Pinkfresh Studio January 2023 Stamp, Die, Stencil, and Hot Foil Release

 

Hello Friends! There's another great release from Pinkfresh ... sometimes I scratch my head and think how can there possibly be MORE must-have products. 

But, spoiler, there are!!

I'm sharing two different cards that use exactly the same products, but with a different look (left and bottom) and throwing in the one on the right because I just had to try out the Floral Lace Die. 

Option 1 - Focal Floral, Fun Die in Background

This version is set up how I typically use products - a GORGEOUS flower Wonderful in Every Way Stamp for the focal point, and then layer behind it all sorts of goodness, including the new Spiral Circles Die,

The texture that's added from the Spiral Circles Die is to die for!! I requested to work with this product specifically for this reason, and it really delivered. I can see using this on MANY cards to accentuate a focal floral.

Gorgeous shading from the Wonderful in Every Way Stencil Set, and I clustered some gems to highlight the center. The nice sentiment and close-fitting die are included with this flower set.

Just really love this one!

Option 2 - Fun Die Focal Point, Floral background

If you flip the formula around, and feature the fun die instead, this is what you get! The Spiral Circles Die is definitely detailed enough to carry the card, and ooooh that gold!

Luscious curves!

Don't forget you don't always need to use the entire flower. Cutting a small portion off (or only inking up a small portion in the first place) is a good way to switch things up.

By only coloring the leaves in blue it doesn't take as much away from the Wonderful Sentiments Hot Foil and Spiral Circles Die combo.

Finally, this card features the stand-out Floral Lace Die and Floral Lace Stencil. What a duo, the ability to color underneath this detailed die on your card front takes it to the next level. I was tempted to use just the stenciling, but nah, the die does add a lot.

I like leaving the ends loose for even more texture, and just glue the die down in the middle. 

I haven't talked much about the new set of hot foil sentiments Wonderful Sentiments Hot Foil, but this fancy "Hope your Day is Wonderful" is from that set. There was a lot of white on this card, and the two sentiments seemed to be competing a bit, so I ended up blending a bit of blue onto the sentiment. This helped break things up, and make the secondary sentiment fade more into the background.

Not every card needs to be a floral super-star, so this is a great option for a card that's still feminine, but toned down a bit.

GIVEAWAY:

If you're the lucky one, you'll receive a giant box with the FULL RELEASE! 

Or there are also ten $25 gift cards to win! 

Winners will be picked from the comments on my blog and along the entire 

hop, and posted on January 31, 2023 on the Pinkfresh GIVEAWAY PAGE. 

You must check that page & claim your prize within 2 weeks. Good luck!

I'm sending you to another Kelly, who has wonderful things to share!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Thanks so much for stopping by!
-Kelly

Supplies used (affiliate links at no cost to you, but I certainly appreciate you using them!) 

Wonderful in Every Way Stamp

Wonderful In Every Way Die

Wonderful in Every Way Stencil Set

Wonderful Sentiments Stamp Set

Wonderful Sentiments Die

Wonderful Sentiments Hot Foil

Spiral Circles Die

Floral Lace Die

Floral Lace Stencil

 

Altenew December 2022 Marvelous Monthly Series & Alcohol Markers Set K Release Blog Hop + Giveaway ($300 in Total Prizes!)

 

Hello Friends, and welcome to the Altenew December Marvelous Monthly Series Release! You may have come from the lovely Teresa Litchfield, but if not feel free to start at the beginning of the hop with the Altenew Blog.

There's a new set of Artist Alcohol Markers, and hooray, they include a nice selection of ORANGE! You will laugh, but out of my 150 marker collection, I only have 2 operational orange markers!! Kinda makes Fall crafting difficult!

I got to try them on the new Lotus Frame Flower and love how vibrant they are. So as not to distract from the beautiful orange, I stamped the lotus leaves on vellum and embossed them in gold.

Did you notice the 3D embossed details on the lotus?! This set also has a corresponding embossing folder! So after coloring the lotus, I held my breath, taped it inside the embossing folder where I thought the flower should line up, and sent it thru! Love how it looks in person

Here's a better look at the dimension and the vellum leaves. Also, let's take a minute with those trailing lotus roots! I added gold thread to represent what we'd see underneath the water : )

Finally, the water. I very loosely added all the blues (and a charcoal) in this Altenew Artist Markers Set K for the depths of the lake the lotus is floating in. It's great when you can work your own very simple background into a card design, and no need for an extra stamp!

I'm going to sneak in a card from a couple weeks ago so you can see the gorgeous frame that also comes in the Lotus Frame Stamp Set. What a great set - you get flowers, leaves, sentiments, and a background frame! 

My next card is from the Craft Your Life Project Kit: Watercolor Flowers. Oh boy, you really don't need to do anything fancy to this one, it's just sooooo lovely on its own. Just color the flowers with the stencil, splatter, and add your sentiments!

Speaking of sentiments, there are a million included in this set (ok, twelve) which is great because then you can add several to your card. As a recipient, I always think you're more impressed with a card when you spend more time reading it. Love that there are a variety of "headline" sentiments and "wordy" sentiments to mix and match.

