Altenew Educators “Floral with Geometric Elements” Blog Hop and Linky Party + Giveaway

Hello everyone!!! Welcome to the Altenew Educators’ Floral with Geometric Elements Blog Hop and giveaway! If you just came from the Altenew blog, I’d like to welcome all of you to mine!!! It is truly a thrill to be sharing this blog hop with my co-educators. We have all completed an amazing creative journey through the Altenew Educator Certification Program and each of us has definitely learned so many wonderful tips and techniques through all the amazing classes the program offers. During my time, it was Virginia Lu and Nicole Picadura who were heading the program and were so helpful and encouraging. Now, the talented Erum Tasneem has joined the group. Big, big thanks to these lovely ladies for everything that they do for the educators!!!

I have a number of cards to share so let’s get started! A few weeks back, I was in a creative rut… no inspiration at all. Some of my friends suggested to organize my craft room, learn a new technique, change my workspace etc. but what actually worked for me was making backgrounds using the Gelli plate! I love how unplanned the process is. All I had to do was make sure the colors complemented each other. And it worked! The idea to create backgrounds came from Bridgit Koopsen, an amazing mixed media artist. I had a number of backgrounds to play with and below are some of the cards that I made using the backgrounds I created using some Altenew stencils as my geometric element.


JUST BELIEVE IN YOURSELF/I’VE BEEN THINKING OF YOU


MATERIALS: WEEKEND DOODLES STAMP AND DIE, GEOMETRIC LANDSCAPE STENCIL, SENTIMENT STRIPS STAMP, VERSAMARK INK, VELLUM, NEENAH SOLAR WHITE CARDSTOCK, TOMBOW MONO MULTI LIQUID GLUE, FOAM SQUARES, ALCOHOL INKS-BOYSENBERRY, POOL, GLACIER, SAILBOAT BLUE, GOLD MIXATIVE, GELLI PLATE OTHER STAMP SETS

These are what I call my Yin and Yang cards wherein I switch the die cut parts to create two cards. For the background, I dropped alcohol inks on a Gelli plate and used a brayer to spread the inks. I let the first coat dry then placed the stencil on top and dropped a second layer of inks. When the inks were dry to touch, I removed the Geometric Landscape stencil then covered the entire surface with a thin coat of white acrylic paint. Neenah solar white cardstock was placed on top of the paint and I used a brayer to go through the entire surface. A print was then pulled from the gelli pate. It’s amazing how fun this technique was… I really couldn’t tell what the outcome would be. Random images were then stamped using black or grey for added texture.

For the “I’ve been thinking of you card”, I die cut the diamond from the center of the printed image and saved the die cut part. Working with the negative part, I adhered it to a top folding A2 card using foam squares and inserted a die cut, embossed and watercolored floral image from the Weekend Doodles stamp set. The sentiment was stamped on black cardstock and embossed using white embossing powder.

For the “Just Believe in Yourself” card, I adhered a purple cardstock on half of the card front. I added embossed floral images from the Poppy Garden Stamp set to the matted diamond die-cut and added this in the middle of the card with foam squares. I love how the weight of the flowers balanced the dark colored cardstock. The diamond at the center also serves as a geometric element.


PRAYING FOR YOU


MATERIALS: POPPY GARDEN STAMP AND DIE, COLOR BLOCK TRIANGLE STENCIL, NESTING LABEL DIE, GELLI PLATE, ALCOHOL INKS-LAGUNA, SAILBOAT BLUE, PATINA, COBALT, GLACIER, TURQUOISE, ROSE GOLD EMBOSSING POWDER, NEENAH SOLAR WHITE CARDSTOCK, VELLUM, WHITE EMBOSSING POWDER, SENTIMENT STRIPS

Here’s another card using the background I made. Same procedure as the cards above but this time using the Color Block Triangle Stencil for the geometric element. I die cut the center using the Nesting label die and popped it up with foam sheets so that the images from the Poppy Garden stamped on vellum will stand out more. I love the elegant look of the embossed gold on vellum. Just make sure to heat up your heat tool and heat the image from the back of the vellum to prevent warping.


