Altenew Educator "Love & Friendship" Blog Hop + Giveaway

Welcome to Altenew Educators Blog Hop!   Welcome to today's Altenew Educator Certification Program Blog Hop brought to you by Altenew and those of us who have been Certified through this fantastic program.  We are celebrating "Love and Friendship".  We were asked to use one of our favorite sets for our project.  My first two cards feature Beautiful Day, which was my first Altenew Purchase and how I became an Altenew Fan!

If you’ve been following along, you’ve just arrived from Nenette S. Madero's blog. If you find a broken link, you'll find a master list of the hop links at the Altenew Card Blog.

I had this stack of background papers sitting on my desk that I had pulled out so I would remember to use them, so I wanted to very closely match the colors in that paper to my stamping. Today's project was created using the gorgeous Beautiful Day Stamps and Coordinating Dies with a technique that I developed, called Watercolor Detail Stamping.  For those of us who might not be as good at watercolor painting, this is an easy way to get the look of watercolor without the actual time and intensity involved.  

I start by stamping the images with Versamark and then heat embossing them with Antique Gold Embossing Powder onto Cougar Super Smooth Digital White #110 Cardstock.  You can use watercolor paper, but I wanted to prevent the continual spreading that using watercolor papers allows.  Basically, I wanted to contain the spread of color so I used cardstock which restricts the flow of water somewhat.  The heat embossed edges also help to contain the color.  

For the colors, I use my MISTI to stamp in each layer of color. Starting with the most solid image in my lightest shade, Rose Quartz, I stamp that in without any water misting since it's the base layer and the other colors will go on top of that. For the leaves, I used Frayed Leaf on a couple and Sweet Leaf on the others as my base layer color. 

For the second layer, I used the little water bottle that I keep on my desk.  It's an empty bottle from a previous product, but it has a very fine mist, so it works perfectly for this.  I can also use it to put a bit of water on my pan watercolors if I want to add spatters or do occasional watercolor.  The secret is finding a bottle that has a very fine mist.  For the second layer of the blooms, I inked up with Baby Pink Ink.  Holding my water bottle about 2 feet above the inked up stamp, I spray a light mist onto the stamps, then stamp it onto the paper.  If you do it too close, it will be too wet, so start light and go with additional layers of color if you want deeper tones.  This lets the first and second ink blend seamlessly.  I stamped the second layer of color for the leaves using Forest Glades Ink.  Again, I held my water bottle about 2 feet above and gave it a very light mist, then stamped the images.  

For the next color on the blooms, I chose Pinkalicious and did it the same way.  The final layer on the blooms was inked up with Puffy Heart.  I usually let each layer sit for a couple of minutes before stamping the next layer.  Once the stamping is done, I set it aside to let it dry.  You can easily see that there are no harsh lines between the color changes.  This technique works perfectly with Altenew's layered floral stamp sets and Crisp Inks.

While I waited for those to dry, I did a bit of work on my background paper.  I spritzed it with some gold shimmer mist and then some clear sparkle shimmer mist I let that dry and then, used my Finetech Gold Watercolors to create some spatter on the background piece.  Setting that aside, I went back to my stamped images that were now dry, and gave them all a liberal spraying of shimmer mist and let that dry before die cutting the images with the coordinating dies.

I also die cut the background panel using a basic stitched rectangle die.  Because I didn't want to cover up the design, I tried my arrangement several ways to see which was going to work best and then die cut it accordingly.  I mounted that to a top folding horizontal card base and worked with my elements until I had a pleasing arrangement.  

It was very important to me to have a nice balance and blend of color between the stamped elements and the beautiful watercolor look background paper.  I didn't want to take anything away from either of them.  

My second card features some of the stems and blooms from my initial Watercolor Detail Stamping but I used Corals instead of Pinks.   I started by stamping Pattern Play - Diamond Stamp Set onto a piece of Bristol Smooth Cardstock with Versamark and heat set it using Antique Gold Embossing Powder.  

