Altenew August 2022 Endless Ambition Release Blog Hop + Giveaway ($300 in Total Prizes!)

August 22, 2022August 17, 2022 Karen Brown18 Comments

Altenew Timeless Tulips Card with coloring stencil.

Altenew Timeless Tulips Bundle

Wow, this Timeless Tulips stamp set is fabulous! Two BIG, Bold beautiful stamps with a Graphic Art Vibe and wonderful sentiments that will work for so many occasions. I could see it for Mother’s Day, a Get Well Card, Ballet Recital, Birthday, Valentine’s Day….lots of possibilites.

Card with red and pink bouquet of tulips.

Both cards came together quickly because I used the coordinating coloring stencils. I started by stamping with black pigment ink. Once the ink was dry, I lined up my stencils and started coloring. I used Altenew Crisp Dye Inks in Coral Berry, Ruby Red, Paper Bag, Firefly, Green Fields and Evergreen. The image was easy to die cut and the sentiment is included with this stamp set. I used a Kraft Card base and then ink blended some Paper Bag Crisp Dye Ink along the edges to tie the card panel and base together.

Graphic Arts floral card in pinks and reds.

Products Used on Card #1:

Altenew Timeless Tulips Stamp, Die and Stencil Bundle
Altenew Crisp Dye Inks (color are listed above)
Black Pigment Ink
Craft Foam (to adhere the panel to the card base)
Adhessive Tape (to adhere the bouquet to the panel)

Altenew Timeless Tulips card with a hand inked coordinating background.

I used the coloring stencils on card #2 also. For this card, I ink blended a coordinating background using Coral Berry into Ocean Waves.

Altenew Timeless Tulips flower vase card in pinks and blues.

Products Used on Card #2:

Timeless Tulips Stamp, Die and Stencil Bundle
Crisp Dye Inks: Blush, Coral Berry, Ruby Red, Firefly, Green Fields, Evergreen, Caribbean Sky, and Ocean Waves.
Black Pigment Ink
White Embossing Powder + Pigment Ink
Foam Tape

Altenew Timeless Tulips Big Bold stamped card.

Giveaway 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 08/29/2022.

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.

Bridget Casey

I can’t decide which card I like better.

I am so pleased you stopped by!

Karen

Altenew August 2022 Marvelous Monthly Series Release Blog Hop + Giveaway ($300 in Total Prizes!)

August 12, 2022August 5, 2022 Karen Brown21 Comments

Altenew Craft-A-Flower Open Peony die kit handmade card — Altenew Craft-A-Flower: Open Peony Card

Hello and welcome! Every month, I look forward to Altenew’s Craft-A-Flower Subscription Release and this Open Peony may be my new favorite! This card is beautiful but it actually came together very quickly. My inspiration was a photograph of a Coral Charm Peony.

Ink Blending on Floral Die Cuts

Ink Blending on Colored Cardstock Die Cuts to Add Shading: Altenew Open Peony

I started by die cutting the floral elements from pale pink cardstock and then I ink blended Altenew’s Crisp Dye Inks on each piece. I concentrated the color around the edges. For layers #1 and #2, I used Coral Berry. Layer #3 was Coral Berry + Orange Cream. With layer #1, I added just a bit of ink and I used a heavier hand as I progressed to the top layers. Layer #4 (around the flower center) was Cotton Candy and Layer # 5 (top layer) was Crimson. I ink blended the last overlay that would go around the edges, but decided I liked the Peony without them.

For the leaves, I started with a medium green cardstock and then ink blended Mountain Pine Crisp Dye Ink around the edges. For the flower center I started with yellow cardstock and then added Warm Sunshine and Espresso ink blending.

Pink Die Cut Flower with Ink Blending: Altenew Open Peony Subscription Kit

The Peony is so beautiful that I kept the background simple. The sentiment is from Paint-A-Flower Clematis and I added three New Day Enamel Dots.

Altenew has five wonderful monthly subscription kits that you can see 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 $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 08/18/2022 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 08/20/2022.

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.

Mugdha Gujarathi

Penny Pynnonen

Jenny Martin

Karen Brown You Are Here!

Teresa Litchfield

Bridget Casey

I really enjoyed making this card and I know I will be pulling this kit out in the future.

cardmaking · papercrafting

Spellbinders Small Die of the Month | August 2022 | Outlined Sentiments

August 2, 2022August 2, 2022 Karen BrownLeave a comment

Outlined Sentiments

I am always looking for new fresh interesting sentiments so I was so excited to see this month’s Spellbinders Small Die of the Month Kit! Besides the “for” and “you” I used above, the kit includes Cheers (see card below), Thanks, Congrats and Hello (see card below) plus coordinating shadow dies that line up perfectly! There is also a cute flower, greenery and leaves in the kit.

