Welcome to Altenew Educators Blog Hop! We are celebrating "Love and Friendship" in this hop. If you’ve been following along, you’ve just arrived from Vicki Finger's blog. If you find a broken link, you'll find a master list of the hop links at the Altenew Card Blog.
I am very excited as this is my very first blog hop, and that too for my favorite crafty brand Altenew!
When the call went out for the Altenew Educator Certification Program in December 2017, I applied without much expectation of being selected. After all, it was a worldwide call for an amazing brand and sure to receive hundreds of applications. Imagine my surprise when I received the acceptance email!
I took over a year to complete my certification. And I love this flexibility that allows for doing the classes at my own pace. The classes themselves are absolutely amazing. I learned both new techniques as well as great twists on old techniques. The support from Altenew team has been great. And the feedback from Virginia and Erum after every challenge is invaluable.
My first card uses one of my absolute favorite Altenew sets - Peony Bouquet. This is one of the most beautiful floral layering sets by Altenew. I have used it in the majority of my projects during AECP. For the card today I used a medium I have explored very little - watercolor pencils.
I stamped the images with light ink on watercolor paper and die-cut them with the coordinating dies, after coloring. I rather liked the texture I got on the paper. So I didn't use any water for blending. I used two shades of pink and white for blending for the flower. Here is a close-up of the flower.
The bud was colored the same way. Only I used much more white. The leaves were colored with two shades of green and yellow for blending.
To assemble the card, I started with a cream card base with a speckled surface. I placed the Sunburst stencil on top and lightly applied Sand Dunes ink through it. I also splattered some pink distress ink over the stenciling.
The sentiment is from the Fresh Freesia stamp set. I absolutely adore this set for its beautiful sentiments. I arranged the die-cuts and adhered them with glue, popping up some with foam tape for added dimension.
Here is the completed card.
For my second card, I used the beautiful Cross Stitch Flower set. This set does take some practice to master. But the results are well worth the effort.
I placed the stem image at the corner of my card base and stamped with Evergreen ink, stamping off the ink once to get a lighter shade. I rotated the card base 180° and repeated the process. A stamp positioner is essential for creating this card as it saves time and helps in aligning the layers properly.
One trick I find very useful is stamping the layers on separate sheets of vellum or any transparent paper. I stamped on acetate sheets with black pigment ink and then heat embossed with clear embossing powder. You can then easily align each layer, place the corresponding stamp on top and use the stamp positioner for stamping. Here is one of the stamped flowers.
I used the Red Sunset mini ink cubes for the flower and the Green Fields mini ink cubes for the stem.
The sentiment is cut using the Simply Hello die. I decided to use the eclipse technique which is so trendy right now. I love it because it is subtle and doesn't take away from the gorgeous stamping. The secondary sentiment, stamped in black is also from the Cross Stitch Flower set.
Here is a look at the completed card.
My third card is in a completely different style. Though Altenew is most famous for its beautiful floral stamps, they also have some great sets with geometric designs. I have long been fascinated by the Art Deco period with its graceful designs. That was my inspiration for this card. I used three stamps from the Simple Shapes stamp set to create a background of repeating patterns.
A stamp positioner is very useful when creating a design based on a repeating pattern. I placed the three stamps together and stamped on a scrap piece of paper. Measuring the image gave me the distance by which I needed to move the paper to create an evenly placed pattern. In this case, I needed to move by one inch. I stamped with embossing ink and heat embossed each row with metallic gold embossing powder. I flipped the pattern every alternate row. Once the background was ready, I smooshed it with distress inks in yellow, pink, orange and red. I used water and a brush to add more color to the shapes so that they stood out. Here is a closer look at the background.
Once the panel was dry, I trimmed it and added some more gold embossing powder at the sides to give it a slightly grungy look. I popped it up with foam tape and mounted it on a black card base.
For the sentiment, I die-cut the Simply Hello die a few times and stacked the die-cuts together. The whole thing was covered with 3-4 layers of clear embossing powder. The secondary sentiment is from the Cross Stitch Flower stamp set. I heat embossed it on a strip of black paper with the same metallic gold embossing powder and added it to the card base, popped up on some foam tape.
Here is the completed card.
I hope you liked my cards. I would love to know which is your favorite. You can continue the hop by visiting Amy Hill next. She is very talented and has something great in store for you. You can go to the Altenew Card Blog if you want to start at the beginning. I also have the complete blog hop list for you below.
Hop Order:
Altenew Card Blog
Terri Marie Koszler
Michelle Ochoa Murray
Maryam Sharara
Amber Rain Davis
Irina Fonina
Teri Wilson
Francine Dodwell
Patty Mello
Nenette S. Madero
Vicki Finger
Nandini Karmarkar - That's me!
