Altenew: A Year in Review Blog Hop and GIveaway

Hi there!
Welcome to the end of the Altenew: A Year in Review Blog Hop and Giveaway.  I am so glad you are here, and must have just arrived from Erum's blog.

I have been an admirer and collector of Altenew products for the past few years, but I was lucky to have been invited as a Guest Designer a few months ago, and have since then participated in a few monthly blog hops.  It then comes at no surprised that i love working with the Altenew products, but also building  a relationship with all the lovely people behind the scenes.  Throoughout the past few months, i have created some of my most favorite projects to date, and here are my top 4 for the year:

For my first project, i chose the "Hello Beautiful" layout that was created for my guest post in the Altenew Scrapbook blog. 

I chose to highlight one of my favorite stamps, Leaf Canopy,  by creating some mixed media using the Altenew Crisp inks, and then combined the Dream Big stamp and die set, mini Hello Stamp set and the beautiful Reflections Scrapbook collection in this page.


My next favorite project was created for the  Altenew October Release Blog Hop, using the new Layered Floral Elements Die set and stamp.

I love the simple design of the layout that brings forward all the detailed work that the flowers presents.   This page was a labor of love made simple with the Altenew products.


One of my most favorite projects has to be the card created for the Altenew Stencil and Spray Inks Release Blog hop in November.

This card was created using the Floral Mandalla Stencil, the Altenew new Metallic Inks sprays  (Cosmic Berry, Sunkissed), the Leaf Canopy stamp set, Always There stamp set, and the Playful Blooms Stamp set.  The color of the inks creates the perfect background for the cluster of florals.   I think it represents my style in a small format.


Lastly, and probably one of my favorite projects of the year is the You Are Perfectly Perfect layout created for the Altenew Markers and Embellishment release blog hop in December.

This page is filled with Altenew products,  the Wavy Grid stencil in the Background, the Fine Rectangular Frames die, the Reflections Collection, the Perfectly Perfect stamp set, the Alcohol Markers (set E), and the Sunkissed Ink Spray, together they create the perfect setting for the picture of my daughter.    So in love with all the Altenew products!!

And now onto the fun part of this blog hop, prizes and promotions!

We are clearing out products from our warehouse so we can make some space to welcome new exciting products in the new year.

Save up to 50% off on the Warehouse Sale collection of more than 250 items including stamps, dies, inks, ink sprays, bundles, embellishments, and more. Shop here --> https://altenew.com/collections/warehousesale Valid now through 12/28/2018 at 11:59 pm EST.

CLOSED   >>>>> GIVEAWAY time<<<<<<< CLOSED

THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR JOINING IN THE BLOG HOP... 

 The winner of the Gift Certificate is:

 
Dawn Turley, please email winner@altenew.com by  1/15/2019 with the subject line Altenew 2018 Year In Review Blog Hop Winner from Nathalie DeSousa's Blog  to claim your GC.

• Altenew is giving away a $40 gift certificate to 6 lucky winners! Please leave a comment on the Altenew Card Blog and/or Altenew Scrapbook Blog by 1/3/2019 for a chance to win. 6 winners will be announced on the Altenew blogs on 1/6/2019.
• I will also by giving away a Gift Certificate for $20 to the Altenew Store to one lucky comment.   Winner will be announced on 01/03/2019.

GOOD LUCK Every one!!

Now it is time to continue the blog hop, you are off to Virginia's blog.   For your convenience, here is the list of all the participants.  Remember you can always come back here or check the Altenew blogs to start the loop:

Altenew Card Blog
Norine Borys
Laurie Willison
Kymona Tracey
Nina-Marie Trapani
Therese Calvird
Olga Moss
Erum Tasneem
Nathalie DeSousa  <<<<you are here
Next stop is >>>> Virginia Lu
Missy Whidden
Laura Jane
Zinia Redo
Yoonsun Hur
Reiko Tsuchida
Vicky Papaioannou
Altenew Scrapbook Blog
Sandra Dietrich
Debby Hughes
May Sukyong Park
Kathleen Graumüller
Amy Tan
Lilith Eeckels
Svitlana Shayevich
Lisa Fonseca
TaeEun Yoo

Kristina Pokazanieva

Sveta Fotinia

Winter Wonderful

 Scrapbook Layout created for  Simple Stories  -  WINTER WONDERFUL  -

Hi there!  Nathalie with you today with a new project that celebrates all the fun, cold and so very wonderful memories that Winter brings with it.   The new Simple Stories Freezin' Season  with its vibrant colors and cute designs is just perfect to document all those winter memories in a fun and colorful page.

