Tuesday, March 14, 2023

Altenew Celebrating Parents Card Drive 2023 Blog Hop + Giveaway ($200 in Total Prizes!)


Hello! Welcome back to my blog. I am part of Altenew's Celebrating Parents Card Drive Hop. Altenew is hosting this card drive from 2/28/2023 to 4/17/2023. This card drive aims to honor and celebrate the fantastic parents and parental figures in our lives. Altenew will also donate $1 with every order from this collection (from 2/28/2023 until 5/14/2023) to the Food Bank of Central New York to support seniors in need. Details on how to participate in this drive is linked above. There is also a chance to win a $15 gift card to the Altenew store which is all detailed in the Altenew Card Drive blog.

I lost my parents in less than a year. My Amang (father in Filipino) last September 2021, and my Inang (mother in Filipino) last August 2022. It still hurts each time I face this realization but I find comfort in knowing that they are together and believing that a part of them is who I am right now.

The cards I created are also made in fulfillment of the AECP 2 courses. I will explain this later on in the blog.


My first card is a masculine themed card. I did an ombre embossing technique on the star which is one of the classes in the AECP 2 course on Impressive Heat Embossing. The star is from the Altenew Halftone Star stamp set. The trick to get a flawless ombre embossing technique is to use a stamping tool like the Misti which is very helpful with repeated stamping.

I added stitching to create a frame for the star. The stitching holes were created using the Altenew String Art Rectangle die set. The sentiment is from the same stamp set but I added the word 'rock' which is from the Altenew Label Love stamp set.



The next two cards are feminine floral cards. I am using the Altenew Sixties Sunshine bundle which includes a stencil set and a 3D embossing folder.


I traced the stencil on a cream cardstock using a brown gel pen, a technique inspired by the AECP Magical Marker Techniques course. The class is about drawing with stencils. To fill the background, I traced some of the flowers using a gold glitter pen. I created a holding paper for the cardstock, sort of like a jig, to temporarily adhere the cardstock I will be drawing on. I taped the stencil to this holding paper so it will not shift. Since I was using a gel pen, I traced the images slowly. 

The embossing folder pattern matches the pattern created by the stencil. I lined up the pattern of the embossing folder with the doodled pattern, then ran this through the embossing folder. I added color to the flowers by blending ink on the printed side of the embossing folder, then ran this through the die cut machine. I repeated this process for every color. Just make sure you are lining the right embossed image to the embossing of the folder. My embossing and inking are not perfect but I like it this way since I am going for an organic look. 


I am so amazed by this embossing folder that I created another card using an orange cardstock. I tried swiping a white dye ink to the embossing folder to lighten the color of the recessed areas of the card panel. I should have used a white pigment ink instead of a dye ink for a more dramatic effect. Something to think about later on. I blended a brown dye ink on the centers of the flowers for a bit of shading. I flicked Tim Holtz Distress Oxide sprays on the panel. I added stitching to the panel to tie up with the stitched sentiment.

For the sentiments, I heat embossed this on kraft cardstock. The sentiment is from Altenew Wild Hibiscus stamp set. I added stitching holes to frame the sentiment using the same die I used on the masculine card. I adhered this to the center of the embossed panels with foam tape. 

I trimmed a bit off the sides of these embossed panels. I adhered this to a vertical top folding A2 kraft note card. 

I hope you join Altenew's Card Drive. Let us show love to these parents through the power of cardmaking. Have a blessed, brilliant and creative day!

Maria Giselle B.


Giveaway Prizes

$200 in total prizes! To celebrate this release, Altenew is giving away a $50 gift certificate to 2 lucky winners and a $20 gift certificate to 5 winners! Please leave a comment on the Altenew Card Blog and/or each designer’s blog post on the blog hop list below by 03/20/2023 for a chance to win. Altenew will draw 7 random winners from the comments left on each stop of this blog hop and announce the winners on the Altenew Winners Page on 03/21/2023.





You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

6/2024: Altenew decided to change its affiliate program starting this month. Below is my affiliate link to the website. I don't think I can directly link the products I used with this new program. Please feel free to do a product search. I will update as I figure this out. The good thing about this new affiliate program is that I get to earn on each Altenew product you purchase and not only on the product/s I used on this project. As before, there will be no additional cost to you if you make a purchase. It is just a way to help a fellow crafter sustain her love for crafting. While in the Altenew blog, don't forget to check out their new release for this month. Thank you for your support!



I am sharing this creation at:

24 comments:

  1. Maria, the multicolor heat embossing on your masculine card is great! You’ve provided me a few ideas for the cards I want to make for this wonderful card drive!

    ReplyDelete
  2. These are beautiful! Thanks for the detailed instructions too.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I love your cards, especially the flower ones!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Very beautiful. All 3 are lovely. Thank you!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Love the fun cards and the texture of stitching!

    ReplyDelete
  6. All three cards are fantastic! I love the tricolor embossing on the star and the stitching is a fun addition. Both of the floral cards are lovely, but I really love the cream one!!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hi Maria, I appreciate you relaying your experience of losing your parents. It is good to share our experiences with others. I am sure it was extremely hard to lose both within a year of each other. I am so very sorry.
    I like the different styles of your cards on the hop today. I love masculine card. The Altenew Sixties Sunshine 3-D embossing folder cards are adorable. I hope you have a great day and I look forward to your next cards.

    ReplyDelete
  8. fabulous cards - LOVE the texture on your cards

    ReplyDelete
  9. Beautiful cards ♥️ Thank you for sharing them and your memories.

    ReplyDelete
  10. I am so sorry for your loss. You have a real gift with color and I hope you keep growing in it. The orange/peachy is my fav. Thank you. Tricia H.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Wonderful idea and beautiful cards. Sorry for your loss.

    ReplyDelete
  12. I am in tears reading your post.
    As someone who has lost both parents I feel your pain.
    Your cards are beautiful, the first one is my favorite.
    Sending hugs to you , may your many memories bring you comfort.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Wonderful cards. So sorry for the recent loss of your parents.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Beautiful cards! Thank you for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Lovely cards, so sorry for the loss of your parents. Your cards inspire me!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Lovely cards - like the addition of the stitching around the sentiments!!

    ReplyDelete
  17. Such fun cards! Sorry for your loss.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Great showcase of different embossing techniques!! Your star card is fabulous!

    ReplyDelete
  19. Your parents are together and they are
    watching over you. Take comfort in
    those facts. Your cards are
    fantastic. thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Awesome cards! I love the star card and the pretty floral design card too!

    ReplyDelete
  21. Masculine cards are hard to do for me, so I love how created this one with simple elements. I really love how you made the Mom cards. I love the glitter pen and gel pen outlining. Adds so much to the card. Thank you.

    ReplyDelete