Hi, crafty friends! I’m sharing a birthday card today that I made for my sister, whose birthday was back in March (she did receive this in March, I’m not *entirely* hopeless). Peonies are among her favorite flowers, which made the Build-a-garden: Pristine Peonies set from Altenew the perfect one to use.
I stamped one of the images in the stamp set using black ink and used the coordinating layering stencils to color it in. It’s no secret I’m a fan of Copic coloring, but this was soooo much faster, and maybe it’s okay to cheat a little once in a while. I used the Dried Petals set of inks for the pink in the flowers and the Forest Trail set for the green. For the yellow I used Sunflower and Buttercup inks from Concord & 9th, as I don’t have yellow inks from Altenew.
I created a card base from Sno Cone cardstock from My Favorite Things and used the Angled Mosaic 3D embossing folder from Altenew to add some texture and interest. I mounted my flowers in the bottom center using foam tape, then added a black sentiment sticker strip from Kort & Godt with a couple of layers of cardstock behind it for a little bit of lift, before finishing off the card with Sparkle & Shine ombré glitter drops from Pinkfresh Studio.
The Flåklypa universe has had a big resurgence in the past 10-15 years or so. Additional movies have come out based on the original and there’s a bit of merchandise available. I have a few calendars, and for this card, I used a calendar page with Reodor looking at his latest machine, wrench and technical drawing in hand. I sampled the color on his shirt to create a colored cardstock to match, and die cut the letters for the name Reodor using the In Stitches Alphabet die set from My Favorite Things. I die cut a few layers from white and the top layer from my custom colored cardstock and added them below the image.
For the shaker portion of the card, I used the Outline Numbers and Solid Numbers die sets from My Favorite Things. I die cut the outline from the image as well as a few from white cardstock, and used the solid number die for the acetate. I used microbeads for shaker filler and colored the top layer with a layer of a very pale grey Copic marker to make it stand out a little against the background. The card was very well received, and my parents have actually framed it and put it on display in their dining room.
I started by drawing the balloons for my background with a 0.3 mm mechanical pencil. I erased most of the pencil lines before coloring, as Copic will trap pencil, making it impossible to erase after coloring. I wanted a no line look for these, and the half erased lines were enough for me to see where to add my Copics. Balloons are actually pretty easy to draw, it’s basically an upside down egg. If you don’t want to draw yourself, there are lots of balloon stencils on the market that you can use as a guide, or even a die cut balloon that you trace. I colored in my balloons, two of each color, added the panel to a top fold 4 bar card base I created from white cardstock and drew in balloon strings using a 0.35 Copic multiliner.
For a sentiment, I die cut the Hipp hurra die from Kort & Godt five times and stacked them for a dimensional look. I cut four from white cardstock and one from gold shine cardstock and topped the stack with that. I added some gems from the ST210 pack of gems to finish.
I mostly used three colors for the gradient on each of the balloons, but the yellow balloons have four.
Once I had enough images to cover a background, I printed it onto X-Press It blending card and chose a few Copics to color in the images. I went with flat color for most of these, only adding dimension in the coloring of the balloons.
I cut my panel down and mounted it onto a top fold card base I created from Vintage Cream cardstock from Papertrey Ink. I die cut the sentiment using the Happy Birthday Brush Script die set from Simon Says Stamp, using Heavyweight Translucent Vellum from My Favorite Things for the shadow layer and black glitter cardstock from Kort & Godt for the words themselves, backed with a few layers of plain black cardstock (True Black from Papertrey Ink) for dimension. Behind the vellum, I die cut the word dies from a few layers of white cardstock to make the vellum “float” above the images.
I adhered the greeting in the top center of the card and added enamel dots from the Forest Trail pack of enamel dots from Altenew to finish. I paired the card with a Sour Apple envelope from My Favorite Things.
Just a few Copics for this one.
I printed the image on X-Press It blending card and colored it with my Copics. I pulled out my RV90 series, which I used to use a lot ages ago, but haven’t really used much in recent years.
Once my coloring was complete, I decided to cut off quite a bit on the right hand side of the panel, which meant doing some fussy cutting around the flowers. I don’t mind fussy cutting, and cutting on the border like this makes for a more dynamic design. Along the right hand side of a top fold card base, I adhered a scrap strip of patterned paper from the Vintage Romance collection from Maja Design, then popped my colored panel on the left.
I die cut the Gratulerer 6 die from Papirdesign a few times. I die cut the shadow layer in white, then a few stacked of the word, before finishing off with a colored one. I actually colored this one with Copics on the scrap I cut off the panel. This is a neat trick if you want your colors to match, but don’t have the right cardstock color. I stamped a sentiment from the A06 stamp set from Norsk Stempelblad AS using Briar Rose ink from Concord & 9th, cut it down to a strip and adhered it below the die cut, adding a few strips of cardstock behind it for dimension. I finished off the card with a few enamel does from the Shades of Purple pack from Altenew.
