Hi, crafty friends. I’m so excited for the brand new release from Rachelle Anne Miller. It’s full of two of my favorite Christmas things: penguins and snowmen! This release is perfect for me, and I had a hard time deciding which image to start with, but From all of Us won out in the end.
I have a deep, undying love for penguins and snowmen. These two have been joined by a sweet bunny and the cutest little squirrel you ever did see! I did some fairly simple Copic coloring of the image before I used a die in the Blueprints 27 die set from My Favorite Things to create a faux stitch line and a scallop border.
I stamped the word Christmas from the Sentiments from a Yeti stamp set from Mama Elephant using Melon Berry ink from Papertrey Ink. Onto a strip of Sprout cardstock from Concord & 9th, I stamped a coordinating sentiment from the Holiday messages stamp set from Mama Elephant using Eiffel Tower ink from My Favorite Things. I stacked a few extra cardstock strips behind my stamped one for dimension, and adhered it above the word Christmas.
I added three layers of scrap cardstock behind my colored panel for dimension before adhering it to a top fold card base I created from Melon Berry cardstock from Papertrey Ink. I love this pink!
I used pearls from the Glossy Porcelain mix from Little Things from Lucy’s Cards to embellish just a little.
Lots of Copics on this one, in spite of fairly simple and even quick coloring.
I dry embossed the Snowflake Confetti fancy die from Hero Arts on a piece of Stamper’s Select White cardstock from Papertrey Ink. I cut the panel down and added strips of green cardstock near the bottom. The colors are (bottom to top) Pinefeather (Papertrey Ink), Evergreen (Concord & 9th), Jalapeño Popper (My Favorite Things), Clover (C9), Parsley (C9), Vintage Jadeite (PTI) and Mint Julep (PTI). I white heat embossed a sentiment from the Sentiments from a Yeti stamp set from Mama Elephant and mounted my strips of green with a little bit of dimension behind them.
I mounted my white dry embossed piece with the green strips onto a top fold white card base using foam tape. Using Shadow Creek Ink from Altenew, I stamped the Peace banner from the Sentiments from a Yeti stamp set from Mama Elephant and die cut it using the Yeti banner die from Mama Elephant, which coordinates. I added foam to the back and adhered it over the white heat embossing to complete my sentiment.
I used foam tape on the back of the snowman too, so this card has a lot of dimension. The dry embossed panel is on fairly thick foam tape, the green strips on a bit thinner foam tape, and the banner and snowman on thicker foam tape. I finished the card with a few gems from the Festivities mix from Little Things from Lucy’s Cards.
This snowman looks so content, I love it!
Peace, love + happiness. With a little bit of hope. Sounds like the perfect Christmas to me.
I’m trying to limit the amount of Copics I use for my cards, but I’m failing miserably. I really don’t mind.
I colored my reindeer with Copics and fussy cut him leaving a thin white border. I added Glossy Accents to the string of lights and his nose for shine, and used a black Glaze pen and a white Gelly Roll 05 for his eyes.
I stamped and white heat embossed the Christmas Background stamp from My Favorite Things on a piece of white cardstock, before using Hunter Green, Forest Glades and Frayed Leaf inks from Altenew, as well as Squeezed Lemonade Distress ink, to ink blend on top. I ten used a die in the Stitched Mini Slimline STAX die set from My Favorite Things to turn it into a nice panel that would fit my card. I used the Country Landscape die from Memory Box to die cut the landscape in the background, and used the same stitching die on the hilly die cuts for a continuous stitching border across the card. I die cut the windows from Buttercup cardstock from Concord & 9th and the doors from white cardstock from Papertrey Ink that I ink blended with the same colors I used for the ink blending in the background.
I used the Snow Globe Accessories die set from My Favorite Things to die cut the string of lights from a dark gray cardstock and the individual bulbs from Buttercup cardstock once again. I added Glossy Accents on top of the bulbs for extra shine and dimension.
I die cut the word merry from the Merry Christmas die set from My Favorite Things five times from white cardstock, and once from Gold shine cardstock from My Favorite Things. I stacked them, adding the gold on top, and adhered my chunky die cut to the card. I stamped and white heat embossed a sentiment from the 
I tried using a somewhat limited color palette for this.
My original plan was to color in their accessories in a peachy pink color and a dark green combo that I love for my Christmas cards. There’s usually a lot of detail to the Lili of the Valley accessories (stripes and dots), making it easy for images to look messy if you choose too many colors. I tend to opt for a lighter and darker version of the same color, which makes it better for the eyes. Once I’d done the peachy pink, I went in with the lighter of the greens, because I didn’t know how dark I wanted it. When the light green was in place, I realized I really liked the light color with the pink, so I decided not to add too much of the darker greens.
