Altenew Educator Certification Program - Holiday Envelopes

Hello!  I'm here today with a project for my next class for my Level III Class, "Holiday Envelopes" which is all about creative ways to dress up your envelopes when you send out your Holiday Cards.  Since I made a particularly special card yesterday and I knew this Class was next in my lineup, I planned to create a matching envelope for that card.  Just as a little reminder of that card, here is that card that I made to put in with my daughter's Christmas Presents.  We normally get a Movie Gift Card for the family, but this year since we are closer, and are spending more time with them, we wanted to forgo the Movie Gift card and get a gift for each of them.  We have something special for our daughter this year and I wanted to make a special card to go with it.

No photograph could possibly capture the absolute elegance of this card but I still wanted to make an envelope to go with it.  The card is an unusual size (4 x 7) so it would need a special envelope to go with it to accommodate the size and thickness of the card.

I have an envelope punch board, but I prefer to make a different style so I learned a long time ago how to make my own.  I took photos along the way to show you how I do it.
Start with an 8.5 x 11-inch sheet of whatever paper you want to make your envelope from.  My primary choice is a Shimmer Vellum that is lightweight, but works really well for envelopes because it is not as heavy as even text weight paper.  Because most of my specialty cards are for Weddings, I have silver and a few different shades of gold.  This particular one is Antique Gold Metallic.  My mom picked up a bunch of these for me a few years ago at Hobby Lobby when they were on sale for .25 cents per sheet.  Placing the paper in your Scor-Pal horizontally, figure out where you want your first score line to be; somewhere between 3.5 - 4 inches is standard.  It will be different for a larger card, but for my card that is 4 x 7 inches, I chose 3.75 inches.  I have an older Scor-Pal and mine does not have a score line at the measurement, for that so I scooted my paper over ¼ inch and then score at the 4-inch line.  I wanted 4¾ inches in between the score lines to accommodate the thickness of the card.  You'll need to choose a width that will work for your card.  For instance, if you have a pretty flat 5 x 7 card, you will want to allow 5¼ inches between the score lines.  Score at whatever measurement you need.  You'll have something that looks similar to this image.

I have the card in a plastic sleeve so that it won't get messed up or dirty while I'm working on the envelope.  I put all of my cards in these little sleeves with envelopes that you can get lots of different places.  My last batch of these I got from Amazon here, but you can buy them by the case if needed at places like U-Line.  I put a lot of time and effort into my cards, so I don't want them dirtied up before I give them away or use them.  If you want to sell your cards, you really need to do this as well.  You can get various sizes so I usually order A7 and A2.  I only use A7 occasionally, so I only buy one pack of those at a time.  I make around 250— 300 cards a year, so I buy 3 or 4 packages of bags at a time.  Storage space for a case of bags would take way too much room so I like the option of the smaller 100 packs.  It's not as cost effective to buy them that way, but I'm okay with that.

Next, you want to rotate your paper 90 degrees to put it in a portrait orientation and score at the ½ inch mark on each side of the paper like the image on the left.  I usually rotate my paper 180 degrees to do the other side, but you can just as easily score it at 10.5 inches. Then crease all of your score lines firmly and open it back up.  Your paper should look like the image on the right-hand side.  

Next, you want to trim off the excess paper from the ½ inch score lines.  This is pretty much the only time I get out my Fiskars trimmer that has a wire guide but you can use scissors if that is what you have. When I first started making cards, I only had a smaller little guillotine trimmer, so I used Scissors to make envelopes back then. 

I start with my blade at the bottom of the paper and cut up to the horizontal score line.  Then I lift my blade, skipping the next section and place it back down at the top horizontal line, repeating the same process on the other side.  When you are finished, it should look like this.

I just snip those pieces off with a pair of scissors so that you have something that looks like this:

Next, you want to fold the side flaps behind the center section and round the 4 corners of the center section.  Then fold them back in the normal way and do the other four corners.  This just makes for a cleaner presentation. 

Now you ready to put the envelope together.  Rotate the paper so that the bottom flap is closest to you.  

