sending hugs...

 Hello!  Popping in to share a card for a few challenges all of which will be closing very soon!  I have tried for days to get a card, any card made.  Finally, this one came together for me.   Let's have a look.

About a month ago I got this sweet little personalized stamp set in the mail from Altenew.  This is the second one they have sent me as I got the one they sent out last year.  It is a little surprising to me that I have gotten these sets as I don't often buy from Altenew.  They have beautiful products, but I find their selection overwhelming and honestly, I don't have a lot of money to spend on crafty supplies.   Anyway, this little stamp is so pretty that I just had to get something made with it.  Along came the current Color Hues challenge of coral and green.  Perfect!  Then I saw that the current Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge was feminine.  What is more feminine than a little flower cluster?  Then I decided to check out the Altenew April challenge.  The colors in the challenge work with my little flower!  Yay!

I stamped the flower using Memento Tuxedo Black ink and then colored it with Copic markers.  I had to come up with my coral color myself and thankfully I had Copics that worked.  I think I did a pretty good job, too.   After I finished coloring the image I stamped it again to make the black lines a little bolder.  I did leave the image in my stamp positioner for that purpose.  I fussy cut the image which wasn't too hard to do.  Hoping they come up with a matching die.  The set I got last year has a matching die set so I am going to try to pick that up eventually.  I used my Simon Says Stamp Scalloped Arched Frames dies to cut white glitter cardstock and fog cardstock (both from Simon Says Stamp).  I adhered the glitter frame to the white cardstock panel, then added thin foam squares to the gray interior piece and inserted it into the frame.  I added the floral image using thin foam squares, as well.  I finished with the sentiment that is also in the set.  I die cut it with a labels die from my stash.   A simple card, but sometimes that is all you need!

Well, that's it for me.  Thanks for stopping by and have a lovely day!

Just Us Girls Guest Designer Word Week - Spotlight

Hello everyone!  It is word week at JUGs this time around and the word is spotlight technique.  I have to be honest and tell you that I was thrown for a bit of a loop when I saw the word.  Had to go look up the spotlight technique to make sure I knew what I was doing, lol!   It also didn't help that I was struggling with a bad head cold!  Thankfully I was able to persevere and get something made.  Let's look at what I created.

I hadn't used any of my Altenew products in quite some time and so I decided that I wanted to use them for this card.   I searched through what I had and settled on the Sweet Lilies stamps, stencil and die set.  I looked through my collection of Altenew Fresh Dye inks and settled on a grouping of light purples and light pinks for the flowers and darker greens for the leaves.  I then determined what size of circle die I was going to use for the spotlight portion of the card.  I picked a circle die that would include as much of one of the lilies in it as possible.  Then I stamped the image twice.  One for the spotlight portion and one for the full image as you see on the card.  Then I stenciled the flowers and the leaves.   Once I had the majority of the image that I would need stenciled I die cut it and then adhered it to the background panel with thin foam squares.  I finished the card with sentiments from the Simon Says Stamp Thanks, Mom stamp set.  I had been able to purchase the matching dies and used those as well.   

Well, that's it for me.  I hope you will play along with this week's technique.  It really is a fun one and there are lots of directions to go in.  Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day.

two cards...

 Hello!  Popping in with a couple of cards.  One card is for the Altenew August challenge and the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge of anything goes.  The other card will be heading off to the current JUGs challenge and Color Throwdown.  Let's look at what I made.

I often think I would like to participate in the Altenew monthly challenges, but then the month goes by and I don't.  I decided to make sure that I did participate in the August challenge and here I am, barely getting it in on time, lol!   Only took me four days to get the card done!  I used the Japanese Mum Build a Flower stamp set (Does Altenew even still have that line of stamps?  I don't know because all my Altenew products are several years old!).  It is a favorite.  I paired it up with one of their dotted impression plates (don't know the name because it is old, too, lol!) and a sentiment from their Versatile Greetings 2 die set.  That isn't super old having been released in 2023.  All the inks are from Altenew, as well.   Won't win any prizes, but I thought it turned out well.  

