Hello and thank you for joining me today on this Altenew Educators Blog Hop. The focus of this hop is celebrating the versatility of stencils. If you’re hopping along, you’ve come from the very talented, Rosie Neustaedter. The next stop is the multifacetedNandini Karmarkar. Scroll to the end of this post for the full blog hop list or head over to the Altenew card blog for more information and to win prizes.

Stencils are so versatile given the number of techniques you can do with them and Altenew has some beautiful stencils. When I receive new goodies, I immediately play with them to test them out and see how they work. This method leaves me with a lot of backgrounds that don't end up as cards. In this post, I take those backgrounds I have made previously and add elements to make cards. Please continue reading to see how I store and use odds and ends from other projects to make the cards today. Affiliate links are used in this blog. If you choose to shop through them, I may receive a small commission which is used to support this blog. Thank you for your support. 

Hello and thank you for joining me today for some crafty inspiration. Altenew has yet another amazing set of products that are sure to become some staples in your stash.You can check out the full release on the Altenew site and return to the Altenew blog if you get lost along the hop.  If you are hopping along, you have just come from the ridiculously talented, Tania Ahmed. Your next stop is the last stop (you're almost there!) on the hop to the very dazzling works of Nikki Kehr. Thank you for taking the time to hop along with us. This release made it easy to create some really cool paper crafting projects. Read along for how I made these projects. I use affiliate links which if you choose to purchase through them, I receive a small commission. Thanks for your support. 

Hello and thank you for visiting my blog. For this card I played around with Nuvo Embellishment Mousse, Hero Arts sand embossing powder and layering die cuts to create some texture on this scene card. This card was relatively easy to put together once each of the components was built. For the colored die cuts, I actually colored those over a year ago and pulled them out of my stash for this card. Please read on for how I built each of the card components and put them together for a fun summer thank you card. Some items used to make this card are listed at the end of the post. If you would like to build this card and purchase items through these links, I may receive a small commission. Thank you for your support.

Hello friends. I am participating in my first ever hop! On Instagram! I regularly post on Instagram and I’d love it if you join me there @sevenscrafts. The hop today has a $50 gift certificate to Scrapbook.com where I do regularly shop for my card making supplies because I like their prices, selection and fast shipping. If you are hopping along, you came from Anna Komenda @moriony and your next stop is Nicole Watt @pixelmavensretreat. For today I am sharing an adorable love you card made with the Monster Love stamp set from Concord & 9th along with other supplies that are all available at Scrapbook.com. Please read on for how I put together this cute card.

Here it is....the final challenge of level 2. So far I have taken 20 Altenew Academy classes and made 37 cards. This has been a really great experience to improve my card presentation and to learn different techniques. For this challenge I had to make a home decor project using inspiration from some of the 20 classes I have taken. I decided to make some prints in the spirit of John Audubon’s nature prints. I had been planning on purchasing some Audubon original book plates but these are really expensive. The book plates have really simple images and have just a flower or birds with the species name in typeface. Altenew stamp sets have beautiful detailed images that I thought would work great for this project. Read on for how I put together these home decor pieces. If you have questions on the Altenew Educator Program, please let me know as I would be happy to talk about my experiences so far. I’ve included affiliate links in this post for the items I used to make these pieces. If you use these links to purchase the items, I may get a small commission at no cost to you. Thank you for your support.

Today on the blog, I am using Altenew Layered Stencils to create unique looks to cards. I am using different blends of ink, texture paste and DecoFoil Transfer Gel. I love how the layered stencils give such a realistic impression. Please read on for how I accomplished each of these looks and tricks and tips I learned along the way.

I like to make cards. Masculine cards are typically defined by being more geometric, patterned and less flowery. In the Altenew class, For The Boys, the instructor gave a lot of different ways to interpret masculine cards. Most of my stamps from Altenew are floral so this course made me move out of my comfort zone and made me think outside the box. I recently purchased the Warp Speed stencil from Altenew and figured this would a good time to use it. Read on for two cards I made using this stencil.

I love birthdays ... from cake to presents to celebrating with friends and family; birthdays are just a lot of fun. Having two kids means lots of birthday parties which means lots of buying birthday gifts. For birthday gifts, I prefer to give something that is personal and can be used over and over. This cycle of birthdays, I’m making personalized tote bags. I already posted on this, here but I have another example including what I put into the whole gift. For this project, I used my Cricut Explore Air, Cricut Iron On Lite, Cricut Vinyl to make: a personalized tote bag, pencil box and bookmark. I also made two birthday cards to go with these presents. Lots of ideas here so I will break them down as I hope this post will leave you inspired to make some birthday gifts.

Holidays are all about the sparkle and magic of the season. The temperatures get colder, hearts fill with cheer and there's something happy and magical about the time. The Tonic Nuvo Glimmer Paste and Newton's Nook Snowfall Stencil I had used on a previous card needed to make another appearance. The shine and dimension from the Glimmer Paste really makes the stencil design stand out. Before putting away my holiday stamps and dies, I wanted to make just another design for the season. The holidays is a time when shimmer and sparkle are expected and are not over the top for a card.