Altenew April 2022 Spring Garden Collection Release Blog Hop + Giveaway ($300 in total prizes)

Hello, crafty friends!

I am excited to be joining  Altenew for their April 2022 Standalone Dies/ Hot Foil Plates Release: Spring Garden! This release features so many beautiful new Dies and Hot Foil Plates along with other fabulous goodies for your crafty stash!

If you arrived here from, Amy Hill's Blog, then you are on the right track. If this is your first stop, then you will want to start at the beginning, the Altenew Card Blog. We've got tons of inspiration and giveaways for you on the hop today, so keep reading till the end of this post for more information.

Just when you thought you had everything, Altenew is bringing you the NEW Spring Garden Stamps, Stand-alone Dies, Stencils, & Hot Foil Plates Collection! You will find everything you might need to create your own warm spring garden! Here's a look at the products being released today: 

My first card features the Detailed Web Cover Die and the Itty Bitty Branches Die Set along with the Virginia Rose 3D Die Set and the Create-A-Wreath Die Set.

To start, I die-cut several of the flowers and leaves from Virginia Rose 3D Die Set and the Itty Bitty Branches Die Set using Altenew’s Watercolor Paper. Next, I pulled out my favourite Tropical Fiesta Brush Marker Set and used Crimson and Sweet Leaf, and Lime Brush Markers to colour my die-cut pieces in a variety of shades following the layering guide. Altenew's brush markers have a wonderful vibrancy and are available in a gorgeous range of colors! You can use the brush markers as is, or as liquid watercolors with your own paintbrush, which is what I did for my card today. It was very easy to get three different shades of the same colour from one marker and I think this is a great way of maximizing your stash. Once I had all the pieces coloured and dried, I spent some time just putting everything together with Craft Glue.

Next, I  trimmed a piece of Neenah Classic Crest Solar White Cardstock to 4.25" X 5.05" and debossed the card panel using the Detailed Web Cover Die in my Platinum 6" Die Cutting Machine (I positioned my Platform Standard; Die UP with Cardstock Inside; Embossing Mat; XL Embossing Plate and then ran this through my die cut machine as I would an embossing folder. The die pressed into the paper leaving a lovely impression). Once that was done, I die-cut an oval in the centre of the panel using the Oval Shape Medium Die from the Create-A-Wreath Die Set and lightly watercoloured the piece and the die-cut panel using the Lava Rock Brush Marker from the Tropical Fiesta Set. 

Next, I die-cut some additional foliage for my floral arrangement from the Itty Bitty Branches Die Set using Altenew’s Dazzling Diamond Cardstock and adhered it down on my card panel. Then, I stamped a sentiment from the Fragrant Florals Stamp Set onto a strip of Neenah Classic Crest Solar White Cardstock using Obsidian ink and adhered it down on my panel using foam adhesive for dimension. Once that was done, I mat my card panel with Neenah Classic Crest Solar White Cardstock before adhering it a top-folding A2 white card base using tape runner. As a finishing touch, I used the Jet Black Ink Spray to add a few paint splatters to my panel for an artsy look and adhered a few Sparkling Clear Sequins for some sparkle!

My second card is a bit softer and features some of the beautiful hot foil products from this release. I used the Vibrant Florals Hot Foil Plate & Stencil Bundle along with the Detailed Web Cover Die and the Itty Bitty Branches Die Set to create my card. 

I began by hot foiling the Vibrant Florals Hot Foil Plate onto some Glimmer Specialty Cardstock  using Gold Hot Foil with the help of my Glimmer Hot Foil System. I then used the coordinating Stencil Bundle from Altenew to add some soft peachy pink and pale greens to the image. I used Peach Perfect, Warm Sunshine, and Firefly inks to do my layered blending with the help of Blending Brushes, then fussy cut the finished image using a pair of sharp scissors. Once that was done, I used my Prismacolor Pencils to add some shading and depth to the flowers.

Next, I used the new Detailed Web Cover Die to die-cut a piece of Neenah Classic Crest Solar White Cardstock to create a beautiful intricate background for my daisies. Then, I die-cut some leaves and foliage for my floral arrangement from the Itty Bitty Branches Die Set using White Cardstock and coloured the pieces with Crimson and Sweet Leaf Brush Markers before adhering it down on my card panel using Craft Glue. Once that was done, I stamped a sentiment from the Fragrant Florals Stamp Set onto a strip of Neenah Classic Crest Solar White Cardstock using Obsidian ink and adhered it down on my panel using foam adhesive for dimension. 

