Hi friends!
Altenew is looking ahead to the Christmas and winter holidays with a brand-new batch of stamps and dies…to celebrate, you’re invited to a fabulous blog hop featuring tons of inspiration and giveaways! (If you came here from Reiko Tsuchida‘s blog, you’re on the right track!)
This time, I’ve got two card projects for you: One featuring the Festive Poinsettia stamp and die set, and another using the Holiday Bow stamp and die set (with a sentiment from the Starry Night stamp set). Both cards use my new I’m-so-in-love Watercolor Pans set.
Ready to go? Great! At the end of the post, please keep hopping to see what other designers have created with different stamp and die sets. There are also prizes to be won, too!
Festive Poinsettia Wishing You Joy card
This is a great way to enjoy watercoloring with stamped images. Because the stamped image is heat-embossed, you have raised edges that help to hold in the watery paint…which minimizes any overspill and avoids smudgy ink.
First, stamp the poinsettia with Altenew Embossing Ink, add Golden Peach embossing powder and heat-set.
Remove Rubellite, Crimson, Bamboo and Forest Glades watercolors from the case. Spritz them lightly with water.
Paint in the poinsettia leaves with Rubellite and Crimson; paint the leaves with Bamboo and Forest Glades watercolors.
Spritz the image lightly with water and blot with a tissue or cloth. Let the paint dry and die-cut.
Tip: I use masking tape to secure the die in place—when I do, I make sure most of the tape is on the outside edge of the die rather than on the stamped and painted piece. Otherwise the pressure of the machine can make it hard to remove the tape without tearing the paper.
I also die-cut the poinsettia from black cardstock and glued it behind the painted one, slightly offset, to create a shadow.
To stamp the sentiment, just place the metal die (or one of the die-cuts) on white cardstock to determine the placement of the words. Position the stamps, then remove the die. Ink the stamps with Permanent Black ink and stamp.
Make a watery wash of black ink on a craft sheet, then spatter the cardstock. (Tip: I use bits of Post-It notes to mask off my stamped words.)
Make a wash of Rubellite watercolor and edge the cardstock piece. When it’s dry, wrap the bottom area with gold thread and mat it on black before gluing to the card front.
Holiday Bow Holiday Cheer Card
This card features another easy—but maybe unexpected—watercolor technique.
You know how you can ink your stamp with of course ink, but also with markers? The same principle applies to watercolors. You can apply a watercolor pan (yes, really) directly to the stamp to “ink” it before stamping. Just a spritz of water is needed to make the paint fluid enough to glide across the stamp.
Here’s how to do it: Place your silhouette stamp on the block or MISTI stamp positioner as usual. Mist the Ocean Waves watercolor pan, then gently tap the pan directly onto the stamp. Stamp the image onto the cardstock. (Tip: The more water you use, the more diluted and runny the paint can become. Practice makes perfect, but I generally find that just a quick spritz of water is enough.)
It might not look like much…but stick with me. Let the image dry, then continue with the other layers. Here I used Persian Blue watercolor for the shadow layer, and Embossing Ink for the detail outline layer. The detail layer is embossed with Rose Gold powder.
I repeated this technique for the rest of the elements on the card: The pine boughs are stamped with Forest Glades watercolor, the dark leaves are with Evergreen watercolor and the bright green leaves are stamped with Bamboo watercolor. I’ve stamped second layers with embossing ink as well. (Tip: If you add the embossing powder while the watercolor is still partially wet, it will stick to those wet areas…which I love! If you’d rather it didn’t stick, then just make sure the paint is totally dry before you add the powder.)
I die cut some of the leaf embellishments and arranged everything onto the cardstock before adding the bow in the center. The sentiment is from the Starry Night stamp set.
You’ll notice I inked and embossed the edges of the cardstock to give a finishing effect. The rest of the card is simply embellished with some sequins.
So easy to do…and these watercolor techniques can be used for lots of other holidays and occasions too!
So what about prizes? I knew you’d want to know! There are two ways to win!
Prize #1: 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 9/19/2018 for a chance to win. Six winners will be announced on the Altenew blogs on 9/22/2018.
