Altenew honors and July preview PART 2!

 Happy 4th everyone!

Its time for my SECOND preview of Altenew's July Cut, Color Create release! You can pre-order the entire release for 10% off until midnight tonight...so if you're loving any of these items, go get them now!  They will go quickly and generally sell-out pretty fast...just sayin'.

After yesterday's post featuring all the gorgeous water-themed items...check them out here...today I'm going to focus on the Simply Beautiful Ensemble!  This ensemble has the Sketched Florals stamp set and coordinating die, the AMAZING Versatile Greetings 2 foil plates and dies, and the Dotted Waves die and stencil bundle I featured yesterday as well.

 

Altenew is also releasing new Fresh Dye inks, the Deco Garden collection, Green Fields, and the Golden Sunshine collections as well as the MOST AMAZING SCISSORS EVER!!!

So let me show you what I've done with all these fantastic products!  

This card is going to be featured on a video hop tomorrow with Altenew at 9 am...bookmark the link....so I won't go into too many details on how it was created.    It shows how I achieved the extra details on the solid stamped images from the Sketched Florals stamp set.  It also uses all the new Fresh Dye inks and I have to tell you, they're lovely!  Highly pigmented and super juicy...I love using them and will now need to invest in many more.  I'm sure my hubby will love that...;)

For the background on this, I used the Green Fields Fresh Dye ink collection. Using the pads with a scraper, I dragged it along the top of the ink pad to collect a little bead of ink along the edge.  I then scraped it across the paper to get those blocks of color.  This was a popular technique with my students, although usually with paint, that created fabulous results!  I then used the outline parts of the Sketched Florals stamp set for the flower and accented it with metallic watercolor paint.  It was finished off with some spatters and a foil sentiment from the Versatile Greetings 2 set...which I LOVE... and finished with a little sentiment from the Bold Sentiments set.

  

The couches at our country club inspired this card! This showcases the use of all parts of the stamp set, solid and lined images.  However, instead of inking the solid floral images from Sketched Florals, I gently swiped them with the edge of the ink pad!  I love the effect it created.  I also have to bring up the wonderful gratitude sentiments included with this set, perfect for any card showing thanks!

The process for this card is almost the same as the card that will be showcased in the video hop tomorrow.  Check it out and it will explain everything...  I must say I love the background, it's not from the release. Its the Quilted Circle cover die cut twice, then one of the die cuts are turned upside down.  Who knew?

Sooo...admittedly, I am not much of a scrapbooker.  I used a new stencil from this release called Color Blobs to create the background.  This stencil is not part of the Simply Beautiful collection, but part of the Sweet Foliage ensemble. Its a great stencil for use behind any outlined image, so versatile.  I used it with the Fine Circle Frames die set.  The Sketched Florals were stamped with gray ink and the Jet Black Fresh Dye ink over it.  The Versatile Greetings 2 are used for the titles...

I love watercolor, and it looks like I can actually to it with this card!  Using the same technique I show in the video hop, I spray the stamp before I press it on the paper to create the watercolor look.  I love this technique and use it often!  I also used the edges of the Navy Fresh Dye inkpad for the 2 larger flowers. 

This is my least favorite creation I did for the release.  It didn't come out the way I really wanted to, but I will try it again for sure!  I used Navy, Coral Red, Mid Yellow and Pool Fresh Dye inks, all colors from the Deco Garden Fresh Ink collection along with the Dotted Waves stencil.  My goal was to make it look like a sunset over the water???  I finished it off by using the foil plates of the Versatile Greetings 2 set.

That's it!  I hope I didn't bore you...  Don't forget, TOMORROW is when the release is available for everyone to purchase, but TODAY you could pre-order all the items of the release for 10% off!  Go get them!

Have a colorful, crafty day!

#altenewsketchedflorals #altenewdottedwaves #altenewversatilegreetings2 #altenewdecogardenfreshdyeink #altenewgreenfieldsfreshdyeink #altenewllc #altenew #altenewgoldensunsetfreshdyeink

 

Tic Tac Toe - TEAM FAVORITE!

 Hi all!

My husband is a tic tac toe shark...he used to always win against the girls.  He had some crazy formula to beat them nearly every time...until they caught on....  Now it's a draw every time!

I was honored to have be awarded a Design Team choice recognition last week!  The card was made from scraps and paper I had made.  This week I'm following the prompts down the left side of the board, nature, pink and circles.

This card uses a new Mini stamp set being released by Altenew July 17th.  It's called Watercolor Cluster.  Super tiny little set that packs a big punch!  It comes with dies including the 'friend' die.

I also used a new stencil and Fresh Die colors from Altenew...also to be released on the 17th.  Color Blobs stencil and the color families Green Fields and Golden Sunset.  The dies are so juicy and highly pigmented!  I threw in Blush and Pink Pearl as well for the 2 other circles.

The circles in the background are also from Altenew, they are from Fine Frames Circle die.  One cut makes a ton of circles!

That's it for now!  Have a colorful day!

Scrapbooking Smiles

 Hi all!

A super quick post...

I'm not much of a scrapbooker.  I make junk journals occasionally that are...sassy...(here, here and here are a few)  However, I haven't really done scrapbooking since the girls were little.  When I was invited to be a guest designer for Altenew's July release and saw the amazing Boat Ride ensemble (live on July 5th...save the link), I thought they would be great for a layout!  It helps also that we just got a boat.  

