AECP LEVEL 2 FINAL CHALLENGE

November 28, 2025

AECP LEVEL 2 FINAL CHALLENGE

Thank you for being part of this creative journey with me! I'm excited to share my projects for Altenew AECP Level 2 Final Challenge! This entails that I create 4 masculine cards for the following themes:

Birthday
Love/Thinking of You
Anniversary
Encouragement

I am required to use three components from any Level 1 and Level 2 courses and explain how they are incorporated into my projects.

Another part of the challenge is to create an altered item/upcycle project.

ARE YOU READY? LET'S BEGIN.....

CARD #1: BIRTHDAY

This birthday card featured the following course components:

* Magical Marker Techniques

* Celebration: Stencil Technique

* Let It Shine

* Magical Marker Technique: I used the color wheel to assist me in choosing the alcohol ink colors - blue, brown, and gilded. I created a colorful panel using these colors on a 4"x6" photo paper. NOTE: photo paper may be budget-friendly, but is not ideal because the alcohol inks do not move and blend freely.

( TIP: use hair spray once the panel is completed to prevent smearing and lifting of the colors...especially the gilded gold ).

I die cut the heart from Altenew's 'Birthday Love Stamp and Die' set multiple times from the alcohol inked panel. I arranged the hearts to figure out the placement before adhering.

* Celebration: Stencil Technique - I, then, created a DIY stencil using the heart die and a sheet of acetate (upcycled from a stamp set). The stencil was used to make shadows for each heart balloons.

I attached foam on a few balloons for added dimensions. ( TIP: use black maker on the sides of the foam). The balloons were arranged and adhered as shown in the photos.

* Let It Shine: I adhered the completed panel to a matte gold cardstock and attached the sediment. The sediment was foiled for added shine. ( TIP: if one print sediments from a printer with toner ink, they can be foiled with a laminator or Minc machine )

CARD #2: LOVE / THINKING OF YOU

The components I incorporated are:

* Clean and Simple Boutique Cards

* Let's It Shine

* Easy Die Cutting Technique

* Clean and Simple Boutique Cards: I featured the text, 'You are loved,' as the bold statement.

* Let's It Shine: I die cut Altenew 'You are loved' several times from black cardstock. They were stacked and adhered with liquid glue for dimension. The sediment was embossed with clear embossing powder for that extra shine. Some of the letters were accented with white gel pen.

* Easy Die Cutting Technique: A three-inches heart was cut from an A2 cardstock panel. The negative portion of the panel was used to create the shaker card.

I had an ingenious idea of creating some fillers (shaker bits). The 'heart balloon' was die cut from shrink plastic sheets. I trimmed away the 'neck' and colored with a red permanent marker (Sharpie). The hearts were placed on cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and placed in a pre-heated oven for 2-3 minutes. One waits until the hearts are flat and shrinkage has stopped.

( TIP: use alcohol markers for transparent colors )

( TIP: To accommodate the thickness of the shaker card, I recommended that one score another line, 1/8th" from the original one, onto the flap of the envelope. SEE ARROWS ON THE ENVELOPE BELOW ....

CARD #3 : ANNIVERSARY

For this card, I incorporated technique tips from:

* Clean & Simple Boutique Cards

* Easy Die Cutting Technique

* Celebration Stencil Technique

* Clean & Simple Boutique Cards: I want the couple's initials to be the focal points of the anniversary card. I used the dies from Altenew 'Mega Alphabet R Die' and 'Inline Alpha Die.'

* Easy Die Cutting Technique:

The letter 'R' was debossed into a white A2 cardstock panel.

* Celebration Stencil Technique: A stencil was created using the "R" die. This allows one to stamp leaves from 'Vintage Roses Add-on Stamp Set" onto the letter 'R' without going outside the periphery.

( TIP: stamp the leave images with different shades of green for added interest )

CARD #4 : ENCOURAGEMENT

Components from the following courses were included:

* Beyond the Basics Background

* In the Mood for Color

* Beautiful Details

* Beyond the Basics Background: To create the background panel, I used a parallel glider to draw precise parallel lines. I stamped the sediment "Can Do It" from 'Mega Greeting 2 on the lines in different hues of blue.

* In the Mood for Color: I chose the color blue because it's associated with a sense of infinite possibility like the sky and ocean.

* Beautiful Details: The finishing touch is the butterfly from 'Mix & Match Mariposa Die' set. After the image was die cut, I trimmed half of the body off and tucked it underneath the "You" sediment.

ALTERED PROJECT : I use three-rings notebooks to store my stamps, dies, and stencils. I decided to altered one of them for a beautiful transformation. Below are the BEFORE pictures.

THE TRANSFORMATION ....

First, the notebook was covered with wallpaper that I purchased from a second-hand art & craft supply store. I die cut the flowers, leaves, and twigs from felts using 'Jumbo Garden Picks Layering Die Set' and 'Branched Frames Die Set. The foliage was arranged as shown above and adhered to front cover.

Then, for the spine of the notebook, I die cut letters from a piece of fabric that was glued to cardstock to spell "Altenew" using 'Inline Alpha Die Set.' I removed the nails from the brads and adhered to both sides of the word "altenew."

( TIP: place double-sided adhesive tapes under the felts prior to cutting )

the inside.....