Altenew Paint-A-Flower: Sunflower and Woodless Watercolor Pencil Release Blog Hop

Altenew Paint-A-Flower: Sunflower and Woodless Watercolor Pencil Release Blog Hop

Welcome to Altenew Paint-A-Flower: Sunflower Release Blog Hop! Thank you, MARYAM PEREZ for sending them over. For the full details of the blog hop, please make sure to drop by the Altenew blog. Take a look at this lovely Paint-A-Flower: Sunflower stamp set and the Woodless Watercolor Pencil set!

Aren’t the colors so vibrant?! You can use them like colored pencils or activate them with water for a watercolored look. Below are some samples of how I used these two products. Hopefully, these will inspire you to create your own watercolored artwork. 😊


CHOOSE HAPPY


MATERIALS: Paint-A-Flower: Sunflower, Woodless Watercolor Pencils, Altenew watercolor brush markers, Karin brushmarkers Pro, Faber Castell colored pencils, Rose Gold Embossing Powder,https://altenew.com/products/rose-gold-crisp-embossing-powder Foam sheets, Altenew Watecolor Paper

For this first card, I thought of creating a no-line watercolored card. No-line watercoloring took much longer to create than watercoloring an embossed image. It took me hours to finish this card– partly because my eyesight is not as good as before 🙁

It’s such an intricate image to color. Aside from watercolor, I used watercolor brush markers and colored pencils for more definition of the petals. I used Desert Night for the background to make the stamped image pop. The edge of the card was embossed with Rose Gold embossing powder to add a border.


YOU ARE MY HAPPY


MATERIALS: PAINT-A-FLOWER: SUNFLOWER, ROSE GOLD EMBOSSING POWDER, FINE FRAMES COVER DIE, YUPO PAPER, ALCOHOL INKS, PURE WHITE EMBOSSING POWDER

If the first card took hours to make, this one took less than 10 minutes. I was cleaning a foam tip tool that I used for an alcohol ink project by rolling it on yupo paper and this pattern appeared. I liked it a lot so I decided to cover the entire paper with this pattern.

I then stamped the image using Versamark Ink then embossed with Pure White Embossing Powder. The sentiment was stamped on vellum then embossed with Rose Gold Embossing Powder. I used the Fine Frames cover die to cut out the frame using a light blue cardstock. The card was assembled using foam sheets for added dimension. Quick and easy!

I was so inspired by the video tutorial of how to create easy watercolor stamping from my uber-talented friend Amber Davis. She has tons of amazing techniques to share on her blog so make sure the check it out. I didn’t waste time and tried out her technique right away. I loved how easy it was to do and ended up making 4 cards.


HAPPY BIRTHDAY/YOU ARE SO KIND


MATERIALS: PAINT A FLOWER: SUNFLOWER, WOODLESS WATERCOLOR PENCILS, ESSENTIAL SENTIMENT STRIPS DIE, ALTENEW WATERCOLOR PAPER, ROSE GOLD EMBOSSING POWDER

For these cards, I used the woodless watercolor pencils. I simply wet the pencil with a watercolor brush then added the pigments directly to the stamp. I made sure to use a Misti so that I can go back and stamp the portions that did not have a good imprint of. Key here is not to use a lot of water so that you will still see the outline of the stamp set. I added darker shades of orange and some browns to the center of the flowers. I love this watercolored look! It reminded me of a batik painting I did many many years ago.

Splatters were also added after the stamped images were dry. The edges of the watercolor panel were then embossed using rose gold embossing powder. The sentiments were die cut 5 times then stacked on top of each other for dimension. This was then tied to the card front using twine. Make sure to try this out… I’m sure you will love the outcome of your cards.


HERE FOR YOU


Here’s another set of cards using the same technique only using different colors this time. I used the following woodless watercolor pencils-Moutain Mist, Dew Drops, Turquoise and Lavender Fields.


HANG IN THERE


For the fourth card, I watercolored the background using the woodless watercolor pencils then after drying the panel, I stamped the image using only one watercolor. Another option is to emboss the image using either white embossing powder or gold.


GIVEAWAYS


To celebrate this release, Altenew is giving away a $30 gift certificate to 2 lucky winners! Please leave a comment on the Altenew Card Blog by 10/28/2020 for a chance to win. They 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. All winners will be announced on the Altenew Winners Page on 10/30/2020.

