Spring showers bring May flowers, but April brings inspiration galore! Dive into Bridget Casey's captivating challenge this month and watch your creativity bloom!

April 2024 Inspiration Challenge

Hello crafty friends, Bridget Casey here to introduce the April 2024 Inspiration Challenge!

Each month, a member of the Altenew Design Team selects a photo they have created themselves and uses that as inspiration for a project. Of course, we want to share the fun, so we invite YOU to use your own creativity to make a project inspired by our photo!

Inspiration Photo

For this month's inspiration photo, I chose a photo taken by my son Ryan of my favorite place in the world, Gooch’s Beach in Kennebunk, Maine.  

Looking at this photo, I saw many beautiful colors, including the snow, which reminded me of silver glitter. The colors that pulled me into this photo were the Nimbus of the ocean, Snapdragon, and Burnt Red in the beautiful sunrise.  Since this is my favorite place to be, I decided to use one of my favorite techniques to create my project, ink blending! 

I love being able to pull various color combinations to elevate my blooms. I get so excited seeing that cardstock go from white to beautifully colored. I decided to choose some of my favorite new and old supplies since we are celebrating Altenew’s 10th anniversary.  Let’s get creative!

Ink Blended Camellias: Step-By-Step Instructions

Above, you will see the supplies I used to create my project.  The Ombrè Stencil has sold out. A great substitution would be the Beach Towel Stripes Stencil.

We’ll begin with the rounded rectangle dies from the April Kiss Camellia Die Set. Make sure to cut layers 1-6 twice as you will layer them together, flipping the opposite layers. 

Using a mini blending tool, add Snapdragon ink to all of the layers you die cut in the previous step.  You will notice in the photo that I begin blending in the middle of the layer and outwardly.  This may not work on every layering die set, so check how the flower layers together before blending. 

Use the same technique when adding Burnt Red to the petals. Be sure not to blend Burnt Red over all of the petal area; you want the Snapdragon to show through to indicate depth in your flowers. Follow the same steps for the keyhole flower.  

Follow the layering guide to layer together your Camellias.  Tip! To achieve a different look, try adding Instant Dimension Foam Tape to the layers of your Camellia.  I did not do it on this project, but it creates a gorgeous effect on your project. 

Use Nimbus with a mini blending tool to blend your leaves.  When blending, add darker areas by applying more ink to where you believe it will be darker.  Keep in mind it is important to leave lighter areas to build dimension with color.

Use the stencil to dry emboss the pattern onto your cardstock. Follow the instructions from your machine’s manufacturer. I am using a Spellbinders Platinum 6 with the embossing mat and plate. For my sandwich, I put down the stencil, cardstock, brown embossing mat, and the embossing plate.

Finishing Touches

We now have all the pieces we need to complete our card assembly.

Here are a few tips if you want to save your glitter cardstock. 

• You could “gut” the cardstock, as we called it in the old days of crafting.  That involves cutting the middle out of the cardstock and creating a ½” frame of glitter cardstock.  This will allow you to have the inner panel for another project.  In this project, I cut the shadow layer of my sentiment from April Kiss Camellia out of the center of the glitter cardstock. 

I used Instant Dimension Foam Tape on the dry-embossed panel and the keyhole flower in the front of the arrangement. I created a visual triangle for the arrangement with my leaves and the flowers in the center. My sentiment was added to the top corner. When choosing where to put my sentiment, I like to make sure the leaves of my arrangement” snuggle” it. 

I did not add any splatter, enamel dots, or gem sparkles, but they would elevate this clean and simple card.  Referring to the photo, anything with an iridescent sparkle would connect to the snow. 

Now, it’s your turn! We can’t wait to see what you create!

Play along with our Inspiration Challenge

• Altenew products should be the focus, but other companies' products can be used.
• Make sure to use our challenge image above in your blog post.
• Include a link back to the ALTENEW INSPIRATION CHALLENGE POST.
• When uploading your project, make sure you link your entry post, not your entire blog.
• You may enter the challenge as many times as you wish!
• The challenge ends on April 30th, 2024, at 11:55 pm EDT.

But wait — we have more amazing stuff in this Inspiration Challenge, just for you!

FREE Coloring Pages!

Nothing from Altenew in your crafting stash? Not a problem!

Introducing our FREE Coloring Pages, a collection of printable coloring sheets for the Inspiration Challenge. The options for creative coloring, fussy cutting, embossing, and combining them with other designs are endless. You can get more designs here.

After the challenge ends, FOUR WINNERS will be selected. Each will receive a $30 gift certificate to  spend at www.altenew.com.

There's MORE! Each winner also gets a chance join one of our future blog hops as a guest designer. Winners will be announced on May 10, 2024.

More Prizes! 

If you use #AltenewChallenge when you share your challenge entry on social media, you are instantly entered into a raffle to win a $15 gift certificate to our online store.

Feel free to use the badge above and let everyone know you are a participant in our Inspiration Challenge!

Good luck and happy crafting!