My Level One Altenew Educator's Certification Program Challenge Project

  Hello Friends and Crafters!

I'm so pleased to say that I was able to advance through the remainder of my level one classes and today I'm sharing my Level One AECP Final Challenge Project! This one is probably going to be my longest post but I have a bunch of helpful directions and explanations of all my learned skills! So sit back, relax and enjoy!

Also, if you scroll down to the bottom, just before the supply list, you'll find a short video of this completed project!

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The aim of this challenge was to create a His & Hers Box Sets of cards that coordinate but that are not duplicates. I really tried my best to match both sets between His and Hers and within each box set. To do this I needed to do 2 main things:

1) Pick a colour scheme for each box set

AND

2) Pick 4 techniques/components that I liked or wanted to try from all of the Level 1 Lessons

STEP 1: Pick Colour Schemes

With any project, I find that looking online for colour schemes is always a great way to make sure my cards end up loooking the way I'd like in terms of colours. I chose one scheme for my His set and another for my Hers set. Having a consistent colour scheme within each box set really coordinates these cards. 

Once I settled on a colour scheme for each set, I had a look at my swatch book and matched up Altenew Crisp Dye Inks to the colours I found. A swatch book really helps with this step, or you can use the Altenew Ink Swatch Guides that they have on their site. Below are the 2 colour schemes I chose, along with the Altenew Inks I used in my project (the image at the top is the colour scheme found online and the pictures at the bottom are what I chose to use from my stash).

My His Set Colour Scheme

My Hers Set Colour Scheme

STEP 2: Pick Level 1 Lesson Techniques/Components to Use

Next, I looked through the lessons as part of Level 1 AECP and chose 4 in particular that I wanted to explore. I chose 4 techniques because I wanted to make 4 cards per set and I found that this was the easiest way to organize my thoughts for this challenge. I chose the following, (but please keep in mind that I actually used more than 3 components as required for this challenge):

1) All About Layering 3/4 - Using Acrylic Blocks

2) For The Guys - Using Geometric Stamps

3) Irresistable Inking Techniques - Adding Colour with a Brayer

4) Easy Die Cutting Techniques - Negative Die Cutting

Once I'd picked the techniques I was inspired by, I made a coordinating His and Hers version of the card using the chosen technique, along with others I learned during the program.

Now let's finally have a look at all my cards and I'll explain how I used each technique!

All About Layering 3/4 - Using Acrylic Blocks

Below are my His & Hers cards using the selected colour schemes and tips and tricks that I learned in the All About Layering Lessons. I used one of the cards from the lessons as inspiration and used my acrylic blocks to stamp out everything. I also decided that this coordinating set would be encouragement cards.

As you can see both cards coordinate but aren't replicated. I chose a stamp set that I liked for each card; I felt the Coral Charm stamp set was perfect for a feminine focal point and the Birds of a Feather stamp set ws perfect for a masculine one.  I stamped the background with more neutral colours and images, appropriate for each version, while adding a black cardstock panel for the embossed sentiments.

I used the Layered Laurel to stamp out the background and using tips like lining up my acrylic block with the edge of my cardstock really came in handy for lining up the stamps. For the bird, I did some shading in my stamping, which means that I stamped the Lagoon ink to get a solid print and then added some Winter Lake Ink just along the edges of the solid stamp and blended it a bit with a dry towel. Then when I repeated the stamp, it created a shaded look.

I also took some tips from the Let It Shine Lessons, by using Altenew Rose Gold Embossing Powder for the sentiment. And I added some shimmer to the bird (which is a bit hard to see here) using a shimmer pen. Finally, I finished this card off with another way to add shine, which is some Nuvo Dream Drops in Golden Shimmer. 

My Hers version of this card was made in much the same way as the His version. The background was stamped using the small floral outline stamps included in the Coral Charm set. I added shimmer to the flowers using a shimmer marker and heat embossed the sentiment with Altenew Rose Gold Embossing Powder. This sentiment comes from the newer Eclectic Bouquet stamp set. On this card, I used another tip from the Let It Shine lessons, which is actually like a code of conduct for me when cardmaking😉, and that is to add embellishments! I absolutely love embellishments and here I added some matte gold pearls. 

For The Guys - Using Geometric Stamps

Below is my next set of cards using geometric stamps which was a lesson in the For The Guys series. I not only used this for my masculine card, but I thought it would also work for my feminine card. I mean, with the right colour scheme, why not?!😀

Again, these cards coordinate and you can tell they relate to each other but they look very different. I chose 2 geometric sets from my stash: the Pattern Power stamp set for the His card and the Trigonometry stamp set for the Hers card. And these cards were made to be used for birthdays! 

