Altenew Adventures Ahead Stamps/Dies/Stencils/More Collection Release Blog Hop + Giveaway

Hello everyone and welcome! Just to make sure you are in the right place at the right time — you should have arrived from the astonishing Natasha Davies blog. If not, head on over to see the lovely Lydia’s project on the Altenew Card Blog and start the hop.

This release is absolutely AMAZING! As you will see below by the nine, yes, nine projects — I could not stop creating with these gorgeous products. To see the whole Adventures Ahead release, click here.

I started my slimline card (3.5 x 8.5) with a piece of Moonrock card stock. Next, I used Cloud Scene stencil to create my clouds with Silver Stone crisp dye ink. For my stenciling, I kept rotating the stencil and even flipped it over and rotated again. I love all the different layers of clouds I was able to achieve. I set this aside to let the ink dry into the card stock. I die cut all of the Feathered Friends dies with Dark Gray card stock. I absolutely love how these dies were designed. They allow you to bend the wings up, allowing more movement and dimension. For each feathered friend, the body was glued to the card panel using glue tape and then foam tape was added under the top part of the wing. It makes it appear they are actually soaring high above the world.

Once my panel was completely dry, I applied anti-static powder. I stamped my sentiment that comes from the new Up & Away stamp set with Obsidian pigment ink and embossed with crystal clear embossing powder. I always love black embossing on a project – such a simple process adds such class and elegance. It still needed a little something – cue the ink spray! I almost went with Antique Silver, but thought that would detract from the beautiful clouds. I went with Iridescent ink spray, which is one of my absolute favorites. You are able to create any color spray with this! Definitely a must have in your crafty space. I splattered on droplets by tapping the spraying mechanism across my card panel.

Since I mentioned Up & Away, why not take a look at that project? The second I saw this stamp set, not only did I NEED to have it, but I knew the exact story I wanted to document. My husband and I had gone to a balloon festival a few years ago. This set was PERFECT!!

My journal pages are generally 4.125 x 8.25, however, the large balloon image would not fit and I REALLY wanted to use it. The left hand side is 5 x 8.25 and the right is 4.125 x 8.25. I will have to create a page protector for it to fit into.

I started by stamping out the couple and large balloon in Limestone ink onto alcohol marker friendly card stock. Then began the coloring! It was definitely an undertaking with the balloon, but I am so happy with the result. I really wanted my colored balloon to match the balloon in the photo. I also colored the adorable couple to mimic my husband and I. I will list the colors and/or color families used on each item below.

Colors used

Balloon: Coffee Break, Fresh Lemon, Citrus Burst, Limestone, Arctic, Industrial Diamond, Andromeda, Ultraviolet, Emerald, Lagoon, Sapphire, Persian Blue

Couple: Delectable Delights (Hair), Pocketful of Sunshine, Rock Collection, Andromeda, Ultraviolet, Sapphire, Persian Blue, and Caribbean Sky

Once I held my breath and die-cut the fully colored images, I then cut Moonrock card stock for my bases of my journal pages. All of my journal pages have a gray base. I typed my journaling in Microsoft Word in a text box before cutting it out onto Moonrock card stock. I have a Canon printer and the Altenew card stock went through like a dream. I trimmed out my journaling and added to my page. The last thing to complete before adhering my images was to choose the sentiment. There are so many great ones, but the Escape and unwind was perfect for the story I had to tell. I stamped the sentiment in Obsidian pigment ink. I definitely thought about heat embossing, but did not.

Once this was done, I carefully added my die cut images to my pages and voila! Although I did not use the stencils in a project, I do want you to know they are now numbered! It is so much easier to know which way is up and which order you use them in. Thank you so much Altenew 😊

Seas the Day was the next set I couldn’t click fast enough to have! My husband and I have a beach house, so I have many wonderful memories by the ocean. This card is mainly one layer. The girl was colored, die cut and added on.