Thank you so much for dropping by! Next stop is Svitlana Shayevich . Make sure to leave a comment here to get a chance to win a prize from Altenew. I love getting feedback from my readers. ❤️ I hope you can follow me too on Instagram @mylittleatticstudio for the latest updates on my creative projects. Would love to see you there, too. Until my next post. Stay safe everyone!

Altenew Educators “Style it with Stencils” Blog Hop and Linky Party + Giveaway

Altenew Educators “Style it with Stencils” Blog Hop and Linky Party + Giveaway

Hello everybody!!! It’s so nice to be with my co-educators again for another blog hop. 😊 If you just came from Maryam Sharara‘s blog, then you’re on the right track. Make sure you drop by the Altenew Blog for complete details of the hop.

This blog hop is all about stencils. Altenew has quite a number of beautiful stencils. Here are some creative ways on how you can make some backgrounds using stencils to create some CAS and dimensional cards. I also included some tips on how to fix mistakes, too.


BE OUR OWN KIND OF BEAUTIFUL


MATERIALS: Bursting Dahlia Stencil, Fine Frames Cover Die, Paint-a-Flower:Paeonia Japonica, Distress Oxide Inks- Broken China, Picked Raspberry, Fossilized Amber, Foam Squares

I made a lot of backgrounds for this blog hop. For this first card, watercolor paper was colored using distress inks. I love how oxide inks are easy to blend together. Water splatters were added to create some texture. When this was dry, the Bursting Dahlia stencil was placed on top then Versamark Ink was pressed through the openings of the petals.

The image was embossed using Crystal Clear embossing powder and this automatically made the image darker than the background. The sentiment from the Paint-A-Flower: Paeonia Japonica was stamped on vellum and embossed using my all-time favorite gold embossing powder- the Rose Gold embossing powder. I added frames to finish the card. The edges of the panel were distressed using a paper distresser then this was mounted on a card front using foam squares.


I’M HERE FOR YOU


MATERIALS: Dog Rose Panel A die, Distress Oxide inks-Frayed Burlap, Broken China and Carved Pumpkin

Here’s another background I made using distress inks. After applying the inks onto Neenah solar white cardstock, I placed the bubble wrap stencil on top and sprayed over with water using light mist only. Then I used a baby wipe to go over the stencil and remove some ink. This is called the ghosting technique and I love the subtle effect of the dots. I learned this technique from Dyan Reaveley.

When the panel was dry, I used the Dog Rose Panel A to die cut the floral image. The sentiment was stamped on black cardstock using Versamark Ink and white embossing powder then mounted using foam tape.


THANK YOU


MATERIALS: Feathery Stencil, Simply Thank You die, Distress Oxide inks-Peacock Feathers, Broken China, Tumbled Glass

Here’s a simple card using foil. The background was colored using shades of blues then I selected only certain parts of the stencil to add the transfer gel. The rest of the stencil was covered with post-it notes to prevent the gel from going to the other areas of the stencil.

I should have die cut the thank you sentiment before applying the transfer gel cause when I ran it through the die cutting machine, the shininess of the foil became dull. 😥 So next time, I’ll make sure to do the foiling last.


TRUE FRIENDS ARE EVERYTHING


MATERIALS: Feathered Leaves Stencil, Bubble Wrap Stencil, Fine Frames Square Die set , Fine Frames Cover die, Gelli plate, acrylic paints, Versamark Ink, Crystal Clear Embossing powder

I had my Gelli plate out since I recently used it for my last blog hop so I thought of creating more monoprints using stencils. First, I added dots of assorted acrylic paints on the Gelli plate. I made sure to use colors that will go well together. A brayer was used to spread the paint on the plate. This was allowed to dry then a thin coat of white acrylic paint was added. Neenah solar white CS was used to pick up the monoprint.

When this was dry, I used the bubble wrap stencil to add some circles here and there using a distress ink tool and frayed burlap oxide ink. The Feathered leaves stencil was then put on top then Versamark ink and clear embossing powder was used to create another layer. I love the layers on this card and the subtle texture the stencil added.

The sentiment was stamped on vellum then I used 2 different sets of frames to highlight the sentiment.


