Altenew | November 2026 Release Blog Hop + Giveaway

Hello there, I am delighted to be joining Altenew today for a fun blog hop to celebrate the November 2026 release. I have three cards to share today, all featuring florals. 

PLEASE NOTE: This post contains affiliate links. Please see below for my full disclosure.

EMBROIDERED FLORALS

My first card uses the beautiful Altenew Zero-Waste: Embroidered Florals Die Set, as well as the Altenew Embroidered Florals 3D Embossing Folder. Both can be used separately or used together, like I have done. I started off by die cutting the floral die from the die set. This die is a floral arrangement on a plate, so that you can use both the negative and positive. 

I die cut the flowers and leaves from Altenew Crafty Necessities Cardstock. I then placed them inside the Altenew Embroidered Florals 3D Embossing Folder and ran them through my die cutting machine. To enhance the texture, I added ink blending on top with Altenew Fresh Dye Inks. I used the following combinations:

Flowers: 

• Pink Diamond cardstock with Pinkalicious ink. 
• Puffy Heart cardstock with Purple Wine ink. 
• Cosmic Berry cardstock with Cosmic Berry ink. 

Leaves:

• Limeade cardstock with Firefly, Grass Field and Shadow Creek inks. 
• Dew Drops cardstock with Aqualicious ink. 

I die cut the embroidery frame and hanger from the Altenew Zero-Waste: Embroidered Florals Die Set twice from white cardstock. I adhered one of the frames onto a side fold A2 sized white card base and then cut around it using scissors to create my shaped card base. I then added the hanger on top, followed by another frame. The flowers were adhered on top using a combination of liquid glue and thin foam tape. 

I stamped a sentiment from the Altenew Sentiment Strips Stamp Set onto Altenew Crafty Necessities: Jet Black Cardstock using Altenew Embossing Ink. I applied Altenew Pure White Crisp Embossing Powder and heat set. It was cut into a strip and adhered to the card using Altenew Black Instant Dimension Foam Tape. To finish, I embellished with Altenew Ivory Pearl Dots. 

SOFT TULIPS

I started off my card by stamping the image from Altenew Build-A-Garden: Soft Tulips onto white cardstock using Altenew Obsidian Pigment Ink. I then used the stencils to add ink blending using a Mini Blending Brush. I used Altenew Bubblegum Dreams Fresh Dye Inks for the petals and Altenew Lime (Whispering Woodland) and Grass Field (Green Valley) Fresh Dye Inks for the stems and leaves. 

It was die cut out using the die and the image simply adhered to a US A2 sized white card base with Altenew Instant Dimension Foam Tape, with the excess cut off the bottom using my guillotine. I stamped a sentiment from the set onto Altenew Crafty Necessities: Jet Black Cardstock using Altenew Embossing Ink. 

I applied Altenew Pure White Crisp Embossing Powder and heat set. It was then cut into a strip and adhered to the card. To finish, I embellished with Altenew Clear Iridescent Stellar Sequins. 

WILD POPPIES

My last card today uses the beautiful Altenew Craft-A-Flower: Wild Poppies. I die cut the petals, flower centre and stems from white cardstock and then added ink blending on top. I used Altenew Lapis Lazuli Fresh Dye Inks for the petals, Altenew Jet Black Fresh Dye Ink for the flower centre and Altenew Green Valley Fresh Dye Inks for the stems and leaves. 

I adhered the stems and leaves first to a US A2 sized white card base using liquid glue. The flowers were assembled and adhered together first, and then adhered to the card. I stamped and heat embossed a sentiment from Altenew Build-A-Garden: Soft Tulips, cut it into a strip and adhered it to the card. To finish, I embellished with Altenew Clear Iridescent Stellar Sequins. 

In case you missed it, I shared a post on Wednesday about Jaycee's Swatching System that is also part of the November release. You can find that HERE. 

BLOG HOP:

As mentioned, this post is part of a fun and inspirational blog hop. Please click on the other participants below to visit their blogs. 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

GIVEAWAY:

$300 in total prizes! To celebrate this release, Altenew is giving away a $100 gift certificate to 1 lucky winner and a $50 gift certificate to 4 winners! Please leave a comment on the Altenew Blog and/or each designer’s blog post on the blog hop list below by November 12th for a chance to win. Altenew will draw 5 random winners from the comments left on each stop of this blog hop and announce the winners on Altenew's winner page November 14th, 2026. The winner of the $100 gift certificate will be chosen from comments left on the Altenew blog. 

