Hope your day is filled with sunshine {Streamside Studios}

Hi, crafty friends. I’m sharing a tri-fold card today, featuring one of the new Little Miss stamps from Streamside Studios.

I colored my scene with Copics on X-Press It cardstock and fussy cut right up against the black lines. This image has very simple outlines, making fussy cutting a cinch.

I covered the entire colored panel with sheer sparkle craft spray from Imagine, it adds so much sparkle, which unfortunately is hard to capture in photos. It’s there in real life, though, trust me. I glued my colored piece onto a thicker white cardstock, both for a bit of stability and to hide the back of the colored panel. Copics bleed through to the back (you want that, it’s actually a sign that you’re using a good cardstock for Copic coloring), and I usually add my panels to card bases, but this one was different. I scored the white cardstock at the bottom and glued the back flap to the back bottom of an A2 card base I created from Lovely Lady cardstock from Papertrey Ink. With hidden magnets between the layers of the card, it stays shut and doesn’t fall open.

You can see some of the shimmer in this photo, a couple of big droplets fell on the mushroom and the rainbow. I added pearls from the Igloo mix from Little Things from Lucy’s Cards for the mushroom, and used a black glaze pen from Sakura to make the eyes stand out.

Lots of Copics for this one.

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.

Your friendship means so much {Purple Onion Designs}

Hi, crafty friends. I have a card to share today featuring the two cutest bunnies you ever did see. April and Bella from Purple Onion Designs are actually both from the Spread Kindness collection from 2018, but the Purple Onion Designs images are timeless and will never get old. Purple Onion Designs is having their anniversary sale right now, too. We’re celebrating 19 years of beautiful rubber stamps and all Purple Onion Designs rubber stamps (with just a few exceptions) are 25% off until Sunday, so if you’ve had your eyes on some of the gorgeous new stamps from the latest “A Special Day” release or some older ones, like the one’s I’ve used for my card today, this is your chance to get a great deal. Saving 25% means you can buy more stamps, right?

I stamped April (the bunny on the swing), masked off the rope of the swing, stamped the Perch from the A Sweet Summer collection from 2013, and then stamped Bella (bunny holding flower) to the right of April. I also masked part of the branch before stamping the Countryside horizon stamp from the A Happy Little Place collection that came out in 2021. I used Fadeout ink from Inkon3 for a soft noline look in the background. The different collections from Purple Onion work so seamlessly together, the possibilities are endless.

When I color full panels like this, I usually color the sky blue, but I wanted to shake things up a little for this card and gave it a soft sunset vibe instead. I live far enough north that the sun doesn’t really set until really late at night in the summer, but a girl can pretend, right? Anything goes when it’s a card, it doesn’t have to be very realistic – not that a bunny on a swing (or one holding a flower for that matter) is very realistic to begin with.

I lost track of how many layers of green I added for the grass. I wanted it to be light and soft looking almost fading into white in the background to make the foreground stand out, and darker in the foreground so the critters would look like they belonged to the scene. I started with the lighter colors for my blends, then kept introducing darker greens towards the bottom and fading up into the background until I found the intensity I was after.

Once I finished coloring in the scene, I added a sentiment from the Together stamp set. The sentiment comes in one line, but I wanted a stacked look for this card and cut it in half to make it fit the space I had in the scene. I used VersaFine Onyx Black ink to get crisp dark lines. The bottom half looks a little bolder than the top because I needed to stamp it twice. I probably should have let it air dry between the two stampings, but I was impatient and used my heat tool to speed along the drying, which seems to also have made the stamping bleed a little. Note to self for next time, I guess.

I trimmed off 1/16″ on all four sides of my colored panel and adhered it to a white card base I created from Stamper’s Select White cardstock from Papertrey Ink. I thought about leaving the panel a full size, but I really like the border the white cardstock gives, it’s a nice little frame.

I find it odd that I rarely use more colors for full panels like this than just a simple image, but that tends to be how it is around here.

Get Cracking on Christmas – August

Hi, crafty friends. It’s the third Thursday of the month, and that means it’s time to Get Cracking on Christmas. This is a series Jenn Shurkus created a few years back, aimed at creating holiday cards all year to make you less stressed come November and to also use those supplies you bought, but didn’t have to use last year. We all do that, right? It’s not just me? It’s also a great opportunity to play with techniques and different card designs. I love creating Christmas cards all year, so this is right up my alley.