Handmade card with striped background in pink, white, aqua, blue and tan kraft paper cardstock. — For You Handmade Card

The die cuts are beautifully delicate so I used an extra metal shim when die-cutting the sentiments and they cut great. Before die cutting, I attached adhessive sheets to the cardstock and this made sentiment placement so easy!

Handmade card with background made of strips of colored cardstock.

For my background, I used my paper trimmer to cut strips of paper in varying widths. I didn’t measure, I just eyeballed it. I started with Waterfall, Pink Sand, Watermelon Fusion (retired), white and Cosmic Sky. It didn’t look quite right so I added Kraft cardstock and then I was happy with my color scheme. I think it is bright and cheerful with a bit of a beach vibe. I trimmed my background down to 3 1/2″ x 4 3/4″ and mounted on an A2 base with kraft foam.

I die cut my sentiments and shadows, added three strawberry blossoms from the August Large Die of the Month Kit, placed enamel dots on the flower centers and then adhered to the background with foam tape.

I am happy with this cheery little card.

Delicate die cut sentiments with sentiment shadows.

Hello You Card

For my second card, I die cut my two sentimenst from Brush Gold cardstock and I love the simple elegance it adds.

I used three of Spellbinders August 2022 Subscription Kits on this card: Large Die of the Month, Small Die of the Month and Embossing Folder of the Month.

Spellbinders Outlined Sentiments Hello You Card.

Cheers Card with Die Cut Strawberries

My last card is a bit more clean and simple, but I love the effect of the delicate die cut sentiment.

Spellbinders "Cheers" Outlined die cut Sentiment: August 2022 Small Die of the Month Strawberry Card.

With Taylored Expressions Square Window Masking Stencil, I ink blended Grass Fields, Warm Sunshine and Peacock Feathers for my background. Using the August 2022 Large Die of the Month kit, I selected and die cut cardstock scraps so that each of the three berries would be a different shade of red. I die cut the Cheers sentiment (Spellbinder’s August 2022 Small Die of the Month Kit) from metallic black cardstock. I first adhered adhessive paper to the back of the cardstock and then die cut the sentiment which made placement so easy.

Cheers sentiment die cut from metallic black cardstock. — Trio of Die Cut Strawberries

I think these sentiment dies are the perfect finishing touch for cards. Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

cardmaking · papercrafting

Altenew July 2022 Summer Sunshine Collection Release Blog Hop + Giveaway ($300 in total prizes)

July 1, 2022July 3, 2022 Karen Brown54 Comments

Altenew Summer Wishes Stamps, Dies and Stencils + Handmade Card

Hello friend! I am excited to show you some of Altenew’s new products in their wonderful July release. To kick off the release, Altenew is hosting a fun Blog Hop and we hope you will visit each stop.

Altenew’s Summer Wishes Stamps, Dies and Stencils

I’d like to start with the Summer Wishes Bundle which is oh, so fun! For my first card, I created a cozy little beach scene comprised of an adirondack chair, umbrella, radio and flip flops.

I started by ink blending my background with Altenew’s Large Blending Tool + Ocean Waves Crisp Dye Ink. Next, I stamped the elements with black pigment ink and let them dry. I colored the images with the coordinating stencil. I really like the effect of ink blending through stencils and it is so easy to do! To set the stage, I cut a frame using the Rounded Rectangles Die Set. I then die cut each element and assembled my card with foam tape.

Die Cut Beach Scene Card with Adirondack Chair, Umbrella and Flip Flops — Beach Themed Card with Adirondack Chair and Umbrella

Products Used:

Summer Wishes Stamp, Die and Stencil Bundle
Summer Wishes Stamp and Die Bundle
Summer Wishes Stamp Set
Summer Wishes Die Set
Summer Wishes Coloring Stencils
Ocean Waves Crisp Dye Ink from The Cool Summer Nights Mini Ink Cube Set
Rounded Rectangles Die Set
Altenew Crisp Dye Inks in the following colors: Coral Berry, Crimson, Warm Sunshine, Caramel Toffee, Parrot and Dusk.
Large Ink Blending Tool (for background)
Small Ink Blending Tool (for coloring the stamped images)

Altenew Summer Wishes Die Cut Sea Shells + Handmade Card. — Beach Themed Card with Die Cut Sea Shells

I made a companion card with the rest of the Summer Wishes shells. The background was again ink blended with Ocean Waves Dye Ink from the Cool Summer Nights Mini Ink Set.

