Hello, crafty friends! Welcome to my blog! If you just came from Joy Baldwin, then you’re on the right track. For the complete hop list, go to the Altenew Blog. Take a look at this beautiful craft-a-flower die set!
I used watercolor paper to create this flower so that I can play with monochromatic shades of blue. The ombre background was created using Distress oxide inks Tumbled Glass, Salvaged Patina and Salty Ocean. The Garden Trellis Cover die added more texture to the background. To finish off this card, I embossed the sentiment from the Sentiment Strips 2 stamp set. I used cool colors for this card so that everything will blend well together.
You get a 5% discount when purchasing this bundle!
GIVEAWAY PRIZES
$200 in total prizes! To celebrate this release, Altenew is giving away a $50 gift certificate to 2 lucky winners and a $20 gift certificate to 5 winners! Please leave a comment on theAltenew Card Blog and/or each designer’s blog post on the blog hop list below by 8/13/2021 for a chance to win. Altenew will draw 7 random winners from the comments left on each stop of this blog hop and announce the winners on the Altenew Winners Page on 08/15/2021.
I hope you liked this card that I created for the CAF series. Next up is Preeti Chandran. Thanks so much for dropping by! I truly appreciate all your wonderful comments. <3 Take care and stay safe!
Hello everyone! So happy to have you over at my blog. Thanks so much Mindy for sending them over. To view the entire list, you can go to the Altenew Card Blog or view the list at the end of this blog post.
Altenew is collaborating with the amazing Kathy Racoosin from The Daily Marker to inspire crafters to find joy through coloring. Kathy is celebrating her 16th 30 Day Coloring Challenge until 5/7/2020. You can still join the fun and participate in the 30 Day Coloring Challenge by coloring something and share it on social media using the hashtag #TheDailyMarker30Day. You deserve some “me time” and hope you’ll enjoy the benefits that coloring will give.
We are currently in times of uncertainty. Worries and doubts tend to fill my mind. But a dear friend of mine, TM, reminded me about this: “Worry will just fuel more worries but it’s not reality. Live in the moment first of gracious gratefulness.” Isn’t it beautiful??? Now is the time to focus on what we should be grateful for and one thing for me is art therapy– specifically through watercoloring. For some, it may be journaling, and for others it might be collage work, sketching or painting. The techniques used in a creative process tend to improve the mental, physical and emotional well-being of a person so I encourage you to be creative! Below are some card samples I made using watercolor as the coloring medium.
YOU MATTER
The color blue is a soothing color and can help calm the mind. Add a bunch of palm leaves and voila! You have a card that calms the soul. I’m replicating a technique of creating freehand backgrounds taught by Debbie Huges in one of the Online Card classes I recently took. First, I created the background by watercoloring two sheets of Arches cold press watercolor using a mixture of blues teals and spatters of black. One paper had lighter shades while the other had darker ones. This was then die cut using the Ornate background die. 4 more cardstocks were die cut and adhered on top of each other to create some depth.
The Parlor palm die set was used to die cut different shades of cardstock from the Sea Shore cardstock pack. The sentiment from the Ornamental Bliss stamp set was stamped using Versa Mark Ink then embossed with pure white embossing powder. The card front was assembled and adhered onto an A2 side folding brown card base.
THINKING OF YOU
I wanted to create a card that was not my usual choice of colors. For this card, I used the Bold Floral Drapes stamp set and the Ornamental Bliss stamp set for the sentiment. The Sea Shore dye ink was used for the background. Using a Misti, I stamped the background several times because the watercolor paper was rough. I let it dry using a heat tool then covered the stamp with Versamark Ink. The background was then embossed. This will seal the background so that I can easily watercolor the flowers and leaves.
At this point, I wasn’t sure if I should go ahead and finish the card because the background turned out to be too dark for me. I decided to finish the card to see the outcome. Oranges and yellows were taken from the Altenew Brushmarker sets. I started coloring the flowers using the lightest shade of yellow then allowed it to dry. I then layered a darker shade of orange. The same steps were done for the leaves. The sentiment was stamped using Versamark Ink then embossed with pure white embossing powder. I added an enamel dot to tie-up the sentiment with the card. Next time I’ll probably use watercolor for the background as well.
