Delivering a little holiday cheer! {Purple Onion Designs}

Hi, crafty friends! It’s been a week full of Purple Onion Designs on my blog, but with three new collections that launched on Monday, that’s just how it is. I shared a card with new illustrator Holly Mabutas’ collection on Monday, one with stamps from Stacey Yacula’s collection on Wednesday, and today, it’s time to feature Pei’s collection. Pei’s images are larger than the others, so you can easily create a card with one image alone, which is what I did. I had to choose Christmas Igloo for my first Pei card of the season. It’s my favorite stamp across all three collections! I’m a sucker for penguins, and these cuties coupled with the polar bear and igloo just had me.

I originally planned on creating a regular portrait oriented A2 card with this image, but I had this idea of another igloo in the distance, and it kind of evolved from there. I don’t usually create my own backgrounds for cards (I like background stamps that do all the work for me), but I had a blast with this one. Keeping the colors to a minimum certainly helped. I only used five Copics for the entire background.

Once the background and the actual stamped image were both colored in, I stamped a sentiment from the Holiday Messages sentiment set below my little igloo. The sentiment set is from The Sweetest Little Town collection from 2020). I think the penguins are definitely spreading holiday cheer by decorating their igloo, so I thought it was a fitting sentiment, and decided to stamp in Powder and Harbor inks from Concord & 9th to get a good color match with my scene. I added chunky white embossing enamel from Stampendous for snow and adhered the panel to a top fold A6 card base (6 1/4 x 4 5/8″) that I created from Stamper’s Select White cardstock from Papertrey Ink.

Limited color palette for such a large card.

Pei’s entire collection is available as a 30 % discounted bundle until November 15, 2024. 9 amazing stamps for only $52, that’s a good deal!!!

Eat, drink & be merry! {Purple Onion Designs}

Hi, crafty friends! I’m back today to share another card with the new release from Purple Onion Designs. Today, I’m focusing on Stacey Yacula’s Whispering Pines collection. I always love everything Stacey illustrates!!

Meet Mack and Katie. They’re both enjoying their beverages out in the snow, and I added the general store behind them to create my scene and even snuck in Santa’s Silhouette from a previous release (A Little Christmas Magic! collection from 2022) to really bring out the Christmas spirit.

Once everything was colored in, I stamped Santa’s Silhouette using Obsidian ink from Altenew. This is a pigment ink, which doesn’t really play well with Copics, so it’s best to use it once the coloring’s complete. I then stamped a sentiment from the Home for the Holidays sentiment set using Jalapeño Popper ink from My Favorite Things, before I sprinkled on chunky white embossing enamel from Stampendous, which I melted from the back for a textured snow look. I adhered my panel to a top fold card base and my card was complete.

I used a lot of Copics for this scene. A lot.

The entire Whispering Pines collection is available as a bundle at 30 % discount until Friday, November 15 2024, so if you want to take advantage of this offer, you still have about a week left.

’tis the Season to be Jolly {Purple Onion Designs}

Hi, crafty friends! I have some exciting news to share today! The brand new holiday/winter release from Purple Onion Designs is available for purchase. There are three different collections to choose from. The first one is from Stacey Yacula. Her collections are always well thought out and go brilliant with older collections. The second one is from Pei, who joined the POD illustrator crew last year. I never tire of Tofu and his friends, and this time, there are some penguin pals to add to the cuteness. Last, but not least, we have the Winterwood collection, illustrated by Holly Mabutas, who’s a brand new illustrator at Purple Onion. I’m starting with a card created with images from the newcomer, but I have more up my sleeve, both from her and the others, so watch out for that.

I stamped and colored my critters (Steve & Scarlett, Benjamin, Doug and Scarlett’s Tree) onto X-Press It blending card. I added my signature peachy wintertime sky color in the background, but I actually took a couple of sunset photos as I was getting home from work this afternoon, so maybe I’ll change up my color combos soon.

I stamped a sentiment from the older Holiday Messages Sentiment set using Parsley and Avocado inks from Concord & 9th. I found it difficult to stamp in a color that matched the green in my coloring, but layering this combo worked well. I adhered the panel onto an A6 (4 5/8  6 1/4″) card base I created from Stamper’s Select White cardstock from Papertrey Ink, and my card was complete.

I used a lot of colors for this scene.

The entire Winterwood collection is available as a 30 % discounted bundle until Friday, November 14th 2024. There are 30 images in this collection, so there’s a lot to play with!!

Have a holly jolly Christmas {Mo’s Digital Pencil}

Hi, crafty friends. I have a simple holiday card to share today, featuring Sneaking a peek from Mo Manning. I’ve used this image in the past, it’s so cute and quick to color.

