For the coolest guy

Hi, crafty friends! I’m sharing a confirmation card today, featuring Noah from Mo Manning.

It’s confirmation season, and my nephew’s confirmation was September 10th. I made several cards for him, and this is one of them. I thought this image was the perfect one to use, nothing says fifteen year old boy like a guy with his phone in his hand, school books hidden away and a bowl of snacks on the armrest. The controller tucked away is a nice touch too. We don’t wear shoes indoors in Norway, but the rest is pretty spot on.

I created a background for my colored image using a variety of stamps, inks and even a stencil. I started with the Abstract Triangle Background stamp from My Favorite Things that I stamped in Orange Peel ink from Simon Says Stamp. I didn’t want the stamp to cover the entire background and made sure to stamp it in the lower left corner and have it fade as it went up and to the right. I then took a confirmation stamp from the A05 stamp set from Norsk Stempelblad AS and repeatedly stamped it on top of the stamping I’d already done using VersaMark ink, before sprinkling on super fine detail embossing powder from Ranger and melting the powder with my heat gun. I then used the Watercolor Wash Free Form stencil from My Favorite Things and ink blended using Spiced Marmalade and Mustard Seed distress inks.

I fussy cut my image leaving a white trim and mounted it on foam tape on top of the stamping and ink blending I’d done. I die cut the Hullmønster die from Papirdesign twice; once from Cornflower cardstock and once from Sour Apple cardstock, both from My Favorite Things. I tore them both up, tucking a couple of pieces behind the image for a little bit of added interest.

I used the Konfirmant 2 die from Papirdesign to die cut five times from cardstock for a stacked look, placing a layer die cut from True Black cardstock from Papertrey Ink on top of the stack. I adhered it to the card using liquid glue, placing the beginning of the word on top of Noah’s pant leg to make it all fit.

I added some sentiment stickers from Kort & Godt to fill the space at the bottom of the card a little. They’re originally a bit bigger than this and white with black letters, but I used a Copic marker to color them blue to make them stand out against the white background a little and also cut them down slightly. The banners with the stars are also Kort & Godt stickers.

In the top right corner, I created a little cluster with die cut pieces and those stickers, before finishing off the card with a few Papirdesign enamel dots. Onto a Limelight envelope from My Favorite Things, I adhered white die cut letters (dies from Papirdesign) to spell his name and stamped Konfirmant from the Konf. 02 stamp set from Norsk Stempelblad AS using Limelight ink from My Favorite Things.

On the inside, I stamped a sentiment from the Konf. 02 stamp set from Norsk Stempelblad AS using Orange Peel ink from Simon Says Stamp. I also adhered number stickers from Papirdesign to get the date on there. The right hand side has plenty of space for a personal message.

Fun, bright color palette for this one.

Gledelig jul {Kort & Godt}

Hi, crafty friends. I have a Christmas card I made for the Kort & Godt gallery blog to share today. No coloring on this, but I’ve made up for it with lots of die cutting, don’t worry.

I knew I wanted to do something fun with the poinsettia die set from Kort & Godt. The die set comes with three dies in three different sizes. If you die cut two of each, you get a poinsettia. There’s also a leaf die in the set. I die cut three leaves and created four of each size of the petals for a very full poinsettia. I used a patterned paper from the Ink Drops – Vivid paper pad from Craft Consortium for everything paper on this card except for the white cardstock. Before assembling my poinsettia, I curled all the leaves back a little so they wouldn’t appear flat. I just used a paint brush handle, anything that you can use to create that curve will work. I put foam squares on the back of the petals at the very back, but adhered the center of the poinsettia directly to the white die cut panel. I also put foam squares on the back of the leaves.

I die cut the word gledelig four times; once from the patterned paper, three times from white cardstock. I stacked them for dimension, adhering the patterned paper one on top of the others. I stamped and white heat embossed jul to complete the sentiment (the die set with gledelig also has the word jul in it, but it was too big for my card). I used a glue gun to add berries to the center of the flower and embellished with a few white pearls.

The curved leaves and the berries add a lot of dimension to this card. I love that the dies impress the veins of the leaves and petals into the die cuts.

