build a garden

Altenew October 2023 Marvelous Monthly Series Release Blog Hop + Giveaway ($300 in Total Prizes!)

October 18, 2023

Hi friends! I am taking part in the Altenew October 2023 Marvelous Monthly Blog Hop. You can start back at the beginning at the Altenew Card Blog or view the full hop list in the InLinkz at the end of this post. This month’s Marvelous Monthly release is filled with so much beauty; I was particularly struck by the Build-A-Garden: Blushing Magnolias. Each month, Altenew releases a beautiful Build-A-Garden set that is so unique that I am almost always drawn to them. If you love them like I do and want to be guaranteed to receive these gorgeous sets each month, you can check out the subscription page HERE. For today’s card, I was channeling the beautiful peachy-pink magnolias that are so prevalent in my area during the spring time. Let’s get started with the details!

I began my project by trimming down two A2 panels of palest blush cardstock and embossing the large floral images from the Build-A-Garden: Blushing Magnolias onto each one using Golden Peach embossing powder. This rosy golden metallic embossing powder looks scrumptious on this blush cardstock, creating a tone-on-tone effect that is super elegant!

After I had finished embossing the images, I used the coordinating stencils in the Build-A-Garden: Blushing Magnolias product suite along with the included blending brush and a few of my own to add lots of color and subtle shading to these beautiful magnolia images. For the blooms, I used Frosty Pink, Coral Berry, and Ruby Red inks from the Red Cosmos Fresh Dye Ink Quartet, while the foliage was created using Frayed Leaf, Forest Glades, Evergreen from the Green Fields Fresh Dye Ink Quartet. I used the coordinating add-on die to die cut one of the stenciled images. (You can purchase the Build-A-Garden: Blushing Magnolias bundled with the coordinating dies HERE.)

Next, I used the palest ink from the Red Cosmos Fresh Dye Ink Quartet to blend lightly on the bottom of the stenciled floral card base to add some extra interest to the background. I also splattered some coordinating rose gold metallic watercolor from the Metallic Watercolor 14 Pan set around the bottom blended edge. I arranged the die cut magnolia over the top of the card base, popping it up with Instant Dimension Foam Tape and allowing it to butt right along the edge of the card front. For the greeting, I heat embossed two sentiment stamps from the Build-A-Garden: Blushing Magnolias onto some more of the blush cardstock using the same Golden Peach embossing powder, die cutting one of the sentiments with the coordinating die. I popped those up with foam adhesive, as well, then added some shimmering gems for even more sparkle!

Well, that’s all for this project! Now for some fun giveaway information:

$300 in total prizes! To celebrate this release, Altenew is giving away a $100 gift certificate to 1 lucky winner and a $50 gift certificate to 4 winners! Please leave a comment on the Altenew Card Blog and/or each designer’s blog post on the blog hop list below by 10/24/2023 for a chance to win. Altenew will draw 5 random winners from the comments left on each stop of this blog hop and announce the winners on the Altenew Winners Page on 10/26/2023.
*The winner of the $100 gift certificate will be chosen from comments left on the Altenew blog.

Here’s the full hop list:

Thanks so much for stopping by today, and happy hopping!

Altenew September 2023 Marvelous Monthly Series Release Blog Hop + Giveaway ($300 in Total Prizes!)

September 19, 2023

Hi friends! Today, we are hopping along to celebrate the September 2023 Marvelous Monthly release! You should have arrived here from Svitlana, and your next stop is Seeka. You can also start back at the beginning at the Altenew Blog. The Build-A-Garden sets tend to be my favorites each month, because of the great value as well as the beauty of the designs themselves. The Build-A-Garden: Frilly Begonias set is truly gorgeous, with two large arrangements of begonias and foliage, gorgeous sentiments, and fun simple coloring stencils. You can also purchase the Build-A-Garden: Frilly Begonias + Add-On Die Bundle if you would also like to have the coordinating dies (both for the flowers and the large sentiments!). If you find yourself loving the Build-A-Garden series each month, you can become a subscriber HERE to make sure that you get first dibs and a discount! I chose to do some coloring with alcohol markers for my project today, so let’s get started with the details!

