You’re chimply the best! {Purple Onion Designs}

October 19, 2021October 18, 2021 ElinLeave a comment

Hi! Today I have a fun and festive, yet very simple card to share, featuring the Confetti Celebration stamp set from Purple Onion Designs, illustrated by Julian Charlton. I love Elliot and Marcel, they’re so fun and quirky. They’re also not super detailed in the linework, which gives me the opportunity to practice my watercoloring.

I bought a 36 tube set of Mijello Mission Gold watercolors last September, and they’ve been sitting in their palette scaring me, but I’ve recently started dabbling a little bit. Images like this with big open areas are great for practice, and this is my third proper watercolor piece. Yes, I’m keeping track, haha. The previous two attempts were both noline. One was a background, and the other a digital stamp. My printer ink doesn’t play well (or at all, really) with water, so I had to opt for the noline look to prevent visible bleeding. I dove right into the deep end, hoping I could pull it off.

I stamped the image onto Fabriano Artistico Extra White watercolor paper using VersaFine Onyx Black ink. I’ve created a birthday card with these two once before (blog post here). Back then, I used blue, green and yellow, so I wanted a different palette for today’s card. Pink, orange and yellow is a palette I really love, and with the pink watercolor wash on the background, as well as the Poppin’ Pink cardstock from My Favorite Things that I chose to create my card base from, I think this is a really fun card.

For my last card with this image, I used my Copic BV20 series for a purply gray elephant. This time, I went for a bluer version to get a nice contrast. I actually decided to mute my pink a little before painting with it. The Bright Opera color from Mijello is a super bright pink, and I added a tiny bit of Hooker’s Green to dull it a little, it was just too bright a pink straight from the palette for what I wanted.

Once I’d painted my scene, I went back over with a black pen to trace the lines of the image. I would have restamped if I could, but I stamped the image weeks before I painted it and removed the stamp from my MISTI in the meantime. Black pen to the rescue. I just wanted crisp black lines. I stamped a sentiment from the stamp set using VersaFine Onyx Black ink and heat embossed that using clear embossing powder.

I cut down my colored panel slightly and adhered it to an A7 top fold card base I created from two pieces of Poppin’ Pink cardstock from Papertrey Ink. To finish the card I adhered sequins, beads, confetti and other various little bits from the Sweet Shop mix from Little Things from Lucy’s Cards. I don’t usually put this many sequins on my cards and scatter them like this, but I wanted to really keep the party vibe from these two going across the entire card front.

Let it snow {Purple Onion Designs}

September 11, 2021September 10, 2021 Elin2 Comments

Hi! I’m sharing a fairly simple card today, using two images from Purple Onion Designs.

I did something a little different for this card. Exactly one year ago, with helpful advice and a gentle nudge from Debby Hughes, I bought a 36 tube watercolor set. Watercolor’s always scared me, but at the same time I’ve really wanted to try it, because it gives an effect you just can’t achieve using Copics. I decided to finally pull them out and try them on this card.

I stamped the Pine Tree Farm onto a 5×7″ sheet of Fabriano Artistico Extra White watercolor paper using Fadeout ink from Inkon3 and used my Mijello Mission Gold watercolors to color the sky, the ground and the trees. It took a while to get the dimension and depth I wanted in those trees, but I’m kind of stoked with my first attempt at watercolor, it wasn’t as scary as I thought it’d be.

I used a die from Waffle Flower to cut my panel down to a rectangle that would fit my card, which also helped flatten it out a bit, it was a little bit warped. I sprinkled on Chunky White embossing enamel from Stampendous and melted the granules from the back, before mounting the panel on foam tape and adhering it to the front of my top fold landscape A2 card.

Using My Favorite Things Extreme Black ink, I stamped the Sweet Snow Friends image onto a piece of X-Press It blending card and colored the image with Copics, before fussy cutting it and giving it that same chunky white embossing enamel treatment as the background. I added lots of 1 mm foam squares to the back, and added the cute little critters to my watercolor background.

I die cut the words let it snow three times from white cardstock using a die from Mama Elephant, stacked them for a dimensional sentiment and adhered it to my scene to finish the card.

The Copics I used for the cute critters and snowman.