I blended a line of Fresh Lemon Ink across the panel diagonally, from bottom left to the upper right-hand side.  Next, I used Rubellite Ink across one corner, blending into the center diagonal bit of Fresh Lemon Ink.  It was my first chance to try out the new Taylored Expressions blending brushes which are so fantastic you can't believe it!  I have another brand and these are superior!  Next, I used Autumn Blaze Ink in the opposite corner, blending toward that center diagonal line once again.  As I often do on many of my backgrounds, I gave it several good spritzes of shimmer mist and set it aside to dry.  This also gives that center line an absolutely seamless blend.

Once the background panel was completely dry, I die cut it with a stitched rectangle die.  Then I added Nuvo Dream Drops to each of the center points across the design in the color Cloud Nine.  This color picks up the colors underneath and so it looks like I have little bits of iridescent pink or orange pearls at each of those points.  I absolutely love the Nuvo Dream Drops and I am hoping they come out with additional colors this year.  

Once the Nuvo Dream Drops were dry, I figured out my arrangement and then starting placing all of my elements.  I again used Little things From Lucy's Glossy Porcelain Pearls for the center of the blooms.  I love how vibrant this card turned out!  

My last card for today's Certified Altenew Educators Blog Hop was created with Gilded Ombre Washi Tape, a sentiment from Beautiful Day and the Fantasy Floral 3D Die Set.  I applied Washi Tape on a 5.5 x 8.5 panel of white cardstock, then rotated it and did it again, so that the purple met in the center.  I am a huge fan of the Altenew Washi Tapes and this is a favorite.  I have all of the gilded ones and as always, they are my favorites!  I die cut half of it for a background panel, and then die cut the leaves randomly from the piece of leftovers.  I already had the two bottom layers of the bloom in two shades of purple, so to tie everything together, I cut the top layer from some gold foiled cardstock.  One of the really neat things about this die set is that while you can stack them exactly where all of the layers line up, you don't have to.  This helps to vary the look from bloom to bloom if you want more than one. 

The Altenew Educator Certification Program really helped me to stretch and explore beyond what I thought my style was.  I can easily do elegant designs, but I continue to explore the more artistic styles and techniques learned in the classes.  Beginning now through 7/21/2019, you can get class bundles at a discounted price of 20% off.  I always find Altenew Academy Classes to be well worth the money spent and very reasonably priced at around $10.00 or less.  They are self-paced, with lifetime access, so you can review a lesson at any time.  

To celebrate AECP blog hop and encourage people to join in the AECP program, we'll discount the following bundles by 20% from 7/19/2019 to 7/21/2019. Banner attached.

https://altenew.com/products/aecp-level-2-class-bundle
https://altenew.com/products/aecp-level-1-class-bundle

Prizes/Giveaway

Altenew is giving away a $30 gift certificate to 3 lucky winners! Please leave a comment on the Altenew Blog by 7/26/2019 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 7/30/2019.

Hop Order: 

Altenew Card Blog

Terri Marie Koszler

Michelle Ochoa Murray

Maryam Sharara

Amber Rain Davis

Irina Fonina

Teri Wilson

Francine Dodwell

Patty Mello

Nenette S. Madero

Vicki Finger (You are here)

Nandini Karmarkar

Amy Hill

Christine Pennington

Erum Tasneem

Your next stop along the hop is the talented Nandini Karmarkar!  There are many stops along the hop to enjoy, so don't forget to check them all out and be sure to comment for a chance to win one of the giveaways!

If you'd like to see all the projects on Instagram, here's that list for you.
@altenewllc

@yesvirginialu
@altenew_planner_girl
@_michelleomurray
@maryam_crafter
@irenemcbeatle
@notableink
@terismailbox
@fd92354
@treasuresinletters
@mylittleatticstudio
@vicki.finger
@crownfocus
@sevenscrafts
@penningtoncreates
@glitternswirls

Compensated Affiliate Links used whenever possible at no additional cost to you!

