Winter Greetings {Purple Onion Designs}

Hi, crafty friends. I’m sharing a fun winter card today featuring Tofu, Flappy & Mousy Fun in the Snow, which is a stamp from last year’s holiday collection of Pei’s images from Purple Onion Designs.

This is one of those super simple cards. I stamped the image using Extreme Black ink from My Favorite Things and masked it before stamping the Winter Trees background in Fadeout ink from Inkon3 for a no line look in the background. I colored in my scene using Copics, before using one of the dies in the Additional A2 Layers die set from Waffle Flower to cut it down slightly.

I stamped a sentiment from the Holiday Time Sentiment Set using Autumn Rose ink from Papertrey Ink, mounted my panel in the center of a top fold card base using foam tape and finished off with a few snowdrift sprinkles from Little Things from Lucy’s Cards. I love these sprinkles!!

I stuck to a pretty limited color palette, I feel, but there’s still a lot of markers.

Today’s the last day of the annual holiday sale over at Purple Onion Designs, so this is a gentle reminder to head over there, fill your cart with stamps at 25 % off, and check out.

We wish you a merry Christmas! {Purple Onion Designs}

Hi, crafty friends! Another day, another holiday card. This time it’s a big one, it measures 5 1/2 x 7 1/4″. I tend not to worry about card sizes when I create scenes with Purple Onion images, and for this card, this size just worked.

This scene is created entirely with images from last years holiday collection from Stacey Yacula. Hannah & Finn, City Christmas Tree, Gift Car and City Skyline Background are all from The Merriest Little City collection and I used a combination of no line coloring and black stamped line coloring. Hannah & Finn and the tree are stamped in black, the others in paler inks for a softer looking background.

I colored the entire scene with Copics, stamped the sentiment from the Holiday Time Sentiment Set using Harbor ink from Concord & 9th, before sprinkling on chunky white embossing enamel from Stampendous, which I melted from the back of the panel. Once that was done, I adhered it to a card base I created from Stamper’s Select White cardstock from Papertrey Ink.

I used lots of Copics for this, and all the different gray families, actually.

This is a gentle reminder that he annual holiday sale is underway at Purple Onion Designs. Everything (with some exclusions) is at 25 % off. The sale ends on Sunday, so there’s still time to fill up your cart with goodies!

Juleglede {Kort & Godt}

Hi, crafty friends! I have a Christmas card to share today, created for the Kort & Godt gallery blog.

I used a large pennant die (Die 178) to die cut the image (MA 1030), and I wanted it to be the focus on my card. Onto a top fold white card base, I adhered an embossed panel of Eucalyptus cardstock from Concord & 9th (dry embossed with the berries & boughs embossing folder from C9). I stamped the S-196 Nordpolen postmark stamp from Kort & Godt using Dark Chocolate ink from Papertrey Ink on opposite corners of the pennant, using double and triple generation stamping for a softer look on some of them.

I took some white cotton thread (TR-104) and removed a few of the strands to make it thinner, before coloring it with Eucalyptus ink from Concord & 9th to match the background panel. I also thinned it down so it would go more easily through the button holes on the button (KN567 Juleglede 18 mm). I wrapped it twice around the pennant and mounted the pennant in the center of the card using lots of foam tape. I then dug out some sentiment stickers (ST1015). These are white with black printing, but I ink blended with Eucalyptus ink to make them match everything else, before finishing off with a few faceted pearls (ST179).

Christening {Mo’s Digital Pencil}

Hi, crafty friends! I shared this card on the Mo Manning Dream Team blog last week, but thought I’d share it here as well. When I first started making cards, they were very layered with lots of embellishments. These days, I’m more of a clean and simple (or in my case clean and time consuming) maker, but every once and again, I go back to my roots, and that’s definitely true for this card.

I made a Christening card this time, for a little boy whose christening was this Sunday. I’ve used this image so many times over the years I’ve lost count. I colored the image with Copics and die cut it using the Stitched Circle STAX die set from My Favorite Things. I matted it on a piece of Maja Design patterned paper cut with the Nesting Circles die set from Lifestyle Crafts.