It is stencil week at JUGs and lucky for me I got the PaperTrey Ink In the Meadow stencil set this week!  I immediately put it to use with the Color Throwdown colors to create this card.  The sentiment is the January 2023 Psalms Reflection stamp.  This is one of my favorite Bible verses.  Sometimes when I'm having a not so great day, I remember this verse and it makes me feel so much better!   So you could still see all the stenciling I did with Altenew inks in reds and aquas I embossed the sentiment in white on vellum.  It was a bit tricky to get the panel adhered, but I think it turned out okay.  

That's it for me.  Don't forget about the sales at Birch Press Design and Poppystamps.  You just might find something fun to buy.  Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

three cards...

 Hello!  Popping in with three cards today.  And each card is for one challenge each!   First up is a card that I made for the current Color Hues challenge.  Let's have a look at what I made.

This card was made using the Altenew Craft Your Life Watercolor Flowers stamps and stencils along with sentiments from the Simon Says Stamp Sweet Birthday stamp set.  A few weeks ago I think I mentioned that I had been looking through my Altenew products and came across the Watercolor Flowers stamps and dies.  I had thought I had also purchased the coordinating stencils and embossing folder, but couldn't find them.  Well, I found the stencils and the embossing folder a few days ago.  YAY!   What was lost has been found, lol!  I used Altenew inks to stencil the flowers and leaves after I stamped the image.  I was going to die cut the image, but decided to just leave it as is and just die cut the panel.  I adhered the panel to a white cardstock base, stamped the two word sentiment and die cut them.  I did die cut additional layers for the words.  I adhered them together and then added the words to the card front.   A simple, but elegant card, I think.

Next up is a card for the current Just Us Girls challenge.   This week it is mood board week and it is a pretty one.  This is what I made.

 

When I saw the mood board I immediately thought of a Simon Says Stamp set that I got in a card kit called Cozy Autumn Hugs.  It had leaves in it that are similar in style to some of the images in the mood board.   I used to it create my own version of the mood board.  I tried to use what I thought were some of the colors found in the mood board, as well.  Not sure if I totally hit the mark with the colors, but I love how the card turned out.  I arranged all the leaves and berry stems around the sentiments that are also from the stamp set.  I adhered all the leaves flush to the card base.  The sentiments were stamped and die cut and then I die cut additional layers of each word to adhere behind the words so there was a bit of dimension.   Did I hit the mark?  Let me know what you think.

The final card is for the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge of cute critters.  Are whales cute?  I think the ones on my card are, lol!

I created this card using more new dies from the latest Birch Press Design release.  The fun whales are from the Block Print Whale Duo set.  The waves are another new die set called Corner Waves.  I also used the Wavy Hillside die set and a sentiment from the Vintage Everyday Greetings stamp and die set.  I die cut the whales and then added some ink to give them a little more depth and dimension.  I had wanted both whales to be a little more tucked behind the waves, but I wasn't paying attention when I added foam tape to the bottom two waves resulting in me not being able to tuck the whales down behind the waves.  I added the hillside in the background and then did some inking on the remainder of the white panel for the sky.    I added the sentiment to finish things off.  I think this will be a good card to send to my brother for his birthday.  

Well, that's it for me.  Thanks for stopping by and have a great day.

last minute cards...

 Hello!  Popping in with a couple of cards that I made at the last minute for two challenges:  Pinkfresh Studio May challenge and Altenew monthly challenge.  Let's have look at what I made.

My first card is for the Altenew challenge.  Back at the end of April I received a surprise in the mail.  A personalized stamp set from Altenew!  That is the stamp I used for my card.  Sadly as I was stamping the image I realized that there is a flaw in the image.  I was able to fix it so I will still be able to use the stamp in the future.  I stamped the image on watercolor cardstock using VersaFine CLAIR Nocturne ink, applied clear embossing powder and heat set.  I colored the image with Tonic Studio Aqua Flow pens.   Once the image was dry I die cut it with a Memory Box arched die.  Two more of the arched dies were cut and adhered behind the main one.  I adhered the panel to the kraft cardstock base and then added my sentiment.  I used the Altenew Fancy Thanks die and cut it from glossy black cardstock from Memory Box.   Two additional layers were cut and adhered for a bit more dimension.  Will add this one to the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge. 

