Welcome and Hi there! Thank you so much for stopping by my blog. To give you a little background about myself, I am a Christian, have been married for 33 years to my wonderful husband and I have two beautiful, adult, married daughters who are dear to me. I love to craft and find it relaxing, challenging, and a way to express a deep desire to create and make things with my hands. In the past my greatest joys in creating came from cross-stitching and sewing (I was a design major in college). But now I find it in paper-crafting, more specifically in card making. My other passions are bike riding, weight training, chocolate, and ice cream.
Hello there! It’s been a long time since I’ve posted a card but not a long time since I’ve made one. 🙂 I have enjoyed the summer and have been making cards on a regular basis since August. My favorite thing to do, besides bike riding on a hot day, is to make a card. However, taking pictures of my cards and blogging are not my favorite. 😦
Today, I am showing off a card that I made in anticipation of the Stretching Your Stencils Class that I am offering later this month….with my friend Amy Hill from Sevenscrafts. This card will not be one that we will make in class but it is so pretty. I hope you like it.
This card features Altenew’s Wonderful Wreath Stencil and Geo Frames Stamp & Die Set
Supplies: Altenew Wonderful Wreath Stencil, Altenew Crisp Dye Inks: Morning Frost, Evergreen, Forest Glades, and Obsidian Pigment Ink. Altenew Geo Frames Stamp and Die Set, Altenew Canopy Leaf Stamp & Die Set, Altenew Sweetest Peas Stamp Set, Altenew Mini Hello Stamp, Altenew Clear Embossing Powder, Altenew Pure White Embossing Powder, Blending Brushes, Vellum, Altenew Embossing Ink, Black Cardstock, Neenah Solar White Classic Crest #80, #110 card stock, Foam Tape, Masking Paper or Scrap Paper.
To Create: Begin by finding and marking (with a pencil) the center of your card front. Using these marks as your guide and the Wonderful Wreath Stencil, a Blender Brush, and the Morning Frost Dye Ink, blend ink into stencil around the center. You will only use about 1/4 of the stencil at this point. Move stencil and continue blending to make a small circle at the center. Move the stencil around the circle in small increments. You will ink blend only using about 1/4 of the stencil at a time. Use masking paper or scrap paper to cover areas that have already been stenciled so that you can continue moving in a circle. On a piece of vellum, stamp a couple of branches using Forest Glades and Evergreen Ink. Die cut the branches once they are dry. Stamp the octagon shape with Evergreen Ink and the mini Hello with Obsidian ink. Heat emboss the mini Hello with clear embossing powder. Heat emboss small sentiment on black card stock and using white embossing powder. Use foam tape to mount the sentiment. When you place the leaf branches under the sentiment, place them with ink side down and use just a tiny bit of liquid glue on the underside to hold in place. Mount onto black card stock then onto card base.
Here are links to some of the products I used in this card. These links are affiliate links, they do not cost you anything. Please be patient with my links looking so spread out. I am new at this an it’s a work in progress for me. 🙂
Affiliate links are used
Altenew Pure White Embossing Powder Shop at: ALTNW
Welcome to Treasures In Letters!! Thank you for stopping by. Are you interested in having some crafty fun making some all occasion cards without having to make an investment in tools and materials? If so, Amy Hill of Sevenscrafts.com, and I are teaming up to present a “Make and Take” Stretching Your Stencils Card Making Class.
You don’t need any prior experience and you don’t need any tools. We will provide everything you need. You will make 5 all occasion cards and you will be able to choose your own color scheme where applicable.
See more details below:
Please note: this presentation is an on-location class.
STRETCHING YOUR STENCILS: featuring Altenew stencils
WHERE: Patty’s House, Norton, MA (address will be provided in confirmation email).
Cost: $30 (You will make 5 completed cards)
Why: To have fun! All tools and supplies will be provided for you. No experience necessary. Space is limited. You must register ahead of time. Refunds will be issued if more registrations come in than we have seats.
Purchase Your Registration Here
SORRY, REGISTRATION CLOSED.
Once you purchase your seat in the class, we will send you an email with Patty’s address. If you do not receive an email, please contact Amy at sevenscrafts@gmail.com or Patty at treasuresinletters@gmail.com and we will be sure to get you any information you need.
