Hey, I just taught a craft class!

Altenew Educator Certification

In November of 2018, I embarked on a journey where I was not sure was going to lead; I became a participant in the Altenew Educator Certification Program. For the past 5 months I have been steadily working towards certification under the guidance and tutelage of Virginia Lu and Erum Tasneem who have been so gracious with their time and positive feedback. Throughout this journey, I have taken 25 classes at Altenew Academy, made 44 cards, one tag, four framed pieces of art and now taught one class. I feel proud of my accomplishments and happy to be able to share a love of crafty techniques to my friends and get them excited to try something new. Please read on for how the class went, the fun we had and what the students learned in the class. If you would like to read about how I prepared for the class, click here. Affiliate links are used in this post. If you choose to purchase through these links, I may receive a small commission at no cost to you. Thank you for your support.

What a great group of students! proudly showing off their hard work.

Watercolor Techniques Class

The Altenew Class I taught was on watercolor techniques using the Altenew Watercolor Brush Markers. I have found these markers to be an easy entry into using watercolor. The ink from the markers is highly pigmented so you do not need that much and the markerbrush is very user friendly. Everyone who signed up for my class are seasoned scrapbookers but not that familiar with watercolor. After the class, I hoped each student would walk away with 4 scrapbook elements that they could use on a scrapbook layout. I shared a layout I made using elements I created with the Altenew watercolor brush markers and some Altenew dies and stamps. 

Each student had the same setup: cup of water, paper towel, 3/4” flat brush and a thank you bag. The bag contained all the paper they would need for the class and an Altenew water brush.

This is my exemplar layout made with three of the four elements from the class: title, journal mat and flower.

Technique #1 : Ombre watercolor wash

The class started off by learning how to make a simple watercolor wash on paper using the watercolor brush markers. Students had their pre cut 4x6" panels of watercolor paper where they added water about 3/4 of the way down the page with a 3/4" flat brush. Color from the watercolor brush markers was added and then pulled down the page using the flat brush and clean water. Once the panel was dry, I used a Cuttlebug along with Altenew Bold Alphabet dies to cut out a bold word for their page. Participants really liked this technique and one person told me that this was a technique that really had a lot of bang for your buck as students were using leftover space on the panel to die cut other embellishments and words. One student made a card front out of the die cut negative.

Teaching the watercolor wash technique.

The word was Athens to commemorate a wonderful trip to Greece.

Technique #2: Emboss Resist

In introducing emboss resist, I first had to explain the process of heat embossing. After the embossing powder melts, it covers parts of the paper with a waxy, plastic coating that will resist getting wet. Prior to the class, I had prepared a 4x6" panel of a stamped and then clear heat embossed image using one of four Altenew background stamps. For their background, students could choose from: Dainty Swiss Dots, Block print, Pinstripe or One Day at a Time. Students used the same technique as before but I gave them some ideas about mixing colors on the palette that was provided or dropping in color from more than one marker. Students really liked the resist effect and the possibilities of what to use this panel for on their layouts. One person cut the panel into strips and used it as a design element on their background. 

Three of the four elements made by one student.

This panel was made with Altenew Block Print Background Stamp and clear embossing powder with a dark blue and red watercolor brush marker.

Technique #3: Stamping with watercolor

After a short break, I explained the next two techniques at the same time. The space where you are teaching always effects how the class will flow. Due to only having three stamp platforms to share among 11 people and not wanting to cause a massive traffic jam, I explained technique 3 and 4 at the same time so people could rotate through either technique. For stamping with watercolor, I chose three floral stamp sets from Altenew that had images where multiple colors could be used. Students could pick from Altenew Fabulous You, Happy Together or Enchanted Iris stamp sets. I had three stations set up. At each station, the floral stamp was already mounted on the stamping platform. On the stamping platform, I had purple tape down so students would know where to place their sheet of paper. Mini Mister bottles were filled and ready to spritz. There was stamp cleaning solution and a microfiber cloth to clean off stamps between use. I also had the stamp packaging available which had an image of the stamp so students could see where to color. Students found this technique the most challenging because of the water spritzing. Some students added too much water which caused the colors to run and bleed. Other students were not getting a clear impression even after stamping and coloring multiple times. Everyone enjoyed using the stamp platforms and were amazed how easily it was to restamp the image multiple time. 

Explaining how to stamp with the stamp platform after coloring the images with watercolor color markers.

