Today, I am delighted to help Altenew celebrate their 6th Anniversary! In light of current events, Altenew considered cancelling their celebrations. However, they want to use this blog hop to spread joy and encourage others to give back/ be there for one another during these challenging times. Subsequently, Altenew has donated 6K to relief organizations that are working to help vulnerable populations. Watch this short video to learn more. 

I have a card to share and also a video unboxing and setting up the new Altenew Artist-Grade 24 pan watercolour set. There’s a hop with fabulous giveaways too – more details of that below. I’ve linked all supplies at the end of this post. Compensated affiliate links used where possible at no cost to you.

VIDEO

Watch below or in HD on YouTube.

ALTENEW ARTIST GRADE WATERCOLOUR PALETTE SET UP

In the video above, I unbox and set up the Altenew 24 half pan artist-grade watercolour palette. This is my first look at these paints, and I’m intrigued to use them more and get to know them. On first impressions, they are rich and creamy and rewet easily. The colours are intense, which I like as it is easier to dilute an intense colour than it is to try and bump one up. The packaging mentioned little to no granulation, and I’m finding that. I do like granulation at times, but it is one of those Marmite things some people love it, and some hate it. As Altenew are known for their fabulous florals, then I guess granulation isn’t as appropriate for watercolours intended to paint flowers. And this is a palette which is carefully picked for florals, just look at that beautiful array of yellows through to oranges, corals, pinks, reds, purple, blues, neutrals and greens. I kept the colours in the order they were placed in the palette. You could rearrange them if you’d prefer. I wasn’t sure how the layout was going to look, but actually, I can see why they’ve been placed as they are. You have your top row of warm colours, and then you have a nook of cool blues and purple at the end of the two rows. On the second row, you have your neutrals which lead into your greens. So yes, I can see this to be a useful layout for these colours, and I’m very excited to start painting with these paints, and you’ll see them featuring in projects to come.

MESSY WATERCOLOURING

It’s been a while since I used the messy watercolouring technique, but I should use it more as it is so freeing! I stamped the florals from the New Beginnings set in Versafine Onyx Black ink on Fabriano Artistico watercolour paper and die cut with the coordinating New Beginnings dies. Then the fun part – just slap some colour on there! Some of my favourite watercolour blends are often on the scratch pieces of paper where I test out colours. I wash a couple of colours together to see if I like them and then leave them to blend and the results are often better than me footering around. So I used a loose hand and popped some colour onto the leaves and flowers, letting them blend as they wished. I didn’t worry about going over the lines or filling in the whole flower. Just let the watercolours have their own party! The colours I used were:

Pink Flowers

• Red Sunset
• Pocketful Of Sunshine

Yellow Flowers

• Pocketful Of Sunshine
• Summer Afternoon
• Fiery Sunset
• Warm & Cosy
• Coffee Break

Leaves

• Tropical Forest
• Green Meadows

Once I’d finished watercolouring, I splattered with the white paint from the palette. If you’ve been around here for a while, you know how I love white splatter! The white did OK, but I still think I prefer white gouache for a more opaque look. I added a splatter of Perfect Pearls solution for good measure.

I put the flowers to one side and then worked on the background – blending a little Limestone ink through the Classy Stripes Stencil. I splattered this with white gouache too. I then foam mounted this to an Ivory card base before adding the flowers in a diagonal across the background.

For the sentiment, I was drawn to the ‘new beginnings’ greeting. I’m trying to be positive around here, and I’m not letting myself get dragged into the news for hours on end. Still, this greeting, it struck a chord – new beginnings, time to focus on what is important, and opportunity to reset and assess what is truly valuable to us. I stamped the sentiment in clear embossing ink on Black card and white heat embossed before trimming to a simple banner and foam mounting to the card front.

BLOG HOP

As mentioned, this post is part of a blog hop to celebrate Altenew’s 6th anniversary. Hopefully, you’ve arrived here from Erum’s blog but if not then a good place to start is at the beginning with Altenew’s blog. As with all good hops, there are prizes!

