Altenew July 2022 Summer Love Collection Release Blog Hop + Giveaway ($300 in Total Prizes!)

July 22, 2022July 24, 2022 Karen Brown43 Comments

Altenew Fantasy Emblem 3D Embossing Folder

Altenew's Fantasy Emblem 3D Embossing Folder done in faux metallic using an Antique Bronze Distress Crayon.

Hello and thanks for stopping by! Altenew just released a lovely collection of 3D Embossing Folders as part of their Summer Love Collection, and I made 3 very different projects. I started by making a very masculine card using the Fantasy Emblem 3D Embossing Folder. My inspiration was an antique metal medallion.

My Process:

I started by embossing a piece of black cardstock with the Fantasy Emblem 3D Embossing Folder.
Next I tinted white pigment ink with Ocean Waves Crisp Dye Ink. On my craft mat, I dabbed the pigment ink and then Ocean Waves Crisp Dye Ink next to the white and then I mixed the two together. I blended this all over the embossed panel to “age” the cardstock.
I colored Antique Bronze Distress Crayon on the raised areas and then blended with my finger.
I die cut my sentiment (Script Words Die) from kraft card stock and then attached my panel to a kraft base.

This card was quick and easy to make but looks so rich in person.

Masculine Faux Metallic Medallion handmade card + 3D embossing folder

Altenew Playful Circles 3D Embossing Folder

This embossing folder is definitely a new favorite that will work with so many papercrafting projects! Today, I combined Altenew’s Craft-A-Flower: Garden Rose with the very versatile Playful Circles 3D Embossing Folder. The embossing folder adds loads of texture and interest to the card. The embossed panel is very pretty on both sides….depressed and impressed.

Products Used:

Altenew Playful Circles 3 D Embossing Folder + Enchanting Washes designer paper pack.

Altenew Flower Vines 3D Embossing Folder

A "Shabby Chic" handmade card + Altenew's Flower Vines 3D Embossing Folder.

For my last card I went for a whimsical Shabby Chic look.

I started by ink blending my panel with Altenew’s Ocean Waves Crisp Dye Ink.
After the ink dried, I embossed the panel with the Flower Vines 3D Embossing Folder.
Using a Mini Ink Blending Brush, I very lightly inked the raised floral elements with Dusk Dye Ink.
I gently applied clear pigment ink to portions of the panel and then sprinkled on Golden Peach Embossing Powder. I brushed most of the embossing powder off but left the powder in and around the embossed crevices. I heat set the powder.
I inked the sides of the panel with clear pigment ink, applied Golden Peach Embossing Powder and then heat set.
I die cut my sentiment, Altenew’s Thanks Die, and gently inked the die cut with Ocean Waves Crisp Dye Ink to “age” it a bit so it wasn’t so white. I popped it on a card base and was done.

Altenew's Flower Vines 3D Embossing Folder handmade card.

Special Offer!

Receive a FREE Ultra Sticky Double Sided Tape ($11.99 value) on orders over $79 from 07/22/2022 at 12:01 am EDT until 07/24/2022 at 11:59 pm EDT. The free gift will be added to cart automatically. Find more details on the Promotions page.

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 07/28/2022 for a chance to win.

Altenew will draw 10 winners randomly from the comments left on each stop of this blog hop and announce the winners on the Altenew Winners Page on 07/29/2022.

Blog Hop Order

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

Annemarie Caister

Linda Westfall

Karen Brown You made it to the end!

I love all three projects! Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

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WWC279 – Helen\’s Challenge: All About Occasions

July 8, 2020 Karen Brown3 Comments

Hello and welcome. This week we are creating occasion cards at The Watercooler Challenge and we would love to see your card in the gallery. I chose to make a watercolor Get Well card as I need to replenish my stash.

Supplies Used:

Technique Tuesday Bowl Bouquet

Sizzix Wood Planks Embossing Folder.

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

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Altenew Academy Level 1 Final Project

July 1, 2020 Karen Brown5 Comments

I\’ve been working my way through Level 1 at The Altenew Academy and just completed my Final Project which was to create a set of \”feminine\” and \”masculine\” gifts sets. I have to say I learned so much and had loads of ideas but I would like to show you the cards I created for my final project. I incorporated lessons I learned in:

Let It Shine where we discovered how to add just the right amount of sparkle and shine to a card. I used metallic heat embossing and metallic watercolors on my feminine cards.
Easy Die Cutting where we learned to use die-cutting to up the \”Wow\” factor. I used die-cuts on each of my cards as I think they add loads of impact and felt this unified both card sets.
Easy Ink Blending – I used several ink blending techniques on my masculine card set. My two favorites were the soft blue background on the Healing Wishes card and the die-cut spotlight circles on the Get Well Soon card.

For my \”feminine\” cards I wanted subtle metallic touches combined with watercoloring. I kept the set cohesive by using cream card stock/watercolor paper, floral images, a pink and green watercolor palette and navy die-cut sentiments.