HAPPY BIRTHDAY


MATERIALS: LEAF MIX DIE SET, MODERN CIRCLES STENCIL, ORNAMENTAL BLISS STAMP, DYE INKS-WISTERIA, MOUNTAIN MIST, SAND DUNES, ROSE GOLD EMBOSSING POWDER, NEENAH SOLAR WHITE CARDSTOCK, VELLULM

For this card, I wanted to use the Modern Circles Stencil as the geometric element. I chose 3 colors and used a distress tool to add color to the card front. The stencil was rotated and more colors added to fill up the spaces. For the leaves, I just swiped the mini ink cubes directly on the white cardstock then die cut the leaves. These were then arranged on top of vellum and layered to the card front using foam squares.

I made sure to use the same colors from the background to match the leaves. This is such a sweet birthday card and the vellum adds some softness to the card. The sentiment from the Ornamental Bliss stamp set was used for this card and embossed with Rose Gold embossing powder .


GRATEFUL FOR YOU EVERYDAY


MATERIALS: EUCALYPTUS JAR STAMP AND DIE, CRYSTAL FRAMES DIE, EMERALD GOLD WASHI TAPE, DYE INKS-SEA GLASS, MOUNTAIN MIST, VOLCANO LAKE AND LAGOON, NEENAH SOLAR WHITE CARDSTOCK, TEFLON BONE FOLDER, SCOR-PAL, FABER CASTELL POLYCHROMOS COLORED PENCILS-COBLT GREEN, LIGHT PHTHALO GREEN, VIOLET, DEEP COBALT GREEN, MAY GREEN, SCOR BOARD

I love the Eucalyptus Jar Stamp set and wanted to use it differently so I created a slim card by doing partial die cutting. First, the image was stamped on Neenah solar white cardstock using the different shades of dye inks (blue greens for the eucalyptus and Sea Glass for the jar). Colored pencils were used to add color. There are many ways to use colored pencils. I prefer to use the medium color first, the lightest next, then lastly the darkest. Just make sure to use a light hand when coloring so that you do not burnish the paper. Once the paper is burnished, you won’t be able to add colors anymore.

I then used the coordinating die to partially die cut the top part of the image. The cardstock was scored and folded. I added purple cardstock to the inside of the card to hide the back. Debossed stripes were added to the bottom of the card for texture using a bone folder and a scor board. I was happy with the outcome then I remembered that it needed a geometric element for the theme!!! 😱 Good thing I had the Crystal Frames die so I die cut one of the frames using matt gold cardstock and then embossed the sentiment with Rose gold embossing powder. I added the teal/gold washi tape on the edges to frame the image. Such a fun card to make!


THINKING OF YOU



MATERIALS: BEAUTIFUL BERGENIA 3D EMBOSSING FOLDER, CIRCLE QUILT COVER DIE, ORNAMENTAL BLISS STAMP, ROSE GOLD EMBOSSING POWDER, DISTRESS OXIDE INKS-BUNDLED SAGE AND MERMAID LAGOON, GOLD TREASURE GLIDING POLISH, NEENAH SOLAR WHITE CARDSTOCK, BLACK CARDSTOCK

I seldom use black when I make cards but I’m loving the effect that the black cardstock gives when matched with an embossing folder and some inks. I was inspired by Bubblescrap and wanted to try her technique. First, I cut a piece of black cardstock then embossed it with the Beautiful Bergenia 3D embossing folder. I added color to the entire surface of the paper using a distress tool and my inky finger AFTER embossing. The creaminess of the oxide inks makes it easy to apply. When this was dry, I added some gold touches on the embossed parts of the flowers and leaves with a gold gliding polish. Gold cardstock was added to mat the embossed piece.

For my geometric element, the Circle Quilt cover die was used that added a nice contrast to the black cardstock. I stacked 4 pieces on top of each other for more dimension. The sentiment was stamped on black using Versamark ink then embossed with Rose gold embossing powder.