Stations set up with all necessary materials

Instructing how to use the platform

Practicing the watercolor stamping technique.

Technique #4: Watercoloring an image

The last technique proved to be one of everyone's favorites. Altenew makes great floral stamps and I used four of their stamp sets: Starry Flowers, Wonderland, Persian Motifs and Botanical Garden to emboss the images onto a 4x6" panel of watercolor cardstock. Images were either embossed with Hero Arts gold embossing powder or stamped with Momento Tuxedo Black ink and then embossed with Hero Arts clear embossing powder. Each student was gifted an Altenew waterbrush which they could use along with the watercolor brush markers to paint their image. I showed students to get a lighter color wash to start by first laying down water onto their image. The embossing resists the color so the lines of the image stay visible regardless of the ink applied. After laying down water, adding just a drop of color from the Altenew watercolor brush markers is all that is needed for a soft wash; more color added makes the image darker. This was also a time I suggested for students to use their palettes to mix colors or even to test colors out before committing to them.  Students loved this part and the workroom got very quiet as students painted their images. After the class, I used the coordinating dies to cut out the images so they could be added to a layout. Most students remarked that they would like to do this technique again with some students remarking that they had to find their embossing paraphernalia they had used so long ago. I was really amazed at how quickly everyone took to painting and came up with some amazing flowers. 

This student colored in Altenew Starry Night

Instructing how to apply water first or color first depending on the look you are going for.

Summary and reflections

This class was a lot of work in setting up, thinking through the plans and preparing each of the kits. I really enjoyed every minute, even the minutiae details. It was fun to share what I like to do with others and see them get as excited as I am as an idea forms into reality. I also appreciated sharing the products of one of my favorite companies, Altenew, who make products to make crafting easier and more accessible to everyone. The students were wonderful and really patient with sharing the materials, supporting each other and encouraging each others work. It was great teaching this class, I had a great time and I hope to have another opportunity in the future to share my love of creating.

A student’s layout using Midnight violet and Persian blue and Ruby red watercolor brush markers. This student incorporated a title, embossed background and flowers.

Students’ work- everyone did an amazing job

Students’ work - at the beginning of the class no one claimed prowess in watercoloring

Thank you for  joining me in learning about my first class. I had a great time and the participants were so fabulous and I enjoyed watching them really get into using the watercolor markers. Let me know in the comments below which technique you think would be your favorite to learn. Have a crafty day!

For your convenience, supplies are listed below. Affiliate links are used at no cost to you. Thank you for your support.

Thermo Web Purple Tape Shop at: Scrapbook.com	Hero Arts Clear Embossing Powder Shop at: Scrapbook.com	Hero Arts Gold embossing powder Shop at: Scrapbook.com	Tim Holtz Watercolor Paper Shop at: Scrapbook.com
Altenew Wonderland Stamp Set Shop at: Altenew | Scrapbook.com	MISTI Stamping tool Shop at: Scrapbook.com	Cuttlebug Die Cut Machine Shop at: Cricut	Ranger Artist Brush Set Shop at: Scrapbook.com
Altenew Watercolor Brush Bundle Shop at: Altenew | Scrapbook.com	Dainty Swiss Dots Stamp Set Shop at: Altenew | Scrapbook.com	Pinstripe stamp set Shop at: Altenew | Scrapbook.com	Block print stamp set Shop at: Altenew | Scrapbook.com
One day at a time stamp set Shop at: Altenew | Scrapbook.com	Bold alphabet dies Shop at: Altenew | Scrapbook.com	Happy Together stamp set Shop at: Altenew | Scrapbook.com	Enchanted Iris Stamp Set Shop at: Altenew | Scrapbook.com
Starry flowers stamp set Shop at: Altenew | Scrapbook.com	Nuvo Stamp Cleaning solution Shop at: Scrapbook.com	Persian Motifs stamp set Shop at: Altenew | Scrapbook.com	Botanical Garden stamp set Shop at: Altenew | Scrapbook.com
Altenew Watercolor Brush Markers - Spring Garden Shop at: Altenew | Scrapbook.com	Altenew Watercolor Brush Markers - Winter Wonderland Shop at: Altenew | Scrapbook.com	Altenew Watercolor Brush Markers - Tropical Fiesta Shop at: Altenew	Momento Tuxedo Black Shop at: Scrapbook.com
Mini Mister Spray Bottles Shop at: Scrapbook.com