October 2026 Inspiration Challenge

Each month, a member of the Altenew Design Team (or guest designer) selects a photo that they have taken and then uses that as inspiration for a project. We want to share the fun, of course, and so we invite YOU to use your own creativity to make a project inspired by this month's photo. This month's host is Nicki Baxley. 

Hi, crafty friends! It’s Nicki from Nicki Hearts Cards, and I’m so excited to be hosting the October Inspiration Challenge!

My inspiration photo comes from my very first trip to New England last fall. I took this photo at a little market in Rhode Island, and the gorgeous display immediately captured everything I love about fall. The pumpkins, mums, rich colors, and beautiful greenery gave me all the fall vibes!

I loved my time in Rhode Island so much that it definitely made my “must visit again” list, especially during the fall. For today’s DIY autumn floral card, I pulled the rich purples, oranges, reds, and greens from the inspiration photo to create a colorful fall floral arrangement with a glowing layered pumpkin.

To build a vibrant focal arrangement for your DIY autumn floral card:

1. Stamp the large floral image from the Build-a-Garden Joy in Bloom set using Obsidian Pigment Ink onto cardstock.

2. Add Clear Embossing Powder over the black stamped lines and heat set with a heat tool to create raised, crisp outlines that resist ink outside the lines.

3. Use the coordinating layering stencils to add rich, blended color to the floral image.

4. For the large blooms, ink blend with Lavender Fields, Deep Iris, and Midnight Violet.

5. For the small flowers, start with Autumn Blaze, followed by Firebrick. Add a touch of Ruby Red to deepen the color and bring it closer to the rich shades in the Rhode Island inspiration photo.

6. For the medium flowers, use Snapdragon as the bright base color.

7. Ink blend the leafy greenery with Forest Glades and Evergreen.

8. Deepen the very centers of the flowers with an extra layer of Midnight Violet to give them dramatic visual depth.

A 3D layered pumpkin adds a cozy focal point to your autumn card design:

1. Die cut the larger pumpkin from the Pretty Pumpkins set using White Smooth Cardstock for seamless ink blending.

2. Ink blend the bottom pumpkin layer with Autumn Blaze, adding Firebrick around the outer edges for additional depth.

3. Blend the second middle layer with Orange Cream, adding a small amount of Autumn Blaze around the edges.

4. For the top layer, blend with Sunkissed. Add Orange Cream to approximately the outer third of the layer, intentionally keeping the center lighter to create a radiant glowing effect.

5. Instead of ink blending the small stem, color it with alcohol markers to achieve a realistic woody tone.

6. Assemble and adhere the pumpkin layers with liquid glue, then set the finished pumpkin aside to dry.

1. Die cut or fussy cut the completed Build-a-Garden Joy in Bloom floral image.

2. Fussy cut the arrangement down, keeping one large purple flower, the small orange flowers, the medium Snapdragon flowers, and a portion of the greenery.

3. Don’t worry about making the fussy-cut edge perfect. The layered pumpkin will be positioned over this exact area and hide any cut edges seamlessly!

4. Begin the background base with an A2 landscape card panel cut from Autumn Blaze cardstock.

5. Cut a strip of vellum approximately 2 1/2 inches wide and long enough to wrap neatly around both sides of the card panel.

6. Lightly mist the back of the vellum with water and pass it through your die-cut machine inside the Heirloom Filigree Oval embossing folder. Use minimal pressure when embossing vellum to help prevent the delicate paper from cracking or tearing.

7. Score the vellum strip at each edge of the card panel, fold the ends around the sides, and adhere them securely to the back.

8. Add an approximate 1/2-inch-wide olive ribbon from your stash along the lower portion of the vellum for another layer of fall color and tactile texture.

1. Arrange the stenciled floral image and layered pumpkin over the embossed vellum background, positioning the pumpkin so it completely covers the fussy-cut portion of the floral stem.

2. Add 1mm black double-sided foam adhesive behind the floral image to give it subtle dimension against the background.

3. Add 2mm foam adhesive behind the layered pumpkin, raising it slightly higher than the florals to create dynamic depth and realistic shadows.

4. Finish the card with the sentiment “Thanks for being awesome” from the Craft Your Life Project Kit: Expressive Florals.

I love how the colors from my Rhode Island inspiration photo translated into this handmade DIY autumn floral card! The combination of rich fall florals, the layered glowing pumpkin, subtle embossed vellum, and that little touch of olive ribbon brings together so many of the details that caught my eye in the original photo.

And don’t miss the October Inspiration Challenge livestream happening on October 2nd at 3PM EDT on my YouTube Channel where we’ll be creating this card together live! I’ll walk you through all the ink blending techniques, share a few paper-crafting tips along the way, and show you how all of these dimensional layers come together in real time.

I can’t wait to see how this month’s inspiration photo inspires your own paper crafting projects!

Happy Crafting,

Nicki

Ready to share your own masterpiece? We love seeing how different artists interpret the same photo. To make sure your entry is eligible for our prizes, please follow these simple guidelines:

• Altenew products should be the focus, but other companies' products can be used.
• Make sure to use our challenge image above in your blog post.
• When uploading your project, make sure you link your entry post, not your entire blog.
• If you don't have a blog, feel free to upload your entries to the Crafter's Gallery and get the link to your photo.
• You may enter the challenge as many times as you wish!
• The challenge ends on October 31st, 2026, at 11:55 pm EST.

We love rewarding our community! After the challenge ends, FOUR WINNERS will be selected. Each will receive a $30 gift certificate to spend at www.altenewsnap.com. Winners will be announced on November 10th, 2026 on the Altenew Instagram account.

Feel free to use the badge above and let everyone know you are a participant in our Inspiration Challenge!

Now it’s your turn!

Whether you’re inspired by a color palette, a shape, or a feeling, I can’t wait to see how you interpret this month’s challenge theme. Will your take be bold and graphic, or soft and true to life? Either way, be sure to link up your project and share your creative journey with us!

Click the blue button below to link your entry (or entries!). Good luck and happy crafting!