Altenew Antique Gold Crisp Embossing Powder Shop at: ALT	Altenew Beautiful Day Die Set Shop at: ALT	Altenew Beautiful Day Inspiration Guide Shop at: ALT	Altenew Beautiful Day Stamp & Die Bundle Shop at: ALT
Altenew Beautiful Day Stamp Set Shop at: ALT	Altenew Cherry Blossom Mini Cube Set Shop at: ALT	Altenew Cherry Blossom Oval Set Shop at: ALT	Altenew Gilded Ombre Washi Tape Shop at: ALT
Altenew Gold Foiled Cardstock Shop at: ALT	Altenew Green Fields Mini Cube Set Shop at: ALT	Altenew Green Fields Oval Set Shop at: ALT	Altenew Green Fields Reinkers Shop at: ALT
Altenew Pattern Play - Diamonds Shop at: ALT	Altenew Pocketful of Sunshine Mini Cube Set Shop at: ALT	Altenew Pocketful of Sunshine Oval Set Shop at: ALT	Altenew Rose Petal Mini Cube Set Shop at: ALT
Altenew Rose Petals Oval Set Shop at: ALT	Altenew Rose Petals Reinker Set Shop at: ALT	Altenew Spring Bouquet 6 Mini Cube Set Shop at: ALT	Altenew Spring Bouquet 6 Oval Set Shop at: ALT

Altenew Educator Beautiful Details

Hello there!  I am back today with a project that is part of my Altenew Educator Certification Program.  Today's project is for the Beautiful Details Class taught by Marika Rahtu.  This class is one I had taken before so I wanted to try a new to me technique that I hadn't previously tried, which was coloring with Copics on the back side of a heat embossed Vellum image.  Marika used a Dull Embossing powder but since I didn't have any I used Pearl White.  It can be a little hard to see, but if you put something behind it, it makes it a bit easier.

I used 44# vellum from Papertrey Ink to do my heat embossing of the bloom and leaves from Altenew's Beautiful Heart.  It's a very heavyweight vellum and doesn't warp much if at all.  Just keep the heat tool moving and it will work out alright.  I used Copics in a variety of shades of  Red Violet to create the colors.  Unfortunately, I put them all away before I wrote them down, so I can't say which specific colors I used, but the shades were in the deeper pinks.  Initially, I was planning to do just the pink, but once I had the flowers and leaves done, I felt that the color kind of the bloom disappeared once I put it on the white oval die cut.  So I decided that I would put a white die cut behind it.  When I was putting the dies back into their stamp pocket, I noticed that I had one previously partially colored but unfinished in Coral tones.  When I popped the vellum layer over that, it really brought out a lot of color in my petals and so I decided to use the partially colored bloom for the base underneath the vellum layer.  Now my color wasn't lost in the sea of white. I don't have very many colored pencils but I did add a few coloring lines to the leaves to bring out a little more of the veining in the leaves.

Because I used White Satin Pearl Embossing Powder, I thought it would look pretty to used White Shimmer Cardstock for my background and the oval die cut.

Next, I used some Heidi Swap Gold Lamé Shimmer Spray to create droplets on the card.  When I put the card together, I felt it needed a bit more dimension, so I used Gold Pico Embellisher to add drops over the gold splatter.  Now comes confession time -- I liked it better without the pico embellisher and just the gold splatter. But you never know until you try it!  Since I glued down the vellum to the oval panel, I can't remove it and do it over.  It doesn't have to be our vision of perfection but I am happy when my projects are.  Trust me, no one says "oh, I see you did that wrong" when they get a card in the mail.  They only think of your thoughtfulness at sending it.  So while it isn't "perfect" in my eyes, it's still beautiful.

The technique I was using was Copic coloring on the back side of Vellum and I am happy with the way that looks.  I'd like to try it again sometime adding colored pencil details along with the Copics.

This past couple of weeks has been absolutely crazy between doctors appointments, getting my Mammogram and Bone Density Scans done, and now I have several MRI's scheduled because I have MS.  They like to get a thorough look every year or two in order to see how I am getting along, but I am not looking forward to a few hours spent inside a very claustrophobic tube to have it done.  Plus I've had all of the grandkids at various times this week, so I have been busy! 