Amy and I are both Altenew Educators who enjoy paper crafting (card making, especially) and sharing our skills and tools with others in a comfortable setting where people can try something new, or build their skills, in an enjoyable, safe environment.
SAVE THE DATE: Sat. Nov. 16th Holiday Card Making Class More details coming soon 🙂
New Altenew Academy Class: Runway Inspired Card Making – Line
Well, it’s been awhile since I’ve last blogged! I hope you have all enjoyed your summer as much as I have. Even though I haven’t been blogging, I was still actively making some cards in between bike rides, BBQ’s, and beach time. 🙂
But now, as the temperatures start to cool off a bit and become more comfortable (for those of us who do not have air conditioning), it’s time to get back to the fun of sharing some card making pleasure.
Today I am sharing a card I made for an Altenew Academy class called Runway Inspired Card Making. The first lesson was on “line” and my inspiration came from one of Giambattista Valli’s Fall 2019 fashion line (featured in Vogue.com).
Giambattista Valli’s Fall 2019 Fashion Line
Supplies: Altenew Obsidian Pigment Ink, Altenew Crisp Dye Inks: Marigold and Morning Frost, Altenew Pinstripe Stamp Set, Altenew Layered Medallions Cover Die A, Altenew Crystal Clear Embossing Powder, Simon Says Stamps Basic Stripes Stamp, Craft Foam, The Stamp Market Hello Serif Die, Birch Press Kindness Tile Stamp, Foam Tape, Black Card stock, Neenah Solar White Classic Crest #80, #110, Masking Paper, Temporary tape adhesive, Misti Stamping Tool.
How I made it: Start by taking a 4 1/4 x 5 1/2″ piece of white card stock and masking the lower 2/3 of the card. Using Obsidian pigment ink and Altenew Pinstripe stamp, stamp the pinstripe onto the top 1/3 of your white card stock. Set aside to dry.
Using your craft foam (4 1/4″ x 5 1/2″) , die cut the Altenew Layered Medallions Cover Die A out. The craft foam may flatten a bit but that will not affect what you will be using it for. Put some temporary tape adhesive on a couple of spots on the back of the craft foam background. Have ready your dry pinstriped card stock and 1 more piece of Neenah Solar white classic crest #80, cut to 4 1/4″ x 5 1/2″. Put temporary adhesive on a couple of spots on the back of these 2 card stock pieces. Place the pinstripe card stock piece into the Misti and press down so that the temporary adhesive holds it in place. Now place the craft foam die cut background, right sides together, on top of the pinstriped card stock. Close the Misti cover so that the temporary adhesive (on the back of your foam) sticks to the Misti and you now have the craft foam acting as your stamp.
Cover the craft foam with Morning Frost ink and stamp onto the card stock. If you missed a spot or two just close the Misti door again and press down in that area to get more coverage. If necessary, ink the foam again but lightly, as you do not want this to get too dark. Repeat this process for the second piece of card stock (which will not have the pinstripe stamping on it).
As the ink dries, die cut your Hello letters from the newly stamped background you just made (the piece without the pinstripe). Out of black card stock die cut the shadow Hello.
Using Simon Says Stamps, Basic Stripes Stamp and your pinstriped card stock, place your thick stripes wherever you would like them and stamp with Marigold ink. You will have to do these one at a time. With the black stripes, do the same. Have fun deciding on spacing and thickness, there does not have to be a pattern to the layout.
Once all the ink is dry, used a scrap piece of black card stock (cut to about 1/8″ wide) to place a line between the pinstripe and the non-pinstripe section. Using the Morning Frost ink make some matching card stock by smudging the ink onto some white card stock a little larger than the area you will need to stamp and cut out your sentiment. Let the ink dry before stamping your sentiment on top of it. Stamp the sentiment on with Obsidian ink and heat emboss with Altenew Crystal Clear embossing powder. Mount the sentiment with foam tape. Mount the Hello sentiment with liquid glue.
