Hi, crafty friends. I probably shouldn’t have favorites, but I do, and this card is my favorite I’ve made with the Sunshine & Daydreams collection from Purple Onion Designs, beautifully illustrated by Pei. It features Beach Besties, and I paired them with the Sunrise Sunset horizon stamp from an older collection from Stacey Yacula.
I stamped Tofu and Brownie in Extreme Black ink from My Favorite Things, placed a mask over top and stamped the Sunrise Sunset with Altenew Golden Honeycomb ink. I colored in my scene and decided to try a new twist for the sky. I don’t think I’ve ever used these particular color for a sky before, but I think it worked out well.
I imagine they’re in a tropical location where the ocean has this very peaceful aqua color that fades into nothing as it reaches the shore. I tried to give the whole panel a dreamy vibe, and there’s not a whole lot of dark markers used. I did include a dark green towel and used more of the YR09 on the crab than I did on Tofu’s hat (believe it or not, it was used on Tofu’s hat, albeit in a very small amount). The greens play well together and work with the ocean, while the more corally color for the hat, seashell and crab play off the peach in the sunset.
Once my image was colored, I cut my panel down using the larges die in the Additional A2 Layers die set from Waffle Flower. I stamped a sentiment from the Sunshine & Rainbows sentiment set using second generation stamping with Memento Espresso Truffle ink. For these scene cards I create for Purple Onion Designs, I prefer a colored sentiment that doesn’t stand out too much from my scene, and second generation stamping is a good way to achieve that look.
I used an extra fine point white Sharpie to add the ripples in the ocean, and used White puff embossing powder from Wow! to create the seafoam on the beach. I added a bit of black glaze pen to their eyes, and the glaze made the crab’s eyes bigger, which made him even funnier than he was originally. I adhered my colored piece to a panel of white cardstock cut to 4 1/4 x 5 1/2″, then mounted the whole thing onto a 4 3/4 x 6″ white card base covered with a panel of Sprout cardstock from Concord & 9th.
The color palette I wanted to focus on was the Garden gate palette from Concord & 9th. It’s very summery, and I love these colors together!
Speaking of colors, I used a ton of Copic colors for this card. By the time I had colored the sky, I’d already used 11 colors; they add up fast!
I needed a birthday card for my niece’s 16th birthday. She’s a lover of tropical fruits, and this was the perfect set to use for her birthday card. I die cut the watermelon from Vintage Jadeite cardstock from Papertrey Ink and used the stencil set to in blend the stripes on the watermelon rind using Clover ink from Concord & 9th. I stamped the spots in the coordinating stamp set using the same color. I die cut a few extra watermelons from Vintage Jadeite. I knew I was going to pop up my watermelon on an action wobble (I actually ended up using two wobbles), so it needed to be sturdy.
For this one, I started with a panel of Lazy Day cardstock from My Favorite Things. I used one of the stencils in the Undersea Jamboree stencil set from Altenew to emboss a texture onto my panel. It was very subtle, so I put the stencil back in place and added Crystal 3D gel from Altenew over the top. This gives a fun texture, shine and a very tactile feel to the panel. Once the gel was dry, I cropped down the panel slightly, before inking up the edges with Midnight and Black ink from Concord and 9th to darken my undersea panel. The gel resists the ink I put on, making it easy to buff off the excess.
I adhered my panel to a top fold white card base I created from Stamper’s Select White cardstock from Papertrey Ink. I arranged my animals in a circle and mounted each on foam tape. I realized after I took the photos that I’ve left a bit of white on a few of the animals, particularly on the shrimp and the lobster, but I colored and fussy cut the images a month before I put the card together and didn’t remember that I’d left the white bits to deal with later. Once they were mounted with foam tape, it was too late to do anything about it, though. Live and learn, I guess.
I was originally planning on adding a black strip with a white heat embossed sentiment in the center, but I thought it would look just as good, if not better with the heat embossed sentiment directly on the background. I could use the black strip if the white didn’t work out, right? I only had one chance at this, as the critters were already glued down. I put the panel in my Misti, used lots of antistatic powder and stamped the sentiment from the Coral Reef Wonders stamp set from Altenew using VersaMark ink, before sprinkling on super detailed white embossing powder from Ranger and heat set from the back. I always do my heat embossing from the back, it gives a much smoother result than heat embossing from the front. It turned out perfect, and I didn’t have to resort to plan B with the black sentiment strip.
