Altenew April 2020 Stamps/Dies/Stencils/Stamping Mat/Sequins Release Blog Hop + Giveaway - 12 PROJECTS!!

Hello Friends! When May asked if I wanted to participate in the April 2020 stamp and die release, I replied that I would love to, but I'd probably only be able to make a few cards because we were going on vacation over Spring Break that next week. Little did I know I would actually be making TWELVE projects, because not only would we not be going on Spring Break, but we wouldn't be leaving our house for weeks!

I hope you and your family are staying healthy. If you'd like some distraction and inspiration, please consider hoping along and seeing all the fantastic new products. You may have come from the super-talented Jaycee Gaspar, but if not feel free to start at the beginning with the Altenew Card Blog.

Let's get started!

This set of cards has been created with the most amazing stencil ever! It's the Sweet Spring Stencil!

Sweet Spring Stencil

This stencil comes with a stencil for the main layer of color (top) and a coordinating stencil for the shaded areas of color (bottom). This is definitely the product I got the most use out of during this craft session ... such a bargain for only $7!

You can definitely use just one color for the main stencil and a darker color for the shadow stencil, like I did on these envelopes. SO QUICK and EASY to dress up a large corner of an envelope.

Love having a stack of these ready to be addressed, and all 17 of them took me only 5-10 minutes to make.

For my cards, I wanted to make the flowers a different color than the leaves, so I made a few different masks by stenciling the image on copy paper and then cutting OUT the sections I wanted to be colored.

Here's what the masks look like. The mask that is under the stencil has been cut away so I can ink all the dark green detail pieces of the leaves. Then I rotate the masks and coordinating inks until the whole image is stenciled.

Here's what half of the stencil (one of the two flowers) looks like with the masked colors.

You may have noticed the new sequins! Not only are these awesome sizes (check out those tiny ones!) but they come in the cutest glass container with an adorable cork top. Definitely something that you'll love keeping out in your craft area!

Back to the stencil ...

Here's the whole stencil, with both main flowers. It's such a nice size to span across a portrait A2 card.

The Satin White sequins are used on this card, along with just a small strip of the Patchwork Kite Stencil. So awesome for making geometric borders.

Here's a similar card, with the same set of florals, only this time they are underneath the sentiment instead of on top of the sentiment like the previous card. Such an appropriate sentiment for these times! "Stay Strong" is from the long anticipated Sentiment Strips 2 set.

You may have noticed the banner with "stay strong" ... that's from the new Envelope Art Set, proving you don't have to just use it for envelopes.

It's actually a focal point for this card, being dimensional like this. So easy to do, you just adhere the ends a little bit closer together than normal. It can flatten on its own.

Here's a card that I've used the stencil twice on, just oriented opposite from each other.

Envelope Art

And, a matching envelope, using the Envelope Art set to mark the address area. I'm super excited about this set, as I've always wanted to up my envelope game.

Finally, I used the stencil several times to fill the entire card front with blooms. Really, this is such a high impact look for relatively small effort and time. A bed of rose blooms for a new baby is just so darn sweet.

And as much as I was excited about the first Sentiment Strips, the Sentiment Strips 2 has about the same effect on me! Here are more of the sentiments.

Sentiment Strips 2

Here they all are! Not sure if you saw my post when the first set of these came out, but my tip for you was to NOT TAKE THE STAMPS OFF THE BACKING until you've stamped a few rounds of these all at once. I like to tape the entire backing to my misti and then whip out a few sets. You can cut them in strips and gaze at your pretty pile on your workspace : )

Just get them now before you forget ... you will use them FOREVER!

Radial Stars Cover Die

The Radial Stars Cover Die is a good one to have for festive occasions, like graduations. I'm all about efficiency, and it's nice knowing that with one pass in the die cutter, the entire card is pretty much designed for you. I just did some ink blending beforehand, and then added more of the Sentiment Strips 2.

Once you're done with your stars card, it seems such a shame to waste the actual stars, right?! No better time to make a shaker card! The graduated sizes of these stars makes for the perfect contents of a shaker card, as well as the different colors

This floating shaker card is made with the Framed Thanks Die.

Dog Rose A&B Panel

Finally, the dual Dog Rose A&B Panel dies are another highly efficient way to make a great impression. The hardest part honestly is picking out the different colors for each layer (and for a fun surprise, have a different color for inside the card as well!)

These are the perfect size for note cards! With all these die cut details, you really don't need anything else. Except perhaps one of the sentiment strips! I like having it run the length of the panel, like a spine of a book, for the blue card on the left.

Really loving the power of the white on white layers, again, since there are so many wonderful details in these dies. To jazz it up a little I used the tiny sequins that are also new for this release.

Sequins

And finally, here's what the panels look like on a traditional A2-sized card.

Another sentiment strip, and satin gold sequins, and you've got a finished card!

You've made it through my projects! As you can see, I truly enjoyed playing with the products in this release. I'm hoping you're finding some time to have fun with your supplies as well!

Prizes:
To celebrate this release, Altenew is giving away a $50 gift certificate to 6 lucky winners! Please leave a comment on the Altenew Card Blog and/or Altenew Mixed Media Blog for a chance to win by 4/23/2020. We'll also draw a winner to receive a $20 gift certificate from comments left on each designer's blog in the blog hop. All winners will be announced on the Altenew Blog on 4/26/2020.

Your next stop on this hop is the one and only Jennifer McGuire!

Thanks so much for stopping by! Please stay safe : )

- Kelly

Supplies Used For Any Projects You Liked (affiliate links, thanks so much for your support!)

Sweet Spring Stencil

Envelope Art

Sentiment Strips 2

Radial Stars Cover Die

Patchwork Kite Stencil

Dog Rose A&B Panel

Sequins