Happy Anniversary to our dear friends at Altenew! It’s always a good day when we celebrate crafting partners doing well, and we extend our congratulations to them – and thanks for their partnership in bringing beautiful craft supplies to us all! You should have arrived here from Karen Brown’s blog. If not, the fun starts on the Altenew blog.
Giveaway Prizes
Over $1,400 in total prizes! Altenew is giving away a $70 gift certificate to 5 lucky winners and one Altenew Academy class to 15 lucky winners. There are also 19 awesome companies/crafty friends who are celebrating with us, and they are offering the following prizes:
• Altenew: 5 $70 Altenew gift certificates
• Jennifer McGuire Ink: $100 Altenew gift certificate
• Gina K. Designs: $100 gift certificate
• My Sweet Petunia: $100 gift certificate
• Spellbinders Paper Arts: $100 gift certificate
• CiLi in Papers: €75 gift certificate
• Lawn Fawn: $75 gift certificate
• Online Card Classes: 3 online class spots
• Altenew Academy: 15 online class spots
• Auzz Trinklets N Krafts: $50 gift certificate
• Concord & 9th: $50 gift certificate
• Hero Arts: $50 gift certificate
• My Little Attic: $50 gift certificate
• Scrapbook.com: $50 certificate
• Simon Says Stamp: $50 gift certificate
• Pinkfresh Studio: $50 gift certificate
• Bumbleberry Papercrafts: £25 gift certificate
• Waffle Flower: 1 prize bundle valued at $32
• Butterfly Reflections Ink: $25 gift certificate
• Ellen Hutson LLC: $25 gift certificate
• Scrapbook & Cards Today: 1 copy of Scrapbook & Cards Today Spring 2021 issue
Be sure to leave comments by 4/18/2021 for a chance to win one of 41 prizes! To make the hop more exciting, start your comment with “Hi from (city or country where you’re from)!” 41 winners will be chosen at random from the comments left on any of the blogs listed above and will be announced on the Altenew Card Blog on 4/24/2021.
I’m Sandy Allnock, and I’m excited to get out pencils, brushes, and paints to make a card….especially when it’s a floral when I have an excuse to use my favorite color yellow!
I chose to use Book Engravings – yes it’s a floral stamp set! It’s a layering stamp set, but I’ll use it without the layers and color in my own; you can also get dies and stencils that coordinate. But the teaching moment here is about when you might consider using watercolor pencils vs watercolor paints. Because, well, sometimes one is easier for a particular job than the other!
I stamped the flowers in VersaFine Onyx Black ink pad —- it’s waterproof and gives me a great crisp outline. My favorite watercolor paper for cards is Arches Cold Press; not so much texture to make stamping hard, but enough to keep the watercolor moving nicely. The card was finished off with a layer of Ebony cardstock popped on dimensional adhesive on a Cherry Red card base.
Watercolor pencils are often easier for small areas, for shading, and for moments when you get nervous about all that watercolor splashing around! You can take your time coloring slowly, nothing will bleed or blend yet – then just pick up that brush once you’ve taken a deep breath…or maybe a little glass of vino for courage!
Backgrounds are a great place to use watercolors – large open areas can be covered quickly and smoothly with color and a brush. I like to recommend using a brush larger than you think you need just because it keeps you loose! But in this case, I wanted the round 8 so I could get in between the flowers.
You can check out my swatching of the pencils and watercolors on my blog or YouTube!
Why paint a background at all, you ask? Well how about those of us who go outside the lines!?! Yep that’s why I first started painting and coloring backgrounds. It hides my oopses!
I hope this project has given you a little bit of courage to try some watercolor, and maybe when to try pencils to keep things under control!
Blog Hop
Now go visit the rest of the blog hop – there’s a ton of inspiration out there waiting for you! Next on the hop is Seeka! In case you get lost along the way, here’s the complete hop listing for today:
Altenew Blog
Jennifer McGuire
Jaycee Gaspar
My Sweet Petunia
Agnieszka Malyszek
Kristina Werner
Tenia Nelson
Paige Evans
Reiko Tsuchida
Auzz Trinklets N Krafts
Karen Brown
Ellen Hutson LLC –> You are here!
Seeka
Katrina Howe
280 Comments
Hi from San Francisco, California! Thank you so much for sharing your art. Happy Birthday, Altenew. You have inspired me to get my water colored pencils out. Flowers are the best platform for this media. You have great control. Thank you so much for the inspiration.
Hi from the Finger Lakes region of New York! Gorgeous watercolors!
