Hi guys and welcome!
Today I am so excited to take part in Altenew’s December release blog hop! If you arrived here from Kymona, you are in the right spot. There is a full list of all the stops at the bottom of this post, in case you want to go back and look at someone’s projects again or if you get lost.
I have made two cards using the new Set E markers, which round out my collection of Artist Markers. I have been waiting for the greens, Tropical Forest, in this set for ages as they are my fave greens in the Oval Inks collection. *insert squeaks and all the heart eye emojis here* Now I just need the Primary Color set and I’m complete! Well, apart from all the Artist Markers refills of course. That darn FullSetSyndrome is a real pickle at times!
My first card, and I’ve made two of the same, is done in what’s become a bit of a signature look for me, with the Artist Markers: A bold background made by simply drawing thick lines in each colour and blending them in. The inspiration for the colour scheme is the changing colours of leaves in the autumn, all those vibrant reds, oranges, yellows and golden brown.
In the past I have sometimes done this directly on a card base but this time I used a pre-cut card panel. It does look a lot cleaner without the ink bleeding through on the inside of the card.
That’s all the “colouring” done for card no1 and I use that term loosely here as it is quite simply fool-proof. No blending, shading or even staying within the lines are required for this sort of colouring. Just draw the marker from one side to the other, to create the thickness of the selection you want and then move on to the next shade. Easy peasy!
The stamp set I have used for both cards is Leaf Canopy, it’s fast become a firm fave in my Altenew stash. I find it very versatile and lovely to colour with all sorts of different mediums.
After dusting my panel with an anti-static tool, I stamped the solid images from the top right corner all the way down to the bottom left corner, with VersaMark ink. The embossing powder I used is Copper and it complements the colour in the background beautifully. It’s rich and gorgeous!
To finish the card off, I adhered it to a card base and added a few sentiments from the Leaf Canopy stamp set.
These are also heat embossed with Copper, for a cohesive look. A very generous smattering of matte black sequins were the final touch.
My second card is a mixture of techniques: no-line colouring, emboss resist, ink blending, spot light look and eclipse….
To begin with, I stamped the outline image from Leaf Canopy in Bamboo ink on a panel. This I coloured in using Set E, both the green and orange Artist Markers. Once all coloured in, I stamped the solid image on top in VersaMark and heat clear embossing powder over it.
The clear embossing powder protects the colouring without hiding any of it. In fact, I think it highlights it.
With a blending brush, I picked out some Oval Ink pads and blended a soft blue around the branch of leaves and then towards the edges of the card, a mix of darker blues. I used inks from the Cool Summer Night family: Sea Glass and Dusk. Turquoise from the Deep Blue Seas family as well as Persian Blue and Sapphire from the Glacier Caves family were used too.
To finish off the background, I splattered first some water drops on it. These I dabbed off with a piece of kitchen towel. Then I added some gold splatters on it too.
With the diecut ‘You are Loved‘, I cut first one piece out of foam sheet, then another out of brushed gold card stock and finally one out of the background panel. I adhered the background to a card base and then layered up the pieces, foam + gold + top layer, until was all puzzled back together. With that, the card was done!
Thank you for stopping by today, I hope you enjoyed my cards as much as I enjoyed making them! I have used compensated affiliate links to, amongst others, Altenew in this post, at no extra cost to you, in case you want to grab any of the items I have used here for yourself. When you use an affiliate link, not just mine but any crafters’, you help support their dream and crafting journey so I hope you will consider using them when shopping. Thank you in advance for supporting us like this! We all really appreciate it!
Now for 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 Scrapbook Blog by 12/12/2018 for a chance to win. Six winners will be announced on the Altenew blogs on Sunday, December 16th.
You can also win a $30 gift certificate to Altenew here on my blog. All you have to do is leave a comment by the 12/12/18.
Thanks again for stopping by, lots of love and happy crafting from Erica.
The final stop on the hop is Agnieszka
FULL HOP LIST BELOW
Oh my. Every card is gorgeous!
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Amazing inspiration.
Love the warm colors and embossing takes it to next level.
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Ooooh these are super beautiful! The last one is my fav of all! ❤
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How unique. Beautiful ideas for meaningful cards.
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Beautiful cards!
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I love your bold backgrounds, they are just beautiful.
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Love how the embossing looks on your backgrounds. 🙂
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I love this technique! I have this set and I’m going to try right now!
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Both cards are gorgeous. The first is my favorite and I think it’s because of the colors used. 🙂
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Holy cow, Erica!!! Both cards are absolutely stunning and beautifully unique!! Thanks for sharing your amazing talent!! 🙂
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Brilliant idea for the second card. I love it! I am stealing that!
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Wow Erica, these cards are awesome!! That blue card took my breath away!! It is stunning!!
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Beautiful cards!! Love the new colors in the markers
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Love your beautiful cards but the blue one is my most favorite!! Lovely bright colors against blue background and great details. 🙂
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Gorgeous card, Erica! Thanks for giving and showing us the scoop.
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Such a different style – love seeing all this inspiration.
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Oh my goodness those colours in your first card are stunning ❤
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Such beautiful cards. Great embossing.
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Love the embossing! Nice job, thanks for sharing!
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Thanks for sharing these lovely cards.
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Pretty background and coloring both of these cards are pretty.
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Your backgrounds are STUNNING! I love the orange one!
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Beautiful cards!
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I especially liked the ‘you are loved’ card. Great idea putting gold between the foam and the coloured panel.
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Very beautiful cards! Great job!
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Erica, these two cards are stunning. Each is so different but I love them both in their uniqueness. I’m inspired by your crafting and will be added the leafy canopy to my Santa’s wish list! tfs
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Beautiful!! I especially love the ombre effect on the first card. Stunning!!
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I love the ombre background you created with the markers- it really makes the embossed image pop!
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these cards are just STUNNING!!!!!
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Love both of your cards and the techniques you used! And you used one of my favorite stamp sets to boot! 😊 excited about the new release colors too!
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I love the canopy stamp, so versatile. Love how many ways it can be used.
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Wow . Super job.
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Wow! Stunning cards! Love the bold background and the stacked sentiments in the first card.
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Gorgeous work!!! Thank you so much for the inspiration !
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Wonderful backgrounds.
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Another winning release from Altenew! Your cards are amazing, but the second one is absolutely stunning!
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Wow – those are ALL wonderful! I can’t wait to try something like that with my own leaf canopy set! I love love love the last card – it almost looks like the lettering is transparent.
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Beautiful cards! Even using the same stamp set, they are so different yet gorgeous in their own way. I love the colored leaves against the blue background.
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That ombre background is so beautiful. I love it. Also love the tone-on-tone blue card with the die cut sentiment. Very cool design.
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I certainly did enjoy your cards. They’re beautiful. My favorite is the background on that first card. It is so amazing. I have to try your technique. Thanks for sharing these.
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Yes, that orange card definitely looks like fall!
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I love the different looks you created with the same stamp set! And you’re right, the copper is _perfect_ to go with the orange shades. It looks like an incredibly vivid sunset. Thanks for sharing with us!
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These cards are stunning! Love the orange/copper combo!
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These are so beautiful. The ‘we are loved’ is a technique that
I just love.
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I love the bronzes against the oranges.
Fantastic. The colored leaves
are great too. thanks for sharing
txmlhl(at)yahoo(dot)com
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What beautiful cards! I love that Leaf Canopy stamp set- the leaves look gorgeous embossed with the copper embossing powder! Love that card!
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Beautiful cards. Great release from Altenew.
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These are gorgeous, Erica, I am really in love with the second card – that design is simply fabulous!
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