MAKE A WISH/YOU ARE LOVED


MATERIALS: POPPY GARDEN STAMP AND DIE SET, CIRCLE QUIT COVER DIE, STACKED DIAMONDS COVER DIE, HELLO HYDRANGEA STAMP, ROSE GOLD EMBOSSING POWDER, ALCOHOL INKS: BOYSENBERRY, GLACIER, PURPLE TWILIGHT, WILD PLUM, MERMAID, PIÑATA GOLD, NEENAH SOLAR WHITE CS, YUPO PAPER, VERSMARK INK, 99% ISOPROPYL ALCOHOL

“DON’T BE AFRAID TO FAIL. BE AFRAID NOT TO TRY.”

MICHAEL JORDAN

Lately, I have been trying out alcohol inks. I had them for many years but never really used them for fear of the unknown. 🙂 Their reaction to alcohol or blending solution is so unpredictable but I thought they’d look pretty on Altenew florals. I took some classes with @anujaaggarwal— a talented alcohol ink artist because I wanted to learn how these inks behave using different techniques. There’s still so much to learn but you’ll never know if you don’t try. Here are some of the cards I made using alcohol inks.

If you do plan to try this out, here are some tips you should follow:

  • work in a room that is well ventilated. If you have a respirator mask, the better so that it will prevent you from inhaling the fumes.
  • wear gloves to protect your hands from the inks and alcohol
  • alcohol and the inks are highly flammable so do not work near an open flame especially if you will be spraying alcohol
  • cover your work area with an absorbent mat ( I got a pack of disposable training pads for this purpose)
  • wipe your canvas/substrate/paper clean with alcohol before starting to remove dust/dirt/ink
  • seal your artwork with Kryon Kamar varnish then UV (make sure your painting is thoroughly dry before applying the varnish) 2-3 coats but dry between coats. Nozzle should be around 12-14 inches away from the substrate. Allow it to dry. This will prevent the painted flowers from scratches.

For this technique to work, you will need a floral image that does not have too many details. The POPPY GARDEN STAMP AND DIE SET was perfect for this technique. First, I heat embossed the images on Yupo paper. Do take note that since Yupo paper is made of polypropylene, a thermoplastic resin, it will warp if it is heated for too long. I made sure to keep my heat tool moving to minimize the warpage. The darkest color was added to the centers of the flowers. This was allowed to dry. Then with a brush loaded with alcohol mixed with blue/purple alcohol inks, I colored the rest of the petals slightly touching the dark ink to achieve some blending. Take note that the alcohol ink behaves differently from watercolor cause alcohol will tend to push the pigments away. The alcohol ink/alcohol ratio is also very important. The great thing about this is if you are not happy with the outcome, you can “erase” the area with alcohol. Just note that Yupo paper tends to stain, unlike Nara paper. Patience is needed when working with alcohol inks. I love the texture it gives and how unpredictable the outcome is.

I then used a thin brush to add just plain alcohol for added texture. A fine spray bottle filled with alcohol was used to add tiny specks of alcohol on the entire surface. Make sure it’s far enough from the painted flowers otherwise you will have big blobs of white all over your project. The Circle Quilt die was used to cut 2 sheets of paper and the second was turned upside down before adhering to the 1st die-cut to create a unique geometric pattern for the background. The floral images were die cut using the coordinating dies and adhered to the card front with foam squares for dimension.

MATERIALS: POPPY GARDEN STAMP AND DIE SET, HELLO HYDRANGEA STAMP, STACKED DIAMONDS COVER DIE, ALCOHOL INKS, 99% ISOPROPYL ALCOHOL, ROSE GOLD EMBOSSING POWDER, FOAM SQUARES

For the second card using the same colored Poppy images, I wanted to create a different kind of background using the Stacked Diamonds cover die. I die cut 5 sheets of Neenah solar white CS and stacked them on top of each other. The middle portion of the die cut was cut off leaving a space for the sentiment.

At first, I adhered the sentiment stamped onto blue CS to a card front then glued the Stacked diamonds die-cuts beside it. I wasn’t too happy with the outcome so I decided to die cut a peach-colored cardstock then did the inlay technique and added the positive pieces one by one. This made the Stacked diamonds die cut stand out more. The flowers were arranged in one corner and foam squares were used to add dimension.

