Hi, crafty friends! We’re almost a month into spring already, and it’s starting to feel like it, even though we had a bit of sleet earlier in the week. I haven’t seen anything starting to bloom yet, but I’m actively on the lookout for Coltsfoot, which is the first flower to pop out to greet the sun in the spring. On today’s card, however, spring is more advanced, and the cute Bunny and Besties stamp from Purple Onion Designs are taking a stroll through a wonderfully green landscape.
I colored the image with Copics, adding a simple free hand background of a couple of hills with a few trees, a path for the bunny to walk on and some blades of grass in front. My original plan wasn’t a scene at all, I had planned to add a big Happy Easter die cut, but changed my mind and added the hills and sky instead. I think this looks better than what I had planned.
I used the largest die in the A2 Stitched Rectangles STAX 1 set from My Favorite Things to create a little bit of interest along the perimeter of my panel. I stamped the word spring from the Happy hello sentiment set using Autumn Rose ink from Papertrey Ink to match the bunny’s shirt. I also used a Glaze pen from Sakura to create some shine (and a tiny bit of texture) to the eyes.
I die cut the word HAPPY from the Birthday Script die set from Kristina Werner three times from Stamper’s Select White cardstock from Papertrey Ink (the same cardstock that I used for my card base, I love this cardstock) and stacked them. I adhered my stacked word above the stamped spring to complete my sentiment.
I decided to die cut tiny butterflies to use for embellishment. I didn’t have any cardstock in the color I wanted, so I colored scraps of X-Press It blending card with the same colors I used for the bunny’s outfit, before using the butterflies die from the Greenhouse Greetings die set from Concord & 9th (it’s a die set from the 2024 C9 summer camp). I scored my tiny butterflies down the body, adhered each of them with a tiny bit of glue and added Rosewater Jewel Drops from Tonic on the bodies of the butterflies to finish.
I used quite a few Copics for this one.
First up is this one. I chose an analogous color combo of Powder, Blueberry and Oceanside inks from C9, and a pop of Lemongrass for a somewhat contrasting color as my fourth. I cut the stamped panel in two, and then cut diagonal lines on each of my two pieces.
I covered a card base with Oceanside cardstock and adhered my panel pieces on top, leaving a gap between them so the Oceanside cardstock would show through.
I stamped a sentiment from the Serene Blooms stamp set from Altenew using Obsidian ink from Altenew, and die cut it using the coordinating die. I stacked another three die cuts behind the sentiment for some dimension, and adhered my stack on top of the opening between the two largest pieces of the stamped background, before finishing off with enamel dots from C9 in the same colors that I used for the stamping.
My second card features the same technique of cutting up the finished piece into smaller bits. Here, I used Sprout, Sunflower, Sorbet and Harbor inks, which makes for a way more colorful background (it’s basically a green, a yellow, a red and a blue).
I used the Waterbrush Hello die from Altenew to create my sentiment for this card. I stacked three black die cuts for a bit of dimension and stamped and white heat embossed the sub sentiment from the Serene Blooms stamp set from Altenew. I’ve just replaced my VersaMark pad, so the letters are a bit thicker than I’d like, but i really did need a new pad. I finished off with a few dew drops from C9. There was a lot going on with the background already, and the dew drops are a bit more subtle.
The final card is very different. For this one I had two full panels that I’d stamped with the Northern Shore bundle of fresh dye inks from Altenew (Polar Bear, Icy Water, Winter Lake and Arctic Mountain). I used the hexagon die in the Wild Meadow die set from C9 to cut as many hexagons as I could from the two panels and mounted them on foam tape to a piece of Blue Beyond cardstock from My Favorite Things. I then chopped off a bunch on all four sides for a nice border and adhered it to a card base I created from the same color.
The die cut sentiment is from the Just picked die set from C9. I die cut two layers from blue cardstock and the top layer from Champagne cardstock from C9, adhered my sentiment in the center of one of the hexagons and decided to skip embellishments for this card. There’s a lot going on already with all the hexagons and dimension, I felt like the card really didn’t need more.
I stamped my images (both the critters and birch tree background) on separate panels of X-Press It blending card with Copic friendly ink, colored them in and fussy cut them. Before fussy cutting the critters, I actually stamped over my initial stamping with Obsidian ink from Altenew, which gives super black lines that are extra crisp. It’s a pigment ink, though, so it needs to be stamped after the coloring. I also colored a sky and some bushes on a separate panel, where I stamped my sentiment in Blueberry Sky ink from Papertrey Ink. I cut an oval into a panel of Americana cardstock from Papertrey Ink using an old oval die from Spellbinders (Petite Ovals Large) and then created two pieces of accordion folds in the same color cardstock. I glued my background with bushes and sky to the back of the accordion pieces, the birch trees in the center, and the panel with the oval window in front. I mounted my critters using foam tape and used black glaze pen for the eyes. I then adhered my accordion to a top fold card base I created from Rustic Cream cardstock from Papertrey Ink.
I used a lot of Copics for this one. I even used B20, which is a color I’ve created myself using an empty marker, B21 reinker and blender reinker.
I went for a no line version this time. This is probably my most used image from Mo, and I love how easy he is to color. I chose a pink color combo that I really like, and I think this could work both as a holiday card and as a general winter card. I added the dots back into his scarf using an extra fine white Sharpie, and then fussy cut him. He’s pretty easy to fussy cut, too. I used the Sparkling snow embossing folder from Simon Hurley (Spellbinders) on the background for some texture. I love the detail this embossing folder gives, and they’re proper six pointed snowflakes and not the weird 8 pointed ones that some companies make. Real snowflakes never have eight points, they always come in multiples of six. It has to do with the way water molecules are formed and then bind together. Anyway, it’s a great embossing folder and it adds interest to an otherwise plain background.