I started with a slimline card panel 3.5 x 8.5. I then stamped the lighthouse image with Pure Graphite ink directly onto the panel. I stamped it a second time onto masking paper. I fussy cut the image that I stamped onto masking paper and applied over my lighthouse. I stamped the ocean approximately 1/3 of the way down. I stamped the image with Cloudy Sky crisp dye ink. To fill in the water, I used my large blending brush to add more cloudy sky ink over the ocean. I put some of the blending heavier in places to create dimension. At this point, you could add some embossing paste to your water to create foam, but I did not on this card. I stamped the girl onto alcohol marker paper in limestone ink. At this point I worked on coloring my images. The colors I used will be listed below.

Once the images were colored, I kept the mask on my lighthouse and added masking tape on the line that separated the ocean. I used Hydrangea, Frosty Pink, and Warm Sunshine to create my sky. I let this dry to avoid tearing my masks when taking them off. I then had to figure out what to put in my lowest section on the panel. I couldn’t decide if I wanted more water or sand. If it was sand, I had to figure out the best way to create it. I thought about using my artist markers, but did not want to risk the whole panel on something I had never tried before. I went through my stash and found some embossing powder that resembled sand. I taped off my ocean and applied my embossing ink directly to the panel by rubbing the pad across. I applied the embossing powder and heat set.

I die-cut my girl, very carefully! I stuck her at the bottom of the panel as her legs are short — I can relate, mine too! In hind site, I could have cut a small slit with an exacto knife and tucked her in — next time. This finished off my card. There is no sentiment, yet. I may put one on, but I really like the vibe of the card as it is. Let me know what you think!

Colors Used

Lighthouse: Velvet, Crimson, Ruby Red, Morning Frost, Pure Graphite, and Industrial Diamond

Stones: Warm Gray

Boards: Coffee Break

Girl: Delectable Delights, Rock Collection, Emerald, Lagoon, Sapphire, Persian Blue, and Caribbean Sky

For my next two cards I used the Mountain Builder set and Dreamy Sunset paper pack. This paper is dreamy! I love the color palette and texture they add. I will definitely be purchasing more of this set. I would actually love a 12 x 12 of this paper pack. This is a must have set! I will admit I was a little intimidated by the Mountain Builder set to begin with. I felt silly because it is such an easy set to use!

I chose a background piece sized at 4.25 x 5.5 for a traditional A2 card panel. I chose two different card stocks to cut my pieces from. This is the first mountain out of the three choices. This is my absolute favorite as it looks like a winding road up the mountain to me. I chose to add the moon to my card panel using the die in the set. For a sentiment, I knew the perfect set – Wanderlust! This set has proved to be an amazing resource for me lately. It works phenomenally with this release. It is an oldie, but a goodie as they say. My sentiment was stamped with Obsidian pigment ink. I did use a stamping platform when stamping my sentiment. The paper has a slightly slick surface and I did not want to mess up at this point!

Out of these two cards I created from similar supplies – this is my absolute favorite. I started with a panel of Neenah Solar White 80# card stock. Since I am in LOVE with the paper I am making sure to use every little scrap. I used the dark scrap from the last card as my sky for this one. I cut the first layer of the first mountain out of a pink card stock. I adhered this to cover the missing portion of my sky piece. They fit together like legos! I love how you can create tall mountains by just cutting higher on a piece of paper. This set is so versatile! Using more scraps, I created mountain three to layer in front. I used similar pink tones to imply the same mountain chain.

Since I was using scraps, I needed to fill the bottom portion of the card. I had lots of options, but settled on more scraps! I had the piece leftover from my first card that had a muted rainbow. Luckily, I was left with the two green sections. I took the trees from Wanderlust and stamped with Obsidian pigment ink, again using my Misti. I let the pigment ink dry and then fussy cut the tops of the tree line. I added foam tape behind this panel and placed at the bottom of my card.

I really wanted it to appear as a night sky since I used such a dark card stock. I thought of using ink splatter, but wasn’t sure it would appear how I wanted it. At this point, I had a vision in my head to match. Antique Gold sequins to save the day! Of course for me, it’s gold ❤️. I took the top off the jar and let the sequins fall onto my project. Making sure I had an odd number, I adhered them to my project. It was the perfect touch to match my vision!

Sisters of the Heart really pulled on my heart. I created four cards using this set! You all know I am a sentiment girl — it is the first thing I look at when I get a stamp set. The sentiments are absolutely phenomenal. The florals are gorgeous as well and there is a coloring stencil! Enough about the set — lets get to the projects!