My next card is for the Pinkfresh Studio monthly challenge that is closing tonight!  Yikes... talk about last minute, lol!  Let's have a look.

The challenge at PFS is frame it up so I pulled out a couple of my favorite PFS stand alone dies and the pretty Amazing Things suite of products.  I used the Fancy Rectangle Frames and Nested Rectangles:  Postage Edge dies to frame up my floral image.  I stamped the image using Memento Tuxedo Black and colored it with Copic markers.  I layered up the frames and then added the die cut image and the sentiment.  The Fance Rectangle was die cut from pretty white glitter cardstock from Simon Says Stamp.

Well, that's it for me.  Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

stenciled cards...

 Hey there!  I'm stopping in to share two cards that feature stenciling.  One card is for the current Color Throwdown challenge and the other is for the current Sunday Stamps and Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenges.  First up in the card for Color Throwdown.

I love to cross-stitch and I like to stitch on cards, too, so when I saw the Waffle Flower Winter Floral stencil and stitching die set I had to get it.   I thought the colors for the current CTD would be perfect for a non-traditional Christmas card and I was right.  I love how this turned out.  I used distress oxide inks in Peacock Feathers, Wilted Violet and Mowed Lawn for the stenciling.  Per instructions from Waffle Flower I used the stitching die first before stenciling.  Once the stenciling was done I went through my extensive collection of "fancy floss" and found three colors that worked well with the inks I used.  Fancy floss is different from regular embroidery floss in that it is dyed so that there the floss color is variegated.  You can see the variegation the most in the purple fancy floss I used.   I love how it looks.  Once the stitching was done I adhered the card to a light gray cardstock base and then added the pre-printed sentiment that is also from Waffle Flower.  One more Christmas card for my stash!

For my next stenciled card I used a stencil set from Altenew called Daisy Craze.  I watched Jennifer McGuire make a card using the stencils and I loved the unique look so I decided to purchase the set.  I thought the colors for the Sunday Stamps challenge would be perfect and they are!  Let's have a look.

I used mainly Altenew inks for the stenciling.  I don't have any brown Altenew inks so I used a brown ink from Pinkfresh Studio for the flower centers.  I love how bright and happy this card is.  The perfect way to show someone a little gratitude!  After stenciling I die cut the panel down and adhered it to a light gray cardstock base.  The sentiments are from a Simon Says Stamp set called Cozy Autumn Hugs that I got in the fall of last year.  Looking forward to using this set this fall to create cards with!  I stamped those in VersaFine CLAIR Nocturne ink and die cut them with the matching dies.  The top sentiment has two additional layers behind it and the bottom one a second layer to give them a little bit of dimension.  

That's it for me!  Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day.

fun, bright cards...

 Hello!  I'm popping in with a couple of fun, bright cards that I got a chance to make.  The first one is for Freshly Made Sketches.  Take a look.

Back in May I purchased the Simon Says Stamp June card kit as I thought it would be a fun one to have for making birthday cards for my little nieces and nephew.    This card will be going to my little niece, Mia, who turns three in September.  I used the Simon Says Stamp Instagram colors of aqua, pink and green for the card.  I stamped the cupcake and candle images on white cardstock with Memento Tuxedo Black ink and colored them with Copic markers.  I stamped the heart shaped swirled sucker on to a die cut rectangle with Tuxedo Black ink and colored it with Copics, as well.  I stamped a confetti image from the stamp set over the sucker with VersaMark watermark ink, sprinkled on a glitter embossing powder and heat set it.  I then layered on the cupcake pieces and candles using liquid adhesive and thin foam squares.  Finished with the sentiment stamped in black.   Perfect for a little girl, don't you think?

This next card is another one for the Altenew July challenge and it was super quick to put together.  Have a look.

It was quick to put together due to the fact that I had created these pieces at the time I made the first card.  I used an Altenew debossing plate for the background and then simply layered on the different leafy pieces.  I finished with a sentiment strip from Memory Box.  Clean and simple!

