Be kind {Rachelle Anne Miller Creative Studios}

Hi, crafty friends. Today I’m sharing with you a card using one of the stamps in the brand new Positivity release from Rachelle Anne Miller. There are three stamps in the release, and I chose Be Kind for my card today.

As you might be able to tell from the front, this isn’t a regular card. It’s a slider card. At first I wasn’t sure how to turn this particular stamp into a card, but then I had a lightbulb moment and realized it was perfect for a slider card.

I colored the images with Copics, did some fussy cutting leaving a think white border and put my pieces aside while I worked on the rest of the card.

When you pull on the string at the top, these mice from the Be Kind stamp are revealed. Nice little surprise there, huh? The slider mechanism itself is made using the Slider Surprise die set from My Favorite Things, but you could easily do this on your own, it’s not difficult. They’re straight cut lines and just a few score lines.

I wanted a little texture to my white cardstock, and used the Stitched Ripple Backdrop die from Lawn Fawn, which creates these faux stitch lines across the panel. In hindsight, I realize I probably should have dry embossed it only and not die cut it, because where the stitched lines intersect with the die cut edge of the part that folds up, it kind of snags a little. It’s not a huge deal, but it’s enough to make me think simply dry embossing would have been enough.

In the opening, I added a piece of Gold Foil Pinstripe washi tape from Altenew for the mice to have a little bit of a grounding element, then adhered the mice using liquid glue. The top die cut panel is mounted on foam tape, and everything adhered to a top fold card base I created from Melon Berry cardstock from Papertrey Ink.

Probably the simplest color palette I’ve ever used on a card.

A little hello {Lili of the Valley}

Hi, crafty friends. There’s a new release from Lili of the Valley coming in just a couple of days. It’s just one stamp set, but it’s the most adorable set ever. Four elephant images that work for a variety of occasions, and I’ve got a sweet hello card to share today with my favorite of the four images.

Isn’t this the cutest elephant image you ever did see? Saying hello to his little ladybug, I just couldn’t resist. I colored in the image with my Copics and used a stitched border die from Lawn Fawn to create a little interest to the top and bottom of my panel.

I put foam tape on the back and was initially planning on a big die cut word, but it didn’t really work for the card, so I stamped a small sentiment in the grass instead, using Sour Apple ink from My Favorite Things. The sentiment itself is from InkyWings.

Onto a quarter piece of white cardstock from Papertrey Ink, I stamped the Scattered Triangles Background stamp from My Favorite Things using Sour Apple ink near the bottom and Blue Yonder ink, also from My Favorite Things, near the top. I adhered my stamped background onto a top fold card base I created from Stamper’s Select White cardstock from Papertrey Ink and mounted my colored panel on top.

This cute elephant might be even cuter because I colored him blue. There’s a reason blue’s my favorite color, everything just looks better when it’s blue.

I decided not to add any embellishments to the card, I really wanted the elephant to be the star.

Simple color palette for this one. I also used B90 for the elephant, which is a color I’ve created myself.

Merry Christmas {Mo’s Digital Pencil}

Hi, crafty friends. I’m back today with a fairly simple Christmas card, featuring Sneaking a peek from Mo Manning. Oh, how I love her Christmas images!!

This image is super fast and easy to color. It’s just a head, a hat and a couple of mittens. I wanted a green and gold card, so I colored her hat and mittens green and fussy cut her.

Onto a white top fold card base, I adhered a panel of brushed gold cardstock. Actually I cheated a bit and only added a frame. I die cut the center out of it, so I can use that for something else. No one will ever know I cut a chunk out of it to save for later.

Using the Stitched Snowflake Backdrop die from Lawn Fawn, I created a snowflake background from white cardstock. Once I’d die cut, I ran the panel through my Gemini Jr a second time with an embossing mat to add extra depth to the texture the die made. It really makes a huge difference, as opposed to just running it through once with the die.