For this first card(A6), I did no-line coloring with my artist markers. I stamped the image with my Misti onto alcohol marker card stock with Limestone ink. The image was colored using Red Cosmos, Green Valley, and Summer Afternoon (Buttercream & Warm Sunshine). The sentiment was stamped with Obsidian pigment ink.

My woodless watercolor pencils were calling out, so I had to use them. I again opted for no-line watercolor, stamping the image in Limestone ink. I use a water brush for much of my coloring with woodless watercolor pencils. I like to get the pigment onto the water brush and apply. I feel I have more control and it gives me a softer look. Definitely play around and see what technique works best for you.

Once my images as colored, I die-cut the largest die from copy paper. I laid it over the image and splattered Antique Silver ink spray across the panel. It still needed something — more ink spray, of course! I removed my copy paper “mask” and splattered Pure White over the colored portion. That was it! I could not decide on a sentiment, so it does not have one. I do like the freedom of being able to choose my sentiment when the time comes to send my card. The pencils I used are pictured below.

My third card with this set uses all of this set. I stamped my image with Limestone ink and then used the stencils to color the image. To color my image I used Warm & Cozy, and Nature’s Wonders. These stencils are amazing! I love watching the image appear as you add layer after layer. And, having them etched with numbers makes it super easy! I chose another sentiment from the set to stamp on my card panel with Obsidian pigment ink. My card panel is a piece from the Dreamy Sunset paper pack. I couldn’t stop using it, lol! My final addition was Pure White splatter onto my card panel.

My ninth card, holy Toledo, ninth card! This card is super simple and could be used for so many occasions. I had the gray/white striped piece leftover from my other card and hated to have it go to waste. I chose a sentiment and stamped with Obsidian pigment ink centered to the right. I used the new Waffled Diamonds 3D embossing folder with Moonrock card stock. I was simply going to layer the panel onto the embossed panel, but it was missing something. I pulled out my Silver Glitter tape — that was the missing piece. I used two pieces, one top, and one bottom. I added foam tape to my gray piece and centered onto the glitter tape.

Phew! Thank you so much for sticking with me. I hope you were inspired by my projects. The good news is, the inspiration continues! Head on over to see the inspiring Karen Brown.

In case you are worried you missed some inspiration — here is the full blog hop list:

Altenew Blog

Terri Koszler

Erum Tasneem 

Jenny Colacicco

Norine Borys 

Vicky Papaioannou

Jaycee Gaspar

Seeka

Amber Rain Davis 

Erin Thompson

Tenia Nelson

Natasha Davies — Arrived from here

Bridget Casey — You are here 👈🏼

Karen Brown — Next stop 🛑

Laurie Willison

Kelly Griglione

Agnieszka Małyszek

LauraJane

Lilith Eeckels 

Maryam Perez

Carol Hintermeier

Therese Calvird

Amanda Baldwin

Verity Biddlecombe

Emily Midgett 

Raquel Bowman

Sande Woodson

Nicole Watt

Anna Mahtani

Virginia Lu

Sandhya Iyer

Michelle Short

Nathalie DeSousa

Keren Baker

Reiko Tsuchida

Patricia Roebuck

Mindy Eggen

Kymona Tracey 

Laura Bassen

Tania Ahmed 

Zinia Redo

Vicki Finger

Joylita Dsouza

Preeti Chandran

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 06/09/2021 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 06/11/2021.

Free Gifts

Here are THREE ways to get a FREEBIE to kickstart your creativity! Free gift will be added to cart automatically. 

• Get a FREE brand new Adventures Ahead Release Inspiration Guide (worth $5.99) with every order of high-value Adventures Ahead release bundles. Shop HERE! *Exclusions apply.
• Get a FREE brand new Creative Jump Start Class with every order from the new Adventures Ahead release collection from 6/04/2021 through 6/10/2021. Shop HERE! 
• Get a FREE brand new Adventures Ahead Release Mini Inspiration Guide with every order from 06/04/2021 through 06/06/2021. Shop HERE!

I look forward to your next visit! In the comments, I would love to know your favorite card. Also, if there are techniques you would like to see more of, please let me know!

Until next time, stay safe, and happy crafting ✂️