Let’s pretend it’s still your birthday! {Streamside Studios}

Hi, crafty friends. I have a super simple card to share with you today. It’s almost one layer, it’s that simple. No bulk, no dimension, and this came together so quickly.

There’s something about the Sloth-some Sloths digi stamp set from Streamside Studios that really appealed to me, and this is my third card using the set. First sloth, though.

I printed my image on a quarter of an A4 sheet of X-Press It blending card. A4 is narrower and taller than lettersize, so my quarter panel doesn’t quite cover an A2 card front. By letting a strip of the card base showing as a result, it adds a design element to the card.

Once my coloring was complete, I ink blended Berry Sorbet and Melon Berry inks into one of the openings in the Say Anything stencil from My Favorite Things, before stamping a sentiment from the Anything-but-Basic Birthday Wishes stamp set (also from MFT) using VersaFine Onyx Black ink.

I adhered the panel directly to the card base (Melon Berry cardstock from Papertrey Ink) and added a few confetti stars from the Rosy Glow mix from Little Things from Lucy’s Cards.

The stars are matte gold, but they still shine in the light. And because they’re flat, and everything else on this card is also flat, this card is very mail friendly, which is a rarity for me.

Quick, simple color palette.

Happy one year older day! {Streamside Studios}

Hi, crafty friends! Today, I’m sharing with you a quick, clean and simple birthday card, featuring the ice cream from the Sloth-some Sloths digi stamp set from Streamside Studios. Today’s my sister’s birthday, so it’s kind of fitting, I think. It also happens to be our dad’s birthday, March is a big birthday month in our family.

I colored the ice cream with my Copics, fussy cut it leaving a thin white border and put it aside while I worked on the rest of the card. Using the Watercolor Stripes stencil from Altenew, I ink blended stripes using Melon Berry ink from Papertrey Ink, going heavy handed at the bottom with a soft gradient toward the top of my A2 card base.

I used the Hand-Lettered Happy Birthday die from My Favorite Things to die cut the word happy from white cardstock from Papertrey Ink. I then did a little stamp surgery, by combining two sentiments in the Anything-but-Basic Birthday Wishes stamp set from My Favorite Things to stamp a sub sentiment to the lower part of the die cut word. I then stamped the same sentiment directly on my card base, still using Melon Berry Ink. I die cut two more of the happy to glue behind the stamped one, stacked all three together and adhered it to the card front, lining up the stamping on the die cut with the stamping on the card base. I then mounted the ice cream on foam squares, added a bit of Glossy Accents to the heart and some enamel dots from the Cool Summer Night pack from Altenew for a little bit of added interest and color.

Very limited color palette.

Time for balloons and soda {Rachelle Anne Miller Creative Studios}

Hi, crafty friends. I have a super simple birthday card to share today, featuring the Animal numbers 4 digi stamp from Rachelle Anne Miller.

I love these animal number images from Rachelle, and these ducks are sooo cute. Perfect for a birthday card, I think. I colored the image with my Copics, before temporarily adhering the Watercolor Wash Free Form stencil from My Favorite Things and ink blending with Harvest Gold ink from Papertrey Ink. I then stamped a sentiment from the A06 stamp set from Norsk Stempelblad AS using Shadow Creek ink from Altenew.

I used the largest of the Wonky Stitched Rectangle STAX dies from My Favorite Things to create a quirky faux stitch interest around the edge and adhered my panel to a top fold card base I created from Meadow cardstock from Hero Arts.

To finish off the card I added a few raindrops from Little Things from Lucy’s Cards, I thought they fit well with the water theme in the image.

Simple, yet bright color palette for this one 🙂

A Little Christmas Magic! {Purple Onion Designs}

Hi, crafty friends! I have something very exciting to share today. It’s a card with the brand new release from Purple Onion Designs, illustrated by Stacey Yacula. This new collection is titled A Little Christmas Magic!, and it’s all about the hustle and bustle on the North Pole, with various adorable critters in Stacey’s signature style.

For this card, I chose Comet (elf bunny with pocket watch) and Zippity (elf bird carrying gift) to be the focus of the card. Zippity’s rushing last minute, and Comet is making sure everything gets done in time. In the background I stamped Santa’s Workshop, which is another great stamp in this release.

