July 2016 Altenew Inspiration Challenge

Hello there!  I don't know about you all, but I have had a very busy week.  I work in my studio every day but I don't always have an idea that comes to fruition right away.  Sometimes I start a project with all the elements but in the end, I just didn't have something I was happy with, so I started over.   

That was the case yesterday when I began my card for the July 2016 Altenew Inspiration Challenge.  Sometimes, you just need a do-over. It's not that the first card was a total disaster, but in the end I felt it was just "too much" and decided to start from the card base I had created a few of at the onset of this project.

I started with a note card cut from Stamper's Select White Cardstock using the Papertrey Ink Noted: A2 Dies.  Once I had the note card folded, I masked off the scalloped border using the stitching lines as my guide.  Using my Fintec Mica Gold Watercolors in the color Inca Gold, I created some spatter. You can use any kind of shallow box to lay the card base in so you don't get spatter everywhere. I still always end up with more spatter on the hand that I bounce the brush off of than I do on my actual project.  I was so excited yesterday when I discovered that Finetec makes individual replacement pans of this watercolor. The set I have has 6 different colors of gold and I use the Inca Gold and Arabic Gold the most.  It will be great that I can replace just the one that is empty.  Simon Says Stamp carries the individual pans of the Kuretake and I'm hoping they will start carrying these as well.  I tried several several different brush sizes on the first card base but quickly decided that my #8 Silver Black Velvet Paintbrush was the size of spatter I liked; big enough to see, but not big enough to overwhelm.  The size of the brush determines the size of the spatter.  I tried everything from a #2 all the way to a #12.  I chose to do the ink spatters because Altenew carries a card stock called "Spicy Yogurt" which has speckles in it and I love the look.  I figured for a wedding card, gold spatter would be good.  Simon Says Stamp carries Altennew Stamps and Dies, but no cardstock so you have to order it from them directly. I've not found it elsewhere. I do have some Rustic White Cardstock from Papertrey Ink, but it is far less speckled than the Spicy Yogurt from what I can tell.  I'll let your know later as I ordered some.  It just hasn't arrived yet.  I'm planning to do at least one other card for this challenge after it arrives.

I wanted to use one of my Spellbinders Labels 42 Decorative Elements as my substitute for the Antique Trims that Altenew also carries. Yana Smakula is leading this challenge for Altenew and I love her stuff.  Her card was nothing less than stunning.  She creates the most beautiful cards all of the time. My own style is similar to hers and I use lots of gold embossing and shimmer in almost every card I make.  Some people don't like the mess of heat embossing but for me, it's still magic — every.single.time.  

Once I had my gold label cut, I stamped each outline image in the Altenew Peony Bouquet Stamp Set multiple times (anticipating errors) and heat embossed them using Simon Says Stamp Antique Gold Embossing Powder, which is my favorite gold embossing powder even over WOW! or Ranger. It is a warm gold and very well suited for almost everything I make. Occasionally I need silver or platinum, but most of the time I use gold embossing powder and this one is a great fit for me.  It melts nicely and the price is great as well. I cut each shape out with the Altenew Peony Bouquet Coordinating Dies so I could stamp them.

To color the blooms, I stamped each different layer of color on the leaves and blooms.  I have a couple of very light pink inks but the only one I really like for multi-layer stamping is Distress Ink in Spun Sugar.  It is a cool pink tone rather than a warmer tone such as Sweet Blush or Pale Peony.  For the first (and lightest layer) I stamped twice using the Spun Sugar Distress Ink on the large blooms and then the 2nd and 3rd layers using Lovely Lady and Hibiscus Burst Ink.  I stamped the 3rd layer again using Raspberry Fizz this time for the brightest pink accents. I stamped the smaller blooms of the peony in Lovely Lady with Hibiscus Burst and then Raspberry Fizz for the pink blooms and Lemon Tart with Harvest Gold for the 2nd and 3rd layers of the yellow blooms. All the leaves are stamped with Vintage Jadeite and the berries were stamped with Raspberry Fizz.  I assembled my bouquet on top of the gold label and then picked the whole arrangement up using Press 'N Seal.  I have a couple of pieces of this in my studio and I use them over and over again until they are no longer sticky.  There are a lot of small pieces to that bouquet and I didn't want to try to get it right from a picture on my phone so this method saves some of my sanity.   I don't normally use this many pieces on a card, but afterall, a wedding is special. The Press 'N Seal was a good way to keep the design together while I glued the pieces down.  You just start by adding glue to the backs of the pieces that you just picked up with the Press 'N Seal.  After that, you can add a drop or two of glue anywhere that you missed before.

I almost forgot the embellishments but remembered at the last minute and added some clear sequins and clear droplets from Pretty Pink Posh. I cut the sentiment piece by re-aligning my paper back into the same small rectangle from the My Favorite Things Stitched Rectangle Stax Dies and cutting again to make it narrower.  I attached it using a thin foam square on the far right end and some Ranger Multi Medium Matte on the left end.  I wish I could buck the system a little but at least in English, we read from left to right, so it's always more natural for me to lead in from the left hand side of the card and work toward the right.  I tried the sentiment with gold spatter on there, but I didn't like and felt it was distracting so I made a new one without the spatter.  

I'll be entering this card in the July 2016 Altenew Inspiration "Wedding" Challenge as well as the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge with their "Anything Goes" theme this week.  Have a great holiday weekend and stop by again soon!