Hello, hi! Welcome to the Altenew Build-A-Flower blog hop. If you are arriving from Laura Jane’s blog, you’re exactly where you should be, and if not, you can click back to the start of the hop at the Altenew Card Blog.
Today’s card was a FUN one to make with it’s gatefold opening! The BAF kit this month includes the outline image and 4 layering stamps, plus a lovely variety of sentiments. The Build-A-Flower: Belladonna Lilies special edition stamp and die set is only sold as a bundle. It includes one 6″ x 8″ clear photopolymer stamp set (20 individual stamp images) and one coordinating die set (1 die).
I began by stamping the outline image onto two separate pieces of A2 sized cardstock, positioning them so that they would intersect with each other when partially die cut and folded.
I stamped the filler layers with Strawberry, Pastel Sunrise, Canyon Clay, and Crimson Crisp Dye inks and the stems with Marshland and Sea Forest inks.
And here’s where I may lose you…
I eyeballed the positions of each flower and made pencil marks to guide the partial cutting of the parts of the flower that would overlap the opposite card flap, using an Xacto knife and straight edge to trim away the rest of the card panel.
For the card base, I cut a piece of 8.5″x 11″ Neenah White cardstock to measure 8 3/8″x 5.5″ and scored 2 1/8″ from the left edge and 2 1/8″ from the right. I folded the right and left side in then trimmed and adhered the two stamped card panels to fit on each gatefold.
Aaaand this may be where I lose you for the second time….!
I didn’t like the card with just the two flower clusters. I decided I wanted more. So I stamped a few more flower clusters on cardstock and filled the layers with the same colors of inks, then positioned them around the perimeter of the card and trimmed off the excess. Sometimes the excess pieces were large enough to use elsewhere on the card panel.
If you’re like me and you like to figure out a challenge with some trial and error enroute, then this approach is for you. But if you would rather a MUCH easier way to create the same look as this card, then just stamp a bunch of flower clusters, including the colored layers, die cut them with the coordinating die and slap them on a gate-folded card base in a similar manner as I’ve shown with two overlapping the edges facing left and right and the rest around the perimeter.
I felt the fancy center-meeting folds needed more attention, so I trimmed 1/8″ off the left side (although 1/16″ off both sides would be better) and adhered a strip of coordinating cardstock on the inside of the right flap, not laying the glue too close to the edge so that the folded left flap can tuck into the right nice and neatly.
I stamped a sentiment on more of the same coordinating cardstock, heat set with white embossing powder and made it into a sentiment strip for the front that is only adhered on the left side, then added a complimentary sentiment on the inside to complete the greeting. I also stamped the outline flower cluster onto the back flap of a matching envelope to coordinate. I don’t often do that, but I always love the result of that extra effort.
Whew! That was a lot. And some of it quite muddled – I apologize! Your next stop on the hop is Linda Westfall’s blog, but before you go be sure to check out the giveaway details below.
Giveaway Prizes
$200 in total prizes! To celebrate this release, Altenew is giving away a $50 gift certificate to 2 lucky winners and a $20 gift certificate to 5 winners! Please leave a comment on the Altenew Card Blog and/or each designer’s blog post on the blog hop list below by 04/06/2022 for a chance to win. Altenew will draw 7 random winners from the comments left on each stop of this blog hop and announce the winners on the Altenew Winners Page on 04/08/2022.
The Belladonna Lily is the latest in the Build-Flower series – part of a subscription service that makes them available to subscribers each month at a discounted rate.
Blog Hop Order:
Norine Borys – You are here.
SUPPLIES USED:
