Hi, crafty friends. I’m back with a simple birthday card today, made for the Kort og godt galleri blog. I made a 4 bar card this time, I love playing with this smaller size from time to time.
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.
Kort & Godt products used:
Die 294 – Hipp hurra
ST210
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!
I did a lot of coloring the day I colored these monkeys. As you can probably tell by their fur, my markers needed to be reinked at this point. I could have chosen a different brown combo. I could have taken the time to refill my markers, but I had colored so much the day I colored this that I just wanted to keep coloring. I probably should have stopped and taken the time to refill or chosen a different combo that didn’t need reinking. This is a good reminder to reink your markers. You can be an amazing colorist, but if you don’t take care of your markers, your coloring will look uneven. I went with it anyway. The 5 year old getting this card is not going to notice that my coloring’s not perfect, and it doesn’t always have to be. I’m trying to let go of my perfectionist tendencies, and this was a good exercise. I will refill these markers before I use them again, though, don’t you worry.
The card itself is very simple. I stamped a sentiment from the A06 stamp set from Norsk Stempelblad AS below the image, using Cornflower ink from My Favorite Things. I then used the second largest die in the Watercolor Rectangle STAX die set from My Favorite Things to turn it into a panel with a fun edge, before I added dimension behind it and adhered it to a top fold card base I created from Cornflower cardstock from My Favorite Things. I finished off the card with some enamel dots from Papirdesign.
Simple color palette. And I really do need to refill those browns. Even E23 was giving me trouble.
I started with an A2 top fold white card base. I stamped and white heat embossed two stamps repeatedly across the background, before ink blending on top with Distress Oxide inks. From bottom to top, I used Peacock Feathers, Cracked Pistachio, Twisted Citron and Fossilized Amber. I die cut klem four times from True Black cardstock from Papertrey Ink and stamped and heat embossed coordinating sentiments. I figured they’d be too tall if I cut them down to regular sentiment strips, so I fussy cut around them. So far, so good, right? Yeah, that’s when I hopped on the struggle bus. I figured the sentiment on its own was a bit meh against the background, and it wasn’t exactly revolutionary. Also, the first part of the sentiment was floating on its own, which I also didn’t like too much.
I used a leaf die to cut some leaves from vellum (Heavyweight Translucent Vellum from My Favorite Things), hoping that would work. It helped, but the first part of the sentiment was still floating. I needed an anchor point. I tried adding some thread on the side. Better already. I decided to cut a half circle notch from the bottom and top of the card for the thread to be looped around. Two strands each of three colors that matched the card. I was quite happy with that and decided to add the die cut word, and also adhered the stamped pieces of the sentiment on top of the die cut. Instant anchor points, and the first part of the sentiment was no longer floating on its own. I finished off with diamonds that framed the sentiment, and felt like it all ended up as a cohesive design in the end, even if it took me a while to get there.
Papirmølla 