The Marigold background was made by rubbing the stamp ink pad on the edges of a 4 1/4″ x 5 1/2″ piece of Neenah Solar white #80 card stock. Cut down the card base so that you can layer the black card stock, Marigold card stock and still have the white of your card base showing. My card face was cut down to 3 3/4″ x 5 1/8″. The black card stock was cut 1/8″ around the face card, the marigold base was 1/8″ larger (all around) than the black card stock, then there was about an 1/8″ of the white card base showing.
Below is a list of some of the products I used in my card today.I am still new at all of this so bare with me. 🙂 Click on the link to go directly to the product. Where available, I use compensated affiliate links, which means if you make a purchase I receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. Thank you for your support!
Welcome to Treasures In Letters! My name is Patty and I am so glad you stopped by for the Altenew Educator “Love & Friendship” Blog Hop + Giveaway. I hope you are having a great summer filled with fun, family and friends. If you have been following along, you have just arrived from Francine Dodwell. (If you find a broken link, you’ll find a master list of the hop links at the Altenew Card Blog …see link above).
The theme for this blog hop is Love & Friendship and I am excited to share that it has been the Altenew Educator Certificate Program that has created a new friendship between Amy Hill and myself. Amy reached out to me after completing the AECP program in March 2019. It turns out that we live only 2 miles away from each other. She has become a true crafting friend. We have traveled to a craft show, spent a few Saturday mornings stamping and encouraging each other, and she’s even come over to my house to help me take photos of my cards for this blog. We look forward to teaching some classes this fall and traveling to the Stamp & Scrapbook Expo in September. 🙂
Amy is on the left and I am on the right. We took this picture in her craft room after a full morning of card making.
Before I show you my cards I want to encourage those of you who are thinking about applying for the Altenew Educator Certificate Program to give it a try. It is an opportunity to focus on your card making skills, learn new techniques and practice them at your own pace and in your own home. There is no pressure at all to finish each level in a certain amount of time. You get out of it what you put into it. What I liked about it was that it made me accountable to myself. Let’s face it, the more you work at something, the better you get at it. Before I entered the AECP I did not make as many cards as I do now, so improvement was slow. The classes you take are yours forever so you can go back to them for inspiration and skill building whenever you want. I encourage any of you who are thinking about applying for the program, but maybe don’t see yourself teaching afterward, to do it because you want to grow in your skills … and make some new friends. I guarantee you will do both. And who knows, you just may find yourself teaching someone else how to make cards. 🙂
And here’s a perfect opportunity for you to give it a try: to celebrate the AECP blog hop and encourage people to join in the AECP program, Altenew will discount the following bundles by 20% from 7/19/2019 to 7/21/2019.
As many of you know, Altenew’s name was created by juxta-positioning the German word for old, which is Alt, and the English word new, to make up the name, Altenew. I kept this in mind while working on my cards and chose to use a few of my older supplies to make 4 new cards. I had a lot of fun playing around with different techniques and found that the more cards I made, the more ideas I had. And I loved the fact that I was taking supplies that I already owned and trying out new ways of using them. For any of you who follow my blog, you know that this has been my personal theme for this year….use your stash!!
So here is a group shot of the cards I have for you today. I hope you like them and that they inspire you to use some of the stamps and supplies you already own; and maybe inspire you to send a special friend a handmade card.
All of my cards feature the Ditsy Print Stamp Set, the Plaid Cover Die A, and Geo Frames Stamp & Die Set.
All the cards will have the Ditsy Print Stamp Set, the Layered Plaid Cover Die-A, the Geo Frames Stamp & Die Set, Altenew Permanent Black Ink, and Altenew Crystal Clear Embossing powder. I have active links to each of these supplies below.
How I made them: Every card started out by stamping a Geo Frame rectangle onto Neenah Solar White Classic Crest #80 card stock (or craft colored card stock) then stamped with Versamark ink and heat embossed with Altenew Crystal Clear embossing powder. I then used the matching die to cut them out. The next step was to use a paint brush to paint on a liquid mask over the stamped frame images. Once the mask was dry I stamped the Ditsy Print image onto the rectangle allowing it to go outside the edges, when necessary, then turning the image top to bottom and stamping the image again (so that the whole rectangle had flowers on it)… but not allowing the images to overlap. Then I layered the stamped images with the ink combinations that I liked. Once all the ink had dried, I rubbed off the mask using my finger or an adhesive eraser. In all the cards I used a Sakura Gelly Roll pen to add dots to the Geo frame stamped images.
