it was particularly helpful.

I love adding texture visually with stencils and ink. Adding to the fun can be using texture pastes and glazes. I used the Altenew Embossing Paste and let me tell you, it was the best embossing paste this girl has ever used. Using texture paste can be a very messy process. When using the Altenew paste I found clean up to be very easy and it takes ink like a breeze. I will link to it here because once you use it, you can never use another!! Click here.

A few other things you can try with embossing paste is adding color to it with ink. On this card I used Altenew Half Tone stencil and simply used my ink cube (Ruby Red) added a dollop of paste and mixed it on my worksurface. The paste will soften the color a bit because in color theory if you add white to a color it will lighten the color. I would suggest if you want a brighter color that you increase the amount of ink and go brighter than you think you need.

If you find that you made a little too much? That a great thing you can do a few things, you can put it in a plastic baggie and save it. Another fun thing if you put it in a baggie is to use it like a piping bag on another project or you can grab another piece of cardstock and a stencil and make a background for future use!

One more thing I found to be helpful is to swatch your stencils. I know another swatching project. (You’re welcome) I discovered using black and grey ink to swatch my stencils was the best as it kept the stencil images the focus. I keep my swatches with my inks swatches to encourage me to use them more often.

A flip through my stencil swatches

Thanks for taking a look! Please feel free to leave a comment if you have any questions or if you want to contact me directly, please go to the contact page!

Blessings Friends!

Erika

Koi, Oh Koi – Mix it up with multiple stamp sets

On February 24, 2021February 24, 2021 By Erika L HayesIn Altenew LLC, Challenges, Colored Pencils, Copic Markers, Faber-Castell Polychromos, Hero Arts, Ink Layering, MFT, Paper Art, Self Challenge, Techniques, Uncategorized1 Comment

Stamps – Hero Arts -Lotus Flower, Koi Fish – Altenew Inks – Hero Arts ,Catherine Pooler, Tim Holtz, Copic Markers and Polychoromos colored pencils; Stencil – My Favorite Things

Have you ever had a moment when you get a new stamp set that you say, “Oh, Boy, I know what I want to do with that!” I love how this card did that!

I had two stamp sets show up on the same day and I had one of those moments. I opened my happy mail and set them out on my desk so I could put them in the storage sleeves and these two stamp sets, from Hero Arts and Altenew, popped an idea into my mind and Koi, oh Koi did I love it.

I did ink over the image of the koi to give it a look of being underwater. I thought it came out great when I used the “Pool” stencil from MFT to give the water a look of motion. Simply using an ink that is slightly lighter (TH Tumbled Glass) over the new Catherine Pooler Cummerbund ink that I used with the stencil. I did put the ink over the image of the koi. (Which made me nervous– but hey, it’s only paper right.)

It’s sometimes hard to imagine mixing stamp sets and stamp sets from different companies even more so when it comes to images. I try to stretch my stamps by mixing them with not only images from within a company line but look outside the company as well. In this example, it worked great.

I encourage you to make something and combine many companies images. It is fun and a great challenge.

Blessings,

Erika

MFT Sketch Challenge

On February 22, 2021 By Erika L HayesIn Altenew LLC, Challenges, Copic Markers, MFT, Paper Art1 Comment

Beautiful new release this month with NEW colors of ink and cardstock. Most of us have heard the Pantone colors being yellow and grey and of course I love that color combination. I decorated my house with these colors a few years ago.

Sketch Challenge this week was really cute and I love how quickly this card came together in my mind. I did spend time assembling this card once I had the idea and a few things changed from my original thoughts. That is something I love about sketch challenges. Well, all challenges really. I love that they are a “launching pad” for a creative session.

This was the sketch this week: