Let’s Celebrate {Purple Onion Designs}

Hi, crafty friends. I’m back today with a very simple card featuring Let’s Celebrate from the Tofu & Friends summer collection from Purple Onion Designs, illustrated by PEI.

I stamped this cute gang onto X-Press It blending card and colored them with Copics, then used the largest die in the A2 Rectangle STAX Set 2 from My Favorite Things to create my standard faux stitch edge. I stamped a sentiment from the Everyday Blurbs stamp set using Sour Apple ink from My Favorite Things. It matches the green in the coloring nicely.

I covered the critters with a mask, then used the Bokeh Elements Stencil Duo set from Waffle Flower to create some interest to the rest of the panel. I used Pistachio and Misty Sage fresh dye inks from Altenew for the green and started with Peachy Glow, also fresh ink from Altenew, for the smaller yellow dots. I suspect my stencil wasn’t clean from the last project, because the yellow seemed a bit too muddy for the look I was going for, so I went over with Scattered Straw Distress Ink, which helped. I then rotated the stencil 180 degrees and went in with Simon Hurley Solar Paste in the Golden Hour color. This paste goes on so easily and has a lot of shine. Once the paste was dry, I adhered my panel to a top fold card base I created from Sour Apple cardstock from My Favorite Things, and the card was complete.

The solar paste adds so much shine that I decided not to add any embellishments to this card, making it very mail friendly.

I didn’t use a ton of colors for this one.

You are tee-rific! {Purple Onion Designs}

Hi, crafty friends! I have a couple of golfers coming your way today. Mulligan and Bogey are from this summer’s Stacey Yacula release from Purple Onion Designs. The collection is Amongst the Pines, and it has an outdoorsy/sports feel to it, which is perfect right now with the summer Olympics underway in Paris.

I stamped Mulligan and Bogey using Extreme Black ink from My Favorite Things, before covering them with masks and stamping the 18th Hole. I covered that with a mask and stamped the Woodland Horizon.

When I color large scenes like this, I always start with the background. I colored the sky first, then the green. There’s a lot of green in this one, and even thought I used different green combos for different elements and tried a new combo for the majority of the green, most of it blends together in the end and looks pretty much like the same color.

On Bogey, I repeated the colors I used for the clouds on her outfit. Repeating colors creates a more cohesive design, and the end result isn’t rainbow vomit, which can easily happen if you don’t restrain yourself from using every color under the sun. I even used the pinks on a few details in Mulligan’s outfit, and colored the rest of his outfit blue. I chose a dark blue combo for his pants and hat, and used the lightest color in that combination as the darkest color for the lighter blue on his sweater and shoes. This way, the color isn’t the same across his entire outfit, but I’m not introducing a new color. It’s a great way to avoid rainbow vomit.

To finish off the card, I stamped a sentiment from The Great Outdoors Sentiment Set using Lazy Day ink from My Favorite Things, before finishing off with a few enamel dots from the North Shore mix from Altenew.

See? Not a whole lot of colors, given this is a full A2 size panel that’s all covered with color.

Hope you are taking some time to relax {Purple Onion Designs}

Hi, crafty friends. I’m sharing a fun, summery card today featuring Just Float from the Tofu & Friends Summer Fun collection from Purple Onion Designs, illustrated by Pei. I love everything she draws, and if this image isn’t a relaxing one, I don’t what is.

I colored up my image with Copics, before stamping on top of the black lines with Obsidian ink from Altenew to darken up the lines even further. I fussy cut the image, leaving a bit of white trim around the edges, then put it aside while I worked on the rest of my card. Using the Snow Drifts Cover-Up die from My Favorite Things, I die cut three segments of the die from three shades of blue cardstock (Cornflower, Lazy Day and Blue Breeze, all from My Favorite Things). Even though it’s a snow die, it totally works for waves, I think. I inked up the top of each die cut using matching inks (Cornflower and Lazy Day from MFT for the darkest and middle color cardstock, Harbor ink from Concord & 9th for the lightest). I added ink splatter to all three using Cornflower ink and also Concord & 9th White. I adhered them to a scrap of cardstock to make them work as one die cut instead of three separate ones.

I used the Ray of Light stencil from My Favorite Things to ink blend yellow ink onto a piece of Stamper’s Select White cardstock from Papertrey Ink. I used Harvest Gold ink from Papertrey Ink, and added a little bit of Sunshine ink from Simon Says Stamp near the top for a little more intensity. I then used what I had left on my ink blending brush to cover the entire thing, I didn’t want the background to be stark white, and this worked beautifully. I added ink splatter once again using the Sunshins ink, cut the panel down and stamped a sentiment from the Friendly Warm Wishes Sentiment set from the same release as the image. I adhered the panel with a bit of dimension behind it to a top fold card base I created from Stamper’s Select White cardstock, glued the waves on top, then mounted my image using foam tape, before finishing off with a few pearls from the Beach Dreams Crystal Collection from Little Things from Lucy’s Cards.