Prize #2: I am giving away a $30 gift certificate to the Altenew store. Please leave me a comment below by 9/19/2018, telling me what your favorite Altenew color is. I know, this is tough! 🙂 Mine is Ocean Waves and I can’t get enough of it! What about you?
Thank you for joining me today! Please keep on hopping for more ideas—next up is the lovely Rubeena Ianigro. And the complete list of blogs is just below!
So loving that poinsettia! Beautiful work.
I love these cards; the shadow under your beautifully watercolored poinsettia really makes it pop, and now I HAVE to try inking my stamps with the watercolor pans- thanks for that tip!
I actually don’t own any Altenew inks or paints yet! Wah! But I do love your use of that ocean waves color!
Your cards are so beautiful!
I absolutely love that blue water colored bow. So very pretty and fun.
Lovely card – thanks for the great tutorial:)
Beautiful cards!
Thank you so much! 🙂 The poinsettia is a really fun stamp to work with!
You’re welcome…it’s so easy to do and a great way to use the watercolors. So glad you enjoyed it!
Wah!! 🙂 I’m sure it’s only a matter of time before the Altenew bug catches you. 😉
Thank you, Diana, that’s really kind of you!
Thank you! So glad you enjoyed it! 🙂
You’re welcome, thanks for stopping by!
Thank you so much, glad you stopped by! 🙂
These are so gorgeous and classy – love them both. One favourite colour? Ugh, that’s not an easy task! I love the teals and turquoises, but if I can go with only one, I’ll surprise you – Bamboo! 🙂
I really like the gold embossed blue bow across the evergreen branch. I might emboss the edges in silver for a Hanukkah card.
Very pretty cards; love the designs. Fave Altenew color is Lagoon. 🙂
Beautiful work! 🙂 My fav Altenew color is Ruby Red 🙂
Gorgeous cards! Love each one of them.
I love the shadow effect! It really makes it stand out and pop! I don’t own any Altenew colors yet, but I’m a sucker for turquoise!!! I like their teal cave color and those in that color family!
What a great card!!
Thank you for the step by step! This is a BEAUTIFUL CARD!
You did a wonderful job on these cards.
Very nice cards! I love the black behind the poinsettia!
Such pretty sets!!! I love this new release
Mountain Mist is my favorite Altenew watercolor. Your cards are beautiful!
What a beautiful cards
Thanks for sharing
xoxo
Beautiful card! I especially like how for the first card you have the Poinsettia layered and added some black to it so that it stands out even more!
Mountain Mist is my favorite! Your cards are beautiful!
The inspiration cards are really, really gorgeous! I love the new release.
Lovely cards. Thanks for sharing.
love your pretty cards, Sara – the blue bow is my absolute favorite!
Beautiful cards. I love both of them.
Sara, I seldom think to gold emboss images these days… so glad you’ve reminded me how fabulous it is! and what else could be more perfect for the holidays? Thank you!
=]
You’ve not only showcased this gorgeous stamp set but the pan water colors too. Love this new release. Thanks for all the ideas!
QUITE LOVELY!!!!
I wish I could tell you my favorite colour, because I don’t have the water-colours. I love your idea of applying the paint with the pan. The results are really very beautiful and artistic. Thank you for sharing.
Lovely cards! The Ocean Waves and Persian Blue are both vibrant and beautiful!
Love your cards and I’m loving the watercolors in the 36 pan set. My favorite color is lagoon, but i really love them all!
I’m so new to card making I had to go look up the colour names, lol, but I like the look of those Sweet Dream blues! Love your cards!!
Beautiful!!!!
Thank you, Eileen!
Welcome to cardmaking, Sandy! 🙂 It won’t be long before you’re well and truly into it! Yes, the blues are some of my favorites, they’re just so lovely and work for so many themes and styles. Thanks for stopping by and hope you come back again soon! 🙂
Ohhhh, Lagoon…yes, one of my favorites too! 🙂
I know, those two just go together so beautifully, don’t they? Thanks so much for stopping by and commenting! 🙂
Oh, Tina, did you know the watercolors match the inks? So the lovely Ocean Waves watercolor matches the Ocean Waves dye inkpad and the Artist Marker too. But I’m so glad you like the technique of applying the paint from the pan. It’s really so easy and it does give a nice artistic effect. I’m so happy you joined us today and hope you can pop in for some of the Altenew Facebook Live videos we do weekly, too! 🙂
Thank you, Kirsty! 🙂
Yes, the watercolors are gorgeous, aren’t they? Thank you for stopping by! 🙂
Sometimes those classic techniques are easy to forget about, aren’t they? So glad you enjoyed the cards and hope to see you again soon!
