Altenew May 2022 Dreams Come True Collection Release Blog Hop + Giveaway ($300 in total prizes)

I've always loved this sentiment - "In a world where you can be anything, BE KIND" so I was quite delighted to find this in the new Always Be Kind stamp set along with these lovely bell-shaped flowers. This project is an example of why you shouldn't throw anything away! Both pieces - the background as well as the base - were pieces that didn't turn out quite the way I had wanted for what I was doing, but I put them in the "revisit that later" pile and they worked for this project, I think. The panel that I stamped on was a watercolor project using paints with mica, giving it a bit of a shiny effect. The base was a failed hot foil project!

There isn't anything particularly difficult about this card. I simply stamped the floral image so that the flower was coming from three different directions, using different colored ink that complimented the colors already on the panel. I then used clear embossing powder on them to give them a bit more definition and dimension. I did the same with the sentiment. Next I used the stencils that coordinate with this stamp set and colored in only one of the layers of color, the same for each flower, as well as the bottom third of the "Be Kind" sentiment. I embellished it with a few iridescent sequins, cut the panel from a deckle-edge die and mounted it on a teal colored, shiny piece that was a cast off from a hot foil project. It's a bit hard to see in this photo, but there is an "ombre" effect to the foil, with more on the sides than in the middle. I really like this stamp set and know I will be using it for lots of additional projects.

The next card, using the Poppy Arrangement stencil set, was a bit of a challenge as well as stepping outside my usual style.

For the background, I used the Enchanting Vines 3D embossing folders, one of my favorites, I used white 110 pound card stock, and then applied a bit of Distress Tea Dye ink around the edge. I then used a brayer to apply just a light amount of Victorian Velvet Distress ink to the high points on the embossed panel. Using just a single image of a poppy on some watercolor paper, I applied 3 layers of increasingly dark shades (2 red colors and the third layer is actually brown), used a watercolor pen to color in the central portion of the flower, and then some "hot cocoa" Perfect Pearls to give the center a bit of contrast and dimension. The leaves, of course, just stenciled in a light and dark shade pf green, while drawing in the veins of the leaves with a Copic marker. I applied some water in an oval shape around the flower, and pulled the shape with my hands to get a textured edge and then used the Victorian Velvet to enhance the edges. Patterned paper was used, again with the larger piece done by tearing the edges. A lined piece of patterned paper in white and dark gray edges the piece. The sentiment comes from the "Best Sentiment" set and was done using a crimson Versafine ink, clear embossing powder, and then cut leaving a bit of a white frame.

Poppies, for me, will always bring back memories of selling poppies to help raise money for veterans. My father who was a World War II veteran, was very involved in his local Veterans of Foreign Wars chapter, and every fall, for Remembrance Day, they would sell little lapel poppies. Why poppies? you might ask. It comes from a poem entitled "In Flanders Fields" written by a physician from World War I - Lt. Col. John McCrae. It begins this way:

In Flanders Fields, the poppies blow

Between the crosses, row on row,

That mark to play: an in the sky

The larks, still bravely singing fly

Scare heard amid the guns below.

We are the dead, Short days ago

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow...

Perhaps, if you use this stamp and stencil set, you, too, will remember our brave Veterans and honor their service.

Here are some important links for these new products:

Link to the Altenew Card Blog, where the blog hop will be hosted: https://wp.me/p6Dps1-fUf

Link to the Altenew shop(main site: www.altenew.com

Link to the May 2022 Dreams Come True release collection page: https://altenew.com/collections/dreams-come-true-stamps-dies-stencils-ef-release (The new collection will go live on 05/04/2022 at 12:01 am EDT.)

Altenew is running a free gift promotion to celebrate the release. Feel free to share the promotion banner/info on your blog hop post or on your social media post using your affiliate links for a chance to make some extra money.

Get a FREE brand new Dreams Come True Mini Inspiration Guide with every order from 05/04/2022 through 05/06/2022.
Get a FREE brand new Dreams Come True Stamp & Die Release Inspiration Guide Ebook (worth $5.99) with every order of high-value Sweet Moments Bundles.
Get a FREE brand new Online Cardmaking Class with every order from the new Dreams Come True Stamp & Die Release Collection from 05/04/2022 through 05/10/2022.