To create this page all about this year's first snow fall in Toronto, I pulled a few cut files from the Silhouette store and Just Nick Studio.   My idea was to bring snowflakes and a large title to tell the story of the day

I chose to cut the stars from white cardstock and back them with papers from the Freezin' Season collection.  I also decided to hand stitched the title -cut from the Frosty Friends paper- to a white cardstock offset, so that it would stand out on the page.

Before starting to handstitch the title, i added a bit of white acrylic paint to the Snuggle up paper so that it would white/lighten a bit of the background, and let it dry while i completed the title work.

Once it all ready, I used some foam adhesive to adhere everything to the background.  Then it was all about embellishing!  First i added a few stickers at the bottom corner of the title, and then added a few snowflakes also cut  from the Frosty Friends paper.

SInce the picture is nestle between the title and star, i just added a cluster made up of stickers and die cuts to the top right corner of the picture.  I will be adding the lines of journal to the bottom of the layout in a later date.

I really hope this inspires you to pick the new Simple Stories Freezin' Season collection, it is colorful and so versatile, too.  I cannot wait to see all your projects created with it.

Have  a Blessed Christmas and a Happy New Year!

My Personal Journal - CITRUS TWIST KITS

Hi there!
It is my first time creating a challenge in one of my favorite memory documenting formats, Traveler's Notebooks.  It is not secret, i  love TNs, and keep a daily visual journal of my everyday life, plus a few other side projects -all in TN formats-.   I love the format as it allows me to combine the graphic look of a scrapbook page, and the journal look of my dairies.

By now, some of you are receiving the Pleasant Valley Kits (aren't they gorgeous?!!!), well this month two new sets of stamps were also added to the store,  Spencer Alphabet and Spencer Alphabet outline.    I love the large font and clear look of the alphas, so i decided to used them to document some every day memories in my personal journal.

For the first entry, i decided first on a color combination that will make everything pop.   Then i used the Spencer Alpha stamp set to create the large title of this layout. 

The impact of the title makes it one of the focus of the page, so i made sure that it told the story of the picture. 

Love the colors in this month's Pleasant Valley PL kit, so it was easy to stay in the same color combo when adding the clusters around the picture. To finish this page, i added a few more stamping sentiments using the TN stamp set.    Any clues on what the challenge is, yet? Let me give you another hint.

For this page, I chose to tell the story by using the Spencer Alpha Outline Stamp set to create a large title. 

To bring life into the page, stamped the title on different papers from the Pleasant Valley Scrapbook Kit, and then fussy cut around them, the font is so clean and crisp that it took no time to get this done.

The letters were then glued to form the large title, and this time i added stamped sentiments using this month's add-on stamp set.

How lucky  was i to find a few sunglassed  in the puffy stickers from the Goldenrot collection, included in this month's embellishment kit, they complete my title.  Since the story is told in the title, i just used one of the labels, from the Emerson collection stickers included in the main kit, and used it to hide the rest of the journal in a pocket behind the picture.

By now you have guessed this week's challenge:  CREATE A LARGE TITLE.  Use stamps, alphas, paper or the Spencer Alpha stamp sets to create titles that will tell the story of your page and create lots of impact on your pages.   Trust me it, once you build the title, 80% of your page is done.  So you will be able to produce them in no time!

Remember to share with us what you create with this challenge either on social media using @citrustwistkits or #citrustwistkits or on CTK friends page on Facebook.  I cannot wait how you interprete the challenge.

XO

HOLLY JOLLY Holiday Hop

Hi there!

A few weeks ago, Ashley Horton invited me to be a part of the Holly Jolly Holiday Hop, of course i said YES!  Well today is the day, and i get to also enjoy all the Christmas inspiration from some of my friends and other crafters.  We all have had putting our projects together, here is my project:

Did I mentioned that Ashely created the awesome cut file and you can get a free copy of it - just click here for the free cut file - I used some of my stash for this page; the Sugar Plum collection from a few years back was perfect to document my littles on Christmas day!.

Love the pastel colors accented with the gold details and mixed media, here is the video that shows you how it all came together:

Remember to continue the hop to be inspired by all the lovely projects we have created!

As always, if you have questions do not hesitate to contact me!

  Here is the list of the participants so you can join the hop:

Amanda-Jayne Baldwin - https://youtu.be/egT_3J75wW0
Ashley Horton - https://bit.ly/2B6RF6e
Audrey Yeager - https://youtu.be/o83PUgxhhbk
Cat Martin - https://bit.ly/2GlOLjI
Christine Meyer - https://youtu.be/qgbyAol_Ct0
Erica Thompson - https://youtu.be/o-CuQueNeWY
Kelly Janes - https://youtu.be/s_3GqeJsQwk
Missy Whidden - https://bit.ly/2PwSIBy
Nathalie deSousa - https://bit.ly/2L9x8CN <<< YOU ARE HERE>>>>
Orange Gearle - https://youtu.be/rE8R2qIOuvo
Sasha Biyanova - https://youtu.be/QxcTPj8bG_o
Theresa Moxley - https://youtu.be/5EwzPQP09lI

Have fun!!

