Sunday, February 7, 2021

Altenew Craft-A-Flower: Cosmos Layering Die Set Release Blog Hop + Giveaway

Altenew Cosmos Craft-A-Flower Layering Die

Hello and welcome to 
Altenew's Craft A Flower Blog Hop and Release!  I am so excited to be participating this month as we craft beautiful Cosmos die-cut flowers (Cosmos/Gradient Cardstock Bundle).  I was very inspired by this release and I think you will be too!  You can subscribe HERE so you don't miss a single set.  

Cosmos Craft a Flower layering die

Let's get started!  I used one of my favorite color combinations on this card.  I began  by watercoloring  several panels of watercolor cardstock in pink, coral, orange and green.  I put several colors on each panel so there would be a lot of variation in color which I think adds a lot of interest. I like that watercolor paper is a bit thicker and has more texture and makes a rich substantial diecut.  

Water coloring floral Layering die cuts

Next, I diecut the components of my card. These Cosmos dies cut very well and layered easily.  Before I begin die-cutting I like to take a permanent pen and mark the layering dies with a #1 and #2 for each flower.  It just takes just a minute but then it is so much easier to keep up with the little pieces. After I die cut, I also write the corresponding number on the back of the die-cut in pencil in case they get mixed up on my workspace.  Be sure to save all the left over cardstock for next month's Craft-A-Flower. 

Altenew Cosmos Layering Die cut floral images.

I cut the Hello 
sentiment  from black mirror cardstock which makes it really pop.  

I knew I wanted a white background with some interest so I mixed embossing paste with Irredescent Shimmer Spray and then used a pallette knife to spread in random areas around my cardstock.  I then sprinkled Crystal Clear Embossing Powder on the damp embossing powder and heat set.  This adds a lot of shimmer and shine to the background.

I used liquid glue to adhere the flowers but concentrated the glue in the middle with no glue at the outer edges so that I could slightly curl up the flower petals for some added dimension.  I also did the same with the grassy leaves.  

    GIVEAWAY PRIZES:


$200 in total prizes! To celebrate this release, Altenew is giving away a $50 gift certificate to 1 lucky winner and a $15 gift certificate to 10 winners! Please leave a comment on the Altenew Card Blog and/or each designer’s blog post on the blog hop list below by 02/12/2021 for a chance to win. Altenew will draw 11 random winners from the comments left on each stop of this blog hop and announce the winners on the Altenew Winners Page on 02/15/2021.

BLOG HOP LINK

You likely came from talented Teresa Litchfield's blog and I am your final stop!

Altenew Card Blog

Terri Koszler

LauraJane

Nathalie DeSousa

Tina Smith

Therese Calvird

Preeti Chandran

Rosie Neustaedter

Michelle Short

Virginia Lu

Jenny Colacicco

Verity Biddlecombe

Justine Hovey

Erum Tasneem

Kelly Griglione

Anna Mahtani

Laurie Willison

Amanda Baldwin

Emily Midgett

Christine Pennington

Seeka

Tenia Nelson

Teresa Litchfield

Karen Brown   You made it to the end! :-)


This is a beautiful kit that makes a very showy card.

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen



47 comments:

  1. Oh I love the colors you painted your flowers in...that Yellow and pink is AWESOME together! TFS

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  2. Beautiful watercolor combination on those blooms!

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  3. Love the dimension in the background

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  4. Nice way to add the color for the layers. Great background addition.

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  5. Lovely design Karen, the ink blending idea is perfect for these pretty cosmos. You did a wonderful work showcasing this CAF set, thanks for the inpiration!

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  6. Loved that you made your own cardstock! Beautiful design

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  7. Absolutely beautiful! I love the colors!

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  8. Watercoloring the paper first adds such an organic feel to these flowers.I also like the textured background.

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  9. Watercolor gives the maker a chance to really make these Cosmos flowers their own.
    Your card is a gorgeous example. Thanks for the inspiration.

