cardmaking · Mixed Media · papercrafting

Die Cutting + Mixed Media Cards

Distressed Mixed Media card using die cut leaves from Altenew's Tropical Mix set.

Shabby Chic Mixed Media Cards

Welcome! I had the idea for a messy mixed media card with fall-color die cut leaves on a brick embossed background. I have to say, this was a really fun creative journey.

The first card is for my friend Paul who thinks I am a mixed media artist and is always encouraging me to do more art. I especially like how the blue panel shows through the leaves on the birthday card.

Using metallic shimmer ink sprays on mixed media cards.

My process:

  • Using Altenew’s Tropical Leaf Mix Dies and Essential Sentiment Strips, I die cut three leaves and two sentiments from kraft card stock.
  • On my craft mat, I made three puddles of ink: Orange Cream Metallic Shimmer Ink Spray + Water, Warm Sunshine Metallic Shimmer Spray + water and Infusions Frankly Scarlet Colored Stain. I then dabbed portions of each die cut into each puddle of ink. I did this 2 or 3 times until I was happy with the colors.
  • Using a panel of Neenah 110 cardstock, I dabbed some Espresso Ink onto my craft mat, spritzed with a bit of water and then dabbed in my cardstock. I did the same thing with a panel of kraft paper.
  • On the Neenah panel, I repeated the process with Ocean Waves Metallic Shimmer Ink Spray plus water.
  • Using Altenew’s Brick Wall 3D Embossing Folder, I embossed the kraft panel.
  • I painted on some distressing to the brick wall panels using the left over yellow, orange and red inks. You can see I used more red on the birthday card and I really like how that panel turned out.
  • Next, I added lots of spatters using the left over red, orange and yellow ink. I also added white (Pure White Ink Spray) and black (Jet Black Ink Spray).
  • After the splatters dried, I distressed the edges with more Espresso Ink and a finger dauber.
  • I made a brown top folding A2 card base and then assembled my card. I glued the brick panel directly to the card base but used Instant Dimension Foam Tape to adhere the blue panel to the bricks. I glued the leaves at a jaunty angle and added a small bow.
Altenew's Bricked Wall 3D Embossing Folder on Mixed Media cards.

I love the grungy vintage look of these two cards.

Shabby Chic grungy distressed mixed media card with die cut leaves.

Thank you for stopping by!

Karen

cardmaking · papercrafting

Altenew Sticky Essentials Blog Hop + Giveaway ($300 in Total Prizes!)

Altenew's Bird of the Woods layering stamps + burlap texture die background handmade card

Hello and welcome to Altenew’s “Sticky Essentials Blog Hop! Altenew has loads of wonderful adhessive products and you can see their entire collection HERE.

I really like dimension when I am designing a card and Altenew’s Instant Dimension Foam Tape will keep me stocked for quite a while. It is a big wheel of double sided foam tape that is about 1/2″ wide and 8’+ long PLUS the release paper is floral and quite fun! I found using foam tape really makes my projects pop.

I adore the Bird of the Woods Layering Stamp set and coordinating dies and wanted to make a few cards for this hop spotlighting Altenew’s Adhessives.

Card featuring Altenew's  Bird of the Woods Layering Stamp + Textured Burlap background.

For the card above, I used the following:

Altenew Bird of the Woods Layering Stamp + Garden Trellis Cover die on a handmade card

The foam tape really puts the focus on the adorable little bird.

Altenew Bird of the Woods Layering Stamp + Garden Trellis Cover die on a handmade card

This darling bird would be great for so many occasions: birthdays, get well, thank you…

Whimsical handmade  Mother's Day Card with adorable stamped bird

Supplies for Card 2:

Giveaway Prizes

$300 in total prizes! To celebrate this special blog hop, Altenew is giving away a $50 gift certificate to 2 lucky winners and a $25 gift certificate to 8 winners! Please leave a comment on the Altenew Card Blog and/or each designer’s blog post on the blog hop list below by 10/05/2022 for a chance to win. Altenew will draw 10 random winners from the comments left on each stop of this blog hop and announce the winners on the Altenew Winners Page on 10/06/2022.