Good Times

Scrapbook Layout for Creative Scrapbooker Magazine   - GOOD TIMES -

Hi there!

Nathalie with you today with a very fun and colorful Christmas layout that celebrates those Sweet Good Times the season brings. 

For today’s post,  I wanted to work with lots of color to document a picture of my kids building their gingerbread house.  So, I pulled my Vicki Boutin mixed media products and started working on the background for this page.

It all started with a foundation paper that had been gessoed;   I played with some Vicki Boutin Art crayons to create the watercolor background on the page.  The color combination was inspired by the mints that are slowly showing around our house lately.

While the background dried, all the gingerbread houses were cut from Caramel colored cardstock using a cut file form Handipaper, and then backed with white mixed media paper.   In addition, the small mints that surround the cut outs were created by stamping the circles in set#3  - All the Good Things collection- with the color wheel inks.  Those were then cut using the dies that come along the stamps sets.

A bit of 3L adhesive dot were used to set the gingerbread houses on the background.   The picture of my kids was backed with papers from  Vicki’s paper lines and nestled in between the houses.  All the small circles were then glued around the houses.

A few small clusters were created using stickers from watercolor sticker set and Vicki’s sticker book .  The title of the layout also comes from the Sticker book  - a must have  for all types of paper projects!-.

To finish the page, I diluted a bit of Vicki Boutin white acrylic paint and splattered it all over the houses and the rest of the page so that it resembles the icing sugar my kids so love to add to their gingerbread houses.

I hope this has inspired you to document your holiday memories using color and Vicki Boutin products.  Sometimes you don’t need a Holiday collection to create a festive look on a page.  As always please do not hesitate to contact me if you have questions on how this came together.

Also, i want to take this opportunity to thank Jackie and the whole staff and DT at Creative Scrapbooker Magazine for having me as a guest designer for the past few months.   It has been a blast working with you all, and I look forward to keeping in touch with you as i embark on different adventures!.


XO

Be Merry

Hi there! 
Nathalie back with you today.  I hope you all have been visiting the JustNick Studio blog and collecting all the awesome designs that Nicole has created. 

Today's free cut file,   HOLIDAY LAURELS,  is one of my favorites of the past 12 days!  Love the designs, and their versatility, so i put them to work on a layout all about my beautiful mami.

It is no secrets, i love florals, so i decided to use the floral image of the Holiday Laurel cut file to create the cut out on my page.  However, they were not placed as in the original image; instead i chose to layer them so that they create a cascading movement on the page.

I used Crate Paper's Merry Days collection to back the flowers and leaves in the cut out, and then attach them to one of the collection's paper using foam adhesive.

I used the spaces created by the movement of the cut outs to add the picture of my mami -on a very recent shopping trip- and my journal lines.  A few embellishments is all that was needed to complement the picture.

To complete the page, first i added another cut out -created using the same cut file- at the end of the floral cut out so that it will elongate the floral movement.   The space below this was used to add the title, which was created using the Merry Wishes cut file, a bit of Vicki Boutin gold glaze makes it stand out on this page.

Love how this turned out, and now it is time for you to stop by the JustNick Store to pick up a free copy of the HOLIDAY LAURELS cut file.

Enter the code: INSERT THE CODE HERE at checkout to get this design for free.
This code is only valid until midnight CST on December 1, 2018.
No purchase necessary. Coupon code must be entered to receive this item for free. No refunds will be given.The design will still be available in the JustNick Store for purchase after the discount code expires.


Cannot wait to see what you create with this cut file!

XO

My DECEMBER Stories

Hi there!

I love December and the season, but it surely it is a busy one!  I have been documenting my December Stories in my Traveler's Notebook using the Christmas Stories kit from Citrus Twist Kits,  and a few pieces from IN a Creative Bubble and Feed Your Craft, however i have been busy with different activities that i have not share some of the progress.    Well, let me share two more of the entries, and i will be back in a few days with a few more (still editing the pics!!)

For this page, i mixed  a bit of the CTK kit, with a journaling card and elements from In A Creative Bubble and stamps from both Citrus Twist Kits and Feed Your Craft.  I love the little flip card to show the process of decking the halls!!

I love it when i can find the perfect embellishment for the picture, in this case the little touques.   This time i am using a printable TN page from In A Creative Bubble along with the CTK Christmas kit and stamp set. 

Love how my TN is turning out, lots of color and stories!  As always please do not hesitate to contact me if you have questions on how these were put together.

XO