Hi, crafty friends. I’m back today with a simple card featuring Hot Air Balloon from Rachelle Anne Miller. I’ve used this image before, but this time, I flipped it. The little girl faces left in the original image, and one of the advantages of digital stamps is that it’s easy to create a mirrored image.
I printed my image on X-Press It blending card and colored it with Copics. I chose a soft blue green for the balloon itself, and vibrant colors for the florals to make them pop. Using the largest die in the Blueprints 27 die set from My Favorite Things, I turned my image into a panel with a nice scalloped border with faux stitching, put lots of foam tape on the back and mounted it to a card base I covered with a quarter sheet of Wildberry cardstock from Concord & 9th.
I die cut hello from the Blooming Delight die set from Altenew four times from white cardstock and once from Wildberry cardstock, stacked all the layers together and adhered my sentiment, before finishing with a few opal gems from Spellbinders.
Quite a few Copics for this one.
I die cut my golfer using a basic circle die and decided to use the colors in the image for the elements of my card. This is always a good idea if you want a cohesive design. I die cut a torn paper edge from Powder cardstock from Concord & 9th, before stamping a small background stamp repeatedly across the panel using Powder ink. The image has spatters on it, and I figured this would mimic that. The tone on tone stamping creates a little bit of interest to the blue cardstock without being too distracting. I adhered a strip of Wheat cardstock, also from C9, to the top of the blue panel to give it a more defined edge against the white card base, before adding a couple of layers of cardstock behind it for dimension. I adhered it to a top fold card base I dry embossed using the Angled Mosaic embossing folder from Altenew. This creates a bit of textures and adds interest without distracting.
I glued my circle onto the blue cardstock, lopped off the excess and adhered a stacked die cut word on top. I die cut three layers from white cardstock and one from Wheat cardstock. To finish off the card, I added a black sentiment sticker strip and a few black crystals in different sizes.
I created my little scene with the palm tree, a couple of surfboards and a penguin. I can never resist a penguin, and this one has a hula skirt – I was sold! I colored my scene with Copics, and the plan I had initially went out the window. I was going to color the base of the surfboards in a light yellow, almost white, but then I came up with this soft orange combo and totally changed everything else to fit. Instead of a soft blue sky, I ink blended a sunset using Honeysuckle, Clementine and Buttercup inks from Concord and 9th. I then used the largest die in the A2 Stitched Rectangle STAX 1 set from My Favorite Things, along with the Watercolor Wash Free Form die, also from MFT, to create a rectangular panel with a fun window. I die cut a couple more to stack behind the front panel to create a little bit of dimension, before adhering it all to my colored image.
I adhered a quarter sheet of Clementine cardstock from Concord & 9th directly to a top fold card base and glued my scene in the center. This created a bit of an orange border around the image. I then die cut Cloud 1 & 2 from Papertrey Ink out of Heavyweight Translucent vellum from My Favorite Things. I love die cut vellum clouds. This vellum is super thick, so the glue I put behind it doesn’t even show through, but I still placed enamel dots strategically on top. Old habit, I guess. These enamel dots are actually from a Halloween pack from Papirdesign. Onto a piece of True Black cardstock from Papertrey Ink, I stamped and white heat embossed a sentiment from the Bitty Birthday Wishes stamp set from My Favorite Things. I cut it down to a strip, added a couple of extra layers of cardstock behind it and adhered it to my card.
I used quite a few Copics for this one.
I colored the image with my Copics before cutting out a couple of quick masks for the deer and bunny. I ink blended a soft blue circle behind them, using the Watercolor Circle stencil from My Favorite Things and ink (Harbor ink from Concord and 9th) that was left on my light blue blender brush from my last project. Using a die in the Additional A2 Layers die set from Waffle Flower, I cut my panel down, added four layers of cardstock behind it for dimension and put it aside while I worked on the rest of my card.
To a top fold white card base, I adhered a piece of patterned paper from the Watercolor Wash 6×6 paper pad from My Favorite Things and added my stacked panel in the center. Using a die from the Sweet Sentiments die set from Altenew, I die cut for you twice from white cardstock and once from the patterned paper. I stacked the die cuts and glued my sentiment right above the deer. The green patterned paper is very soft, but by stacking the die cuts, the sentiment still stands out a little. I added a bit of black Glaze pen to the eyes and finished off the card with pearls from the Fresh Mint mix from Little Things from Lucy’s Cards.
Limited color palette for this one, it came together fairly quickly.
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 
I used a very limited color palette for this one.
I’ve had this duck colored for quite a while, but sometimes, life just gets busy. I fussy cut him, leaving a white border around the edge and did the same with the butterflies and the balloon from the same stamp set. I ink blended clouds on a piece of Stamper’s Select White cardstock from Papertrey Ink using Harbor ink from Concord & 9th and the Rolling Clouds stencil from My Favorite Things. I die cut my panel using the largest die in the Blueprints 27 die set, also from MFT.
I covered my white card base with a piece of light pink glitter cardstock from Kort & Godt. I added a few layers of cardstock behind my die cut panel to give it a little lift and adhered it in the center, before placing stacked die cut words on top. I used the Hipp hurra die set from Kort & Godt to create these, cutting four of each words from white cardstock and the top from the same pink glitter cardstock I used to cover the front of the card. I threaded black sewing thread through the balloon and the wing of the duck. I added a bow to the balloon using the same thread and mounted both the duck and the balloon onto the card using foam tape. I adhered the butterflies above the balloon, before heat embossing a sentiment from the A06 stamp set from Norsk Stempelblad AS. I cut it down to a strip, put a few additional layers of cardstock on the back of it and adhered it below my die cut sentiment, before finishing off with a few gems from the 
Yellows and pink and nothing else for this one.
