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.
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 
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 
Simple color palette for this one.
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.
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 didn’t want to use Flappy and his little friends on their own, so I decided to create a mask and stamp 
Once my coloring was complete, I stamped a sentiment from the coordinating 
I used a mixture of brown and gray for Flappy’s fur, and an obscene amount of colors for the green.
I colored up 
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.
I almost gave up on this background. One of my markers went sticky. It had recently been refilled, so I knew it wasn’t because of lack of ink (which is usually the culprit when my markers go sticky). I had to investigate, and as soon as I cleaned the marker cap, I knew why. It had a big crack. I keep spare marker caps on hand, so I replaced the cap, changed the brush nib (the chisel nib was fine) and added a few more drops of ink to the marker. It’s an old marker, so I’m hoping I was able to salvage it. I don’t want to have to get a new one, I know the new ones aren’t as good.
I wanted a very light background to make Lavender & Thyme stand out, and while I’m happy with the window display, I think I would have liked it better if the exterior wasn’t this dark. Lesson learned for next time, I guess.
I’m happy with how Lavender & Thyme turned out, though. I wanted a bit of a vintage vibe with the colors and may have gone overboard with Thyme’s jacket. I wasn’t happy with the red I used initially, there just wasn’t enough contrast between the jacket and her mitten. I went back over the jacket with a couple of other colors and I’m much happier with this.
I stamped a sentiment from the 
I used ink from Papertrey Ink for the department store, as well. I used Classic Kraft ink, which I knew would work well with the sepia coloring I had planned. I even used a Sepia colored Copic multiliner to darken the letters in the sign. The Copic multiliner pens have very fine tips, and it was the perfect tool for the job.
I only used seven colors for the entire background, but way more colors for the critters in front for this card.
Meet 
Once my scene was all colored in, I used a stamp from the 
Lots and lots and lots of Copics for this one. The first eight in this graphic are for the sky alone.
I colored the cute mouse and the tree with Copics, before fussing cutting them. I left a white trim around the edge to make it a little easier on myself, that mouse is small and I didn’t want to accidentally cut off his tail. Onto Stamper’s Select White cardstock from Papertrey Ink, I ink blended trees using the Wintry Forest stencil set from Pinkfresh Studio along with Polar Bear, Icy Water and Winter Lake inks from Altenew. I used the largest die in the Stitch. Trad. Tag STAX die set from My Favorite Things to turn it into a tag and sprinkled on chunky white embossing enamel from Stampendous, which I melted from the back for a snowy look.
I mounted Pippin and the Christmas Tree to the tag using foam tape. I stamped a sentiment from the 
I used a reinforcer die from the Fold-up Tags die set from MFT to add strength to the hole at the top of the tag, added a couple of Snowdrift Sprinkles from Little Things from Lucy’s Cards, as well as some blue satin ribbon, a piece of Blueberry Divine Twine, a thin string and a snowflake charm to the top of the tag for a finished look.
Simple color palette for this one. I didn’t even go overboard with the snow on the tree.
I stamped the image with Extreme Black ink from My Favorite Things, colored it with Copics, then stamped again, this time using Obsidian ink from Altenew for crips, dark lines. I decided to fussy cut right against the stamped lines, and put this cute dog to the side while I worked on the rest of the tag.
I die cut a tag from white cardstock using the Stitched Trad. Tag STAX die set from My Favorite Things, before using Polar Bear, Icy Water and Winter Lake inks from Altenew to ink blend a soft blue sky. I die cut a couple of trees using the silhouette snow trees from Mama Elephant and adhered them on top of my ink blending. I used a die in the Stitched Hillside Borders die set from Lawn Fawn to create the faux stitch hill, then used the tag die again to die cut the bottom part and adhered it to the tag also.
I added my dog using foam squares. stamped and white heat embossed a sentiment from the Julehilsen stamp set from Norsk Stempelblad AS onto Wild Cherry cardstock from My Favorite Things, before trimming it down and adding it with foam squares to the tag. I die cut a reinforcement piece from white cardstock using a die in the Fold-up Tags die set from My Favorite Things and adhered it to the top, before threading some ribbon through and adding a charm. I used some May Arts Natural Twine to tie a bow to secure everything.
On the back of the tag, I stamped the Til/Fra frame from Norsk Stempelblad AS using Obsidian ink from Altenew. I used Dark Chocolate and Classic Kraft inks from Papertrey Ink to stamp the images that make up the background. The stamps are from North Star Design, Inkido and Ladybug and Friends. I believe none of these companies are still in business, but I love these particular stamps and use them regardless.
Simple color palette for this one. No wonder, as it’s essentially just brown, gray and red.
