2022 was a WONDERFUL ALTENEW year! I am pleased to show you a few of my favorites from this year. If you want to start at the beginning go to the Altenew Blog. If you are following along, you got her from the magnificent Emily Midgett . Your next stop on the blog post is terrific Therese Calvird.

Now — Come along with me as we travel memory lane.

First up is the Craft-A-Flower Orion Geranium that is one of the monthly subscriptions for which Altenew is so well known. This one just came to life with some purple glitter paper on black. These layered flowers are so easy to put together.

And all the new foil plates that came out in 2022 are to die for! I absolutely love the starburst of the Rainbow Burst Hot Foil Plate with two different blue foils. Topped with some blue sequins and a glittery sentiment to finish it out.

This last one is just plain fun with embossing folders, alcohol inks and gold embossing powder…all put together with some fun folds — so much easier to do than it looks. It uses the Craft Your Life Project Kit: Fragrant Florals. The Craft Your Life Project Kits are another monthly subscription and you get so, so much for your money. With embossing folders, stamps, dies, and stencils your creativity can soar.

Thanks for coming along with me in reviewing 2022 creativity. If you have any questions, please contact me. Happy New Year!

Love and hugs,

Penny

Prizes:

Over $500 in total prizes! Altenew is giving away a $100 gift card to 1 lucky winner, 3 $50 gift cards, and 27 $10 gift cards. Winners will be chosen from both blog hop #1 and blog hop #2. Please leave a comment on the Altenew Card Blog HERE by 12/28/2022 for a chance to win. 

(Feel free to share your favorite projects using #Altenew and #AltenewBest2022 when you share blog hop projects on social media. Don’t forget to tag Altenew!)

Wait, there’s MORE!

We would also LOVE to see YOUR favorite handmade cards, layouts, home decor, etc. featuring Altenew products! Feel free to share them on social media or on your blog using the hashtag #AltenewBest2022. You may also add a link by clicking the blue button below.

FOUR lucky crafters will each win a $15 gift certificate to our store! Winners will be announced on the Altenew Winners Page on 12/30/2022. We are looking forward to seeing your beautiful creations!

Blog Hop Order:

Altenew Card Blog

Emily Midgett

Penny Pynnonen

Therese Calvird

Helen Kalb

Nandini Karmarkar

Pam Boedeker

Teri Wilson

Shylaashree

Virginia Lu

Donna Walls

SathyaKala Sankaran

Ishani

Amy Hill

Angela Brennan

Supplies used: Affiliate links used are at no additional cost to you.

This is my favorite of all the cards! It also took a lot more time but thanks to JenniferMcGuireInk and her video and the help of Lawn Fawn’s video I was able to complete this. The scarecrow is from Gina K Designs as is some of the ephemera. The Boo and Happy Halloween are from Simon Says Stamps “My Zombie Boo” which is no longer available. The grass cut is also from Lawn Fawn. Pumpkins and batts are stamps from my stash. The backrounds were made with Nuvo Shimmer paints.

Next up come Mischievous in play again for the girl with the BLACK cat named GHOST. For this I ink blended with Altenew inks of Velvet, Maple Honey and Shadow Creek then used the Altenew Angled Mosaic embossing folder. The words are from Sizzix Bold Text Halloween colored to match the candy corn idea-ology with the Distress crayons.

This ghostly aberration is a mix of lots of things…. Simon Says Stamps stencil with Gina K Glitz Glitter gel, Spellbinders words and ghosts in vellum, Sizzix Pumpkin Duo colorize dies.

This last one is an ink blend of the same Altenew inks as above then stamped using Stampers Anonymous Snarky Cat Halloween and a few sequins.

I only started these Halloween cards Sunday, October 23rd because I kept wanting to work on Christmas cards and couldn’t get my head into Halloween. But the pressure was on and I got them in the mail on Thursday, the 27th. It was LOTS of fun making these.

I sure hope you enjoy them as much as I have in making them.

Thanks for visiting and WATCH OUT FOR THE GHOSTS AND GOBBLINS TOMORROW NIGHT!!!

Hugs,

Penny

Supplies used: (affiliate links at no cost to you)

We’ll start with the SPOOKY! I had a great time playing with Tim Holtz and Sizzix Skulls 3D embossing folder. I watched his demo You Tube videos to see all the ways he created these scary looking skulls.

