Michelle - Two Ls: July 2019

Friday, July 19, 2019

Altenew Educator "Love & Friendship" Blog Hop +Giveaway

Hello Friends! If you are following the blog hop you should have arrived here from the talented Terri Marie Koszler page. To start at the beginning to the Altenew Blog Hop page HERE.

I am a first-year graduate of the AECP and I honestly loved every class and assignment we were given. The flexibility and convenience of taking the classes on-line were most important to me, after all we each lead busy lives. I also felt it important to invest in myself (even if it is just a hobby) as card-making is my “happy place”. I can’t mention the program without mentioning the best director and cheerleader, Virginia Lu! From day one Virginia was there to answer any question I had and to encourage every student along the way, I certainly consider her a new friend. This blog hop is celebrating Love and Friendship, I have to say I have a new community of virtual friends through this program! It is so great to have people in your life who speak the same crafty language.
If you are considering taking the program you can find out more by clicking on this link: https://altenew.com/pages/altenew-educator-certification-program

Offers:

To celebrate this AECP blog hop Altenew is discounting the following bundles by 20% from 7/19/2019 to 7/21/2019.
https://altenew.com/products/aecp-level-1-class-bundle
https://altenew.com/products/aecp-level-2-class-bundle

Prizes

Altenew is giving away a $30 gift certificate to 3 lucky winners! Please leave a comment 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.

My Card
Today I’m sharing a fairly quick and easy card! Washi tape makes producing cards so simple. I covered an entire 8 1/2 x 11 sheet of 80# cardstock with this Botanical Rhapsody tape and using my alcohol markers accented the floral images, I only colored the areas that were already shadowed. I then cut out the images I wanted to use and arranged them on my panel. Some of the flowers are popped up with foam tape.

TIP: when using alcohol markers on washi tape know that the initial application of ink beads up a little at first. Keep a paper towel nearby to lightly dab off the excess ink and you are left with a beautiful stain or lighter color of ink on your tape. You may have to do a couple of layers to darken it up. Of course you can leave the beading for a cool effect once it dries (see the small flower in my 2nd photo).

I then heat embossed the main “Blessed” statement onto vellum, fussy cut it out and adhered to the panel with liquid glue along the thicker font lines. The sub sentiment was heat embossed directly to my panel. I think this washi tape has gorgeous images that can be assembled to make a stunning focal point.

Thursday, July 11, 2019

Altenew July 2019 Stamp/Die/Stencil/Stamping Mat Release Blog Hop + Giveaway

Hi Crafters!!! Welcome to my stop on the Altenew July 2019 Stamp, Die, Stencil Release blog hop! You should have arrived here from the talented Laura Jane’s page.

To start at the beginning of the blog hop go to the Altenew Blog. (You can find the full list of designers at the bottom of my post.)

Product List:

Click here to go to the full* product release
Note: The Pen Sketched Flowers die set will not be available until 8/8/19).

Prizes:

To celebrate this release, Altenew is giving away a $50 gift certificate to 6 lucky winners! Please leave a comment on the Altenew Card Blog and/or Altenew Scrapbook Blog by 7/18/2019 for a chance to win.

We’ll also draw a winner to receive a $20 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 7/18/2019.

Now on to a few card ideas I am happy to share! I pulled out my washi tape collection for three of the four cards.

Card 1

For my first card I used the Crystal Frames stamp and die atop a panel of Gilded Ombre washi tape and pear-colored cardstock. A thin strip of Altenew’s Gold Foil cardstock separates the two. I cut the frames out of the same gold cardstock previously mentioned and glued to the washi. The sentiment comes from the Crystal Frames stamp set. To pull everything together I added metallic watercolor splatter to the entire panel. This card measures 5x7 and was very easy to create.

Card 2

My second card features the lovely Mega Greetings 4 stamp set. I covered a 4 ¼ x 8 ¼ panel with Peach Gold washi tape, heat embossed the “Blessed” greeting in Altenew’s Golden Peach EP onto vellum and cut out. The rest of the sentiment was also embossed with the same powder. TIP:when heat embossing onto washi tape it helps to pre-heat your heating tool for a few seconds first so you don’t burn the tape, also move your heating tool back and forth so as not to keep the heat on one spot for long. I then heat embossed onto vellum some of the images from the Pen Sketched flowers stamp set (you could use any floral set). I colored the backside of the images with my Altenew Artist markers in Coral Berry,Autumn Blaze and Olive for the leaves and then used my fingers to curl the petals for some dimension. I then glued everything down with matte multi medium.

