Altenew "FOR THE GUYS" Geometrics

 I have been anxiously awaiting this class so that I could

 finally use my new Altenew Halftone Squares stamp set.

It took me a little bit to get the hang of patterning but I took

inspiration  from the examples in the stamp pack.

After stamping the pattern using a variety of Ranger mini cube inks

 I cut the design into a 5"x 2 1/8" strip 

and then cut that into three pieces.

Two were used on the card front and the leftover piece was

placed on the inside , both as decoration and to support the card front

As shown in the demonstration video I temporarily 

placed the pieces on the card front so I could determine 

how to place the sentiment

I then placed pencil markings so that I 

could remove the design pieces and stamp

without fear of misplacement.

The sentiment is from the Altenew Brushed Lettering

stamp set.

As you can see I am continuing to use the

ink splattering. In this case it was used to

cover up some random spots that appeared

from the sentiment stamping.

After heat embossing the sentiment using black

embossing powder I adhered the design pieces 

using strips of foam tape.

Thanks for visiting this blog and I would so appreciate

your comments and suggestions

Altenew Easy Inkblending Techniques/Faux Watercoloring

             

Every time a take an Altenew Class the card I make from that class becomes my favorite. 

But the card I made today is truly my favorite. 

I'm sure I will be using the Faux Watercoloring technique often.

Using  flower stamps from the Lush Garden Project Kit I embossed

them using white embossing powder and then used Fresh Lemon, 

Marigold, Midnight Violet, and Persian Blue ink from the mini cube  

inks to lightly watercolor them.

                      Next, after stamping several Distress Mini Cube inks on my glass

                   mat and adding water, I used those colors to add depth to color

                                                           of  the flowers                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

Using my Misti stamping tool I stamped the sentiment

After using a dotted rectangle diecutting to cut 

the card front to fit an A2 size card 

I adhered that to a piece of craft foam.

I also used my newly improved spatter technique but because I used

a large brush my spatters are a bit larger than I would have liked.

                                        

This was a fun and easy card to make but has quite a WOW factor !

Altenew Easy Die Cutting Techniques

Once again I was able to make my card using the same stamp set used in the class demonstration. However I did not have the same die. I used the Altenew Stacked Diamonds Cover Die for the blue embossed layer and was very pleased with the result.                          

I decided to go for a (mostly) monochromatic effect and used Altenew Glacier Caves Mini Cube inks to color the flowers and the Altenew Green Fields mini Cubes for the leaves.

                     

I love learning ways to expand my craft supplies by finding ways to use the supplies I already have in different ways. It never hurts to save money (to buy more craft supplies of course)!

    

                                 

                          

                             

Altenew Clean and Simple Boutique Cards/Faux Letterpress Embossing

                 

I am so proud of my splatter technique on this card.  Although I have been card making for many years I have not been able to use the splatter technique effectively. After watching the YouTube for this class, I got a close-up view of the correct technique and, finally, achieved success!

                                                            

                    I was excited to use the faux letterpress technique as there are occasions when I wouldn't want to add dimension to a card I was planning to mail but want something more than a flat stamp. So, using th Hello die from the Altenew Envelope die set, I made five copies from various colored scraps, with one copy from vellum to use as the bottom layer to hold the ink.

After adhering the layers together I inked the bottom layer with Altenew Crisp Die ink in Marigold and then, temporarily adhering the die cut to the card, I embossed the card using my die cutting machine. The Letterpress Embossing worked perefectly with just one pass through the machine.

                          

I then splattered the card front with Sunny, Snapdragon, and Ruby Red Altenew Crisp Die Inks by stamping them onto a smooth surface and adding water using a number 2 water brush to dilute them and splatter the ink onto the card. I then added a friend label stamped with embossing ink and white ebossing powder.

                     For additional interest I adhered a polka dot panel to the left side of the orange card base.

This is definitely my new favorite quick card making technique and I will be using it often. I hope you will try it also. As the old commercial use to say...

                                                          "Try it, you'll like it!"

                                         

                                       

                                      

 

Altenew Celebration: Stencil Techniques

 Using the Stacked Diamonds cover die I used the die cut as a stencil.  I started out using a sponge dauber to color a yellow gradient effect. I chose the Fresh Lemon, Maple Yellow, and Honey Drizzle from the POCKET FULL OF SUNSHINE cube ink set to color the background. The dauber kept bending some of the thinner pieces of the die cut so I switched to a blending brush which colored beautifully.

I then stamped the One Of A Kind  small flower stamp and colored that using Copic Markers. For the flower I used YR09,YR07, and YR02. For the leaves I used G07 and G21.

Since I stamped the sentiment upside down I restamped it  on the same yellow cardstock used for the solid card layer and adhered it with foam tape. (right side up thankfully)

Altenew All About Layering 2 (At Last)

 While I still have some difficulties navigating the Altenew Academy I am pleased, that with the assistance and patience of my mentor Erum Tasneem, I am doing much better and am back on track and pleased to show my latest class project.

I was so pleased that the stamp and die set in the lesson used a set that I purchased years ago when I first learned of ALTENEW.  Although our lessons do not require us to use the same design used there, I really wanted to try this one. I'm so glad that I did.

The set is Peony Bouquet and you can see by the discoloration of the stamps that it is well loved !

 My first effort in making this card was going well until I felt the need to re-stamp the outline but missed the mark.

                                                

Then I realized I didn't like the ink colors I had chosen. I had used Grapevine for the outline and felt it was too dark for the look I wanted.

So the third time was the charm!

Still using the Red Cosmos set

I used the Ruby Red for the outline stamp and the intricate detail

and Frosty Pink for the petals

For the leaves I used Evergreen and Forest Glades

 from the Altenew Green Fields set.

The sentiment is from the Altenew I Adore You stamp set.

Oh My ! What a Distressful Mess!

 I consider myself to be fairly intelligent. After all, I have a Masters Degree and graduated with honors. But I have, nevertheless, managed to completely muck up my journey in the Altenew Academy! 

It began when I signed up for courses before I was given the instructions on how to do this. The result is that I have spent the past four months completing the wrong lessons. DUH !

Since I enjoy learning and trying new techniques I will not allow this setback to undo me. I certainly don't regret having made ten beautiful cards using the amazing stamps and dies by Altenew.

So for this week my post will be of a card I recently designed for my monthly card class.

I hope everyone will be having a wonderful Holiday. 

Having recently had the good fortune to safely attend a PENTATONIX concert I am still in a celebratory state of mind.

See you on the top side !