I didn’t want a dark night sky for this card. I also didn’t want it to have a basic blue sky, because I wanted to add lots of snow, and it doesn’t really snow from clear skies. I opted for a soft blue violet combo that wasn’t too dark and that fit the snowy scene look I was after.

When everything was colored, I stamped a sentiment from Santa Sentiments using Blue Yonder ink from My Favorite Things. This sentiment set is also new, and there are some really good ones in the set, I love the mix of the clean font with the handwritten style, and the blue ink isn’t very distracting from the scene, but still visible enough.

I sprinkled on a generous amount of chunky white embossing enamel from Stampendous, making sure no granules covered up the critters’ eyes or the sentiment, before melting the granules from the back of the panel. I then adhered it directly to a top fold white card base, and my card was complete.

Lots of Copics for this one.

I hope you like the present you told me to buy for you {Alex Syberia Designs}

Hi, crafty friends. Today is the final Instagram hop for the Alex Syberia Designs Kickstarter campaign. We’re all sharing cards with the products in the kickstarter release and there are plenty of prizes up for grabs, so head over to Instagram once you finish reading this blog post 😉

For my final card I’m focusing on the Birthday Wonderland stamp set, and I used both trees, the raccoon and the bear for my card, in addition to one of the sentiments.

I decided to go for a no line look in the background with the trees and used black lines for the two cute critters.

Once my image was stamped and colored I cut it down significantly and mounted it on foam tape to a top fold landscape card base I created from Enchanted Evening cardstock from Papertrey Ink.

There’s something about this bear that reminds me of Yogi. That might actually be the reason I colored his hat green. These two have such character, but the bear’s my favorite, just don’t tell the raccoon.

I used a white Sharpie with an extra fine tip for the dots of snow (is it snow?) on the trees.

Simple, subdued color palette for this card.

Happy birthday {Mo’s Digital Pencil}

Hi, crafty friends. I’m back with one of those cards I make once in a blue moon, which happens to be a type of card I used to make all the time back in the day (I realize I’m making myself sound really old by saying that). It’s a 6×6″ card, but still not square.

The card was made on order for a superintendent turning 60. I was told he likes wine, good food, sunny, warm weather and enjoying life and was given free reign to do as I pleased. Mr. Fixit from Mo Manning seemed like the perfect choice for an image to color.

I rarely use patterned papers on my cards anymore, and certainly not pieces this big, but I love the XXL Square Frames Frilly #10 die set from GoKreate, the dies in the set are perfect for creating shaped cards. I use two 12×12″ sheets of patterned paper to make one of these cards, and this time I used the Drivers License patterned paper from the Denim & Friends collection as well as the Tough but sweet sheet from the Denim & Girls collection, both from Maja Design. I can cut two of the larger shapes and two of the smaller shapes from one sheet, so the insides of the card are reverse.

I colored the image in colors that went with the patterned paper, adding a bit of red to catch the eye and writing the words on his t shirt with a black Copic friendly pen. I thought the pun would tick the “loves wine” box.

I used foam tape to add the smaller shape to the larger one, and also to add the die cut circle to the smaller shape. I stamped postmarks from various cities in the world using Memento Rich Cocoa ink to add a little bit of interest to the circle and the panel behind it. I figure if the guy loves warm, sunny weather, he probably also loves to travel, there’s not a whole lot of warm days in Oslo over the course of a year.

I added some metal embellishments from Tim Holtz in a bit of a cluster near the bottom left “corner”, as well as his age, die cut and put on a 1″ circle with an epoxy sticker on top for a bit of added dimension.

I hid a die cut tag behind my image. I used to do this all the time, and it’s a fun way to add a sentiment without having to find space for it on the front of the card. The sentiment is from the Til mannen stamp set from Norsk Stempelblad AS. The dies I used for the tag and reinforcer are old ones from Magnolia. I tied a bow from twill onto the tag, and some cutlery charms to the twill bow using natural twine from May Arts. I thought the cutlery was perfect for a food lover, I have so many treasures in my stash that I forget about until I go looking for something to use.