This first one is using archival ink and then the cleaner on the folder to give a very grungy, spooky look over all the skulls. I added just a bit of Distress Antique Linen ink over it to make the black and white not so stark. This is so NOT my usual card but I truly had fun with the techniques.

When Tim used the Distress Black paint on the metallic paper it went WOW in my head. I didn’t have the paint so I tried the Archival ink — but no — it doesn’t work on metallic paper. So I ordered the paint and finished it a week later. Quite the atmosphere that gets created with this combo.

While waiting for the black paint, I played some more with the black Yupo paper and white Distress Picket Fence ink. Very eerie indeed! It seemed to need a bit more even after the fringe was on the card. Definitely NOT me, but I was still having fun. I used Simon Says Stamps spider web die and added it under and over the letters and added a sticky black spider sprayed with Distress Villainous Potion Mica spray — heavy on the spider and misted on the card. The letters were out of the orange metallic paper as above card. The difference in the color of the picture is just because of a different angle of the camera eye seeing it.

I have 4 daughters — one has a dog, but the rest of them have Cats so the Sizzix Tim Holtz Mischievous dies HAD to come into play. Again the letters were from the Bold Text Halloween set with some Glossy Accents on top. Then the cats were scattered around over a gradient purple paper from Altenew. It needed more and I pulled out al the sequins, etc. I had to look for the right “mood”. A couple of Gins K’s Mermaid sequins fell on a cat’s face…OH YES, that’s spooky look with eyes that glowed! I used the small ones for eyes and a few larger ones around the card.

The last spooky card was the most fun to put together. I LOVED the eyeball from the Trick or Treat colorized Sizzix set. When Tim did his demo of the Halloween dies, I was inspired by Joy’s make with this eyeball. My 8 year old grandson loves spooky so he’s getting the eyeball.

The back of this slimline card front was the orange metallic paper. I used the Simon Says Stencil on the front of the card using Ranger Glow in the dark embossing powder. The eyeball is created from the Trick or Treat colorize Sizzix set and mounted on the slider cut with a Simon Says Stamp rotating slider. I found I needed to use the monosand eraser along the edges of the track because the embossing held up the eye. I also added a foam circle to the slider and the eye to give it more room to move. YEAH! It works pretty well. Not only does it slide back and forth but rotates at the same time!

NEXT UP: THE CUTE OF HALLOWEEN

Supplies used: (affiliate link at no cost to you)

This magnificent kit was delivered to me on Thursday and I just had to get into it right away. Gina’s kits are always full of goodness and variety…and she continues to knock it out of the park every month.

Lots of people online in her Facebook group were asking –What will people do when the ephemera pages are gone? What can you do with the die?

My answer is alcohol ink on holographic paper.

I used a piece of Erin Lee Creative silver holographic paper and just played with Tim Holtz alcohol inks in pinks, reds, oranges, greens. over the whole sheet of paper, then used the die to cut out shapes. Between the alcohol inked sheet and the actual ephemera that came it the kit, I had lots of choices.

I cut my card base 6″x6″ and scored it at the mid point so the folded base in 3″x6″. Making use of Gina K Design’s Master Layout 7, I used the smaller stitched die on the brown plaid in the patterned paper pack from the kit. I used the larger die of Master Layout #7 with a deep reddish-orange paper for the outline. The rest was just laying out how I wanted my alcohol ink ephemera laid out, then stamping the sentiment from the kit stamp set. Adding some colored sequins made for an easy card.

The second card was a bit more detailed. I took the three new purple ink colors and blended them on a piece of Neenah Solar White paper 110#, cutting it to a 4.25″X 5.5″ size. I used the center of it to cut out the work ‘thanks’ and I embossed it using Gina’s Tapestry embossing folder. Then using Master Layouts #2, I cut a white stitched piece of paper and a black background. The shadow die for ‘thanks’ was also cut from the center of the black background — hidden — no one will know but you! Ha Ha.

I laid out ephemera but decided to emboss the white paper also. I mixed the ephemera with some that came in the kit and some from my alcohol paper. Glued it all together, popped up the large lilac flower and the sentiments with foam tape.