This card was one that Amy Hill and I took pictures of in my back yard.
Please note: All of my Altenew links are not affiliate links, however, they will take you directly to the products at the Altenew website.
Other supplies used in this card: Altenew Crisp Dye Inks: Pink Diamond, Pinkalicious, Rubellite; Altenew Antique Gold Pigment Ink, Altenew Crystal Clear Embossing Powder, Versamark Ink, Matte Gold Card Stock, Altenew Spring Shower Cover Die, Altenew Artist Markers: Forest Glades, Evergreen, Frayed Leaf, Altenew Leaf Canopy Stamp Set, Brutus Monroe Raven Embossing Powder, Fuschia Card Stock, Clear Sequins, Sakura Gold Gelly Roll pen. How I Made It: To heat emboss the Plaid Cover die, I stamped Altenew Antique Gold pigment ink over the plaid cover die then sprinkled with crystal clear embossing powder and heat set. For a second coat I used Versamark ink to stamp the die cut and then added more clear embossing powder. The leaf pieces from the Spring Shower Cover Die were colored using Altenew Artist Markers. The sentiment was stamped with Versamark and heat set with Brutus Monroe Raven embossing powder. The fuschia card stock rectangle frame was made using nesting rectangle dies (vendor of choice) and stacking 3-4 together.
This card was inspired by Jennifer McGuire‘s YouTube post on Interlocking Gatefold cards (June 13, 2019)
For instructions on how to make the gatefold card, please see Jennifer McGuire’s June 13, 2019 YouTube post. I have an active link to her post under the picture above.
Other supplies used in this card: Altenew Crisp Dye Inks: Iceberg, Eastern Sky, Ultramarine; Altenew Dearest Friend Stamp Set, foam tape, Blue Card Stock, small Clear Sequins, Black Sakura Gelly Roll pen. How I Made It: In this card I die cut the Layered Plaid Cover Die A out of craft foam, inked it up (the craft foam) and stamped it onto the front of my gate-fold card. I then used the black copic multi-liner to follow the plaid pattern. To keep me from drawing lines that went past the plaid stripes, I used masking paper all around the edges of card front so that my multi-liner lines would not have blobs at the beginning and ends. (I hope that makes sense.) The blue card stock rectangle frame was made using nesting rectangle dies (vendor of choice) and stacking 3-4 together.
This card features a clear acetate panel under the plaid cover die. It has a window effect as seen in the photo below. This card could have also been made into a shaker card.The clear acetate behind the plaid panel creates a window effect and adds depth to the card.
This card is actually the first one I made in the set. I enjoyed making it so much that I couldn’t wait to try more ideas using the stamp set and the plaid die.
Other supplies used in this card: Altenew Crisp Dye Inks: Chamomile, Snapdragon, Marigold; Craft Card Stock, Foam Tape, Altenew Leaf Canopy Stamp Set, Black Card Stock, White Sakura Gelly Roll pen. How I made it: This card features a dry embossed Layered Plaid Cover Die (follow the directions on your die cutting machine to dry emboss.) After the card face had been dry embossed and multi-lined, I then splattered the card with the inks I used to layer the Ditsy Print. (Do this BEFORE adding the Geo stamped frame to the card.)
I ended up taking a real lot of photos of these cards before choosing the ones that I put in the blog, with that in mind, here are a few more photos, just because….
This card was taken by Amy holding the charger plate in front of the flowers while I took the picture. It would not have worked otherwise because a table would have been too short to catch the flowers in the background.
Thank you so much for stopping by my blog today. Please leave me a message to let me know what you thought of the cards. Which one was your favorite?
Altenew is giving away a $30 gift certificate to 3 lucky winners! Please leave a comment here on the Altenew Blog by 7/26/19 for a chance to win.
We’ll also draw a winner to receive a $15 gift certificate from the comments left on each designer’s blog on the blog hop list below. All winners will be announced on the Altenew blogs on 7/30/19.
Continue following the blog hop by clicking on Nenette Madero‘s link below.
