Happy summer! {Mo’s Digital Pencil}

August 18, 2021August 18, 2021 ElinLeave a comment

Hi! Part of me is struggling to believe it’s been a week since my last post, but it totally has been. I was so good and efficient in my craft room before going on vacation, getting lots of stuff done and scheduling everything for when I was away, and let me tell you, getting back into the swing of things is not easy, I feel like I’m still in vacation mode. I’ll get there, though, it just takes a little while.

Technically, I should have made this card at the beginning of the summer, but it’s a recent image from Mo and I couldn’t NOT make a summer card using it. The air is definitely getting cooler here, and I’m very well aware of the fact that summer officially ends in two weeks. I kind of want to go back to June and warmer temps, I don’t like the cold.

Onto the card. I colored the image with Copics and used a double stitch rectangle die from My Favorite Things to turn it into a nice panel, before adhering it to a top fold card base I made out of Enchanted Evening cardstock from Papertrey Ink. I love their cardstocks.

When I don’t have a clear idea for a card, I turn to embellishment clusters of patterned paper scraps. These are so easy to put together and a great way to add SOMETHING when I’m out of ideas and my mojo’s low.

I’ve sorted my die cut patterned paper scraps by color, so I pull out colors that will match my card and just start playing. I used patterned paper from 3ndypapir, Papirdesign, Kaisercraft and Imaginisce for this card, and the dies I used to cut them out are from XCut and My Favorite Things.

I white heat embossed a sentiment from Norsk Stempelblad AS onto a scrap piece of Enchanted Evening cardstock and used one of the Itty Bitty Strips dies from My Favorite Things to diecut it, before using 1 mm foam squares to mount it onto my cluster. I added a few enamel dots from Papirdesign to finish my card.

Fairly limited color palette for this one.

You can actually get the image I used for FREE if you spend $20 or more during Mo’s summer sale, which ends today, so you’d better be quick.

It’s your day {Rachelle Anne Miller Creative Studios}

August 11, 2021August 19, 2021 ElinLeave a comment

Hi! Today’s the day for a brand new release over at Rachelle Anne Miller. In the new release, there’s this Garden friends Scene Creator, a set with lots of different images you can put together to create your own little scene. My card took a bit of a turn, and I only have the hedgehog and the sun from the stamp set to share today, but there’s a lot more.

I’d initially printed the sun in the top left corner of a 4 1/4 x 5 1/2″ piece of X-Press It blending card, but there was something that didn’t quite work design wise. There was no natural place to put a greeting and I was pretty much out of ideas, so I decided to do a very aggressive crop.

I cut the panel in half, basically, and put the hedgehog on the front of the card and the sun on the inside. This gave me a better place for a greeting too. I printed a sentiment from the stamp set onto my colored piece after I’d colored it. Kind of held my breath while doing it, but it worked out great.

I adhered strips of Amarena Cherry cardstock above and below my image, giving it somewhat of a frame and a way to draw the eye to the image.

On a separate piece of X-Press It, I stamped the Happy Birthday background stamp from My Favorite Things in Amarena Cherry ink from MFT, adhered it to a top fold card base and mounted my colored piece with foam tape.

The end result is a very clean looking card. And I used red! I hardly ever use red, so this is a big deal for me.

I didn’t want the sun going to waste, so I adhered it to the inside of the card. Before doing that, I printed a sentiment next to it and added strips of Lemon Drop cardstock from My Favorite Things above and below. There’s still plenty of room at the bottom to write a personal message.

Last, but definitely not least, the colors I used for my image(s).

You’re the best! {Mo’s Digital Pencil}

August 11, 2021July 23, 2021 Elin1 Comment

Hi! I’m back with another creation using one of Mo’s adorable images. This is Best of the Bunch, and it’s one of many favorites I have from her.

I colored the image with my Copics and used the largest of the A2 Double Stitched Rectangles dies from My Favorite Things to turn my colored piece into a panel with the faux stitch edges I love so much.

I adhered my panel onto a top fold A2 card base I made from Blue Yonder cardstock from My Favorite Things. It’s such a pretty blue color, I love it.

I decided to add one of my signature clusters to this card. A scrap piece of a paper doily from Doodlebug Design lays the foundation for all the other bits on top. I keep a bin on my desk with lots of die cut patterned paper scraps that are perfect for clusters like this.

For this particular card, the scraps are from Papirdesign, Fancy Pants and Sunny Studio, and they’re all die cut using one of two die sets: the Happy Days Ticket Stubs die from XCut (one die which cuts out nine different tickets, it’s kind of awesome) and the Fishtail Flag Frames die set from My Favorite Things.

On top of the cluster I added a sentiment. I heat embossed a sentiment from the Itty Bitty Basics stamp set from My Favorite Things onto Blue Yonder cardstock, and die cut it using one of the dies in the Itty Bitty Strips die set. I added a few blue enamel dots from Papirdesign to finish, and my card was complete.

Lots of colors for this one.

Have a great day {Purple Onion Designs}

August 8, 2021July 23, 2021 ElinLeave a comment

Hi! Today, I’m sharing another simple card. As usual, it does involve something fiddly and somewhat time consuming, even though you can’t really tell from the end result.