Thank you, Brenda! 🙂
Thanks for stopping by, Betty! I know, the bow is such fun, isn’t it??? 🙂
Thank you, Barbara. So glad you enjoyed the cards!
Glad you liked them, Nandini! The new releases are really pretty, aren’t they? 🙂
Oh, you’re right…Mountain Mist is GORGEOUS!!! 🙂
Thanks, Cindy. You know, the black silhouette is such an easy way to get dimension and it’s a really effective technique too. So glad you could stop by! 🙂
Thank you for coming by, Aya! 🙂
You’re not alone…Mountain Mist is a big favorite! So glad you could stop by! 🙂
I know, me too! They’re fabulous, aren’t they? 🙂
Thanks, Tara! I appreciate you coming by! (And yes, the black silhouette is so easy and effective!)
Thank you, Nana. I appreciate it! 🙂
Thank you for stopping by, Meghan! Glad you liked the cards!
Thank you, Marisela! 🙂 Glad you could stop by!
Oh, Heidi…the Altenew turquoise colors are gorgeous…Mountain Mist is a big favorite! I love their Teal Cave as well. 🙂
Thank you, Joy! So glad you could stop by! 🙂
Thank you, Karthikha! I also love Ruby Red, it’s really perfect for red flowers, don’t you think?
I know, Kim, they are gorgeous, aren’t they? 🙂
Thanks, Tara! The silhouette is a really easy technique and super-effective.
Your cards are fabulous. I love how you colored the bow and added gold embossing to the edge and the sentiment on this card. It turned out to be very festive. Thanks for the inspiration.
I am just starting my papercrafting foray, in fact making Christmas cards is what got me interested in this a few months ago. I don’t have the Altenew inks but I have them on my Christmas list (I keep reminding Santa that I’ve been good this year hehe). Looking at the colors I think Lagoon will be a major favorite as well as Deep Iris. I expect I will use these colors a lot once I get past making my Christmas cards and on to other types lol. Your cards are gorgeous and thank you for the inspiration.
Beautiful cards! Your water coloring is awesome.
I really love your cards, especially the poinsettia. Such beautiful coloring! TFS!
Lovely cards. I really like the black shadow effect you created. I also love the card with the box. So beautiful. These ideas are motivating to get started on holiday cards
Thanks for sharing. I don’t have any Altenew colors yet but the ocean waves color looks lovely. I really have my eye on their watercolor pans set though…
These cards are stunning… I love all blues… thank you for sharing your creativity with us.
Love your card ideas they’re all beautiful! I don’t know what my fav is because I don’t have the watercolors yet but hopefully soon! Thanks for all the inspiration today!
I love Volcano Lake. It is so cool looking. I love anything tropical and this color really fits the bill.
what really beautiful cards! How clever to offset the black layer for more depth-I’m def. going to use that idea;) My favorite color is red though so far I only own the cool and warm grey Altenew inks. Looking to purchase more sets (as my wish list keeps growing-haha!)
I am so obsessed with the holiday cheer card! Is the embossing on the branches also with the Rose Gold powder? And what is that pretty cardstock you use as the base? It is so beautiful, I think I admired it for a good minute (scrolling back up again to look at it!)
My favourite colour is maybe Forest Glades. I love a soft but crisp green!!
This is another wonderful release from Altenew with great variety, but I really love those Bountiful Branches and the Blessings stamp set. Your cards are lovely!
I didn’t know you do a Facebook Live video weekly. I’m going to have to check it out. Do I just go to Facebook & type in your name, or is it under Altenew? Sorry, I’m not much of a Facebook user, so that’s why I’m asking. But now, onto the reason I’m here to begin with… I am over the moon with both of your cards Sara! Watercolour is my favourite medium, even though I’m not good at it. Much more practice needed! lol I’m now seeing that the Bow stamp set is so versatile, it is fast being added to my list of what I’d dearly love to have in my stash.
