Altenew Build-A-Flower: Dahlia Release Blog Hop + Giveaway

Welcome, welcome! I'm just delighted to be a stop on this fabulous blog hop celebrating the newest Bulid-a-Flower release from Altenew ... the Dahlia! You may have just come from Svitlana Shayevich's blog, but if not feel free to start at the beginning of the hop at the Altenew Card Blog.

Yet again, Altenew has released a multi-step flower that allows you to have a burst of color, all without having to do the actual coloring. Genius!  

 In no time I was able to create this vibrant bouquet of dahlias in several different colors. 

 

I decided to turn the dahlia flower heads into stemmed flowers, and collect them in a glass vase that's filled with water. Here's how I did it:  

I always keep hard plastic packaging on hand instead of tossing it for reasons just like this. I drew a vase in permanent marker on the leftover packaging (I'm sure from a toy at Christmas) and cut it out. I then cut a piece of vellum with the same silhouette, and used the Altenew Artist Markers in the palest blue to make some water. Finally, some thin strips of paper are colored in green to make stems. 

Then it's just a matter of arranging your bouquet. Once I have them all in a pleasing arrangement I take a picture so I can remember how to put them back (I could also use the Glad Press 'n Seal plastic to pick everything up and hold it in place while I'm putting adhesive on).

To enhance the realism, I cut a slit along the lip of the vase so I could stick the actual stems through. Under the vase on the card base I've done a very light stenciling through the Elegant Swirls Stencil and added some spatters with the Altenew watercolors. The beautiful sentiment is from this new BAF Dahlia set.

After finishing this card, I realized I used a lot less flowers than I intended, so instead of putting the leftovers in a pile never-to-be-seen again, I pushed myself to make a few more cards.

They're super basic, with a trio of flowers gathered in an ink-blended corner of the card. Some have a gold embossed sentiment, some I left empty so I could pick the greeting when I need one.

Then I decided to try out a different color combination, and wouldn't you know, those turned out really well too!

For this card I just assembled the flowers in the center of the card and added some sequins and ink spatters. 

The background is blended with the colors I used for the flowers and leaves to keep things cohesive. I stamped a sentiment from this set on two strips of paper spanning across the card.

Again, I made a few too many flowers (because they are just so quick and easy to make!) so I used this opportunity to make an additional card. To keep things moving quickly, I didn't think about the format of the card at all, and just used the same formula as the last set of cards.

 

Wow, before I knew it I had SIX cards made from the Dahlia Build-a-Flower ... so fun!

Subscription Plan
There is now a monthly subscription plan for the Build-A-Flower sets! When signed up, you are guaranteed a spot in the monthly Build-A-Flower releases (which often sell out) and will receive the stamp and coordinating die set at a specially discounted price ($35.00 →$29.99). See the Altenew site for further details.
 
Prizes:

To celebrate this release, Altenew is giving away a $30 gift certificate to 6 lucky winners! Please leave a comment on the Altenew Card Blog and/or Altenew Scrapbook Blog for a chance to win. Three winners will be announced on the Card Blog, and other three winners will be announced on the Scrapbook Blog on 3/9/2019.

My Giveaway:

The folks at Altenew have also generously provided a $20 gift certificate for one lucky follower/commenter on my blog! To be eligible, please 1) follow my blog and 2) leave a comment on this post before March 6th, 2019. I will announce the lucky winner on my blog on the 6th.

Your next stop on this hop is the lovely Vicky Papaioannou who has something beautiful to share with you!

Thanks so much for stopping by. Sure hope you enjoy all the wonderful inspiration from all of these mega-talented crafters!

Kelly

At no cost to you, affiliate links may be used.
If you get lost along the way, here is a complete list of the hop:

Altenew Card Blog

Norine Borys

Laura Bassen

Therese Calvird

Kathleen Graumüller

Svitlana Shayevich

Kelly Griglione <--- you are here!

Vicky Papaioannou

Patricia Roebuck

Virginia Lu

Seeka

Emily Midgett

Nathalie DeSousa

Altenew Scrapbook Blog

Anna Komenda

Heather Hoffman

Laurie Willison

Amber Rain Davis

Zinia Redo

Joni Andaya

Gayatri Murali

Winnie & Walter's Fifth Birthday! Lots of Prizes and Challenges!!

Hi Folks! Can you believe it's been five years for Winnie & Walter?! Seems like forever ago and yesterday too that I got an email from Shay saying she was wondering if I'd be interested in playing with some really fun stamps : ) Five years later, hundreds of stamps and dies, and a lifetime's worth of stamping "fun", we're celebrating Winnie & Walter's fifth birthday!

For the next month, we'll have several challenges that you'll be able to participate in to get those creative juices flowing, and to win lots of prizes. All the details are in this post. 

My challenge is a fairly simple one:

Make a project using stamps from three or more different sets.

I was happy to find that these elephants from two different sets combined to make the perfect family! Add the balloons from a third set, and you've got a sweet card for first time parents : )

Are you ready to play? Head over to the challenge at Winnie & Walter ... would love to see what you come up with!

As always, thanks for stopping by!
-Kelly

5 WAYS to Use the Essentials by Ellen Bear Ware Sets

Hi Folks, I'm on the Ellen Hutson blog today sharing 5 different ways to use all the fun accessories in the EBE Bear Ware sets! And boy oh boy did I have a blast mixing and matching those sets.

They all revolved around the latest Bear Ware 3 which was just released on Friday.

I was having so much fun with this set that all my cards wouldn't fit in the article! So I'm sharing two additional cards in this post.

I really liked the concept of making mini-scenes using just the accessories (no bear or person) and wanted to try out all the Halloween stamps, so I challenged myself to come up with 4 different scenes with the Halloween stamps.

These little collages are intentionally not lined up to be a little spooky. The blue pumpkin idea I used for its own card (at the end of this post). Really, any of these four little scenes could be its own card if you put it on a panel and add a sentiment strip. Or a set of cards! 

On the left we have a black cat on a broom with the sentiment, and a frog in a cauldron that was left unattended by the witch who left her hat there. I punched some vellum for the bubbles in the boiling pot. On the right we have a ghost (which was easy enough to draw) holding a treat bag. Since these scenes are so small it was easy to color in the backgrounds.

The black panel wasn't proportionally tall enough, so I let a tiny strip of the Bed of Roses die fill the gap. This was a really fun card to work on!

The other extra card that didn't make the Ellen Hutson post is this patriotic bear who's been invited to a picnic. He found a triple scoop of ice cream, along with his flag, and has plans to grill dinner for everyone later in the evening (although, since he was invited to the picnic, maybe he's just going to sit back and eat the dinner, OR perhaps he's at a party where the host doesn't know how to grill (my husband) so the guests end up having to do the grilling after all).

Really love the dimension ... we've got glossy accents on the grill, a thick bear, the loosely secured ice cream cone, and then the "waving" flag.

I added a few sequins and water spatters to the fireworks for a little more energy. The fireworks are stamped with the sparkler accessory (handle hanging off the edge).

The base of the card actually uses the Skinny Stripes die as a stencil for the red ink (a few spatters of water here too).

Be sure to head over to the Ellen Hutson blog to see the other five cards. Here's a peek without any of the commentary and additional photos:

1. Use the Accessories as Intended (with the Bear).

2. Use the Accessories to Make a Scene. 

3. Use the Accessories to make a Custom Pattern/Background.

4. Combine accessories from the different Bear War sets.

5. Find Other, Non-Bear-Related Sets in the Same Scale. 

I am really so excited to get all these sets ... with all the different elements I'm prepared for any holiday or occasion!

Thanks for stopping by!
Kelly

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