Hello creative friends! Today I’m sharing a card that I made while participating in Altenew Academy’s Creative Coloring with Erum – Advanced Techniques online course, instructed by Erum Tasneem. I took this class as part of my Altenew Academy Level 3 certification.

The inspiration for this card was actually twofold – a combination of the stamp set (Statement Flowers), and the set of mini ink cubes (Fresh Dye Red Sunset, including Blush, Rouge, Crimson, and Velvet). I love this stamp because it certainly does make a statement! I like the view from the top of one flower, paired with the side view of the other. Instant dimension already! Even though there are only two flowers, the “rule of threes” is covered with the three groups of leaves. The stamp is a nicely composed focal point already, and takes up most of the space on a standard A2 card. There isn’t much to do except add a sentiment to make a lovely card. I also love this coordinated set of ink pads… from pink, to coral, to red, all complimenting each other. For the first flower, I mainly used the two lighter shades, which resulted in a more coral flower. On the second flower, I used the two darker shades, and that flower came out more pink-red. I think they give a nice sense of calm to this card.

In this class, Erum demonstrates a watercolor technique using a stencil that is a large flower with lots of open areas in the petals to color. I did not have a similar stencil, so I used this large Statement Flower stamp. I used Canson XL watercolor cardstock, stamped in VersaMark ink, and used gold embossing powder. I followed Erum’s watercoloring technique of covering the petal in a light shade, and then building up color, drying between layers. I also used her stippling effect in a few areas to build up more shading.

I thought this would be a fairly easy image to fussy cut, and I don’t think there are dies available for this set anyways. It turns out fussy cutting is not easy for me at all, no matter how simple it might seem in the beginning, so please don’t judge! Hopefully the recipient won’t either!

It actually took me quite some time to finish this card. I went back and forth about adding another color in the background, or more green, or maybe blue… I usually grab my scrap box, and just play around until something jumps out at me. This image was so calm and peaceful to me, as well as being on the elegant side, so I ended up choosing black and gold. Another idea was using a textured white background (with an embossing folder, or possibly a cover die), but I tend to make a lot of white cards. The gold swirly bits are a circle die that I cut in half and positioned more into an oval shape, to fill in more of the background.

Thank you for stopping by my blog – I appreciate you! Give yourself permission to take care of yourself today and spend time doing what fills your heart! When your heart is full, there is more to give to others!

Altenew products used:
Altenew Statement Flowers Stamp Set
Altenew Sentiment Strips 3 Stamp Set
Altenew Crisp Dye Ink Cubes – Summer Afternoon, Green Fields
Altenew Fresh Dye Ink Cubes – Red Sunset

Also used:
Pinkfresh Studio Stand Alone Die Cuts – Spiral Circle, Diagonal Stitched Rectangles