Hi, crafty friends! I know I usually state that “today’s card is a simple one”, but this one really is. I used a floral image, but cheated and didn’t color it at all.
It’s no secret that I’m a fan of anything and everything Concord & 9th comes up with. This Blended petals set is an older one, a quick google search revealed a July 2022 release, but I hadn’t seen it before and picked it up just a few weeks ago. There’s a stamp set, a die set and a stencil set that all coordinate. I didn’t use the stencils today, but I definitely will in the future!
I started by stamping the big floral image on a panel of white cardstock using Altenew Obsidian ink. This ink is very dark black and very crisp, and it’s perfect for outlines like this. I then “stripped it up” (thank you, Laura Bassen, for this term) with cardstock colors from C9. I cut 3/16″ strips from Juniper, Sea Glass, Clementine, Honeysuckle and Pink Lemonade cardstock. I butted the strips together and glued them to Post-it tape, which I then adhered temporarily to the white panel, so I could stamp in the exact same spot on my stripped piece.
Once I’d completed my stamping, I adhered the Post-it tape with my strips properly with liquid glue and trimmed the panel down slightly, before adhering it to a black panel that covers the front of an A2 white card base. I stamped and heat embossed the large sentiment in the stamp set and cut it out with the die from the coordinating die set. I stacked another four black die cuts behind it for dimension, and adhered it to the top of my cardstock strips.
To finish off the card, I rummaged through my enamel dots in search of colors to match. I have all the colors of the C9 enamel dots on their way to me. They would match perfectly, but the last time I tracked the shipment, they were in the UK. I used the Sea Shore enamel dots from Altenew for the ones that matched Juniper and Sea Glass, the Tea Party set from Altenew to sort of match the pinks and the orange one is from the Boy Crazy pack from My Mind’s Eye from 2013. I’ve loved enamel dots for a loooong time!
I used grays for my coloring of this 
I used the Watercolor Wash Free Form die and the largest die in the A2 Stitched Rectangles STAX 1 set from My Favorite Things to cut a window opening and create the faux stitching on the edges of a piece of Dove cardstock from Concord & 9th. I used the Watercolor die to cut a few more layers from white cardstock to glue behind the grey for dimension.
I scribbled a bit of N5 Copic marker on a scrap of Dove cardstock to make it a little darker, let it dry, then stamped and white heat embossed a sentiment from the A Beautiful Day Sentiment Set from Purple Onion Designs (unfortunately, I think the set’s discontinued, I couldn’t find it when searching the POD store). I then used one of the dies in the Essential Stitched Sentiment Strips die set from MFT to carry on the faux stitching look that I already had going. I added a few strips of cardstock behind it for even more dimension and adhered it in the bottom left of the card.
To finish off the card. I adhered a few Dew Drops from Concord & 9th. With greyscale coloring, grey cardstock, white heat embossing and clear dew drops, it looks like I took black and white photos of this card, but I promise I didn’t.
I don’t think I’ve ever colored an image with less markers.
First of all, this card is huge. It measures 5 1/2 x 7 1/4″. I started by stamping HAPPY from the All the birthdays stamp set from Concord & 9th onto half a sheet of Stamper’s Select White cardstock from Papertrey Ink. I used Aqua Sky, Buttercup, Grapefruit and Honeysuckle inks, all from Concord & 9th. It was easy to shift the cardstock up and down in my Misti to get them all lined up. I then stamped the scripty birthday word in the stamp set using Obsidian ink from Altenew, making sure that the bottom part of the letters matched up with the Grapefruit stamping.
I trimmed down the panel, added a few more panels behind it for dimension and adhered it to my card front that I had covered with strips of cardstock colors in the same colors as my inking. I decided not to add any embellishments to this, sometimes you just need a simple card. This one would be super easy to create in a lot of different color combos. I’m longing for proper spring and summer, so mine’s with happy colors.
Once I removed the masks, I could color in my scene. I always start with the background elements before coloring in the focal point. I wanted a very wintery card, so I kept the trees pretty much white, only adding a little bit of the blues I used for the rest of the snow to make them look less flat.
I stamped a sentiment from the 
I cut my panel down to 4 1/2 x 5 3/8″, which gave me an even 1/16″ border around the edge when I adhered it to my A2 card base. I love a think border like this. I also love a very chunky border, usually when I mount my panels with foam tape. To me, it seems silly to add foam tape to a panel that goes close to the edge of the card, but with a wide border, it really makes an impact. I finished off the card by drawing in the Big Dipper stars using an extra fine point Sharpie paint marker.
Not a whole lot of markers used for this one, actually. Although I see that I missed the colors I used (BV29, 25, 23) for the sky in this graphic.