Make a wish {Purple Onion Designs}

August 23, 2021August 22, 2021 Elin2 Comments

Hi! I’m sharing a card today that is near and dear to my heart. I shared the coloring of this Wishing mouse from Stacey Yacula and Purple Onion Designs back in July last year. It was the first Purple Onion Designs image that I ever colored. A little over a year later, and I’m lucky enough to be on the Purple Onion design team, all because of this one image.

I colored the image using a very soft color palette with my Copics. I didn’t write the colors down, so unfortunately, I have no fancy graphic to show you at the end of this post. I wish I did, though, because I really like the colors I used for this.

I used the largest of the A2 Stitched Rectangles STAX 2 dies to turn my colored piece into a nice panel with the faux stitch edge I love so much. I decided to adhere it directly to my top fold card base, that I made from Berry Sorbet cardstock from Papertrey Ink. The color matches the darkest parts of her dress very well.

Onto a separate piece of Berry Sorbet, I stamped and white heat embossed part of a sentiment in the A Beautiful Day Sentiment Set from Purple Onion Designs, before cutting it down to a super small sentiment strip using a steel ruler and a craft knife. To me, it’s the best way to create sentiment strips, die cutting is more risky to me, this way, I know it’s straight.

I die cut part the word wish using a die from Mama Elephant. The die actually die cuts the word wishes, but I cut off the tail end of the word so I was left with just wish. I die cut four more from Grapefruit cardstock from Concord & 9th, and added them behind the top die cut for dimension. This makes the word lighter (and it makes it match the lighter parts of the dress) from the sides. I did the same with the sentiment strips above, making the strip and the stacked die cut flush.

I finished off the card by adding a few sparkling clear sequins from Pretty Pink Posh. I used my scissors to cut the largest sequin in half to tuck it behind the sentiment strip.

Have a great day {Purple Onion Designs}

August 8, 2021July 23, 2021 ElinLeave a comment

Hi! Today, I’m sharing another simple card. As usual, it does involve something fiddly and somewhat time consuming, even though you can’t really tell from the end result.

For this card, I’m using the Together stamp set from Purple Onion Designs, illustrated by Stacey Yacula. The stamp set comes with this cute image and five sentiments you can pair with it, and $10 from each set sold is donated to raise money for Covid-10 relief across the world.

I stamped the critters in Extreme Black ink from My Favorite Things onto X-Press It blending card and colored in the image with my Copics. I kept the background white, but stamped and fussy cut a mask and ink blended clouds in the background using three stencils from My Favorite Things (Cloud, Rolling Clouds and Slimline Cloud Edges) and Lazy Day ink, also from MFT.

I die cut the largest of the dies in the Stitched Rectangle Scallop Edge Frames die set from My Favorite Things 4 times from Cement Gray cardstock from MFT, stacked them for dimension and adhered my frame to my colored piece, and then adhered all of it to an A2 landscape top fold card base I created from Stamper’s Select White cardstock from Papertrey Ink.

I tried several different things for my sentiment. First I die cut a banner with a fishtail shape at the end, but it kind of didn’t fit the card. I cut that down using a smaller fish frame die from MFT, but I wasn’t happy with how that looked either. In the end I used my craft knife to cut it down to a strip, which worked heaps better. I added a couple more layers of cardstock behind it for stability and dimension.

I finished off the card very simply by adding three sequins from the Sparkling Clear sequins mix from Pretty Pink Posh. My baggie of these particular sequins is getting towards the end, they’re my most used sequins, they go with everything.

Last, but not least, the Copics I used for the cute little critters.

Happy Wedding {Purple Onion Designs}

July 29, 2021July 22, 2021 ElinLeave a comment

Hi! I have a card to share today with an image from Stacey Yacula and Purple Onion Designs that is a little bit different from the critters we’re used to seeing from Stacey.

I thought this Large Floral Wreath was so beautiful, and I wanted the focus to be on that. I decided to make my card super simple. Scratch that, I decided to make my card *look* super simple. Fussy cutting and putting tiny slivers of clear foam tape behind each of those leaves took a while.

I created a top fold white card base from Stampers Select White cardstock from Papertrey Ink and added a smaller gray panel made from Soft Stone cardstock, also from Papertrey Ink. I popped the gray panel up using lots of foam tape.

I wanted an elegant sentiment, and most of the sentiments I have from Purple Onion Designs didn’t really fit, so I wound up using a sentiment from the Vintage Roses stamp set from Altenew, and stamped that using Gravel Gray ink from My Favorite Things.