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  10. Breath taking colors. The pink/orange/yellow tones in each bloom are an absolute winner. This is my favorite card of the hop.

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  11. Beautiful - love your use of watercolors to "color" your cosmos!

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  12. Beautiful color combos for your flowerrs!

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  13. Such fresh Springtime colors for your cosmos! Very pretty.

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  14. So pretty. I really like the watercolor florals! I didn’t notice the background and had to zoom in to see—beautiful!

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  15. Love the new CAF set. It is an absolute must-have! And thanks for the amazing inspiration. Your work is beautiful!

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  16. These are beautiful flowers and your color choice is outstanding

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  17. OMG! I love how you did the flowers! Gorgeous!

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  18. Your flowers are gorgeous! The colors just pop on that watercolor paper!

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  19. One of my favorite cards of the hop! I like how you colored your paper and then die cut it. Thanks for sharing your background method- great tips and SUCH a pretty background with the shiny, spaced out brick- perfect!

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  20. Hi Karen! Beautiful card - really love the awesome background too. Thank you, Denise

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  21. Wow!! What a gorgeous card, Karen! I love the beautiful colours you chose and they certainly do add a lot of interest along with the shiny embossing paste background!! Thanks so much for the great inspiration! Stay safe! :)

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  22. The colors look amazing. I am going to have to try this coloring method. I LOVE IT. It is subtle, and you can pick any place on the card stock you want, to get a "different" look for the petals. NICE

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  23. I love the shimmery background treatment you did on your first card. Not distracting but still has a say in the final card. Thank you for sharing

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  24. Not only do I love the flower, but even the leaves are pretty! Lovely card.

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  25. The shimmer background with the paste is wonderful. I havent thought the use watercolor paper to paint and then die cut, LOVE IT !!

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  26. Pretty card! Love the colors and textures!

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  27. Thanks for showing the pictures of how you colored your water colors. The card is lovely. The impression I had of the embossing paste you used was of hints of a brick wall. It really caught my eye. Thanks for the great ideas.

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  28. So creative how you created your paper for the flowers by watercoloring it. I need to try this. And love your background. Just outstanding!

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  29. Love this technique for coloring the flowers for this beautiful card!

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  30. Nice card and seeing your process. The Cosmos flower has so many options in the color families. Never a wrong color as shown in this Cosmos Hop. Great work and inspiration by each designer. Love this CAF Cosmos. Surely a Happy Hop for me.

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  31. What a clever background tip. It is fun to see the variations on your flowers because of your painted pieces.

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  32. Just fabulous!! Thank you for adding the tutorial, and what your original watercolor panels looked like pre die cut! Just magnificent!

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  33. Thank you so much for showing how you did the water color cardstock and how you laid out the cuts. It made sense to me and showed me what your words meant (I think I’m a visual learner). I really learned from how you showed what you did and am going to try this out with one of the earlier die sets I got in this series. I also enjoyed your help in how you organize your pieces and die. I’m going to try to remember to do that though on the stamps it might be harder to do and that’s where I struggle to figure out how to layer and choose colors. It was a beautiful card because of your water coloring.

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  34. Очень нежная открытка

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  35. Beautiful card, love how you colored your card stock.

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  36. So much beauty and interest in your card. I love the texture in the background and I really need to blend colors and then die cut them. This is so effective!

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  37. What a pretty card! I love the texture on the background!

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  38. Gorgeous! I love your colors. I struggle with finding the cardstock colors I want and your water coloring technique may be the answer -- gotta try that!

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  39. Gorgeous card. Thank you for including the pictures showing how you created the colors for your dies.

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  40. Great card, I really like this die set.

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  41. Great use of the colored papers! Wonderful creation!

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  42. Lovely card. Gorgeous colors and a like that background which gives just a hint of a brick wall. Gorgeous! Thanks for sharing and for the inspiration. :)

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Thank you so much for stopping by! I enjoy reading all the comments.

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