I always have issues making masculine cards, so the For The Guys Lessons were amazing! I always gravitate towards geo stamps for masculine cards and I liked how the colours schemes worked with these stamps. For this card, I used the larger triangle and rotated it 3 times to get the full image, alternating colours. I repeatedly stamped out the triangle as indicated within the lessons and I changed the colours used for each triangle to create a zig-zag pattern. Another method I could have used is to just used the same colours so this triangle wold end up looking like one rectangluar pattern. However, I wanted to use all 5 colours from my colour scheme, so I went with the triangles. The lesson really helped me think of using these geo stamps in different ways to create unique patterns.

Again, I added teal pearl embellishments as recommended by the Let It Shine lessons and I heat embossed a sentiment from the Trigonometry set. I felt the pattern was so busy that a simple, small black and white banner was sufficient for my sentiment, propped up with foam adhesive. 

My feminine version of this card uses more of the ideas from the lesson. I used the Trigonometry set to stamp out a bunch of triangles using the colour scheme and black ink for impact. I created a diagonal border on each side of the card and I also used the small triangles within the larger triangles for fun. For the sentiment, I kept it simple and stamped out a main and sub-sentiment using the Layered Cupcake stamp set. Then, I added some pink gems in an uneven number for an aesthetic look as recommended in the Let It Shine lessons.

Irresistable Inking Techniques - Adding Colour with a Brayer

The set of cards below uses the brayer technique, which I found very interesting. I basically used the light and dark inks from my colour schemes with a spritz of water and a brayer to add the ink to my cardstock. In the lesson, they recommend using a matte cardstock but I took it a step further and used watercolour cardstock. I find that this makes my ink more vibrant and the colours really jump off the cardstock. Plus it adds a textured look, which is always fun! 

As in the lesson, I made two coloured ink panels per card that I could layer on top of each other. And to change things up, I didn't center my layering but instead, I offset it and kept a small border on two edges and a larger border on the other two edges. I also used another technique from this series, which was to darken the edges of my cardstock panels with the ink pads. The darkened edges really help create a sort of colour gradient, which draws your eyes in towards the center panel. For this set, I chose to use "Thinking of You" sentiments to help coordinate them.

For the masculine version of this design, I stamped some overlapping leaves from the Floral Shadow stamp set. The sentiment also came from this set. I didn't use much of the brown ink for this card, so I added some shiny brown sequins. I also did some masked stamping, which is my specialty. I love doing this with sentiment stamps that have 2 fonts. For this you do need a stamp positioner and all you do is mask one font with washi tape. You add coloured ink (that matches your card) to the script font, take off the tape and stamp it down to stamp just that portion of the sentiment. Then, you mask the portion you just stamped and stamp out the printed/typed font with black ink (remembering to remove the tape before stamping). This gives you a beautiful matching sentiment and you can use this method with any of your stamps!

The feminine version of this card uses the Sweet Peas stamp set. I stamped out one of the floral images in black ink and since this set doesn't have a solid stamp to add colour, I used the Pattern Play: Circle stamp set to add colour. I could have coloured the image in with a colouring medium like coloured pencils or alcohol markers but that would require me to find pencils or markers that match my colour scheme. So to save time, and make sure my colour scheme stays true to itself, this method worked best. I used the solid circle stamps to add Crimson and Coral Berry ink to the petals of the flower, Hunter Green and Silver Sage to the stem and leaves, and Hazelnut to the top and right edge. 

I tried to add extra shine as per the Let It Shine series, using iridescent embellishment drops and by using gold pigment ink for my sub-sentiment.

Easy Die Cutting Techniques - Negative Die Cutting

My last set of cards uses the negatve die cutting technique from Yana's series of lessons. I actually do some work with Yana as a Spellbinders influencer and so I had to use one of her techniques. In this lesson, negative die cutting was used with metallic cardstock in the background and the dies that were used were leaf dies. I decided to use this technique with a little spin, where I used the large Altenew Alphabet Dies that reveal a stamped image with the negative die cut piece. I also added a gold glitter border within the die cut to give these cards a finished look. 

This set of cards is actually my favourite one because it is so simple to create and I love the peek-a-boo effect. I chose to use the Mega Alphabet T and Y dies to represent the "Thank" and "You" in Thank You. And of course, I chose to make this last set Thank You cards.

For the His version of this design, I used the Leaf Canopy stamp set to stamp out a small panel of cardstock. I added Galactic Stream Altenew ink to a white cardstock panel, essentially creating my own custom-coloured cardstock and once dry, I die cut the Mega Alphabet T Die in the center. I also cut the T die from gold glitter cardstock. I offset the glitter cardstock behind the galactic stream cardstock to create a glitter border/shadow and adhered this to the small stamped panel with foam adhesive. My sentiment is from the Leaf Canopy set and was heat embossed in Altenew Rose Gold embossing powder (can you tell this is my fave embossing powder 😁?) To make this design a bit more unique, I cut the sentiment into a banner and backed it onto a white banner. Then I added it vertically on the left of the T. 

