Build-A-Flower Candystripe Cosmos
Thank. you Rebecca Sogn pandemiccrafter.com for sending Altenew Fans my way.
You will be as happy as a kid in a candy shop when you play with these unique layering stamps! This set features a gorgeous, elaborately showy candystripe cosmos flower with a branch and a leaf that you are sure to love. We have also included a few silhouettes of leafy branches perfect for adding stunning background patterns and foliage to your projects.
Altenew’s Build-A-Flowers were my first subscription. They are a perfect way to learn to layer and color and start a collection of a wide variety of flowers.
Candy Stripe Cosmos can be purchased at www.altenew.com
Candy Stripe Cosmos stamped with Altenew Crisp Dye Ink
How I get the most from a new BAF.
The anticipation of a new BAF starts when Altenew announces the release with a beautiful banner which hints of images to come.
Then Lydia entices us with a video of all of the stamps and dies in the set. Watching her create makes me just itch to get my hands on that set.
The designers then post gorgeous projects in all styles and colors in a Blog Hop like this. I print a couple of my favorites. Those pictures give me instant inspiration when my set arrives. I also go back and review the blog hop posts when my stamp set arrives.
My mail lady, Virginia, knows how much I love getting an Altenew box. I cannot wait to open it. Everything else stops while I look over each of my purchases.
I seize the moment and open the BAF. I read all of the sentiments and go over the tri-fold. The dies are immediately put on magnetic sheets so they don’t get lost.
Altenew’s Crafter’s Essential Eraser prepares the stamps for their first inking. I ink each stamp and learn about the images as I stamp them.
This set has one large outline image. There are three layers to the flower and three additional layers for the flower center. The leaf has three layers. Then there are three bonus images which are solid leaves that kind of look like ivy. There is one tiny stamp that needs to be noticed or it will be lost. I adore the sentiment “you are very Special” in two fonts.
The dies are lined up with the stamps and I mark those images that have matching dies.
Sometimes this is all that time allows me to do. But at least I’ve familiarized myself with the stamp set and it has been prepared for use. It is not going on a shelf unnoticed. It will remain on my desk until it is used.
When it’s time to consider making a project with the BAF stamp I experiment with medium and color. This flower being candy stripe calls out to be a color of red or pink. (Photos on the internet show it to be shades of pink and red). First I stamp the set in layers suggested by the colors in the tri-fold. (This set lines up and layers like a dream.). Perfection is not my goal. I just want to see what the color combinations look like. Notes will help me remember colors I used or what I need to do next time.
Next I try my favorite, Altenew Water Color Markers.
I love the boldness of the water color markers. It’s a gorgeous flower. However, it misses the mark of a more authentic Candystripe Cosmos.
This is such an unusual flower to color. The deepest shades are at the top of the petal, the exact opposite of most flowers which get darker closer to the bottom of the petals or center of the flower. There are also faint lines in the petal which is probably why it’s called candystripe. The tri-fold images were a huge help as I contemplated how the flower should be colored. One of my ongoing challenges is keeping colors light with light shading.
Now that I’ve played with this stamp I have a better idea of what I will do for my first project. A wreath will take 5 of the large flower images. Coloring them with Alcohol markers would take quite a bit of time. I decided to stamp the flowers using lighter colors than I did in my samples.
Card #2
The floral with darker shades and gold embossing is more elegant and needed a more elegant presentation. Shakers are a favorite of mine. I used the Halftone Heart Dies and gold mirror cardstock to make the shaker filled with gold sequins.
The black background is stamped all over with the ivy-looking solid stamp in clear embossing ink then heat-embossed with clear embossing powder. That texture shines inside the shaker and along the edges of the card front. Unfortunately the camera did not capture that texture.
I like the Candystripe Cosmos so much I am considering it for a beginning stamp class. It is gorgeous and easy to line up. Just what I was looking for!
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 01/07/2022 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 01/09/2022.
Blog Hop Order
The lovely Nancy Souza espressoexpressionsblog.com is the next stop in this Blog Hop.
Thank you for stopping by my blog. I’d love to meet you in one of my classes. I teach about one a month on Bridget Casey’s Free Saturday Workshop. I also have a class the second Wednesday of the month. Watch the Facebook Altenew Fan Page for announcements or contact me at grammy2bo@gmail.com
I love how you plan out every thing and familiarize yourself with the set, you created beautiful cards with your choices
Thank you so much for your nice comments. I wish my planning was so well thought out in other areas of my life. ha.