Using patterned paper from Craft Consortium along with a stamp, die and a few sentiment sticker strips from Kort & Godt, I created an envelope to match.
I actually didn’t use too many Copics for this one. I see I’ve left out the colors I used for the sky, but I’m betting I chose B0000, BG90 and the blender for that.
I chose a very limited amount of Copic markers and colored the number in. I didn’t do any blending, this is all flat color. I added a little bit of shadow to the numbers and colored the flowers and small critters in the same colors, which is why the bird is light green and the bee is red and pink instead of the traditional yellow and black.
I adhered my panel directly to a card base. I also stamped and white heat embossed a sentiment from the Bitty Birthday Wishes stamp set from My Favorite Things onto True Black cardstock from Papertrey Ink. I added some dimension behind the sentiment strip, adhered it to the card and finished off with sequins from the Starry Night mix from Little Things from Lucy’s Cards.
The little bit of lift behind the sentiment makes it stand out even more. It also helps that it’s black. I paired the card with an envelope from Altenew. The Pink Diamond color matches the light pink in my coloring.
Very very simple color palette for this one.
I colored the monsters on X-Press It blending card using my Copics, then fussy cut them all, before putting them aside while I worked on the rest of my card.
Onto a top fold card base I created from Stamper’s Select White cardstock from Papertrey Ink, I ink blended a section left of center using Volcano Lake ink from Altenew, then added splatter with some watered down Caribbean Sea ink from My Favorite Things. It adds a little bit of interest to what is a pretty plain background.
I used the Photo Booth Strip die from My Favorite Things to create my little frame. The die leaves a thicker border at the bottom, but I snipped off the bottom bit to make the border even on all sides. I die cut it twice for strength, then decided to add Crystal Clear Double Thick foam tape from The Rabbit Hole Designs on the back. This creates a lot of dimension, and it also gives an airy effect that you don’t achieve by stacking die cuts (which was my original plan). I added my frame at an angle on top of the ink blending, then put the monsters on the frame.
I white heat embossed a sentiment from Huldra Designstudio onto a piece of True Black cardstock from Papertrey Ink. I fussy cut around it and used the same foam tape on the back of this to pop it up, before finishing off the card with a few enamel dots from the Sea Shore mix from Altenew, which matches my blended background perfectly. So does the envelope I used, which is also Volcano Lake from Altenew.
Fun color palette for this one.
I printed the image fairly small, I wanted it to fit the width of a portrait style A2 sized card. I colored the image with my Copics, going in somewhat of a rainbow order.
I covered the front of a card base with a piece of pink patterned paper with hearts. I don’t know where this patterned paper is from, it came in a mystery box from Simon Says Stamp a few years ago. I think it might be Doodlebug, based on some of the other patterns in the pack, but I’m not sure.
Above and below my colored piece, I added thin strips of Gold Shine cardstock from My Favorite Things, before mounting it all on foam tape near the top of the card.
I used the Sweet Sentiments die set from Altenew to die cut the word celebrate. I die cut four out of white cardstock and one from the gold shine cardstock I used for the strips. I stacked them all together for dimension, and adhered the sentiment onto the balloon strings, before finishing off the card with a few sequins from the Heaven Sent mix from Little Things from Lucy’s Cards.
Happy color palette.
I colored the bunny with my Copics (I actually only used 6 Copics for this card) and fussy cut around it, leaving a white trim to prefer the whispy lines and squiggles that are so characteristic of Rachelle’s images. I created a card base from Stamper’s Select White cardstock from Papertrey Ink and ran it through my die cutting machine with the Crystal Distortion embossing folder from Simon Says Stamp to create some texture.
Onto a piece of scrap paper, I adhered strips of solid colored cardstock. I didn’t measure, they’re all different widths for a playful look. The colors are (bottom to top) Honeysuckle and Grapefruit, both from Concord & 9th, and then Lemon Tart, Spring Moss, Aqua Mist and Hawaiian Shores, all from Papertrey Ink. I put a few layers of cardstock behind my strips and adhered them near the bottom of the card. I stamped and white heat embossed a sentiment from the Easter bunnies stamp set from Simon Hurley onto a piece of True Black cardstock from Papertrey Ink, cut it down to a strip and used a craft knife (I don’t trust scissors) to create the angle at the end. I glued the piece left of the sentiment to the back of the bunny, put 2mm foam squares behind everything and adhered it on top of the colored strips, before finishing off with a few sequins from the White Orchid Sequin mix from Little Things from Lucy’s Cards.
Color palettes don’t get much simpler than this.
I mounted my circles on foam tape, cut off the excess, then added a couple of pre cut stickers to finish off the card. I love these stickers!
Papirmølla 