I used a very limited color palette for this one.

Another year filled with wonder {Purple Onion Designs}

Hi, crafty friends. I’m back today with a fun scene created with cute critters from the recent Amongst the Pines collection from Purple Onion Designs, illustrated beautifully by Stacey Yacula. This card actually features six images from the new collection, as well as a sentiment from the coordinating sentiment set.

I stamped and masked Woody, Fern, Pistachio, Ranger Rockwell and the Fallen Log image using Extreme Black ink from My Favorite Things, which is a Copic friendly hybrid ink. I then stamped the Evergreen Trail using Fadeout ink from Inkon3 for a no line look in the background.

Once all my coloring was complete, I stamped on top of my critters, this time using Obsidian ink from Altenew. This is a very crisp pigment ink, and it makes the critters really stand out, but it’s not Copic friendly, so all the coloring needs to be complete when doing this. To finish off, I stamped a sentiment from The Great Outdoors Sentiment set using Jalapeño Popper ink from My Favorite Things. I also used a white, fine point Sharpie to get the spots on the deer.

Lots of Copics for this one.

Have an adventurous birthday! {Purple Onion Designs}

Hi, crafty friends. I’m sharing a fun, one layer birthday card today, featuring lots of cuties from the latest Amongst the Pines collection from Purple Onion Designs. I love every single collection Stacey Yacula creates for Purple Onion Designs, and this is a great outdoorsy one!

I created a fun water scene with Hazel, Skip, Rip, Paddle and the Rainbow Falls background, all from the latest release. There’s a bit of masking involved, but I love creating cards like this! I stamped all the critters using My Favorite Things Extreme Black ink, which is Copic friendly. I added masks for all of them, then stamped the background using Fadeout ink from Inkon3, which is an awesome ink for no line coloring. I colored the background first, then all the critters, before stamping the critters again, this time using Obsidian ink from Altenew. This is a pigment ink and not at all Copic friendly, so I do this once all the coloring is done. Using a Misti and a sheet of acetate makes it easy to line the images back up to stamp on top of the previous stamping.

I stamped a sentiment from the coordinating The Great Outdoors Sentiment Set using Blue Yonder ink from My Favorite Things. The blue matches the water nicely, and the sentiment isn’t too much of a distraction from the main scene when it’s tone on tone. I used an extra fine point white Sharpie to create ripples in the water and the foam created from the waterfall, and my card was complete.

Considering I colored the entire card front on this card, I don’t think I used too many markers.

You’re such a sweet friend {Purple Onion Designs}

Hi, crafty friends. I have a fun card to share today featuring Flappy’s Watermelon Chill from the new Tofu & Friends Summer Fun collection from Purple Onion Designs, illustrated by Pei.

I colored the image with Copics, fussy cut right up against the black lines and put the image aside while I worked on the rest of my card. I used the second largest die in the Watercolor Rectangle STAX die set from My Favorite Things to cut my white panel down with a fun border. I also used a small circle die to cut a hole behind where I wanted the image to go, as this is a pendulum card. The watermelon rocks back and forth when you tilt the card, which adds a fun element to an otherwise simple design. I stamped part of the sentiment from the Friendly Warm Wishes sentiment set, which is also new with this release, using Parsley ink from Concord & 9th, and filled in the center of the sentiment with letters I die cut using the Parker alphabet die set from Memory Box. It’s an older die set, but I love the sans serif design of the letters.

I used a strip of acetate with a washer at one end to create my pendulum mechanism. On the other end of the acetate strip, I added a button. I lined up my acetate piece on the back of my white die cut panel so the button would go through the hole and adhered the image to the button using liquid glue. I put foam tape on the back of the panel, making sure to leave enough open space for the pendulum to swing freely, then adhered everything to a top fold note card I created from Fire Coral cardstock from My Favorite Things, which is the same color cardstock that I used for the die cut letters. To finish off the card, I added sequins from the Waterfall mix from Little Things from Lucy’s Cards, making sure to place the top ones so Flappy wouldn’t catch when he rocks. Of course, you can’t see him rock in still photos, but if you head to my post on Instagram, you can see him in action.

Simple color palette for this one.

The entire Tofu & Friends Summer Fun collection, with a coordinating sentiment set, is available as a discounted bundle over at Purple Onion Designs. The bundled set is discounted 30 % off the regular price and is available until Saturday, June 15th 2024, so if you’d like to purchase Flappy and a whole bunch of other cute characters, you can save big if you hurry.

Thanks a million {Purple Onion Designs}

Hi, crafty friends. I’m sharing a simple card today, featuring Flowers from Tofu from the most recent release from Purple Onion Designs, illustrated by Pei.

I colored Tofu with Copics and fussy cut him leaving a thin white border. Onto my card base I stamped the Touch of Texture background stamp from My Favorite Things in VersaMark ink, sprinkled on Iridescent Sparkle embossing powder from JudiKins and heat embossed for a subtle texture on the white card base.

