handmade cards – Page 11 – My Little Attic

Altenew July 2020 Stamps/ Dies/Stencils/ Inks Release

Nenette Madero Attic News July 10, 2020July 10, 2020Altenew, arts and crafts, CARDS WITH VELLUM, CAS CARDS, clean and simple, DIES, DIMENSIONAL CARDS, embossed cards, embossing powder, floral cards, FOLIAGE CARDS, handmade cards, handmade tags, MY LITTLE ATTIC STUDIO, papercrafters, TERRARIUMS, thank you cards, watercolored cards

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

Altenew Educators “Giving Thanks” Blog Hop and Linky Party + Giveaway

Nenette Madero Attic News June 10, 2020June 2, 2020Altenew, ALTENEW CARDS, Altenew dies, Altenew embossing powder, altenew layered stamps, Altenew watercolor brush pens, cards for frontliners, dye inks, floral cards, floral die cuts, gratitude cards, HANDMADE, handmade cards, layered floral stamps, personalized cards, thank you cards, two in one cards, yin and yang cards

Welcome everyone to Altenew Educators Giving Thanks Blog hop and linky party + giveaway!!! I’m so excited to be a part of this blog hop with my co-educators!!! The hop starts at the Altenew Card Blog. The complete blog hop list is at the end of this post in case you get lost.

We are in this unprecedented crisis. Yet so many doctors, nurses, technicians, scientists, policemen, grocery storekeepers, pharmacists, food delivery crew, bank tellers, couriers, garbage collectors, hospital cleaning staff etc. work tirelessly to keep us all safe and so that we can continue to live our new normal lives. I truly appreciate that the theme for this blog hop is thankfulness. In our own little way, we can express our appreciation and gratitude to these everyday heroes for their dedication and selflessness through our cards.

I love the idea of coming up with 2 cards using the same stamped images. I sometimes call it my yin and yang cards. The following pairs were done using the same stamp sets. I just varied the looks by using the negative and positive die cuts, changing up the placement of the flowers, or by cutting the die cuts in half (the split card trick was inspired by Jennifer Mcguire). Here are my samples:

THANK YOU AND SO THANKFUL FOR YOU CARDS

I loved coloring the Poppy Garden stamp images so I used it in 4 of my cards– warm colors for one set of die cuts and cool colors for the other set. I stamped all the images on watercolor paper with Versamark Ink then embossed with Rose gold embossing powder. The Tropical Fiesta and Winter Wonderland watecolor brush markers were used to color the stamped and embossed images. The images where then die cut using the coordinating dies.

Next, I stamped the biggest image onto Neenah Solar White CS using the Silver lake dye ink. I chose a lighter color instead of black so that the watercolored images will stand out more. Then I used the coordinating stencil to mask the stamped image so that I can overlap and stamp the second image. Always remember that whatever you stamp first will be the image that will look closest to you. Everything else will be behind the masked image so plan your stamping accordingly. I continued until I covered the entire paper using all the different stamp images.

I then temporarily adhered vellum over the stamped panel using washi tape so that I can glue the die-cut flowers on top following the placement of the stamped images. You can also use transparency as an alternative. Make sure you secure the two together using washi tape so that the vellum with the die cuts and the stamped panel will not shift when it goes through the die-cutting machine. Both sheets were then die cut using a rectangular die to create a frame.

The negative die cut frame was adhered onto an A2 card front using foam squares. The middle portion of the stamped panel was glued to the center of the card then the sentiment from the Ornamental Bliss stamp set was stamped on black cardstock and embossed with Rose Gold embossing powder. This was mounted onto the card front using foam squares.

The same thing was done for the 2nd card. I just made sure that the flowers aligned when I adhered the middle panel using foam squares. Sentiment for this card was from the Needlework Motif stamp set.

THANK YOU AND I APPRECIATE EVERYTHING YOU DO CARDS

For these cards, I watercolored the flowers using the wet on wet technique using warm colors. I loved the split card idea of Jennifer Mcguire wherein she adhered the elements in the middle of an 81/2 x 5 1/2 cardstock just like the photo below.