Blog Hop Order

Altenew Card Blog

Virginia Lu

Helen Kalb

Lilith Eeckels

Teresa Litchfield

Laurie Willison

Bridget Casey

Tenia Nelson

Linda Westfall

Seeka

Therese Calvird

Karen Brown You Are Here!

Sadia Ashraf

LauraJane

Erin Thompson

Terri Koszler

Hannelie Bester

Amy Hill

Nathalie DeSousa

Marieke Slaats

Disha Jain

Maryam Pérez

Michelle Short

Berina Rajakumar

Teri Wilson

Reiko Tsuchida ***Note: Due to strict regulations in Japan, you might not be able to leave a comment on her blog post.

Thanks for stoppping by!

Karen

cardmaking · Mixed Media · papercrafting

Easy DIY Glitter Cardstock

Easy DIY Glitter Cardstock tutorial.

Don’t you just love bright summery colors? I’ve been thinking about making a shimmery rainbow hued tag set and I thought now was the perfect time. Recently, I started making my own glitter cardstock, and I have been loving the subtle sparkle it adds to my projects!

Rainbow Colored Gift Tags + Altenew Terrific Tags dies

The process is easy and fun…all you need is some ink and Altenew Iridescent Shimmer Ink Spray.

How to make your own glitter cardstock

How To Make Your Own Glitter Cardstock

  • I taped some watercolor paper to a hard board and brushed water over the surface with a #18 brush.
  • Next, I mixed Altenew Dye Inks with Iridescent Shimmer Spray (no water was added) and I painted the mixture on the wet watercolor paper. I wanted an intense color so I applied three layers but I didn’t bother to let it dry in between.
  • I stamped, colored and die cut a bunch of floral elements from Altenew’s Doodle Blooms stamp and die bundle.
  • I let my shimmer panels dry overnight so that they would die-cut well, but you could speed up the drying with your heat tool.
How to make glitter cardstock using Altenew Shimmer Spray.

Next, I die cut my tags using the largest finned die from Altenew’s Terrific Tags die set and worked on my layouts

How to make your own gift tags with Altenew Terrific Tags.

To finish off the cards, I added an Enamel Dot to each flower center.

Altenew Enamel Dots for flower centers.

The background is so pretty in person but it’s hard to see the sparkle in the photos so I added a quick video below:

Video clip showing shimmer on DIY Glitter Cardstock

Adding twine or ribbon is easy: Double the twine and poke the two ends through the hole. Next, slip the ends through the looped middle and then pull flat. Neat, easy and functional.

 Aqua Altenew Terrific Tags + Doodle Blooms stamp and die bundle

I love how the tags turned out so I’ve included some closeup photos.

Pink Altenew handmade gift tag

There is a detailed list of the inks, supplies and enamel dots used below.

Altenew Orange Cream Glitter gift tag.
Pink Altenew Glitter cardstock gift tag.

The tags are so happy and cheerful together and I think they would make a great gift for a friend.

DIY rainbow hued gift tags made with Altenew Terrific Tags and Doodle Blooms stamp and die set.

Ink Used:

Stamps, Dies and Supplies:

Enamel Dots Used:

Sentiments:

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

cardmaking · papercrafting

Handmade DIY Mother’s Day Card

Altenew Bird of the Woods Mother's Day Card combined with  Majestic 3D Embossing Folder background

I am getting ready for Mother’s Day and am so excited about this whimsical yet elegant card. I used Altenew’s Bird of the Woods layering stamp and dies.

Altenew Bird of the Wood Layering Stamp and Die Bundle handmade card

I used an assembly line method which I write about below. For my Mother’s Day card I used the following:

My Process:

  • I wanted to make a bunch of cards so I set up an assembly line. I cut cardstock panels to fit in my Misti Stamping Tool and stamped one bird on the left, rotated the panel upside down, reinserted the panel and then stamped a second bird on the clean half.
  • I stamped my outlines with Pigment Ink for a nice dark outline and let them dry overnight so there was no risk of smearing. You could also heat set to speed up the process.
  • I then positioned the layering stamps in two Mistis. I was careful to line up the stamps so I could then stamp quickly. I put the first layering stamp on the left in Misti 1, the second layering stamp went on the right in Misti 1 and the third layer went in Misti #2. This way I was able to stamp all the cards in assembly line fashion.
  • I repeated this technique with the two layering stamps for the bird’s head.
Ink Color Combinations for Altenew Bird of the Woods Layering Stamp set.
7 ink color combinations

While I had my supplies out, I made a companion birthday card.

