Altenew Classic Imagery Collection Release Blog Hop + Giveaway

Hello everyone! I am so honored to be here to share this amazing release with you. You should have arrived from the amazing Michelle’s blog, if not, head over to the Altenew card blog and start from the beginning. If you would like to shop the whole amazing release, click here.

When I first saw this Deck Planks 3D embossing folder it reminded me of a tree. The first thing I saw in my mind was couples that carved their initials in the trees. You shouldn’t do that by the way, it kills trees! Anyway…. I started with a piece of Moonrock card stock cut to 4 1/4 x 5 1/2. I placed this into the 3D embossing folder and inked up the side that would go into the card stock panel with Industrial Diamond crisp dye ink. I ran this through my die-cutting machine and wow! I didn’t do this technique for so long because I was worried about being able to clean my embossing folders enough — I feel silly now! It is super easy with the Altenew inks, the ink literally rinses right off and I set the folder aside to dry, easy peasy! I knew that I wanted to use mine and my husbands initials. I reached for my Bold Alphabet dies. I used these to die cut some Real Gray card stock. I wanted to have an ampersand, originally, but then thought it would be cute to have a heart. I started by covering a piece of white card stock with silver glitter tape. I then used a heart die from the Halftone Hearts nesting dies. The card seemed to still be missing that extra touch. I pulled out Mega Greetings 3 for the word Forever. I stamped the sentiment onto another piece of Moon Rock card stock and die cut with the Featured Sentiments dies. All of my die-cuts were assembled onto my card panel flat, with the exception of the sentiment which was adhered with foam tape.

This card is full of shiny fun! I started with this adorable Daisy Bed 3D embossing folder. I embossed a piece of Neenah Solar White 80# card stock. I then placed the card panel into my spray box and started shaking up the Iridescent Ink Spray! I sprayed the entire panel with the spray and let it sit for a few hours. Once I was sure it was dry I was able to move onto the next step. You want to ensure it is dry so that your paint will not run into wet areas. I pulled out my Metallic Watercolor Pan Set and chose Enchanted Gold for my first coat. I was careful to stay in the areas that were outlined by my embossing folder. I let this dry again for a few hours. For my final paint application I added Gold Pearl into random areas, mainly centered on the bottom left. This simple step added so much interest to the floral. I wanted to add a sentiment, but hated to cover up this gorgeous panel. I opted for my hello die from the Hello and Hugs set. The bottom layer was cut from vellum and the top layer, Gold Foil of course!!! You could forgo the sentiment and use this as a notecard. I’m finding lately that I enjoy creating notecards without sentiments. I like to let the card panel shine!

When I saw the Cheerful Bloom 3D embossing folder I was inspired to pull out my alcohol markers and try something I had never done before — coloring a 3D image! I was so happy with how it turned out I created another very similar card with slightly different colors. I started with Rock Collection on my leaves. This is a color family I am VERY familiar working with. It is always good to start with something you feel comfortable with and build up your confidence in working with new things. In the words of Amy Hill, “It’s only paper”!

My florals were colored using the Sea Shore family. I chose to make these images really dark. Below you will see a card panel I focused on keeping the florals lighter. For my centers I used Buttercream, Mango Smoothie, and a touch of Honey Drizzle.

For this card panel I concentrated on using the lighter colors in the Sea Shore family. I paired this with the Green Valley family for leaves. Rock Collection was used on the little flower buds, and I again used Buttercream, Mango Smoothie, and Honey Drizzle for my yellow centers. I also used the Just Because builder set again. I love these sets as you can get so many varied looks. I love options!!

I had fun playing with marker combinations on different florals. It’s amazing how many looks you can get from a few color families. Have you tried out this technique? I hope you do! I really enjoy taking time for myself in the evenings while I am watching television to color.

I wanted to create two cards and show two different techniques with the Thunderstorm Stencil. I started with a panel of Neenah Solar White 80# card stock 4 1/4 x 11. I used the Rainbow Prism set of inks to create my rainbow of color. The small blending brushes from Altenew made this a breeze. I always go over my color at least twice. The first level of blending is just to get some color on. The second time is to really get the color to the level I want it at. I then usually go back with the lighter of the two colors and blend my lines away. It takes some time, but can you argue with the finished product??

Once my backgrounds were ink blended I set them aside overnight to dry. I wanted to make sure my inks were totally dry before moving onto the next step. For the card above, I taped the stencil into place and then sprayed Iridescent Ink Spray over the top. I then CAREFULLY (very carefully, lol) pulled the stencil off and set aside the front panel to allow it to dry. After of course turning it in the light to see the shimmery goodness! My sentiment came from the Rain or Shine stamp set. I stamped with embossing ink onto a piece of vellum and sprinkled on Antique Gold embossing powder. Once heat set, I adhered the vellum on the back of the card panel with a few dots of liquid adhesive behind “chunkier” parts of the sentiment. As I was setting this card panel down, I thought onto the embossing paste!

I cleaned and dried my stencil thoroughly! I pulled out my embossing paste and started applying it through the stencil after I had taped the stencil down snuggly! When I pulled the stencil off it wasn’t drawing my attention nearly enough — it needed more shine like it’s predecessor. The Translucent Pearl embossing powder from Altenew was the answer!! If you haven’t tried this yet, you absolutely should. It adds a perfect hint of shine and shimmer without being overstated.

Once I added the embossing powder, I heat set the panel. I was so stoked at how it came out! With both of the card panels finished, I turned to sentiments. In the Rain or Shine set there was a heart stamp included, which ended up fitting perfectly in one of the Halftone Hearts dies. I die cut the heart from Gold Foil card stock and stamped with Obsidian Pigment ink. Translucent Pearl embossing powder was sprinkled and heat set for additional shimmer. I added the heart with a bit of foam tape to finish off the card.

For my final set of cards, I chose to use the Terrazzo Tile stencil. Never before had I used my watercolors with a stencil set — something I will be doing more frequently in the future. As before, I started with a large piece (9×12) of black watercolor card stock. I started in the lower corner with the first stencil and would work through all three before moving them to the next corner. I chose three colors (Rose Quartz, Aquamarine, and Amethyst) I thought would work well together. You will notice on one of the cards there are four colors (addition of Jade). One corner had three different colors than the rest and one of those carried over. I definitely recommend this technique. You complete all of the steps and you have four card panels to work with. I love techniques that give a lot of bang for the buck!

For the top panel, the Waterbrush Hello was die-cut from Gold Foil card stock. The bottom panel I adhered silver glitter tape to Neenah Solar White 80# card stock and die cut the Fancy thanks die. Both of the sentiment were adhered directly to the panels.

Giveaway Prizes

$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 05/24/2021 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 05/26/2021.

Altenew Blog

Nathalie DeSousa

Terri Koszler

Erum Tasneem

Jenny Colacicco

Emily Midgett

LauraJane

Norine Borys

Sandhya Iyer

Lilith Eeckels

Ardyth Percy-Robb

Michelle Short —> You came from here

Bridget Casey —> You are here 😊

Maryam Perez —> Your next inspirational stop 🛑

Teresa Litchfield

Carol Hintermeier

Joylita Dsouza

Virginia Lu

Seeka

Nandini Karmarkar

Christine Pennington

Tricia Schaden

Helen Kalb

Thank you so much for sharing your time with me today! I couldn’t stop making cards with this fabulous release, so I had lots to share :). I’m so happy to have these products to combine with my Altenew stash to make more beautiful projects in the future. That is one of my favorite things about Altenew — their products (new and old) work seamlessly together.

I can’t wait to see what you all create with these AMAZING products ❤️

Until next time, stay safe, and happy crafting!