Then, to finish, I mat my card panel with Neenah Classic Crest Solar White Cardstock before adhering it a top-folding A2 white card base using tape runner. As a finishing touch, I used the Jet Black Ink Spray and the Antique Gold Metallic Spray to add some shiny, shimmery gold splatters to the panel for some glitz and glam!

My last card for today features the Morning Blooms Hot Foil Plate & Stencil Bundle. I really love that Altenew offers these new hot foiling sets with the coordinating stencils, as it provides a base for adding color and character to the images.

To create my card,  I first foiled the beautiful, glimmering bouquet and the hummingbird from the Morning Blooms Hot Foil Plate with some shiny Copper Hot Foil on an A2 panel of Glimmer Specialty Cardstock. The super smooth surface of the paper creates a perfect canvas for foiling this beautiful image and I love the results it gives each time. Next, I foiled the images again on another piece of Glimmer Specialty Cardstock and used the coordinating Stencil Set to colour the images using Altenew Dye Inks (Rubellite, Pinkalicious,Warm Sunshine, Orange Cream, Volcano Lake, and Just Green) with Blending Brushes before fussy cutting them out using a pair of scissors.  Once that was done, I used my Prismacolor Pencils to add some shading and depth to the flowers, and then layered the pieces over the foiled panel using foam adhesive for dimension. 

Then, for my card background, I used Lagoon and Mountain Mist Paints from the Watercolor 36 Pan Set and a Fine Watercolor Brush to carefully watercolor a very light halo around the image and the entire panel. I also splattered the card front with some of the metallic gold, pink, and blue paint from the Metallic Watercolor Set for a fun, artsy look. 

I also die cut a Handwritten Hello from the Dynamic Blossoms Die Set from some Jet Black Cardstock and White Foam and layered them together using Craft Glue to create a raised look on my card front. Next, I stamped the rest of the sentiment from the Extra Special Stamp Set on to the foiled panel using Obsidian Ink. Then, to complete, I adhered the panel to a top-folding A2-sized white card base using tape runner. As a finishing touch, I added a few metallic Gold Mix Gems to add a bit more sparkle!

Giveaway Prizes:

$300 in total prizes! To celebrate this release, Altenew is giving away a $50 gift certificate to 2 lucky winners and a $25 gift certificate to 8 winners! Please leave a comment on the Altenew Card Blog and/or each designer’s blog post on the blog hop list below by 03/31/2022 for a chance to win. Altenew will draw 10 random winners from the comments left on each stop of this blog hop and announce the winners on the Altenew Winners Page on 04/02/2022.

Blog Hop Order:

Next Stop on this Blog Hop is the wonderful, Nichol Spohr's blog. Just in case you lose your place along the way, here is the complete list of participants so that you can find your way back:

Altenew Blog

Jaycee Gaspar

Cheryl Espie

Terri Koszler

Mindy Eggen

Jenny Colacicco

Katrina Howe

Nathalie DeSousa

Nicole Watt

Virginia Lu

Carol Hintermeier

Laurie Willison

LauraJane

Keren Baker

Reiko Tsuchida ***Note: Due to strict regulations in Japan, you might not be able to leave a comment on her blog post. 

Preeti Chandran

Tenia Nelson

Nenette S. Madero

Agnieszka Małyszek

Colleen Balija 

Teresa Litchfield

Natasha Davies

Rosie Neustaedter

Ann Taylor 

Sande Woodson

Linda Westfall

Nandini Karmarkar

SathyaKala Sankaran

Susan Stagno

Bridget Casey

Eva Bussom

Amy Hill

                           Hussena Calcuttawala (You are HERE)

Nichol Spohr

Daniel Diaz 

Well, that’s all for my projects today! Thanks so much for stopping by and reading. I hope you have a wonderful day!

If you like what you've seen from me, please give me a follow over on my Instagram (@hussena_cal) and/or subscribe to my blog if you haven't already.