I created a shaped card using the Nesting Frames 8 die set from Lifestyle Crafts, and used a few sizes of this die for the patterned paper panels on my card, which are all created from the Vintage Spring Basics collection from Maja Design. I die cut a white doily using the English Tea Party die from Cheery Lynn, mounted it in the center of the card and added my circles on top. I die cut the letters to spell the boy’s name using Die 304 from Kort & Godt and adhered them to a strip I die cut with the Essential Stitched Sentiment Strips die set from My Favorite Things. I added some Studio Calico veneer stars to embellish and a button from Kort & Godt that I put on top of a bow I created from Chalk White seam binding which I’d colored with Copic B95 and B91. This took me back – I used to color seam binding with Copics to match my card sooo often back in the day, and it honestly made me a little nostalgic doing this.

The insides of the card have the same basic layout as the front, just different patterns, and I left the stitched circles plain white for the personal message. On the back of the card, I die cut a pre printed image from Kort & Godt, found another button and added a star on each side of it to finish.

Very limited color palette for this one, there wasn’t much to color.

Happy mail {Purple Onion Designs}

Hi, crafty friends. I have a fun card to share today, featuring Happy Mail from Purple Onion Designs, illustrated by Pei. This image is from this year’s Season’s Greetings collection from Pei. I love her illustration style, and whenever there’s a penguin, I’m sold. Speaking of sold, the annual holiday sale is underway at Purple Onion Designs. Pretty much everything (with a few exceptions) is at 25 % off. The offer ends this Sunday (December 8th, 2024), so there’s plenty of time to browse the Purple Onion website and pick up favorites!

I suggest you put this image in your cart, it’s so awesome. I colored it with my Copics, adding an actual no line horizon behind my critters to complete the wintry scene, before using a die from the Nesting Postage Stamps infinity die set from Hero Arts to turn it into a huge postage stamp. I then used the Vintage Holiday Postmark Set along with the wavy lines from the Vintage PostCARD set to add to the postage feel. I used Lazy Day ink from My Favorite Things, which matches the blue in my coloring pretty nicely.

I created a top fold card base from Pure Poppy cardstock from Papertrey Ink, mounted my large postage stamp using lots of foam tape and adhered a few Snowdrift sprinkles from Little Things from Lucy’s Cards to finish.

I actually used red markers for red this time, with a little bit of B14 where I wanted it to be darker than R29 can create on its own. I usually use earth tones for red, this was a fun change.

Det snør, det snør, tiddelibom {Rachelle Anne Miller}

Hi, crafty friends. The sentiment on this card probably won’t make much sense to you unless you’re Norwegian, but it’s the first line of a Winnie the Pooh song about snow (I found a voice recording of it here if you want to listen). Now, Winnie the Pooh isn’t in this card, but I have some cute Polar Bears from Rachelle Anne Miller. I love this image, and realized once my coloring was done that I had printed a no line version on the back of the panel. I probably intended to use that, as I prefer no line for “white” things. Oh well, I wasn’t starting over, and I’ve colored these polar bears in a no line version previously, so maybe having black lines this time wasn’t such a bad idea after all?

I took a quick look at the colors I’ve focused on recently to try to choose something different and opted for this blue green combo. I colored the image with Copics and added a horizon in the distance with a few trees scattered about.

I made sure not to add to many trees so there would be room for the sentiment, which I stamped in Oceanside ink from Concord & 9th. The sentiment itself is from the Snøstorm stamp set from byCino. I die cut my panel using the lartest die in the A2 Stitched Rectangle STAX 1 set from My Favorite Things, before I sprinkled on chunky white embossing enamel from Stampendous. I made sure that none of the granules covered the sentiment or the eyes of the polar bears before melting the powder from the back.

I adhered my panel to a card base I’d covered with a quarter sheet of Oceanside cardstock from Concord & 9th. This is actually a side fold card. I usually make top fold cards, but I didn’t have any landscape oriented card bases on hand and didn’t feel like breaking open a new pack of cardstock. Long live lazy crafting, right?

Very cool color palette for this one.

Merry Christmas {Papiria}

Hi, crafty friends. I have a very clean and simple card to share today that I created for the Papiria blog. Lots of white space and a simple color palette of white and blue – my favorite color combo for Christmas!

I started with a panel of white cardstock (Stamper’s Select White from Papertrey Ink) that I cut down slightly from a quarter sheet. I used a couple of dies from Papirdesign to do a dry emboss on my cardstock. I covered a white top fold card base with a quarter sheet of Harbor cardstock from Concord & 9th and layered my white dry embossed panel on top.