I HAVE BEEN THINKING OF YOU


MATERIALS: Geometric Landscape Stencil, Poppy Garden Stamp and die, Garden Picks 3D die, Nuvo Embellishments Mousse Aquamarine, Pure White Embossing powder, Rose Gold Embossing Powder, Versmark Ink , Uniball Signo White gel pen

I made another background using the Geometric Landscape Stencil and the Nuvo mousse for added dimension. I allowed it to dry while stamping and embossing the flowers from the Poppy Garden stamp set. I also die cut the leaves from the Garden Picks 3d die. The sentiment from the Poppy Garden set was embossed using white embossing powder while the flowers were embossed using Golden Peach embossing powder.

All of the embellishments were arranged using foam squares for added dimension. By the way, when I pulled up the stencil from the paper, I noticed some of the mousse went under the stencil. After it dried, I just used a Uniball Signo white gel pen to cover up the areas. That way, I didn’t have to repeat the whole process and waste material. 😊


YOU INSPIRE ME TO BE BETTER


MATERIALS: Poppy Garden Mask Stencil, Distress Oxide-Mermaid Lagoon, Pure White Embossing Powder, Versamark Ink, 1/8″ double-sided tape, Rose Gold Embossing Powder, Foam Squres

For my last card, I wanted to make use of the Poppy Garden Mask stencil. I laid the stencil on a Neenah Solar white cardstock then used a round distress tool to add Mermaid Lagoon distress oxide ink to the edges of the floral images using a swiping motion from outside going in. This way, the middle of the flower remained white while the edges were dark. This is a fun way of coloring images quickly. I like the steaks that the foam created. Just make sure to follow the direction of the petals when applying the ink. When all the mask images of the flowers were colored, I stamped the outline images using Versamark Ink and embossed them with Pure white embossing powder.

I needed a frame for this slim card so an easy way to do this is to use 1/8″ double-sided tape and heat emboss it using Rose Gold embossing powder. The flowers were arranged on one side and adhered to the card front using glue and foam squares. For a more organic look, just add foam squares to the edges of the petal then glue down the middle of the flower. You can also bend the edges of the flowers and leaves so that they won’t look so stiff.

You can watch a video on how to create these flowers by clicking this link: https://youtu.be/AORyc3Rr2hs . I’m very new at making videos so please bear with me. 😥 Do let me know if the video is helpful so that I can plan to include more videos in the future.


PRIZES



Altenew is giving away a $20 gift certificate to 5 lucky winners! Please leave a comment on the Altenew Card Blog by 9/19/2020 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 so don’t forget to leave a comment! I truly love hearing from all of you. All winners will be announced on the Altenew Winners Page on 9/22/2020.

There’s MORE! Altenew will pick 2 of their favorite handmade creations from those who joined the linky party and they will each receive a $15 Altenew gift certificate!

Next stop is Irina Fonina’s blog. For real-time updates, please follow me on IG: My Little Attic Studio. I also host some giveaways there once in a while so hope to see you there, too. 🙂 Thanks so much for dropping by and please stay safe and well. Take care, everyone! Until my next blog post!

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Altenew July 2020 Stamps/ Dies/Stencils/ Inks Release

Altenew July 2020 Stamps/ Dies/Stencils/ Inks Release

Hello everyone!!! Altenew has a wonderful July release and I made a couple of cards to showcase this new release. Take a look at these gorgeous products!!!

https://altenew.com/collections/new/products/summer-fun-full-release-bundle

I read all your comments on my blog and truly appreciate your kind words. I’ve noticed that there are quite a number of people who are new to cardmaking so this blog post will be a mixture of simple, fun and easy to make cards/tags and some that need a little more time to create. Do let me know which one is your favorite in the comment section, ok? I really love hearing from all of you. <3


WHATEVER YOU ARE, BE A GOOD ONE | YOU ARE GREAT


Don’t you just adore the Courageous You stamp set!?!?! I love huge images that can be colored using different kinds of coloring mediums. For these cards though, I thought of stamping and embossing the image on vellum for a soft and dainty look. I used the Fine Frames cover die to add borders around the card front. Light colors were chosen to match the soft look of this card.

When embossing on thin papers like vellum, just make sure that you heat up your heat gun first. I also heat it from the back to prevent the paper from warping.


THINKING OF YOU | WITH GRATITUDE


Here’s another set of CAS cards using the Geometric Elements stamp. When I saw this stamp set, the first thing that came into my mind was the geometric terrariums that I used for my daughter’s party a few years ago. 🙂

I used the stems on the Fragile Foliage Stamp set as strings for these “terrariums”. My youngest daughter Andrea helped me with the drawings of the mini succulents ( I will need a magnifying glass in order to do that!!! Thanks so much, Dea! <3 ) The succulents were colored with the Altenew alcohol artist markers. Strips of papers from the Blushing Blooms paper pack were added to finish off these cute and simple cards. The card front was also mounted onto foam sheets for added dimension.