For this card, I’m using the Together stamp set from Purple Onion Designs, illustrated by Stacey Yacula. The stamp set comes with this cute image and five sentiments you can pair with it, and $10 from each set sold is donated to raise money for Covid-10 relief across the world.

I stamped the critters in Extreme Black ink from My Favorite Things onto X-Press It blending card and colored in the image with my Copics. I kept the background white, but stamped and fussy cut a mask and ink blended clouds in the background using three stencils from My Favorite Things (Cloud, Rolling Clouds and Slimline Cloud Edges) and Lazy Day ink, also from MFT.

I die cut the largest of the dies in the Stitched Rectangle Scallop Edge Frames die set from My Favorite Things 4 times from Cement Gray cardstock from MFT, stacked them for dimension and adhered my frame to my colored piece, and then adhered all of it to an A2 landscape top fold card base I created from Stamper’s Select White cardstock from Papertrey Ink.

I tried several different things for my sentiment. First I die cut a banner with a fishtail shape at the end, but it kind of didn’t fit the card. I cut that down using a smaller fish frame die from MFT, but I wasn’t happy with how that looked either. In the end I used my craft knife to cut it down to a strip, which worked heaps better. I added a couple more layers of cardstock behind it for stability and dimension.

I finished off the card very simply by adding three sequins from the Sparkling Clear sequins mix from Pretty Pink Posh. My baggie of these particular sequins is getting towards the end, they’re my most used sequins, they go with everything.

Last, but not least, the Copics I used for the cute little critters.

Just for you {Lili of the Valley}

August 4, 2021July 22, 2021 Elin1 Comment

Hi! I feel like it’s been ages since my last blue card, and it’s time to remedy that. James from Lili of the Valley gets to help me with that, and this particular image is called James looking up. There’s another sentiment in the banner, but I really wanted to stamp a sentiment in a colored ink, so I erased the original sentiment before I printed the image.

I colored my image with Copics and turned it into a panel with faux stitch edges using the second largest of the dies in the A2 Stitched Rectangles STAX 1 set from My Favorite Things. I put lots of foam tape on the back and mounted it to a top fold card base I made from Lazy day cardstock from My Favorite Things.

The aforementioned banner was just the right size for one of the sentiments in the Itty Bitty Basics stamp set from My Favorite Things, and I stamped that using Lazy Day ink.

I didn’t want to embellish too much, but at the same time I didn’t want the card not to have any embellishments at all. I put a few diamonds from Kort & Godt around the floral bouquet and added microbeads to the center of each of the flowers.

A little bit of dimension, a little bit of interest, and a really cute bear – just for you.

You’d think I hardly used any colors at all for this, but that wasn’t the case.

Just for you {Streamside Studios}

August 1, 2021July 22, 2021 ElinLeave a comment

Hi, there! I’m sharing a super sparkly card today, featuring an adorable Uni-rex from Streamside Studios.

I colored up the uni-rex in a very vibrant green combo, paired with a fairy dull pink. I wasn’t sure what to do with him (or her), but I opted for some fussy cutting.

Onto a 4 1/4 x 5 1/2″ piece of Stamper’s Select White cardstock, I ink blended some Poppin’ Pink ink using the Rectangle Extraordinaire stencil from My Favorite Things. While the stencil was still in place, I added the Wavy Lines stencil on top and used it with some Pearly glitter paint from Aladine, which is super sparkly.

I added the uni-rex to the center of the card using 1 mm foam squares and decided to put the sparkly glitter paint on the lollipop he (or she) is holding.

I needed a sentiment, and the Itty Bitty Basics stamp set from My Favorite Things is quickly becoming my new favorite, I use it a ton. I heat embossed one of the sentiments in the stamp set onto True Black cardstock from Papertrey Ink and die cut it using the Itty Bitty Strips die set. I added a couple of extra layers of cardstock for a little bit of dimension, and glued the sentiment strip onto the uni-rex.

Lots of glitter and dimension, and it’s still a fairly clean card. I love when I can make that happen.

I essentially only colored pink and green for this uni-rex, so it goes without saying that the color palette is limited.

Happy Wedding {Purple Onion Designs}

July 29, 2021July 22, 2021 ElinLeave a comment

Hi! I have a card to share today with an image from Stacey Yacula and Purple Onion Designs that is a little bit different from the critters we’re used to seeing from Stacey.

I thought this Large Floral Wreath was so beautiful, and I wanted the focus to be on that. I decided to make my card super simple. Scratch that, I decided to make my card *look* super simple. Fussy cutting and putting tiny slivers of clear foam tape behind each of those leaves took a while.

I created a top fold white card base from Stampers Select White cardstock from Papertrey Ink and added a smaller gray panel made from Soft Stone cardstock, also from Papertrey Ink. I popped the gray panel up using lots of foam tape.

I wanted an elegant sentiment, and most of the sentiments I have from Purple Onion Designs didn’t really fit, so I wound up using a sentiment from the Vintage Roses stamp set from Altenew, and stamped that using Gravel Gray ink from My Favorite Things.

