Hello friends! I’m excited to be joining Altenew today for a fun blog hop celebrating their October 2026 release!
There is so much beautiful inspiration to share, and I’m happy to be part of the celebration! At the end of this post, you’ll find a visual supply list featuring the products I used for today’s project, along with a list of all the talented designers joining the hop. Be sure to visit each stop and leave a comment for your chance to win in the giveaway!
Today, I’m stepping a little outside of my usual style and exploring something I don’t do nearly enough of — dramatic ink blending with dark, contrasting colors (for the background) !
I typically gravitate toward light and airy backgrounds, but sometimes adding a little drama is exactly what a card needs to really stand out.
For today’s project, I’m featuring the Craft Your Life Project Kit: Expressive Floral. This gorgeous kit is packed with creative possibilities, including stamps, coordinating dies, layering stencils, and an embossing folder.
I’m focusing on the layering stencils for this card, and there’s one feature in particular that makes this set extra special.
One of the stencil layers actually masks off the floral design, allowing you to ink blend the background without covering the flowers and leaves. This opens up so many possibilities for experimenting with different background colors!
Instead of working through the stencils in their usual order, I started with the very last layer, which is the background masking stencil. This helped me establish the proper placement for the rest of the design.
One tip I highly recommend is using something like Pixie Spray on the back of this stencil. Some of the areas around the floral design are quite delicate, and having that temporary adhesive helps keep everything in place while ink blending.
For the background, I reached for Misty Harbor, Green Onyx, and even a little Desert Night.
These are much darker colors than I would normally choose for a floral card, but that’s exactly the look I wanted to achieve!
I worked the colors together, building up the intensity as I went. Although the entire background has a darker appearance, I concentrated the deepest shades closer to the masked floral areas.
This creates beautiful contrast and helps the flowers stand out against the background.
One thing I love about ink blending is how much you can change the overall feel of a design simply by switching up your color choices. The same floral stencil could look soft and delicate with pastels or bold and dramatic with deeper shades like these.
Don’t be afraid to experiment with colors outside of your usual comfort zone!
Once I was happy with the background, I moved through the remaining stencil layers to add color to the flowers, leaves, and flower centers.
For these layers, I used colors from three Altenew ink collections:
- Rose Petal Collection — for the beautiful floral petals
- Green Meadows Collection — for the leaves and greenery
- Summer Afternoon Collection — for the flower centers
I love how these colors work together, especially against that deep, moody background.
The brighter floral colors really pop, and the contrast adds so much interest to the finished design without needing a lot of extra embellishments.
I started this project with a piece of white cardstock measuring 5 1/2″ x 8 1/2″, which gave me plenty of room to work with the stencil design.
Once all the ink blending was complete, I used the Nesting A2 Panels Die Set to trim my panel down to 4 1/4″ x 5 1/2″.
Even though I was cutting a standard A2-sized panel, I love using these dies because I can position them over the design and choose exactly which area I want to feature on my card.
Plus, the beautiful beveled edges add a subtle finishing detail that makes everything look polished.
To add a little sparkle, I splattered the background with Iridescent Spray. I love the way those tiny shimmering droplets catch the light against the darker ink colors!
Once the splatter was dry, I attached the finished panel to my card base using foam tape for a little extra dimension.
For the sentiment, I went right back to the Expressive Floral kit.
I stamped my greeting in black ink and used the coordinating die to cut it out.
Since there is so much beautiful detail happening throughout the floral design, I positioned the sentiment toward the bottom of the card where the background was a little less busy.
A bit of foam tape behind the sentiment was all I needed to finish things off.
I love how this card turned out! The dramatic background gives the florals a completely different look, and it’s a great reminder that sometimes changing just one element of your usual creative process can lead to something really special.
GIVEAWAY
To celebrate this release, Altenew is giving away a $100 gift certificate to 1 lucky winner and a $50 gift certificate to 4 winners! Please leave a comment on the Altenew Blog and/or each designer’s blog post on the blog hop list below by October 15th for a chance to win. Altenew will draw 5 random winners from the comments left on each stop of this blog hop and announce the winners on the Altenew’s Blog Hop Post on October 17th, 2026.
BLOG HOP
Thank you so much for stopping by today! I hope this project inspires you to try a darker background the next time you reach for your layering stencils.
SUPPLIES
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Mindy, this is so rich in color! Just gorgeous! I tend to use light colors too, but you’ve inspired me with this
Love your card Mindy.
Mindy, this card is so pretty. Love the bold and dramatic colors. The flower just pops off the pageQ
Love the card!! The color palette is gorgeous.
Seriously amazing inking! I LOVE the colors and flowers!
LOVE the card – the colors look so rich – gorgeous!
Wow!! Love your take on this kit!!!! I keep seeing this everywhere and am so tempted to get it but with holidays coming I’m afraid I won’t get to it and then forget about it. Anyhow, I am loving this kit!!!!!
Such a beautiful card, Mindy! I love the the way the iridescent shimmer spray added sparkle without distracting from that gorgeous floral!
Mindy this is stunning!! That dark background really does bring all the drama. I love that this stencil set has one just for the background. I wish more companies would include those!!
Gorgeous card!
The dark sky looks really great with the beautiful flowers! !
Love how you used shading the background to create depth – I must give this technique a go. It really makes those flowers pop! Thanks so much for sharing.
This is gorgeous!
Gorgeous florals, it is dramatic, especially with that dark background! So beautiful!
Great color combinations for a fresh look.
Gorgeous, Mindy! That dark background makes the floral really pop!
Sometimes I want a soft background, but sometimes the card calls for a bold one. In your hands, they all look great! I really like the colors you used for the background-not just one color. Beautiful.
What a beautiful, beautiful card. I love the colors.
This is such a gorgeous card!
Gorgeous flowers! Love the way they look with the dark background!