Beginning My Altenew Journey

I’m very excited to share my first submission for the Altenew Educator Certification Program. These two cards are for the All About Layering 1 Class. Altenew has many amazing floral layering stamp sets and I love the beautiful effects you can quickly create, no coloring skills needed. Coming back to crafting after being away for so many years, it was incredible to see how much stamping had changed. I was delighted by these amazing layering stamps and instantly hooked.

This card was inspired by the multi-generation stamping technique. It’s a great way to utilize your supplies by expanding the shades of color available from one ink pad. This card was very easy to put together using just three ink colors.

First, I cut two rectangle panels slightly smaller than my 4.25”x5” card base to create some dimension. I stamped the flower from the Amazing Things layering stamp set on the smallest panel using the first, third and second generation of Jet Black ink with the three stamp layers to create a background. This created a very pleasing background that compliments but does not overpower the focal point. 

Next, I stamped the flower on another piece of cardstock using Jet Black, Wisteria and Ultraviolet inks. I love the softness of these purple inks and the watercolor feel of the stamp layers. The flower was cut using the coordinating die and glued on two more layers of cardstock cut from the same die to pop it up. In addition, I used the Altenew Jet Black Artist Marker to create some more definition by outlining the flower. This really made the main flower stand out and I was very happy with the results.

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Finally, I stamped the sentiment on a strip of cardstock and popped it up on foam tape. The gemstones are the final touches creating sparkle to finish this card off. I really love the simple, yet sophisticated look of this card.

Card Supplies
Stamps: Altenew Amazing Things stamp & die set, Altenew Celebrate Today stamp set (sentiment)
Inks: Altenew Crisp Inks – Jet Black, Wisteria and Ultraviolet. Altenew Jet Black Artist Marker. Sentiment – Versafine Onyx Black pigment ink
Embellishments: Nuvo Silver Petals Pure Sheen Gemstones
Paper: core’dinations Premium Cardstock 110 lb. White, smooth texture

While this second card has a very different look and might seem complex, it was also easy to create with Altenew’s Beautiful Day layering stamp and die set. Initially, I planned on sharing a different card but I love the color and texture of this one too much to not share it. The main flower in this set has four layers and I had so much fun playing around with different color combinations before making my final choices. 

I stamped three sets of leaves starting with the solid portion of the leaf using Frayed Leaf, then added the second layer using Evergreen. To add some sparkle, I stamped the final layer in Antique Gold pigment ink. This is not the suggested order to layer these stamps, but because I wanted the Antique Gold to be crisp and not muted I switched things up. Each leaf was cut with the coordinating die.

For the background I used a polka dot die on textured teal cardstock. I cut the base for my card to 5 3/4 x 4 1/2 so I did not have to trim down the polka dot die cut. I liked having a slightly larger card for which I made a coordinating envelope. Using the outline layer of the main flower and the smallest cluster of berries in this set, I randomly stamped with Antique Gold pigment ink on the teal cardstock to create a subtle background.

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I stamped two flowers for the focal point, using Jet Black for the outline and then started with the lightest color and worked up to the darkest color with each additional layer. Then I re-stamped the outline image in Antique Gold. Both flowers were cut with the coordinating die. Next leaves and flowers were glued to the teal background in a pleasing arrangement with one of the flowers popped up on foam tape. I also used one of the sentiments from this set and mounted it on foam tape. The final touch with the sequins made all the difference.

Something I found helpful with layering stamps was to arrange them in the order you want to stamp them along with the inks chosen for each layer. This helped keep me from grabbing the wrong color for any particular layer. In my experimenting I also learned, that if you stamp the outline in the darkest of the color family and then move through the rest of the layers, you can come back and re-stamp the outline image for more dramatic definition. As you stamp through the layers, the colors underneath tend to become muted and this helps to bring back more drama if you prefer that look. I enjoyed this class and getting to play around with different ways to use layering stamps, it really helped to spark my creativity!

Card Supplies
Stamps: Altenew Beautiful Day stamp & die set
Dies: Lawn Fawn Itsy Bitsy Polka Dot Backdrop 5.5 x 4.25
Inks: Altenew Crisp Inks – Flower 1: Jet Black, Blush, Coral Bliss, Vineyard Berry / Flower 2: Blush, Pink Pearl, Rouge / Leaves: Frayed Leaf, Evergreen. Flowers/Leaves/Background: Altenew Antique Gold pigment ink. Sentiment – Versafine Onyx Black pigment ink 
Embellishments: Altenew Antique Gold sequins
Paper: core’dinations Premium Cardstock 110 lb. White, smooth texture and teal textured cardstock had on hand