I trimmed my embossed panel slightly, added a couple of layers behind it and adhered it to a card base covered with a panel of Autumn Rose cardstock from Papertrey Ink. On a separate piece of Autumn Rose cardstock, I stamped a sentiment from the Snøstorm stamp set from byCino using VersaMark ink, before sprinkling on super fine detail embossing powder from Ranger and melting it until it was smooth. I cut my sentiment down to a wide strip, added a layer to the back of it for a little bit of dimension, then put a couple of additional layers behind the snowman before gluing him down and finishing the card with a few sequins from the Assorted Moonshine mix from Simon Says Stamp.
Simple color palette for this one.
I colored the image with Copics onto X-Press It blending card and fussy cut it right up against the black lines. From another piece of X-Press It, I die cut the postcard shape using the Postcard combo die set from Mama Elephant. I used Peachy Glow ink from Altenew to ink blend across the panel, giving it a vintage feel. I then went in with a stencil from the mini stencil set 3 from Tim Holtz and added the splatter texture using Classic Kraft ink from Papertrey Ink along with a blending brush. In some areas, I added ink with the blender brush without using the stencil.
I stamped the leaves from the 
Fairly limited color palette for this one.
I colored the image with Copics, opting for the cool grays for the bench. I wasn’t planning on making it this dark originally, but when my C9 made a blob, dark was the only way to go. It still works, and I don’t think you can really see where the blob was. I used the largest die in the A2 Stitched Rectangles STAX 1 set from My Favorite Things to trim the panel down a little, then a large blending brush to add some soft blue to the background. I didn’t add any ink to the brush, I simply used whatever was left from a previous project.
I stamped a sentiment from the Småtekster stamp set from Norsk Stempelblad AS next to the bench using Tide Blue ink from Altenew. I added my colored piece to a panel of Buttercup cardstock from Concord & 9th, which I then adhered to a top fold white card base. I die cut the word hei twice from Green Parakeet cardstock from Papertrey Ink, stacked them and adhered my double die cut next to the boy on the bench before adding a few die cut clouds and some dew drops. Both the cloud dies and dew drops are from Concord & 9th.
I used quite a few colors for this very simple image.
I stamped the 
I used my Mijello Mission Gold watercolors and brushes in varying sizes to color in my scene, cut it down and stamped a sentiment from the 
I adhered the panel to a 5 3/4 x 5 1/2″ top fold card base I created from Stamper’s Select White cardstock from Papertrey Ink, before finishing off with a few Raindrops from Little Things from Lucy’s Cards.
I stamped the large floral image using Memento Espresso Truffle ink, which sits somewhere between brown and grey, it’s a nice color to use when you don’t want black. I then die cut the image, before I used the coloring stencils and fresh dye inks from Altenew to do the “coloring”. I used the North Shore set for the blues, Sun-kissed Delights for the yellows, Jade Dreams for the greens and Warm Gray for the gray (which I covered up with the green). I didn’t want the centers green, so I started out with grey, which got very flat and dull. I covered it with green, which then made it very dark, and still pretty flat, so in the end, I went over with lots of dots of a white Sharpie paint marker and a black glaze pen. It turned out okay in the end, but if I were to remake this card, I think I’d go in with a couple of greens anyway. Live and learn, I guess.
I created a large card base (5 x 6 1/4″) and ink blended Winter Lake ink onto the bottom for a nice, gradient effect. I used the Stippled Plaid press plate from Pinkfresh Studio to create some subtle interest in the background on a separate piece of paper. I inked up the plate with Icy Water ink, spritzed water on the back and front of the piece of white cardstock, then ran it through my die cutting machine with an embossing mat to create some deep texture. I then adhered this panel in the center of the card base using foam tape.
Behind my die cut floral, I stacked another 3 die cuts from white cardstock and adhered my stack to my card, letting equal amounts hang off the sides on the left and the right. I also die cut the Waterbrush Hello die from Altenew four times from white cardstock. I inked up the top layer with Arctic Mountain ink and adhered it to my flowers.
To finish off the design, I added some ombré glitter drops from Pinkfresh Studio in a visual triangle across the card.
I started with a panel of Stamper’s Select White cardstock from Papertrey Ink that I dry embossed. I then used a stencil set (the Butterfly Blooms set from Concord & 9th) to add the color. I used all inks from Concord & 9th: Powder for the background, Sprout and Parsley for the greens, Sunshine and Buttercup for the florals and Pink Lemonade and Honeysuckle for the pinks.
Once the panel was all inked, I adhered it to a white card base, created half circle notches at the top and bottom with a small circle die and thread some cotton thread through, which I tied off in a bow. I added pink sparkly gems to act as the bodies of the butterflies and finished off with a couple of black sentiment sticker strips that I mounted on foam tape. I love the softness of the background against the bold of the black. The black really draws your eye.
I fit a lot of images into this scene. 
I colored in my scene with Copics, opting for very vibrant colors for all the floating elements and the details on the boat house, while keeping the rest fairly muted. The lake is lighter the further back you get, and the sky is a bit moody off in the distance. I added a bit of black glaze pen to the eyes of the gang on the pier for a little bit of dimension and shine.
I stamped a sentiment from the 
I adhered the panel to a card base that measures 6 1/8″ x 4 1/4″. This is an irregular size for a card, but when I create scenes like this, I let the scene dictate the size of the card. I can always make a custom envelope to fit.
I used lots of Copics for this one.
Papirmølla 