I added lots of sequins from Pretty Pink Posh around the entire wreath on this one. It adds a little bit of interest to what is a very simple looking card.

Super simple use of Copics for this card.

Hello friend! {Purple Onion Designs}

July 25, 2021July 22, 2021 ElinLeave a comment

Hi, there! I have a fun slimline card to share today, featuring the Up and Away stamp from Purple Onion Designs. Photographing slimline cards is still something I find very tricky, but this image was begging for a slimline design, and if I don’t practice taking photos of slimline cards, I’ll never get better at it, right?

I stamped the image using Extreme Black ink from My Favorite Things onto X-Press It blending card and colored it with my Copics before fussy cutting right up against the black lines. I even cut off the strings of the image, but I made little marks on the back of where they were, so I could add some black sewing thread as strings instead.

I used the Slim Film City die set from Mama Elephant to create my background. I die cut the sky from Blue Breeze cardstock and used the Slimline Cloud Edges stencil and the Rolling Clouds stencil, both from MFT, along with some Lazy Day ink, also from MFT, to create my clouds. I even splattered a little bit of the ink on top for added interest. For the skyline I die cut three layers from Gravel Gray cardstock from My Favorite Things. I heat embossed a sentiment from the Sweet SUMMER Sentiment Set from Purple Onion onto the top layer of my skyline and added a few sparkling clear sequins around it.

I used 1 mm foam squares behind my hot air balloon, and decided I wanted even more dimension and interest, so I die cut a couple of clouds from vellum, using a set of dies from Papertrey Ink. I glued the vellum clouds onto my card in very strategic spots, and used more sequins to cover up the glue. Little trick of the trade.

I used a lot of colors for this balloon!

Treat yourself! {Purple Onion Designs}

July 13, 2021July 12, 2021 ElinLeave a comment

Hi, there! I’m back with another card where it’s pretty much all about the coloring. As a Stacey Yacula fan, getting the chance to play with her images is a dream, and today I dreamt up a very summery birthday card… with a sundae. Can’t beat a sundae!

I stamped Juliet, masked the umbrella and stamped the Tree Line Horizon before removing the mask and coloring in my scene using Copics. I usually color the whole panel, but this time I left the sky white.

To add color to the sky I once again placed a mask on the umbrella, masked off the trees and the horizon line and put a piece of printer paper at the bottom to protect the rest of the scene before using a blender brush from Taylored Expressions and inks from Altenew. I wanted a darker blue towards the grass, going lighter further up. I used Eastern Sky at the bottom and Iceberg towards the top.

I wanted a little bit of extra interest in the sky, and decided to add some ink splatters. I added a spritz of sheer shimmer spray to an acrylic block along with Eastern Sky ink for a sparkly blue. I liked it, but thought it needed a little more contrast, and went one shade darker with Ultramarine mixed with a little bit of water and added that too.

I stamped and white heat embossed a sentiment from the Sunshiny Sentiment set onto a piece of Gravel Gray card stock from My Favorite Things and die cut it using the largest of the three dies in the Fishtail Flag Frames die set, also from MFT. I added a couple of more strips of card stock behind the banner for a little bit of lift, and tucked a couple of sparkling clear sequins from Pretty Pink Posh under for a little bit of embellishment.

I really really really love Stacey’s images, and they’re so much fun to create dreamy scenes from.

I want to say I didn’t go overboard with my Copics on this one, but there were a lot of greens used for this card. I just can’t help myself.

Hello {Purple Onion Designs}

June 22, 2021June 21, 2021 Elin1 Comment

Hi, there! I’m sharing a card that’s a little different for me today. I created a little landscape scene using three stamps from Purple Onion Designs: Chloe, Birch Tree Background and Bloom no. 2 Daisy. I did some masking and stamped my images using Extreme Black ink from My Favorite Things onto X-Press It blending card, which is what I pretty much always use for my Copic coloring. I love my X-Press It! I wanted a golden brown bunny and actually chose to color the shirt yellow. I don’t use yellow a lot in my cards, but thought it was the perfect summery color for this one. Summer solstice was yesterday, which means that even though we’re only three weeks into summer, the days are about to get shorter. I don’t want shorter days, I love it when the sun barely has time to set before rising again the next day.