Amy Hill
Christine Pennington
Erum Tasneem
Offers
To celebrate AECP blog hop and encourage people to join in the AECP program, Altenew has discounted the following bundles by 20% from 7/19/2019 to 7/21/2019.
Prizes
A blog hop is no fun without some great prizes! So Altenew is giving away a $30 gift certificate to 3 lucky winners! Please leave a comment here on the Altenew Blog by 7/26/2019 for a chance to win.
We’ll also draw a winner to receive a $15 gift certificate from the comments left on each designer’s blog on the blog hop list below. All winners will be announced on the Altenew blogs on 7/30/2019.
That's all for now. Thank you for your wonderful comments. They make me very happy!
Love,
Nandini
Hi! I have a lot of cards that I made, photographed and never uploaded on my blog. The cards I am showcasing today are part of that.
I love the cover-a-card stamps by Impression Obsessions. They have a huge range of beautiful background designs and at 5.75" x 5.75" the stamps are really useful. I had purchased the Dotted Floral stamp some time ago. The first thing I did when I it was to stamp it on white, black and kraft cardstock and heat emboss with clear, white and black EPs.
I ended up making two cards from the backgrounds, rest are in my stash.
For the first card I went in for the classic black & white combo.
I stamped in black on a piece of white cardstock and heat embossed with clear EP. I trimmed the panel and mounted on a square piece of black card stock.
The sentiment stamp is from Altenew's Persian Motifs set, heat embossed in gold. I added a gold border around the white panel with a gold gel pen.
For the second card, I went for a more colorful look.
I heat embossed in white on a piece of kraft cardstock. I used my watercolor pencils to color the panel.
The sentiment is heat embossed in white on a strip of black paper. A metal brad completed the card.
Hope you enjoyed the two completely different looks from a single background stamp.
Looking forward to hearing from you.
Love,
Nandini
Hi! This is one post I have been waiting a while to upload! In July, I participated in Swap #12 - Clean & Simple cards (CAS cards) by Swap Central India. Each participant had to make 10 CAS note cards. I was very excited as CAS has always been my style. I decided to use this as an opportunity to experiment with as many different techniques as possible.
For my first card I used stamping and crayon masking techniques.
Supplies used are handmade paper in white and purple. Here is a close up.
I used white crayon as a mask and watercolour pencils by Faber Castell to create the background. The basic tutorial for crayon masking is available at Splitcoaststampers. There is another excellent tutorial available at Stamp TV by Gina K. The stamping was done using a Micia stamp set and purple ink by Faber Castell. I used the same ink to stamp a sentiment.
For the second card, I again used stamping.
Supplies used are handmade paper in white and green. Stamping is with Micia stamp set and black Faber Castell ink pad.
Once again I used the crayon resist technique and combined it with die cutting.
My third card was the last one I used stamping on.
Supplies used are red handmade paper and cream cardstock. The red DP is from Chimanlals.
The stamp set is Micia and I used red Faber Castell ink pad. A length of off white satin ribbon from my stash completed the card.
Since I had already done three cards with stamping, I decided to take a break and use a different technique. So I tried my hand at paper cutting. This is something I have been wanting to try for a long time.
Supplies used are cream cardstock, handmade paper in orange and golden yellow.
I traced the rose from an old Hobby Ideas stencil and cut it with my craft knife. Then I die cut the circle and layered it with a scalloped circle cut from orange paper. A length of golden yellow satin ribbon completed the card.
For the fifth card I used my old Cut 'n Tuc stencil.
Supplies used are handmade paper in pale pink and brown.
For added interest, I die cut a circle after mounting the cut medallion and stamped the sentiment inside the card.
Since I didn't have a coordinating ribbon in my stash, I cut a thin strip of the brown paper and added it at the bottom. Some pretty rhinestones in pink completed the card.
For the sixth card, I decided to go for a radical change. Normally CAS cards are associated with a white or light base. I used black and gold instead. And I used a technique with sequins that I have used extensively when I used to make gift envelopes and tags for sale.
Supplies used are cardstock in black and gold and a scrap of the red DP. I drew vertical lines on a piece of gold paper with an orange glitter pen. Then I stuck red and green sequins for a festive touch.
The red DP was punched with a border punch and placed below the gold panel. I used the Faber Castell red ink pad to stamp the sentiment. The final touch was rounding the corners.
Since I was happy with the look of sequins, I decided to use it on my seventh card as well. But this time I wanted a more subtle look.