That's it for me!  Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day.

masculine... feminine...

 Hello and happy Wednesday!  I'm popping in with two cards to share today.  One is masculine and the other is very feminine.   First up is my masculine card for the current Altenew April challenge.  Take a look.

The inspiration photo for the April Altenew challenge is of the ocean/beach at what I believe is sunset.  The colors in the photo range from a fiery orange and yellow to white, gray and black.  There are also several different textures present and I tried to capture all those elements with my card.  Starting with the stamping I used Altenews' Terracotta and Snapdragon Fresh Inks to stamp the two Triangle images from the very old Trigonometry stamp and die set.   For one triangle I used the Terracotta at the top and the Snapdragon at the bottom, making sure to blending the colors in the middle.  I did the reverse for the other triangle.  I stamped both triangles using an acrylic block because I wanted a less than perfect image to sort of mimick the broken up look of sky/clouds in the photo.  I then used Altenew Industrial Diamond and Pure Graphite inks for the other triangles using the same technique done for the first two.  I die cut with the maching die.   To bring in the look of the beach with the snow, as well as the ocean I used the Altenew Dotted Waves cover die to emboss a panel of white cardstock that I then die cut down with a rectangle die.  A larger panel of light gray cardstock was die cut, as well.  I layered the panel on a white cardstock base and then added the triangles.  Originally, I had the triangles arranged so that the terracotta/snapdragon triangles were next to each other with the other triangles as their silhouette below.  But I didn't like how it looked and so I decided to arrange them the way you see.  I liked it much better.  I finished with a Memory Box happy birthday sentiment tab.

 Obviously, my next card is the feminine one.  Let's have a look at it.

At the end of March I was the lucky winner of a Waffle Flower Sneak Peek kit!  The kit contained the pretty Wild Flowers four piece stencil set, Small Sentiments Bloom stamp set and Subsentiments Bloom die cuts.  The stencil set is so easy to use and Waffle Flower even provided a color combo etched into the stencil.  I didn't go with the color combo as I wanted to use the colors from the current Paper Players challenge.  So that is where this card is headed.    The color combo at the Paper Players has four colors in it so I just made sure that I tried to keep the colors I used for the flowers in a pleasing arrangment.  I used Altenew Teal Cave for the Bermuda Bay color and then Pinkfresh Studio inks in Sweet Mustard, Marigold, Grassy Knoll, Sparkling Rose and Bubble Gum for the rest of the colors.  Once the stenciling was done I used a Waffle Flower frame die to cut out the frame and the center rectangle.  I adhered the frame directly to my cardstock base and then popped up the center panel with foam tape.  I made a mistake.  Can you figure it out?    I finished off the card with a sentiment from the Small Sentiments Bloom set and some pretty diecuts my friend Greta sentiment.  The diecuts were originally white and I colored them by simply using the residual ink left on the blending brushes I used for the stenciling.  I love how they look with the stenciled background.   I'm also adding this to the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge of stencil it.

Well, that's it for me!  Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day.

thanks...

 Hello!  Popping to share a card for a couple of challenges:  Freshly Made Sketches and Altenew February challenge.   Love the fun, bright colors in the Altenew challenge so I had to get something made before the month was over.   Take a look.

I used the pretty Altenew Sketched Florals stamp and die set along with their fun Dotted Waves debossing cover die.  I stamped the flowers using Pinkfresh Studio inks and then die cut with the matching dies.   I used the Memory Box curved capped dotted layering dies to die cut the panel from glossy cardstock.  I then debossed it with the Dotted Waves debossing cover die.  The sentiments are also from the Sketched Florals set.  I stamped both on vellum, applied black embossing powder and heat set.  The word 'thanks' has a matching die so I used that to cut the word and a thin labels die for the subsentiment.   Adhered everything to the black panel and then added it to a white die cut panel and card base. 

Pink Poinsettia

 Hello friends.  I'm popping in to share a card for the November Altenew challenge.  I love the pretty color combo that is offered and challenged myself to use them with one of my favorite stamp sets, Altenew's Festive Poinsettia.  

