Everyday Expressions

Hi Everyone, and welcome back! Today I’m sharing a card I created for Altenew Academy class, Let It Shine – Holiday Edition, taught by the fabulous Carissa Wiley. This actually is my final project for Level III certification before I have one more project to be an Altenew Certified Educator! Yay! It’s been two years since I was accepted into the very first group when the program began. I’ve taken my time, but it’s so fun that I’m almost finished.

The focus of this class was how to add glimmer and shine in holiday cards, and I love the Festive Poinsettia stamp and die for this card. I began by stamping the poinsettia in VersaMark ink, and then heat embossed with Altenew antique gold embossing powder on Arches Cold Pressed watercolor paper. Next I added iridescent ink spray to cotton candy, coral berry, rubellite, frayed leaf, and forest glades watercolor pan paints, and painted the poinsettia. Trick: I added quite a bit of water to the flower to get the paint to move and soften the overall look. Also, I added a touch of forest glades to the tip of each flower petal for a little interest. I adore the way the flower turned out. What do you think? (I always buy poinsettias just like this one to decorate the fireplace each Christmas season.)

I wet a piece of watercolor paper liberally, washed it with frayed leaf and forest glades, and then dried before adding splatters of coral berry and green watercolors along with antique gold shimmer spray. Once this dried, I matted it onto a cardbase layered with gold mirror cardstock. Next I added a frame die cut from the mirror foil and foam dots for dimension. Then I added foam dots to the watercolored flower die cut and adhered to the card. Finally, I heat embossed the sentiment from the Blessings stamps set, cut it into a flag, and added to the card before glueing some jewels for a little more bling.

So there you have it. What do you think? Do you like to add lots of shimmer and shine to your holiday cards too? I can’t help myself when it comes to holiday card making! I love how this card turned out. Thanks so much for stopping by today, and wish me luck for my final project! Love and artsy hugs.

Erin