Both cards were made within just a few hours, including doing the alcohol inking. So far, I’m really loving this kit and can see lots more designs and cards in its future. I will add pictures of others when completed.

Thanks for joining. I hope those that are wondering how to use the die on its own will try this method. I’m also trying to see how it might work with water color… or pencils and gamsol… or alcohol markers…or crayons…………or

Hugs to you all, Penny

P.S. If you want to purchase this kit, you may click on the Gina K affiliate link to the right and it will take you directly to her site. This may give me a small commission but it will be no extra charge to you. Thanks for helping me out.

I get card kits from multiple companies every month and although I have used them many times I have not highlighted them…that’s about to change. I am starting with Simon Says Stamps August 2022 kit with the beautiful Vintage Garden stamp set. You can see the full set that comes in the box at https://www.simonsaysstampblog.com/blog/card-kit-galleries/august-2022-card-kit-gallery/

My first card went together really quickly. I took some Reflections Shimmer paper and embossed it with the gorgeous embossing folder in the kit.

I used the add-on heart die to cut out some of the patterned paper. Oh, these are some of the most beautiful patterned papers I’ve seen — very classy. I edged it with the included SSS Clear ink and added SSS Silver embossing powder to the edges. Because the edges are not even, I also used a Distress brush pen to get in the nooks and crannies before adding the embossing powder. The ribbon is special – from the aisle bows at my wedding in 2015. I wrapped it around the card front and glued it down then popped up the whole front onto an also included Smoke card base with foam tape. I used some of the small foam squares to adhere the flowered heart above the ribbon. I stamped and heat embossed the sentiment with the same silver embossing folder then used the die to cut it out. Adding that then the clear drops finished off a beautiful card for number one of this kit.

Card Number 2 was pure FUN and out of my norm. I stamped the flowers on ivory cardstock and then added clear embossing over the black ink. I used some Simon Says reinkers for watercoloring the butterfly and flowers, then die cut them out when dry. For the background I used Simon Says Stamp STITCHED WHIRL BACKGROUND Wafer Die on Neenah 110# cardstock and stamped the sentiment from the Vintage Garden stamp set from the kit. To add dimension I added foam tape to the back adhering it to the lilac card base. The die cut flower pieces were popped up with the foam squares from this kit also. I think this one became my favorite and my husband was really impressed (lol).

I ended with a Clean and Simple card. The butterfly was watercolored with the flowers above. The background here is the Simon Says Stamp DETAIL BOHEMIAN PLATE Wafer Die. I love these background wafer dies…they add so much texture without taking away the designs of cards. The sentiment is from the Vintage Garden stamp set in the kit. I added just a few clear droplets for embellishment.

I still have many more beautiful things of this kit I have not yet used…the gorgeous rose gold paper, the beautiful patterned papers, and the embossing folder that will be used over and over. This kit is wonderful and such a great value. Thanks, Simon Says for your great products.

Hugs to all who came to visit. Have a wonderful day!

Penny

On July 17, 2022 Kristina Werner Hanson put out a great Christmas in July video: (https://www.kwernerdesign.com/blog/christmas-in-july-new-stamps-from-colorado-craft-co-watercolor-backgrounds-no-line-coloring/) Kristina always makes water coloring look so easy but this time I thought maybe I could do it.  I had distress reinkers – I thought – so on to creating from her inspiration.

Obstacles…oh dear.  First off, I pulled out different paper. Would that still work? Secondly, I did not have the color of Distress reinkers she used. Hmm – oh wait!

Solutions… I just invested in the whole set of Simon Says Stamps and got the two reinkers sets that were available right now.  As I looked at those reinkers I tried to find colors that would come close to the reinkers Kristina used.   I pulled out Carnation, Cherry, and Pine and thought I would give that a try.

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Welcome to the Endless Ambition Blog Hop with lots of goodies with hot foil plates and stencils…and some stand-alone dies. If you are following along in the blog you got her from my friend Terri Koszler and your next stop is the wonderful Laurie Willison. If you want to start at the beginning click the Altenew Blog post.

As hot foils grew in popularity last year and offered additional designs, I bit the bullet and purchased the Spellbinders Glimmer Machine. It really is easy to use and gives lovely results. I also got a variety of colors and designs of foil as you will see below.