To color the poinsettia I pulled out my Altenew gouache paints.   I'm not an expert by any stretch of the imagination when it comes to coloring with different mediums, but it is fun to try your hand at something outside your comfort zone.  I wanted to see if I could manage to combine the pink and soft purple colors in my poinsettia and I think I achieved that goal.   It was definitely interesting coloring with the gouache paints as the color seems to be a bit flatter to me than with watercolors.   To create a bit more separation when some of the bracts overlapped each other I used a medium pink Polychromos pencils.  Overall, I'm pretty happy with how things turned out. 

Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

sending a bouquet...

 Hello... boy it has been awhile!   Haven't really felt like creating that much lately and so I have just been working on a few cross-stitch projects that I have going.   In an effort to get back into a creative mood I made a card for the current Sunday Stamps challenge.  The have a beautiful fall color palette to work with.   This is what I made.

If this card looks familiar that is because it is very similar to the last card I made for my Birch Press Design blog post.  I liked the look and thought I would make it again, but with a little change.  I created an arched frame instead of using a solid arched panel.   The majority of the products are from Altenew.  

The teal flowers and leaves from the Altenew SketchedFloral stamp set were stamped using Altenew Fresh inks in Aqualicious, Teal Cave and Galactic Stream.  The orangy-rust foliage was stamped using Pinkfresh Studio Clementine and Persimmon inks.  Everything was diecut with matching dies.  I used VersaFine CLAIR Nocturne ink for the sentiments.  They were also die cut.  I die cut white cardstock with a rectangle die and then used the Altenew Dotted Wave impression plate to added the dotted background.  The arch frame was die cut from a teal cardstock using Memory Box arched dies.   After I layered everything onto the main panel and added it to my card base I thought I might add something else, but decided to keep things the way you see it.  Also adding this to the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge since technically the dotted waves pattern is embossed. 

Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

Altenew July Marvelous Monthly Series Release Blog Hop + Giveaway ($300 in Prizes!)

 Hello everyone!  I back to share projects I made with products from Altenew's July Marvelous Monthly series.   You should have arrived here from Seeka's blog.   You can find the entire list of blog hop participants on the Altenew blog.  Below the banner are all the details regarding the prizes to be won.

Giveaway Prizes

$300 in total prizes! To celebrate this release, Altenew is giving away a $100 gift certificate to 1 lucky winner and a $40 gift certificate to 5 winners! Please leave a comment on the Altenew Card Blog and/or each designer’s blog post on the blog hop list below by 07/24/2023 for a chance to win. Altenew will draw 6 random winners from the comments left on each stop of this blog hop and announce the winners on the Altenew Winners Page on 07/26/2023.

*The winner of the $100 gift certificate will be chosen from comments left on the Altenew blog. 

Craft Your Life Project Kit updates

Craft Your Life Project Kit will no longer be released to the public in the Altenew store, unlike other subscription products. It will only be available via the Ultimate Subscription Plan or Craft Your Life Project Kit Monthly Subscription Plan.

For my projects today I created with the following monthly series products:  Craft-a-Flower, Build-a-Garden and Mini Delight.  First up is my card using the July Build-a-Garden Sweet Lilies product bundle.  When you subscribed to the Build-a-Garden monthly plan you will received the stamp set, stencils and a mini blending brush.  You can add on the matching die to complete the collection.   The Build-a-Garden Sweet Lilies set is GORGEOUS!  Take a look at what I created:

The large floral stamp in the Sweet Lilies set is beyond gorgeous and I just couldn't bear to cut it up so I decided to create a slimline card.  I used inks from my small collection of Crisp die inks and the matching stencils to color in the flowers after I stamped the image using Jet Black Crisp die ink on white cardstock.  The companion die set (a separate purchase) includes the die for the floral image, as well as for the three large sentiments in the set.  I picked my large sentiment, stamped it in VersaMark watermark ink on vellum, applied black embossing powder and heat set.  I die cut it with the matching dies.  I used a slimline rectangle die to die cut light gray cardstock, adhered my floral image and then stamped the sub sentiment from the Sweet Lilies set.  I finished by adhering the main sentiment using rolled up glue dots placed behind the embossed letters. 