I’ve attached a video tutorial below. You can also watch it on Youtube through this link.


PRIZES


Altenew is giving away a $30 gift certificate to 1 lucky winner! Please leave a comment here on the Altenew Card Blog by 12/21/2020 for a chance to win. Altenew will also draw a winner to receive a $15 Altenew gift certificate from the comments left on each designer’s blog on the blog hop list below. All winners will be announced on the Altenew Winners Page on 12/23/2020.

There’s MORE! What’s a hop without YOU?! We have included an Inlinkz on the Altenew blog for you to enter your gorgeous Altenew “Floral with Geometric Elements” creations. We will pick 2 of our favorite handmade creations from those who joined the linky party and they will each receive a $15 Altenew gift certificate!

Hope you liked the cards I made for this hop. Don’t forget to leave a comment here and in all the following blogs to get a chance to win some fabulous prizes from Altenew. I always look forward to reading your heartwarming comments. If you like my cards, I hope you’ll subscribe to my blog so that you’ll get notified once a new post is up. I would love to interact and get to know you more through Instagram as well so please follow me on IG @mylittleatticstudio and say hello. Next up is the talented Kari VanNoy. Thank you so much for dropping by! Wishing everyone a blessed Christmas and a New Year filled with renewed hope, good health and happiness. Stay safe everyone and happy crafting! 😊


BLOG HOP LIST


Altenew Card Blog
Nenette S. Madero<– YOU ARE HERE
Kari VanNoy
Helen Kalb
Teresa Litchfield
Colleen Balija
Rachael Shedeed
Pam Boedeker
Nandini Karmarkar
Amber Rain Davis
Neha Aggarwal
Amy Hill
Teri Wilson
Terri Marie Koszler
Eva Bussom
Sandra Woodson
Irina Fonina
Jaycee Gaspar
Roteja Galvan
Teri Stokes
Michelle Ochoa Murray
Rosie Neustaedter
Patty Mello
Virginia Lu

SUPPLY LIST


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54 Comments
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Eva Bussom
Eva Bussom
3 years ago

All of your cards are incredible!

Colleen Balija
Colleen Balija
3 years ago

Wow Nenette, each card is stunning!!!!!

RG
RG
3 years ago

All of cards are very very amazeing! Make a wish and praying for you catch my eye the most 🙂

Nandini
Nandini
3 years ago

All the cards are so beautiful! I really love your gelli plate backgrounds.

Rosie N
Rosie N
3 years ago

So much wonderful inspiration!

apalmer2019
apalmer2019
3 years ago

These cards are just beautiful. Love each one. Thanks for sharing in the video how to get your end results. Just a great hop here today.

Amber Rain Davis
Amber Rain Davis
3 years ago

Absolutely gorgeous cards, Nenette! I especially love the alcohol ink flowers.

Michelle Pokorny
Michelle Pokorny
3 years ago

Wow. So many cards with great inspiration. I absolutely love the alcohol ink florals. One of these days I’ll give it a try. For now I’ll admire your work. 😉

Beth
Beth
3 years ago

Love the colors! Beautiful cards!

cindy d.
cindy d.
3 years ago

Such beautiful cards! Love the polka dot one the best.

Teresa Litchfield
Teresa Litchfield
3 years ago

WOW! Beautiful cards and designs 💕

Marisela Delgado
Marisela Delgado
3 years ago

I saw a lot of purple and we know who 💜💜💜 purple—- me! Absolutely gorgeous cards, my friend.

dorothyayotte
dorothyayotte
3 years ago

Fantastic cards and alcohol ink use! I have a stash of alcohol ink I have never used because of fear of trying something new. You inspire me so to give it a go! Love your skill and the beautiful coloring.