 

I think this ensemble is perfect if you love boating, and the Pond Flowers die set is incredibly versatile outside of  the water sport layouts.  The sentiments with the Boat Adventures stamp and die combinations are great for layouts as well as cards.  With the addition of the Dotted Waves die and stencil, its an amazing combination!  

I also used to be a preschool art teacher for 6 years, and still develop their yearly curriculum.  So when I saw the Lasting Memories layout challenge, based on her son's experience with learning the rainbow colors, I knew I had to participate!

This little Gerber baby is our Goddaughter.  She is the cutest, sweetest little thing I've ever experienced!  Just as sweet as can be!  The boat from the Wooden Boat die set is adorable and I love the colors of the boat can be easily changed...here are more examples... I used the colors from the Deco Garden Fresh Dye Ink collection (also to be released July 5th) for the boat and for the 'smile' part of the title.  The letter dies I used were Bold Alphabet and Tall Alphabet dies sets also from Altenew...those are always available on their site.

Here is a close-up of the boat and title coloring, as well as those adorable flowers from the Pond Flower die set.  

I love how it came out...I may have to do more!

Have a colorful day!

#altenewwoodenboat #altenewpondflowers #altenewboatadventures #altenewdecogardenfreshdyeink #altenewdottedwaves

Altenew honors and July release preview!

 Hi all!

Warning...this is a LONG and exciting post!

I have VERY exciting news to share...I have been asked to be a Guest Designer for Altenew's July releases!  I'm absolutely humbled and honored to have been asked to participate in this.  I've had to keep it quiet working on this release since the end April.  NOW I'm ready to share all that I've been up to!  For the next 3 days I'll be posting some of my favorite projects with information on how to get them.  BUT FIRST...

If you LOVE Altenew like I do and don't want miss out on anything from this release, you can pre-order it in it's entirety HERE.  Get on it, because many of the items will be going FAST!

 

Today I'm going to talk about the die sets I really love and I've showcased one with the fabulous coordinating stamp set last week for a challenge.  They are called Wooden Boat, Boat Adventures, and Pond Flowers (all sold together  Boat Ride Ensemble or separately), as well as Dotted Waves cover die and stencil. Those links won't work until the 5th, but bookmark them if you like what you see and pick it up then!

Actually all the dies in this release are adorable!  I may just like these because we did just buy a boat last month?  Perhaps, but I do love the sentiments in the Boat Adventures bundle as well, CARPE DIEM was our senior year moto in 1990...yes I'm old...and it brings back fond memories for me.

What I love about the Wooden Boat dies, is that you don't have to make a plain brown or grey boat...I LOVE the colorful boats from Thailand, the Mediterranean islands and Caribbean!  That's what inspired this card and the matching gift tag. 

Changing the colors of all the pieces of the boat is so fun!  A great tip with this set...you see those shadows?  They are a separate die cut piece.  If you don't have graduated paper colors, cut them from the same color as your interior boat piece and color them with a grey alcohol marker...that's how I did it! The fantastic Dotted Waves cover die with matching stencil work amazingly with these water themed pieces, but they can be used for SO MUCH MORE!  I have used the die for backgrounds on most of the cards I made for this release it has a great texture!

  

I think Pond Flowers is the most versatile die set of the bunch!  It has great flowers you can assemble in many different configurations to make endless options and 3 adorable foliage  dies.  The pond and it's outline die can be used for other things as well which I love.

 

 

I was even able to use the foliage dies to emboss the background of the mint card, so, so great!

What do you think?  Pretty fantastic eh?  If you think these are awesome, wait until tomorrow when I'll showcase the Simply Beautiful Ensemble with sentiment foil dies, new fresh die inks and gorgeous floral stamp set!

I hope you have a colorful day and I'll see you tomorrow!

#altenewboatadventures #altenewdottedwaves #altenewpondflowers #altenewwoodenboat #altenewllc #altenew

THIRLLED!

 Hi all!

I'm so excited to share with you all today...I was selected by the team at Just Us Girls Challenge (aka JUGS) to be their guest designer for the month of July!!!  

Its such an honor...I love this challenge site.  They are always changing it up each week with their challenges, which makes me think outside of the box.  That's when I do my best creating!

The first challenge this month is Pastels.  This is a challenge for me, as I LOVE COLOR! (as a former art teacher is kind required) Most of my projects have lots of bold color, so to keep the colors soft and muted is a bit outside of my comfort zone.

I used a new stencil set from The Ton called Sweet Bouquet.  While for me it creams for the need of bold colors, I do love this pastel version.  All the inks are from Altenew, Vanilla Cream, Frost Pink and Pink Pearl. The centers were done with Industrial Diamond ink (also from Altenew), it's a soft but deep grey color that I love using.  The greens are Frayed Leaf and Forest Glades and the back ground is Mountain Mist using the Broken Chevrons stencil.

The sentiment is from Bold Sentiments and again I used Industrial Diamond to ink it.  I added gunmetal Stickles to the centers of the flowers and a few dots around.

NOW...show me your pastel creation!  I can't wait to see them...

Have a colorful day!  See you next week!