I then used a guillotine cutter to cut right at the center thus dividing it into two panels. I wanted a gold border for both panels to define the edges so I went ahead and embossed the fine frame die cuts with rose gold embossing powder.

First, I inked up the frames with Versamark Ink then I poured the embossing powder and embossed it with a heat gun.

Now I have frames that match perfectly with the embossed flowers.

I made sure to use foam squares to adhere some of the flowers for added dimension. I also did not put glue at the tips of the leaves and small flowers for a more organic look. To finish it off, the card fronts were adhered to top folding and side folding A2 white cardstocks.

I APPRECIATE EVERYTHING YOU DO AND WHAT A BEAUTIFUL BLESSING YOU ARE TO ME CARDS

For these two cards, I used the Regal Beauty Stamp and die set, Rose Flurries 3D dies, and Garden Picks 3d dies. The layers of the flowers and leaves were stamped using Altenew dye inks then these were die cut using the coordinating dies.

Leaves from the Rose Flurries and the Garden Picks 3D die sets were used for these cards as well.

Sentiments from the Needlework Motif stamp set were stamped using the Platinum crisp embossing powder. I used similar ink colors from the brush markers to create a mat for the sentiment.

PRIZES

Altenew is giving away a $30 gift certificate to 3 lucky winners! Please leave a comment here on the Altenew Card Blog by 6/17/2020 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 Card Blog on 6/21/2020.

There’s MORE! 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!

Special offer:
FREE U.S. shipping with code HAPPY6T or $5 OFF international shipping with code SHOPPING6T at checkout on orders over $29. Offer valid from 6/10/2020 at 12:01 am EDT through6/11/2020 at 11:59 pm EDT. Shop HERE! Not valid on prior purchases. Cannot be combined with other promo codes. Not valid on Altenew Academy Classes and Virtual Workshops.

This is no ordinary hop! Altenew wants you to join in on the fun as well. There is a Linky Party going on at the Altenew Card Blog. All you have to do is link up your creations based on the theme of the hop, which is, “Giving Thanks” and mention that you are taking part in the Altenew Educators Blog Hop and Linky Party. So what are you waiting for?! Link up!

There are many more card examples from the other amazing certified Altenew educators so please make sure to drop by their blogs, too! Next up is Christine Pennington. Thank you so much for dropping by and do leave a comment to get a chance to win! I always love hearing from my readers. Stay safe everyone! Until my next post. Happy crafting!!!

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BLOG HOP ORDER

Altenew + The Daily Marker Watercolor Therapy Blog Hop & Giveaway

Nenette Madero Attic News May 1, 2020April 30, 2020Altenew, ALTENEW COVER DIES, altenew precious peony stamp, ALTENEW STAMP, Bold Flora Drapes stamp, cards, circle quilt cover die, cover dies, debossed cards, EMBOSSING, floral cards, HANDMADE, handmade cards, Oranate cover die, Parlor Palm die, WASHI TAPE, WASHI TAPE CARDS, watercolored cards

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!

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BLOG HOP ORDER:

Altenew Card Blog
Kathy Racoosin
Jaycee Gaspar
Nina-Marie Trapani
Kelly Griglione
Norine Borys
LauraJane
Vicky Papaioannou
Therese Calvird
Lydia Fiedler
Caly Person
Virginia Lu
Kristina Werner
May Sukyong Park
Kelly Latevola
Nicole Watt
Amy Tan
Maryam Perez
Lisa Spangler
Isha Gupta
Yoonsun Hur
Mindy Eggen
Nenette S. Madero

ALTENEW’S 6TH ANNIVERSARY BLOG HOP DAY 3 + GIVEAWAY

Nenette Madero Attic News April 4, 2020March 28, 2020Altenew, ALTENEW CARDS, ALTENEW COVER DIES, Altenew dies, altenew stamps, Altenew watercolor brush pens, CARDMAKING, CLEAR STAMPS, diecuts, DOTTED STARBURST DEBOSSING COVER DIE, embossing powder, floral cards, handmade cards, KIND WORDS, MONESTRA 3D DIE SET, PRECIOUS PEONY STAMP, ROSE PETAL WASHI TAPE, SEA SHORE WASHI TAPE SET, WASHI TAPE CARDS, watercolor, watercolored cards

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.