Altenew Paint-A-Flower: Clematis Josephine Release Blog Hop + Giveaway

June 22, 2021 Karen Brown33 Comments

Altenew Paint-A-Flower: Clematis Josephine

Hello and welcome! Today, Altenew is releasing their June Paint-A-Flower called Clematis Josephine. The bouquet is substantial and fills up a card beautifully. Altenew releases a new Paint-A-Flower each month and you can subscribe HERE so you don\’t miss a single set and as a subscriber the price is just $12.99 per month.

I was in a coloring mood and these flowers are so fun to color! I used Altenew\’s Artist Markers Set F (Sunshine Valley Garden) and Set G (Water Garden). The kit has a bunch of wonderful sentiments and I selected Be Bold…

$Altenew\'s Paint A Flower Clematis Josephine$

Are You Ready For Some Prizes?

Altenew will draw 7 random winners from the comments left on each stop of this blog hop and announce the winners on theAltenew Winners Page on 06/29/2021.

Blog Hop:

Karen Brown You Are Here! 🙂

Are You Ready To Shop?

Clematis Paint-A-Flower

Clematis Paint-A-Flower + 24 Pan Watercolor Bundle

Clematis Paint-A-Flower + 12 Pan Watercolor Bundle

I am pleased with the card and hope you like it too.

Karen

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Altenew Summer Adventure Stand-alone Dies Collection Release Blog Hop + Giveaway

June 17, 2021 Karen Brown31 Comments

Hello, I am so excited to introduce you to some of Altenew\’s gorgeous new stand-alone dies!

Die Cutting with Altenew\’s Tropical Leaf Mix Dies

Altenew\’s Tropical Leaf Mix dies are so beautiful and fun to create with! I started by cutting a 5 1/2\” square card base and then added some copper paint splatters.

Next, I gathered a bunch of gel press prints and started to die-cut and arrange a leaf flower. Once I started I realized I really liked the green panels with gold and copper. My flower needed a center so I used the cute little star flower from Altenew\’s Bride To Be Layering Set. This set makes such a lovely dimensial card.

For my next card, I die-cut leaves from a gold/copper gel print (above) and brown cardstock. The leaves are Altenew\’s new Tropical Leaf Mix dies. For the center, I again used the star flower from Altenew\’s Bride to Be Layering Set

Copper, Gold and Brown Metalic Gel Plate Print

I love how you can use the leaves individually or layer them.

Quick and Easy Die Cut Card

The new Peeking Leaves Cover Die is beautiful. I selected two colors of summery cardstock and die-cut the aqua panel. I glued the die cut to an A2 card base and used the edge of a ruler to straigthen the sides. The sentiment is Altenew\’s Simply Hello Die.

$Altenew\'s Peeking Leaves Cover Die card.$

Giveaway Prizes

$300 in total prizes! To celebrate this release, 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 06/23/2021 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 06/25/2021.

Blog Hop:

Karen Brown You Are Here!

FREE GIFT PROMOTION:

Here are THREE ways to get a FREEBIE to kickstart your creativity! Free gift will be added to cart automatically.

Get a FREE brand new Summer Adventure Release Inspiration Guide (worth $5.99) with every order of high-value Summer Adventure release bundles. Shop Here! *Exclusions apply.
Get a FREE brand new Summer Adventure Release Mini Inspiration Guide with every order from 06/17/2021 through 06/19/2021. Shop HERE.

READY TO SHOP?

Link To Altenew Summer Adventure Stand Alone Die Collection.

I am honored that you stopped by my blog…thank you! If you have another moment, I would love to hear which card you like best.

Karen

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Altenew Craft-A-Flower: Peruvian Lily Layering Die Set Release Blog Hop + Giveaway

June 7, 2021 Karen Brown37 Comments

Altenew Craft-A-Flower: Peruvian Lily Layering Die Set

Hello friends! Today is release day for Altenew\’s June Craft-A-Flower: Peruvian Lily. I just adore each month\’s kit because there are so many die-cutting possibilities. You can subscribe HERE for a specially discounted price (plus you won\’t miss a single kit) or you can purchase the Peruvian Lily or you can buy the Peruvian Lily + the gradient cardstock bundle.

