Beautiful Details AECP

 Hello again!  Welcome back to my blog.  It's been a while since I posted...life got in the way, but I am back now and ready to share with you again.

I just finished watching the class video for the Beautiful Details class.  Wow! Marika Rahtu is so talented! I think it will take me a long time to achieve what she can do.  I will keep working at it though, because the detail she adds to her cards is incredible!

Marika used different stamps from her set to design her own flower on the card.  I looked through my floral stamps and didn't find anything that looked like it would work, so I grabbed the Painted Butterflies set and began stamping a flower with one of the butterfly stamps.

I used just one of the stamps and inked it with Rhodalite Crisp Dye Ink. I stamped the image, rotated the stamp, then stamped again using 2nd and 3rd generation stamping.  (That just means I did not re-load the stamp with ink before stamping the 2nd and 3rd time.).  Do you see how the shades vary with each stamp?

I tried to make the butterfly stamps look like a flower!  I also grabbed a leaf stamp from a different set, and added that onto the image. 

Here was the fun part! Doodling can be stressful, but if you doodle without giving too much thought, it is much easier...and fun!  I used a black micro drawing pen to add lines and dots to the images to give more detail.  The goal is not to outline the image, but to add detail.  I still need to work on that! I probably outlined more than I should, but I was having fun.

When the image was done to my liking, I stamped a sentiment with the same Misty Sage Fresh Dye Ink that I had used for the leaves.  I then re-stamped with VersaMark ink and covered with clear embossing powder.  After I heated that, the sentiment became nice and shiny! (This is where the Stamp Wheel comes in very handy!! I put the card stock in the corner where I know it will not move, and then I can stamp as often as needed to make a clear impression.)

Then I ran the Misty Sage ink around the edges of a slightly larger piece of card stock. 

I mounted the card panel onto the background, then glued it to the card base.  I added the sentiment with foam tape for some dimension.  I like to use my T-ruler for that to be sure it is all straight.

I poppped on some black Nuvo drops for fun.  (I wish I hadn't... I do not particularly like where I placed them...)

I find it to be fun and relaxing when I can use my products in different ways.  To be able to make a flower from a butterfly stamp was great fun today!  And the doodling... ya can't go wrong there!!

Here is another one I made using the same stamp, but with black... The sentiment was heat embossed with silver for some shine.

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial.  Stay tuned...

For the second card I colored on vellum.  I did not intend to follow Marika's card exactly, but my brain malfunctioned, and my plan went out the window.  I meant to color the sunflower yellow, but instead I followed her tutorial and made it white.

I began by heat embossing the image onto vellum.  I used clear embossing powder to keep the lines almost invisible for no-line coloring.

I colored the BACK side of the image with Ohuhu alcohol markers. (You don't want to color the side that has the heat embossing... it may hurt your marker tips.). I started with the lightest color of reddish gray marker, and worked my way darker, filling in where the shadows would be. I did the same with the leaves using different shades of green.  I ran them through my die cutting machine using the coordinating dies, and fussy cut 2 of the leaves. 

I then splattered black and Iridescent Ink Sprays onto a sheet of white card stock. (I have a box that I always use for spraying to keep my workspace tidy.)

I then cut out a circle from the card stock and the card base.  I mounted the card stock with Bearly Arts Glue and added the vellum flowers around the edges of the circle.  Gluing vellum is difficult as the glue can show through the vellum and look messy.  I added a small amount of glue to a scrap piece of card stock, and used another tiny scrap to add the glue from the "puddle" onto the back of the vellum.  This seems to work well when necessary.

I then wanted to add a sentiment to the inside of the card that shows through the circle.  I grabbed my Stamp Wheel 2.0 so that there would be room for my open card.  (The end comes off just for the purpose of using larger stamps or card stocks... genius!!)

That's it! Another fun class adding in lots of details with the alcohol markers.

I hope you give this a try!  

Have a great day!