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jessica frost-ballas

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Altenew Build-A-Flower Blog Hop (+GIVEAWAYS!)

26 Feb

Good morning!  I am so excited to join Altenew to celebrate one year of their amazing Build-A-Flower collection!  Each month Altenew releases a new flower stamp and die bundle and after a year there is a veritable garden of gorgeous florals to choose from!

Build-A-Flower – Altenew
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Build-A-Flower: Aster – Altenew
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Build-A-Flower: Peony Blossom
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Build-A-Flower: Peony Blossom & Ink…
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Build-A-Flower: Sakura Blossom
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Build-A-Flower: Sakura Blossom & Ink…
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Build-A-Flower: Carnation
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Build-A-Flower: Carnation & Ink Bundle
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Build-A-Flower: Coral Charm
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Build-A-Flower: Coral Charm & Ink Bundle
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Build-A-Flower: Gardenia
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Build-A-Flower: Gardenia & Ink Bundle
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Build-A-Flower: Camellia
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Build-A-Flower: Camellia & Ink Bundle
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Build-A-Flower: Anemone
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Build-A-Flower: Anemone & Ink Bundle
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Build-A-Flower: Poinsettia
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Build-A-Flower: Poinsettia & Ink Bundle
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Build-A-Flower: Rose
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Build-A-Flower: Magnolia
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Build-A-Flower: Ranunculus
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We are celebrating with a huge blog hop with tons of giveaways AND a chance to win a giant prize valued at over $120!  All giveaway info can be found at the bottom of this post! 🙂 Today I chose to use the beautiful Build-A-Flower Aster set for my card!

Build-A-Flower Aster by Jessica Frost-Ballas for Altenew

Isn’t that flower stunning?!

The Build-A-Flower Aster set also has beautiful sentiments that are perfect for your crafty friends and coordinating dies for each of the images in the set.  The flower and each leaf has three layers: a solid, an outline, and a shading layer so it can be easily stamped with coordinating colors or colored.  I decided to use the outline image and play with my zig clean color real brush markers for the first time in forever! 🙂

Build-A-Flower Aster by Jessica Frost-Ballas for Altenew

I started by stamping the aster outlines on watercolor paper with versamark and heat-embossed them with gold tinsel embossing powder.  Then I used zig clean color real brush markers in wine red, geranium red, and pink on the center of the flowers and peach pink and light carmine on the outer petals.  I blended the together with a damp paintbrush and added more layers of color to build dimension and depth in each flower.  Once the flower was totally dry I die-cut it with the coordinating dies and then went over the die-cut border with a black zig marker.  I didn’t want the white outline to show to keep the color palette to a stark gold and black with the bright pop of pink!  I repeated the process with a second flower.

Build-A-Flower Aster by Jessica Frost-Ballas for Altenew

Next I stamped the outline of the flower and leaves onto a piece of black cardstock with versamark and heat-embossed it with the same gold tinsel embossing powder.  I also stamped the sentiment and heat-embossed it with regular gold embossing powder.  Then I spritzed the panel with gold shimmer spray and added larger flecks with a paintbrush.  I let that dry for a few seconds and then blotted it off with a paper towel.  Then I did it again but this time I let the spray dry completely on its own.  This resulted in varying shades of gold on the background which gives the panel a little extra depth.  Finally I arranged my flowers over the black and gold panel and popped them up with foam mounting tape.  Unfortunately a little of the splatter got on my sentiment and it’s bright in the photo but when you actually hold the card in your hands you can read the sentiment with no problem.  It doesn’t bother me but if you ever get splatter where you don’t want it you can either dull it down by blotting it with a paper towel or remove it with a few dabs of a barely damp paper towel.

Build-A-Flower Aster by Jessica Frost-Ballas for Altenew

I feel like this particular card is appropriate for any season but you could easily use the same layout but with black, silver, and blues for a winter card, or gold, black and reds for an autumn card.  Or you could do it on white with a rainbow of colors! 😉 Rainbows make everything better!

Thanks so much for stopping by and have a wonderful rest of the week!!