Each month I usually make my own paper for my craft-a-flower kit…sometimes I watercolor panels, or ink blend but this month I was in a gel print mood. With gel prints, you never know what you are going to get so I start with colors in mind and then start printing. These are pretty basic prints but they look so pretty when die-cut. For June I was thinking either an orange or pink bloom with a blue background so I laid out some prints. I love the blue background…kinda Monetish and I ultimately decided on an orange and yellow lilly. I will be using the pink panels soon.

These dies were easy to line up and the lily is big and showy. The sentiment is one of my favorites from the Essential Sentiment Die Set.

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 the Altenew Card Blog and/or each designer’s blog post on the blog hop list below by 6/13/2021 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 06/15/2021.

Karen Brown < You Are Here

Thanks for stopping by! I hope you enjoy this month\’s kit as much as I have.

Karen

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Altenew Adventures Ahead Stamps/Dies/Stencils/More Collection Release Blog Hop + Giveaway

June 4, 2021 Karen Brown33 Comments

Hello! I was so excited and inspired by Altenew\’s June Adventures Ahead Stamp and Die Collection that I created 8 cards! So many ideas!

Die Cutting With Scraps

Altenew\’s Color Bands dies are wonderful and at a great price point! If you like to die-cut there are endless possibilites….I found them so addiciting! For this first card, I used brightly colored scraps of gel press prints. My inspiration was gum drops and I die cut 14 rainbow hued \”gum drops\” and adhered them to my card with foam tape. I crafted my slimline card using the Nesting Slim Rectangles Die Set.

Die Cutting With Gel Press Prints

I wanted rainbow colors for my \”squiggles\” card also. I used the same Color Bands Dies as above.

$Die cutting with Altenew\'s Color Band die set.$

I selected an assortment of simple gel press prints and started die cutting. I took a quick photo (below) of the print assortment I started with. I wanted lots of beautiful white space so I again used Altenew\’s Nesting Slim Rectangle Dies to make another slimline card.

3D Embossing Gel Press Prints

I don\’t think I can ever have too many brick elements to craft with so I was very excited about Altenew\’s new Brick Wall 3D Embossing Folder. For this card I took a gel press print and ran it through my embossing machine. I think this panel makes a beautiful background for my two Cosmos Die Cut Flowers.

Vintage Feel Scene Card

I was captivated by the new Seas The Day stamp and die bundle. I love a good scene card and thought it would be fun to create a vignette of a girl watching a boat race. I went with an off-white vintage feel and made two of these…one for my daughter and one to go with a graduation gift. And, don\’t you just love those animated Pelicans!

Four Quick and Easy Cards

I came up with an idea for a quick and easy masculine card. The lines on the Seas The Day sailboat are just beautiful and I thought a \”blueprint look\” would be very striking. I stamped the boat with Saphire from the Glacier Caves mini ink cube set. I then hand inked an accent panel and sentiment strip with the same Saphire ink and Altenew\’s Large Blending Tool and set this behind the sailboat to frame the top panel. I like the coordinating saphire sentiment band (Altenew Essential Sentiment Strips). Very easy, very striking and very masculine…a winning combination.

$A quick and easy masculine card featuring the sail boat for Altenew\'s Seas The Day Stamp set.$

It is graduation season so my last three cards are for the graduate. The detail on the Feathered Friends dies is beautiful! I die cut three from cardstock and then popped them on a white Brick Wall 3D Embossing Folder panel and added a die-cut Essential Sentiment Strips sentiment.

These next two cards came together very quickly! The backgrounds are from the Rainbow Blots 6×6\” Paper Pack which is filled with gorgeous papers with highly saturated color. These packs are at a great price point and with 24 sheets, you can make loads of projects.

Using the Rainbow Blots paper pack, I trimmed down two panels and then die cut two sets of sentiments using Altenew\’s new Reach For The Stars die. This sentiment definitely makes a statement!

I am sending these two cards with graduation gifts.

Are You Ready For Some Prizes?

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 06/11/2021.