I adhered my shaker panel to the card base and cut a couple of additional white panels to put on the inside of the card. This means I have a white panel to write my personal message, the card is a little sturdier because it’s now thicker, and the piece I adhered on the back of the front covers up the fact that I could actually see through parts of the card base after my little sawing earlier. Not shy about glue, remember? Yeah, the glue does its job, and I tore parts of it down to almost printer paper thickness. I added sequins to the front of the card (one covering up my stamping mishap) and I was done. At least I thought so… I was happy with the card, but then noticed as I was writing up the blog post for Papiria that the counter of the second P had slipped a little and wasn’t in the right spot anymore. It was bugging me. It was *really* bugging me, so I peeled it off, die cut a new one that I adhered in the right spot and took a couple of new photos. You can still see the droopy counter in the first two photos here, but that’s my card. I got there in the end.
I haven’t done any coloring since December, so I felt rusty. Thankfully, these images from Lili of the Valley are easy ones for jumping back in! Once my coloring was complete, I fussy cut him, leaving a thin white border around the edge. I didn’t want to cut away the “fuzzies” that are so typical of LOTV images, so by leaving a white border, I could preserve the look. I used an embossing folder (Quilted embossing folder from Concord & 9th) to create some interest in the background without being too distracting.
I cut down a few colors of cardstock from Concord & 9th to 3/16″ wide strips and glued them together on a scrap piece of white cardstock. The colors I used are Oceanside, Aqua Sky, Buttercup, Grapefruit and Honeysuckle. I mounted my stripped up panel at an angle, put a few foam squares behind the monkey and added him on top. I die cut hugs (Quilted die set from C9) three times from white cardstock, stacked them and adhered them on top of my strips next to the monkey. I then stamped and white heat embossed a sentiment from the Itty Bitty Gifting stamp set from My Favorite Things onto a black piece of cardstock from Concord & 9th. I added a couple of layers of black cardstock behind for strength and dimension and adhered it on top of the die cut word, before finishing off with a few sequins from the Starry Night mix from Little Things from Lucy’s Cards.
Simple color combo this time.
Speaking of the card, I tend to go for spring/summer themed card and color palettes when we’re in the dead of winter. I want summer so badly, it’s not even funny. Last summer was cold and dreary, the summer before that all rained away. Can we get a proper summer this year? Please? Anyway, I used a floral image from a cut out sheet and paired it with a new die from Kort & Godt. New products help with mojo! This die cuts a circle sentiment, and what I didn’t realize before I actually used it was that it cuts an inside circle, too. It makes the die more versatile than if this were one large sentiment circular panel, but I wanted to use the flowers, so I puzzle pieced the two back together, added another circle panel on the back for a little bit of strength and a place to adhere the thin frame to.
I ran a quarter sheet of Ballet Slipper cardstock from Concord & 9th through my die cutting machine using an embossing folder, which gave this fun dimensional background. I mounted the die cut image in the center, cut down a couple of sentiment sticker strips and mounted those as well, before finishing off the card with a few faceted pearls.
I love Stacey’s images, they all work so well together to tell stories. I colored my scene with Copics and cut my panel down ever so slightly.
I stamped a sentiment from the 
Even with a fairly limited color palette on the card, I used quite a few Copics.
i colored the scene with Copics, before using a die in the Additional A2 Layers die set from Waffle Flower to trim down my panel. I stamped a sentiment from the 
I used the Snowflake Oval Frame embossing folder from Simon Says Stamp to create some texture on a panel of white cardstock which I adhered directly to a top fold card base, before mounting the panel on foam tape to finish the card. Super simple, right?
A lot of Copics for this one.
I started by die cutting the sentiment. I cut the shadow layer from True Black cardstock from Papertrey Ink and the top layer from gold glitter cardstock from Kort & Godt. I love their glitter cardstock, it’s so smooth and nothing rubs off. I used the largest die in the Additional A2 Layers die set from Waffle Flower on a piece of Eucalyptus cardstock from Concord & 9th, before using the faux stitch die in the Festive Blooms die set from Concord & 9th to dry emboss the panel, which I then adhered to my black card base. I love that there’s a tiny little black border.
I die cut leaves and sprigs from the Festive Blooms die set and the Joyful Season die set (also from Concord & 9th) to frame my sentiment. I used Sprout and Juniper cardstocks from Concord & 9th for the leaves and sprigs, and a little bit of Rustic White cardstock from Papertrey Ink for the berries. I curled up the ends of the leaves, added foam tape on the back of the berries and adhered it all to flank my popped up sentiment. There you have it, a Christmas card with what I believe to be a very modern palette.
Papirmølla 