YOU ARE WORTHY


This next card was created using the Floral In and Out Border die, the Wild Flora washi tape, the Terrific Tags die and the sentiment from the Courageous You stamp set. I wrapped a panel with the washi tape then die cut the Floral in and out border die. I did the same to 4 layers of white cardstocks so that I can stack them up to create some dimension.

I just had to fit them like a jigsaw puzzle then added a sentiment stamped on one of the tags from the Terrific tags die. A green brad was added as an accent to this simple card. You really don’t have to do much because the washi tape is already so beautiful.


HUGS


Here’s another pair of quick cards to make. I got some paper scraps from the Shades of Purple gradient cardstock set and cut them into strips. My apologies if I can’t remember who I saw this technique from– must be from the amazing Laura Bassen or Jennifer Mcguire or maybe even from Kristina Werner or the wonderful Cathy Zielske. They are my go-to cardmakers where I get my inspirations from.

I covered the entire card front with double-sided tape then adhered the strips. Both positive and negative elements from the Circled Greetings: hugs die were used to create 2 cards so nothing went to waste.


SOME DAYS YOU JUST HAVE TO CREATE YOUR OWN SUNSHINE


Would you believe that this card was made using only 1 stamped image? 🙂 The sentiment was stamped and heat embossed on vellum. The floral image from the Courageous You stamp set was stamped on 140 lbs Arches watercolor paper using Versamark ink then heat embossed with Rose gold embossing powder. I used colors from the Altenew watercolor brush makers. I love how highly pigmented these watercolors are! A little goes a long way.

The image was placed in one corner and the excess was cut off. Foam tape was used to create dimension. The leftover pieces were also adhered to the card front to fill the other edges of the card.


THANKS


Here’s another set of CAS cards using bold colors. I die cut 3 different colored cardstocks using the Circled Greetings: thanks die. To vary the background, I placed the Feeling Dotty Stencil over the background then added Versamark ink over it.

White embossing ink was poured over it and heat embossed to create a dotted background. I also added a sentiment from the Hello and Hugs stamp set for variation. This is a quick way to create multiple cards with a single die– just vary the cardstocks and backgrounds.


THANK YOU TAG


Here’s another quick project using the masking technique. For these tags, I used the sentiments from the Geometric Elements and the Fragile Foliage image. The biggest tag from the Terrific Tags dies was perfect to make the packaging for the monogram cards I made for a friend look pretty. I love the simplicity of the image which ties up with the modernity of the font.

The sentiment and border were stamped and embossed first using rose gold embossing powder. Then I masked the area so that I can stamp the foliage image over it.

If you have been following my previous blog posts, you’ll notice that my style leans heavily towards layering and lots of embellishments. Restraining myself from adding more to a card is truly a struggle for me. I have a hard time creating clean and simple cards because I tend to cover up all of the white space. That being said, I’ve always been a huge fan of Cathy Zielske‘s CAS style ever since my scrapbooking days in the early 2000s. From her, I’ve learned the basics in design principles. She’s my rockstar when it comes to CAS layouts and cards. And just recently, she sent me a video message full of sound advice on how to deal with certain types of people. I am so humbled that she took time out of her busy schedule to personally send a message and make me feel better. So in honor of this amazing human being, this post showcases a number of CAS cards and from this post onwards, I will step out of my comfort zone and try to include a card that reflects her style. Thank you, Cathy! Truly appreciate what you did. ❤️ Below is a set of CAS cards inspired by her style using the Fragile Foliage stamp set.


I’VE BEEN THINKING OF YOU|THANKS FOR EVERYTHING


The image from the Fragile Foliage image was stamped on a rectangular die cut cardstock. This was adhered on the card front using a foam sheet. Golden peach and Caribbean sky embossing powders were used to emboss the sentiments from the Sentiment Strips stamp set.

Thank you so much for dropping by!!! As I’ve said earlier, I truly enjoy reading all your wonderful comments. Do say hi and let me know which card is your favorite! Would love to see you too in my other social media platforms. To see my latest projects, you can follow me on Instagram and Facebook . Thanks again for dropping by and keep on crafting!!!

“We rise by lifting others.” — Robert Ingersoll