Everyday Expressions

Hi Everyone! Thank you so much for stopping by today! This post will be short and sweet, because I’ve got a clean and simple card for you. This card is homework for Altenew Academy’s Clean and Simple Boutique Cards taught by Jennifer Rasa.

The concept behind boutique cards is that they are simple, but beautiful and artistic in style. This was the perfect opportunity to pull out the new, gorgeous Arabesque Medallion stamp set and Altenew antique silver embossing powder I purchased after Christmas with gift card money! LOL!

Technique:

What makes a boutique card perfect is that is so simple to create! I almost felt guilty creating this card, because it is so easy. Cover the cardstock using an anti-static tool, and stamp with VersaMark. Use an embossing powder, wipe away stray powder with a dry paintbrush, and finally heat set.

I used the congratulations sentiment from the set on vellum for the final touch.

Tips:

Use a dark card base for dramatic effect.

Foils and metallic effects often create an artistic or expensive look on a boutique card.

Clean and simple add to the beauty!

Carefully cover the entire cardstock with anti-static. Use a dry brush to remove any excess embossing powder. One tiny speck becomes much larger when heat set. Sometimes you can gently scratch off heat-set spots with a sharp tool, but it might scratch the paper too.

The vellum sentiment gives the card an added feel of luxury, but also softens the large stamped image.

Trick:

Offset stamped images or leave blank space for dramatic effect. Try this when photographing images too!

So there it is! What do you think? Do you often get caught up in thinking you have to pull out all the tricks for each card? I do, but I love the beautiful simplicity of this card. I think it lets the complexity of the stamp shine through.

Love and artsy hugs!

Erin