Kort & Godt products used31

DIE 182 – Rektangel med søm

DIE 302 – Julestjerne

DIE 226 – Gledelig jul

M-442

PB201

2 mm, 3mm and 4 mm white pearls

God jul {Kort & Godt}

Hi, crafty friends. I have another Christmas card to share, this time using some goodies from Kort & Godt.

I shared a card a couple of weeks ago with a bullfinch. The stamp set has another bullfinch image, and I decided to put this one to good use too. This time I fussy cut around him, leaving a white trim around the edge. Onto a top fold card base I created from Rustic Cream cardstock from Papertrey Ink, I mounted a piece of patterned paper from Maja Design (Tomten kommer from the Gammaldags Jul collection). From the Christmas Flower sheet from the Wintertime in Swedish Lapland collection from Pion Design, I die cut a tag, added that in the center using foam tape and a bow at the top that I found in my stash.

I used a die to create the word jul. The die actually cuts the word juleklem, but I only needed jul for my card and cut the other part off. Using an alphabet die, I die cut the letters to spell god and glued them above jul to complete my sentiment. I added the bullfinch image using foam squares and also added a big gold pearl to the knot on the bow for a little bit of shine to finish my card.

Simple color palette, and it happens to be the same as the one I used for the previous bullfinch card.

Kort & Godt products used:

M-468

DIE-211

DIE 300

DIE 304

BE102

Gledelig jul {Streamside Studios}

Hi, crafty friends! I have a Christmas card to share today. To be honest, I’m still waiting for summer to arrive, I feel we were definitely cheated this year. We had a couple of weeks in June with good weather, but it’s been pretty dreary since. The sun is actually peeking out today, though, it’s a nice change from the rain.

Small images in stamp sets often get neglected, but they’re so fun to create backgrounds from, and that’s exactly what I’ve done with this candy cane image from the Merry Christmouse stamp set from Streamside Studios. I did simple coloring and cropped down the panel, before mounting it onto a top fold A2 card base.

Using a die from Kort & Godt, I created my sentiment from gold glitter cardstock, with three extra layers of white die cuts behind for dimension. The sentiment kind of got lost against my busy background, though. Vellum to the rescue. I cut a strip that was the perfect height for my sentiment and added some detail using a stitched border die from Lawn Fawn. I added my die cut letters on top, popped up the vellum panel and finished off with a few gold gems from Kort & Godt.

Super simple color palette today.

Merry wishes {Lili of the Valley}

Hi, crafty friends. I’m still creating holiday cards, I still have no idea how many I’ve made this year, but I do know that this snowmen stamp set from the latest Lili of the Valley release is a must have.

I’ve actually created a tri-fold card this time. There are several images in this stamp set that lend themselves very well to this kind of off the edge design. I colored my snowman with Copics, before adhering him towards the right edge of a half sheet (8 x 5 1/2″) of Stamper’s Select White cardstock from Papertrey Ink. I fussy cut to the right of him, leaving a white trim and used a steel ruler and a craft knife on the left to create a vertical edge. Adhering him to the white cardstock did two things: 1 – it added strength, and 2 – it covered up the back of my coloring for a clean look when the card is open.

This is the card closed. I created this by gluing 2 side fold A2 card bases together; the half with the snowman with the fold on the left and the other one with the fold on the right.

I used the Snowflake Confetti fancy die from Hero Arts to die cut from Gina K Masking Magic to create a stencil to ink blend through. I used Iceberg ink from Altenew to create subtle blue snowflakes in the background on the front of the card to the left of the snowman and also on the other flap.

I adhered an 1/8″ gold glitter cardstock strip from Kort & Godt for the snowman to hold on to for a defining edge and used the Stacked Merry die from My Favorite Things to die cut 6 times for a stacked look. 5 layers from white cardstock, the top layer from a piece of X-Press It blending card that I colored to match the green on the snowman. I stacked the six layers and adhered them in the center of the left front panel, stamped and white heat embossed a sub sentiment from the Christmas Greetings stamp set from Lili of the Valley, before adhering it on top of the stem of the Y with a few additional layers of cardstock behind it for dimension and strength.

