Stylish Cardmaking Techniques

Hi everyone! It's Jenny Colacicco here, back with another Stylish Cardmaking Techniques session. Today, I'm focusing on layering dies – floral dies to be exact – and how they can be dressed up with different mediums like paint, ink and spray. My project today features the Altenew Painted Blooms die set, but you can apply this style to any layering dies – especially floral (others layering dies that are great to use are the Craft-A-Flower sets).

All of my pieces are cut from white coldpress watercolor cardstock. Other options I've used in the past are colored gradient cardstock or custom colored cardstock using my inks before die cutting. I find that this method, while it takes a little bit longer, really adds more depth and detail.

Layer 1: Watercolor

I first colored all of my pieces using the new Hawaiian Shores Brush & Fine Tip pens. These are water-soluble, so adding water means they can also be used as a watercolor medium. And adding more water = lighter color. For example, you'll see three purple layers on the florals. These are all the same markers from the set, with the difference being for the first layer, I added water first, scribbled my pen on a mat and added it to the layer.

On the second layer, I scribbled directly onto the cardstock, then blended it out with my brush and water. For the third, I colored the entire layer with the pen. I did the same with the leaves with the green marker (using two colors) and the small florals (red and yellow), then adhered all the pieces together with liquid glue.

Layer 2: Ink

Once all the pieces were adhered together, I then added depth by edging each piece with the darker ink of their color families. So for example, the purple pen (Ultraviolet) is from the Enchanted Garden set of inks. I used the darkest shade (Andromeda ), lightly running a Mini Blending Brush around the edge. For the leaves, I used Hunter Green, and for the small flowers, I used Crimson.

Layer 3: Ink Spray

As a final touch, I spritzed all of the pieces several times with a fine mist of Pure White Ink Spray, holding it around 18 inches away from the pieces. This gives a slightly more painterly look, but you could skip it if you prefer.

For the background of the card, I used Woodgrain White Cardstock, die cut in the center with one of the Circular Elements Dies, to create a window in the front. I then adhered my pieces with foam squares. The sentiment is from the Note For You Stamp Set, stamped in Obsidian Pigment black ink and die cut out with the coordinating die set. I also backed it slightly offset onto gold mirror cardstock. I finished with some pale gold crystal gems for a little sparkle!

You can see the full how-to here or over on YouTube:

Have a crafty day!

Jenny

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