There are several awesome giveaways to celebrate the Build-A-Flower collection!  First, place an order for any flower in the Build-A-Flower collection between February 26th, 2018 and March 2nd, 2018 and you will automatically be entered into a raffle for a chance to win a big prize!  One lucky winner will be chosen to win a prize pack valued at over $120 including one Original MISTI stamping tool, the Artist Markers Set C, and the Soft Pastel 6 Mini Cube Set. No minimum purchase needed! A winner will be announced on March 4th on the Altenew Blogs.  I recommend the Aster! 😉 

Altenew is generously giving away a $20 gift certificate to one lucky person who leaves a comment on my blog!  And each stop on the hop is also giving away a $20 so the more comments you leave, the more chances to win! 😉

You can also leave comments on the Card Blog and Scrapbook Blog for more chances to win one of SIX $30 gift certificates!  Leave your comments on my blog by 11:59 PM EST on March 2nd, 2018 and the winner will be announced on March 3rd here!  Good luck!!  Your next stop on the hop is Reiko Tsuchida!  Here’s a list of all the hop stops:

  • Altenew Card Blog
  • Kristina Werner
  • Therese Calvird
  • Lilith Eeckels
  • Kathy Racoosin
  • Jessica Frost-Ballas –> You are here!
  • Reiko Tsuchida
  • Laura Bassen
  • Kristina Pokazanieva
  • Jennifer McGuire
  • Altenew Scrapbook Blog
  • May Sukyong Park
  • Alice Wertz
  • Virginia Lu
  • Kymona Tracey
  • Dana Gong
  • Svitlana Shayevich
  • Hussena Calcuttawala
  • Donna Mikasa
  • Erum Tasneem
  • Zinia Amoiridou
  • Agnieszka Malyszek
  • Rubeena Ianigro
  • Lydia Evans
  • Marge Yoon

Interested in the products I used?  To make them easy for you to find, I have listed them below. (Affiliate disclosure can be found here). Your purchases help keep my blog running and I thank you for the support!!)

Build-A-Flower: Aster – Altenew
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Build-A-Flower – Altenew
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Zig Clean Color Real Brush Marker…
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Zig Clean Color Real Brush Marker…
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Zig Clean Color Real Brush Marker…
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Zig Clean Color Real Brush Marker…
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Zig Clean Color Real Brush Marker…
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Zig Clean Color Real Brush Marker…
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Zig CLEAN COLOR 6 SET Real Brush…
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Zig CLEAN COLOR 12 set Real Brush…
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Zig CLEAN COLOR 24 SET Real Brush…
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Zig CLEAN COLOR 36 SET Real Brush…
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Zig CLEAN COLOR 48 SET Real Brush…
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Zig CLEAN COLOR 60 SET Real Brush…
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Silver BLACK VELVET Brush Size 2…
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Silver BLACK VELVET Brush Size 4…
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Hero Arts GOLD Metallic Shimmer Spray…
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Canson MONTVAL WATERCOLOR 9×12 Pad…
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Canson MONTVAL SPIRAL WATERCOLOR 9×12…
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Canson MONTVAL SPIRAL WATERCOLOR…
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Classic Crest Solar White (25…
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Jet Black Cardstock (25 sheets/set)
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Inkadinkado EMBOSSING MAGIC Powder…
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Tsukineko Versamark EMBOSS INK PAD…
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Ranger Embossing Powder GOLD Tinsel…
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Altenew ANTIQUE GOLD Crisp Embossing…
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Precision Heat Embossing Tool Gun…
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Crafter’s Companion GEMINI JUNIOR…
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3M Scotch DOUBLE-SIDED FOAM TAPE…
[ SSS ]
3M Scotch PINK ATG ADVANCED TAPE…
[ SSS ]

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You May Also Enjoy:

  • Altenew Celebrating Parents Card Drive Blog Hop (+GIVEAWAYS!)
    To My Amazing Mother by Jessica Frost-Ballas for Altenew
  • More Spring Flowers!
    More Spring Flowers by Jessica Frost-Ballas for Simon Says Stamp
  • Altenew Build-A-Flower: Peony Blossom Release (+GIVEAWAY!)
    Always Be Blooming by Jessica Frost-Ballas for Altenew

Comments:
203 Comments
Categories:
bloghop, card-making, crafting, guest-designer
Tags:
altenew, zig clean color real brush

« Guest-Designing for My Favorite Things
Liquid Watercolors two ways! »

Comments

  1. Judy Sander says

    February 26, 2018 at 3:26 pm

    Wow, so pretty. I don’t have this one, but I WANT! Beautiful card.