I embellished with a combination of gold pearls around the sentiment and tiny confetti stars all across the background. Both are from the Vanilla Kiss mix from Little Things from Lucy’s Cards. I also added a bit of black glaze pen to the eyes of the snowman. It adds a tiny bit of dimension and some shine. Once dry, I went over with a dot of white, using a Gelly Roll 05.

On the inside flap, behind the snowman, I stamped another sentiment from the Christmas Greetings stamp set from Lili of the Valley, this time using Jalapeño Popper ink from My Favorite Things.

Simple color palette for this one. Lots of colors for the snow, though, I can’t seem to help it.

God jul {Kort & Godt}

Hi, crafty friends. I have a super clean and simple, yet dimensional, Christmas card to share today, featuring some products from Kort & Godt.

I started by stamping this bird on a piece of X-Press It blending card using Extreme Black ink from My Favorite Things. I colored the bird to look like a bullfinch using my Copics. In this little corner of the world, no bird says Christmas like a bullfinch. Once I finished my coloring, I stamped on top of my initial stamping, this time using Obsidian ink from Altenew to get really crisp lines. I love how crisp this ink is. It’s not compatible with Copics, so I need to stamp after my coloring’s complete, but that’s not a problem with a stamp positioning tool.

Onto a piece of Classic Kraft cardstock from Papertrey Ink, I stamped a few branches using Classic Kraft ink for a soft backdrop for my sentiment, which I stamped in Dark Chocolate ink, also from Papertrey Ink. I popped up the 3 1/2″ wide kraft panel in the center of a top fold white cardbase using foam tape, added foam tape behind my die cut image and placed it near the top center of the card, before finishing off with a gold heart for a little bit of embellishment.

Simple color palette for this image.

Kort & Godt products used:

M-468

M-442

ST149

Hæppi børsdei tu juuuuuuuu {Mo’s Digital Pencil}

Hi, crafty friends. I have a sweet, simple birthday card to share with you today, featuring Mae from Mo’s Digital Pencil. I love this image, and I’ve used it once before, on this card. I made sure to use a different color palette and different design for today’s card.

I colored Mae with Copics, opting for one of my go to summer color palettes. There’s something about pink, yellow and orange that just screams summer to me. Once colored, I fussy cut her, leaving a white border around the image. The white border makes her stand out against a colorful background, and with that hair, there’s no way I was cutting right up against the black lines in the image.

I created an A2 top fold card base from Stamper’s Select White cardstock from Papertrey Ink, and did some ink blending directly on the front. I first used the Watercolor Circle stencil from My Favorite Things and ink blended using Squeezed Lemonade and Mustard Seed Distress inks. I removed the circle stencil, added the Geometric mosaic stencil, also from MFT, and used Spiced Marmalade Distress ink for an orange pattern on top, extending out from the circle a bit. I didn’t think the orange was dark enough, so I went over it with Orange Peel ink from Simon Says Stamp and even added a little bit of Abandoned Coral Distress ink on top to amp up the contrast.

I mounted Mae on foam tape, before adding a couple of Kort & Godt sentiment stickers, which I also put foam tape on the back of.

I love dimension on my cards, and by popping up the image and the sentiments, they stand out a little against a fairly busy background.

To finish the card, I added a few pearls, hearts and gems from the Chrysanthemum mix from Little Things from Lucy’s Cards. I love her mixes, and use them on most of my cards, they add the perfect finishing touch.

Simple color palette.

Gift tags {Kort & Godt}

Hi, crafty friends. I’m usually notoriously late in creating gift tags for Christmas. I keep trying every year to get ahead, but it doesn’t always work. Today’s gift tags are attempt at creating a few before they need to be done. The best thing? They’re fast to create and a great way to use scraps.

These mitten dies from Kort & Godt are perfect for gift tags. There are three dies in the set: the cuff, a base layer and a top layer. I only used the cuff on one of these, but used the base layer and top layer for all of them.

I used scraps of patterned paper from Maja Design for all three of the mittens, stamped and white heat embossed a sentiment on one of them and added a gold gem stone to the center of each of the snowflakes. I also pulled some string through a hole I made at the top left corner and added a couple of bells to each.