MAKE A WISH/YOU’RE IN MY HEART
For the next two cards, I used the image from the Precious Peony Stamp set. the images were stamped on Arches 140lb watercolor paper then embossed using white embossing powder.
The flowers were then watercolored using the brush markers. For the Make a Wish card, I added the Golden Strokes washi tape on the left side of the card for more contrast. The center was die cut using the rounded rectangle die set then I adhered a portion of the Circle Quit cover die for added texture. This panel was mounted on foam sheets for height.
For the You’re In My Heart card, I made a similar card recently using this technique. The backround panel was covered with Sea Shore washi tapes making sure to leave some parts of the white cardstock uncovered.
The Dotted Starbust debossing die was used to add some texture to the card front. I added an orange strip across the card to anchor the sentiment and at the same time give some contrast to the card.
GIVEAWAY PRIZES
Altenew is giving away a $30 gift certificate to 6 lucky winners and Kathy from The Daily Maker is also giving away a goodie bag(worth $30) to 4 lucky winners. Please leave a comment on the Altenew Card Blog by 5/6/2020 for a chance to win.
We’ll also draw a winner to receive a $15 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 blog on 5/9/2020. Do leave a message! I love hearing from all of you <3
SPECIAL OFFER
To celebrate the Watercolor Therapy Blog Hop, Altenew is offering two deals. 5/1/2020-5/3/2020: 40% off the Wonderful Watercoloring Class Bundle from 5/1/2020 at 12:01 AM EDT until 5/3/2020 at 11:59 PM EDT. Not valid on previous purchases. 5/3/2020-5/4/2020: 20% off *All Alcohol Markers from 5/3/2020 at 12:01 AM ED until 5/4/2020 at 11:59 PM EDT. Shop HERE>> https://altenew.com/collections/artist-markers Not valid on previous purchases. Excludes Artist Marker Refills.
Thank you so much for dropping by. I hope you get some inspiration to create something today through watercoloring.
Make sure to visit all of the artists in this watercolor blog hop and get inspired to create!!! Thank you for dropping by and stay safe everyone! <3 Happy crafting!
Welcome to Altenew’s blog hop Day 3!!! Right now, my country is under enhanced community quarantine that has displaced over 100k people. My heart goes out to all the front liners– doctors, nurses, residents, health care workers, police and law enforcement people, pharmacists, grocery employees, delivery guys etc– just to make sure that we survive. Aside from helping out in donations for hospital equipment and protective gear or other necessities desperately needed now, our crafting community can help in giving inspiration to all those who have to be quarantined at home. Maybe a little inspiration can keep them calm and provide some distraction and help relieve stress.
I’m thrilled and humbled to be a part of this big big giveaway to celebrate Altenew’s 6th anniversary!!! I can’t believe it has been 6 years already!!! Congratulations to the Altenew team for continuously giving us beautiful stamp designs and materials to work with. Don’t forget to drop by the Altenew Card Blog for the complete list of giveaways. Here are some of the cards I made for this hop.
ALWAYS THINKING OF YOU
I used the beautiful Paint a Flower Poppy stamp for this card. These flowers were stamped on watercolor paper using Versa Mark Embossing ink then embossed with Altenew pure white crisp embossing powder. The petals were then watercolored using the watercolor brush markers.
Some of the foliage from the Layered Floral Elements die were used to cut navy blue cardstock. The sentiment was stamped on the blue cardstock as well and embossed with the Rose Gold Embossing powder. I added Versamark Ink to the edges and embossed with gold embossing powder for contrast. The flowers were adhered using foam tape to create some dimension. These flowers were framed using the Navy Gold trim washi tape.
THANKS
I love when you can make two different cards by switching some elements. These were very easy to make using the Monstera 3d die set. (I’m obsessed with them!!!) These cards were inspired by Norine Borys’ card using the same die. The different directions of the leaves make them fun to arrange in a vase or pot.
I adhered the different shades from the Rose Petal washi tapes onto Neenah Solar White cardstocks then I die cut the leaves. Two watercolor papers were painted–one using pinks and violets starting at the bottom with the most concentrated watercolor and slowly fading towards the top to create an ombre effect. The other was painted with blues and a touch of purple. The Framed Thanks die was used to cut out the image from the blue watercolored paper and adhered to the pink cardfront.
