Altenew 2nd Anniversary Blog Hop

 
Hi Folks! I can clearly remember Altenew's very first release two years ago, and aside from figuring it was going to be a pretty darn successful company with Tasnim and Jen at the helm, my thoughts were solidly confirmed when I saw the wonderfully detailed and unique stamp sets, especially the painted flowers and sketchy cities America sets.

Fast forward two years, and a wild amount of successful releases, and I'm super excited to be celebrating Altenew's 2nd Anniversary along side some pretty darn amazing designers!

For today's birthday celebration, I'm going to be playing with Altenew's Sketchy Landmarks set, which features a wonderfully detailed Westminster Abbey. I was so inspired, I ended up making FIVE cards, some of which are spinoffs of each other. Let's get started!



I started off using the cathedral as a background by turning it around to fill in the white space, like a jigsaw puzzle. The focal point cathedral is stamped on heavy weight paper that's been saturated with water. Then holding it vertically, I dripped watercolor at the edges and let it run down the image. To enhance the rose window in the center I filled it in with a white gel pen. I neglected to leave room for the sentiment, so it ended up going right across the image on two strips.



For the next card I went with the same background-filling formula, but this time I wanted to make the cathedrals pop more by loosely coloring the negative spaces. To get an old-world look, the stamp is pressed lightly so some areas wouldn't transfer ink. I like how different sections are missing from each image. This style seems to fit with the more somber sentiment of the card. And this time, I remembered to allow room for the sentiment! A few of the Vintage Flowers in soft pinks draw attention to the sentiment.



The third card uses those Vintage Flowers as a base for a fairy-tale, floating castle. Sequins are all from Little Things by Lucy's Cards.



The castle is white embossed on vellum to enhance the dreamy feeling, and to let those gorgeous flowers show through.

Now let's try a little 3D action ...



To make this dimensional cathedral, I white embossed the cathedral four times. The two sides are actually just the middle sections cut away from the cathedral. For the back cathedral, I stamped the image in black ink so you could still see some details (more-so in person than in the photo here).




To give the illusion of height I stamped the tops of the trees from Shadow Play on each side.

To mail the card you just fold the cathedral to the side.



For the last card, I had fun with the cathedral AND the sentiment. The first part of the sentiment is on the flag waving over the castle (wrapped around a colored toothpick, with a ribbon flying in the wind). The second part of the sentiment is scattered in the stripes of the patterned paper on the base of the card.

The cathedral is again stamped and fussy cut four times, but this time different parts of the cathedral have been cut away to expose various layers. Since each layer is mounted on fun foam, the thicknesses are easier to see.

This one folds flat too, although the thickness of the fun foam will make mailing a little more difficult. I usually bring my card to a wedding, so that shouldn't be an issue as long as I have it in an envelope.

The many towers and detailing make this particular stamp great for the foam layering technique. It really comes to life!

And there you have it! So much fun playing with this set.

To add to the celebration, these fine companies have all donated prizes, as well as several special offers from Altenew:

 

Altenew Special Offers

• First 100 orders : 1 free mini stamp set (Starting April 7th at 9:00 AM EST)
• Orders over $75 : 1 free mini stamp set (Now through Sunday, April 10, 2016)

Prizes

Leave comments along the way for the opportunity to win one of THREE prize packs valued at over $100 from Altenew! There are 8 awesome companies who are celebrating with us, and they are offering the following prizes:

• Pretty Pink Posh : $30 Gift Certificate
• WOW! Embossing Powder : $30 Prize Pack
• Simon Says Stamp : $30 Gift Certificate
• Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L : $30 Prize Pack
• Ellen Hutson : $50 Gift Certificate
• Freckled Fawn : Gypsy Kit valued at $27
• My Sweet Petunia : Mini MISTI
• StampNation : Three 3 Month Subscriptions

Be sure to leave comments on each stop by Tuesday, April 12, 2016 at 11:59 PM EST for a chance to win! 13 winners will be chosen at random from the collective blogs in the hop list and will be announced on the Altenew blog on April 14th.

Your next stop is the fabulous Isha Gupta! 
 
If you haven't already, be sure to check out the Altenew blog for the last two days to see the rest of the festivities. Inspiration overload!

Altenew 
Laura Bassen 
Therese Calvird 
Ellen Hutson
Amy Gray
 Joni Andaya
Freckled Fawn
Debby Hughes
Lydia Evans
My Sweet Petunia 
Kelly Griglione <-- almost there, you are here!

Isha Gupta

Key Supplies:
The following supplies have been used to create the projects in this post. Where available I use affiliate links, which means if you make a purchase I receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. Thanks!

Altenew Clear Stamps, Sketchy Landmarks

Altenew Clear Stamps, Vintage Flowers

Altenew Clear Stamps, Shadow Play