You\’ve probably just seen Bridget Casey\’s lovely projects and you will love Laurie Willison\’s post.

BLOG HOP:

Altenew Card Blog

Are You Ready to Shop? Free Gift Oportunities:

Here are THREE ways to get a FREEBIE to kickstart your creativity! Free gift will be added to cart automatically.

· Get a FREE brand new Adventures Ahead Release Inspiration Guide (worth $5.99) with every order of high-value Exotic Garden release bundles. SHOP HERE! *Exclusions apply.

· Get a FREE brand new Creative Jump Start Class with every order from the new Adventures Ahead release collection from 6/04/2021 through 6/10/2021. SHOP HERE!

· Get a FREE brand new Adventures Ahead Release Mini Inspiration Guide with every order from 06/04/2021 through 06/06/2021. Shop HERE!

I am honored that you stopped by my blog…thank you! If you have another moment, I would love to hear which card you like best.

Karen

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Altenew Mixed Media Madness Hop

May 28, 2021 Karen BrownLeave a comment

3D Die Cutting + Acrylic on Mixed Media Paper

Hello! The Altenew Educators have a fun Instagram Hop called Mixed Media Madness currently underway. There are loads of prizes and lots of inspiring projects so I hope you can hop along with us. I drew my inspiration from my backyard. The two mixed media backgrounds are my interpretation of the water in my swimming pool and the layered die-cuts are based on my potted coral Hibiscus. I handcrafted all the paper used to die-cut my flowers.

I have been loving layering dies lately and wanted to get out an old favorite, Altenew\’s Hibiscus Garden as I think it is perfect going into summer. I used this set as the focal point for both of my cards.

I loosely mixed turquoise, white and pale yellow acrylic paint with a brayer for my background. The leaves are cut from painted acrylic panels of moss, spring green and pale yellow. The Hibiscus are cut from three panels: orange, orange + white and a panel of white with a hint of orange. The sentiment is from Altenew\’s Birthday Greetings stamp set.

The background for my second card is similar but there was leftover blue on my gel plate. I also added an additional layer of gold using my favorite Narrow Brick Stencil . This stencil just came out this spring, but it is already my most used stencil! I love the subtle texture and dimension it adds. I then die cut the panel using Altenew\’s Rounded Rectangles die. I added craft foam to the back of the panel and adhered the flower with foam tape.

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

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Altenew Wildflower Paper Crafting Collection Release Blog Hop + Giveaway

April 29, 2021 Karen Brown43 Comments

Hello friends! I love paper, which I think is one of the many reasons I am a paper crafter. If you are fond of paper then I know you will appreciate Altenew\’s gorgeous new Wildflower Collection too. The release is full of beautiful colors, fun patterns and lovely floral papers plus two gorgeous ephemera packs. To celebrate, Altenew is hosting a blog hop with beautiful inspiration and fun prizes. Link To Blog Hop

Cardmaking with Altenew Ephemera and Printed Cardstock

I created three cards for this release. On my first card, all the colored paper is from the Wildflower Collection 6×6\” Paper Pack. I love Altenew\’s Hibiscus Garden 3D Layering Die Set and thought it would be fun to die cut the elements from different papers in the pack. I used two pages for the flower, two different pages for the leaves and then the soft green for the background. I added a bit of splatter with Altenew\’s Jet Black and Pure White ink sprays. I pulled the sprayer out and tapped the hose for pefect splatter each time. So much faster than mixing ink each time.

Altenew Hibiscus Garden 3D layering dies

The second card uses Bitty Bits Ephemera for a fast and colorful card. For the background, I again splattered a white card base with Pure White and Jet Black ink splatters. Next I used the Garden Trellis Cover Die and patterned paper from the Wildflower Collection 6×6\” Paper Pad to die cut a lovely background overlay. I then arranged and layered the ephemera and adhered with foam tape. The packet has loads of die cuts, so I have plenty left over for future projects. I finished off the card by adding Cherry Blossom Enamel Dots

My third card is similar with a Garden Trellis die cut overly cut from a page from the Wildflower Collection 6×6\” Paper Pad. The background is again a paint splattered page from the same pad. I then arranged and layered ephemera from The Pink Posy Pack. Lastly, I added Cherry Blossom Enamel Dots to the flower centers.