I cut another thanks die on plain white cardstock for the blue card and pieced in the negative parts of the die. The leaves where then arranged using jute string and the other with a pot. The Navy Gold trim washi tape was used to add accent to the pot.
HELLO ALWAYS THINKING OF YOU
Here’s a simple card to make by using washi tapes and dies. I created a geometric background using the different shades of the Sea Shore Washi Tape. I made sure to leave some white paper showing through. I then used the Dotted Starburst debossing cover die and debossed the whole panel.
I love the subtle texture it gives on card fronts. ❤️ Notice that when you layer the washi tapes since they are translucent, you get more shades of blue when they’re taped on top of each other. The Handwritten Hello die was used to cut the word right at the center of the front panel. An additional 4 layers were cut and adhered together to add dimension. The sentiment was stamped using Rose Gold Embossing Powder on black cardstock.
DON’T LOSE HOPE BECAUSE WHEN THE SUN GOES DOWN, THE STARS COME OUT
This card is so timely. The message gives us hope that things will get better. For this card, I stamped the floral images from the Precious Peony stamp set on watercolor cardstock and again on Neenah solar white cardstock without moving the stamp images. Both images were embossed using the Platinum Crisp Embossing Powder . Next, 1 inch was trimmed off on each side of the watercolored paper. The central part was then colored using the Altenew brush watercolor markers. While the flowers were still wet, I sprinkled some salt to create some pattern on the flowers. The background was colored using the Lagoon watercolor brush marker. I just love this color!
This panel was layered on top of a cardstock lined with the Gold foil .2 inch washi tape for contrast. Foam tape was mounted behind this painted panel then adhered on top of the embossed image making sure to line up the petals and leaves. This was then attached to a purple side folding card. The sentiment from the Kind Words stamp was stamped on vellum using Versa Mark embossing ink then embossed with Rose Gold embossing powder. I added 2 more layers of vellum to make the sentiment a little sturdy.
PROUD PAPI
I don’t think I’ve ever created a layout WITHOUT flowers until today. I found these photos of my husband and son tucked away in a drawer and wanted to create a simple masculine layout. Before I did anything, I visualized the layout to have 3 areas of stamped images, color and embellishments.
I used the Pattern Play -Diamond stamp set for the background embossed with white embossing powder. Watercolor brush markers were used to add colors to the background. The Fina Frames Diamonds Set was used to cut out the diamonds and these were stacked on top of each other to create dimension. The papers from Alluring Blooms and the Blushing Blooms created a base for the photos. The Fine alphabet die and the Caps bold alphabet were used for the title. The letters were either watercolored or embossed with gold embossing powder.
For the journaling, I traced the outline of the diamond onto vellum so that I could write within the lines.
SPECIAL OFFER
Enjoy FREE U.S. shipping with code HAPPY6TH or $5 OFF international shipping with code ANNIV20 at checkout. Offer valid from 4/2/2020 at 12:01 am EDT through 4/5/2020 at 11:59 pm EDT. Not valid on prior purchases. Cannot be combined with other promo codes. Shop here: https://altenew.com/
PRIZES
Altenew is giving away a $50 gift certificate to 6 lucky winners and one Altenew Academy class to 10 lucky winners. There are also 14 awesome companies/crafty friends who are celebrating with us, and they are offering the following prizes:
Be sure to leave comments by 4/12/2020 for a chance to win one of 37 prizes! To make the hop more exciting, start your comment with “Hi from (city or country where you’re from)!”. 37 winners will be chosen at random from the comments left on any of the blogs listed below and will be announced on the Altenew Card Blog on 4/18/2020.
Thank you so much for finding time to drop by! Your comments mean so much to me. I’ll be having my own little giveaway too and will pick a winner from the comments on my blog. The winner will be getting a card set from me <3 (will ship it out as soon as the situation gets better 🙏) Next stop: Scrapbook & Cards Today.
May this season of uncertainty give us more reasons to be kind to one another. My prayers go out to all the heroes risking their lives for a brighter future for all of us. Stay safe everyone and happy crafting! ❤️
Hello everyone!!! I’d like to thank Svitlana for sending you over to my blog. So thrilled to be back as part of Altenew’s February Stencils/Decals/Stand-Alone Dies Release this 2020!!! This is such an amazing release and to view all the latest arrivals, you can check them out here, or you can visit the Altenew Card Blog for the complete details. I have a number of card samples prepared for you so let’s get started!