For this first card, I created a metallic watercolor background which is so pretty in person. I then stamped, heat embossed and watercolored the floral images. After the flowers dried I added a pearlescent white gold watercolor wash over the top which gave the flowers a beautiful sheen. I die cut the images and attached with foam tape. The next photo shows the first three card in process.

Here are the cards that round out the gift set. On each card I used big bold die-cut occasion sentiments cut from navy cardstock.

I really like this feminine spray and think the navy die-cut sentiments are beautiful and anchor the look of this set.

The painted Lotus die-cut is so pretty in person.

I did want to share this process photo as well.

The Feminine Set

For my \”masculine\” cards I chose to use an overall blue theme with ink blending techniques and Altenew\’s Garden Grow as the unifying elements. For my first card, I ink blended a background and used peek-a-boo die cut windows to spotlight my images. During quarantine, I\’ve been sending so many encouragement cards that I wanted to include one in this set.

I made a companion card using the die-cut circles from the card above. I ink blended the spotlight circle, added die-cut images and anchored with a strip of masculine brown paper.

The next two cards have a soft ink blended background to draw the eye to the die cut.

I thought a birthday and recovery card would round out the gift set.

Here is an in-progress photo. The die cut elements were attached to each card with foam tape.

PRO TIP: I blended one background on Neenah (Birthday) and the second on Bristol (Healing Wishes) to see which provided a smoother look. The Neenah panel (below left panel that is now the Birthday Card) is whiter but the Bristol (right panel that is now the Healing Wishes card) is far easier to blend on and resulted in a smoother background. In the future, I will remember to blend my backgrounds on Bristol cardstock.

And here is the masculine set.

We were challenged to use a recycled element in each set. For the feminine set I recycled a small Kraft gift bag and for the masculine set I re-used an elegant chocolate brown box. I heat embossed some tags to top each set.

Altenew Products Used:

Altenew Weekend Doodles stamp and die bundle

Altenew Best Mom stamp and die bundle

Altenew Inked Lotus stamp and die bundle

Altenew Garden Grow stamp and die bundle

Altenew Mini Branch stamp

Altenew Jet Black Crisp Die Ink

I am so glad you stopped by. I\’d love to hear what you think about these card sets. Thanks!

Karen

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WWC222 – Helen\’s "All About Occasions" Challenge

May 22, 2019 Karen Brown15 Comments

Hello and Happy Wednesday! This week is \”All About Occasions\” on the Watercooler Wednesday Website where Helen is our hostess.

I\’ve created a card I really like, in fact I did a series of four of them. I came up with the idea of watercoloring each of the giraffe\’s \”spots\” with two colors and then letting them organically blend. I knew that giraffes spots are all unique like human fingerprints, so I thought a vibrant rainbow giraffe would be fun to create.

On this card, I started by embossing (Impression Obsession Baby Giraffe) in black on Bristol paper and then selected bright Tombow watercolor hues. For my series, I changed the look by using gold, black and brown embossing and using watercolors and Tombow markers. It is impossible to create identical cards. It reminds me of working with alcohol inks. On this card I also fussy cut the giraffe and made a spotlight background using distress inks (mustard seed, squeezed lemonade and shimmer spray).

You can see my Clean and Simple Rainbow Giraffe card here.

I am pleased to enter this card in the following:
Craft Stamper\’s Take It Make It May \”Anything Goes\” Challenge

Update: I was so pleased to learn I was selected as Craft Stampers Design Winner!

This is the cover of the August magazine where my card is featured:

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

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WWC220 – Kath\’s "All About Occasions" Challenge

May 8, 2019 Karen Brown1 Comment

Happy Wednesday and thank you for stopping by. It is All About Occasions on the Watercooler Website and Kath is our hostess this week.

$Simon Says Stamp Create A Smile In Bloom floral Mother\'s Day Card.$

This is the Mother\’s Day card I made for my mother-in-law. I embossed the blooms and leaves from Create a Smile\’s In Bloom. I love these large bold flowers! Then I used distress ink (wilted violet, salty ocean, twisted citron, squeezed lemonade, carved pumpkin) on an ink blender to color each image. I buffed and let dry. Finally, I fussy cut each image. I really need to order the die cuts for this much used set.

Next, I stamped a background using SSS\’s Brush Stroke Messages. I adhered the flowers and leaves using foam tape for dimension. Last I popped on the sentiment and added SSS sequins and Pretty Pink Posh jewels.

I am joining Simon Says Stamp\’s Wednesday \”For a Special Lady\” Challenge

Thanks for stopping by!
Karen
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Impression Obsession Rainbow Giraffe

April 24, 2019 Karen Brown14 Comments

Hello and thank you for stopping by! I am very excited about this bright fun card!

One of my most used and loved stamps is Impression Obsession Baby Giraffe. I came up with the idea of watercoloring each \”spot\” with two colors and then letting them organically blend. I knew that giraffes spots are all unique like human fingerprints, so I thought a vibrant rainbow giraffe would be fun to create.