Once the coloring was complete, I used the largest die in the Wonky Stitched Rectangle STAX set from My Favorite Things to turn it into a panel with a fun faux stitch edge. I then used Winter Lake, Icy Water and Polar Bear inks from Altenew to ink blend a soft sky from the top, before sprinkling on Chunky White embossing enamel from Stampendous and melting the granules from the back of the paper with my heat gun.
I adhered the panel to a top fold card base I created from Berry Sorbet cardstock from Papertrey Ink. From Grapefruit cardstock from Condord & 9th, I die cut the oh so merry from The Penguin’s Waddle die set from Mama Elephant. I cut three and ink blended on the bottom using Berry Sorbet ink from Papertrey Ink, before stacking them together for a dimensional look and adhering them to the card. I finished the card with a few Coral Heart droplets from Little Things from Lucy’s Cards.
I realize now that the green mitten probably belongs to the snowman on the far left, which means I should have colored it pink. Oh well, next time. The faux stitching, the snow and the ink blend on the letters add a bit of texture and detail to the card without adding bulk. Of course, I love my dimension, so I layered up the die cuts and added the heart droplets, but this card is still fairly mail friendly, I’d say.
The cardstock from Concord & 9th, which is what I used for my stacked sentiment, is not a very thick cardstock, so it’s great to use if you don’t want too much dimension on your cards. I just really wanted that color, which is why I chose it, but it also die cuts really well.
Last, but not least, my color palette. I still go overboard when I color snow, I have a feeling that won’t ever change.
I colored the image and fussy cut it right up against the black lines. When you do, you lose the cute little extra lines on the outside that is part of Rachelle’s signature, which is a bit of a shame, but for the card design I had planned, it was a necessary sacrifice. I could have kept a little white trim (and thus, the wispy lines) around the image, but I feel that would have made the image less of an integrated piece of the overall design, so I went with the close cut.
Onto the card base, I ink blended Icy Water and Winter Lake inks from Altenew to create a soft blue sky. I die cut the Winter Forest cover die from Mama Elephant from Heavyweight vellum from My Favorite Things and adhered it on top. Using the same die, I also die cut the background from a couple of colors of gray cardstock. I used Mushroom from Concord & 9th and Soft Stone from Papertrey Ink and adhered the little gray notches into the openings of my vellum trees. On parts of the lighter ones, I ink blended with Charcoal ink from Hero Arts for a little variation in my grays.
I adhered my little scene on top of the vellum trees. I glued it flat down on the edges and used 2 mm foam squares near the top of the image for some dimension. I used a black glaze pen to add some shine to their eyes, and added a white dot on top once the black was dry using a Gelly Roll 05.
I die cut the Winter Forest cover die one final time, this time from white cardstock. I cut away the trees, but kept the frame and slope near the bottom and stamped a sentiment from the Together stamp set from Purple Onion Designs using Gravel Gray ink from My Favorite Things.
This image is so sweet and can be used for a variety of occasions. Rachelle’s images always have such a cosy vibe, and this one fits perfectly with all the other images she’s illustrated.
I see I’ve forgotten to add the greens I used in my Copic graphic. They were YG17, YG03, YG01 and G40.
I stamped three of the little penguins using Extreme Black ink from My Favorite Things, colored them all in using my Copics, then restamped using Obsidian ink from Altenew, which is a pigment ink that stamps extra crisp and extra dark to bring the details of the linework back in.
Onto a separate piece of cardstock, I stamped a sentiment from the Mini messages stamp set from Mama Elephant using Hunter Green ink from Altenew.
Using the Circle Frames die from Avery Elle, I die cut the openings from Evergreen cardstock from Concord & 9th. I also die cut a few panels from white cardstock to layer behind the green, so my penguins would be recessed a little bit.
Using the Snowflake Confetti Fancy die from Hero Arts, I die cut a bunch of snowflakes from white cardstock (Stamper’s Select White from Papertrey Ink, which I also used for my card base) that I adhered around my circle openings to draw the eyes in toward those cute penguins and the sentiment. Easy peasy card, right?
Quick and easy peasy to color too.