Card 3

I had a few extra floral cuts in my stash made with the Monochrome washi tape; I had previously accented the flowers with my Cotton Candy alcohol marker so decided to use rose gold metallic cardstock for the Crystal Frame die cuts. Once I figured out my placement I then centered the sentiment (also from the Crystal Frames set) within the framed area. I cut a 5x7 panel from light pink cardstock, on top of that I glued my white, decorated panel, adhered all of that to my base and call this one done! Washi tape really makes creating cards fast and easy.

Card 4

This was my favorite card of the bunch. I just love the way the curled vellum stands and the striking contrast of the cardstocks. The star of this card is the gorgeous new floral set, Pen Sketched flowers (available 8/8/19). I like the versatility with these outlined images as they can be colored using any medium; here I heat embossed in Gold EP the images onto vellum, cut them out and curled the petals with the lid of a gel pen. I colored the backside of the images with Coral Berry and Autumn Blaze alcohol markers. TIP: when coloring on vellum go with a darker shade of your intended color, as the front will show lighter.

I dry embossed the dark panel with my Delicate Mandala die for a subtle background impression. I then glued my images down and added the sentiment strip with foam tape.

I thoroughly enjoyed playing with this release, and I hope I’ve given you some inspiration!

Next on the blog hop is Twinkling Paper Studio’s Vicki Finger. If you get lostor would like to start at the beginning here is the complete Blog Hop list:

Thank you for stopping by and leaving a comment, it makes my day! Michelle

Monday, July 1, 2019

Altenew Build-A-Flower: Camellia Japonica Release Blog Hop + Giveaway

Hi Crafters!!! Welcome to the final stop on the Altenew Build-A-Flower: Camellia Japonica Release Blog Hop & Giveaway! You should have arrived here from Seeka‘s page. To start at the beginning of the blog hop go to the Altenew Blog (you can find the full list of designers at the bottom of my post).

Product Links:

Build-A-Flower: Camellia Japonica

Build-A-Flower: Camellia Japonica & Ink Bundle (5% discount)

Build-A-Flower Monthly Subscription Plan https://altenew.com/products/build-a-flower-monthly-subscription. This is a monthly subscription plan for the Build-A-Flower set. When signed up, you are guaranteed a spot in Altenew’s monthly BAF releases and will receive a set each month at a specially discounted price! ($35.00 →$29.99)
Prizes:

To celebrate this release Altenew is giving away a $30 gift certificate to 6 lucky winners! Please leave a comment on the Altenew Card Blog and/or Altenew Scrapbook Blog for a chance to win.
Altenew will 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 July 7, 2019.

Now on to a few card ideas I am happy to share! By the way, both of my cards measure 5 x 7 with the panels measuring 4 ¾ x 6 ¾ .

Card 1

I went bright and bold for my first card, creating my own background pattern with our featured stamp. The ink families I used are Tea Party, Golden Sunset, Pocketful of Sunshine, and Green Meadows. I then heat embossed the sentiment onto a teal cardstock cut with one of the Nesting Labels dies. As a final touch I added black Nuvo drops to give the illusion of splatter.

Card 2

For my second card, I went a little more subtle using yellows on Navy paper and gold accents, I really like this color combination. I first stamped the background with Altenew’s Pattern Play-Diamonds using Antique Gold pigment ink and embossing with clear powder. I stamped the flowers separately with the Pocketful of Sunshine ink set, and cut them out using the matching die. I cut the leaves from Altenew’s Gold Foil Cardstock and gold embossed the sentiment from the Forever & Always stamp set.

That’s all for me today and I am the last stop on the list, I trust you’ve had tons of inspiration along this blog hop! For your convenience I am listing the full list of designers.

Blog Hop Order:

Altenew Scrapbook Blog