This card features the Mini Delight stamp and die set called Watercolor Cluster.  I stamped the flowers using Altenew Crisp inks in shades of blue and then adding in the yellow for the center of the flowers.  The leaves were stamped in a mid tone green.  The die set includes the small "friend" word die.  That was cut from glossy black cardstock several times and then adhered together.  I used the Dotted Waves debossing plate to deboss my white cardstock rectangle as a backdrop for the floral cluster.  I arranged the die cut images on top of some silver thread and then added the small stamped sentiment from the set along with the word friend.  The panel was then added to a white cardstock base using foam squares.  

My final card features the Craft-a-Flower Stargazer Lily layering die set.  I absolutely love Stargazer lilies!  They are so beautiful!  I did not go with a typical Stargazer color palette for my lily, but instead went with an all over pink tone.  I used Altenew rose quartz metallic watercolor to do a wash on some watercolor cardstock.   The die set makes three different lilies.  I decided to keep things simple and used just one for my card.   The dies emboss details into your cardstock so I simply used a couple of pink Polychromos pencils to add a little more shading to the flowers and to emphasize the dots and veining in the flower.   I did a wash of green on additional watercolor cardstock for the leaves and the stamen.  White cardstock was die cut with a rectangle die and then I lightly stenciled on a chevron pattern using an older Altenew chevron stencil and Altenew Crisp die ink in Silverstone.  The sentiment is from the Sweet Lilies stamp set and was stamped using Jet Black Crisp die ink.

Your next stop on the hop is Rachel Alvarado.   I hope you enjoyed my cards and the hop.  Don't forget to comment for a chance to win a prize.  Thanks for stopping by and have a lovely day!

Altenew July Stamps, Dies, Inks, and More Release | Blog Hop + Giveaway ($300 in prizes!)

Hello everyone!  I'm so excited to be guest designing for Altenew's July stamp, die, stencil, ink and more release.  I won Altenew's monthly challenge in March and was asked to participate in the July release.  I would like to thank Altenew for this opportunity!  This is a photo heavy blog post so I hope you will stay to end.   You can find the entire new release right here.   So lets get to some of the details of the blog hop: 

To celebrate this release, Altenew is giving away a $100 gift certificate to 1 lucky winner and a $40 gift certificate to 5 winners! Please leave a comment on the Altenew Card Blog and/or each designer’s blog post on the blog hop list below by 07/12/2023 for a chance to win. Altenew will draw 6 random winners from the comments left on each stop of this blog hop and announce the winners on the Altenew Winners Page on 07/14/2023.

*The winners of the $100 gift certificate will be chosen from comments left on the Altenew blog. 

Affiliate links used within the body of this blog post where possible. Using my links allows me to earn a small commission. Thank you for your support.

You should have arrived from Rachel Alvarado's blog. If you didn't you can head to the Altenew card blog for the entire link list. For my first card I used the following new products: Sketched Florals stamps and dies and the Dotted Waves Debossing cover die.

I have a very small collection of Altenew Crisp Dye inks and all of them got used for many of the projects I'm sharing. Stay tuned, though, as I have projects to share that use the newest additions to Altenew's Fresh Ink line up. The florals in the Sketched Florals set are so whimsical and sweet. I used the following ink groupings for the flowers and leaves/stems: Red Cosmos, Green Meadows, Green Fields, Deep Blue Seas, Golden Sunset, and Red Sunset. The background was created using the Dotted Wave debossing plate. I first die cut my rectangle of white cardstock and then debossed it with the Dotted Wave plate. The panel was adhered to a light gray cardstock base and then I arranged the flowers and leaves. There is a die for the large "thanks" sentiment in the set so I used that sentiment along with a subsentiment for my card. I finished with clear sequins.

For this next card I used the new Shimmery Hummingbird bundle that includes the following: Hot foil plate, stencil and coordinating die.

