Altenew January 2018 Release Blog Hop + Giveaway

Hello friends,
I'm super excited to be a part of the Altenew January 2018 Release Blog Hop. Altenew is releasing a fabulous new range of dies this month which you wouldn't want to miss. If you have arrived here from Justine Hovey's blog, then you're on the right track. I am the last stop on this hop :)

I have a LOT of projects to share today, so let's get started :

Card 1

I have used the fabulous, new, Peony Dream 3D Die set on this card. If you have been following my work for a while now, you must be knowing that layered florals are my all-time favorite and I was really excited when Altenew sent me these layered floral dies. They are absolutely brilliant to work with!

I cut the Peony Dream die set out of five different shades of pink textured cardstock to create my flower and two different shades of green cardstock for the leaves. I also used the new Cube Cover Die Set on this card. Instead of die-cutting it, I simply used my Tan Mat so as to get an embossed impression of the die. I love how it looks. What do you think?

I then assembled the flower and the foliage to create a floral cluster. The small filler flowers are die-cut from the Rose Flurries 3D Die set while the additional foliage is from the Create-A-Wreath Die set. The sentiment was heat-embossed in white on black cardstock and is from the Altenew Painted Butterflies set. I also added black paint splatters to finish off my card.


Card 2

For this card, I used another layered floral die called the Rose Flurries 3D Die Set. This is a very intricate and detailed die set and there are a LOT of flowers and leaves included in this set. 

I decided to create my own custom-colored cardstock, by coloring the die-cut pieces using Altenew Dye Inks. I inked each of the flowers using the inks from the Cherry Blossom set and then stacked them together to create the complete flower. 

The leaves were created the same way. I used the Altenew Tropical ink set to color them. For my background, I die-cut the Watercolor Stripes Cover die out of white cardstock and colored it lightly using Altenew Sea Shore inks. I have created an ombre look from bottom to top.

The sentiment is from the Altenew Sketchy Floral stamp and was stamped on white cardstock. I added few enamel dots and black paint splatters to complete my card.


Card 3 

This card is one of my personal favorites, but the photographs don't do justice to it. I love the soft shabby-chic look of the creams and the pinks combined with the background lace.

To start with, I die-cut the Creative Edges: Lace die out of cream cardstock. I aligned the die to create a double-sided border as the scalloped side is the one which cuts when it's run through your die-cutting machine. I die-cut these laces twice to add to the bottom of my card.

Next, I die-cut the oval frame from the Create-A-Wreath set out of gold foil cardstock. The leaves are from the Rose Flurries 3D Die set while the delicate foliage is from the Create-A-Wreath set again. The florals used here are from one of the most favorite stamp sets from Altenew called the Vintage Roses. They were stamped on white cardstock using the Red Cosmos inks and then die-cut using the coordinating dies.

I assembled everything together. The flowers and frame are popped using foam dots for dimension. The love die-cut is from the Altenew Script Words die set. I have tried to give it a pink ombre look and offset it with gold foil cardstock to give it some interest. The 'sending' sentiment has been heat embossed in white on black cardstock and is from an Altenew stamp set.

Card 4 

I have used the Altenew Caps Bold Alphabet die set to create this card. The letters HAPPY were cut out of white cardstock and then lightly inked on the bottom using the Altenew Frosty Pink ink.

The flowers are from the Altenew Rose Flurries 3D Die set. This time, I used the Inlaid Die-Cutting technique for the flower on the left as I wanted to give the die-cut letters the proper dimension. The roses and the leaves were cut out of colored cardstocks and then layered.

I die-cut the letters using White Foam to give them some dimension. You can see it clearly in the picture below.

The word anniversary is from the Altenew Vintage Roses stamp and has been heat embossed in white.

I added strips of black diagonal stripes to balance my card design. I also added few clear sequins to complete my card.

Now moving on to my last two projects. I have made a Bag and Tag using the new dies.  These dies are so versatile, I can't stop using it on all my projects, be it gifting options, be it cards, and much more.

On this bag, I have combined several dies together.

The flower has been created using the Rose Flurries 3D Die set. I have cut it out of different shades of dark pink textured cardstocks. The leaves were cut out of green textured cardstocks as well as ink blended using the Altenew Green Fields inks.

The foliage was cut using the Create-A-Wreath die set. I have added also some foliage cut using gold foil cardstock.

I used the Creative Edges: Lace die to make my own custom top of the bag as well as to add a die-cut strip on the bottom of the bag. I think it looks very elegant and pretty :)

I have used the Rose Flurries 3D Flower set again here. I think you can tell by now that this die is my absolute favorite from this release :D

I have also added few light inked brown laces using the Creative Edges: Lace to the tag. The foliage and leaves are from the Create-A-Wreath and Rose Flurries set. The tag has been cut using the negative of the Create-A-Wreath circle die.

The top-most layer of the flower is cut out of gold foil cardstock.

A closer-look at the tag!

Lastly, I would like to share a small organization tip for the Altenew Rose Flurries 3D Die set. When you receive the package, all the dies will come joined together in one piece and you will have to separate them using scissors or metal snips.

Since this is a multi-layered floral die set with a lot of elements in it (five different types of flowers and three different types of leaves), it may at first feel a bit confusing as to which flower layers with which, so it's better to separate them in individual zip lock bags by the flower type and label the zip lock bags. You can do the same for the leaves too. This will save you a lot of time later when you sit down to create projects using this die set.

I am sharing a picture below to help you understand what I mean.

Prizes:
To celebrate this release, Altenew is giving away a $50 gift certificate to SIX lucky winners! Please leave a comment on the Altenew Card Blog and Altenew Scrapbook Blog by Monday, January 15th for a chance to win. Six winners will be announced on the Altenew blogs on 1/17/2018.

Optional Giveaway:
Altenew has very generously offered me to giveaway a $30 gift certificate to one of my lovely readers. To be eligible to win, please leave a comment here on my blog by Sunday, January 14th. I will announce the winner on my blog on Tuesday, January 16th.

Blog Hop Order:
I am the last stop on this hop. Incase, you are starting from my blog, then your next stop is the Altenew Card Blog

Altenew Card Blog

Therese Calvird

Lilith Eeckels

Anna Kossakovskaya

Svitlana Shayevich

Jennifer McGuire

Virginia Lu

Jessica Frost-Ballas

Sandra Dietrich

Kristina Pokazanieva

Laura Bassen

Reiko Tsuchida

Simon Says Stamp Blog

Erum Tasneem

Yoonsun Hur

Galina Filippenko

Kymona Tracey

Altenew Scrapbook Blog

Vicky Papaioannou

Miriam Prantner

Enza Gudor

Nina-Marie Trapani

Dana Gong

Terhi Koskinen

Justine Hovey

Hussena Calcuttawala (That's ME!)

I hope you liked my projects. Do let me know which one you like the best. Thank you so much for stopping by!