Hi, crafty friends! Rachelle Anne Miller has a new release out today, and I couldn’t pass up this Starry Night Bears image. I love the two bears looking up at the night sky, and the scene is so wonderfully framed, Rachelle knocked it out of the park with this one. If you use the code ELINVENGE at her store, you get 10 % off.
I wanted the focus to be on the image and kept the rest of the card pretty simple. I stamped a sentiment from the Hugs Make Everything Better stamp set from My Favorite Things directly below my image using Smokey Shadow ink from Papertrey Ink. I wanted something a little bit softer than black, but I did stamp it twice, so maybe I should have used black after all. Close to the sentiment and close to the top of the scene I used one of the Stitched Borders dies from Lawn Fawn to create a decorative edge. I love faux stitching details on my cards, and this diagonal one is a fun change from the ones I normally use.
Onto a panel of Lemon Tart cardstock from Papertrey Ink, I stamped the All Lined Up Diagonally Background stamp from My Favorite Things using Harvest Gold ink from Papertrey Ink, which is a tiny bit darker than the Lemon Tart. It adds subtle tone on tone interest to the background without distracting from the focal point of the image. I adhered the panel directly to a white top fold card base I created from Stamper’s Select White cardstock from Papertrey Ink and added my image towards the top of the card using foam tape for dimension.
Simple color palette today. I also used BV27 for the sky, which is a color I’ve made myself.
Today I’m sharing a simple one, featuring 
I stamped the image with Extreme Black ink from My Favorite Things onto X-Press It blending card, colored the image with Copics and fussy cut, leaving a thin, white border. I prefer cutting right up against the stamped lines when I fussy cut, but with the snowflake garland, that just wasn’t an option.
I used an oval die from Spellbinders to cut a window into a white cardstock panel. I then used the Snowflake Oval Frame embossing folder from Simon Says Stamp to create a little bit of texture to my plain white cardstock. This embossing folder has an oval in the center that doesn’t emboss (where you can stamp a sentiment), but I wanted a window for my card and cut out an oval before using the embossing folder.
I created a card base from Spring Rain cardstock from Papertrey Ink and stamped part of a sentiment from the 
I put lots of foam tape on the back of the white cardstock with the dry embossed snowflakes and adhered that to my card, and then added foam tape behind my colored image and placed it in the center of the card.
Simple color palette for this card.
I colored up my penguins with Copics, using a combo of red and teal for their hats and scarves. I’m not a fan of complementary colors, and I do my best to avoid using green with red, but teals, blues and greys all work well.
I didn’t really have a card idea in mind when I printed my image, but I printed it towards the bottom of a 4 1/4 x 5 1/2″ piece of X-Press It blending card. Once I sat down with my colored panel to actually create the card, an idea formed straight away. It doesn’t always happen like that, but I’m grateful every time it does. I created a card base from Summer Splash cardstock from My Favorite Things, cut down my panel to 4 x 5 1/4″ and adhered it to the card base.
Using a snowflake border die from Papirdesign, I die cut a snowflake border above their heads. I used the same X-Press It blending card for this as I wanted the whites to match. I die cut an additional two pieces, and glued them together for a stacked look. The die is actually meant for slimline cards, but it worked really well for this.
I used the Sending You Hugs die from My Favorite Things to die cut my sentiment twice from Summer Splash cardstock. I used the negative piece of the die cut for placement, and layered my letters together for a little bit of dimension. On a piece of Amarena Cherry cardstock from My Favorite Things, I stamped and white heat embossed the word holiday from the Itty Bitty Holiday stamp set, also from MFT. I cut it down to a thin strip, added another layer of Amarena Cherry cardstock behind it for a bit of dimension and stability, and glued my little strip to the H in hugs, before finishing off the card with a couple of sequins from the Sparkling Clear mix from Pretty Pink Posh.
I could have gone crazy with tons of colors for the accessories on these cute penguins, but I limited my color palette by keeping the coloring simple.
I cut down my panel of X-Press It blending card significantly when my coloring was done, and mounted it on foam tape onto the cardbase, which I’d covered with a scrap piece of patterned paper from the Hjem til jul collection from Papirdesign.