I die cut the banner pieces in the Joyful Season die set from Concord & 9th from Harbor and Powder cardstock, before stamping a sentiment from the Merry Greetings builder stamp set from Kristina Werner onto the banner pieces using Harbor ink. I assembled the banner and added a few layers of cardstock behind it for dimension. I die cut a tree and a snowflake from the same dies that I used for my dry emboss background, both from Powder cardstock. I stacked two of each and glued them on top of its actual position in the embossed background, before finishing off with Opal gems from Spellbinders. Very simple.

Express delivery from the North Pole {Rachelle Anne Miller}

Hi, crafty friends. I’m still in the midst of creating holiday cards. Christmas is in exactly one month, and it snowed today as I was working on this card featuring Snowman’s Gift from Rachelle Anne Miller. I definitely went with a non traditional color palette this time, even choosing purple voluntarily. It doesn’t happen often, probably not even once a year.

I printed the image onto X-Press It blending card and colored it with my Copics, going for a couple of different purple combos – one dark for the snowman’s hat and scarf, another for the cute little bird. I chose a deep pink combo for the present and the bird’s accessories to bring in another color. I die cut my panel using a rectangle die from Waffle Flower, then went in with a snowflake stencil from Ciao Bella and some Lilac ink from Concord & 9th. I then added VersaMark on top and sprinkled on Iridescent Sparkle embossing powder from JudiKins to turn the snowflakes sparkly once the powder melted.

I stamped a sentiment from the Julehilsen stamp set from byCino using Autumn Rose ink from Papertrey Ink. The sentiment translates to “Express delivery from the North Pole” and was the perfect size for my chosen placement. I adhered a quarter sheet of Autumn Rose cardstock from Papertrey Ink onto a white card base and mounted the colored panel in the center, before finishing off with sequins and raindrops from the She’s So Lovely mix from Little Things from Lucy’s Cards.

Lots of purple. I can do hard things (using purple is HARD).

Deck the halls {Lili of the Valley}

Hi, crafty friends. My love for penguins is not a secret, so whenever there’s a penguin to color, I’m all over it. This penguin is from the Polar Christmas stamp set from Lili of the Valley, and I paired it with a mountain background that comes in the same set.

I colored my cutie with Copics and made sure to color enough on the sky and the ground beneath him so I could die cut my panel with a circle die. I used a black glaze pen to get some shine into his eyes, and once the black was dry, I added a dot of white Gelly Roll 05. I die cut a white ornament using the Snowflakes and Ornament die set from Hero Arts, and glued my colored panel on top, before working on the rest of the card.

For my background, I used the Magic Snow Cover die from Mama Elephant to die cut from Powder cardstock from Concord & 9th. I adhered that to a top fold white card base and glued my ornament in the center with a couple of layers of cardstock behind it for a little bit of dimension. I die cut a sentiment from white cardstock using the Jolly Holiday Greetings die set from Concord & 9th. I die cut the back from Champagne cardstock, also from Concord & 9th and added the complete sentiment to my card with a little dimension behind it, before finishing off with a die cut bow in the same cardstock color, die cut using the Gift Bows die set from Kristina Werner.

Simple palette for this one.

Spreading holiday cheer {Rachelle Anne Miller Creative Studios}

Hi, crafty friends. I’m sharing a sweet holiday card today, featuring one of my all time favorite stamps from Rachelle Anne Miller. This is Penguin Hug. Rachelle created this illustration many many moons ago, and I remembered it so fondly that I described it to her a few years back and asked her if it was possible to turn it into a stamp. She did, and I’ve used it plenty of times, it’s such a good one and I absolutely love it!!!

I printed the image onto X-Press It blending card and colored it with my Copics, creating a soft winter sunset behind the cute penguins. From white cardstock (Stamper’s Select White from Papertrey Ink), I die cut a frame using the Winter Wonderland window die from Lawn Fawn and adhered it to my colored piece.

I used the Magic Snow Cover die from Mama Elephant to create texture and interest to a piece of Cornflower cardstock from My Favorite Things, which I adhered to my top fold card base. I added some dimension behind my winter wonderland window and adhered it in the center of the card. I stamped a sentiment from the Holiday messages stamp set from Mama Elephant onto Nectar cardstock from Concord & 9th using Grapefruit ink, also from Concord & 9th, cut it down to a strip and added it to my frame with a couple of extra layers of cardstock behind it for dimension, before finishing off with sequins from the Ivory Sequin mix from Little Things from Lucy’s Cards.

I used a fairly limited color palette for this card. I also used B20, which is a color I’ve created myself.