altenew artist alcohol markers

Altenew November 2022 Simply Scientific Stamps/Dies/Stencils Release + Giveaway ($300 in Total Prizes!)

November 1, 2022

Hi there! Today, Altenew is celebrating the release of their latest collection: Simply Scientific! We are hopping along to share tons of inspiration with you. You should have arrived here from Caly Person and your next stop is Helen Kalb. You can also start at the beginning at the Altenew Blog. The name of the collection doesn’t quite cover all of the gorgeousness that is included in these new goodies… there are some stunning new floral designs (as always with Altenew) that I was totally in love with. I have two super bright and bold projects for you today, featuring some seamless alcohol marker coloring. Let’s get started with the details!

Both of my project feature images colored with the Sunshine Valley Garden Artist Markers from Altenew. The bright, bold colors included in this marker set speak to my heart, particularly that beautiful bubble gum pink.

My first project features the new Botanical Illustrations stamps and dies. I began by stamping the images onto some white cardstock using Permanent Black Ink. After drying the ink with my heat tool a bit, I colored the images with that lovely bubblegum pink marker quartet from the Sunshine Valley Garden Artist Markers set. Because I intended to place these colored die cuts on a black card front, I also edged around the colored images with a black alcohol marker. This edging helps to keep that pesky white edge from detracting from the overall color scheme, while also helping that pretty pink to pop from the stark card front!

For the card base, I created a mini-slimline card front from some black cardstock. I ran this through my die cut machine using the Gems 3D Embossing Folder to add some lovely geometric texture to the background of my bright flowers. I also die cut some glittery black sprigs from the Branches and Berries die set to help fill out the colorful stamped and colored bouquet.

I arranged the floral die cuts and glittery black sprigs on the textured black background, then adhered them using foam adhesive. I added a simple white embossed greeting from the Botanical Illustrations stamp set. The final touch was a few black gems for one last element of shine!

My second card features the same technique, this time with the stunning new Dancing Sunflowers product suite! These enormous sunflowers are just. so. fun. to color. I again stamped a large sunflower image on white cardstock using Permanent Black Ink, setting the ink with my heat tool again to ensure that it was dry. I used the lovely summery yellow markers from the Sunshine Valley Garden Artist Markers set to create this vivid yellow sunflower. I again added the black edges around the colored image, making sure to color out far enough away from the edge that it would be covered when I cut the images out.

For the background, I again wanted to add some interesting texture to keep the card front from being too simplistic, so I die cut an A2 panel of black cardstock using the new Dotted Geo Cover Die. This die adds a lovely piercing detail in a radiating image, perfect for adding some very subtle texture to the background of your focal point.

I popped up the finished colored sunflower die cut in the center of the pierced card front using some foam adhesive. For the greeting, I kept things fairly simple, die cutting a Fancy Miss You from some black glitter cardstock. I also heat embossed a greeting in gold on a strip of black cardstock, then added both elements to the card front. The difference in texture on the black glitter cardstock helps to keep the sentiment from getting overshadowed by the black background. I added a few iridescent black gems to the card front; the yellow and green in the colored images help to complement the iridescent coating on the gems! I love the seamless look adding that black border around the die cuts provides for these cards. It’s so vibrant with those intense pops of color from the black backgrounds.

Well, that’s all for my projects today! Now for some fun giveaway information:

$300 in total prizes! To celebrate this release, Altenew is giving away a $50 gift certificate to 2 lucky winners and a $25 gift certificate to 8 winners! Please leave a comment on the Altenew Card Blog and/or each designer’s blog post on the blog hop list below by 11/06/2022 for a chance to win. Altenew will draw 10 random winners from the comments left on each stop of this blog hop and announce the winners on the Altenew Winners Page on 10/08/2022.

Your next stop on the hop is Helen Kalb. Thanks so much for stopping by today, and happy hopping!

Altenew Build-A-Flower: Indian Lotus Release Blog Hop + Giveaway

May 1, 2021

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!

Altenew Paint A Flower Clematis+Alcohol Markers Release Blog Hop + Giveaway!

February 22, 2021

Hi there! Altenew is releasing a new Paint A Flower set, and some new shades in the Artist Markers line, so we are celebrating with a blog hop! You should have arrived here from Vicky Papaioannou, and your next stop is Jenny Colacicco. You can also go back to the Altenew Card Blog to start at the beginning of the hop.

Each month, Altenew releases a new floral stamp set perfect for coloring (you can subscribe here for a discounted rate each month!) This month’s new Paint A Flower: Clematis set is so beautiful, and features clematis blooms climbing up a trellis.

To start, I heat embossed the lovely main image from Paint A Flower: Clematis onto some of Altenew’s watercolor paper using some white pearl embossing powder. I watercolored the image using the Artists’ Watercolor 24 Pan set, keeping things light and not fussing too much (as is my normal wont, haha).

I trimmed the panel down and matted it on a very, very slightly larger piece of periwinkle blue cardstock to help make the periwinkle in the watercolored panel pop. I white embossed a greeting from Sentiment Strips 2 on a strip of the same periwinkle cardstock, then adhered it to the watercolored panel.

I mounted the entire thing on an A2 panel of pale lavender cardstock using foam adhesive, then added a few gems for some sparkle!

Altenew has two new sets of alcohol markers releasing today, as well: Sunshine Valley and Water Garden. Both sets contain companion colors to some of my absolute favorite shades in the Dye Ink line, so I was quite excited to use these!

I began by stamping the Forever In Love onto a panel of white cardstock using Permanent Crisp Black Ink. I used markers from both Sunshine Valley and Water Garden to add color to the beautiful rose swag.

After I’d finished coloring the image, I used Wisteria Ink and a mini blending brush to add some very subtle color around the edges of the colored panel, allowing the white to remain untouched around the image to create a kind of halo around it. I added a white embossed sentiment from Forever In Love on a strip of black cardstock, which I adhered using foam adhesive. Finally, I finished the card off with a few black gems scattered amongst the floral swag.

Well, that’s all for my projects today! As always, Altenew has some splendid giveaways to celebrate their newest release:

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 03/02/2021.

Your next stop is Jenny Colacicco. Thanks so much for stopping by today, and have a marvelous day!