Additional Products Used:

Halftone Circles Die (for the frame)
Altenew Crisp Dye Inks for the shells: Blush, Rouge, Frosty Pink, Cotton Candy, Rocky Shore, Mocha and Dew Drops.
Cool Summer Night Enamel Dots
Sentiment (Bird of the Woods Stamp Set)

Altenew Linear Life Tropical Garden

I love the modern look of these loose sketchy outline flower stamps and I know this set will become a favorite that I use over and over again. It is very versatile and would work great on clean and simple projects but I also plan to use it on some mixed media cards.

I started again by ink blending my background. I used the three lightest colors in Altenew’s Glacier Cave Mini Cube Set. I masked off a frame with washi tape and then started in the bottom right with Arctic and then moved darker toward the top left corner. I stamped the flowers and leaves with black pigment ink. Once the outlines were dry, I stamped the flower centers with Caribbean Sky Crisp Dye Ink. I die cut the blooms, assembled with foam tape and then added Glacier Caves Enamel Dots to finish the project.

Altenew Linear Life Tropical Garden Stamp and Dies + Handmade Card

Altenew Linear Life Tropical Garden Stamp and Die Bundle
Altenew Linear Life Tropical Garden Stamps
Altenew Linear Life Tropical Garden Dies
Altenew Caribbean Sky, Mango Smoothie, Frayed Leaf Crisp Dye Inks
Altenew Glacier Caves Enamel Dots

Altenew Carribean Sky Crisp Dye Ink + Ink Blended Background

Altenew Mod Fruit Bowl Stamps and Dies

I LOVE citrus, so I couldn’t wait to get this set! I have three Meyer Lemon Trees that are like little babies to me and they were the inspiration for this project.

I wanted a bright happy card so I went with rainbow colors. I started by cutting cardstock into identically sized pieces so I could set up an assembly line for stamping the citrus elements. I stamped the segmented portion on the left side of my Misti and then I moved the panel to the right side and added the rind. With this assembly line, I had all the colors stamped very quickly. All I needed to do was wipe off the ink in between colors. My Mini Blossom Die Cutter made die-cutting a snap. I find it so handy to use on my desk for die cutting smaller elements. I attached the die-cuts (spaced 2″ apart) to a 6 1/4″ x 3 3/4″ panel and added my sentiment.

Altenew Mod Rainbow Fruit Bowl + Handmade Card — Rainbow Hued Handmade Citrus Card

Mod Fruit Bowl Stamp and Die Bundle
Mod Fruit Bowl Stamp Set
Mod Fruit Bowl Die Set
Altenew Crisp Die Inks: Crimson, Orange Cream, Cotton Candy, Ruby Red, Coral Berry, Cosmic Berry, Puffy Heart, Persian Blue, Caribbean Sky, Dusk, Ocean Waves, Lagoon, Volcano Lake, Grass Field, Firefly, Lavender Fields, Deep Iris
Mini Blossom Die Cutting Machine

Rainbow hand stamped Citrus Lemon, Lime, Orange Card

Free Gift

Get a FREE brand new Summer Sunshine Mini Inspiration Guide with every order from 07/01/2022 through 07/03/2022. Shop HERE!

Get a FREE brand new Summer Sunshine Stamp & Die Release Inspiration Guide Ebook (worth $5.99) with every order of high-value Sweet Moments Bundles. Shop HERE! *Exclusions apply.

Get a FREE brand new Online Cardmaking Class with every order from the new Summer Sunshine Stamp & Die Release Collection from 07/01/2022 through 07/07/2022. Shop HERE!

Giveaway 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 07/19/2022.

Blog Hop:

Karen Brown You Are Here!

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

I really enjoyed creating these cards. Thanks so much for stopping by!

Karen

cardmaking · Mixed Media · papercrafting

Visible Images “Live in the Moment” Stamped Dragonfly Cards

April 18, 2022April 18, 2022 Karen BrownLeave a comment

Visible Images "Live in the Moment" stamped dragonfly sympathy card.

Don’t you just love Dragonflies? I really like how this sympathy card turned out. I heat embossed the dragonfly from Visible Images “Live in the Moment” stamp set on a gel press print and added a Rubbernecker Three Line Frame border.

My sister-in-law loves dragonflies too so I made this card for her birthday this month. I ink blended my background and then heat embossed the dragonflies and sentiment.

Handmade heat embossed dragonfly card with ink blend background.

I had a strip of background left over so I made a third card…I love bonus cards!

I am so glad you stopped by!

Karen

Uncategorized

WWC308 – Tristan\’s Challenge: All About Occasions

February 10, 2021 Karen Brown2 Comments

Hello and welcome! We are making \”Occasion\” cards this week at Watercooler Wednesday and Tristan is our hostess.