For this card, I’m once again focusing on the Snow Cute stamp set Lili of the Valley released earlier this month. It’s such a cute stamp set (aptly named), and I just can’t resist when there’s a penguin to color. I colored the penguin with Copics, cut my panel down to a strip and put it aside while I worked on the rest of my card.

I created a top fold card base from Enchanted Evening cardstock from Papertrey Ink. This is one of my all time favorite cardstock colors, and I hoard it, always afraid I’m going to run out even though I have several packs of it. I die cut the lighter blue panel from Blue Breeze cardstock from My Favorite Things using the Stitched Snowflake Backdrop die from Lawn Fawn. The die cuts a full size panel for an A2 card, I trimmed mine down slightly to have the darker blue border showing around the edges.

I added a few extra white pieces of cardstock behind my colored panel to make it stand out a little more against the background. I like the dimension it adds.

I used a few words from the Christmas Greetings stamp set from Lili of the Valley, cut them down to strips and added a few more cardstock layers behind them for additional dimension.

To finish the card I added a few sequins from the White Orchid sequin mix from Little Things from Lucy’s Cards. I also added a bit of black glaze pen to the penguin’s eyes, and then a white dot of Gelly Roll 05 on top once the black had dried. This makes the eyes stand out a little against the rest, and the shine looks great in real life. It’s hard to photograph, though, so you’ll just have to trust me.

Simple color palette for this one, these penguins don’t require a lot.

Life hack #649 {Mo’s Digital Pencil}

Hi, crafty friends. It’s time for a life hack, courtesy of a cutie from Mo’s Digital Pencil.

Meet Mae. Mae has life figured out, and I love her pose with that side eye, the hands on her back and her pant leg in her sock. The image actually comes with the life hack text; they’re separate, so you can choose to include the text or not. I thought it was too perfect not to include, and my chosen placement makes it look like she’s reading it thinking “yup, I got this”.

I colored the image with Copics, trimmed my panel down and added a thin strip of Limeade Ice cardstock from Papertrey Ink above and below for a little bit of extra color and definition.

I used the Crystal Distortion embossing folder from Simon Says Stamp on a piece of Sorbet cardstock from Concord & 9th. I added a little bit of moisture to the cardstock to prevent cracking before running it through my Gemini Jr. with a cutting plate, a metal shim and the embossing folder. Nothing else was required, and it turned out great.

I adhered the embossed panel to a top fold card base I created from Berry Sorbet cardstock from Papertrey Ink and mounted the colored piece on top using lots of foam tape, before finishing off the card with a couple of green enamel dots from Papirdesign.

I love the texture the embossing folder gives and the dimension from the foam tape. The two are just enough to add interest to this simple card.

I used more Copics than I thought I would for this. I even used BG71, which is a color I’ve created myself.

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.

A little gift for you {Rachelle Anne Miller Creative Studios}

Hi, crafty friends. I’m back today with a happy card featuring the new Teddy’s balloons image from Rachelle Anne Miller. I have a soft spot for images with balloons, and this one has plenty. I asked my color buddy Liz for a color combo suggestion, and she landed on the BG00 family, the YG20 family and the Y10 family of Copics. Teal, bright green and yellow is such a classic combo, so this came together fairly quickly, even for a procrastinator like me.

I colored the image with the colors she suggested, adding different colors only to bear. I trimmed my panel down slightly and stamped a sentiment from the Mini Messages stamp set from Mama Elephant using Sour Apple ink from My Favorite Things.

I created my card base from Classic Kraft cardstock from Papertrey Ink. I trimmed a piece of patterned paper from the Party Time 6×6″ paper pad from My Favorite Things down to a strip, and it had just the right colors for my card. I put four layers of white cardstock scraps behind it for dimension, and adhered it to my card. I did the same thing with my colored piece, adhering it to the card left of center, before using the Seashore mix of embellishments from Little Things from Lucy’s Cards to finish off the card.

This color palette makes me happy!

Hope your b-day’s totally gnarly! {Streamside Studios}

Hi, crafty friends! I’m back today with a super clean and simple card, featuring the brand new Beach mice (digi) stamp set from Streamside Studios. I just couldn’t resist this surfing mouse and the punny sentiment that goes with it.

I printed the image in the center of a quarter piece of A4 X-Press It blending card, before coloring it with my Copics. I’ve never colored waves like this before, so I felt like I was in deep water.

I’ve found, however, that the best thing to do is to just jump in. It’s just paper and ink, and not the end of the world if it’s not perfect.

