Hello Folks! Scott here with a bit of a mid-month diversion with some Altenew products! I was recently invited to join Altenew as an affiliate and was able to get some items off my wish list to share with you today! I do have a good amount of Altenew products – a number of stamp sets and stencils and blending brushes, 3D dies and press plates, card stock sets, big, thick washi tapes, double-sided foam tape and even a few inks… not a whole lot of Altenew stuff, but it feels like I do have a little bit of everything.
I have been lusting after this 6″ x 8″ “Up and Away” stamp set for a while now… such a unique perspective on hot air balloons… and you know how much I like to color!! Some perfectly appropriate sentiments in this set, and I also appreciate that there is a stamp featuring a couple folks enjoying the launch!
There is also the “Up and Away Bundle” available that includes the “Up and Away Simple Coloring Stencil” (5 in 1), and the “Up and Away Die Set”. I couldn’t resist getting the whole bundle since I thought the stencils would come in handy if I wasn’t feeling like coloring all these balloon panels on my own…!
The big balloon viewed from below is about 4.75″ diameter! BIG! So I reached for a large panel of 80# Neenah Solar White card stock and stamped the big balloon using VersaFine Onyx Black ink.
Wow! This thrills me to no end!! Using the stencils, I colored the Balloon with Broken China, Faded Jeans, Squeezed Lemonade and Fossilized Amber Distress Oxide inks. Now, the stencils only color the balloon itself, so you are still left to color the inside of the balloon and the basket on your own (or not!). I used my Prismacolor Colored pencils to color the basket, the scoop (or wind guard) and the basket. I really liked combining the ink-blended stencils with some hand coloring… very satisfying. When all was colored I die-cut the balloon with the matching die. I did take this moment to mark the big die with a sharpie reminding me which side of the die is the top!
I cut a piece of Hero Hues Arctic card stock to 4″ x 5.25″ and stamped the sentiment with Onyx Black ink and embossed that with Clear Embossing powder. Then I added a thin Black mat and glued both to an A2 White card base. I trimmed the three sides of the balloon to 4″ x 4.5″, colored the White die-cut border with an alcohol marker, and mounted that to the card front with Altenew Foam tape. I’ve been on a little bit of a Blue and Yellow kick lately, and I really like the Distress Oxides on this balloon instead of the stereotypical bright primary colors one tends to think of for Hot-Air Balloons.
There is a smaller balloon stamp in this set and I was really looking forward to coloring that couple!
This is more of a bright sun-shiny balloon! I stamped both images with Onyx Black ink on 80# Neenah Solar White card stock and, using the stencils, ink-blended the balloon with Hero Hues Lemon Drop, Key Lime Fizz, Green Apple, and Fruit Punch Reactive inks. I did use a tiny micro-applicator brush for some of the darker shadings. and though the basket does have a stencil, the inside of the balloon and the apron and scoop still need to be colored (on not!). Again, I used my Prismacolor Colored pencils to finish the ballon and color the couple. I did use the matching dies to cut out both pieces, but I ended up fussy-cutting the couple for a little cleaner detail, but stuck with coloring the die-cut border on the balloon with an Alcohol marker.
The background is a panel of White card stock ink-blended using an Altenew Large Blending brush (my favorite big ones!) with Hero Hues Splash and Blue Hawaii Reactive inks. Those large, flat bristle brushes never fail to give me beautiful blends. I die-cut that panel to 3.75″ x 5″ with a Lawn Fawn Stitched Rectangle die and stamped (and embossed) the sentiment as usual. I added a thin Black mat behind and then glued both down to a White card base. The balloon and couple are attached with Altenew Foam tape and they both “break the frame” a little bit – I like that!
Altenew has some of the best packaging in the industry with standard tri-fold instructions that have full-size examples and color options for almost all of their sets. There’s a caption on this packaging that says “Time to Color!” Okay!
After all, it WAS just the 4th of July last weekend! I was still in a colored pencil mode so I stamped this on a 4.5″ x 6″ panel of Stonehenge White card stock with VersaFine Onyx Black ink and colored away! If you look, you’ll see there are 7 White Stripes and 6 Red Stripes (just like the flag) and I like that the White fields in the Blue section match the White stripes. (I imagine if you saw this balloon from a distance, you should see red and white stripes spiraling around the sides) (I may be crazy!) I cut a simple paper mask and ink-blended Splash Reactive ink around the bottom of the balloon.
To make this shaped card-front, I scored the left edge of the stamping at 1/4″ (remember this is on a panel of 4.5″ x 6″ card stock) and folded that back to be the hinge. Then I fussy-cut the top of the balloon from side to side. Then I trimmed the bottom of the panel away at 5.5″. I stamped and embossed the sentiment as usual (very appropriate!!). I took two A2 panels of white card stock and glued the hinge between them to make the card. I did add some more Splash Reactive ink blended on the inside of the card for the bit of sky above the balloon. I like this card quite a lot and it really got me thinking about the truly endless options there are for coloring these balloons!
I did take this opportunity to get a few more things from Altenew! I am always a sucker for a Rose, so I grabbed the Rose Buds Layering Stencil set (retired) along with a Mini Blending Brush set and the Tropical Tango Ink Cube set with Peachy Keen, Mandarin Burst, Tangerine Dream, and Red Jasper Fresh Dye inks.
I got these inks because I think I have fewer oranges in my ink stash than any other color, and I thought some orange roses would be fun way to use this new stencil.
Florals are what initially attracted me to Altenew, and they are still going strong with this pair of stylized roses – Love it! I stamped all four sides of an A2 panel of 80# Neenah Solar White card stock with a Concord & 9th Splatter Texture stamp using Peachy Keen ink. I traced the stencils on a panel of paper to help with my placement, and ink blended the roses with the Mini Blending Brushes and the four inks. I used Altenew Misty Morning and Cloudy Sky Crisp Dye inks for the leaves – though these inks are technically in the Grey family, they lean very green – and work perfectly well for the leaves!
I trimmed the roses to 5.25″ x 4″, added a thin Metallic Orange mat behind, and glued those to an A2 White card base. I wanted a die cut sentiment but didn’t want anything big and bulky – I found this Love From Lizi “Love You” die that was perfectly delicate. I die-cut that from more Metallic Orange card stock and die-cut its shadow from some thick vellum. I glued the letters to the vellum and then flat to the card front. Three glitter enamel dots add a sparkly finishing touch to these bright orange roses. I’m sure my Altenew floral stash will continue to grow!
And that wraps up our mid-month tangent for today. As I said, I have admired and used Altanew products for many years with consistently great results and these new goodies still hold up to that reputation.
The Up and Away Bundle is a terrifically fun Hot-Air Balloon set with unique stamps and extremely useful stencils and dies. And if you need a good coloring fix, you can come up with thousands of possibilities with these balloons.
And the Rose Blooms Stencil set is a welcome addition to a history of terrific florals that Altenew is so well known for!
I hope you enjoyed this little foray into some Altenew Products this month! If you see something you might like to add to your own stash please use my links listed below. I do get a small commission (at no cost to you) when you use these links, and that helps keep the wheels spinning and the lights on! (And I’d love to show Altenew that I’m worthy of their attention…!)
Up and Away Bundle: https://altenew.com/products/up-away-stamp-die-bundle?sca_ref=11422472.dG9zjgek7r5
Altenew: https://altenew.com/11422472
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CardCut-ups 