Since I had enough shine with the embossing powder and glitter cardstock, I added some Glacier Caves Enamel Dots this time. 

For the feminine version, I assembled the card in the exact same manner as the masculine version. I used Altenew Hazelnut Ink to create the front panel. The difference with this card is that I used the Ditsy Print stamp set behind the Y. I used the Mega Alphabet Y Die to represent to Y in "You" from the subsentiment. This time, I stamped the sentiment on the front panel with black ink. And here I added a mix of Tea Party Enamel Dots and clear gems. 

And those are my His and Hers sets of cards. Now, I know I didn't have to get each his and hers card to coordinate, but I thought it would be a fun challenge for myself, on top of the main challenge. Here are a few more pictures of each set seperately and with coordinating cards from both sets. I'm a visual person, so I hope thos helps you see my vision in terms of coordination. 

Boxing My Card Sets

So now that I have my card sets created, I need to create some packaging. I need to use one recycled item for this challenge and since all 8 of my cards maintain the theme of black, white and gold, I felt the best item to recycle would by my packaging tissue from my last Altenew order. When I got my Altenew order, I purposely kept the beautiful back and gold printed tissue paper aside knowing I would use it for something pretty in the future. 

These are some of the items I used to make my card boxes. I used two 12" x 12" black cardstock, two chipboard pages and the Altenew Tissue from my last Craft Your Life package. 

I cut the chipboard pages into 5 panels each to create two boxes. I used the dimensions outlined below.

Below is a step by step visual guide of how I assembled one box.

Here's a quick explanation of each step.

1 ➤ Use a T-square ruler to adhere each panel to the 12" x 12" black cardstock. Use strong adhesive ( I used strong double sided tape). 

2 ➤ Space the panels about 1/8" apart in the orientatio in the photo.

3 ➤ Cut the cardstock around the panel as in the photo and score around the edges of the chipboard for easy folding.

4 ➤ Add double sided adhesive as in the photo

5 ➤ Fold in and adhere the two triangular flaps of either side of the 1" x 4.5" chipboard panels

6 ➤ Fold and adhere the black cardstock into the panel on the same edges

7 ➤ Score in between the center and bottom chipboard panel, fold back the black cardstock and remove the release paper from the tape on the center panel.

8 ➤ Fold up the chipboard flap and adhere the black cardstock to the revealed tape from step 7. Do this on the top and bottom of the box.

9 ➤ Fold in and adhere the flaps on the 1" x 5.75" chipboard panels just as you did in step 6 - 8

10 ➤ Remove the release paper from the triangles on either side of the flaps and add some strong liquid adhesive below the tape

11 ➤ Fold the triangle around the adjacent edge of the box to adhere the liquid glue and fold the remainder of the triangle down into the box, adhering the tape adhesive. Hold it to ensure it's fully glued down. The corner should look like the photo. Do this on all sides

12 ➤ Use strong liquid adhesive to wrap the box in the Altenew black and gold tissue paper

Below is what the boxes should look like once complete. I also cut a 4.25" x 5.5" black cardstock panel and wrapped it in the tissue paper. To make the inside of the box match the outside, I adhered this tissue-wrapped panel to the inside of the boxes.

Next, I need to add a cover on these boxes. I used some acetate cut to 5.25" x 5.75" and scored along the long edge at 0.75" and 5" to create two flaps. I added strong adhesive to the left edge and attached this to the inside of the box on the long edge. This just acts as a flap and the right side is simply tucked in. To get a better look at the box and cards, I have a quick reel on YouTube you can watch as well (👉click here). 

I kept the decoration on the box simple since you can see the cards through the acetate. I used the Fancy For You die to cut the sentiment from black and gold glitter cardstock. I adhered these together in an offset fashion and attached them to two layered bands of cardstock (black glitter and cream shimmer cardstocks). I added some clear pink gems to the Hers version and clear blue gems to the His version. Then I attached each to the acetate on the front of the box. 

Here is a close up of the decorative elements of this box (above). And below is what the boxes look like with the cards inside. You can also click on the photo below to watch the YouTube Reel!

Watch the Reel on YouTube👇

And if you made it this far, you really deserve a trophy! I know I can be wordy with my blogs but I really like to give you all the details I can. Thank you for reading my blog and looking at my AECP challenge project! I hope you liked it!

As always, thanks for stopping by. And don't forget to leave me a comment, as I love hearing from you! 

xx