There is a great Wildflower Paper and Ephemera Bundle available as well as a Wildflower Paper Crafting Jump Start Class.

Giveaway Prizes:

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 05/07/2021.

Blog Hop:

Karen Brown You Are Here! 🙂

Ready to shop? You can access Altenew\’s Shop HERE.

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

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

April 11, 2021 Karen Brown234 Comments

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

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.

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.

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

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,

I think this makes a happy 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:

Altenew: 5 $70 Altenew gift certificates
Jennifer McGuire Ink: $100 Altenew gift certificate
Gina K. Designs: $100 gift certificate
My Sweet Petunia: $100 gift certificate
Spellbinders Paper Arts: $100 gift certificate
CiLi in Papers: €75 gift certificate
Lawn Fawn: $75 gift certificate
Online Card Classes: 3 online class spots
Altenew Academy: 15 online class spots
Auzz Trinklets N Krafts: $50 gift certificate
Concord & 9th: $50 gift certificate
Hero Arts: $50 gift certificate
My Little Attic: $50 gift certificate
Scrapbook.com: $50 certificate
Simon Says Stamp: $50 gift certificate
Pinkfresh Studio: $50 gift certificate
Bumbleberry Papercrafts: £25 gift certificate
Waffle Flower: 1 prize bundle valued at $32
Butterfly Reflections Ink: $25 gift certificate
Ellen Hutson LLC: $25 gift certificate
Scrapbook & Cards Today: 1 copy of Scrapbook & Cards Today Spring 2021 issue

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.

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

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Mixed Media ATC Card

March 16, 2021 Karen Brown2 Comments

Hello! Last year, a cardmaking friend gave me a 1968 dictionary that was part of a classroom set that was no longer used. I thought it was time to use a page or two in my cardmaking. I\’ve also been fascinated by some of the ATC\’s (artist trading cards) that I\’ve been seeing on Instagram so that was the inspiration for this card.

Mixed Media Greeting Card

Pink, Orange, Red and Aqua Acrylic Paint

Using the dictionary pages, I stamped and die cut the flowers using the Doodle Blooms Bundle. I then used watercolor pencils and a damp watercolor brush to shade and color the diecuts.

I wanted a rough, colorful background, so I applied pink, orange and red acrylic ink to mixed media paper with a brayer. After the paint dried, I used the brayer to apply aqua ink over the Narrow Bricks Stencil. I let this dry and then used the accent leaves from the Tea Time set and the greenery from the Billowing Blossoms stamp to randomly stamp on the background. For the ATC look, I used the Rounded Rectangles to die-cut my background panel. The sentiment is from The Birthday Greetings Set. With black ink, I inked the edges of the background and the sentiment strips and then applied Tea Party Enamel Dots for the center of the flowers.

Gelli Plate Monoprint Card

For this second card, I used gel press printing and acrylic paints (violet, tourquoise, yellow, olive and magenta) to make this striking background. I used the Flowing Drops Stencil on my second layer. I then used Deep Iris Dye Ink to stamp a variety of small images on the background. I was going for a grungier look on this card. I love using LOTS of inks, stamps and stencils for a complex mixed media card.

Next, I used the Smile More Bundle to stamp and die cut the daisies. I again watercolored with watercolor pencils.

violet, turqouise, yellow, olive and magenta gel press background

This was a very fun card to make!

Thank you for stopping by!

Karen

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Altenew Storybook Fantasy Stamps/Dies/Stencils/Embossing Folders Collection Release Blog Hop + Giveaway

March 9, 2021 Karen Brown47 Comments

Cheerful Rainbow Colored Library Bookshelves

Hi there, I am so happy you stopped by!

Today we’re celebrating the Storybook Fantasy release and I have two cards to share using some of Altenew\’s new stamps, dies and an embossing folder! If you arrived from Reiko\’s Blog, you’re right on track. If you want to start from the beginning, visit the Altenew Card Blog. Be sure to scroll to the bottom for details about the hop, giveway, free gifts and images of the full release.

