Everyday Expressions

Hi Everyone and happy world cardmaking day! I hope you find some time to play in the craft room today, relax, and sip some coffee. That’s my kind of fun day! Today I finished my final card for Altenew Academy class Color Blending With Artist Markers taught by Kelly Latevola.

I used the new Flower Garden stamp set, and began by stamping the primary flower. Then I fussy cut a mask from Inkadinkado masking paper for each of the flowers, and stamped with masks using Memento tuxedo black until I was pleased with the composition. Next I colored the middle flower using Summer Afternoon markers.

I liked that Kelly began the class by discussing the color wheel, and had a short review of why colors work well and play off of each other based on their relation in the color wheel. On day three, she discussed analogous colors and how adding one or two new colors can add excitement to a piece. Here I added Ruby Red to the shaded areas, and then glazed the entire flower with Blush.

Next I colored the other two flowers with the Red Sunset collection. Isn’t that pretty? But wait …

Then I shaded with Deep Iris and Midnight Violet, and next glazed with the other Shades of Purple markers. It completely changed the look. Don’t you think? I love the warm yellows and oranges of fall paired with the dark burgundies and purples for dramatic effect!

On day five of class, Kelly created a beautiful scene and discussed blending artist markers over large areas. The trick in that is to be patient, build colors slowly, and saturate the paper for the smoothest blends. Here I used the Warm Grays to add shadows and blend out in the background.

Finally, I was able to achieve a blend that I thought was pretty even. I stamped the Thank You sentiment from the Floral Shadow stamp set, added accent dots with a Micron marker, and layered with Altenew Gold Mirror cardstock on a black card base.

Ta-dah! What do you think? I am thrilled with how this card turned out, and I love how the glazing with the blended background created lots of drama! Hope you have a wonderfully crafty day! Love and artsy hugs!

Erin

PS – I am not affiliated or compensated by any companies. I just like to share some of my favorite craft supplies in case you are interested in them too.