I began my project by heat embossing the large image from Build-A-Garden: Frilly Begonias using Altenew’s Rose Gold Embossing Powder, offsetting the image so that it was dripping off of the side. I then used alcohol markers to add some muted coral and warm teal to the images. I love that these colors are somewhat muted in overall tone, but still vibrant and can pop off of the page! To create a halo around the image, I blended around the edges of the A2 panel using a blending brush and Water Hyacinth Fresh Dye Ink. I splattered the entire panel with some coordinating metallic watercolor to add some artistic sparkle, as well.

To add a little interest to the layout, I used my trimmer to trim a 1/4″ segment out from the side of my colored, blended panel. I backed the open area with a piece of coordinating rose gold glitter paper from the Golden Sunrise glitter gradient cardstock pack. This creates a sparkly peek-a-boo strip amongst the colorful background!

For the greeting, I heat embossed and die cut two of the different greetings included in the Build-A-Garden: Frilly Begonias + Add-On Die Bundle. I popped these greeting pieces up with some foam adhesive to give them extra dimension, then added a few shimmering blue gems for one last bit of texture and sparkle!

Well, that’s all for my project today. Now for some fun giveaway information:

$300 in total prizes! To celebrate this release, Altenew is giving away a $100 gift certificate to 1 lucky winner and a $40 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 09/25/2023 for a chance to win. Altenew will draw 6 random winners from the comments left on each stop of this blog hop and announce the winners on the Altenew Winners Page on 09/27/2023.
*The winner of the $100 gift certificate will be chosen from comments left on the Altenew blog.

Here’s the full hop list:

Thanks so much for stopping by today, and happy hopping!

Altenew July 2023 Marvelous Monthly Series Release Blog Hop + Giveaway ($300 in Total Prizes!)

July 18, 2023

Hi there! Today, Altenew is hosting a blog hop to celebrate their July 2023 Marvelous Monthly Release! You should have arrived here from Jaycee Gaspar, and your next stop is Caly Person You can also start back at the beginning at the Altenew Blog. I have a project to share using the stunning new Build-A-Garden: Sweet Lilies set, so let’s get started with the details!

The new Build-A-Garden: Sweet Lilies set features a gorgeous 6×8 stamp set that is complete with a stunning floral arrangement as well as a wide variety of beautifully poignant sentiments that would work for so many different occasions. The set also features a layering stencil set and a small blending brush! You can also purchase the coordinating die as an add-on, which features a large die for the floral arrangement as well as dies for the larger sentiment stamps. I love the polished look that these sentiment dies give to the card! If you find yourself loving the Build-A-Garden series each month, you can become a subscriber HERE to make sure that you get first dibs and a discount!

For my card today, I began by heat embossing the gorgeous floral arrangement from Build-A-Garden: Sweet Lilies on a panel of cold press watercolor paper using silver embossing powder. I couldn’t resist painting the huge, beautiful lilies in the arrangement rather than using the layering stencils, so I pulled out my Artists’ 24 Pan Watercolor Set, which is one of my most favorite sets of watercolors in my stash! The colors are beautifully vibrant and unique shades, or they can be mixed to create a custom color palette. For today’s card, I did quite a bit of mixing and matching to create this lavender, coral, pink, and green bouquet, adding Fall Harvest to the Shades of Purple to create the muted lavender shade, mixing Rock Collection with Green Meadows for the deep green leaves, etc. Each of the colors on the bouquet was created by combining two (or more!) of the colors in the palette. Sometimes, a little tweak is all you need to create a truly gorgeous custom color palette!

Once I had finished watercoloring the image, I used the coordinating die to cut it out. I wanted to coordinate my background with the colors in the image, so I decided to match my vibrant pink slimline background with an alcohol marker from my stash, then outline the white edges of the die cut. I love to keep the color palettes on these vivid projects as true as possible, so I avoided any white or black at all, preferring to allow the colors be incredibly vibrant! To accent the vivid bouquet, I die cut the Floral Lace Die from the same shade of bright watermelon pink cardstock. I also lightly blended some Midnight Violet ink along the top and bottom of the slimline card front to coordinate with the purple in the bouquet. I arranged the watercolored floral image and lacy die cuts on the card front, adhering them with a mixture of liquid and foam adhesive for lots of different heights.