I colored the image with Copics and fussy cut it. It’s an easy one to fussy cut, so that helps. I die cut a frame from the Mega Snowflake Cover die set from Mama Elephant three times from white cardstock, stacked them and adhered the stack to a card base I created from Blue Breeze cardstock from My Favorite Things, before mounting the image with foam squares.

I used one of the dies in the Jolly Holiday Greetings die set from Concord & 9th to die cut a few times from white cardstock and stacked those as well. I adhered the stacked die cut to my card base. I stamped and white heat embossed a sentiment from the Itty Bitty Holiday stamp set from My Favorite Things onto Amarena Cherry cardstock from My Favorite Things, cut the sentiment apart and used part of it to complete the sentiment on the card, before finishing off with a few pearls from the Glossy Porcelain mix from Little Things from Lucy’s Cards.

Simple color palette.

Have a cool yule {Lili of the Valley}

Hi, crafty friends. I’m back with another Christmas card in non-traditional colors, this time using a snowball image from the new Polar Christmas release from Lili of the Valley. The set is available for pre-order here.

I colored the little snowball with Copics and fussy cut him, adding a touch of black glaze pen to his eyes to make them shiny, and then a tiny white dot of Gelly Roll 05 once the black was dry. I used the Fa la la inlay die from Concord & 9th and die cut a white panel. I trimmed off a little on each side and glued it to a card base I created from Grapefruit cardstock from Concord & 9th, inlaying the white letters back into place. I cut a few in the grapefruit color, stacked them and emphasized one line in the background using this color, which left just enough room on the right for the snowman to sit on some foam tape.

I stamped and white heat embossed a sentiment from the older Christmas Greetings stamp set from Lili of the Valley onto a piece of Aqua Sky cardstock from Concord & 9th. The cardstock color was a little bit light for the white letters, so I ink blended on top using Aqua Sky ink to make the sentiment more visible. The exposure in the photo makes it lighter than it is in real life, it’s actually very easy to read it in person. I used the Snowflake Confetti Fancy die from Hero Arts to die cut small snowflakes from Aqua Sky cardstock. I stacked two of each for a tiny bit of dimension and used them as embellishments on the card.

Very limited color palette for this one.

Merry Christmas {Rachelle Anne Miller}

Hi, crafty friends! It’s a well known fact that I’m a sucker for penguins, so I was over the moon for this month’s release from Rachelle Anne Miller. It’s the Penguin Party scene creator set, which is geared toward celebrations with balloons, party hats, presents and little pennant flags. I created a birthday card with this set earlier in the month. Today, I chose a penguin that doesn’t have any accessories besides a scarf and created a holiday card.

I colored my penguin with Copics, fussy cut him and used a black Glaze pen to add shine to his eyes, before putting him aside while I worked on the rest of my card.

I really wanted to use the big MERRY greeting in the Merry Trees stamp set from Kristina Werner. I love her cleanly designed products, they’re right up my alley, and this greeting makes a statement. I stamped with VersaMark onto Juniper cardstock from Concord & 9th, before sprinkling on super fine detail embossing powder from Ranger, which I then heat set. I die cut an additional four layers of the letters from white cardstock and stacked them with the green on top.

I used the Berries & Boughs embossing folder from Concord & 9th to create a little bit of interest to the background. I trimmed my white dry embossed panel slightly and adhered it to a black cardstock panel that I adhered to a top fold white card base. I arranged my merry letters on the front of the card, added my penguin with foam tape and also added a white on black heat embossed sub sentiment from the Christmas Greetings stamp set from Lili of the Valley.

I added a few pearls from the Glossy Porcelain mix from Little Things from Lucy’s Cards to finish. I love how I was able to turn this cute party penguin into a holiday penguin, and I’m kind of liking the untraditional Christmas palette of green and black.

I messed around with a few greens to find the right combo to somewhat match my green cardstock. If it hadn’t been for that, this would have been a very limited color palette.

Hello friend {Mo’s Digital Pencil}

Hi, crafty friends. I haven’t shared many cards recently, and I apologize for that – there have just been too many things lately needing my attention, and it means less time in the craft room. I do have a new card today, though (yay), featuring this cute Peaches image from Mo Manning. I’ve used this one before, and it’s very summery. I’m holding onto summer (or at least the idea of summer, we didn’t really have much of a summer this year) for dear life, even though the leaves are changing colors and falling like it’s all they know how to do.

I colored her up with my Copics and kept the panel intact this time. No die cutting, no nothing. I adhered it directly to a top fold A2 card base and put a torn piece of patterned paper at the top. The paper is from the Watercolor Wishes pad from Lawn Fawn, and I white heat embossed triangles onto it to create a little more interest, using the Scattered Triangles Background stamp from My Favorite Things.

