Dena Saslaw Schwartz - Level 2 Final

 Hello and thank you for coming to my final for Altenew.  My task is very exciting to me.  I was once a classroom teacher and sharing knowledge with others, regardless of the subject, floats my boat!  I have chosen three classes to focus on the three components for the card projects.  The classes, Let it Shine, Beautiful Details and Color Your Day are the main guides for this blog post.  Other supporting techniques include embossing and stenciling.

Color is an important part of any design.  Color sets the mood, catches the eye, engages the recipient and can provide a thematic tie to a project. 

I have chosen green for all my cards.  Green is a calming color and can be used for cards for either men or women.  This card is for a man as are all the cards presented here.  The Mandala Builder image was stamped with embossing ink and white embossing powder was sprinkled over the image then heat set.  I then flipped the card base and stamped and embossed the image a second time. I find the magic of embossing makes an image elegant and sets it, so it doesn't alter after stamping.

This mirror imaging is a good technique when creating a single layer card.  There is little bulk and the card is almost ready for mailing.  The sentiment I chose for this card is from the Bergenia Builder set. The message, Sending health and happiness, is also stamped and heat embossed.  I created a green flag for the sentiment.  I added metallic ink to the small circles around the Madalas to add a little bling and outlined the flag with gold ink to finish off the card. 

My second card was created by both applying Lagoon ink over the Modern Circles stencil, flipping the stencil and applying Lunar paste to the second pass. I cleaned the stencil after each application so as not to compromise the colors.  Adding shine to the stencil images was just the mood I wanted to set here.

I trimmed down the image to fit an A2 card, 4.25" x 5.5".  This stencil is a perfect background for a birthday card.  I stamped two images from the Celebrations stamp set and the sentiment was chosen from the Cake Love set.  To add a little more shine to the card, I stamped the sentiment with embossing ink and sprinkled the image with gold embossing powder.  I heat set the image before attaching it to the front of the card. To add just a little more shine to the card, I added thin gold strips of paper to the sides of the front panel.   I added another present to the bottom right of the inside of the card to tie the front and the inside together.

The Happy Pomegranates stamp set is a wonderful image which, when stamped, isn't too fussy.  To add additional contrast to the images and to follow the instructions from the Beautiful Details class, I took out my colored pencils and highlighted specific areas where shadows would appear.  I die cut the two images after I colored them. The Watercolor Dots stamp was stamped with embossing ink and sprinkled with transparent embossing powder and heat set.  This card was colored with Oxide inks in Lumberjack Plaid, Mustard Seed and Prize Ribbon. I applied the Lumberjack Plaid first, then the Mustard Seed ink and blended these two colors to create an orange between them. I then applied the Prize Ribbon ink, a rich blue, then blended the Mustard Seed and the Prize Ribbon to create a green stripe between.  These colors, when blended, create a rainbow of color and just the mood I wanted for this card.  

This sentiment, Happy Anniversary, is from the stamp set.  I stamped the sentiment with embossing ink and sprinkled the image with pewter ink, then heat set the image, I also foiled the edges with rainbow foil and a small circle frame.  This is an A2 card, 4.25" x 5.5", top folding landscape card base.

My last card was created by placing the white card panel at an angle in the Window Slats embossing folder and running the folder through my die cutting machine to dry emboss the texture.  

I die cut two sprigs from the green areas of the left panel, glued them across the top of the embossed area, cut out some of the stars and glued those across the sprigs.  The Smile was stamped from the Halftone Smile stamp set and colored with Lagoon ink, so the bottom part of the image is darker than the upper portion.  I stamped the sentiment, When all else fails, with embossing ink on black paper and sprinkled it with white embossing powder, heat set it an attached it above the Smile.  I attached the Smile panel to a top folding teal card base to match the stars.  

My final project is this altered wine box.  The plain wood box was painted with brown acrylic paint and allowed to dry. I decoupaged the in inside with Ideaology tissue wrap and allowed time for the inside to dry.  I placed the chevron stencil over the top portion of the box and stenciled the image with glitter paste, then stenciled the bottom with the same stencil and paste.  I cleaned the stencil immediately so that the paste wouldn't ruin the stencil.  I cut out the OH and HAPPY letters three times, stacked them together before adhering them to the box.  I stamped the DAY letters on the white card stock with embossing ink and sprinkled copper embossing powder over the letters.  I colored the inside of the letters with a green glitter marker and attached the panel below the HAPPY letters.  I added three round paperclips below the DAY to finish the front of the box.  The final touch, I added four feet to the bottom of the box.