Whimsical Bird Birthday Card.
  • Colors used for stamping the birthday card: Peach Perfect, Orange Crush, Brown Paper Bag, Mountain Mist, Volcano Lake.
  • I made a sparkly custom background by mixing Volcano Lake ink with Shimmer Spray. I applied three layers to wet watercolor paper. You can’t see the shimmer in the photos but it is beautiful in person.
  • Altenew Essential Sentiment Strips
Handmade card with colorful stamped bird.

I have a blog post with two other bird cards HERE.

I am so glad that you stopped by!

Karen

cardmaking · papercrafting

Altenew 8th Anniversary Blog Hop Day 5 + Giveaway (over $2,000 in Total Prizes)

Happy 8th Anniversary Altenew! I am so happy to be participating in Altenew’s Birthday Hop again this year! You probably arrived from Bridget Casey’s lovely BLOG. If not, you might want to start at the beginning with Altenew’s BLOG.

Altenew's Bird of the Woods layering stamps + burlap texture die background handmade card

I’ve been a bit obssessed (see below) with the Bird of the Woods Layering Stamp set and coordinating dies and wanted to make a few cards for the hop. This bundle is so fun and very versatile.

Card featuring Altenew's  Bird of the Woods Layering Stamp + Textured Burlap background.

I stamped 8 different color combos and have two in this blog post. I will be blogging about a few more variations in the future.

For the card above, I used the following:

Altenew Bird of the Woods Layering Stamp + Garden Trellis Cover die on a handmade card

I love this springy clean card too! I think this would make a wonderful Mother’s Day card.

Whimsical handmade  Mother's Day Card with adorable stamped bird

Supplies for Card 2:

Altenew Bird of the Woods ink color combinations
I created 8 different ink color combinations

Giveaway Prizes: Look at all the lovely prizes from the Hop Sponsors:

Over $2,000 in total prizes! Altenew is giving away a $80 Gift Certificate to 5 lucky winners and one Altenew Academy Online Class($8.95 value) to 15 lucky winners. There are also 26 awesome companies/crafty friends who are celebrating with us, and they are offering the following prizes:

Be sure to leave comments by 4/15/2022 for a chance to win one of 50 prizes! To make the hop more exciting, start your comment with “Hi from (city or country where you’re from)!” 50 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 4/21/2022.

And a free gift with purchase:

Blog Hop Order:

Altenew Blog

Craft Stash

Kari VanNoy

Fiona Duff

Jaycee Gaspar

Amy Hill

Amber Rain Davis

Bridget Casey

Karen Brown You Are Here! 🙂

Rosie Neustaedter

Ann Taylor

 Auzz Trinklets N Krafts

Terri Koszler

Rachael Shedeed

Natasha Davies

Roteja Galvan

Eva Bussom

Nenette S. Madero

Lana Taber

Penny Pynnonen

Tenia Nelson

Sue Busada

Teri Stokes

Thank you so much for stopping by! Your next stop is: Rosie Neustaedter.

Karen

Uncategorized

Altenew 7th Anniversary Blog Hop Day 4 + Giveaway (over $1,400 in Total Prizes)


Happy Birthday Altenew!  I am honored to be celebrating this day along with such a talented group of designers and sponsors.  Altenew Cosmos Acrylic die cut flowers.

Die Cutting Floral Images From Acrylic Gelli Plate Prints

Recently, I spent a fun day making Acrylic Gel Press Monoprints and thought it would be fun to die-cut some of the images and make a few high contrast colorful birthday cards.  I used my favorite Altenew Craft-A-Flower kit, Cosmos Layering Dies for each of my projects.  