I don’t make many landscape cards, and this one turned out to be a side fold card, which is even more rare for me. I love my top fold cards, but I’d already cut and scored this card base and figured I might as well use it and create a side fold card for once.

To reinforce the yellow shirt and the yellow on the flowers, I decided to add a yellow frame. I die cut the largest of the Stitched Rectangle Scallop Edge Frames dies from My Favorite Things out of Bright Buttercup card stock from Papertrey Ink and added three additional white die cut frames behind it for dimension.

In the space between the trees I had room for a fairly large hello, die cut using the Say Hello die from My Favorite Things. It’s really a speech bubble die, but I’d used everything but the word for a different card and had the stacked hello die cut in a bowl on my desk, ready to go. There’s a ton of dimension in this die cut, it’s six layers thick.

Some bright, sunshiny Copics to finish off.

Showering you with birthday wishes {Purple Onion Designs}

June 20, 2021June 20, 2021 ElinLeave a comment

Hi! I have a simple, yet colorful birthday card to share today, featuring the Confetti Celebration stamp set from Purple Onion Designs, illustrated by Julian Charlton.

I love Elliot & Marcel, they’re such a cute pair, and so full of character!! These two don’t have a ton of detail to them, making them quick and easy to color. If detailed coloring isn’t your thing, these stamps are a great option. I colored my elephant and monkey (and umbrella and confetti) using my Copics, and I didn’t even ground these. I did, however die cut them into a panel using the largest of my A2 stitched rectangles dies from My Favorite Things.

I adhered my colored panel onto a top fold card base I made from Lush Lagoon card stock from My Favorite Things, and added a second white panel with faux stitching to the inside of the card, giving me plenty of space to write a personal message to the recipient.

I stamped and white heat embossed a sentiment from the Confetti Celebration stamp set onto a separate piece of Lush Lagoon card stock and decided to cut it up, leaving out the word birthday entirely and using a die from My Favorite Things to create die cut letters instead. I used the Big Birthday Wishes die, and die cut it three times from white card stock and once from a silver glitter card stock.

I stacked my letters for a dimensional look, glued them to my card and added the rest of the sentiment above and below my die cut word. The wonky angles I used for the sentiment goes well with the playful look of the image and adds a little bit of visual interest.

To finish off the card I added a few enamel dots from Papirdesign that match the colors I used for the confetti and the umbrella.

Very simple use of Copics for this one. With such a fun, simple image, you really don’t need much.

Hello {Purple Onion Designs}

June 11, 2021June 11, 2021 ElinLeave a comment

Hi, there! I hope you’ve had a good week so far. Summer’s finally here, and I for one couldn’t be happier about it. More sunlight, warmer weather and looooong days (sunrise before 4 AM and sunset around 11 PM right now). When the weather gets warmer, we always see more planes in the air. Not commercial flights, but smaller planer and seaplanes (we’re on a fjord). I love this time of year and seeing all these cute (can planes be cute?) planes, and I thought this T-bird image from Purple Onion Designs was the perfect image to represent the season.

I used reds, yellows and oranges for my image, colors I definitely don’t use a lot, but I thought it would be a nice contrast to the ink blended cloud background and my gray skyscraper skyline. I stamped the T-Bird and the banner on one piece of X-Press It blending card, wanting the two images to look like one. I fussy cut them and stamped hello from the Journey sentiment set onto the banner, before mounting the plane and banner on 1/16″ foam tape. For the background I used the slimline cloud edges stencil from My Favorite Things along with Eastern Sky ink from Altenew which I ink blended onto a piece of Bristol Smooth cardstock that I’d die cut using one of the dies from the Slimline Starter die set from My Favorite Things. I used the same die on a piece of Gravel Gray cardstock from MFT to get the nice faux stitched edge going all the way around my card and a die in the Slim Film City die set from Mama Elephant to create the skyline. Everything’s adhered onto a top fold slimline card base that I made out of Red Hot cardstock from My Favorite Things.

Doesn’t this bear look cute in his plane?? I stamped and white heat embossed some clouds onto vellum and adhered them using slivers of clear foam tape behind the white embossed lines. It would have been easier to glue them straight onto the card, but I like a bit of dimension, which is tricky with vellum, because pretty much everything shows through. The white embossed lines hide my foam tape pretty well.

Like I said initially, these warm colors aren’t the ones that I reach for the most, but I love how they pop against the ink blended clouds and skyline in the background.