The inside of the card are pretty simple. The same patterned paper as the front, only with the reverse size. I used more of the postmark stamps from Marianne Design, as well as a sentiment from the Gratulerer stamp set from Norsk Stempelblad AS. There’s plenty of space for a personal message on the second circle, which only has the postmark stamps on the edges.

The back of the card is also simple. Another sentiment from Norsk Stempelblad AS, this time it’s the B03 stamp set. I love their stamp sets and use them more than any other of my Norwegian sentiment stamps. They’re hard to get your hands on because the company is no longer in business, but they’re the best sentiments out there.

Simple color palette.

Alex Syberia Designs Kickstarter Campaign | Blog Hop 1 & Giveaway

The moment has arrived!! Alex Syberia Designs Kickstarter Campaign is live!
Today, we are celebrating the launch of Alex Syberia Designs’ very first collection of physical products through their Kickstarter Campaign! With clear stamps, dies and stencils, there’s something for everyone to love!
To have a look at all of the designs in detail (including videos!), the exclusive offers they have for you, and see how you can support them, make sure you check their Kickstarter Campaign Page.
 
 
 
Their Kickstarter Campaign, full of incredible discounts for you, will run from the 15th September to the 16th October 2022.

This great milestone called for some big celebrations! Throughout the duration of the Kickstarter Campaign, Alex Syberia Designs will be hosting 4 hops:

  • 15 September 2022 – Hop 1: Blog hop
  • 23 September 2022 – Hop 2: Instagram hop
  • 5 October 2022 – Hop 3: Blog hop
  • 13 October 2022 – Hop 4: Instagram hop

GIVEAWAY PRIZES | OVER £1000/$1200 IN TOTAL

Alex Syberia Designs is giving away some fantastic prizes; their full September Release and two of their gorgeous Floral Bundle or Critter Bundle to choose from. There are also amazing companies and crafty friends who are celebrating with us. Here’s the complete list of awesome prizes:

Check the Kickstarter Campaign for more info

That’s a total of 15 prizes for 15 lucky winners! To be in with a chance to win one of these amazing prizes all you have to do is play along with each of the four hops! Alex Syberia Designs will draw winners from those entrants that have played along the hops by 16th October 2022. 

Our first hop is a blog hop and it couldn’t be easier to enter. All you have to do is leave a comment on this blog post as well as those of the other amazing designers in this hop. You can see the full list, with links to each blog, below.

Winners will be announced on the Alex Syberia Designs blog on the 23rd October 2022.

BLOG HOP 1 | DESIGNERS LIST

Below is the complete list of the super talented designers who are sharing their creations with us today:

I created a simple, colorful birthday card using the Birthday Sentiments stamp set.

I stamped the word happy repeatedly in a column on a piece of X-Press It blending card, stamped birthday close to the bottom and colored in all the individual happy words using Copics.

I trimmed my panel down significantly, before adding plenty of foam tape to the back of it and mounting it to a card base I created from Soft Stone cardstock from Papertrey Ink.

I wanted to add even more dimension by having one of the happy words popped up, but the letters are so narrow, they were too tricky to put foam tape on the back of. I decided to add dimension in another way by covering the green letters with Nuvo Jewel Drops in the color Key Lime. It makes the happy slightly raised and also gives it some shine.

Clean, simple, colorful – what more could you want from a card?

Lots of Copics used for this one.

Have fun hopping along, there are some amazing cards made using the stamps, dies and stencils in this release.

Treat yourself {Mo’s Digital Pencil}

Hi, crafty friends. I’m sharing another birthday card today. Somehow I seem to be able to create birthday cards from pretty much every image I color. Birthday cards and holiday cards are my favorite cards to make, though, so I really don’t mind.

I colored up The Sweetest from Mo Manning for this card. It’s one of her newer images, and it’s so cool. I went for a bit of an unusual color combination for me, starting with the BG90s which were already out on my desk after my previous project. Less markers to clean once done, that way – I always try to clean my markers after each image.

Once the coloring was complete, I used the largest die in the A2 Double Stitched Rectangles STAX die set from My Favorite Things to turn my panel into a rectangle with a nice faux stitch around the edges. I then added a thick layer of Glossy Accents to the heart and let that dry.