Lois K
Lois K
3 years ago

All your cards are absolutely beautiful. Great video. Thanks for sharing

Linda BL
Linda BL
3 years ago

Wow! What a treasure trove of cards. I really like them all, but the one on the black card stock is intriguing. Where does one find gold gilding polish? It really added an elegant touch to your card.

dartsylife
dartsylife
3 years ago

Your cards are absolutely GORGEOUS! Fabulous use of color and design! Each one is just stunning!

coloradoleen
coloradoleen
3 years ago

Such Beautiful cards, but Oh My GOODNESS the alcohol inked cards are STUNNING!!! I’m going to have to give this technique a try!!

Marilyn Brittain
Marilyn Brittain
3 years ago

I want to try using alcohol ink on my Gelli plate now. Beautiful cards

Patty A Eifert
Patty A Eifert
3 years ago

Thanks for the video…never thought of actually coloring with alcohol inks!! Stunning!

Maureen Reiss
Maureen Reiss
3 years ago

Wow!!!! Gorgeous cards!!! The blue and purple alcohol ink flowers are Amazing!!!!

Cindy C.
Cindy C.
3 years ago

All so stunning!! I am definitely going to try painting with alochol ink!! Thanks for the inspirations!

Inkin' Chickie
Inkin' Chickie
3 years ago

Wonderful projects. I like how the cuts are used for another card. Really enjoyed the embossing folder design. Excited to watch the video.

kjwinston
kjwinston
3 years ago

Wellm Nenette, you may have been in a rut but you are now on a major high. Those cards are amazing! I cannot believe the effects you got with that alcohol ink in the video. Hats off to you.

Jade McClung
Jade McClung
3 years ago

What masterpieces! I am left in awe! Incredible cards! I can’t say enough about them! Thank you and Happy Holidays!

Sharon Gullikson
Sharon Gullikson
3 years ago

The blue flowers look just wonderful. I have a thing for blue flowers…

Penny
Penny
3 years ago

Beautiful Cards and gorgeous colors. The alcohol inks are stunning.

Ann Taylor
Ann Taylor
3 years ago

Simply beautiful!!!

Dawn Cooklsey
Dawn Cooklsey
3 years ago

Wow…I love each and every card…totally fabulous…I love painting with alcohol inks as well…

Dawn T
Dawn T
3 years ago
Reply to  Dawn Cooklsey

OMG Nanette. What stunning cards. You have outdone yourself with these. Hopefully one day I will get to have a card from you. Hugs Dawn

Yvonne Boucher
Yvonne Boucher
3 years ago

Your cards are are beautiful! Your alcohol painting is lovely. I espcially love the gelli print!

Vickie D
Vickie D
3 years ago

Awesome cards and video! Never thought to use alcohol inks like that-just for backgrounds!

Meghan Kennihan
Meghan Kennihan
3 years ago

WOW! These are INCREDIBLE the alcohol ink painting and backgrounds are AWESOME

Denise Bryant
Denise Bryant
3 years ago

Incredible cards! Love the effect you got with the embossed card, and your alcohol ink cards cards are gorgeous!

momentsofcrafting
momentsofcrafting
3 years ago

What a wonderful set of cards, Nenette! I love the alcohol ink flowers! Very special. I will have to give it a try! Take care! 🙂

Lois
Lois
3 years ago

BEAUTIFUL! I enjoyed watching the process.

pamboe
pamboe
3 years ago

You have inspired me to get out my alcohol reinkers. The colors are just brilliant.

Lauryne Cunningham
Lauryne Cunningham
3 years ago

Wow! Beautiful cards- I love the vellum flowers! Thank you for the fabulous video!

Lori Lehnen
Lori Lehnen
3 years ago

Spectacular cards!
Thank you for sharing so many different samples, and for the inspiration.

Dawn Tooley
Dawn Tooley
3 years ago

Beautiful cards! So many different ones! Thanks for sharing!

Bri kay
Bri kay
3 years ago

Lovely cards

Erum Tasneem
Erum Tasneem
3 years ago

Beautifully done Nenette! Each card is a work of art. I want to frame each and every piece. I only just found the time to blog hop, I wanted to do this in peace and not in a rush and enjoy every single card the Educators made!
Thank you for taking the time and taking part in the hop.