I sorted through my prints and selected bright colors that I thought would look nice on a card.  The first print was loosely brayered with turquoise and brown acrylic ink.  The flowers were die cut from three monoprint panels:  orange/red/gold; olive/yellow/gold and the whitish elements were cut from panels where I brayered off ink in between prints, so they have more white areas.  My sentiment is from an ancient labeler I had at the house.

Gel Press Die Cut Flowers
I love the background on this next card!  I put blue, yellow and olive on my press and then brayered gold over the Narrow Brick Stencil, which gives a beautiful textured look.  I used the Rounded Rectangles Die Set to trim down my panel.
Gel Press + Die Cut Flowers for a card.

The flower was die-cut using the  Cosmos Craft-A-Flower Kit.

Acrylic Monoprint die cut flower

For this last card, the background is from the same panel as card 1.  I again used the Rounded Rectangles and Cosmos Layering Die Set.  The sentiment is from the  Essential Sentiment Strips,

Gelli Print Handmade Card

   I think this makes a happy card.

Turquoise and Red Floral Card

Giveaway Prizes

Over $1,400 in total prizes! Altenew is giving away a $70 gift certificate to 5 lucky winners and one Altenew Academy classto 15 lucky winners. There are also 19 awesome companies/crafty friends who are celebrating with us, and they are offering the following prizes:


 

Be sure to leave comments by 4/18/2021 for a chance to win one of 41 prizes! To make the hop more exciting, start your comment with \”Hi from (city or country where you\’re from)!\” 41 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 4/24/2021.

 



So happy to see that you are hopping!  If you arrived from Auzz Trinklets N Krafts, then you are right on track.


Altenew Blog

Jennifer McGuire

Jaycee Gaspar

My Sweet Petunia

Agnieszka Małyszek

Kristina Werner

Tenia Nelson

Paige Evans

Reiko Tsuchida

Auzz Trinklets N Krafts

Karen Brown                     You Are Here!

Ellen Hutson LLC

Seeka

Katrina Howe


There is plenty more loveliness, so keep hopping…. Ellen Hutson LLC  is next!


Ready to shop?  Be sure to use the free shipping code below:


Special Offer

Enjoy FREE U.S. shipping with code HAPPY7TH or $5 OFF international shipping with code ANNIV21 at checkout. Offer valid from 4/8/2021 at 12:01 am EDT through 4/11/2021 at 11:59 pm EDT. Shop here: https://altenew.com/  Not valid on prior purchases. Cannot be combined with other promo codes. 


I am so pleased you stopped by and would love to hear which card you like best!


Thanks,
Karen
Uncategorized

Altenew Mini Flan Cake

 I have a quick blog post for my two newest cards using  Altenew\’s Mini Flan stamp and die set.  For my first card, I used my  Large Blending Tool  to blend Sand Dunes and Mocha from  The Coffee Break Ink Cube Set onto some textured watercolor paper.  I then stamped, used water color markers and die cut the flan.  My sentiment is from new favorite  Essential Sentiment Strips.

Masculine birthday card
I used watercolor markers on my second card as well.  The sentiment is from Essential Sentiment Strips. I also added three enamel dots from the New Day set.

I am so pleased that you stopped by!

Karen

Uncategorized

WWC304 – Kath\’s Challenge: All About Occasions

 

Hello and welcome!  This is my design team card for Watercooler Wednesday\’s \”All About Occasions\” Challenge.  Kath is our hostess.

I wanted to make a mixed media card and this is the bold look I came up with.  I started by spreading gesso on the cardstock with a card.  I let it dry and then used diluted watercolors to paint my background.  After the panel was dry, I spritzed it with shimmer spray,  which gives the background a pretty sheen.  Next I stamped with the script background stamp.  I finished by heat embossing the tree.  I wanted a lot of texture so I heat embossed the tree twice. 

Supplies:
Crackerbox and Suzy Tree Whimsy Stamp
Frayed Burlap Distress Ink (for script)
Gesso
Watercolor
Black Heat Embossing

Thanks for stopping by!
Karen