On the back I stamped to and from using ink colors that matched the mittens. I used Dark Chocolate ink from Papertrey Ink for the brown mitten, Scarlet Jewel ink (also from PTI) for the red mittens.

Kort & Godt products used:

DIE 318

M-466

ST210

TR-104

Hug {Kort & Godt}

Hi, crafty friends. I’m back today with a card I created for the Kort & Godt design team. This time I actually broke out my watercolors.

I love hydrangeas, and this image was is one I just HAD to color. Even though I’m more confident with my Copics because I use them so much, I love the soft look and those edges lines you get with watercolor. I stamped the image on a piece of Fabriano Artistico Extra White watercolor paper using Obsidian ink from Altenew. This is a pigment ink, which makes it perfect for embossing. I sprinkled on clear embossing powder from Ranger and melted the powder.

I grabbed a couple of paint brushes and my Mijello Mission Gold watercolor set and mixed pinks and purples for my flowers, and a bunch of different greens for the stems and leaves. I’m no expert watercolorist (if you want to watch an expert watercolor, head over to Debby Hughes’ blog, she’s amazing, her work is sooo impressive), but I’m learning and having fun each time I pull out my watercolors anyway.

This stamp set actually comes with a couple of additional leaves and petals and dies to cut them out, but there’s no die for this large image. Fussy cutting it was easy enough, though. I stamped and white heat embossed a sentiment from the stamp set onto a piece of True Black cardstock from Papertrey Ink. I dry embossed a piece of patterned paper from the Watercolor Wishes 6×6 inch paper pack from Lawn Fawn using the Geometric Landscape stencil from Altenew. I wanted a little bit of texture to create interest in the background without distracting from the main image, and this did the trick.

I added a few more layers of cardstock behind my black strip for dimension, popped the flower up on foam tape and finished off the card with a few faceted pearls. Or are they gems? No matter what they are, they’re gorgeous, and I have a feeling I’ll use up the entire pack of these in no time, I love them so much.

Kort & Godt products used:

Sett #12

ST178

Gledelig jul {Kort & Godt}

Hi, crafty friends! Summer solstice in the Northern hemisphere was yesterday, which means that the days will get shorter and shorter, and before we know it, Christmas will arrive. It’s no secret I love creating Christmas cards (no matter how much I despise cold weather), and it’s also not a secret that I love blue, so today, I’m sharing with you a blue monochromatic Christmas card.

I started with a quarter sheet of Stamper’s Select White cardstock, the Wintry Forest stencil set from Pinkfresh Studio and the Northern Shore color family from Altenew. The stencil set has 6 different stencils that you layer to create a gorgeous wintry forest. I started with stencil number 1 (the Pinkfresh Studio stencils are numbered, which makes it really easy) and Polar Bear ink, which is the lightest of the four colors in the Northern Shore color family. I then moved on to stencil number 2, but didn’t change the color. Since I had to stretch my four colors and use them on five stencils (the last stencil adds snow on the trees), I kept the lightest one for this second layer and ink blended with a heavier hand, which makes the color appear darker. I used stencil number 3 with Icy Water ink, which is the next shade, then stencil number 4 with Winter Lake ink, and finally stencil number 5 with Arctic Mountain ink, which is the darkest color in this set of four gorgeous blues.

On top of the ink blending, I stamped a snow flurry background stamp from Kort & Godt (M-428) using Fresh Snow hybrid ink from Papertrey Ink, which added lots of white snowy dots to my background. I then used a die in the DIE240 set from Kort & Godt to die cut the banner directly from my background. I put it to the side, placed the last stencil on my background and spread a layer of Light & Fluffy modeling paste from The Crafter’s Workshop through the stencil, before sprinkling on Rock Candy Distress Glitter and let that dry. Onto my banner, I stamped a sentiment from the M-467 stamp set from Kort & Godt using Arctic Mountain ink. I ink blended a little bit of Winter Lake ink to the edges to make it stand out a little bit more, added a stack of white die cuts behind it for dimension and adhered a couple of faceted iridescent pearls (ST178) to finish off the card.