I added a few dew drops from Concord & 9th near the sentiment. They work well as bubbles and they add more shine. I also added black glaze and a white dot with a 05 Gelly Roll to their eyes once the black glaze pen was dry.
I’m also here for the Briar & Blooms die set from Concord & 9th, which honestly did most of the work on these cards. For this first card, I took my inspiration for the colors from the Summer Breeze color palette on the Concord & 9th website. They’ve got some great color resources, and this particular palette consists of Nectar, Pimento, Clementine, Clover and Harbor. I also threw in Sprout for a second green. I die cut the base of the wreath from Clover, and the remaining pieces from the other colors. I also die cut one base wreath from Rustic White cardstock from Papertrey Ink, but I only needed the inside negative part of that to stamp my sentiment on.
I used the Quilted embossing folder from Concord & 9th to create some texture behind the wreath. This embossing folder is a great one, but it was part of the 2025 Winter Retreat and is not available for purchase. Thankfully, there are other embossing folders out there which will work just as well to create some interest in the background. I adhered the embossed panel to a card base I created from the same Rustic White cardstock. I stamped a sentiment from the Flower Field stamp set from Kristina Werner using Pimento ink on that negative inside piece I’d already die cut. I adhered it in the center of the card and puzzle pieced the actual wreath around it, adding small pieces of foam tape to the outside edges of the wreath only. I finished off the card with a few Concord & 9th dew drops flanking the sentiment.
The first card was so much fun to create, I decided to make another. The example picture on the packaging for the die set is beautiful in soft, very muted tones, and I tried to pick colors that were close. Here, I used Artichoke for the base wreath, Pistachio for the remaining greenery, Spiced Cider for the large flowers and a few of the buds, Nectar for the remaining buds and the side facing flowers and finally Eucalyptus for the small flowers. Oh, I also used Buttercup for the flower centers. This is definitely a more muted palette than the first, it has a bit of a fall vibe to me.
I leaned into the fall vibe and chose to mount my wreath on a card base I created from Rustic Cream cardstock from Papertrey Ink. This is also very muted, and I love the little specks that are in the paper, creating a bit of interest. I die cut the word thanks in the Briar & Blooms die set from Champagne cardstock (also Concord & 9th), backed it with a layer of Rustic Cream and adhered it across the center of the wreath, before finishing off the card with some Satin White sequins from Altenew.
While I was working on card number two, I came up with the idea to create one more wreath in a “blossoming fruit tree” color combination. The fruit trees have just started blooming, and it’s the best thing ever. We have a blood cherry tree outside our front door that started blooming over the weekend. The apple trees (which my color combo is based on) have not started blooming quite yet, but they’re not far behind – I love this time of year! Anyway, back to the card. I don’t have the new Basil green yet from Concord & 9th (other than a small sample that was in this year’s Winter Retreat kit, which I turned into a swatch tag), but when you ink blend Parsley ink on Parsley cardstock, you get a darker color that works well. I did that, then die cut the base wreath from the dark version and die cut the rest of the greenery from plain Parsley. Once again, I used Buttercup for the centers, but I switched out the Nectar I used on the previous two cards for Ballet Slipper, which I thought worked better here. I also slipped in Sweet Pea for a few of the buds for a little more pop of color.
I loved the soft color palette so much that I wanted a soft look in the background, too. I opted for the Stippled Plaid press plate from Pinkfresh Studio and inked that up on a piece of Betterpress Bisque cardstock using Peachy Glow ink from Altenew. The soft yellow ink acts as a neutral on the cream cardstock, which in turn is a neutral on the Stamper’s Select White cardstock from Papertrey Ink that I used for my card base. I popped everything up on foam tape, then die cut the word hello once from white cardstock and once from Gold Shine cardstock from My Favorite Things. I stacked the two and stretched my hello across the center of the wreath. I tried to add a few different embellishments, but in the end, I decided not to use any – and honestly, I think this card looks great without it!
I created a scene with quite a few images from the Lakewood collection from Purple Onion Designs, illustrated by Holly Mabutas. 