Once I’d finished arranging the background, it was time to add a sentiment. I heat embossed the large “sending” and a smaller sentiment strip onto yet another piece of that bright watermelon pink cardstock using silver embossing powder. I used the coordinating die to cut the “sending” and trimmed the slim sentiment strip with my trimmer. I adhered them both to the center of my card with another layer of foam tape to allow them to really pop from the card front. I added a few shimmering jewels for some sparkle as a final touch!

Well, that’s all for my project. Now for some fun giveaway information!

$300 in total prizes! To celebrate this release, Altenew is giving away a $100 gift certificate to 1 lucky winner and a $40 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 07/24/2023 for a chance to win. Altenew will draw 6 random winners from the comments left on each stop of this blog hop and announce the winners on the Altenew Winners Page on 07/26/2023.
*The winner of the $100 gift certificate will be chosen from comments left on the Altenew blog.

Here’s the full hop list in case you get lost:

Thanks so much for stopping by today, and happy hopping!

Altenew June 2023 Marvelous Monthly Series Release Blog Hop + Giveaway ($300 in Total Prizes!)

June 18, 2023

Hi there! Today, Altenew is hopping along to celebrate their new June Marvelous Monthly release! You should have arrived here from Seeka, and your next stop is Laura Jane. You can also start back at the beginning at the Altenew Blog. I have a pair of bold red, black, white, and gold projects to share with you today using the new Build-A-Garden Japanese Anemone and Spark Joy: Sweet Greetings sets from the June 2023 Marvelous Monthly Release, so let’s get started with the details!

I kept my color palette simple, with pops of bright red and stark black, adding some luxurious golden metallic accents here and there on both projects!

For my first project, I did some no-line watercoloring with the Build-A-Garden Japanese Anemone using my favorite Altenew Artists’ 24 Pan Watercolor Set. A friend of mine used deep red anemone flowers in her wedding bouquet, which are such uniquely beautiful flowers with their deep black centers, so I was channeling those flowers when painting this card! After watercoloring, I splattered the flowers with some deep gold metallic paint to add some artsy textural interest to the flowers. I die cut the finished painting with the coordinating die which is included with the Build-A-Garden Japanese Anemone.

To accent the black centers of the anemones, I die cut the Leaf Frame Cover Die from some black cardstock and mounted it on an A2 panel of white cardstock. I really love the contrast between the deep black and the crisp white. It looks a little exotic to me… so fun!

For the greeting, I die cut the “hello” from the Spark Joy: Sweet Greetings set using gold glitter cardstock for the detail layer, and the outline layer from more black cardstock. I also embossed a greeting from the Japanese Anemone set on a smaller rectangle of blakc cardstock using Altenew’s Rose Gold embossing powder, which worked beautifully with the metallic glitter die cut layer. I popped all of the layers up using foam adhesive for tons of dimension on this project!

My second project features the beautiful hot foiled arched frame from the Spark Joy: Sweet Greetings set and the coordinating add-on die. I used Altenew’s Brass foil to hot foil the archway onto some crisp white cardstock, as well as the “greetings” sentiment included in the Sweet Greetings set.

For the sweet bird, I used blending brushes with the layering stencils included in the Spark Joy: Sweet Greetings set with Rouge, Crimson, Evening Gray, and Lava Rock inks to create a unique warm gray and red bird reminiscent of a robin. I die cut some foliage using the Itty Bitty Branches dies, adding some Crimson and Lava Rock to some of the details on the die cuts, which creates a bit of extra interest on the white die cuts. I arranged the flowers and foliage across the bottom of the hot foiled frame, nestling the bird amongst the branches. I popped up all of the die cut pieces with foam tape, finally adding some gems for sparkle!

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 $100 gift certificate to 1 lucky winner and a $40 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 06/21/2023 for a chance to win. Altenew will draw 6 random winners from the comments left on each stop of this blog hop and announce the winners on the Altenew Winners Page on 06/23/2023.
*The winner of the $100 gift certificate will be chosen from comments left on the Altenew blog.

Here’s the full hop list:

Thanks so much for stopping by today, and happy hopping!