If you put double sided tape on the flaps that are sticking out, you'll have adhesive where you don't want it.  You can use any type of dry adhesive for this like a tape runner.  Liquid adhesive is a bit messy so I don't recommend that.  Remove the release paper and fold the bottom section up onto the flaps.  

As you can see from this image, my measurements accommodated the additional layers and dimension and it slips right into the envelope very easily.  

Normally, you would also want to put a strip of adhesive along the top line as well, but since I am putting this in a box with her present, I'm going to use a small bit of temporary adhesive so she doesn't have to tear up the envelope to get to it.  Since I decorated the envelope to go with the card for my class project, I don't want her to have to tear it up.  But now you are ready to decorate your envelope.

I wanted to use the same stencil that I used for her card, so I carefully positioned the stencil and masked off the rest of the area to make sure it stayed clean.  Using the same Decofoil Transfer Gel, I carefully applied a layer, putting any excess back into the jar.  Since this is much thinner than cardstock, I should have used a thinner coat so don't get too heavy-handed.  It took quite a while for mine to dry.  Here's a photo of what it looks like when you apply the transfer gel.  It goes on white but dries clear.

Once it is completely clear, you are ready to run it through your laminator or Minc Machine with the foil.  I wanted to use the same Emerald Watercolor Decofoil, so I did.  Here is my finished Holiday Envelope that matches my card.

Thank you so much for stopping back by to see my 'Holiday Envelopes" class project.  You can use stamps, dies, stencils, shimmer sprays, and a whole host of other options.  We spend so much time making a special card and we should consider spending a little time for the much prettier presentation by embellishing the envelopes on special cards.  It might just be a simple stamp on the back of the flap that says "Snail Mail" or any other sentiment we want to use.  Give it a try and just think of how the recipient will smile before they even open the envelope.    

Altenew Educator - Let It Shine - Holiday Edition

I am here today with another project for my Altenew Educator Level III Certification.  The class is "Let It Shine —  Holiday Edition".  This class was kind of a no-brainer as a choice, because, as you know, Shiny and Sparkly are my two favorite colors! 

Carissa Wiley taught this class and you know she loves some glitter or shine as well.  I still needed to make one card to go with my daughter's Christmas gift and I want to pull out the big guns (a.k.a. the Minc Machine) for this card.  I'm getting excited because Christmas is just 11 days away!  She doesn't read my blog or look at Facebook or Instagram and even if she did, I would still share this card here because no photo could really match the WOW Factor of this card.  It was a labor of love for me this morning.  I woke up early and couldn't fall back asleep, so I started working on it very early.  To get every little detail absolutely perfect, was a lot of trial and error and it took me about 6 hours to complete the whole card.  Anyhow, let's get to it so you can recreate one if you wish. 

I started with a stencil from Tim Holtz called "Festive" and grabbed my Minc Machine and a watercolor foil that I have been wanting to try but hadn't found the time to do so yet.  I also grabbed my spatula and some of the fantastic Thermoweb Decofoil Transfer Gel.  I planned to make a wider than usual horizontal card because the stencil is about 4 inches wide and the area for the design is just under 3.5 inches by just under 7 inches so I decided to make my card 4 x 7 inches.  I can make my own envelope to put that in.  I'm holding off right now, because "Holiday Envelopes" is next in my class line-up, so I'm planning to tackle that over the weekend.  I will most likely use this same technique to add decor to that envelope. 

On a piece of Cougar Super Smooth Digital White #110 cardstock, I used frog tape to hold my stencil in place and applied a smooth layer of the transfer gel over the top of the stencil.  I made sure I had even coverage, and then carefully removed the stencil from the cardstock, setting it aside to dry.  Transfer Gel is White when you put it on, but dries clear and is then ready to take the foil. Immediately take your stencil to the sink and wash the transfer gel off.  If you let it dry, it will be very hard, if not impossible, to get off.  The particular foil I was using is called Emerald Watercolor and I must get more of it soon!  There's also Amber, Amethyst, Lapis, and Summer Rainbow.  I have all but the Summer Rainbow and I am anxious to get that one soon. 