Today\’s card was so much fun to make…sometimes it is great to just sit down and color! When I first saw this Tall Tale stamp set, I knew I wanted a cheerful rainbow colored library. I love how happy this stamp is…perfect for birthday and get well cards.

I stamped and colored three bookshelves and colored with Artist Markers Set F and G. I wanted lots of shelves on this card so I used the Nesting Slim Rectangle Dies to make a slimline card. I then cut the bookshelves to make the four shelves. The Nesting Rectangles make it so easy to make a slimline card. The cut panel is 3 1/2\” wide and 8 1/2” tall.

Here is a graphic of all the stamps included in the wonderul Tall Tale Stamp Set.

Ink Blending on 3D Embossing

For my second card, I used the Majestic Blooms 3D Embossing Folder. After I dry embossed my panel, I used my Large Ink Blending Tool and Warm Sunshine Ink to gently go over the top of the embossing. I then used my Small Embossing Tool to add a second coat on the highest points.

I die-cut the Fancy Celebrate Die from black mirror cardstock. This embossing folder has a gorgeous large image so I created a 6×6 card. I finished off with yellow enamel dots from the New Day Collection. I like that the set has a rainbow of colors that go with any project.

Altenew Fancy Celebrate Die cut sentiment

You can see Altenew\’s new collection HERE …and check out these free gift opportunities:

Here are THREE ways to get a FREEBIE to kickstart your creativity! Free gift will be added to cart automatically.

Get a FREE brand new Storybook Fantasy Stamp & Die Release Inspiration Guide (worth $5.99) with every order of high-value Storybook Fantasy release bundles. Shop *Exclusions apply.
Get a FREE brand new Creative Jump Start Class with every order from the new Storybook Fantasy release collection from 03/09/2021 through 03/15/2021. Shop HERE!
Get a FREE brand new Storybook Fantasy Stamp & Die Release Mini Inspiration Guide with every order from 03/09/2021 through 03/11/2021. Shop HERE!

Giveaway Prizes

$300 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 10 winners! Please leave a comment on the Altenew Card Blog and/or each designer’s blog post on the blog hop list below by 03/15/2021 for a chance to win. Altenew will draw 12 random winners from the comments left on each stop of this blog hop and announce the winners on the Altenew Winners Page on 03/17/2021.

Karen Brown You Are Here!

There is plenty more creative loveliness, so keep hopping! Amber Rain Davis and her beautiful post are next!

Ready to go shopping? Here is a quick look at Altenew\’s full release:

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

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Altenew Certified Educators Instagram Blog Hop

February 26, 2021 Karen Brown1 Comment

Layered Floral Die-Cutting with Altenew’s Cosmos Kit

I am so excited to be participating in my first Altenew Educator Hop! I LOVE this month\’s Cosmos Craft-A-Flower Kit and wanted to create another bright springy card. Here is a LINK to my first card.

Mixed Media Background

I made a background using the recently released Narrow Brick Stencil. I mixed Texture Embossing Paste and Shimmer Spray which I then tinted with diluted purple Watercolor from the 36 pan set. I repeated this and added diluted pink watercolor to a second pile of embossing paste. I then ran this over the stencil in random locations. The two colors of brick are the same colors I used on the flowers.

Water Coloring Panels for Die-Cutting

On two panels of watercolor paper, I brushed on bold watercolors from the 36 pan set. I dried the panels and added a second layer so I had really saturated color. Here is a photo of the three panels I used to make this card.

Before I begin die-cutting I like to take a permanent pen and mark the layering dies with a #1 and #2 for each flower. It just takes just a minute but then it is so much easier to keep up with the little pieces. After I die cut, I also write the corresponding number on the back of the die-cut in pencil in case they get mixed up on my workspace.

Pink die-cut flowers with mixed media background

These flowers are so easy to assemble and make such a gorgeous showy flower. I used liquid glue and foam tape to assemble my card. To finish, I added Tea Party Enamel Dots.

We would love for you to hop with us! My Instagram Handle is: @karens_mini

There are beautiful cards and prizes too….check it out!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Karen