I don’t use watercolor a lot, but a palette with watercolor paint is a lot more travel friendly than 360 Copic markers, and I was on vacation in the mountains when I painted this last summer. Only having access to watercolor forces me to play with them and familiarize myself with them, which is a good thing.
The images are all stamped using Obsidian ink from Altenew, which is a pigment ink that works well with watercolor. The paper is Fabriano Artístico cold pressed watercolor paper. I used my Mijello Mission Gold watercolor paints and brushes of varying sizes. I’m not an expert watercolorist, so the coloring’s pretty basic.
I trimmed my panel, stamped a sentiment from the 
I used the Triangle Piercing die from C9 to cut into the card base. I then used Sulky metallic sewing thread in color 7003 and a size 26 tapestry needle for my stitching. I was initially planning on having the floral swag span the width of the card and adhering it directly to the stitched background with a sentiment below, but somehow it evolved into something else, I was just along for the ride. I trimmed a piece of Sea Glass cardstock to cover the bottom two rows of rectangles and adhered this to the card base, planning on adhering the flower where the panel ends. Then I found an already die cut frame (I realize now that this is the Classic Rectangle Frames die set from My Favorite Things) in my stash cut from Champagne cardstock from C9, which was the perfect size to add to the card.
I adhered the Juniper die cuts directly to the line that separates the Sea Glass from the card base, then mounted the Sea Glass ones on top, before finishing off with the flower on another layer of foam squares.
I die cut the word celebrate from Champagne cardstock from C9 using the Sweet Sentiments die set from Altenew. I die cut the shadow from white and mounted it on foam squares to make it float across the frame. I usually stack die cut words, but this gives a different look and worked better for this card. I finished very simply with a few champagne glitter drops from Pinkfresh Studio.
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.
This all started with patterned paper from Maja Design and the Sleigh full of cheer dies from Concord & 9th. Die cutting presents like this is a great way to use scraps. I used the Christmas Nostalgia collection for this. I’m a sucker for anything blue, so I wanted a dark-ish blue at the bottom, a lighter blue at the top and a contrast in the center. You could do this with any color, even plain cardstock. There are actually some images in the coordinating stamp set that will allow you to add patterns to your die cuts using just ink, but I opted for the patterned paper version here. I die cut the bow, the ribbon for the presents and the sleigh using champagne foil cardstock from Concord & 9th and added those for a touch of shine. The sleigh itself is a few layers thick to make it stand out against the background, and I did some ink blending on the seat using Wheat ink to make it stand out even more, as I have the same cardstock color for the seat as my background.
Speaking of backgrounds – I used one of the stencils in the Splatter Textures stencil set from Kristina Werner on a panel of Wheat cardstock from Concord & 9th. I added Altenew embossing paste through the openings and sprinkled on rock candy distress glitter while the paste was still wet. It’s important to clean your stencils quickly when using paste, or you’ll have a really hard time making it come off. Nobody wants to clean, but when dealing with pastes, you need to. I stamped my sentiment from the Joyful and merry stamp set from Kristina Werner using Wheat ink on Rustic Cream cardstock from Papertrey Ink. I used the coordinating die set to cut out my merry, and added another three die cuts on the back for dimension. I cut down everything to a nice strip, added another strip on the back for strength and adhered the sentiment to the largest present to finish the card.
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 stamped the image near the bottom center of a panel of X-Press It blending card using Extreme Black ink from MFT, which is a Copic safe hybrid ink. I colored the image and created a spooky silhouette background which fades from black in the distance to green as you get closer to the front of the image.
I masked off the scene and put a moon mask from an old Simon Says Stamp Stamptember collaboration with Tim Holtz into the top right corner, before I went in with Copics and an airbrush to create the sky. I used three colors of blue, trying to make it a bit lighter near the moon and darker further away. I took off the moon mask, masked the sky and airbrushed into the circle opening using E40 for a very pale moon. I then added the detail mask for the moon and airbrushed the openings with T1, which is a very light grey that I also used for the mouse. Once all the coloring was complete, I removed all the masks, added a bit of black glaze pen to their eyes and stamped a sentiment at the bottom using Obsidian ink from Altenew, before trimming the panel down a little and adhering it to a card base I created from Black cardstock from Concord & 9th to finish.
I used quite a few markers for this. The ones after the gap are the ones I used for the airbrushing of the moon and sky.
Papirmølla 