I created a simple silhouette card using Altenew\’s just released Tall Foliage set. I masked the edges of my slimline panel and then ink blended my background. After the panel was completely dry I black heat embossed this pretty sketchy flower. This is a pretty card that was fairly quick to make.

We would love to see your card in our GALLERY.

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

Uncategorized

Altenew Love & Friendship Stamps/Dies/Stencils/Embossing Folders Collection Release Blog Hop + Giveaway

February 3, 2021 Karen Brown36 Comments

Altenew Love and Friendship Blog Hop

Hello and welcome! I am so excited to be hopping along with Altenew for their February 2021 Release! They have so many beautiful new products! I was very inspired by this Collection and I think you will be too.

I would love to show you three projects…so keep scrolling. There are also loads of prizes so check the details below and start hopping!

Altenew Tall Foliage Stamp, Die and Coloring Stencil

The first card is a valentine that I made for my husband using The Tall Foliage Bundle. I positioned the two die cuts so that to me, they looked like they were dancing. I ink blended a slimline panel using Altenew\’s Large Ink Blending Tool. While that panel was drying, I stamped and colored the two elements using the coordinating coloring stencil and Small Ink Blending Tool. I love the Lagoon leaves (The Rainbow Mini Cube Set) against the green background. The \”So Glad I Found You\” sentiment is included in this stamp set.

TIP: The first thing I did was make a stamp guide template. I die cut each element out of sturdy cardstock and then used this as a template to layout my stamp so that everything lined up well. The stamp is tall and this method worked well for me. You only have to make the template once and then I just store it with my bundle.

The The Tall Foliage bundle is gorgeous and includes the stamps along with loads of sentiments, the coordinating dies, the coloring stencil and I used all three on my two cards. Altenew also included a multipanel inspiration guide that was very helpful. These two stamps are large…the tall foliage is 7 3/4\” tall and the flower is 6 3/4\” and adds a lot of impact to your projects.

For my second card, I wanted a dramatic background to contrast with the white and green folliage, so I used the \”direct to paper\” inking method. I selected 8 different colors of ink pads in shades from turqouise to dark blue. I rubbed each color in sections of the cardstock and I kept the middle softer and the edges darker. At first, the background looked like a terrible mess but as you add layers it turns into a bold and complex panel.

I used the coloring stencil, Small Ink Blending Tool and Green Valley Mini Ink Cube Set (Shadow Creek) to shade parts of the leaves. The sentiment is from the Inked Lotus Bundle.

I wanted to make a coordinating background for my roses and found the The Organic Linen 3D Embossing Folder from this release was perfect! The end result was a subtle textured background with a hint of color in the valleys of the panel.

Organic Linen 3D Embossing Folder

I dabbed a generous amount of pink pigment ink on my work surface and then ran a brayer across the ink. I then ran the brayer across the embossing folder, placed a sheet of cardstock in and then closed. I found that I liked the result best when I inked the embossing folder side with the sticker. Either, side works, but I liked that pattern the best. The sandwich I used was one embossing plate + embossing folder + magnetic shim + plastic shim. Note, I only used ONE embossing plate, not two. This sandwich was recommended by Jennifer McGuire in a video I watched last year. I did make some other panels using dye ink that I will use in a future blog post.

The roses are from The Bellaroma Hybrid Tea Rose BUILD A FLOWER that was released last week. I wanted to make a valentine for my mom, so I chose pink for the blooms and vivid green for leaves. I used The Green Valley Mini Ink Cube Set. and used the middle two colors, Green Fields and Shadow Creek. I added a small piece of Painted Grid Washi Tape to the top of my sentiment for a little added interest.

Here is a Link to Altenew\’s Love and Friendship Blog Hop.

Click HERE to see the entire Love and Friendship Collection.

GIVEAWAY:

$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 theAltenew Card Blog and/or each designer’s blog post on the blog hop list below by 02/08/2021 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 02/11/2021.

Altenew is also running a free gift promotion:

BLOG HOP:

Karen Brown You are here! 🙂

Therese Calvird

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

Uncategorized

Altenew Tall Vase

January 4, 2021 Karen Brown1 Comment

Altenew Tall Vase Stamp and Die

Hello and welcome! Just a quick post today to spotlight this fun new Altenew mini-stamp set called Tall Vase. This card was fast and easy to create. A masked ink blended background with this beautiful die cut botanical image.