My first card is special as it is highlighting the soon-to-be-released Brushed Gold from Altenew. The foiling was done using the Flowery Bouquet Hot Foil Plate and the Brushed Gold foil. Then the sentiment were created with the Sweet Sentiment Die Set for a simple but very elegant look.

The next two cards show how the positive and negative of foiling can work. First I took the Flowery Wreath Hot Foil plate with green foil to create the wreath outline. Rather than to color in the wreath itself I used the Flowery Wreath Stencils to color directly on the card front, cut a circle in the foiled wreath and popped it up over the colorful stenciling. To add more color I used Altenew enamel dots to the top and a few green sequins.

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Welcome to the August Subscription Blog hop! If you are following along you have come from the marvelous Mugdha Gujarathi. Your next stop is Jenny Martin or you can start at the beginning at Altenew Card Blog.

My two favorite subscriptions with Altenew are the Craft-A-Flower and the Craft Your Life Project Kits – such a great value for your money. You can see all of the Monthly Subscriptions available here: https://altenew.com/collections/marvelous-monthly-series-august-2022  

This month I have a very bright and sunny card using the Craft Your Life kit: Magnolia & Blooms. I created a slim line card an coloring with the stencil to get three different colors in the flowers and two colors in the leaves. Just following the stencil guide I completed the card front. I likes the sentiment from the stamp set that says : “let you light shine through” but I modified it slightly by die cutting the word Shine with the Shine Die Set. First I cut one layer with green glitter paper and also three layers of white cardstock. I offset the green on top of the white to help give more dimension and create a small shadow on the main word of the sentiment. The rest of the sentiment was stamped from the set and just cut out.

My second card is from the Craft-A-Flower: Open Peon Layering Die Set. It’s rather unusual to see yellow and pink peonies but I have a plant received through my local Master Gardeners Club called the Itoh Peony pictured below. Every petal and every bloom is a bit different but the plant is magnificent when in bloom –usually in June.

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Welcome to the August release for Altenew’s Bold and Beautiful! You are getting here from the wonderful Reiko Tsuchida and your next stop is the very talented Tania Ahmed.

If you’d like to start at the beginning click here Altenew Card Blog

Do you like to garden? Do you like to visit beautiful gardens? Altenew has a multitude of beautiful flower stamps and dies and this release gives you a GORGEOUS flower with the Dazzling Dahlia Stamp, Die and Stencil. Dahlia come in lots of different colors, shades, and petal counts. You can plant them as just plants but also from bulbs. I would love to have a garden full of them to brighten my yard! You can google them for a wide variety of colorings. For my Dahlias here I started with pale shades and went to deeper colors on the tips. I stamped the two flowers in Altenew Firebrick as I wanted to use that for the deepest color. The center was blended with Warm Sunshine and Frosty Pink for the middle. On the yellow I added Citrus Burst on outside, Frosty Pink for middle and the center of Sunray. These were free blended…not using the stencil as many dahlias vary. For the leaves here I used the Altenew Hanging Garden Die (see my post from Aug 27, 2020 for more info on this). The butterfly is also a stamp with the Dazzling Dahlia set. I had in my stash some blues and green alcohol ink over Sparkle Yupo paper so I just die cut an area that would look good as a butterfly and used Altenew Obsidian ink for the outline.

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What does “Summer Love” bring to your mind? For me –Warm weather, sunny skies, and memories of being kids playing and having a ball with neighborhood friends. Altenew’s Summer Love collection can help capture those memories with beautiful simplicity. These stencils and embossing folders can create awesome works of art with as much fun as playing outside or going to camp and they go together so well.

This blog hop starts with Altenew Card Blog. If you are following along you have gotten here from the wonderful Maryám Pérez and your next stop is the multi-talented artist Erum Tasneem.

My first card was super simple yet I think it’s my favorite of the group. I took Altenew alcohol ink refills and created the blue and purple background. Then I took a 4″ x 5.25″ piece of white cardstock and centered the Circled Greetings: Hugs Die, ran it through the die cutter for the card front. Now the extra fun of using the new Playful Circles embossing folder over the card front put texture on everything, including the word HUGS. With the help of some foam tape I popped up the circle over the alcohol ink, added the word ‘warm’ from the Halftone Hello set and VOILA, this beauty was created.

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