Good morning! Today marks the start of a new month, and with it, a new Build A Flower release from Altenew! May’s bloom is the Build A Flower: Indian Lotus, and it’s a large, gorgeous bloom, with both an outline as well as solid layering stamps for a multitude of possibilities! You should have arrived here from Amanda Baldwin, and your next stop is Carol Hintermeier, but you can always start back at the Altenew Card Blog to start at the beginning. I have a vivid, but still ethereal project for you today, colored with Altenew’s Artist’s Alcohol Markers, so let’s get started with the details!
When I think of water lilies, I always think of Monet, with the rich, vivid colors bleeding into each other and allowing the mind to create the shapes and details in the subjects of the painting. I am too much of a literalist to do a truly Monet-style card, but I love the idea of the colors blending into each other to create a seamless look.
I began by stamping the outline image from Build A Flower: Indian Lotus using Permanent Black ink onto some plain white cardstock. I then used the beautiful blue-violet shades from the Water Garden Artist Markers set (what an utterly appropriate name, right?) to add lots of vivid color to the blooms, while the lilypads were colored with the green markers from the Sunshine Valley marker set. I also used the Colorless Blender marker to add some highlights along the edges of the petals to help deepen the contrast between the dark shaded areas and the lighter tips of the petals. I die cut the colored images with the coordinating dies (included in the Build A Flower: Indian Lotus set).
For the card base, I wanted to recreate that beautiful saturation of color in Monet’s paintings with ink blending, giving an illusion of water and a purple sky behind it, mimicking the colors in the water lilies themselves. I used a combination of Dusk, Desert Night, and Hydrangea inks with the Altenew Blending Brushes to do some blending on a white card base, saturating the deep blue down towards the bottom of the card base, then fading into medium blue, and finally fading away into the purple, leaving the top edge of the card white. Did you know that Altenew’s inks react with water? (it’s because they’re water based!) To further the “water” aesthetic which I was trying to achieve, I sprinkled a few droplets of water on the blended card front, then quickly dabbed them up with a clean paper towel to create some water droplets and add texture to the background.
Once my card base had dried completely, I adhered the colored flowers to the card front using Instant Dimension foam adhesive. I stamped a greeting from Build A Flower: Indian Lotus, then trimmed it down and added it to my card front. Finally, I added a few iridescent gems, which I think help enhance the ethereal nature of the card. They remind me of bubbles!
Well, that’s all for my project today. Now, for some fun giveaway information!
$200 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 5 winners! Please leave a comment on the Altenew Card Blog and/or each designer’s blog post on the blog hop list below by 05/06/2021 for a chance to win. Altenew will draw 7 random winners from the comments left on each stop of this blog hop and announce the winners on the Altenew Winners Page on 05/08/2021.
Your next stop on the hop is Carol Hintermeier. If you enjoy this monthly floral series from Altenew, you can always subscribe to the Build A Flower series to receive the sets each month at a discounted rate! Thanks so much for stopping by today, and have a marvelous day!
Ooooo the lotus looks gorgeous in blue!
So pretty. Love the vivid colors and the combo. Eye catching!
Like the rich colors you’ve used to create this beautiful lotus flower. tfs-stay well.
What a stunning card and awesome new release!
Beautiful card
Very pretty! I love the smooth coloring and blending.
Amazing card….
Beautiful; vibrant colors, and I love the fade….
Gorgeous flowers!
Gorgeous!!! Those colors are amazing!!!
Beautiful! Love the color combo. Thanks for the inspiration Emily!
Wow, the color here is stunning! It looks like a completely different flower than the others on the hop.
Absolutely gorgeous colors you chose for this! Love it!
Gorgeous card, stunnng
Beautiful card, the colors are so rich and vibrant! thanks for the inspiration!
Such vibrant coloring!
Wow so bold and beautiful! Love it!
Such a bold but beautiful card. Love your ink blending.
Gorgeous colors!
Blue is my favorite color and when I saw your card I was breathless. Sooooo beautiful! Just gorgeous!
Absolutely gorgeous! Did the colors meet under the lotus flowers? your shading is perfection!
Absolutely Stunning!
Your card is so beautiful and vibrant!
Nice color share.
Wow! Love the bold colors! Beautiful background!
the background colour is gorgeous! Love the effect of listed water!
Absolutely stunning. In theory I would have thought maybe the flowers wouldn’t stand out enough against the background but this works perfectly.
What a lovely color blend.
Beautiful background to highlight the lotus flower, great color choices.
Absolutely stunning! The lotus looks amazing in the blues you chose.
Your card is heavenly with those beautiful blues!
Beautiful coloring!
WOW, the blue looks so cool. Nice idea.
Beautiful deep purples and gorgeously colored! Stunning work!
Aaaawwwe. Pretty in blue.
Love, love the deep colors!
Your card is absolutely beautiful — the blues are stunning!
Wow! The card is beautiful! The coloring is just amazing!
Gorgeous colors for these beautiful lotus flowers! Awesome card!
beautiful card, love the way you colored it
Beautiful card! so bold!
Be still my heart 💜 This is an incredible masterpiece! The colors are gorgeous, the detail impeccable, and your style inspiring
Wow, really stunning. Beautiful stamp set and amazing coloring!
Gorgeous card. Love the colors you used.
Stunning card!! I love the richness of the blue lotus
Love the blues!