I wanted an angled panel near the bottom of my card, so I stamped a sentiment from the Bitty Thanks & Gratitude stamp set from My Favorite Things, using Sour Apple ink on Sour Apple cardstock, both from My Favorite Things. I glued a piece of patterned paper below it and mounted it to my card base. I wish I remember where this patterned paper was from, but it came in a mystery box from Simon Says Stamp and there was no label on the packaging, so I don’t know. I put my little cat on foam tape and finished off with a few sequins from the Waterfall mix from Little Things from Lucy’s Cards.

I love these bright, happy colors together.

Chirp chirp! {Purple Onion Designs}

Hi, crafty friends. I’m sharing a fun card today featuring three small chicks from Purple Onion Designs. Meet Flo, Mo & Bo. These three are older, they’re from the Sunny Meadow Fair collection from 2019, but I’ve been dying to use them, and this was the perfect opportunity.

These little chicks are so cute. And since they’re so small, they’re very easy to color. I did quick Copic coloring, before using the 1″ square die in the Postage Collage die set from Waffle Flower to cut them out. I then quickly scribbled on some grass so they’d have something to stand on, then masked off the chicks and the outer perimeter of each postage stamp, before ink blending the sky using Aqua Sky ink from Concord & 9th.

Onto a panel of Buttercup cardstock from Concord & 9th, I ink blended with the same ink color using the Watercolor Stripes stencil from Altenew. I cut the panel down slightly, and adhered it to a card base I created from Stamper’s Select White cardstock from Papertrey Ink.

I mounted my postage stamp chicks in the top center of the card, and also an additional fourth square that I ink blended in the same way. I stamped and white heat embossed a sentiment from the Easter bunnies stamp set from Simon Hurley Create and ink blended over the top using more of that Aqua Sky ink from Concord & 9th. I cut the sentiment into two small strips and mounted them on foam tape on the top of the bottom right square, angling them for a playful look, before finishing the card with a few enamel dots from the Cool Summer Night pack from Altenew.

I love the dimension behind these postage stamps, it looks like these chicks are floating.

Super simple color palette for this one.

I’m lucky to have you in my life {Purple Onion Designs}

Hi, crafty friends. Today, I’m sharing a fun card featuring Flappy’s Lucky Day, illustrated by Pei for Purple Onion Designs. I love her collection of critters! My mojo’s been missing since we entered the new year. I’ve done some shopping, cleaned and refilled all of my Copics (which took forever, btw) and done a few other things in hopes that my mojo would return. Nothing worked, and for the last two months, my cards have been very basic and also somewhat similar as a result. Last weekend, that changed. I flew to Trondheim for a crafty weekend away, and even taught a class (I’ll share more about that tomorrow). The weekend away did a world of good, and I *think* my mojo’s back. At the very least I had no issues creating this card, it all flowed very nicely, and I’m hoping my mojo will stay for a good long while this time.

I didn’t want to use Flappy and his little friends on their own, so I decided to create a mask and stamp The Perfect Spot behind them. This is an older stamp from Stacey Yacula, it’s from the A Beautiful Day collection, which released in 2014. I still wanted to keep the focus on this new image, so I decided to leave the background un-colored. This way, Flappy and his friends really get to shine, and the card isn’t all green, which could have easily been the case had I colored the background also.

Once my coloring was complete, I stamped a sentiment from the coordinating Lucky sentiment set using Sprout ink from Concord & 9th. This color goes really well with the vibrant green I used for the ground. I trimmed the panel down to 3 1/2 x 4 7/8″ and adhered it to a 4 bar card base I created from Stamper’s Select White cardstock from Papertrey Ink, before finishing off with a few sequins from the White Orchid Sequin mix from Little Things from Lucy’s Cards.

I used a mixture of brown and gray for Flappy’s fur, and an obscene amount of colors for the green.

Hugs from the heart {Purple Onion Designs}

Hi, crafty friends. Purple Onion Designs has a brand new release out. Tofu and his friends, first featured in the holidiay collection in 2023, are back with a Valentine and St. Patrick’s Day theme. Obviously, these images can be used for other occasions, as well, and they’re just so darn cute!

I colored up Love, Brownie Bear for my first card, I just couldn’t resist the wings and bee costume on this cute bear. I added some grass under his feet, die cut the panel using the second largest die in the Additional A2 Layers die set from Waffle Flower and adhered it to a card base I created from Grapefruit cardstock from Concord & 9th.

I stamped a sentiment from InkyWings using Pink Pearl ink from Altenew. The stamp actually has the word hugs in it too, but I opted for a die cut hugs, using the Sweet Sentiments die set from Altenew. I die cut four from Grapefruit cardstock and stacked them together for a dimensional look.

I finished off with a couple of heart droplets from Little Things from Lucy’s Cards.

Fairly simple color palette for this one.