 Anyhow, I will try to link as many supplies as I can remember, but I made this card a few weeks ago for this class and I'm just now getting the blog post written.

Affiliate Links Used Whenever Possible

Altenew Beautiful Day Shop at: SSS | ALT	Altenew Beautiful Heart Stamp & Die Bundle Shop at: ALT	Kokuyo Long Dot Runner Adhesive Shop at: SSS	PTI Shape Shifters Oval #2 Shop at: PTI
PTI Stamper's Select Vellum (#44) Shop at: PTI	PTI Stamper's Select White Cardstock Shop at: PTI	SSS Antique Gold Embossing Powder Shop at: SSS	Teflon Bone Folder Shop at: SSS
Versamark Ink Shop at: SSS	Wagner Heat Tool Shop at: SSS	WPLUS9 Gift Card Layers Designer Dies Shop at: SSS

The Card Concept #96 - Golden Table

Hello everyone and welcome back to my blog after an extended absence due to our move.  I'm excited to be back with my teammates participating in The Card Concept's Challenges.  This is actually the last one until back to school starts in the Fall, but I wanted to join in now that we're starting to get settled in.

It's a long process to get moved at this stage of our lives.  We downsized considerably this time around as it just doesn't make sense to have so much room when the kids don't all visit at the same time.  So this time around we converted a bedroom and formal dining room to be studio space for me.  I am already enjoying it so much!  There's a lot of little touch-ups that have to be done on the interior and exterior but this space is just pretty awesome!

For my card for this week's challenge, I wanted to keep the coral blooms as part of my card but I also wanted to include the wood grain of the table that is easily seen in the inspiration image.  And of course, as a girl who loves all things gold, I had to keep that bit as well.

The background paper is some I found at Michael's last Christmas and with the gold, it adds an instant element of texture to my card.  I die cut it with a Stitched Rectangle Die from the WPLUS9 Gift Card Layers Die and attached it to my horizontal card base made from Stamper's Select White Cardstock.

The blooms are from Altenew's Beautiful Day were first heat embossed with Versamark and Simon Says Stamp Antique Gold Embossing Powder and then I stamped each of the various layers in beautiful coral shades from the Altenew Tea Party Collection and then die cut.  The leaves were stamped in Altenew's Frayed Leaf and Forest Glades before die cutting them as well.  As I was finishing my card, I decided to add a gem to the center of my flowers to give them a special touch.  The sentiment is also from the same Altenew Beautiful Day Stamp Set and is probably the one I use most often.

I'm so glad I got a chance to participate in The Card Concept challenge one last time before summer break.  I linked as many supplies as possible below for your convenience (Affiliate links may be used).  Thanks so much for stopping by today.  I hope you'll come back soon.

Altenew Beautiful Day Shop at: SSS | ALT	Altenew Beautiful Day Dies Shop at: SSS | ALT	Altenew Beautiful Day Stamp & Die Bundle Shop at: ALT	Altenew Green Fields Mini Cube Collection Shop at: SSS | ALT
Altenew Tea Party Collection Shop at: SSS | ALT	Cuttlebug Die Cutting Machine Shop at: SSS	Gemini Full Size Die Cutting Machine Shop at: SSS	Kokuyo Long Dot Runner Adhesive Shop at: SSS
Mini MISTI Stamping Tool Shop at: SSS | ALT | GKD	PTI Number the Stars Banner Die Shop at: PTI	PTI Stamper's Select White Cardstock Shop at: PTI	Scotch 3M Foam Tape Shop at: SSS
SSS Antique Gold Embossing Powder Shop at: SSS	Teflon Bone Folder Shop at: SSS	Tim Holtz Tonic Paper Trimmer Shop at: SSS	Versamark Ink Shop at: SSS
Wagner Heat Tool Shop at: SSS	WPLUS9 Gift Card Layers Designer Dies Shop at: SSS