I added a small cluster towards the top right corner of the card, using a mini doily from Doodlebug, as well as some die cut scraps of patterned paper from Maja Design and Sunny Studio. I stamped a sentiment from Norsk Stempelblad AS using Dark Chocolate ink from Papertrey Ink onto Classic Kraft cardstock, also from Papertrey Ink. The dies I used in my cluster are a combination of My Favorite Things (Fishtail Flag Frames and Itty Bitty Strips) and X-Cut (Happy Days Ticket Stubs). I also used the Hero Arts Snowflake Confetti fancy die to die cut snowflakes that I scattered across the card, and I put a white pearl from Kort & Godt in the center of each snowflake to finish the card.
This color combination of blue and bright pink sure was fun, and these are brighter blues than the ones I normally use. I also used a ton of colors for the snow in this little scene. I just can’t help myself.
This image is so quirky and playful, and the look of that cat just puts a smile on my face! This card actually came together pretty quickly and easily. I’d colored all my images for this release over a couple of days, and I spent a couple of hours fussy cutting all the images I wanted to have fussy cut, so when it was time for assembly, this one was a cinch.
Onto a top fold white card base I added a panel of white cardstock that I die cut using the Snowflake Confetti Fancy die from Hero Arts. I love this die, I’ve had it for years, and it’s great for die cutting lots of tiny snowflakes to put on cards, which is what I usually use for. I do, however, keep the bigger die cut pieces in the packaging with the die, and for this card I just pulled one out and adhered it to the card base. Super simple when the die cutting job is done in advance. I like the subtle texture the tone on tone die cut gives. It adds a little bit of interest, but doesn’t steal the show from the focal point of the card.
Seriously, look at that cat. He’s so funny and quirky and awesome!! As I’m writing this blog post, I’m realizing that I’ve kind of colored him to look like Garfield. Totally unintentional, but I’ll just run with it! Now that I think about it, it’s not a him, it’s a her, her name’s Felicia.
I die cut the words god jul (Merry Christmas in Norwegian) twice from Jalapeño Popper cardstock from My Favorite Things using a die from Papirdesign. I glued the two layers together and adhered them on top of my colored image, and my card was complete.
Very limited amount of colors for this one.
I started by creating a watercolor background in Photoshop using a png from Lili of the Valley, before I added the Dinosaur Friends on top. No fuss and no masking, I love how easy it is to work with digital files. I printed my critters and background onto X-Press It blending card before I did Copic coloring. I wanted to match my coloring to the colors in the background.
I used the largest die in the A2 Stitched Rectangles STAX 1 set from My Favorite Things to create a nice finished edge around my coloring, before I did partial die cutting using the Sending Big Hugs die, also from My Favorite Things. I made sure to only die cut the word HUGS from my colored panel, and die cut 3 more from white cardstock. I layered my white die cuts together, adhering the colored piece on top of each letter. I adhered my scene to a side fold cardbase I created from Amethyst Allure cardstock from Papertrey Ink, and puzzled each of the letters into their place.
The letters are a bit chameleon like. You can’t see them very well from head on, but if you look at them from an angle, they pop into view a lot better. I added a layer of Glossy Accents to the letters so they would shine and stand out a bit more.
Stacked die cut inlay is a great technique when you want to add a big sentiment without distracting too much from the focal point of the card. This HUGS word is pretty big, but because of the inlay, what you really notice are the colored critters.
I added some Sparkling Clear sequins from Pretty Pink Posh to finish off the card. These are my favorite sequins; they go with everything, and my stash is running low, so I need to buy a new bag soon. They also last forever, I’ve had mine for years, used them a ton and am only now running low.
Simple color palette for this one. Those BGs blend effortlessly!
I often wind up running out of time to create cards from my colored images in a timely manner, but better late than never? I colored most of this image in very neutral tones, I wanted the red nose to really stand out, and it does. It helps that I added Glossy Accents to it, but it’s a very red nose!
Once I’d colored my image, I used the largest die in the A2 Stitched Rectangles STAX 2 set from My Favorite Things to give it that nice finished edge that I’m so fond of.
I sprinkled on lots of Chunky White embossing enamel from Stampendous and heated the panel from the back, before adhering it to the front of a top fold white card base I created from Stamper’s Select White cardstock from Papertrey Ink.