I used the Merry Christmas die from My Favorite Things to die cut from the same gold cardstock I used on the base. I die cut six additional layers from white cardstock, adding three of those behind the gold and three behind the shadow I cut from heavyweight translucent vellum from My Favorite Things. All these layers add a ton of dimension to an otherwise simple card.

I added my image to the card using foam tape. Her hands hover just above the merry, it’s like she’s peeking in from behind the sentiment.

You’re cooler than ice cream {Mo’s Digital Pencil}

Hi, crafty friends. I’m back today, featuring Justin’s Ice Cream from Mo Manning on a very clean and simple card. I love this image, he looks so happy with his ice cream, and the puppy is equally happy, it’s adorable.

I’ve colored this image before, but never using blue for his overalls. That feels crazy, but it’s also true. I obviously used blue this time, and gave him blond hair too. I stamped a sentiment from the Double Scoop of Cute stamp set from My Favorite Things, using Blue Beyond ink, also from My Favorite Things.

On the sides of the panel, I used a die from the Stitched Borders die set from Lawn Fawn to create a tiny bit of interest.

On a quarter piece of Blueberry cardstock from My Favorite Things, I repeatedly stamped the ice cream cones in the Double Scoop of Cute stamp set and white heat embossed them all. I adhered the blue panel to a card base and mounted my colored panel on top using foam tape.

To finish off the card I added three sequins from the Denim mix of sequins from Little Things from Lucy’s Cards. I tend to put my embellishments near the sentiment, it’s a good way to draw the eye to the sentiment.

It doesn’t get much cuter than a boy with a puppy. And I wish the temps were good enough for ice cream outdoors. We still have snow on the ground, it’s cold and there’s more snow in the forecast. I want summer, when’s it coming?

Lots of Copics despite a very limited color palette. It happens.

Get Cracking on Christmas – October

Can you believe it’s the third Thursday of the month already? The weeks fly by, and Christmas will be here before we know it. I have a slightly different project to share for Get Cracking on Christmas today, because I haven’t made a card this time. Every year, I keep getting better at getting Christmas cards done in time (yay me), but I always scramble last minute to make gift tags (not so much yay me). I have two to share today, featuring the Playful Penguins from Amanda Jayne Designs. I actually had two more colored, but they got lost on my desk last week and I can’t find them. Four would have been great, but two are better than none.

I had my penguins colored, fussy cut and ready to go. I rummaged through my Christmas themed patterned paper scraps and found a piece from Papirdesign and one from Maja Design that were just big enough to die cut a snowflake from. This snowflake is the Stitched Snowflake Frame from Lawn Fawn that came out last year. I added a white die cut circle to the back of the opening that the die creates and stamped a to/from stamp on the back.

I added the penguin using foam squares and also a white heat embossed sentiment strip. The sentiment is from the Jul stamp set from Norsk Stempelblad. I stamped and white heat embossed a bunch at once on a scrap piece of blue cardstock from Maja Design. I added my strip using foam squares and finished off the tag with a few sequins from the Igloo mix from Little Things from Lucy’s Cards and a bow I tied to the top using Divine Twine in the color Blueberry.

I used the same setup for the second tag, only switching out the sentiment and using pearls instead of sequins. They’re from the same mix from Lucy, though.

I love using 1 mm foam squares. It adds a little bit of raised dimension to something that is very simple, and the bow adds a little bit of texture.

Simple color palette for these two (and the other two penguins that are still lost somewhere in my craft room).

Merry Christmas {Purple Onion Designs}

Hi, crafty friends! Yes, I’m aware that we’ve still got three and a half months until Christmas, but I love creating Christmas cards and just can’t stop.

Old Betsy from Purple Onion Designs is such a great image. I love this pick up truck with the bear inside waving hello through the window. I’ve used it before on this card, which also featured lots of other images. This time, though, I only focused on this one image, and only used the front section of it too.

Using the Itsy Bitsy Polka Dot Backdrop die from Lawn Fawn, I die cut a panel of white cardstock from Papertrey Ink to add a little bit of texture to the front of my card. I adhered it to a quarter panel of Blue Breeze cardstock from My Favorite Things, before using the Selfie Square die, also from My Favorite Things, to die cut a window in the top center.