SUPPLIES:

 

Here are the links to what I have used on the projects. Affiliate links are used on some products. This means that if you make a purchase after clicking on my link, I receive a small commission with no extra cost to you. I truly appreciate your support when using these links. Please click on the logo below the product to shop at your favourite store. All products were personally purchased except marked with an asterisk (*) which were kindly sent to me to use. You can read my full disclosure here.

Thank you so much for stopping by today, I really do appreciate it. I hope you have a great time on the rest of the hop and a wonderful rest of the day too! Take care! 

Spellbinders | Kokeshi Doll Shoji Screen

Hello there, I was over on the Spellbinders Blog on Wednesday sharing a card using the Autumn in Kyoto collection by Alex Syberia. I already shared one card using the collection, which you can see here. Today I am using the Shoji Screen 3D Embossing Folder as a background to the Kokeshi Doll. 

Shoji screens are used in Japan as a door, window or room divider. They are usually made from translucent rice paper with a bamboo frame. The translucent rice paper allows light to shine through but still gives privacy. I wanted to add colour to my screen, but I kept the centre light, to mimic the light shining through that part of the screen.

PLEASE NOTE: This post contains affiliate links. Please see below for my full disclosure.

I used Altenew Enchanted Garden Fresh Dye Inks to add ink blending to a panel of cardstock and then ran it through my die cutting machine inside the Spellbinders Shoji Screen 3D Embossing Folder. Once out, I added more ink on top to bring out the embossing more. I then splatted it with gold paint. The Spellbinders Autumn Kokeshi Dolls (Stamp &) Die Set was used for the Kokeshi Doll, die cutting her from Spellbinders ColorWheel Cardstock and adding a little ink blending to tie in with the background. The sentiment is from the Spellbinders Kokeshi Dolls BetterPress Plate & Die Set. 

SUPPLIES:

Here are the links to what I have used on the project. Affiliate links are used on some products. This means that if you make a purchase after clicking on my link, I receive a small commission with no extra cost to you. I truly appreciate your support when using these links. Please click on the logo below the product to shop at your favourite store. All products were personally purchased except marked with an asterisk (*) which were kindly sent to me to use. You can read my full disclosure here.

For a step by step photo tutorial on how I made the card, please head over to the Spellbinders Blog. Thank you so much for stopping by today, I really do appreciate it. I hope you have a wonderful day! 

VIDEO | Pinkfresh Studio: Turning Accessory Images into Eye-Catching Focal Points

Hello there, I am delighted to be over on the Pinkfresh Studio YouTube Channel today sharing a card that uses accessory images (the foliage from the Autumn Sips suite) as part of my focal point. This is a great way to be able to use those smaller images in a set and make them the star! 

PLEASE NOTE: This post contains affiliate links. Please see below for my full disclosure.

I started off my card by hot foiling the foliage plates from the Pinkfresh Studio Autumn Sips Press Plate set onto white cardstock using Spellbinders Silver Glimmer Hot Foil Roll and the Spellbinders Glimmer II Hot Foiling System. Interested to see how the new system works compared to the old one? Watch the video below! :) 

I hot foiled the larger leaf stem three times and the smaller ones twice each. They were then die cut out using the Pinkfresh Studio Autumn Sips Dies. I placed them on my Pinkfresh Studio EasyBlend Grip Mat (4.75" x 6") and used the Pinkfresh Studio Autumn Sips Stencils to add ink blending to them. 

I used Pinkfresh Studio Inks in Blue Jay and Sapphire for the largest leaf stems, Turquoise and Paradise for the smaller leaf stems, and Ocean Breeze and Mermaid Cove for the other small stems. I stamped the sentiment from the Pinkfresh Studio Petite Florals Stamp Set onto white cardstock using Pinkfresh Studio Detail Black Hybrid Ink. 

It was die cut out and then the die cut again from white cardstock and adhered behind the stamped one for dimension. I then die cut the larger of the two Pinkfresh Studio Shaker Hearts Dies to use as the base for the focal point. I adhered the foliage to the heart using Pinkfresh Studio Precision Clear Craft Glue.

The heart was adhered to a US A2 sized white card base using thin foam tape. The sentiment was then adhered to the heart using mainly liquid glue but I added a thin foam square in the centre for stability. To finish, I embellished with Pinkfresh Studio Clear Drops: Ice. 

VIDEO:

Here is the video showing how I made the card: 

If you are viewing this blog post via email subscription, you can watch the video HERE on YouTube. 