While I was waiting for the transfer gel to dry so I could foil it, I worked on my cardbase.  I wanted to use the glitter with the Scor-Tape like in my previous card here but this time I used some Elizabeth Craft Silk Microfine Glitter in Solar Gold. When you burnish this into the adhesive, it feels like velvet and doesn't come off at all.  Most of the glitter I have is pretty fine, but I have a few (3) of the Elizabeth Craft Silk Microfine Glitters and they are my favorites.  I got them when a Scrapbooking store in my area was closing.  They are easily the nicest glitters I have used and with Scor-Tape, it is super easy.  Just make sure you have a Swiffer dusting cloth there for the "after party" clean-up!  I think of have gotten glitter in every room of my house in the past week as I was working on a few other projects as well.  It's time for Ruby (my Roomba) to go through the house.  I put .25 inch Scor-Tape along the top and bottom of the panel and then burnished it in.  Once I had that done, I ran my cardstock piece with the transfer gel through my Minc Machine and even I was blown away with the results.  This is my second time using the transfer gel for one of my Altenew classes and I am every bit as smitten as I was in the beginning.   

The photo above is a pretty straight-on shot of this card and you can already see the dimension of the foiling but just wait until I turn this card into the light!  I tried several different things to go with this card from gold mirror cardstock to everything in-between.  In the end, I chose to use a piece of the black toner sheets that are available from Thermoweb and ran that through the Minc with some of the same watercolor foil.  I only had a small piece of the toner paper left, but for future reference, you should adhere the foiled piece of toner paper to a piece of white heavyweight cardstock so that the elements are a bit thicker.  The toner paper is so thin that it wouldn't emboss the detail in the holly leaves, but I didn't have any left to repeat the process, so I went ahead and used the small pieces I had already die cut.  You can see the vague impression of where I tried to emboss them, but that's it.

For me, a large part of this card challenge was figuring out how to enhance what was on the cardstock without covering up that beautiful watercolor foil!  Check out the beautiful color you can see when I tipped it toward the light from my window. 

I stacked 3 of the "Merry Christmas" white die cuts for a thicker embellishment and then put gold on the top.  That really didn't add anything so I checked my mirrored cardstock and found this teal colored one so I die cut another and added that to the top.  This looks way better than the gold did and I think it really helps to bring out the green and teal shades of the foil.  Here's a closer view of the dimension when you lay the card flat. 

I used a smaller stitched rectangle to cut a piece of vellum for the greeting so that you could still see the color behind it.  I tucked slivers of foam tape behind the sentiment on the back of the vellum so that it would be slightly more dimensional.  Then I added the holly leaves which are a Spellbinders Jolly Holly Die and did my usual grouping of three little berries using iridescent teal sequins with a gem in each one plus a couple more on the card panel to get that visual triangle.  I like to add gems to my sequins most of the time which added yet another element of sparkle and shine.

I made a lot of Christmas card this year, but this one is my favorite by far!  Isn't it just lush and rich and dreamy?  It is perfect for my mermaid-loving daughter. 

I used several of the techniques Carissa talked about in the class such as foiling, using Scoretape with Glitter and adding foam tape behind the letters on the vellum panel.  I do heat embossing all the time with Gold Embossing Powder or glitter embossing powder so I wanted to really kick my card up a notch and I think this might be my best project yet!  In fact, there is zero stamping on this card but it is so beautiful.  Even my husband loves this one although he doesn't pay a whole lot of attention to what I'm doing.  But I took a quick picture with my phone and sent him the photo.  He really loves this one and I can't wait for him to see it in person tonight.  Heck, if he plays his cards right, I might make one using the Amber Watercolor foil to put in with his gift. 

I hope you enjoyed today's project and be sure to check back to see my next project for the Holiday Envelopes class at Altenew.  I feel it's worth mentioning that classes at Altenew Academy run about $9.00 US Currency.  I have found them to be well worth the time and you always have access to the classes you take so you can revisit the lessons anytime if you want a refresher.  Thanks so much for stopping by to check out my project.