Fireside Escape Anniversary Card

I recently attended an online card class led by Altenew Educator Ishani S, and the class focused on creating a scene with Altenew's Fireside Escape die set. It's such a cute set that makes 2 Adirondack chairs and a little fire pit complete with flames. My 33rd wedding anniversary is next month, and my husband and I have red Adirondack chairs around our fire pit in the backyard, so I decided to make my card an anniversary card for him. I think this is the earliest I've made his anniversary card! 😁 

All the papers I used for my card came from Your Paper Insider. I'm having so much fun being on the Your Paper Insider DT! Here's a list of the papers I used, starting with papers that can be purchased in packs and finishing with papers from the current quarterly subscription box: watercolor cardstock (I used this for the ink-blended panel behind the die cuts as well as the ink-blended moon), White EVO paper (I used this for the sturdy card base), and bronze glitter cardstock for the berry branch. From Box 13: Green Leaf Vellum, Holiday Red Lessebo, Pumpkin Pie Colormates, Marigold Thai Unryu, and Eucalyptus Curious Metallics. If you'd like to subscribe to Your Paper Insider's quarterly box of mystery papers or shop for any of their specialty paper collections, I'd be so grateful if you shopped with my affiliate link. I earn a small commission at no extra cost to you: Your Paper Insider.  

To create the night scene, I ink blended Altenew's Desert Night ink onto an A2 panel of watercolor cardstock, blending more heavily along the edges. Then I added a bit of Altenew's Jet Black to the edges to deepen the color a bit more. For the bottom of the panel, I blended Altenew's Cocoa Cream and then added a bit of Altenew's Choco Hazelnut to create the "dirt" the fire pit is on. I covered the bottom of the panel and then splattered Altenew's Pure White Ink Spray onto the blue part of the panel and set it aside to dry. 

I die cut the Adirondack chairs and fire pit from Altenew's Fireside Escape set and adhered the pieces together. They layer together easily with Altenew's keyhole system. 

Next, I die cut a circle from Altenew's retired Fine Rings: Circles die set (they now have a Nesting Circles die set with many more sizes in it) using watercolor paper. I then ink blended a bit of Altenew's Fresh Lemon ink to create a glowing moon. 

Then I die cut the 3 layers for the berry branch from Altenew's Berry Branch Layering Die Set and adhered them together. I played with a few different arrangements of where to place them before deciding on the top right corner. I adhered the moon and branch to the card panel since I wanted the branch to be behind my little fireside scene. Once I had the moon and branch adhered using Art Glitter liquid glue, I added the chairs with some of Altenew's Instant Dimension Foam Tape and then popped up the fire pit with more Instant Dimension Foam Tape in a a thicker size. 

Finally, I die cut the "happy anniversary" sentiment and thought I could use the strips the little letters were die cut from to line up the words, but the letters are so small that it was very difficult to only get glue on the letters, and the strips wanted to stick as well. In the end, I think using a t-square ruler would have been better. Or I could have used the strips with the letters cut out as the set is intended to be used, but that would have covered more of my night sky. 

If you're interested in shopping at Altenew, I'd love it if you used my affiliate link here: Carrie's Altenew Link. I receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. Altenew carries many great die sets and lots of beautiful inks and sprays like I used for this card. 

Challenges I'm entering: 

We Love to Create mixed media Challenge Blog...sponsored by Polkadoodles: ATG (1/4; ends 12/25/25)

Lil Patch of Crafty Friends Challenge ...: ATG (1/3; ends 12/6/25)

613 Avenue Create: ATG with option of thanks (7/8; ends at the end of the month)

Word Art Wednesday: ATG (3/5 for the week; 5/10 for the challenge; ends 11/19/25)

Allsorts challenge blog: Christmas or ATG (5/5; ends 11/21/25)

C.R.A.F.T. Challenge: Christmas or ATG (2/2; ends 11/26/25)

A Perfect Time To Craft Open Challenge: ATG (unlimited entries; ends at the end of the month)

Classic Design Challenge Blog: ATG (unlimited entries; ends 12/12/25)

A Place To Start: ATG + option of using something new (the Fireside Escape set is new: this is the first time I used it) (5/8; ends at the end of the month)

Aud Sentiments Challenge Blog: Glitter and/or Christmas + a sentiment (I used glitter cardstock for the branches) (1/5; ends at the end of the month)

DL.ART: ATG with option of anniversary/love (3 entries per week; ends at the end of the month)

Creative Fingers Challenge Blog: ATG (1/3; ends 11/28/25)

Cut It Up: Favorite color: Red (1/3; ends 11/24/25)

Crafter's Cafe: ATG with the option to use the color yellow (my moon is yellow) (1/8; ends 12/12/25)

Heart's Quest Celebrations of Love Challenges Blog: Anniversary (1/5; ends 11/30/25)

Love To Craft Challenge Blog: ATG (1/5; ends 12/15/25)

Mix It Up Challenge Blog: ATG with option of CAS (1/8; ends 12/15/25)

The Crafting Challenge: Something Red (1/3; ends at the end of the month)

The Creative Crafters: ATG (1/3; ends 12/8/25)

As You Like It Challenge: Favorite Embellishment and why: I love adding splatters as an embellishment! It has the advantage of hiding any mistakes, adding interest to a card, and being less expensive than enamel dots, pearls, gems, etc. (1/3; ends 11/26/25)