I could only see your poinsettia card, and it’s Wonderful! Very dramatic in its simplicity. All the other photos had a black x !!
I’m missing out on your talent!
Love your techniques. I have to go with ocean waves, too.
I am a big fan of purples so its a tie between cosmic berry and razzleberry.
I love your watercolors and embossing. Gorgeous cards. Great set of stamps and dies.
Ooh, I’ll need to remember that idea with offsetting a shadow underneath!
Beautiful cards. Thanks for sharing your watercoloring technique.
These are lovely! I especially like the watercolor technique on the bow!
Such sweet cards! Love the watercoloring on that poinsettia!
Gorgeous cards! Love the black shadow look with the poinsettia! Fabulous idea and a beautiful card! And for your second card, I love that swag of greenery and the pretty bow to decorate it!
Thanks, Denise! I’m so glad you liked it! 🙂
Thank you, Miriam! 🙂
THanks so much! Yes, the watercoloring technique is really easy and works for lots of different stamp designs!
You’re welcome, and thank you for stopping by!
It’s a great way to add some dimension to your die-cut, and can work with black or other colors of cardstock, too!
Oh, Cosmic Berry!!! 🙂
Thank you, Carmela! Yes, the stamps and dies are fabulous, aren’t they?
Oh, Janelle, how frustrating! I’ve not heard about the black X from anyone else! I wonder if you try again, if it might work, or sometimes images take some time to load on the screen. If not, send me an email at saracnaumann@gmail.com and I’ll email you the picture.
Hi Teri, so glad you stopped by! I try to do a Facebook Live weekly on my own Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/sara.naumann.75) either on Tuesdays or Thursdays, depending on my other deadlines and schedules. I also do a monthly Facebook Live on the Altenew Facebook page (@altenew), alternating with Lydia and Lilith. You can just type in our names in Facebook and you can even go back and watch older videos if you can’t make it live. Let me know if you have any other questions about that and I’m happy to help. In regards to your other point about watercolors…I am so glad you enjoy using them, I agree that they’re a fun medium! They’re really versatile. Keep us posted on how you get on with your watercolors as we’d love to see! 🙂
Thanks, Carol! Yes, the branches are gorgeous and soooo versatile!
Hi Anne, yes, I used Rose Gold but you could also use Golden Peach, which is another of my favorites. The cardstock I use as a base is, oddly enough, some blank cards I ordered in bulk a long time ago…it’s just slightly textured, as you can see, but I’ve added the black spattering with some watery ink. Hope that helps! 🙂
(I also love Forest Glades, it’s one of my go-to colors for leaves!)
Thanks for joining us, Linda! I like the reds as well, although the cool and warm greys really do come in handy for so many looks– I use them much more than I ever thought!
And I’m with you on that growing wish list…mine is really long!!! Hoping for the lottery, LOL!
Oh, I love that color too! Tropical colors are great fun and work so well with stamped flowers!
Oh, Lisa, did you know the watercolors coordinate with the rest of the Altenew color palette? So Crimson paint will be roughly the same as Crimson dye ink and Crimson alcohol marker. That might not make it easier to pick a favorite, but it does make it easier to coordinate a card! Thank you for stopping by today, hope to see you again soon! 🙂
Thank you for stopping by, Bernice! I’m a blue fan myself…I think we’re in good company! 🙂
Thank you for stopping by today, Johanna! I think you’d really enjoy the watercolors…besides the Blog Hop posts, you can find a lot more information and videos with them on the Altenew Facebook page. It’s a good place to get inspiration!
THank you for stopping by today! Yes, the shadow effect is a really easy way to get more dimension. You can also do it with different colors of cardstock…gray works well too!
Thanks, Sheila, I’m so glad you could stop by! I wish I could take claim for the watercoloring but I think most credit goes to Altenew for making it so easy! 🙂
Thank you so much! I’m glad you could join us! 🙂
Thank you, Kathy! I’m so glad you liked the cards. Yes, a little gold embossing really adds to a card, doesn’t it? 🙂
Oh, Laurie, that’s a great idea! I think the bow and the branches and so many of the sentiments are perfect for many themes in addition to Christmas. Some blue and silver would be beautiful for Hanukkah. 🙂
Beautiful water color techniques!! Definitely something I want to try! Altenew has so many amazing colors….it really is tough to choose! Ocean Waves is gorgeous….I am drawn to Coral Berry a lot, Fresh Lemon, Mountain Mist…..Emerald, Lagoon…..of course the list goes on!