Kort & Godt Die 335 is a die set with two leaves. One is an open outline, the other closed, and I actually used both for this card. I die cut the open one a few times from Heavyweight Translucent vellum from My Favorite Things, and nestled them in between the solid colored ones, which are (in order from the top going clockwise) Papertrey Ink (PTI) Simply Chartreuse, PTI Aqua Mist, PTI Hawaiian Shores, Simon Says Stamp Island Blue, PTI Amethyst Allure, PTI Raspberry Fizz, PTI Hibiscus Burst, Concord & 9th Poppy, PTI Orange Zest, PTI Summer Sunrise, PTI Harvest Gold, PTI Limeade Ice.
I lightly traced a circle die onto a white cardstock panel that I needed to adhere my wreath to. I only glued down the end of the stem for each of the leaf die cuts and did my best to arrange them evenly around the circle, with the vellum pieces after every third colored leaf.
Using foam tape, I adhered the white panel with my wreath onto a card base I created from Soft Stone cardstock from Papertrey Ink for a neutral on neutral look.
Using Kort & Godt DIE 244, I die cut the word klem (translation: hug) from gold cardstock (Gold Shine cardstock from My Favorite Things), as well as four additional ones from white cardstock to stack behind the gold for added strength and dimension.
I colored the image in a very pastel color palette, before trimming the panel down to 3 7/8 x 5 1/2″, added foam tape on the back and mounted it on an A6 (4 5/8 x 6 1/4″) top fold white card base that I covered with a piece of Aqua Sky cardstock from Concord & 9th.
This card was a bit of an evolution. I originally wanted to use a bigger kite and a different sentiment, but the larger kite was too big for my image (AND for my card) and the sentiment I initially wanted to use was too big for this smaller kite, so I had to improvise. I used a die from the kite builder die set from Concord & 9th, and stamped a sentiment from the Kite Strings stamp set, also from Concord & 9th, using VersaFine Onyx Black ink. I then die cut the word hello twice from white cardstock using the Sweet Sentiments die set from Altenew, stacked the two together and added the word above the stamped sentiment and popped the kite on some 1 mm foam squares for a tiny bit of dimension.
My card felt kind of empty at this point, I had even more white space than I wanted, and I needed a fix. My color buddy and general crafty assistant Liz suggested adding clouds. Using the Cloud 1 & 2 die set from Papertrey Ink, I die cut three clouds from vellum. I tucked one behind the kite and added tiny slivers of 1 mm foam squares behind the other two for a little bit of dimension, before strategically placing sequins from the Ice Water mix from Little Things from Lucy’s Cards to hide the foam squares and finish the card.
This card didn’t turn out the way I planned, but sometimes, that’s actually a good thing. I like the clouds, the sequins and my other revisions to my original idea. And I will never cease to be amazed at how good clouds always look die cut from vellum. It’s the best!
I didn’t use a lot of markers for this one.
I colored my monsters with Copics and fussy cut them leaving a thin white border. I covered my A7 card base with a band of solid colored cardstock strips. From top to bottom they are Concord & 9th Clover, Concord & 9th Parsley, Papertrey Ink Green Parakeet, Papertrey Ink Limeade Ice, Concord & 9th Sprout, My Favorite Things Summer Splash, Papertrey Ink Hawaiian Shores, Concord & 9th Oceanside and My Favorite Things Tropical Teal.
I die cut the word gratulerer three times from white cardstock using the Flasketag, gratulerer die set from Papirdesign. The cardstock I used is Stamper’s Select White cardstock from Papertrey Ink, which is the same cardstock I used for my card base. I want my whites to match, and this is the perfect white cardstock, I love it.
I added my stacked white die cut to the center of the striped background, mounted the monsters on foam tape and white heat embossed a sentiment from the A06 stamp set from Norsk Stempelblad AS onto Smokey Shadow cardstock from Papertrey Ink and adhered it to the stacked die cut word to finish the card. I decided against adding embellishments, I wanted the monsters to really steal the show.
Very limited Copic selection for this one.
This is 
I love no line coloring, and no line is perfect for an image like this, which has just enough detail to make it interesting, but it’s still large enough to get soft gradient in colors and not too fiddly.
Once I finished my coloring, I added my panel to a 4 bar card base I created from Stamper’s Select White cardstock from Papertrey Ink. I created some texture to the dandelion fluff by using my Quickie glue pen and sprinkling on Rock Candy Distress glitter.
I adhered scraps of a Doodlebug mini paper doily to opposite corners of the card to add to the soft, delicate look I was aiming for. Using Sour Apple ink from My Favorite Things, I stamped a sentiment from the 
Very soft color palette.
Papirmølla 