I foiled the hummingbirds using matte silver foil and then used Sea Breeze ink and an Altenew mini blending brush to ink up the images. I tried to go heavier on the top of the birds and lighter on the bottom. Once I had the ink blending done to my liking I die cut the birds with the coordinating dies. For my background I used the Altenew Magnolia Ballerina 3D embossing folder and then added the same blue ink to the centers of the flowers. The sentiment is from the new Sincere Sentiments stamp set. The sentiment was stamped with watermark ink, covered with silver embossing powder, heat set and then die cut with one of the labels dies that is part of the Fragrant Flowers die set. I adhered the background to my card base and then arranged my hummingbirds and sentiment.

This next card uses the main die from the Fragrant Flowers die set along with the Versatile Greetings 2 die set.

Originally I made a card in a different color combo, but ended up not liking how things turned out. So I went back to the drawing board and created this card. I found a piece of light lilac patterned paper and die cut the Fragrant Flowers from that along with two additional pieces from cardstock. All the layered were adhered together and set aside to dry. I pulled out my Altenew metallic watercolors and watercolored the simple background with the amethyst paint. The sentiment was die cut from the same patterned paper as the floral die cut and the shadow layer from heavy weight vellum. I like how the vellum really blends into the background. I adhered the die cuts to my watercolored background and then added that to a white card base. Simple, but I'm very happy with the end result.

The next set of cards use the newly released Altenew Fresh Inks. They have released inks in the following groupings: Deco Garden, Green Fields and Golden Sunset. They also released a white pigment ink called Cloud White. For my first card (and my favorite of the group), I used inks from the Deco Garden set to do some watercoloring.

To start my card I used the 3D embossing folder from the Watercolor Flowers Craft Your Life kit to emboss the image on watercolor cardstock. I then used the following colors from the Deco Garden ink collection to color the flowers: Mid Yellow, Navy, Pool and Coral Red. I simply smooshed the colors onto a large acrylic block that I have and started painting. I used the Coral Red for the petals on the cluster of three flowers and Mid Yellow for the centers. I decided to use the Pool color for the larger leaves and stems. I then combined the Navy and Coral Red inks to create the purplish color for the rest of the flowers. The smaller leaves were colored by combining the Mid Yellow and Pool colors. After I had finished all the painting I decided to add a little of the Navy to the Pool leaves. I was a little worried as to how it would look, but I really like it! I finished the card with some fine splatters of white gouache and the two sentiments from Watercolor Flowers set that were stamped in the new Fresh Ink Jet Black and then die cut with the coordinating dies.

This card features the Golden Sunset and Field Greens inks. The Field Greens bundle includes Jet Black ink and I used that to stamp the images. I used the older Build a Flower Japanese Mum stamp and die set. I think this is my second time actually using this stamp set! Shame on me for not using it as it is beautiful! I stamped the images and die cut them with the matching dies. I used the new Dotted Wave Debossing background die to deboss a panel of light peach cardstock. I die cut the Fancy Hello from the same peach cardstock three times, layered them and then adhered the word to the panel. I wanted the floral image to take center stage so that is why I went with a tone on tone look for the background and primary sentiment. I arranged the flower and leaves on top and then added the "just saying" sentiment that I stamped using Snapdragon ink, the darkest ink in the Golden Sunset collection. The new Fresh Inks stamp beautifully the first time you stamp!

For my last card I used the new Cloud White pigment ink. I initially tried an embossing folder technique that Jennifer McGuire shared recently, but it really didn't work that well with the Altenew Sylvan Baroque 3D embossing folder. So I tried something else. I used burgundy cardstock to emboss the image and then swiped the pigment ink over the top. I did get some of the ink on the surrounding cardstock so I decided to trim out the embossed image. Altenew sent me a pair of their Fine Blade Scissors and I used those to trim out the image. I used the pigment ink to stamp the sentiment from the Watercolor Flowers stamp set, applied white embossing powder and then heat set it. I die cut it with thee matching die and added the Cloud White pigment ink to the edges. I adhered the sentiment and the floral image with thin foam squares and then added some color change gems to the center of the flowers.

That was a long post, but I hope you have stayed with me! Your next stop on the hop is Seeka and I know that you will be blown away by what she has to share.

Thanks for stopping by and don't forget to comment for a chance to win one of the fabulous prizes!