I used blues, teals and even a little bit of green to create my waves. I’d already colored the surfboard using teal colors, but once I was finished with the waves, you couldn’t really tell them apart, so I went back in with dark blues on top of the teal of the surfboard instead. The blue stands out much more against the background, and I’m never mad when I have to use blue 😉

I trimmed my panel down, adhered it to a top fold card base I created from After Midnight cardstock from My Favorite Things and printed a punny sentiment that I put an additional four layers of cardstock behind for dimension, before finishing off with a few raindrops from Little Things from Lucy’s Cards. Super simple.

That little bit of dimension is everything on a simple card like this. Oh, and the raindrops too, I thought they fit well with the aquatic theme.

Lots and lots of blues for this!

Friends like you are hard to find {Rachelle Anne Miller Creative Studios}

Hi, crafty friends. I have a card to share today that isn’t holiday related. I know I’ve made a lot of Christmas cards lately (I love making them), but I’m shaking things up today with this adorable new Owl Find You! image from Rachelle Anne Miller.

As usual, I colored the image with Copics. I didn’t use very dark colors for this one, because I wanted the coloring to look soft. I purposely colored the owl in colors that wouldn’t stand out. By using the same colors that I used for the tree, they’re somewhat hidden and go well with the sentiment, which was my plan.

I created a top fold A2 card base from Jalapeño Popper cardstock from My Favorite Things, cut down my colored panel to 3 5/8 x 4 7/8″ and mounted it on foam tape in the center of my card.

From the same color cardstock, I used the Connected alphabet die set from My Favorite Things to die cut the letters to spell the word FRIENDS. I die cut each of the letters three times and stacked them for a dimensional look. Using Jalapeño Popper ink from My Favorite Things, I stamped the rest of the sentiment using the Bella Letters stamp set from Mama Elephant onto a strip of white cardstock from Papertrey Ink. I took my time stamping, I wanted this to look pretty straight, and if you’ve ever stamped a sentiment with individual letter stamps, you know that you just can’t rush it.

I added an additional two layers of white cardstock strips behind my stamped sentiment. I added my dimensional white strip onto a slightly wider green strip, before adhering it directly to the colored image, before finishing up the card with some sparkly sequins from the Seaglass mix from Simon Says Stamp.

Lots of dimension going on here. Dimension is life, after all 🙂 I added a tiny dot of black to their eyes with a Glaze pen to make them pop.

Very simple color palette for this one.

Christmas wishes {Lili of the Valley}

Hi, crafty friends. Earlier this week, the new Christmas collection from Lili of the Valley was launched on Create and Craft TV in the UK. Six stamp sets were released and my cards were shown on TV, that’s so freaky. You can watch the replay here – and I would because it was a fun show. And a funny show, the hostess couldn’t even finish her sentences because the products sold out so quickly.

This card features the same stamp from the Snow Cute stamp set that I used on the previous card I made with stamps from this release (it’s this one). For today’s card, I isolated the penguin in the stamp, fussy cut him and put him in a polaroid frame.

I created my card base from Stamper’s Select White cardstock from Papertrey Ink, and I wanted a blue gradient near the bottom, fading into white at the top. I pulled out a couple of blender brushes, the Lapis Lazuli inks (Azurite, Ultramarine, Eastern Sky and Iceberg) from Altenew and started blending from the darkest at the bottom to the lightest at the top.

Once I was happy with my blending, I die cut a bunch of snowflakes. I used an old die from Marianne Design (CR1335) which cuts plenty of snowflakes, as well as the Snowflake Confetti Fancy Die from Hero Arts. This is actually a cover plate, but as the name suggests, it creates confetti in the shape of snowflakes. I put the positive die cut back into the packaging to use for another card and glued the snowflakes to my background. The stark white of the snowflakes was a little too white for the sentiment I was putting on top to stand out, so I went back over with more blue ink once the snowflakes were adhered. This toned them down a bit, just enough for my die cut word to stand out.

Speaking of die cut word, I used this wishes die from Mama Elephant and die cut three layers of white cardstock, which I glued together for dimension. For the polaroid frame, I used the Precious Polaroids die set from My Favorite Things and die cut three of those as well.

I adhered the polaroid frame and the die cut word to the card front, popped the little penguin into the opening of the polaroid using some foam tape and completed the sentiment with a stamped word from the new sentiment set from Lili of the Valley, cut down to a strip and adhered with a couple of additional strips of cardstock behind it. Because dimension is life!

I hope you check out the new release from Lili of the Valley, there are so many great images and sentiments in these sets, the possibilities are endless!