I truly find that just stamping Altenew images inspires me. Once I ink up a stamp I can’t stop!
Love your thought process on using new stamps. Your cards are amazing.
Thank you. I love working with Altenew products. It seems just stamping them gives me inspiration. I appreciate your leaving a comment on my blog.
Great card designs. Thank you for sharing.
You are out welcome. It really is a joy to work with Candystripe Cosmos. I appreciate your nice comment on my blog.
Thank you so much for these fabulous ideas and each one is so special for using the Candystripe Cosmos Layering Stamp
Thank you, Marilyn. This Candystripe Cosmos has so much potential. That makes it easy to come up with lots of ideas. I appreciate your leaving a comment on my blog.
Love the purples and gold flowers
Love the circle wreath and the colors
Thank you so much, Karen. The wreath was the first card design I thought of. Candystripe Cosmos was a natural for that with it’s frilly petals.
Thank you for including your notes and a photo of the colors you selected with the gold embossing. I am very visual and actually, seeing your notes is a tremendous help. I do the same thing so I can remember color combos I like. Beautiful work!
Thank you, Cindy. We all learn and play in different ways. Sounds like you and I are on the same wave length.
Wow! Loved the art lesson -I learned some processes that I did not know – thanks! I am partial to those bold watercolor markers, myself!
I love when I can inspire an idea. My Altenew Students seem much more motivated than the 5th graders I used to teach.ha. Thanks or leaving a comment on my blog.
Oh! A wreath! I never would have thought of that and I love wreaths (and Cosmos). Very nice, thank you!
Thank you. It is a beautiful flower to work with. I want to try it in many colors. Thanks for stopping by my blog.
I love wreaths so much I just carried the idea from Christmas to Spring. This Candystripe Cosmos is a natural for a wreath. Thanks for leaving a comment on my blog.
So beautiful!
Thank you for leaving a comment on my blog.
Thank you for stopping by my blog.
The shaker card is my favorite!!! Thank you for sharing such cool techniques!!
You are so welcome. Thanks for leaving a comment on my blog. I really do love this Candystripe Cosmos.
The wreath was a great idea, the card looks lovely.
The wreath was what I thought. of the first time I saw the Candystripe Cosmos.
Thanks so much for leaving a comment on my blog.
Wonderful designs Pam. Thanks for sharing and happy new year!
Thank you, Liz. Happy New Year to you too!
These are all stunning! I LOVE the purple!
Thank you, Meghan. I appreciate your leaving a comment on my blog.
You had an exceptional idea to use the flower in a wreath form!
The wreath seems to be the favorite on this post. I love it too. Thanks so much for leaving your nice comment on my blog.
Love the idea of putting the flower in a heart!
Thank you! I need a lot of valentines this year. They will be for the people who didn’t get a Christmas card. I should have started them earlier . . . as I say even year,
WOW! Who would of though about a flower wreath? Love it!
Thank you so much for leaving your nice comment on my blog.
Oh my! So many pretty examples. I love them all! Stunning work thanks for sharing!
Beautiful designs! I love the wreath and the gold embossing!
Thanks for stopping by my blog. There wreath was my first inspiration with Candystripe Cosmos.
Very pretty and clever designs.
Love your planning process. Great insight into such pretty cards and a wreath..something unexpected but perfect.
Love the wreath of cosmos. Thanks for sharing.
That was a new n cool way to make a wreath with the cosmos. That was a great idea.Thank you,
Many thanks for sharing your creative process! You’ve taught me a thing or two about the flexibility of these beautiful Build-A-Flower sets from Altenew…
This is my first time going all the way through a blog hop & I’m learning so many fun techniques & getting very inspired by all of the beautiful projects.
I love to see all of the different ways designers have used the same image. Endless possibilities.
Thanks for stopping by my blog.
Love your process and card.
Thank you so much for leaving a comment on my blog.
The wreath was genius. Well done!
Wow! Genius??? Great way to start my day. Thank you so much.
Love the heart card!
I needed lots of Valentines this year for all the people I didn’t send holiday cards. The heart card was a creation inspired by my immediate needs. Thanks for leaving a comment.