Wednesday, May 1, 2019

Altenew Build-A-Flower: Snapdragon Release Blog Hop + Giveaway

I am so excited to be joining Altenew as a Guest Designer today for the Build-A-Flower Snapdragon Release Hop!  You should have arrived here from Seeka's Blog.  Here is a list of all the stops along the hop for your convenience.  If you didn't start at the beginning, you can go back to the Altenew Card Blog for the start of the hop.

» Vicki Finger « 


Build-A-Flower Snapdragon Layering Guide
I had so much fun playing with this set!  I have a lot for you to see today and lots to talk about so let's get started.  This is a fabulous layering stamp set and as always, a layering guide and sample cards with color suggestions are provided for you.  

I must confess, as soon as I saw the graphic for the set, I knew I wanted to try a few variations of it, to include one that is not a Snapdragon at all, but a Texas Bluebonnet, which is the Texas State Flower.  I have a group of friends that I used to gather with a few times a year for a scrapbooking retreat.  One particular retreat happened when the Bluebonnets were just beginning to come into full bloom.  

Most of you probably don't realize that I worked as a professional photographer back in 2005.  The physical demands of that became too much for me after I was diagnosed with a few Autoimmune Diseases.  I captured this bluebonnet image while we were all taking pictures with our friends in the bluebonnet field near our hotel.  Most of the ladies who were present at that retreat purchased this image in a large size from me and I had them printed on Metallic Paper which is a specialty photographic paper.  Even back then, I was all about the shimmer and shine.  I actually had a large print of this image in my home for a while but I think I gave it away during our last move.  

This was the first card I made with the new Snapdragon BAF, and it was made with love in honor of those friends and memories of great times together.  The leaves are a little bit different than on a Bluebonnet, but it's close enough that those ladies will know what it is.  

For this image, I use two of the leaf frame die cuts in White and rotated one of them 180° to really get a full looking frame.  I stamped the blooms in Arctic, Ultramarine, and Azurite.  The leaves were stamped in Just Green and Hunter Green.  The sentiment is also from the BAF Snapdragon.  This made a pretty great bluebonnet card. 

Image result for snapdragon images
© Getty Images
Next, I went with some more fun colors for traditional Snapdragons.  My next card used Frosty Pink, Coral Berry, and Ruby Red while the stems and leaves were stamped in Forest Glades and Evergreen.  I used some soft green background paper and a strip of more dramatic green foiled cardstock for a strip along the left-hand side.  I used a sentiment from the Beautiful Heart Stamp Set for this card.


For my next color combination, I stamped in Rose Quartz, Baby Pink, and Fuschia with the stems and leaves done in Forest Glades and Evergreen.  I wanted something a little more fun than my usual style, so I used Black Cardstock for the background panel with some Pink Plaid and Black and White Gingham for the background layers.


The "thanks" stamp was an Altenew freebie that I stamped in Versafine Black Onyx and heat embossed with Clear Embossing Powder on a little tag that was on my desk.  I used a black brad to secure it to the panel before adhering to a white card base.


Last, but not least, I wanted to use some specialty cardstock that I had in a color called Misty Rose Shimmer which is a mauve color.  Now, Altenew does not have inks in that color family so with a bit of experimentation, I was able to come up with a way to make my own.  For the first layer, I stamped Soft Lilac first and then went over that with Rose Quartz.  The two colors combined to give me the Mauve that I was looking for.  For the 2nd layer, I stamped first in Lavender Fields and then in Baby Pink while the 3rd layer was done in Lavender Fields with a gentle inking of Grapevine.

I die cut the frame from Sweet Friend Stamp and Die Bundle using gold foiled cardstock and then heat embossed the frame stamp onto the die cut.  It gives it a tone on tone gold look.  I also die cut the center of the frame from the same Misty Rose Cardstock and heat embossed the XOXO from the Sweet Friend Stamp Set.  Arranging the blooms to kind of circle the frame, I tied a little pink bow at the left center side and added the die cut butterfly.

I got pretty experimental with the color layering of two different color families to produce a color that isn't out there yet and I will be having a follow-up post here on my blog for that very soon.  It was pretty interesting how many other colors could be achieved using this method.
This is a monthly subscription plan for our Build-A-Flower set. When signed up, you are guaranteed a spot in our monthly BAF releases and will receive a set each month - at a specially discounted price! ($35.00 →$29.99)

Prizes:
To celebrate this release, Altenew is giving away a $30 gift certificate to 6 lucky winners! Please leave a comment on the Altenew Card Blog and/or Altenew Scrapbook Blog for a chance to win.

Altenew will also draw a winner to receive a $15 gift certificate from the comments left on each designer’s blog on the blog hop list below. All winners will be announced on the Altenew blogs on 5/10/2019.

The next stop along the hop is the fabulously talented TaeEun Yoo.  If you aren't familiar with her work, you should be.  She is incredibly talented!  Thanks for stopping by today.  I really appreciate your visit and when you take the time to leave me a comment.  

52 comments:

  1. What a beautiful set of cards!! The flowers are so pretty! And that photograph you took in 2005 is just super gorgeous!! <3 <3

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  2. Such beautiful cards. I especially like the one with the foiled card stock strip!

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  3. I love your photos as well as the gorgeous cards. Last year I grew some snapdragons and even in my 60s I love to make them 'snap'.

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  4. Beautiful cards and your photographs are so pretty! Love this new flower set!

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  5. All your cards are wonderful. I especially love the "Thanks" card. I also really enjoyed how you had the flowers sort of peep above the edge of the card. Wonderful.

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  6. Your cards and photos are beautiful. You are very creative. Thanks for sharing!

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  7. So many lovely designs. Thanks for sharing!

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  8. Don't you just love snapdragons? Beautiful cards.

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  9. I love your cards! Thank you for posting the actual pictures so we can see how close the flowers are to the real thing.

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  10. You've used such wonderful palettes on all of your cards. Thanks for sharing this inspiration with these fun products.

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  11. So BEAUTIFUL! I LOVE snapdragons and these are GORGEOUS!!!

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  12. Awh, you took incredibly beautiful photos! I love that you use your memories with friends inspire you to create stunning cards with the new release snapdragons.

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  13. Beautiful colors, great techniques. TFS.

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  14. I love that you put such inspiring pictures in your post! They are beautiful!

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  15. Beautiful cards and beautiful photographs too! I am loving the new snapdragon set!

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  16. Your cards are so pretty! I have only seen lavender colored snapdragons in my yard In Kentucky!! I never really knew they came in other colors!

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  17. Your cards are beautiful and your photographs are amazing! Thanks for sharing those as well.

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  18. Love all your designs, but especially the blue card. Your color combos are fabulous on each. Thanks for sharing all your talent!

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  19. I love how you got the inspiration to create your cards from photos that you had already taken. Your cards are beautiful. The flower are so realistic. Thanks for inspiring me.

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  20. Gorgeous cards. And thanks for including the beautiful reference images.

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  21. Your cards and photography,both are absolutely lovely...thanks for sharing!!

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  22. Wow! Your photographs are amazing and you have captured them wonderfully in your card designs! Along with your colour choices, it has made your cards amazing. Thanks so much for sharing and inspiring us all.

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  23. A Texas card after my own heart with the snapdragons looking like bluebonnets! Your other cards are just as equally beautiful!

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  24. I was so hoping someone would look at those satamps and see Texas bluebonnets. That was my first thought too. Gorgeous cards!

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  25. Stunning cards & awesome photos! I love them all! Thanks for sharing all this beauty!

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  26. Love the idea of adding pictures of the real thing, your cards depict this so well, stunning samples....luv Ursula Longworth xx

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  27. Gorgeous cards and photos Vicky! I love this new BAF set, the sanpdragon images are very pretty.Thanks for the inspiration!

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  28. Beautiful cards using the new BAF. Your coloring is wonderful. Your designs are lovely. I love your photos of the snapdragons are fabulous. Thank you for sharing your wonderful talent, it is greatly appreciated.

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  29. Stunning cards, and your photography is just as exquisite

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  30. Beautiful cards. Love the Bluebonnets since I live in Texas where it is our state flower. Admire all you do.

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  31. You are a master of color. All your cards are awesome. I am so happy you made the connection with Texas bluebonnets because I adore blue, about the only color snaps don't come in. I also understand about autoimmune diseases. Best wishes for good health.

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  32. Your photography is remarkable. I live in TX bluebonnet country and there are fields of them as far as you can see. Your cards are gorgeous, especially the blue one. Love the look of the snapdragon with the frame.

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  33. Your photos are such wonderful inspiration for your beautiful cards.

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  34. Beautiful cards with such pretty details! Love your color combos on these lovely snapdragons!

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  35. These pretty cards will surely brightens someone’s day!

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  36. Love the colour combinations your used with the Snapdragon. Your cards are all so different but equally beautiful. Thanks for sharing your photographs also.

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  37. This is a fabulous set of cards!! And your Snapdragon photo is so gorgeous!!

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  38. Gorgeous cards and love your inspirational pictures too!

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  39. Blown away by all your lovely cards!

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  40. so pretty. I like how you made the first one a bluebonnet.

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  41. As a native Texan I'm very proud of our gorgeous bluebonnets in the spring -- this year they are outstanding! You've done a wonderful job showing how versatile these snapdragons are.

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  42. stunning work - love the matching photos - thanks for the inspirations:)

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  43. Wow Vicki! I'm sooooo glad that you're guest designing here or I might have never seen your beautiful work! Each card is uniquely stunning!!! I'm glad you didn't ask our favorite because I might not have been able to choose! Thanks for inspiring me :)

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  44. Sooo beautiful. ALL are amazing!!. Great inspiration.

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  45. Gorgeous! I cannot wait to get my hands on this set and play. Makes me have memories of my Mama. Love bluebonnets, never thought of them looking like a bluebonnet. :)

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  46. Fabulous cards. Love your fun colors.

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  47. Each of your cards is just amazing. Love your attention to detail and the colors you chose. I especially like the green background with the pink snaps.

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  48. especially luv your Beautiful Heart card!

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Thank you so much for making my day by leaving an encouraging comment! It means the world to me when you do. Hugs!