$300 in total prizes!
I am pretty enamored with the Craft Your Life project kits. Each one has such beautiful images and they are SO versatile. The fact that all the elements included can be used together or separately makes for LOTS of fun creativity! For this project, I used just the stamp and the stencils. And this was completely an "experiment" - which went through 3 iterations before I was happy with the result (see photo at the bottom). Here's the finished card:
I really enjoy using the crystallized water color products (such as Brusho, Nuvo Shimmer Powder, Cosmic Shimmer Pixie Powders and others) in my card making because the colors are so vivid and some of them include an array of color as well as mica powder to give them a shimmery look, so I decided that I would see if I could control them enough to use through the 4 layers of stencils included in this project kit. It took a few tries (!) but I think I got a pretty nice result in the end. Here's what I did:
I started out using gold embossing powder on water color paper (use the smoothest you can find - hot press is smooth whereas cold press is textured) and used the entire outline image (so the paper I started out with was about 5 1/2 by 8 1/2 inches). If you have a stamping tool such as the MISTI, it is probably good to use it to get a couple of layers of the embossing powder down for this technique, because it helps the watercolor well up and be less likely to seep into areas where you don't want it). I then lined up the first layer of the 4 stencils and chose one shade of pink to begin. I sprinkled the powder into the openings, being careful not to go too heavy, but also to be sure enough was there to get a nice, intense color. I lightly sprayed a mist of water until I saw the powder react with the water, but not so much that the water "pooled" (otherwise it will seep under the stencil too much and get on areas you weren't intending that color to go). It's best if you can be patient and allow the first layer to dry on its own, but if you want to speed the process up, you can dry it with a heat tool. Once dry, I positioned the second stencil layer and used a different pink color for this. And finally the third layer. Here's a photo in which you can see that there are a couple of different pink hues beneath the stencil from the prior 2 applications:
And finally, I added the 4th layer, which is the leaves. For this, I combined a couple of different shades of green to get some variation but you could certainly just go with one color if you prefer.
After the whole thing dried, I used a 4 1/4 by 5 1/2 inch "template" to cut down the image. I will admit that cutting into this was a bit painful, but I'm hoping to find a way to use the part that I cut off on another card. I decided that even though the white background was nice, I wanted to really set off this card with bold colors, so I chose a few shades of blue (here you can use the powdered water color by putting a small amount on a work surface and then adding water, or using traditional water colors, and applying with a paint brush). I'm no expert with water colors, but I actually like the "blotchy" background because it almost makes it look like this floral arrangement is floating on water.
Once the blue background was dry, I cut down the panel to 4 by 5 1/4 and rounded the edges to give it a softer look. I also heat embossed (as you can see above) the sentiment "just felt like sharing a smile with you today" (love that!) on vellum in both gold and a sapphire blue color. Both looked good, but the gold stood out a bit more so that's what I chose to put on this card. I wrapped the vellum strip around the front panel and taped it to the back, but also put a small glue dot underneath the "smile" part of the sentiment strip to hold it down. I added some iridescent baubles for additional sparkle, and to give the impression of dew drops on the flowers. I then attached a foam piece to the back of the panel to give the card a bit of dimension, and mounted it onto a gold foil card base, which I think really sets it off nicely, and brings out the gold embossing of the outline image.
Here is one of my "experiments." I wasn't happy with the way the colors "oozed" out of the stencil (because I was impatient and tried to move from one application of color too quickly before it had dried):
However, It looked better once I cut it out with the coordinating die for this project kit, and I tend not to throw anything away. You just never know when it will be just the right thing for a project! Here's the card I made using it:
The background uses the Storybook Frame 3D embossing folder on pink vellum. A Mother's Day greeting is embossed with dark pink embossing powder and some pearls are added for embellishment. And there was a prior experiment but I wasn't happy with the colors I chose (I'm not even going to bore you with that one!).
If you haven't tried using these powdered water colors, I encourage you to give them a try. And it turns out that, although you have to give up a bit of control and need for perfection, they can actually work with these layered stencils. And of course this project kit is amazingly beautiful and I am looking forward to using the other parts of the kit to create more fun projects and cards that will hopefully bring a smile to the recipients.
Craft Your Life Project Kit: Fragrant Florals Product Description:
Send hugs and snuggles to your loved ones with this beautiful arrangement of anemones. The large stamp size makes it quite versatile, as you will be able to stamp it off of your card base at different angles and proportions to get different looks. It is a lovely image to color or use stamped as is. We have also incorporated some heartfelt sentiments in bold fonts to contrast the delicate nature of the flowers.
Enjoy our Craft Your Life Project Kit, an exciting monthly package that is sure to get the creative juices flowing! Featuring a 6x8 stamp set, coordinating die set, as well as a stencil set and an embossing folder to fit the theme, this project kit has almost everything you need to start crafting. Just add ink and cardstock, and you'll be good to go!
Here's the link directly to the Altenew site where you can find this project kit;
Here's how to subscribe and save money! Craft Your Life Project Kit Monthly Subscription Plan (14% off)
Giveaway Prizes $300 in total prizes! To celebrate this release, Altenew is giving away a $50 gift certificate to 2 lucky winners and a $ 25 gift certificate to 8 winners! Please leave a comment on the Altenew Card Blog and/or each designer’s blog post on the blog hop list below by 04/18/2022 for a chance to win. Altenew will draw 10 random winners from the comments left on each stop of this blog hop and announce the winners on the Altenew Winners Page on 04/20/2022. Blog Hop - join designers and Altenew educators to see their wonderful creations: Altenew Card Blog
Reiko Tsuchida ***Note: Due to strict regulations in Japan, you might not be able to leave a comment on her blog post.
Susan Stagno --> YOU ARE HERE!
Happy crafting!
Congratulations on playing with your supplies until you got the look you were going for. That is not always an easy thing to do. I don't watercolor much or well so this kind of thing always encourages me to pull out the products I have been 'collecting." The cards are lovely!
Nice project shares. I do like the addition of the blue for around the floral image.
These are amazing!
Gorgeous floral design in this awesome kit! Beautiful cards! I love the colors and textures!
Thanks for sharing your lovely cards!