Altenew July Inspiration Challenge

Well, it's been a minute! How have you all been?

Have you had any wonderful holidays or special events over the last few weeks?

Things have been hectic around here, to say the least. And this summer has been kicking our butt quite a bit in the health department. It's made it so very difficult to stay on top of the blog, among other things. 

But, I made a pile of cards some weeks back, and even pre-written a few posts, so I'll be sharing some goodies over the next little bit, and hopefully by then everything will return back to normal.

For today, I have a duo to share just in time for Aletenew's Inspiration Challenge.

I found the colors to be so beautiful, but also very challenging to work with. I resisted the urge all along to add a dash of warmer hues. Prior to this challenge, I did not realize how much I rely on warmer tones! Do any of you have a go-to that is particularly hard to work around in your cardmaking? My top three are: layers, use of white, and recently discovered: warm colors. 

To start this floral card, I stamped lovely floral designs using Altenew's Peony Bouquet stamps in colors of Soft Stone, Spring Rain, Winter Wisteria, Blueberry Sky, Enchanted Evening, and Lilac Grace.  

O my gosh these stamps are so, so beautiful. The layers, the details, the gorgeous designs...I really struggled to decide which Altenew layering flower stamp I wanted to get. It  was between Peony Bouquet and Beautiful Day. I settled on this one because it had a few more options in terms of trimmings - such as the berries and the smaller flowers I used on the base of this card. I also liked that each stamped image had a solid, shade and outline option. But in all honesty, I think I could easily love both just as much! 

After stamping the base, I used some white embossing powder and Altenew's Poinsettia and Pine stamp set and dies, to cut emboss and cut out pretty vellum flowers. I just love the dimension that comes from combining stamped images with vellum cutouts. So airy and delicate!

At the top of the card, I added a vintage bow, as well as a tiny button. I also sprinkled some sequins and pearls about the card.

For the sentiment, I used Altenew's Caps Bold Alphabet dies along with the Peony Bouquet stamp set, to cut and stamp the large focal point. Just above that, I added a couple of banners, cut and stamped using PTI's Big Hugs stamp set, and Tag Sale Quilted die. Just below that, I finished off the sentiment by using stamps from PTI's discontinued set - Gingerbread Lane.

Hope you've had a chance to play along with this fun challenge, and if not, hopefully this will inspire you!

Thanks for your visits, friends. Have a wonderful rest of your week!

Ivana