Love your cards!
Love the poinsettia stamp and your card. Very nice watercolor painting!
Very pretty cards! The black shadow looks great on the poinsettia!
I just love this stamp set! You have done a beautiful job layering and I have really enjoyed seeing how you did the different elements. Thanks!
Oops. Forgot my favorite colors of ink. Though I don’t own any yet the Poppy Fields mini cubes are going into my cart as soon as I place an order.
Beautiful cards! I love your use of the watercolors and your card front borders. I don’t own any of their inks/paints yet, so I can’t really speak from experience. But I will say I’ve had my eye on Evergreen for quite some time, and since my favorite color’s purple I’ll say the Deep Iris is quite tempting as well. Thanks for sharing!
I really like Deep Iris. It is so pretty. 🙂 Awesome cards!
Thanks for the wonderful tutorial on your beautiful cards. Hard to choose but I do like Mountain Mist.
Pretty cards. I like the shadow and the embossing.
Fabulous cards Sara! I definitely need to get my hands on that poinsettia and watercolors! Love how you used one of my fave colors (ocean waves) for the bow paired with the silver EP. fabulous way to add dimension using the offset Diecut! thanks for sharing your talent with us! Have a wonderful day!
Ooo, that is a tough question! I’m going to limit my choice to the ones I own, because I feel like I have a better sense of their true color, so I’m going to go with Sapphire. I love me some deep blues! Though recently I’ve been really enamored with Autumn Blaze, which is kind of crazy since I’m not at all an orange kind of person. But something about that particular shade is quite lovely. Thanks for sharing your cards with us! I particularly like the shadow die cut idea and how the Golden Peach embossing powder looks with your poinsettia.
Wonderfully festive and gorgeous cards! Amazing inspiration of then new products. I find myself reaching for fired brick most often.
Love the new technique with the watercolour pan. I love to watercolour and it’s nice to try something different. Fabulous cards.
I always enjoy watching you create. Your style is so unique and you explain things so well. These cards are gorgeous.
My favorite watercolor, color is, umm…. All of them. Since I do not own them as of yet. And I can’t get their 36 Watercolor page to open, I am unable to give you just one color name. Love your cards and the way you stamped with the watercolor. I never would have thought to day that.
Love the watercoloring. I really like how you did the bow.
great effect you got with that watercolor stamping technique!!
Such gorgeous cards! I am just waiting for my first Altenew inks to come in the mail, so I haven’t been able to choose a favourite yet. But I imagine it’ll be in the blue or orange family.
Hi Sara! Your cards are drop dead gorgeous! I love the way that you give us sooooo many details on their creation. That’s very helpful 🙂
Thanks, Connie! So glad you liked the cards! 🙂
Thanks for stopping by, Stacey. I’m glad you liked the cards and I’ll be keen to hear what you decide on the inks! 🙂
Thanks, Linnea! 🙂
Hi BrendaLea, try this link for the watercolors…hopefully it works: https://altenew.com/products/watercolor-36-pan-set
And thanks for stopping by today! 🙂
Thanks for stopping by, Cyndi, and for the lovely words! 🙂
Fantastic cards. this poinsettia
is more in-tune with the looks of
a real flower. The blue bow is
so pretty. thanks for sharing
txmlhl(at)yahoo(dot)com
Beautiful cards and thank you for the detailed information on how you created them. That is so helpful for us “amateurs”.
Beautiful cards and thank you for the tutorial!
I don’t have very many Altenew inks but of the ones I do have Bamboo is probably my favorite. I love your cards. It’s great to see new techniques. Thanks for sharing.
Beautiful cards!! I only have a few Altenew mini cubes to choose from. I really like Frayed Leaf.
Both of your cards are beautiful! I especially loved the shadow you used with your colorful poinsettia! It really makes your card a standout!