Supplies used are handmade paper in red and antique gold. This time I alternated scored lines with red glitter pen. The sequins are almost the same shade as the paper and give a lovely look.
Some quilled flowers and punched leaves placed atop a green satin ribbon completed the card.
For my eighth card I decided to go back to my old favourite, teabag folding. I had used a similar design previously in this card.
You can find that post here.
This time round I used a more subdued palette.
Supplies used are handmade paper in cream and red. The red DP is, of course, from Chimanlals.
I used the arrow fold and six squares of paper to construct the fan. Half pearls in gold and a bit of cord completed the fan.
The sentiment was stamped with Faber Castell's red ink pad.
The idea for my ninth card came from this beautiful card by Angela Maine that I saw on Pinterest.
My take on it is this.
Supplies used are handmade paper in white and blue.
Luckily I had the same Cuttlebug die. To make the card pop a bit more, I used blue rhinestones from my stash. I drew the stems with a green gel pen. The sentiment was stamped with a green sketch pen.
The tenth and final card is my favourite. I cased another fabulous card. The original is by Brigit, who does really amazing work!
Isn't it gorgeous? You can find her blog here.
My take on it is this
Supplies used are orange handmade paper and cardstock in green and cream.
I used my Itsy Bitsy embossing folder on the orange paper. I cut away the cream paper to reveal the green paper underneath. The flowers were punched out of cream cardstock I outlined them with an orange sketch pen for more definition. The white half pearls were the final touch.
I used a green sketch pen to ink and stamp the sentiment.
With that I come to the end of this loooong post! Here is a pic of all my cards
I had a lot of fun making these cards. It was great trying out new techniques as well as revisiting some old ones.
Hope all of you liked the cards as much as I did. Looking forward to listening from you.
Love,
Nan
Hi! Super quick post today.
My entry for Freshly Made Sketches #94.
I liked the idea of the sentiment on a slant. And the slant led me think of a steep hill. So this is my take on it
Supplies used are handmade paper in white and green, scraps of black and yellow card stock.
I created the sky and the sun with Faber Castell watercolour pencils. After the paper was dry, I sponged white acrylic paint with a circular sponge dauber to make the clouds.
I mounted the green handmade paper and the car on foam pads. Two black buttons became the wheels of the car. The sentiment was handwritten with a white gel pen.
The funny thing is, while I was making the card, my nephew called up to say that he had got admitted to the college of his choice. So now this card is going to him!
Love,
Nan
Hi! One of the main reasons I started my blog was to participate in the various online challenges. I feel it is the best way to learn new things and constantly stretch my creative horizons. Lulupu's Challenge #13 - Lady Stamp-a-lot definitely falls in the category of trying new things.
The challenge was to create two different cards using the same stamp set. The challenge appealed to me on two levels. First, I have been very reluctant to experiment with stamping. I guess I am just too intimidated with the fantastic stuff that is seen online. Second, it is nice when a challenge actually makes you use your craft tools frugally.
Since I own only two stamp sets (both bought from Lulupu, incidentally) the choice was easy. I went with Everyday Sentiments (CPM 078) by Micia.
I had bought this set mainly for the sentiments. Here is a close up of the stamps I used.
And the cards I made
I tried to keep the cards as different as possible, since I didn't have much choice in terms of usable stamps. For the first card I made an easel card and used a largely monochromatic colour scheme.
But I played around with the sentiment.
Supplies used are black card stock and white handmade paper. Stamping is done with Faber Castell's black ink pad. I used my Bigshot for die cutting.
For the sentiment, I used M-seal and took an impression of the stamp while it was still pliable. Once it dried, I applied couple of coats of white acrylic paint. Then I applied a coat of black paint and wiped it off immediately for a distressed look. Finally, I rubbed some Magenta 3D glitter from Hobby Ideas into the sentiment and wiped away the excess with a wet cloth. I added two glittered butterflies and did white stitching lines as the final touches.
For the second card, I went for a rainbow look.
I used brown and cream card stock and the black ink pad from Faber Castell. I used water colour pencils by Faber Castell in the colours of the rainbow for the background.
So, Violet, Indigo and Blue
Then Blue, Green and Yellow
And finally Yellow, Orange and Red.
I blended the colours using a damp brush and stamped the same image thrice. The sentiment was of course stamped in black on the cream card stock. All the rectangles were mounted on double sided tape for added depth. Some stitching lines in white and a glittered butterfly in pale pink completed the card.
I am also entering the second card in the Rainbow Colours Without a 'Rainbow' Challenge by Catchy Challenges and Itsy Bitsy All That Glitters Challenge.
Love,
Nan
