
Good morning! We’re hopping along again today to celebrate the Altenew Anniversary. You should have arrived here from Michelle’s Cards & Stamps, and your next stop is Michelle Short. You can also start back at the beginning at the Altenew Blog. How long have you loved Altenew’s innovative and utterly gorgeous products? Well, I have loved them almost since the very beginning of their journey eight years ago, which is what we’re celebrating this week! Altenew is turning 8, and it’s so exciting to see how much they’ve grown, introducing new lines of supplies and coloring mediums, to the stunning 3D embossing folders that have breathed new life into an older tool, to the marvelous monthly kits and subscriptions featuring unique and beautiful new flowers to enjoy each month, to the incredible floral stamps and dies that we come to expect from Altenew at each release. I am so proud to have been part of the Altenew Card Design Team since January 2021, and it’s such a joy to work with these beautiful products. Here are a few of my favorite projects from the past year:




2021 was an unbelievable year in the industry, and Altenew’s new releases each month did not disappoint! Such beautiful new kits, subscriptions, and innovative products!
You know how some people love mac’n’cheese or mashed potatoes when they’re stressed or just need a warm hug in the form of some gooey, cheesy comfort food? Well, watercoloring is my crafty “comfort food.” I always can turn to watercoloring when I’m feeling low or stressed, and the floral stamps from Altenew have provided countless hours of watercolored “comfort food” for my psyche. Paired with their beautiful Artists’ 24 Pan Watercolors, it turns stress into pleasure. For today’s project, I created a pair of mini-slimline cards using one watercolored floral image from Simply Spring. Let’s get started with the details!

I began by heat embossing the massive image from Simply Spring onto some watercolor paper with gold embossing powder. I then used the Artists’ 24 Pan Watercolors to add lots of color to this beautiful floral arrangement. I am trying to do more color mixing to create completely custom colors from within the 24 shades included in the watercolor palette, and I love the slightly muted color palette that I was able to create with these incredibly vibrant shades. Once the image had completely dried, I splattered some gold metallic watercolor on the entirety of the image using a couple of shades of metallic watercolor from the Metallic Watercolor 14 Pan set. I die cut the entire image when it had dried completely, then ruthlessly cut the image right down the center using my trimmer.

Because I had cut the image down the center, I was able to create two cards using the two halves! I cut down two white mini slimline card bases (3.5″x6″), then die cut a Nesting Slim Labels die cut from some heavyweight vellum. After approximately arranging my florals and where I wanted them and determining the placement for my sentiment and vellum label, I trimmed the vellum die cut in half.

I blended some Strawberry ink on both card bases behind where I wanted the floral pieces to land, then splattered them with some more metallic watercolor. While the watercolor was drying, I die cut a couple of greetings from Simple Greetings using some matte gold foil cardstock. I find this matte gold foil complements the gold embossing and golden metallic splatters quite nicely. I also die cut a few sparkling gold glitter sprigs cut using the Branches and Berries die set.

Once I had die cut all of the components, I began to assemble the various die cut pieces on the card fronts. I used lots of Instant Dimension Foam Tape to adhered the floral die cuts, while adhering the glittering sprigs using liquid adhesive for lots of dimension.

I adhered the matte gold die cut greetings to the two halves of the vellum labels, then added those to the card fronts, hiding the clear foam adhesive behind the solid die cut words. The final step was to add one more touch of metallic gold with some matte gold pearls. I love the mixture of different forms of gold on these cards-shiny gold embossing powder, matte gold sentiments and pearls, shimmery gold metallic watercolors, and sparkling gold glitter paper. The different gold elements really add a level of richness and luxury to the cards!
Well, that’s all for my projects today. To celebrate their 8th anniversary, Altenew has compiled some utterly incredible prizes to give away during the blog hop!
Over $2,000 in total prizes! Altenew is giving away a $80 Gift Certificate to 5 lucky winners and one Altenew Academy Online Class($8.95 value) to 15 lucky winners. There are also 26 awesome companies/crafty friends who are celebrating with us, and they are offering the following prizes:
- Altenew: 5 x $80 Altenew Gift Certificate
- Altenew Academy: 15 x Online Monthly Class Spot
- Jennifer McGuire Ink: Share Handmade Kindness Goodie Bag
- A Cherry on Top: $50 Gift Certificate
- Auzz Trinklets N Krafts: $50 Gift Certificate
- Avery Elle: $50 Gift Certificate
- Bumbleberry Papercrafts: £25 Gift Certificate
- Butterfly Reflections Ink: $25 Gift Certificate
- CiLi in Papers: €75 Gift Certificate
- Concord & 9th: 1 $50 Gift Certificate & 1 Eclectic Garden Bundle ($38 Value)
- Craft Stash: $100 Gift Certificate
- Dare 2B Artzy: $30 Gift Certificate
- Ellen Hutson LLC: $25 Gift Certificate
- Gina K. Designs: $50 Gift Certificate
- Hero Arts: $50 Gift Certificate
- Lawn Fawn: $25 Gift Certificate
- MarkerPop: 4 x $40 Gift Certificate
- Michelle’s Cards & Stamps: AUD$100 Gift Certificate
- My Little Attic: $50 Gift Certificate
- My Sweet Petunia: $50 Gift Certificate
- Online Card Classes: 3 Online Class Spots to 1 Winner
- Pink and Main: $50 Gift Certificate
- Pinkfresh Studio: $50 Gift Certificate
- Scrapbook & Cards Today: $50 Gift Certificate
- Scrapbook.com: $50 certificate
- Simon Says Stamp: $50 Gift Certificate
- Studio Katia: $50 Gift Certificate
- Waffle Flower: $25 Gift Certificate
Your next stop on the hop is Michelle Short. Thanks so very much for stopping by today, and happy hopping! Happy Anniversary to Altenew, and may these first eight years be the start of a very long and creative presence within our industry! I can’t wait to see what incredible products you bring to us this year!