SO HAPPY FOR YOU CARD
I made this card using the Dotted Starbust Debossing Cover Die, the Calming Bouquet Washi Tape, Rose Gold Embossing Powder and Precious Peony Stamp Set. This was a quick card to make. Simply cover a white cardstock with the washi tape. Run it through the die cutting machine with the Dotted Starburst Debossing cover die. It will give it a beautiful subtle pattern. Cut about .25 inches on both ends then divide the panel in the middle. Stamp the sentiment in the middle of the card front then attach the washi panels using foam tape making sure to reveal the sentient in the middle
WHY FIT IN WHEN YOU WERE BORN TO STAND OUT CARD
The following were used for this card: Tranquil Wings stencil, Rose Gold Embossing Powder, Distress Oxide inks (Peacock Feathers, Broken China, Mermaid Lagoon and Wilted Violet), Decofoil Transfer Gel, Decofoil gold, laminator, cardstocks, vellum and Versamark Ink.
I really wanted the middle butterfly to stand out and be different– in color, texture and position to emphasize the sentiment. First, the body of the butterfly was colored using distress oxide inks. Water droplets were sprayed over them to add more texture. When these were dry, I used the Decofoil transfer gel to add the details of the wings. These were allowed to dry then decofoil was applied using a laminator to add shine to the wings.
The sentiment was stamped on vellum. Edges were torn and Versamark Ink and rose gold embossing powders were added to give a gold embossed edge. I added a black mat before attaching the whole panel to a pink card front. The thin black mat gives it a finished look.
THANKS CARD
Since I already had my laminator out, I decided to use the Hand Drawn Tile Stencil with the Decofoil Transfer gel on a card front.
Teal foil was added and the panel was cut into two. The Thanks die from the Script Words 2 die set was used to cut toner paper then this was also foiled.
The negative of the foil was so pretty and I didn’t want to waste it so I made another card using toner paper.
The sentiment (one of my all-time faves as you will see me use it often) was taken from the Wonderland Stamp set and embossed using Rose Gold embossing powder.
I used the Fancy For You die to cut toner paper then foil was added using a laminator. This was then adhered onto the biggest die cut using the Nesting Frames die set. This frame was cut twice using the smaller frames. A panel of paper was inked using distress ink over the On Point stencil. The arrows were then colored in using the Artist marker.
The card was then assembled using foam tape to add dimension to the frames.
I THINK YOU’RE FABULOUS CARD
For this card, I used the Fine Frames Diamonds Die Set, The Classic Alphabet die, assorted cardstocks, Rose Gold embossing powder and Versamark ink.
I purposely left a lot of white space so that the attention will be focused on the monogram. 3 different colors of cardstocks were cut using the Fine Frames Diamonds die set. I stuck them together using some washi tape to make sure the dies don’t move so that I can cut different colors of cardstock with the same widths of frames.
I then interchanged the colors to come up with a nice pattern. These were glued onto white cardstock. The letter I was die-cut in the middle of the frames and 4 more were die cut and layered to give it dimension. The sentiment was stamped on black cardstock and embossed in gold. Since I was able to create 3 diamonds mix-matching the papers, I made use of one and added the tips to both top and bottom to balance out the card.
I used the Dotted Starbust debossing die for added texture to the card front. Since the front of the card was already full of embellishments, I decided to put the die cut sentiment inside.
I cut strips of paper using the leftover cardstocks, pasted them on white cardstock then die cut the For You sentiment. I layered them on 4 more die cuts to add dimension then this was glued inside the card.
I stamped the flower image on Arches cold press 300gsm watercolor paper using the masking technique. The images were embossed using Rose Gold embossing powder then watercolored with the watercolor brush markers.
I love how intense the colors are! The background was then painted and sprinkled with salt. Water droplets were also added for more texture. When it was dry, the largest die from the Nesting Frames Die was used to cut the center of the panel. The outer edge was then mounted on a gold card base using foam squares while the center was glued directly onto the card front.
PRIZES
To celebrate this release, Altenew is giving away a $30 gift certificate to 6 lucky winners! Please leave a comment on the Altenew Card Blog and/or Altenew Scrapbook Blog by 3/3/2020 for a chance to win.