Using the Geometric Landscape stencil from Altenew, I ink blended a bit of yellow in the top right corner using Distress Inks in the colors Mustard Seed and Squeezed Lemonade, letting the lighter shade of the two fade to white. I then adhered my panel onto a top fold card base I created from Stormy Sea cardstock from Papertrey Ink.

I die cut the word wishes four times from the same color cardstock using a die from Mama Elephant. I stacked the die cuts for a dimensional look and adhered them on top of my ink blended section.

Using two stamp sets from My Favorite Things (Bitty Birthday Wishes and Itty Bitty Gifting), I heat embossed sub sentiments onto strips of Canyon Clay cardstock from Papertrey Ink. I die cut those using the Itty Bitty Strips dies, also from My Favorite Things, before finishing off the card with a few yellow enamel dots from the Pocketful of Sunshine pack of enamel dots from Altenew.

This was a fun color palette to work with, and I think the finished card echoes that. I’d say it’s my usual style of card, just not my usual color palette. I need to branch out more often, I had a blast using these colors.

Snow Cute hugs {Lili of the Valley}

Hi, crafty friends. Another day, another card. I keep going back to the Snow Cute stamp set from Lili of the Valley. The stamp set is part of their newly released Christmas collection, but this time, my card’s not actually a Christmas card.

There’s a stamp in the stamp set with a penguin holding a present. I thought it was perfect for a simple birthday card. I colored the penguin with Copics and added a layer of black glaze pen to the eyes for shine. Once the black was dry (this stuff dries fast), I went back in with a 05 Gelly Roll to add the white dots back in. I fussy cut the penguin and started working on the rest of the card.

Using the Snow Drifts Cover-Up die from My Favorite Things, I decided to create some waves on the front of my card. I die cut four layers from white cardstock and used various shades of aqua tones for the top layer. From bottom to top they are: Tropical Teal from My Favorite Things (bottom two waves), Caribbean Sea from MFT, Hawaiian Shores from Papertrey Ink, Summer Splash from MFT, Sno Cone from MFT and Stamper’s Select White from PTI (top two waves).

On the Hawaiian Shores wave, I used one of the big words in the Christmas Greetings stamp set from Lili of the Valley. The wave was just big enough for the word to fit. I adhered my penguin onto my waves, right next to the stamped word. In hindsight, I wish I’d popped him up using foam tape, but he doesn’t look too bad adhered straight onto the waves either.

I used the Sea Glass mix of embellishments from Little Things from Lucy’s Cards for a finishing touch. This mix was the perfect color for my card, and it’s sometimes fun to add something besides JUST sequins. There are a couple of gems and even confetti stars on this card, too, all from the same mix.

I love the dimension of those waves, it’s very impactful, and the reason I wish I’d added dimension behind my penguin, as well, I feel he’s a little flat compared to the rest. Oh well, next time.

Simple color palette for this one.

Have a magical bday {Lee Holland Designs}

Hi, crafty friends! Lee Holland’s dragons are one of my favorite things to color, and when I can color a dragon holding a balloon, I almost do a little happy dance.

This is Dragon with big balloon. Isn’t he adorable with his big balloon and party hat? I couldn’t resist, and colored a warm yellow dragon this time, with bright green details.

I stamped a sentiment from the Scripty Bday stamp set from Mama Elephant using Fossilized Amber Distress Oxide ink, then trimmed my panel down slightly and mounted it using foam tape onto a top fold card base I created from Green Parakeet cardstock from Papertrey Ink.

Using a die from the Tag Builder Blueprints 6 die set from My Favorite Things, I die cut a piece of patterned paper from the Party Patterns 6×6″ paper pad, also from MFT. I did partial die cutting to make the tag smaller than the die will cut in one pass, then used a heart die from the same die set to cut a heart shaped hole in one end. I adhered this strip onto the colored panel using clear foam tape from The Rabbit Hole Designs. This tape is great, because you don’t really see it from the sides, and it’s also very thick, giving lots of dimension.

I finished the card by adhering some sequins and a gem from the Seashore mix from Little Things from Lucy’s Cards.

Similar color palette to yesterday’s card, but I colored this dragon weeks ago and had forgotten him when I colored yesterday’s balloon image.