SUPPLIES:

 

Here are the links to what I have used on the project. Affiliate links are used on some products. This means that if you make a purchase after clicking on my link, I receive a small commission with no extra cost to you. I truly appreciate your support when using these links. Please click on the logo below the product to shop at your favourite store. All products were personally purchased except marked with an asterisk (*) which were kindly sent to me to use. You can read my full disclosure here.

I really like that I was able to use the foliage in this way as part of the focal point, rather than as accessory. Thank you so much for stopping by today, I really do appreciate it. I hope you have a wonderful day! 

Simon Says Stamp | Creating a Transparent Bauble

Hello there, it's release day over at Simon Says Stamp and I have a card to share using the new Bitty Baubles Stamp Set. The set is made to have characters inside the baubles/ornaments and so I thought it would be fun to try and colour it so that the bauble looked transparent (apart from the bunny and candy inside!). I used a dark blue card base and coloured the bauble blue too, to make it somewhat look like the background is showing through. 

PLEASE NOTE: This post contains affiliate links. Please see below for my full disclosure.

I started off by stamping the bauble from the Simon Says Stamp Bitty Baubles Stamp Set onto white cardstock using Memento Tuxedo Black Ink. I then stamped the bunny and candy image inside. It was coloured using Copic Markers (the colours that I used are listed below the supplies area) and then fussy cut out using scissors. 

To neaten up the edges, I went around them with a Copic Multiliner Brush Pen. This "paints" the edges black and makes it so that you cannot see the white of the cardstock. I took a panel of Altenew Crafty Necessities: Ultramarine Cardstock and added ink blending to the edges. I used Altenew Azurite and Jet Black Fresh Dye Inks. 

I stamped the sentiment onto the panel once dry using Versamark Ink. I applied white embossing powder and heat set. I then adhered DMC Gold Diamant Thread to the back of the bauble and adhered the bauble to the panel using thin foam squares. The thread was wrapped around the back of the panel and secured, and then the panel adhered to a white A2 sized card base. To finish, I added white gel pen highlights (as well as using a white Polychromos Pencil) and dots on the bauble and embellished with Spellbinders Gold Mix Color Essentials Gems. 

SUPPLIES:

Here are the links to what I have used on the project. Affiliate links are used on some products. This means that if you make a purchase after clicking on my link, I receive a small commission with no extra cost to you. I truly appreciate your support when using these links. Please click on the logo below the product to shop at your favourite store. All products were personally purchased except marked with an asterisk (*) which were kindly sent to me to use. You can read my full disclosure here.

COPIC MARKERS: Bunny - W3, W1, W0. Candy - R89, R37, R35/C2. Background of bauble - B39, B69, B29, B24. Bow - R89, R39, R37, R35, R32. 

I am not sure how successful it is in terms of it looking transparent as the blue shades are just slightly off, but I like how the card turned out anyway! Thank you so much for stopping by today, I really do appreciate it. I hope you have a wonderful day! 

Altenew | Jaycee's Swatching System

Hello there, it's release day over at Altenew and there are lots of new products in the shop! I will have cards to share on Saturday for the blog hop, but for today, I wanted to share Jaycee's Swatching System! This is a collaboration between Altenew and Jaycee Gaspar to create and organise swatches of our products. 

PLEASE NOTE: This post contains affiliate links. Please see below for my full disclosure.

There are large swatches, medium swatches, small swatches and slim swatches! I am using the slim swatches today but I am hoping to get my hands on some of the others too as I would love to incorporate them into my system as well! 

The swatches fit inside the Altenew Swatch Book Album (A7 - Beige) which is the cutest little binder! The system support both stamping of ink and ink blending of inks and you can also use them for cardstock swatches too. There are stamps to make the swatches, stencils to make the swatches and dies! So you can mix and match what works best for you! 

I started off my swatches by printing off the Altenew Swatch Page Printables onto 80lb Neenah Classic Crest Solar White Cardstock. I then cut the pages in half (you get 3 sets of 3 on each 8.5" x 11" sheet) and used the Altenew Swatch Page Die to die cut them out. It cuts three swatch sheets in one go. You simply line up the printing holes with the die holes to get perfect placement. 

I then took the first stencil from the Altenew Swatch Page Alignment Template and placed on my Sticky Mat. 

The swatching sheet then fits inside perfectly! You don't have to use the Sticky Mat here but it is helpful to keep everything in place!

I then placed the second stencil on top, with the openings lined up with the etching lines on the first stencil (you can also use these etching lines to line up the stamps too, if using that method). These openings line up one by one, not all four in one go. 