    Reply
  2. Holly L. says

    February 26, 2018 at 3:40 pm

    Your cards are so stunning! Love all the colors combined that you use. Beautiful cards!

    Reply
  3. Michelle Hackett says

    February 26, 2018 at 3:52 pm

    You did a great job with the Aster. Black backgrounds are so classy.

    Reply
  4. Joy Huang says

    February 26, 2018 at 3:53 pm

    I like your card. It is so pretty.

    Reply
  5. mj says

    February 26, 2018 at 4:23 pm

    Beautiful! I love how you created it with a black background. TFS

    Reply
  6. Kim K says

    February 26, 2018 at 4:31 pm

    Your card makes me want to use black more often in my cards. I have a daughter-in-law that loves black and I usually am at a loss for how to use it beautifully. Well Done!!

    Reply
  7. dianekoele says

    February 26, 2018 at 4:41 pm

    What a cool card. This is so unique! Love the little splatters, (it’s all in the details!). Blessings

    Reply
  8. Angie Hall says

    February 26, 2018 at 5:07 pm

    The embossing on dark cardstock is very dramatic and beautiful.

    Reply
  9. Karen Arana says

    February 26, 2018 at 5:50 pm

    Woow that background looks so real. After seeing your card this set called my attention, is really beautiful!

    Reply
  10. Nana Griffin says

    February 26, 2018 at 5:52 pm

    A great idea using the two colors. The pink makes it pop.

    Reply
  11. Vikki H says

    February 26, 2018 at 5:58 pm

    Love the dramatic black, gold and hot pinks – stunning card!

    Reply
  12. Denise Bryant says

    February 26, 2018 at 6:01 pm

    Absolutely gorgeous! So striking against the dark background! I just might have to add this set to my collection! It’s one of my favorites!

    Reply
  13. Brandi Q. says

    February 26, 2018 at 6:02 pm

    Wow! The embossing and use of gold on black is so elegant! I love it.

    Reply
  14. ssguarino2 says

    February 26, 2018 at 6:07 pm

    Gold on black is oh, so classy!

    Reply
  15. Dana M says

    February 26, 2018 at 6:09 pm

    So stunning! The bright pink and gold just pop off the black – love it!

    Reply
  16. Amante del Papel says

    February 26, 2018 at 6:14 pm

    super elegant card!

    Reply
  17. kellyfusco says

    February 26, 2018 at 6:19 pm

    Love ur use of colors. Striking. Thx for sharing.

    Reply
  18. Lisa says

    February 26, 2018 at 6:26 pm

    Oh! I love this. I need to use dark cardstock more often, it really does make quite an impact.

    Reply
  19. CINDY MAJDECKI says

    February 26, 2018 at 6:27 pm

    Jessica your card is elegant with the black and gold. The peonies are beautiful against that backdrop.

    Reply
  20. Riecy says

    February 26, 2018 at 6:31 pm

    That card is a show-stopper! Love love the pink gold and black colour combo!

    Reply
  21. Deborah W says

    February 26, 2018 at 6:32 pm

    Love the pink aster card with the gold tinsel on black cardstock. Amazing!!!

    Reply
  22. Paula Desmarais says

    February 26, 2018 at 6:35 pm

    Stunning Card Jessica, I love it!!

    Reply
  23. joy meadows says

    February 26, 2018 at 6:40 pm

    A real beauty, Jessica! Love the black, gold and pink colors!! Altenew has the most beautiful flower sets.

    Reply
  24. alilovescardmaking says

    February 26, 2018 at 7:40 pm

    Just stunning Jess – I don’t use black backgrounds enough – especially after seeing this I’ll be dong more with my Altenew stamps on black xx

    Reply
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    February 26, 2018 at 6:28 pm

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Jessica About Me Photo
Hi, I'm Jess! Thanks for visiting my blog where I share my adventures in cardmaking and papercrafting! I hope I can inspire you to craft with a little extra sparkle!

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I design for several companies because I truly love their products! Anything I recommend on my blog is something that I genuinely love and regularly use. I do not get paid for product reviews and I will never recommend a product that I do not like or would not use.

I am affiliated with several of my favorite crafty companies which means I receive a small commission (at no additional cost to you!!) when you click on one of my links and make a purchase through the store.

You can find my full disclosure as well as a list of the companies I am affiliated with HERE. Thank you so much for supporting me!

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