AECP Level 2 Creative Watercolor

 

Hi friends and welcome to my next class in my Altenew Educators Certification Program (AECP). I am on Level 2, class 4: Creative Watercolor Media:

If you know me at all, you know I love to watercolor, so this was the perfect class for me. 3 all-star teachers, Jen Rzasa, Debby Hughes and Laura Bassen - each one taught 2 classes. For my project, my main inspiration came from Laura Bassen, but added a bit of Debby Hughes in it!

I started with Altenew's Poppy Garden stamp set and using Altenew's Clear Crisp Embossing Powder stamped and heat embossed a full watercolor sheet of Arches 140 lb. cold press as Laura explained in her class. I have some process shots to show you. Once I had the main floral stamped and embossed, I went back in with the leaves stamps (same process) to fill in the entire sheet:

To start the coloring I taped the full embossed sheet to a hardboard with yellow delicate painter's tape:

I used Altenew's Watercolor Brush Markers...actually I should say I used the ink from Altenew's Watercolor Brush Makers. I squeezed a few drops into the petal palette shown above. I have 2 sets of the markers: Spring Garden and Tropical Fiesta. I used all the colors, but the dark grey and brown. Laura showed how to let the colors blends by wetting an area and dropping in color. Always keeping in mind color theory and what color blend well together.

I did go back into each floral image and darken where the petals meet. Once completely dry, I cut it apart! That was a killer, I have to tell you. I just loved the whole sheet and hated to cut it. I ended up with 2 slimline cards and 2 A2 sized cards. Today, I am only going to focus on these 2:

I used my Trinity Stamps Slimline Scallop dies for the card above and did not splatter at all. The card below using my Splat Box, I splattered with white acrylic paint (watered down). I tried out Tim Holtz's Distress Splatter Brush for the first time and I am happy to say it worked perfectly! Next, with Altenew's Antique Gold Ink Spray, I used the nozzle out of the bottle and tapped large dots of paint. Debby Hughes does some amazing work with tons of splatters!

Inside sentiment:

The outside sentiments come from both the Halftone Happy and the Hello & Hugs stamps and die sets. Die cut 3 times and layered together for a nice sturdy chip board-like effect. I few Crystal Clear Rhinestone from Trinity Stamps finished the cards.

So which do you like, splatter or no splatter? Either way, these Altenew Brush Marker colors are so vibrant, blend beautifully on watercolor paper and are a joy to use!

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