I used the corresponding ink and a Mini Blending Brush to blend ink inside the stencil opening. I added a darker saturation of colour on the left side and faded lighter on the right, so that I know how light and dark the ink can be. 

I then moved the opening down to the next set of etched lines and repeated the process with the next shade of ink, and then carried on until all four were done. Now I know exactly what each of the four shades of ink are like in that collection. 

The sheets can be added to the binder as is but there are also dividers that you can create using the Altenew Swatch Page Divider & Tabs Die Set to separate the colours and products. I cut mine from white cardstock and then stamped on top using the Altenew Slim Swatches Stamp Set. I haven't been able to get all my ink swatches done yet, but of course, I had to start with my beloved purples! 

As mentioned, I will be back on Saturday to share the cards that I have made for the release but until then, I hope you will check out the release. 

SUPPLIES:

 

Here are the links to what products I used for the system Affiliate links are used on some products. This means that if you make a purchase after clicking on my link, I receive a small commission with no extra cost to you. I truly appreciate your support when using these links. Please click on the logo below the product to shop at your favourite store. All products were personally purchased except marked with an asterisk (*) which were kindly sent to me to use. You can read my full disclosure here.

Thank you so much for stopping by today, I really do appreciate it. I hope you have a wonderful day! 

Altenew | November 2026 Inspiration Challenge

Hello there, I am delighted to be hosting the Altenew Inspiration Challenge this month. Every month, Altenew have an inspiration challenge and a DT member or guest picks a photo and creates a project based on the colours in the photo. 

PLEASE NOTE: This post contains affiliate links. Please see below for my full disclosure.

We then encourage you to create projects based on that colour palette too! The photo that I chose is of a white hydrangea in my garden. 

I absolutely love the purple/blue ones (of course!) but there is something so pretty about white flowers! As you can see, there are some flecks of pink on the flowers, so I have used those as one of my colours too! 

Although Altenew do have products with hydrangeas, I decided to use the Altenew Craft-A-Flower: Calla Lily Layering Die Set instead for my project, keeping the flowers white, with the shadows in pink. I die cut the layers first from wite cardstock and then added ink blending in the shadows using Altenew Baby Pink Fresh Dye Ink and a Mini Blending Brush. 

I added ink blending to the stems and leaves using Altenew Green Valley Fresh Dye Inks - Grass Field, Shadow Creek and Mountain Pine. The stems and leaves were adhered flat to an A2 sized card base made from Altenew Crafty Necessities: Jet Black Cardstock using Altenew ClearFix Glue. 

I adhered the layers of the flowers together and then adhered them to the card. For some shine, I splattered Altenew Iridescent Shimmer Ink Spray on top and set it aside to dry. I stamped the 'just because' sentiment from Altenew One-Go: Friendship Flowers Stamp Set onto more Jet Black Cardstock using Altenew Embossing Ink. 

I applied Altenew Pure White Crisp Embossing Powder and heat set. It was cut into a strip and adhered to the card using Altenew Black Instant Dimension Foam Tape. To finish, I added a few white gel pen dots. 

SUPPLIES:

Here are the links to what I have used on the project. Affiliate links are used on some products. This means that if you make a purchase after clicking on my link, I receive a small commission with no extra cost to you. I truly appreciate your support when using these links. Please click on the logo below the product to shop at your favourite store. All products were personally purchased except marked with an asterisk (*) which were kindly sent to me to use. You can read my full disclosure here.

I hope you will be inspired by my colour combination and play along! All the details for the challenge are here. Thank you so much for stopping by today, I really do appreciate it. I hope you have a wonderful day!

Spellbinders | Create Your Way Everyday with Simple Copic Colouring

Hello there, I am delighted to be over on the Spellbinders Blog today sharing a card using the Thanks in Bloom Press + Foil Plate from the Create Your Way Everyday Collection. This collection was released alongside the new Glimmer II Hot Foil System and this was the first card I made using the new glimmer machine.

PLEASE NOTE: This post contains affiliate links. Please see below for my full disclosure.

As you can see from the peek above, I kept my card very simple. I hot foiled the Spellbinders Thanks in Bloom Press + Foil Plate onto a panel of white cardstock using Spellbinders Matte Gold Glimmer Hot Foil Roll. The image was cut into an arch using the Spellbinders Essential Arches Etched Dies and coloured very simply using Copic Markers (the colours that I used are listed below the supplies area). The sentiment is from the Spellbinders Signature Sentiments Press + Foil & Die Set. 