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

Uncategorized

WWC300 – Tristan\’s Challenge: Anything Feminine Goes

December 2, 2020 Karen Brown5 Comments

Hello and welcome! There is a lot of \”new\” on the card that I created for this week\’s Watercooler Wednesday challenge. I love ink blending and have been wanting to try Altenew\’s Ink Blending Tool so I recently purchased the large blender and this was my first time giving it a \”go\”. I was immediately impressed by how well the blender worked my background. We are making \”feminine\” cards this week so I went with some fun bright coral, pink and purple for my background. This is a new color combination for me, but I really like it and will definitely use it again.

A while back, I won some stamps from Crackerbox and Suzy and I wanted to use their Christmas tree, which I thought was quite girly too.

I started my project by masking off the bottom of my card panel and then began my ink blending. I created a crude tree mask with a post-it and added white pigment dots with a fun stamp. After that was dry I added the script stamp. I didn\’t want the script to be uniform so I dabbed off some of the ink prior to stamping. Last, I heat embossed the the tree.

What is new for me on this card:

Altenew\’s Ink Blending Tool for the background

Crackerbox and Suzy\’s Christmas Tree Fancy Swirl

The Distress Ink background combo (coral, raspberry, seedless preserves)

MFT\’s Romantic Script (I purchased this months ago but had not used it yet)

Supplies:

Crackerbox and Suzy Christmas Tree Fancy Swirl

Altenew Large Ink Blending Tool

Altenew Pinstripe (dots)

MFT Romantic Script

Hero Arts Unicorn Pigment Ink

Distress Ink: Abandoned Coral, Pickled Raspberry and Seedless Preserves (Ink Blending)

Distress Ink: Frayed Burlap (background script)

Black heat embossing

Bristol Cardstock

I am also playing along with:

Allsorts: Christmas Flowers, Wreaths and Trees Challenge I am playing along with my Christmas Tree.

Krafty Chicks All Occasions Challenge I made a holiday card

Love to Craft December Anything Goes Challenge

I am so happy you stopped by!

Karen

Uncategorized

Altenew Academy Level 3 Workshop

November 12, 2020 Karen Brown4 Comments

Hello! I am so excited to share the final project for my Level 3 Altenew Academy Educator Certification Program. At left I am talking about my samples for the ink-blending card we created.

This has been such a fun journey for me! I started the certification program in May and since then I have taken 25 classes, written 25 blog posts about what I learned and completed a final project for Level 1 and Level 2. The class instructors taught me new techniques and improved the skills I had. I\’ve worked hard, learned a lot and enjoyed every moment!

I invited four good friends over for a morning of card making and it became an \”international event\” with the on-line attendance of Virginia Lu of Canada and Erum Tasneem of Pakistan. They have been so encouraging and were with me every step of the way.

I started by creating two beginner level card projects to teach to my participants: faux watercolor stamping and ink blending with stencils. I worked on my lesson plan, came up with a timeline and created sample cards which I submitted to Virginia in advance. The day before, I set up the workspace for my class.

Each work station had a silicone mat, microfiber cloth, blending brush, stamps, stencils, washi tape, A2 card panels, two die cut sentiments, acrylic blocks, ink, liquid glue, A2 card bases, colored envelops, tags and ribbon.

We talked about analogous, monochromatic and neutral colors and demonstrated how to use the color wheel. Next we selected our ink colors, inked our stamps and then spritzed with water for a faux watercolor look. We set our faux watercolors aside to dry and practiced ink blending on a panel. Several of my friends liked their practice panel so much that they made a third card even though the class plan was for two. I had plenty of extra card bases and sentiments so our impromptu cards came together just fine. For our planned second card we did ink blending over a stencil. We then trimmed and assembled our cards and we made such a happy mess!

This is what the table looked like when we were done. Liz created the three cards above. The one on the right is faux watercolor, the middle is the practice ink blending panel and the left was the planned ink-blending over a stencil card. Below is Liz with her three cards.

Nancy and her cards are below. Nancy created a bonus card also.

Rhonda created three cards as well.

Kathy\’s cards turned out great too!

Of course we needed a group photo as well.

I think my friends had a great time….as Nancy said \”Making cards is relaxing, fun and therapeutic\”. Exactly!

A big thank you to Virginia, Erum, Kathy, Rhonda, Nancy and Liz. What a fun day!

Essential Altenew Supplies:

Block Print Stamp Set (for faux watercoloring)

Mini Ink Cubes

Mega Bloom Stencil

Sketched Lines Stencil

Flowing Drops Stencil

Bubble Wrap Stencil

Leaves and Berries Stencil

Thanks Die

Hello Die

Sunlit Flower A2 Card Base and Envelop Set

Thanks for stopping by! It was most enjoyable and I am happy to share the experience with you.

Karen