I added lots of sequins from Pretty Pink Posh around the entire wreath on this one. It adds a little bit of interest to what is a very simple looking card.

Super simple use of Copics for this card.

Wish big

July 26, 2021July 22, 2021 Elin1 Comment

Hi! I’m back with something a little bit unusual. It’s a plywood card. It’s more of a plywood postcard, really. It’s about 1/8″ thick and is definitely sturdy enough to be sent in the mail. On the back there’s a place to put a stamp and the recipient’s address, and space to write a greeting, just like a regular postcard. I’ve put plenty of little die cuts and sequins on the front of this one, so I’d probably put it in an envelope if I wanted to mail it, just to be safe.

I colored a few of the images from the Mice Day to Celebrate stamp set from My Favorite Things with my Copics on X-Press It blending card. I fussy cut them and created a scene where the stack of crates that the one mouse is standing on is so wobbly that he’s tipping over the cupcake, making the mouse on the right run away. To ground my images, I painted a layer of snow paint at the base of the postcard, let that dry (it dries fairly quickly) and used watered down black watercolor paint (W502 Ivory Black from Mijello Mission Gold) to get some contrast on there.

Using the Big Birthday Wishes die from My Favorite Things, I die cut six of each of the letters I needed to spell the word wish from Sour Apple cardstock from My Favorite Things, and stacked them for dimension. Onto a die cut banner made from Lemon Drop cardstock, I stamped the word Big from the Pawty Time stamp set, also from MFT.

I die cut the streamer that’s in the Tag Builder Blueprint 5 set from My Favorite Things from 3 colors of cardstock. In addition to the Sour Apple and the Lemon Drop I’d already used, I threw in some Ripe Raspberry to match the frosting on the cupcake. I adhered most of the streamers at the top of the postcard, but a few are trickling down.

To finish off the party vibe and to add a little bit of shine, I added sequins, confetti, beads and crystals from the Enchanting embellishment mix from Little Things from Lucy’s Cards.

Not a whole heap of colors for this one.

Hello friend! {Purple Onion Designs}

July 25, 2021July 22, 2021 ElinLeave a comment

Hi, there! I have a fun slimline card to share today, featuring the Up and Away stamp from Purple Onion Designs. Photographing slimline cards is still something I find very tricky, but this image was begging for a slimline design, and if I don’t practice taking photos of slimline cards, I’ll never get better at it, right?

I stamped the image using Extreme Black ink from My Favorite Things onto X-Press It blending card and colored it with my Copics before fussy cutting right up against the black lines. I even cut off the strings of the image, but I made little marks on the back of where they were, so I could add some black sewing thread as strings instead.

I used the Slim Film City die set from Mama Elephant to create my background. I die cut the sky from Blue Breeze cardstock and used the Slimline Cloud Edges stencil and the Rolling Clouds stencil, both from MFT, along with some Lazy Day ink, also from MFT, to create my clouds. I even splattered a little bit of the ink on top for added interest. For the skyline I die cut three layers from Gravel Gray cardstock from My Favorite Things. I heat embossed a sentiment from the Sweet SUMMER Sentiment Set from Purple Onion onto the top layer of my skyline and added a few sparkling clear sequins around it.

I used 1 mm foam squares behind my hot air balloon, and decided I wanted even more dimension and interest, so I die cut a couple of clouds from vellum, using a set of dies from Papertrey Ink. I glued the vellum clouds onto my card in very strategic spots, and used more sequins to cover up the glue. Little trick of the trade.

I used a lot of colors for this balloon!

Hipp hipp hurra {Lili of the Valley}

July 24, 2021July 22, 2021 ElinLeave a comment

Hi, there! I’m sharing a card with a super cute bunny on a cupcake today, an image from the latest release from Lili of the Valley, which consists of 6 different cupcake images with various critters. You can find the Cupcake Bunny here, and the entire cupcake bundle here.

I printed the image onto X-Press It blending card, which is my favorite for Copic coloring. Once I finished my coloring, I die cut the image down to a panel with faux stitching using the largest of the A2 Stitched Rectangle STAX dies from My Favorite Things. I think this might be my most used die.

I adhered my panel onto a top fold card base I created from Ripe Raspberry cardstock from My Favorite Things. I love the cardstock from MFT, it’s nice and sturdy and they have some great colors!

Using a die from Kort & Godt, I stacked the word “hipp” twice from four layers of the same pink cardstock. I colored the top layers with R85 and R83 for a little bit of a gradient color and for the top layer to match my coloring a little bit better than the actual cardstock color.

On a strip of the same pink cardstock that I’d colored with R85, I heat embossed the word “HURRA” from the Gratulerer stamp set from Norsk Stempelblad AS using VersaMark ink and white detail embossing powder from Ranger. I added a few more layers of pink cardstock behind it and added my stacked sentiment strip to complete my sentiment.

I added a few sequins from the Rosy Glow mix from Little Things from Lucy’s Cards, and decided to also cover the green sprinkles with Nuvo Jewel Drops in the color Key Lime. They add even more shine and dimension to the card.