Hi from Illinois. Such a stunning card, love the rich and warm colors!
Hi from Sacramento. The watercoloring here is so lovely. That’s a true talent.
Hi from Hayden, Alabama. Sandy, your card is gorgeous! Thank you for sharing!
Hi from Hawaii! Gorgeous watercoloring!
Greetings from the Lilac Capital, Rochester, NY, USA…what a fun Day #4 of the 7th Anniversary Altenew Blog Hop…so much creative inspiration and am loving seeing all of your paper crafting projects!! Awesome!!
Hi from michigan! what stunning coloring!
Hello from New Jersey. Gorgeous card, thanks for sharing.
Hi from NYC. Beautiful watercolors! Lovely cards. Happy 7th Anniversary Altenew and many more.
Hi from Colorado! Wow–your card is just stunning! I love everything about it, including the colors. I need to get my courage up and my watercolors out!
Hi from IGH, MN! It’s chilly and damp here today, but the colors of your gorgeous card warm me right up. TFS, Sandy!
Hello from Southern Utah. Happy Anniversary, Altenew. I LOVE my collection! If you want the best flowers stamps, Altenew is the place to get them! They are simply BEAUTIFUL! Best quality ever!
Hi from Arizona. Love your watercoloring! Happy Anniversary Altenew!
Hi From Minnesota! Vibrant and beautiful card! Altenew’s florals are my favorite!
Hi from Michigan! Learning something new to me, nice!
Hi from Millstadt, IL. Love this
coloring – it is such a warm card.
thanks for sharing
txmlhl(at)yahoo(dot)com
Hi from Phoenix! Those watercolors are divine.
Hello from Michigan. This card is so awesome. The colors you achieved are phenomenal.
Hi from Athens GA! Congrats to Altenew and thanks for offering a giveaway!
Hi I’m from Bend Oregon. Wowza. Your color choice is stunning. I love it. Thanks for your inspiration
Hi from KY, USA! I love your watercolor florals and the painted background:) You could work in any medium and it would look fabulous.
Waving HI from Odessa, FL. Such a wonderful video and great info there. You have an amazing talent. Thanks for sharingl
Lovely!
Hi from St Louis MO. What a beautiful card with amazing colors. Thanks for sharing your process and looks like I need some of those watercolor pencils. Happy anniversary to Altenew.
Hey y’all from TN! Love your watercoloring! Thanks for the inspiration. 😀
your watercoloring is soooooo beautiful!! I love the orange and red flowers!
Hi from the sunny beaches of Goa! Beautiful card. Love the amazing coloring.
Beautiful as always! Love Altenew’s Florals – Happy Anniversary!
Hi from Poland 🙂 I love your work. Magdalena Mirabelka
Hello from New Hampshire! Happy Anniversary to Altenew! What a gorgeous card. The coloring is amazing! Thanks for the inspiration!
Hello from Monticello, FL! Thank you for the inspiration! Your cards are beautiful ❤️!
Hi from NC. Wonderful inspiration and techniques.
Hello from Washington state, USA. I love your water coloring, and it’s so great to see how the water color penicls work.
Hi! Lisa from Bothell, WA. Sandy your videos and tips are so helpful -thanks for sharing. I like the colors and layout on this card-it works really well.
Hi from Peoria AZ! Love seeing you use these amazing pencils sandy and love the card, wow!
Hi from Battle Ground, WA! Love your watercolor, its mesmerazing to see and learn from it!!
Hi from San Francisco
Love the vibrant colors. So nice of you to celebrate Altenew
Hi from Charlotte, NC. What a gorgeous card! I have never used watercolor pencils but I think I need to get some.
Hello from New York. Your card is beautiful. Happy 7th Anniversary Altenew 💜
Hi from Frisco, TX. Sandy, your painting skills are always an inspiration to me!
Hi from Texas! Incredible card! I would love to paint like that.
Hello from Central Florida, USA. I enjoy all your videos, you have lovely talent, thanks for the inspiration. P.S. Happy Anniversary Altenew!
Hello from Salt Lake City, Utah. Thanks for the inspiration. I love Altenew products.
Hi from MA. I love the coloring on this card! What a great idea to paint the background in similar colors!
Hello from Scottville, Michigan. So pretty. I have never tried watercolor. I like the pencils.
Wonderfully helpful video ! Its always fun watching you color though 🙂
Hi from sunny Florida!!! Absolutely gorgeous card! I love the beautiful color!!
Hi from Grand Haven, Michigan.
Love the colors
Hi from wv
Wow the color is amazing! Beautiful!