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 Class of 2017 Inspiration Challenge Continued

Hello there!  Today I have another card for this month's Altenew Inspiration Challenge which is to choose a previous month from 2017 and use it as our inspiration.  This will be my third card for the challenge which makes me feel a bit better since I really didn't get to participate too much this year.  I guess the timing never worked out with everything else I was doing.

As I've mentioned previously, Beautiful Day, from Altenew, is my absolute favorite Altenew Stamp Set and might even be my all time favorite. It's definitely the set that has seen the most use. I have other sets from Altenew that I love but Beautiful day was my first purchase from them and it was love at first sight. I love to stamp them in some or all of the layers or watercolor them. Today's card involved a bit of both. My inspiration for this card was from the June 2017 Inspiration Challenge pictured here. This card is for a friend using a background stamp she designed so I wanted to combine it with Beautiful Day, whose blooms always make me think of Wild Roses rather than Peonies.

For my card, I started by stamping the background onto Canson Bristol Paper using Papertrey Ink's Cover-Up: Diamonds with Versamark Ink, heat setting with Antique Gold Embossing Powder, and then adding some loose watercolor using Lavender Moon, Sweet Blush and Vintage Jadeite Re-inkers. I also gave that background a generous amount of Iridescent Gold Glimmer Mist (Tattered Angels) and let it dry overnight. It wasn't that it needed to dry overnight; I just never got back to it yesterday.  It was good to leave it for that long to get an accurate idea of what colors I wanted to use for the blooms. It can be hard to tell when the paper is really wet. Because this warps my paper, I flatten it back out my giving it a light mist of water and then running it through my die cut machine face up with an embossing pad and a clean plate on top.  I started by stamping and heat embossing all of my elements in Versamark onto Canson Bristol Paper and heat setting with the same Antique Gold Embossing Powder that I used for my background.  Since I was planning to use lots of water and shimmer mist, this works the best.  

Now hindsight being what it is, I wish I would have stamped that lightest layer with Lilac Grace Ink but I actually forgot about that color until I was completely finished assembling this card. I used Lavender Moon for the lightest layer, then Winter Wisteria for the 2nd Layer and Plum Pudding for those deepest shadow layers. The thing I really love about Lavender Moon is the kind of Mauve color that is not fully pink or purple.  It makes it a great candidate to work with either color.  For the leaves I stamped the full layer in Vintage Jadeite and the detail layer in New Leaf.  For the filler images, I used Vintage Jadeite and Lavender Moon Re-inkers with a water brush.  I have a mister bottle that has just water in it and once good spritz of this makes the paper damp enough to let the color spread out smoothly rather than having a harsh edge or line of color.  It's just my preference for this style of card.

I die cut my background using the WPLUS9 Gift Card Layers Die and adhered that to a top folding card base made from Stamper's Select White Cardstock. I like to use my Teflon bone folder to help smooth this out and make sure it is well adhered. Next I die cut all of the floral elements with the Beautiful Day Coordinating Dies then arranged them on my card base. When I had them arranged how I liked, I used a piece of  Press-N-Seal over the top to pick up and flip over my arrangement.  I put a strip of Kokuyo dot runner on the back of each piece I had access to then laid it back down on my card front.  Once I pressed each element into place, I pulled back the Press N Seal. Then I went back with some Ranger Multi Medium Matte to anything that had movement left in it. That happens a lot when you have lots of layers. I even used a narrow little strip of Foam Tape under a few pieces where I thought there should be a bit of dimension and the sentiment banner as well.  I love how the sentiment from Beautiful Day fits on my Papertrey Ink Number The Stars Banner Die and I use it this way almost every time.  I did not cut my sentiment apart to stamp this way; this is how it was originally designed and it's a perfect fit.

I know you can't really see the shimmer on everything, but it's there.  In fact, that shimmer is what causes the glare that makes it hard to photograph. Even though I ended up using somewhat different colors than in the Inspiration Image, I love how this turned out. Since the person I am giving the card to loves Pink as I do, I know she will enjoy this colorful presentation of blooms.  I added a few green and purple sequins for that finishing touch.

I want to give you a little tip while I am remembering to share this with you.  Sometimes, when your card gets very front heavy with lots of beautiful layers, your card might not want to stand upright. You can help balance the weight by adding a cardstock insert for the inside sentiment.  Even a lighter weight cardstock helps quite a bit.  I don't like to stamp the sentiments directly onto my cardbase in case I make a mistake but I know it uses more cardstock to do it my way and I'm okay with that.

Believe it or not, I still have a few months of Altenew Inspiration Challenges that I hope to get to before the end of the month.

Altenew Beautiful Day Shop at: SSS | ALT	Altenew Beautiful Day Dies Shop at: SSS | ALT	Altenew Beautiful Day Stamp & Die Bundle Shop at: ALT	Canson Bristol Paper Shop at: SSS
Cuttlebug Die Cutting Machine Shop at: SSS	Kokuyo Long Dot Runner Adhesive Shop at: SSS	Press 'N Seal Shop at: SSS	PTI Cover Up: Diamonds Shop at: PTI
PTI Perfect Match Lavender Moon Ink Shop at: PTI	PTI Perfect Match Plum Pudding Ink Shop at: PTI	PTI Perfect Match Winter Wisteria Ink Shop at: PTI	PTI Stamper's Select White Cardstock Shop at: PTI
Ranger Multi Medium Matte Shop at: SSS	Scotch 3M Foam Tape Shop at: SSS	Spellbinders Embossing Mat Shop at: SSS	SSS Antique Gold Embossing Powder Shop at: SSS
Teflon Bone Folder Shop at: SSS	Tsukinko Sheer Sparkle Shimmer Spritz Shop at: SSS	Versamark Ink Shop at: PTI | SSS	Wagner Heat Tool Shop at: SSS