many thanks

Hi there! The new Enchanted Winter standalone stencil and embossing folder collection is now available over at Altenew, and we’re hopping along to inspire you with these beautiful new goodies! You can start the hop at the Altenew Blog. You should have arrived here from Bridget Casey, and your next stop is LauraJane.

The theme of this release may be Enchanted Winter, but I was still in summer mode when I created these projects! I kept the color scheme light and cheerful, using beautiful blue ink from the Lapis Lazuli ink quartet and crisp Hunter Green for the foliage. I kept the colors cohesive on both cards to create a thank you note set!

My first card features the beautiful new Blooming Flower Beds Layering Stencils. I found these stencils super quick and simple to line up, especially when paired with the color layering guide included with the stencil set. I kept the color palette cool and elegant with the Lapis Lazuli and Hunter Green inks, blending them with the small blending brushes.

Once I had finished my stenciling, I used the Mega Thanks die to cut directly in the center of the stenciled panel, reserving the centers of the h, a, k, and s. I also die cut three more Mega Thanks die cuts from plain white cardstock, layering them all together with liquid adhesive. I adhered the stenciled panel to a white, A2 card base, then inlaid the dimensional die cut. This peekaboo die cut creates such a lovely subtle background on this stenciled card front!

I added a more obvious sentiment from the Many Thanks stamp set, stamped onto a silver holographic foiled banner from the Sentiment Banners hot foil plate and die set. I popped up the sentiment banner with some foam adhesive to help it pop from the busy background a bit better!

My second card features the same color scheme, this time focusing on the large, beautiful Daisies Simple Coloring Stencil Set. This set is intended to work in conjunction with the Daisies Embossing Folder bundle, but I loved it on its own so much that I used it to make the patterned paper for my card front! I used the same Lapis Lazuli and Hunter Green inks to create a super unique, chunky, graphic daisy background.

I trimmed the stenciled daisy panel down slightly and matted it on a coordinating panel of green A2 cardstock so that it was framed with emerald green. I also added some white Fine Frames die cuts to add some delicate interest to the card front.

For the greeting, I die cut a detailed thanks from white cardstock, adding the outline in some heavyweight vellum from the Sweet Sentiments die set. I adhered it to the stenciled card front using some clear foam adhesive, accenting it with another greeting from the Many Thanks stamp set, stamped in blue and matted with some silver glitter paper. I added a few iridescent white gems for a touch of sparkle!

Well, that’s all for these projects. 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 09/28/2022 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 09/29/2022.

Your next stop is LauraJane. Thanks so much for stopping by today, and happy hopping!

Good morning! Happy Monday! Today, Altenew is releasing their Suddenly Spring standalone die collection, and we are celebrating with a blog hop full of inspiration for you! You should have arrived from Nathalie DeSousa, and your next stop is Amanda Baldwin. You can also start back at the beginning at the Altenew Card Blog. Coloring is pretty much my favorite thing to do in general; one look at my blog can tell you that coloring is my favorite. But close behind coloring? Standalone dies. There are just so many things you can do with standalone dies, so many different looks you can achieve, and they can make such an impact on a card. I created two completely different cards using two completely different styles and die sets, but created a cohesive set by using the same colors of cardstock for both cards.

I normally like to keep floral/botanical card subjects within the realm of possibility in nature-i.e. lots of pinks, purples, corals, etc. Not many blue or green flowers to be found out in nature! I did think that the flowers in the Mini Flower Cluster Layering Die Set reminded me of a cluster of hydrangea flowers, which are one of my favorites and also can be blue, so I used that as starting point for my card set.

I began by die cutting the new Mini Flower Cluster Layering Die Set from three gradient shades of turquoisey blue cardstock, using black as the base layer for the flower centers. I cut two of these little clusters and several sets of the leaves (which I cut using two different shades of mint cardstock), and adhered the pieces all together using liquid adhesive.

I trimmed down an A2 panel of cardstock from some deep teal cardstock that I had in my stash (my husband always makes me “that face” when I buy more colored cardstock… occasions and projects like this are precisely why I need what seems like every shade of colored cardstock upon the face of the earth, thank you very much.) I splattered the background with some diluted silver gouache to add a bit of texture and interest to the background.

I stamped a greeting from Many Thanks on some white cardstock using Obsidian ink. Once my splattered panel had dried, I adhered all of the different elements on the card front using a combination of liquid and Altenew’s new Instant Dimension Foam Adhesive. Finally, I added a few of my favorite iridescent gems for some sparkle.

My next card features a custom patterned panel created using the new Whimsical Garden standalone die set. I love these super intricate dies, so much so that I wanted to use basically all of them on one card, ha! I recently saw a dress made with some beautiful fabric of emerald green embroidery on a teal background, and these Whimsical Garden dies were perfect to recreate that look on a card front.

I die cut several of the detailed and a few of the solid dies from the Whimsical Garden die set from some bright, grass green cardstock, arranged them in a pretty pattern on the deep teal card front, then adhered them using liquid adhesive. When creating any custom pattern for a card front, I always start with the largest element first, then arrange the rest of the elements around that, going from largest to smallest, and using the smallest pieces to fill in any gaps in the pattern.

Once I’d adhered all of the die cuts to the card front, I die cut a “thanks” from the Circled Greetings Thanks and the “so much for everything” (I trimmed off the “thanks” that is originally on the die cut to create a custom sentiment) from the new Slim Sentiments die set. The bright white sentiments pop beautifully off of the almost monochrome background! I love how subtle the green pattern is on the deep teal background. A few more iridescent gems finished it off.

As always, Altenew has some awesome giveaways to celebrate this release!

$300 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 10 winners! Please leave a comment on the Altenew Card Blog and/or each designer’s blog post on the blog hop list below by 04/25/2021 for a chance to win. Altenew will draw 12 random winners from the comments left on each stop of this blog hop and announce the winners on the Altenew Winners Page on 04/27/2021.

The next stop on the hop is Amanda Baldwin. Thanks so much for stopping by today, and happy hopping!