From the same white cardstock I die cut the sentiment three times using a die from Mama Elephant and stacked them for a dimensional look, before gluing them to my sky.
I added some shimmer to the die cut words using a Wink of Stella brush marker from Kuretake. It doesn’t really show up in photos, but it gives a nice effect in real life.
Last but not least – lots of Copics. 6 markers for that tiny red nose might have been overkill…
Shari’s images are funny, whimsical and quirky, and they make for very playful cards. For this card I colored up 
Once my sunset was in place, I colored the trees. I usually like a bit of contrast in the coloring, but for this one I really restrained myself. It’s a background element, and I didn’t want it to take any attention away from the foreground with the new stamps, so I only used BG93 and BG90 for the green, and E71 and E70 for the tree trunks.
Using the Madison Avenue die set from Mama Elephant, I die cut a frame three times from Stamper’s Select White cardstock from Papertrey Ink. To one of the cardstock pieces, I added Stick It adhesive before die cutting. I glued the three frames together, putting the one with the adhesive sheet at the top of the stack. I removed the backer sheet and sprinkled on Rock Candy distress glitter, before putting the backer sheet back over the top and burnished with a bone folder to make the glitter really stick to the adhesive and not fall off.
I trimmed down the scene slightly to make it fit inside my frame, and adhered both the scene and the stacked die cut frame onto a top fold card base I created from more of that Stamper’s Select White cardstock. It’s my favorite white cardstock, I still haven’t been able to find a good quality cardstock that’s whiter than this.
I fussy cut Feathers the bird leaving a small white trim and glued him down to the frame using liquid glue. His head’s sticking out into the scene, so I put a small piece of foam tape behind it. I also stamped a speech bubble from the 
I did my best to limit the amount of Copics I used for this card. The five marker colors that come after the gap on the bottom row are the ones I used to airbrush the sky.
In this stamp set there are five mice in different poses, there’s a giant piece of cake, a few accessories and some sentiments. I decided to focus on the mouse with the birthday candle for my card today. I usually color larger images, but these small ones from Streamside Studios are perfect for playing with different layouts for my cards.
I colored the mouse very simply with my Copics, and did some fussy cutting, leaving a white border around the image. I usually prefer cutting right up to the lines, but with the tail and the wick on the candle being thin, single lines, that wasn’t going to happen.
I created a top fold landscape cardbase from Ripe Raspberry cardstock from My Favorite Things and used the Crystal Distortion embossing folder from Simon Says Stamp on a piece of Stamper’s Select White cardstock from Papertrey Ink to create a textured background for all my elements to sit on.
I die cut the Celebrate die from My Favorite Things four times from the same Ripe Raspberry cardstock that I used for the cardbase, and stacked them for a dimensional look. I stamped a sentiment from the Itty Bitty Birthday set from My Favorite Things using Smokey Shadow ink from Papertrey Ink onto a piece of Cement Gray cardstock from My Favorite Things and trimmed it down to a strip that I glued to my die cut word.
I popped up the mouse using foam tape, and added sequins from the Sparkling Clear sequin mix from Pretty Pink Posh to finish my card. Super simple.
Not a lot of Copics for this tiny image.
I wasn’t sure initially what colors to use on this, so I asked a friend for suggestions. 
She suggested purple. She knows I don’t color a lot with purple. It’s not that I don’t like purple, I think purple’s pretty, it’s just soooo hard to photograph well, so I tend to avoid it for that reason. This time I didn’t, though. I listened to her and chose a V combo with my Copics I thought worked well.
Once my coloring was complete, I die cut the Stitched Snowflake Circle Frame from Memory Box five times from white cardstock. I wanted to make a shaker card, and I find that stacking layers works better than foam tape. I eventually ditched my shaker idea, but still kept my stacked die cut window for a dimensional frame. I did layering of cardstock to the outside of the frame too, making the entire white front panel flush. I added more stitching detail using the largest die in the A2 Stitched Rectangles STAX 2 set from My Favorite Things and adhered all my layers onto a card base I created from Winter Wisteria cardstock from Papertrey Ink.
For my sentiment I die cut the wishes die from Mama Elephant twice from the same purple cardstock I used for my base, before stamping a sentiment from the 
Very muted color palette for this one, but wintery cards tend to be somewhat muted.
Papirmølla 