Altenew March 2023 Marvelous Monthly Series Release Blog Hop #1 + Giveaway ($300 in Total Prizes!)

March 17, 2023

Good morning! Today, the folks at Altenew are hopping along to celebrate the newest Marvelous Monthly release for March, 2023! These monthly subscription series are always such fun and a great value, providing so many different elements to create a huge variety of stunning cards. I have two cards to share with you today, featuring the new Build-A-Garden: Dancing Poppies and Craft Your Life Project Kit: Delicate Garden. Here’s a peek at the two different sets that I’ll be using today:

I love that you receive so many different elements in each kit so that you can mix and match, depending on what kind of coloring medium (or none at all!) that you feel like using that day! If you are loving these kits as much as I am, you can always SUBSCRIBE to be sure that you receive a kit each month (and at a discount!). Let’s get started on the details for my projects today!

I love the juxtaposition of crisp black accents and softly colored flowers, and it was this color combination that I had in mind when creating both of these cards. I used Spicy Yogurt cardstock with coral, peach, and mint with intense black accents to create this pair of cards!

For my first card, I stamped the images from Dancing Poppies onto some watercolor paper using Obsidian pigment ink, then clear embossed over the top, which helps to add a level of crispness to the stamping. I used the Artists’ 24 Pan Watercolor Set to add some soft pinky coral to the poppy flowers and some pale minty green to the leaves. I used the one-and-done die to die cut all of the watercolored flowers.

For the background, I wanted to highlight those shiny black lines and dramatic black centers on the watercolored poppies, so I layered together the Rattan Stripes Cover Die twice from some black cardstock, then the Garden Trellis cover plate cut once from black cardstock, to create this unique, super textured, layered background. I adhered all three pieces to a Spicy Yogurt cardstock base using liquid adhesive.

For the greeting, I die cut the “thanks” Sweet Sentiment dies from black and Spicy Yogurt cardstock to coordinate nicely with the creamy background and the watercolor paper itself. I arranged the flowers on my rattan card front, popping them up with Instant Dimension Foam Tape, then added the greeting at the bottom. The final step was to add some gems for sparkle!

My second project features the stunning new Craft Your Life Project Kit: Delicate Garden. I began by stamping all of the floral images in the stamp set using Obsidian pigment ink, then clear embossed over the top to again create those super crisp black lines on my white cardstock. I used the coordinating stencils included in the kit to do some subtle, soft ink blending, creating peachy and minty bouquets using Strawberry, Pink Pearl, Coral Bliss, and Coral Berry inks for the flowers, and Green Meadows inks for the foliage. I die cut all of the blended flowers using the coordinating dies, included with the kit.

I loved each of the floral bouquets so much that I couldn’t bear to leave one off of the card, so I expanded my canvas and created a slimline card front to display them all properly! I created the base from more Spicy Yogurt cardstock, then die cut a large Nesting Slim Labels panel, upon which I stamped some of the floral bouquets again using Obsidian pigment ink, then clear embossed over the top. I popped up the embossed label die cut on the slimline card front using some more Instant Dimension Foam Tape, then arranged the blended florals in a pretty swag down the front of the card. I adhered the bouquet with more foam tape, to create a double layer of foam tape along the edges of the die cut. So much height!

I heat embossed the greetings from the Delicate Garden using the Obsidian and clear embossing powder combination, then fussy cut them with my sharp scissors. I popped those images up from the card front using yet another layer of foam tape, for a grand total of three layers of foam tape in the center of the card! Definitely a card to be hand delivered or placed inside a package, ha. Finally, I added a few black crystals for one last pop of black and touch of sparkle.

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 FULL RELEASE BUNDLE to 1 grand prize winner and a $25 gift certificate to 4 winners! Please leave a comment on the Altenew Card Blog and/or each designer’s blog post on the blog hop list below by March 23, 2023 for a chance to win.Altenew will draw 5 random winners from the comments left on each stop of this blog hop and announce the winners on the Altenew Winners Page on March 24, 2023. *The grand prize winner will be chosen from comments left on the Altenew Card Blog.

Here’s the full hop list:

Thanks so much for stopping by today, and happy hopping!

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