XOXO & More

Altenew has released a stunning new collection of products, and we’re celebrating with a blog hop! You should have arrived here from Nichol Spohr, and your next stop is Erin Thompson. You can also start back at the beginning at the Altenew Blog, or check out the full hop list down at the bottom of this post. The April 2023 Stamp and Die release is yet another stunner from Altenew, featuring such a wide variety of styles that there is sure to be something for everyone! I have two cards to share with you today, so let’s get started with the details!

When brainstorming for today’s projects, I realized that it had been quite a long time since I used any orange in my projects, preferring to stick to my favorite pinks and purples, and my favorite way to use orange is with a dash of bright pink! I decided to use my favorite orange color scheme, which I call my “fiesta” color scheme: bright orange, hot pink, lime green, and touches of black for extra drama!

My first project features Prim Peonies. I can’t ever turn away a pretty peony stamp, and Prim Peonies offered such lovely peonies that I couldn’t resist! I stamped the image onto some white cardstock using Altenew’s Permanent Black ink, then used the Sunshine Valley Artist Markers to add lots of vibrant color to the beautiful peony spray. I die cut the finished piece with the coordinating die.

To accent the pretty peonies, I ran a panel of heavyweight vellum through my die cut machine using the new Luxurious Motifs 3D Embossing Folder. This embossing folder features such incredible detail, and it looks utterly marvelous with the vellum, which is transparent enough to allow the color behind to be somewhat visible, while also allowing the soft orange glow from behind to highlight the beautiful embossed details. I trimmed down the panel slightly so that it would only cover a portion of my bright orange card front, then I trimmed a couple of very thin strips of black cardstock to adhere to the top and bottom of my embossed vellum panel.

I arranged the colorful peony die cut, cutting it down the middle and arranging it in a little swag across the front. Though it takes a smidgen of courage to cut my colored die cuts down the center, I love “rearranging” my die cuts like this to get even more uses out of them. I added a black XOXO & More “friend” die cut, enhancing the stamped sentiment from the Prim Peonies stamp set. A smattering of black gems finished it off!

My second card features the Ornate Flowers dies in the same happy color scheme. I have all of the specific cardstock colors listed in the link list below. The amount of detail in these dies is so beautiful! It’s a very unique set with a detailed graphic style.

I used some sparkly black cardstock for the veins on the foliage, so to accent that, I used the Fine Liner Pen set to add a few accents to the assembled flowers. I arranged the finished flowers on an A2 panel of coordinating orange cardstock, using both liquid and foam adhesive for lots of height and dimension with all of the cardstock layers and foam tape.

I heat embossed a sentiment from Sweet Bouquet onto some deep orange cardstock using the Obsidian Black pigment ink and clear embossing powder. I die cut the larger sentiment using the coordinating die and trimmed the strip with my trimmer. I adhered the sentiment pieces amongst the floral arrangement with a double layer of foam adhesive. Finally, I added a few black gems to complete my “rule of three” for black accents, while also adding another element 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 *$50 gift certificates 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 04/18/2023 for a chance to win. Altenew will draw 8 random winners from the comments left on each stop of this blog hop and announce the winners on the Altenew Winners Page on 04/20/2023.

*The winners of the $50 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!

Hi there! It’s the first official blog post for 2023, and we are celebrating the new Altenew Nostalgic Memories release! You should have arrived here from Laura Bassen, and your next stop is Mindy Eggen. You can also start back at the beginning at the Altenew Blog. This Nostalgic Memories release is full of super unique stamp images, dies, and beautiful embossing folders. I have a super rich, jewel tone- saturated project to share with you today using just dies and embossing folder, so let’s get started with the details!

Standalone floral die sets are some of my favorite to work with, because the layouts, color schemes, and textures are so open to possibilities! The new Sweet Blooms set features beautiful layering florals paired with tons of different foliage options to make bouquet building super fun. My floral focal point and teeny accent flowers were cut from rich magenta cardstock as well as some coordinating magenta foil cardstock to add another fun textural element. I die cut the different foliage pieces from both deep teal cardstock as well as some glittery turquoise cardstock to add some fun, sparkling texture to my bouquet.

I love the texture that embossing folders create, particularly on richly colored cardstock, so I ran an A2 panel of intense navy blue cardstock through my die cut machine using the new Vintage Tile 3D Embossing Folder. To help enhance the beautiful details on this embossed image, I lightly brushed the Indigo Skies ink pad on the raised areas of the embossed panel. Because the color of the ink is so close to the deep navy blue of the cardstock, this creates a very subtle effect, but it’s so beautiful in real life and enhances the pattern on the embossed area.

Once I had created my card base, I arranged the die cut flowers and foliage in a swag on the corner of my card front, adhering the components with a mixture of liquid and foam adhesive to add lots of different heights to the card front. I added a greeting, cut using navy and turquoise cardstocks with the new XOXO & More sentiment dies. To add one final element of sparkle and shine to my card front, I created some flower centers for my magenta blooms using three different sizes of iridescent gems. I love the added textural element these gems create on this card front. Just because there’s no stamping doesn’t mean that this card is boring, by any means!

Well, that’s all for my card 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 $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 01/08/2023 for a chance to win. Altenew will draw 11 random winners from the comments left on each stop of this blog hop and announce the winners on the Altenew Winners Page on 01/09/2023. *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!