I appreciate that there are lots of different opportunities to add different colors, with several parts on each stencil. It sure makes your final result pop. You can tell lots of care went into designing these!

Giveaway Prizes

$300 in total prizes! To celebrate this release, Altenew is giving away a $100 gift certificate to 1 lucky winner and a $20 gift certificate to 10 winners! Please leave a comment on the Altenew Card Blog and/or each designer’s blog post on the blog hop list below by December 25, 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 December 27, 2022.

I'm pleased to send you to the blog of Natasha Davies who has some beautiful things to share with you!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Thanks so much for stopping by!
- Kelly

Supplies Used (affiliate links at no additional cost to you, thanks for your support!)

Altenew Artist Markers Set K

Lotus Frame Stamp Set

Craft Your Life Watercolor Flowers

 

The Cutest Little Journal Card!

Hi Friends! I've got a super cute mini stamp set to share with you today! It's Altenew's Journal Flowers Mini Stamp Set. This set is small, inexpensive, but very versatile, since you can stamp whatever sentiment you need on the open left page.

No more wondering where to place the sentiment, hooray!!

Then to kick it up a notch I made it 3d! Just cut a few more journals out with the Altenew Journal Flowers Die, score in the center, and bend up. TBH, this was also motivated by the fact that I didn't really like the first coloring of the flowers (you can see these "inside" the journal) so instead of tossing them I used them as a hardly seen layer.

Anyone recognize the cute black background with the gold highlights? It's the pretty tissue Altenew uses to pack your order with! Save and repurpose those beauties!!

To improve the dimensionality, I added a textured ribbon down the middle, over where the stamped ribbon is. Super easy, but a nice detail.

To make the flowers pop on the right (especially the white daisy), I colored all the negative space with gray. All in all, I think this card-within-a-card turned out pretty cute. 

Thanks so much for stopping by!
- Kelly

Supplies Used (affiliate links used at no additional cost to you, thanks so much!)

Altenew Journal Flowers

Altenew Journal Flowers Die

Artists' Gouache Release Blog Hop + Giveaway ($300 in Total Prizes!)

Hello Friends! It's not every day that a new product line comes out, so I'm excited to be a part of this blog hop debuting Altenew's new Artist's Gouache Set!

I have to admit, I was a little intimidated at the thought of playing around with a new-to-me media, that comes in a tube no less. They look so "artsy"! But I'm happy to report they are very manageable and fun to play around with!  

You may have come from the delightful Virginia Lu, but if not feel free to start at the beginning with the Altenew Blog.

These cards are really a tale of two cities, with one being somewhat involved and detailed, and one being very loose and free. Let's take a look at the detailed one first!

First, I must say how fancy I felt squeezing the gouache out of the tubes, lol! Then it was a matter of figuring out the right consistency and amount of water to add (like a thicker soup). I started with masking off the margins of my panel and applying a wash to the background. Because the gouache is quickly reactivated with water, it was easy to make this gradient wash without worrying about moving fast. 

Then I stamped the Paint-a-Flower: Rose on the left and right and started applying color to the flowers. This is where I had a lot of fun experimenting with how to use the color. My intention for this panel was just to practice and learn how to use the gouache, but I ended up keeping it as the final card.

I took the opportunity to mount the panel on a coordinating colored piece of cardstock I folded into an A2 card.

My observations, as a complete beginner to this medium, are to take advantage of the fact that unlike watercolors, the gouache doesn't bleed as easily when it touches already painted areas. This is helpful when painting sections of petals, especially for impatient artists like me.

 

Also, it's convenient to know that when it dries out on your palette it's easy to reactivate with a damp brush and continue painting.

The next card is a quick one that creates an awesome tie-dye effect! I used the Brick Rosette Builder Stencil to put directly on the card, and then just painted the gouache around each circle. 

The gouache that pools under the stencil is just what I needed to create the loose tie-dye effect. It blends a bit with the other colors, but it's not all over the place.

This is a simple design, with just a sentiment added on top to finish, so it works for many different occasions.

My intention was to stencil several of these in cool colors on an 8.5 x 11 sheet of cardstock and cut them into quarters. I'm in desperate need of male birthday cards since I have boys! The speed and level of interest on these are the perfect candidate to have teen boy birthday cards ready.

 

Artists' Gouache Set

If you're unsure about using gouache because you've never worked with it before, I'd say go for it! It comes out to about $3 per tube, which is the same or a tad cheaper than a mini ink cube. 

Giveaway Prizes:

$300 in total prizes! To celebrate this release, Altenew is giving away a *$100 gift certificate to 1 lucky winner and a $20 gift certificates to 10 winners! Please leave a comment on the Altenew Card Blog and/or each designer’s blog post on the blog hop list below by 12/12/2022 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 12/14/2022.

*The winner of the $100 gift certificate will be chosen from comments left on the Altenew blog. 

I'm happy to send you to the super talented LauraJane, who has some gorgeous projects you must see!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Thanks for stopping by!
- Kelly 

Supplies Used (affiliate links at no additional cost to you, thanks so much!)

Artist's Gouache Paint Set

Brick Rosette Builder Stencil

Paint-a-Flower: Rose