With regards to the new Glimmer II, I think it is fab! I will say that there was a problem with my old machine and it wasn't foiling properly, so in comparison, this one was always going to better but I do think having the whole platform heat up, rather than it being a coil underneath, makes for a better foiled impression, especially with larger plates. It is helpful not having a docking station now, as I know a lot of us did struggle with that. I am, however, still getting used to having to unplug it each time I run it through my die cutting machine and remembering to plug it back in afterwards, but I am sure I'll get used to it soon! Otherwise, I think it is great! 

SUPPLIES:

Here are the links to what I have used on the project. Affiliate links are used on some products. This means that if you make a purchase after clicking on my link, I receive a small commission with no extra cost to you. I truly appreciate your support when using these links. Please click on the logo below the product to shop at your favourite store. All products were personally purchased except marked with an asterisk (*) which were kindly sent to me to use. You can read my full disclosure here.

COPIC MARKERS: Petals - RV55, RV52, Y11. Leaves and stems - YG17, YG23, YG01. 

For more photos and step by step instructions on how I made the card, please head over to the Spellbinders Blog. Thank you so much for stopping by today, I hope you have a wonderful week ahead! 

Hero Arts | Home for the Holidays

Hello there, today I have two cards to share using the Hero Arts Home for the Holidays collection that was released back in July. As you can tell, I am a little behind with releases at the moment, but sometimes it is nice to not rush the releases each month and to use them at a later date. So I hope you don't mind seeing the inspiration at a later date too! 

PLEASE NOTE: This post contains affiliate links. Please see below for my full disclosure.

The main focus of the collection are the wreath dies. There is a large wreath and a little one (I used the large one today and the little one here) and also accessories for the wreath. I decided to use the accessories for a separate card instead, creating a little winter village! 

I started off my first card by using the Hero Arts Front Door Layering Stencils. I wanted my door to be black, as that is what I have in real life! It is quite tricky to achieve that in ink blending with four different layers but I tried my best, using just one ink - Altenew Jet Black Fresh Dye Ink. It was then cut into an arch shape using the Spellbinders Essentials Arches Etched Dies. 

I created an arch shaped card base and adhered the door panel on top. I then die cut the large wreath from the Hero Arts Winter Wreath Die Set from Spellbinders Peridot and Rainforest ColorWheel Cardstock. I cut the top layer twice and the bottom layer once. I added ink blending to them with Altenew Green Valley Fresh Dye Inks and then adhered them one on top of another before adhering to the door. 

I die cut the bow from Spellbinders Lavender ColorWheel Cardstock and added ink blending on top with Altenew Enchanted Garden Fresh Dye Inks. It was adhered to the top of the wreath. I die cut the berries from Altenew Moonstone Cardstock and adhered them to the wreath too. To finish, I stamped the 'Merry Christmas' from the Hero Arts Season's Greetings Stamp Set onto white cardstock using Versafine Clair Nocturne Ink. It was cut into a strip and adhered to the card. 

I kept the second card very simple! I die cut the houses from the Hero Arts Winter Wreath Accessories Die Set from Spellbinders Fairy Tale, Lavender and Lilac ColorWheel Cardstock. I cut the different parts apart (roof and door) from the houses using scissors, so that I could mix and match! I then cut the berry die from Spellbinders Rainforest ColorWheel Cardstock. 

I wanted to make them look like little wreaths hanging on the doors, so I punched a teeny tiny hole in the middle (not quite centred but actually I don't mind that!) using a handheld punch and adhered them to the doors. I also added vellum to the back of the houses to show through the windows. The trees were die cut from Spellbinders Peridot and Rainforest ColorWheel Cardstock. 

I created an arch shaped card base using the Spellbinders Spellbinders Essentials Arches Etched Dies and then stamped the 'Season's Greetings' sentiment from the Hero Arts Season's Greetings Stamp Set on top using Versafine Clair Nocturne Ink. I like to have two of these types of sentiment sets -  I keep one as is (all one stamp) and I cut the other I cut up into separate sentiments, that way I can get more from my sets! The trees were adhered to the card using liquid glue and the houses with thin foam tape. 

SUPPLIES:

 

Here are the links to what I have used on the projects. Affiliate links are used on some products. This means that if you make a purchase after clicking on my link, I receive a small commission with no extra cost to you. I truly appreciate your support when using these links. Please click on the logo below the product to shop at your favourite store. All products were personally purchased except marked with an asterisk (*) which were kindly sent to me to use. You can read my full disclosure here.

I really like the shape of arched cards and I think they work particularly well for these designs. Thank you so much for stopping by today, I really do appreciate it. I hope you have a wonderful weekend!