I used a small circle die to create notches near the top of the card. I stamped a sentiment from the Mini messages stamp set from Mama Elephant using Obsidian ink from Altenew onto a piece of patterned paper from the Watercolor Wash Brights paper pad from My Favorite Things, and die cut it with one of the dies in the Blueprints 27 die set from My Favorite Things. I put foam tape on the back and adhered it to my card, before adding some black twine to the card, tying it in a bow at the top of the die cut. The notches help keep the twine in place. I finished off with a few pearls from the Meadow mix from Little Things from Lucy’s Cards.

I love using Rs and YRs to create peach colors.

Hooray {Rachelle Anne Miller}

Hi, crafty friends. It’s time to celebrate, because there’s a brand new release from Rachelle Anne Miller today. It’s Penguin Party! This scene creator set consists of an igloo with a party clad penguin peeking outside as well as five other penguins, a present, some stars and a couple of sentiments. This set has me so excited – I love anything even remotely penguin related, and this is right up my alley.

I used the igloo with the peeking penguin and only added one small penguin for this simple card. I didn’t even use the entire igloo, I like the look of the design coming in from the side like this. I colored the image with Copics and used a die in the Additional A2 Layers die set from Waffle Flower to turn it into a nice panel and adhered it to a top fold card base I created from Peacock cardstock from Concord & 9th.

Using the Hooray Script die from Mama Elephant, I cut three die cut layers from Watermelon cardstock from Concord & 9th, which I stacked for a little bit of dimension. I white heat embossed a sentiment from the Birthday messages stamp set from Mama Elephant on a strip of Peacock cardstock. I added a few more layers of cardstock behind it and adhered it below the die cut part of the greeting, before finishing off the card with a few sequins from the Ice Water mix from Little Things from Lucy’s Cards.

Mostly BGs for this card. I love my BGs.

You are so worth celebrating {Rachelle Anne Miller Creative Studios}

Hi, crafty friends! There’s a new release coming next week from Rachelle Anne Miller which has me super excited. It has a theme I love and a type of critter I simply can’t resist – a little tease for you there. Today’s card, however, is created using an oldie, but goodie stamp. This is the Animal Parade, and I know I keep saying so many of Rachelle’s images are among my favorites, but they really are, and this is another one. I’ve used this image once before on this card. This time I cut the image apart and used the critters individually to create postage stamps on my card.

I colored the images with Copics, then used the Postage Collage die from Waffle Flower to create stamps.

I added Solar Paste in the Golden Hour color onto Lemon Tart cardstock from Papertrey Ink using the Merry Go Round stencil from Memory Box. I wanted a little bit of interest in the background, but nothing too distracting, and this worked really well. I added the panel to a top fold white card base I created from Stamper’s Select White cardstock from Papertrey Ink.

I added scraps of cardstock behind my die cuts to give them a little lift off my card and adhered them pretty much in the center of the card.

I stamped a sentiment from the Anything-but Basic Birthday Wishes stamp set from My Favorite Things onto Spring Rain cardstock from Papertrey Ink using Obsidian ink from Altenew. I cut the sentiment down to a strip and added a few layers of cardstock behind it before adhering it to the card.

I finished off with a few sequins from the White Orchid Sequin mix from Little Things from Lucy’s Cards.

Fairly muted color palette for this one.

Blooming Delight {Papiria}

Hi, crafty friends. I’m sharing two cards today, featuring the Blooming Delight set from Altenew. This is a bundle with a stamp aet, a die set and a stencil set that all coordinate. I used the stamps and dies for these cards.

The floral stamp in the stamp set is big!!! I stamped it using Extreme Black ink from My Favorite Things onto X-Press It blending card and colored it with Copics, before using the coordinating die to cut it out. It’s too big to fit on a standard size card, so I decided to cut it apart and got two cards from it.

On the first card, I stamped the floral image again, this time on Powder cardstock from Concord & 9th. I used Fadeout ink from Inkon3 because I wanted a super soft look that didn’t compete with the focal image.

I popped up the flower on foam tape, added a layered sentiment I created using the coordinating die set and finished off with a few ombré glitter drops from Pinkfresh Studio.

On the second card, I used the Angled Mosaic embossing folder on a quarter sheet of Aqua Sky cardstock from Concord & 9th. I stamped and white heat embossed a Kort & Godt sentiment onto a strip of black cardstock, added my cut flower behind it and popped it all on foam tape for dimension.

I used a few black gems from Papirdesign to pick up the black from the sentiment strip.

I used a fairly limited amount of Copics, especially given how large this image originally is.