How to make it: Stamp the “Kindness tile” with Altenew Enchanted Gold Pigment ink. Heat emboss with Brutus Monroe Icicles embossing powder. Stamp in pattern using the various colors listed above. Before adding Nuvo drops and gelly roll pen, RE-STAMP the Kindness Tile with gold pigment ink, heat emboss with Altenew Crystal Clear embossing powder. Add gold gelly roll pen accents and Nuvo drops. Cut the word “friend” from purple card stock and its shadow from gold glitter card stock. Stamp sentiment on white card stock and mount onto purple card stock strip.
Featuring stamps from The Stamp Market and Concord & 9th
Happy July! Today’s card will get you thinking of fireworks and the Fourth of July with its brightly colored sunshine rays and sparkly sequins. It’s another card made from a background I made awhile back and put into my stash. I wish I could say that my “stash” pile has become real small at this point, but it seems the more I use, the more I make. 😉
This card featues the Stamp Market BIG HI die.
Supplies: Stamp Market Big HI, Concord & 9th Sunshine Turnabout Stamp, Catherine Pooler Inks: Fiesta Blue, Flirty Fuschia, Grass Skirt, Party Dress, Black card stock, Craft foam, Pretty Pink Posh Clear flat sequins, Neenah Solar White Classic Crest #80, #110
Altenew Dearest Friend Stamp and Spring Shower Cover Die
Wouldn’t you agree, that we can never have too many good friends. They become an extension of our family and are there for us in the good times and bad. Today’s card honors special friendships. I had a very dear friend in mind as I created this card.
This card features Altenew’s Spring Shower Cover Die and their Leaf Burst Stencil.
Split-Card Design inspired by Jennifer McGuire 2019
Today my card has been inspired by Jennifer McGuire’s YouTube video post on May 10, 2019. It is called a “split card design” because the top and bottom of the front of the card are only connected by the elements between them. The middle of the card has a hole in it, so to speak. Check it out in the pictures below.
My youngest daughter recently moved to Virginia with her husband, so this card was made with her in mind. The card has a number of imperfections, as it takes a bit of planning ahead of time, but my daughter will see only the LOVE that was put into it. 😉
When you see the card from the inside you can see how the top and bottom of the card are connected by the elements in the card. The rest is open space.
Supplies: Lawn Fawn Simple Grassy Hillsides, Honey Bee Stamps Special Delivery, Lawn Fawn Upon A Star, Concord & 9th Retro Petals Turnabout Stamp Set, Lawn Fawn Little Picket Fence Border, Lawn Fawn Plane and Simple, Honey Bee Stamps Cloud Borders, Vellum, Gina K Designs Amalgam ink, Neenah Solar White Classic Crest #80, #110 card stock, Copic markers: B00, RVo2, N2, N3, E00, E13, E15, E23, E31, R24, C5.
How I made it: Please see Jennifer McGuire’s YouTube video on how to put together a “split card” design. She does a wonderful job of teaching how to do it. 🙂 I have a link to the video at the beginning of my blog post.
I want to thank you for stopping by my blog here at Treasures In Letters. I appreciate that your time is precious and that you would spend some of it here, is a real blessing to me. I hope you like today’s card.
I made the background of this card quite awhile ago when I first received my Gina K Wreath Builder Stencil. I think I’ve got all the ink colors that I used to make the flowers in the supplies section below. Isn’t the scripty “thank you” perfect for the card?!
Supplies: The Stamp Market: Handwritten Thanks Stamp, Versafine Clair Fantasia Ink, Versamark ink, Altenew Crystal Clear Embossing Powder (3 layers), Gina K Wreath Builder Stencil, Altenew Vintage Rose Stamp, Altenew Inks: Soft Lilac, Lavender Fields, Deep Iris, Sea Breeze, Turquoise, Tide Blue, Citrus Burst, Fresh Lemon, Maple Yellow, Pink Diamond, Pinkalicious, Razzleberry; Nuvo Crystal Drops: Dandelion Yellow, Caribbean Ocean; Nuvo Glitter Drops Sherbert Shimmer, Studio G Glitter Glue (VG0021), Neenah Solar White Classic Crest #80, #110.
Treasures In Letters 