Altenew is giving away a $50 gift certificate to 6 lucky winners and one Altenew Academy class to 10 lucky winners. There are also 14 awesome companies/crafty friends who are celebrating with us, and they are offering the following prizes:

• Altenew: 6 $50 Altenew gift certificates

• Altenew Academy: 10 class spots

• Jennifer McGuire Ink: 1 $100 Altenew gift certificate & 5 Share Handmade Kindness goodie bags($20 each)

• My Sweet Petunia: 1 prize bundle(Original MISTI, a set of Creative Corners, a Cut-Align and a bar magnet)

• CiLi in Papers: $100 gift certificate

• Craft Stash: £75 gift certificate

• Amy Tangerine: Your Brightest Year Yet online workshop(valued at $89)

• Online Card Classes: 3 class spots

• Simon Says Stamp: $50 gift certificate

• Scrapbook.com: $50 gift certificate

• Michelle’s Cards & Stamp: $50 gift certificate

• Ellen Hutson LLC: $30 gift certificate

• Butterfly Reflections Ink: $25 gift certificate

• Scrapbook & Cards Today: 1 copy of Scrapbook & Cards Today Spring 2020 issue

• Bumbleberry Papercrafts:  £25 gift certificate

• Seven Hills Crafts: £25 gift certificate

Be sure to leave comments by 4/12/2020 for a chance to win one of 37 prizes! To make the hop more exciting, start your comment with “Hi from (city or country where you’re from)!”. 37 winners will be chosen at random from the comments left on any of the blogs listed below and will be announced on the Altenew Card Blog on 4/18/2020.

Now it is time to hop along to …

Lydia Evans!!

Altenew Card Blog
Jennifer McGuire
Erum Tasneem
Debby Hughes
Lydia Evans
My Sweet Petunia
Nicole Picadura
Kelly Griglione
CiLi in Papers
Emily Midgett
Kathy Racoosin
May Sukyong Park
Kelly Latevola
Soraya Maes
Teri Wilson
Hussena Calcuttawala

SUPPLIES

You can find links to the supplies I’ve used below; click on the picture or shop icon to get taken 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! Items marked with an asterisk (*) provided by a store or the manufacturer. You can read my affiliate and product disclosure here. I genuinely appreciate your support.

Altenew NEW BEGINNINGS [ SSS ] Altenew NEW BEGINNINGS Dies [ SSS ] Altenew CLASSY STRIPES Stencil [ SSS ] Altenew ARTISTS WATERCOLOR 24 PAN Set [ SSS ] Fabriano WATERCOLOR PAPER 5×7 BLOCK… [ SSS ] SSS FOG Card [ SSS ] Simon Says Stamp Card Stock 100#… [ SSS ] * SSS BLACK Card [ SSS ] Altenew LIMESTONE Crisp Dye Ink Pad [ SSS ] Altenew EMBOSSING Ink Pad [ SSS ] Tsukineko VersaFine ONYX BLACK Ink [ SSS ] SSS White Embossing Powder [ SSS ] * Picket Fence Studios LIFE CHANGING… [ SSS ] Winsor Newton WHITE GOUACHE [ SSS ] Ranger PERFECT PEARL Powder [ SSS ] ltenew Self Healing 24 x 18 CUTTING MAT [ SSS ] * Hero Arts Misti at Simon Says STAMP [ SSS ] * Hero Arts MISTI MINI BLACK [ SSS ] Hero Arts MISTI MINI MOUSE PAD [ SSS ] * Hero Arts MISTI BAR MAGNATE Black [ SSS ] 3M DOUBLE-SIDED FOAM TAPE [ SSS ] SSS SMALL TEFLON BONE FOLDER [ SSS ] Gina K Designs CONNECT GLUE [ SSS ] Tim Holtz Tonic GUILLOTINE [ SSS ] Scor-Pal Mini Scoring Board [ SSS ] EK Success CUTTER BEE Scissors [ SSS ] TWEEZERS [ SSS ] T SQUARE RULER [ SSS ] Crafter’s Companion GEMINI JUNIOR… [ SSS ]

PIN ME

Summary of the project which gives all the views of the card in one photo :D I’d love if you pinned and called by on Pinterest :D