Altenew will also draw a winner to receive a $15 gift certificate from the comments left on each designer’s blog on the blog hop list below so don’t forget to comment below! All winners will be announced on the Altenew blogs on 3/6/2020.
Next up is one of my idols in the industry–Therese Calvird <3 Make sure to drop by her blog and I’m definitely sure that you’ll get blown away by her creativity!!!
Thank you again for visiting my blog. Do let me know which one is your favorite! I love hearing from my visitors and because I appreciate the time it takes to comment here and on Instagram, I will randomly choose one winner from my blog and one winner from IG on March 6. The winners will be receiving the chosen card so make sure you let me know which one is your favorite. :-). Happy crafting everyone!!!
Hi everyone!!! I’m so thrilled to be a part of this Altenew year-end blog hop. Thank you so much, Ashlea Cornell, for sending them over here. 💜 We were asked to choose our top 4 favorite projects from 2019 and honestly, it was quite difficult to narrow it down to 4! I’m so grateful to be one of Altenew’s guest designers this year and because of this, I was able to create a lot of cards and a couple of layouts <3 Here are my top 4 projects:
It was an amazingly creative year filled with so much inspiration from all the talented designers and guest designers. If you start with a product that’s already so beautiful, you get so motivated to create and play with it.
I love this card because of this gorgeous Dainty Blooms cover die. You can also make two cards with one die cut by using both the positive and the negative pieces.
This is what I call my yin and yang cards– one card is elaborate while the other card is clean and simple. ❤️ Here I used the Angelique Motifs stamp and die sets and the Mega Alphabet die to create this monogram card.
This is on my top 4 list because I truly enjoyed painting the Inked rosebud for this card. It was small enough not to get overwhelmed in painting it and somehow, I managed to make it look 3D. 😊 I already had this bouquet design in my mind the minute I saw the stamp set. 🙂
I haven’t done a scrapbook page in ages!!! These are my love letters to my children. Special photos inspire me to document a moment and when I saw these photos of my daughter and her cousin, I knew I had to create a layout using Altenew stamps, dies and stencils as embellishments. The layout was inspired by a PageMaps sketch. I used the Weekend Doodles and Ornate Foliage stamp and die sets, Mandala die and the Broken Chevron Stencil.
This will be my last post for 2019 and I’d like to share with you some cards I recently created for a Christmas card swap of My Little Attic Studio. Here are the cards that I made for my swap mate, Jen.
I used non-traditional colors for this Christmas card. This was the first time I played with the Antique Roses Stamp set and I immediately fell in love with it! The Sting Art Rectangle Die was used to create a window for this card.
5 layers of the Fine Frames Cover Die were used to cover the holes of the string art die and embossed with rose gold embossing powder. The flowers and leaves were stamped using Altenew dye inks.
Here are some CAS cards using the Ornate Foliage stamp set and the Bountiful Branch stamp set. A lot of white space was left for these clean and simple cards and I used a combination of oranges and teal green for this set.
I thought of including some non-Christmas themed cards for the recipient using the Calming Bouquet washi tape. I just love how easy it is to embellish a card or scrapbook page using this washi tape.
Rose gold embossing powder was added to the edge of the monogram letter for some subtle shine. The washi cut-outs were popped up using foam squares to add dimension to the cards.
PRIZES
Altenew is giving away a $30 gift certificate to 6 lucky winners! Please leave a comment on the Altenew Card Blog and/or Altenew Scrapbook Blog by 01/03/2020 for a chance to win. Random winners will also be chosen to win a $15 gift certificate from the comments left on each stop on the hop. All winners will be announced on the Altenew blogs on 01/06/2020.
I’ve gotten to know quite a number of people through this blog, IG and FB and I just want you to know how grateful I am for all the positive and inspiring comments you leave behind. It warms my heart knowing that others appreciate my art. Thank you so much for continuing to inspire me to create! My profound gratitude to May Sukyong Park for inviting me to be a guest designer for Altenew. What an honor. ❤️
Wishing all of you a blessed Christmas season and may your New Year bring you peace, happiness and tons of crafty inspiration!!! Looking forward to a creative year ahead. Wishing you wonderful blessings always! ❤️