I started by embossing in brown on watercolor paper and then selected bright watercolor hues. I made four cards changing the look with gold and black embossing and whats fun is that it is impossible to create identical cards. It reminds me of working with alcohol inks. I wanted to keep the design clean and simple so that the focus was on the giraffe with rainbow colors. I matted on a neutral card base and it is ready to send.

Casology\’s Africa Challenge – Giraffes are definitely my favorite African animal and I have to say that I LOVE hand feeding giraffes lettuce leaves.+

Happy Little Stampers \”Bright\” Watercolor Challenge

Karen

UPDATE:My card was selected:

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WWC216 – Dawn\’s "All About Occasions" Challenge

April 10, 2019 Karen Brown4 Comments

Hello and welcome to Watercooler Wednesday\’s All About Occasions Challenge. Dawn is our hostess this week.

$Lawn Fawn\'s Perfectly Plaid designer paper.$

I needed an Easter card so I challenged myself to use patterned paper with limited stamping. I chose bright cheery Lawn Fawn \”Perfectly Plaid\”. I used one pattern to cover an A2 card and then selected a second pattern to die-cut SSS\’s Plush Carrot. The carrot top is die cut from green embossed paper for some added texture. I think this would make a darling stuffed ornament, but I needed a card. Next, I embossed Rubbernecker\’s Three Line Frame on sherbet colored card stock. I assembled the card using craft foam and Gina K connect glue and then added Lily of the Valley Jewels from Little Things from Lucy.

I am entering this card in: The Paper Players Plaid or Checks Challenge

Thanks for stopping by?
Karen
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Handcrafted Easel Card

April 5, 2019 Karen Brown4 Comments

I came up with an idea to combine two of my favorite Hero Arts sets: My Monthly Hero January 2019 kit and Hero Arts Fun in the Rain.

The pup from this set looks like my mini-Aussie so I colored her with markings like my \”Scout\”. I think it is so cute that she has a raincoat on and I thought this would be perfect for a Spring card.

Since this is an easel card, I die cut some thick leathery textured paper from The Paper Company. I used black paper to simulate a blackboard and then heat embossed with a bold birthday sentiment to get that chalkboard look.

I am really pleased with the way this card came together.

I am entering this card in:

A Blog Named Hero Embossing Challenge

Cardz4Guyz \”Let\’s Get Messy\” – For me, I always make the biggest mess with embossing powder. No matter how neat I try to be, little bits of powder wind up all over my work surface!
Cardz 4 Guyz Logo
The Male Room \”Spring\” Challenge – This cute pup is sporting her raincoat for the spring showers.

Thanks for stopping by!
Karen

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WWC211 – Kath\’s Feminine "Anything Goes" Challenge

March 6, 2019 Karen Brown2 Comments

I always love our \”Feminine\” Challenge prompts! Please be sure to pop over to The Watercooler Website to see what the other Artists have created this week.

I have a fondness for pattern stamping, and when I received a new stamp set for Christmas, I thought this brightly colored layout would work well. I used my new Inkblot Shop This & That stamp set along with images from SSS Hello Friends and Photoplay Thinking of You.

I started by embossing the sentiment (Ranger Letter It Birthday) on Bristol paper. I then worked out from the sentiment and embossed the larger images first. Next I went in and filled in with the smaller details. I colored/watercolored with Tombow Dual Tip markers and I like how bold the black embossing combined with the bright watercolor markers turned out. I finished by adding a few black sequins to this otherwise one layer card.

I really liked this layout and wanted to try it using different coloring techniques to see which I liked best.

Today\’s card is embossed and water colored with Tombow markers
I did a Blog Post in January showing the same layout colored with Copic markers.
Inktense colored pencils
Kuretake Watercolors.

In the end, the Tombow markers and Copics were my favorite two.

If you look at both, leave me a comment and let me know whether you like the Copic or
Tombow version best.

I am entering this card in:

Simon Says Stamp \”Whatever the Weather\” Monday Challenge

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

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Create A Smile Guest Designer – Spring Citrus

March 6, 2019 Karen Brown3 Comments

It\’s citrus season here in Texas and that inspired me to make a bright cheery citrus themed card. I was invited to be a Guest Designer for Create-A-Smile stamps and I used one of my favorite stamp sets, Fruit Salad. For this card, I chose to use only the citrus stamps. The theme for their current challenge is \”Stamp a Background\”.

Watercolor stamped background in yellow and lime green.

I started by embossing the three citrus images on Brisol cardstock. Next, I used my Kuretake Watercolors to paint a watery lemon-yellow base and then dropped in more concentrated lemon yellow. I wanted a messy watercolor background so the lime green (sap green light) was placed here and there.

I let the panel dry overnight and then I used a stitched die to trim the card down slightly. I also cut an interior stitched frame out of white cardstock. I glued the white frame and the watercolor panel to a white A2 card. I die cut the \”thanks\” sentiment twice, glued them together and placed it at the bottom of the frame.

Rainbow Card \”Yellow Challenge\” My first time to enter this challenge…mostly yellow with a bit of yellow-green splashed in.