I colored my raccoon with Copics, deciding to go with a triadic color combo of primary colors for his paints and accessories. I obviously used green for the grass, but the rest of this is all red, blue and yellow. I used the second largest die in the Watercolor Rectangle STAX die set from My Favorite Things to give it a playful, loose look on the edges, then used the Say Anything stencil, also from My Favorite Things, to ink blend a speech bubble using Harvest Gold ink from Papertrey Ink.
In the speech bubble, I stamped a couple of sentiments from the Mini Messages & More stamp set from My Favorite Things, using Obsidian ink from Altenew. I took the various ink splatter stamps in the same stamp set and stamped in various colors across my panel, to amp up the crafty feel of the card. I used Watermelon, Harbor and Dove inks from Concord & 9th, as well as more of the Papertrey Ink Harvest Gold color that I used for the ink blending. Onto a card base I created from Cement Gray cardstock from My Favorite Things, I added some strips of cardstock to break the lines in my design. I used Watermelon cardstock from Concord & 9th, Blue Breeze from My Favorite Things and Harvest Gold from Papertrey Ink. I added my panel in the center using foam tape, and finished off with a few sequins from the Starry Night mix from Little Things from Lucy’s Cards. I actually also used a black glaze pen to create shine and a tiny bit of dimension to the eyes. On the raccoon, I also used a dot of white Gelly Roll 05 to each of the eyes once the black was dry.
I used a fairly small amount of Copics for this one.
I started by ink smooshing Harbor ink from Concord & 9th onto a panel of Stamper’s Select White cardstock from Papertrey Ink. This ink color is very interesting when you get it wet, it shatters into a sky blue and a very purply blue, making it look like I used more than just the one color of ink. The butterflies look painted, so I thought the ink smooshed background was a natural choice.
I fussy cut the butterflies and bent the wings backwards. I glued the bodies directly to the card front and put foam squares on the back of the wings to give them a little lift (since taking these photos, I’ve adhered the body of the big butterfly directly to the card front, but it’s kind of floating here). I used a hug die (die 244 Klem) to die cut twice from white cardstock and once from Wheat cardstock from Concord & 9th. I stacked them together, but I felt like there wasn’t enough dimension, so I added foam squares to the back of the layered die cut and adhered it to the card. This gives it more lift and a floating effect that you can’t achieve by stacking die cuts alone. I finished off the card with a visual triangle of pearls that match the butterflies and the inked background.
This card started out with me playing with the cotton thread from Kort & Godt. I wanted to something with it besides tying it in bows, and crocheting came to mind. I crocheted three flowers in different colors, and that was my starting point. I created a subtle background using the Watercolor Stripes stencil from Altenew with VersaMark ink, Sticky embossing powder and Distress Glitter in the Rock Candy color. This gives a soft tone on tone sparkle on the white cardstock and doesn’t distract too much from the flowers. I thread the flowers through to the back of the panel, used some tape to hold the thread down on the back and mounted it using foam tape onto a top fold white card base.
I die cut the leaf circle die twice; once from vellum (I used Heavyweight translucent vellum from My Favorite Things), and once from Sprout cardstock from Concord & 9th. I offset them a bit, and used small amounts of liquid glue to adhere them to the card. I also die cut Konfirmant a few times from pink cardstock and adhered them together for a stacked, dimensional look. Once I added my die cut to the card, however, it got lost, so I die cut a layer from black cardstock from Papertrey Ink and glued that on top. That did the trick. I used a sentiment sticker to complete the sentiment and added some faceted pearls as a finishing touch.
This was a fun way to use the cotton thread, and I still have heaps more!
I love the super sized sentiment dies from My Favorite Things. They have several in this style, and they’re great for all sorts of techniques. Today I used the negative of the Big Birthday Wishes die, cut into X-Press It blending card. I normally use this paper for coloring only, but I wanted the white background to match the white trim on my die cut bears, which are colored on the same paper. I added foam tape to the back of my negative die cut for dimension, making sure to keep the counters so I could put them back in. I added a strip of solid colored cardstock from Concord & 9th behind each of the lines in the die cut. I used Honeysuckle at the bottom, Clementine in the center and Buttercup for the top. I then adhered everything to a card base I created from Blue Breeze cardstock from My Favorite Things.
I stamped the bears from the Bitty Bears stamp set from My Favorite Things and colored them in with Copics and used the coordinating dies to cut them out. I added three white die cuts behind each of the bears for dimension and placed them on the card. I didn’t want to cover up too much of the letters, so I made sure to create a wide border around the die cut words. I also wanted a chunky border around the white, so this card is quite large and measures about 5 1/4 x 6 1/2″.
At first, I wasn’t sure how to add dimension behind the small counters, especially on the triangle in the A, because it’s very very small, but I wound up putting foam tape behind some X-Press It, then die cut the letters I needed once more to get counters with dimension. It worked really well, so I’ll remember this trick in case I need to do something similar in the future.
Yellows, oranges and pinks, just like the strips of cardstock behind the letters.
Papirmølla 