I put foam tape on the back of my polka dot panel and adhered it to my colored piece, making sure to line up the image so it would show trough the window the way I wanted it to. I then grabbed a quarter panel of Jalapeño Popper cardstock from My Favorite Things and used my G99 Copic marker and scribbled it close to the edge of the green cardstock to make the color match my car a little bit better. Green cardstock is tricky, and I don’t often find the right kind of green that I want for my projects. This was an easy hack, but if anyone out there has a suggestion for a green cardstock that is close in color to G99 (or G94), please let me know.

I adhered my improved green cardstock to an A2 top fold white note card and mounted the polka dot piece with the colored window using foam tape – lots of it. I then used the same Blue Breeze cardstock that I used previously to cut the word merry three times using the Merry Script die from Mama Elephant. I love their script dies! On the top layer I spritzed sheer shimmer craft spray from Imagine for a bit of sparkle to the letters. Unfortunately, details like that are tricky to photograph, but it’s definitely noticeable in real life, trust me 🙂

Onto a leftover scrap of X-Press It blending card, I scribbled an even layer of G99 to create a dark green cardstock that would match my colored image. Onto it, I white heat embossed the word Christmas from the Holiday Messages Sentiment Set from Purple Onion Designs. I love the classy script die cut with the more playful block lettering of the heat embossed word. I added a couple of cardstock strips behind my sentiment strip for dimension and finished the card with a few sequins from the White Orchid Sequin mix from Little Things from Lucy’s Cards.

I love my Copics and used quite a few for this rather simple image.

Grateful for friends like you {Rachelle Anne Miller Creative Studios}

Hi, crafty friends! I’m sharing a sneak peek today at one of the new images coming from Rachelle Anne Miller. This is Autumn Friends. Personally, I’d like to hang on to summer for as long as humanly possible, but even though I’m not a fan of the cold, I love the vibe in this particular image.

The sentiment comes with the image. You can omit it if you want to, but I really like both the placement and the mix of the handwritten style with the playful print style. I decided to also add a few additional leaves above their heads. Aside from the green leaf to the left of the bird and the one leaf that’s landed on the hat, all the leaves above their heads are ones I added. I did that by copying the leaves already in the image and placing them where I wanted them; it’s one of the many advantages of working with digital stamps.

I colored everything with my Copics and went for a much warmer color palette than I usually choose. Their clothes are cool tones, but everything else is in warm tones.

I used one of the dies in the Stitched Borders set from Lawn Fawn to create the faux stitching on the sides of my colored piece, before I adhered it to a top fold card base I created from Jalapeño Popper cardstock from My Favorite Things. I did add a few additional layers of cardstock behind the panel for dimension, though.

I wanted to keep the focus on this cute image, and scattered a few iridescent gems from the Glass Crystal collection from Little Things from Lucy’s Cards to finish it off.

The gems catch the light and add to the warm feel of the card.

I used quite a bit of Copics for this card, even though my coloring is pretty simple.

Get Cracking on Christmas – August

Hi, crafty friends. It’s the third Thursday of the month, and that means it’s time to Get Cracking on Christmas. This is a series Jenn Shurkus created a few years back, aimed at creating holiday cards all year to make you less stressed come November and to also use those supplies you bought, but didn’t have to use last year. We all do that, right? It’s not just me? It’s also a great opportunity to play with techniques and different card designs. I love creating Christmas cards all year, so this is right up my alley.

For this card, I’m once again focusing on the Snow Cute stamp set Lili of the Valley released earlier this month. It’s such a cute stamp set (aptly named), and I just can’t resist when there’s a penguin to color. I colored the penguin with Copics, cut my panel down to a strip and put it aside while I worked on the rest of my card.

I created a top fold card base from Enchanted Evening cardstock from Papertrey Ink. This is one of my all time favorite cardstock colors, and I hoard it, always afraid I’m going to run out even though I have several packs of it. I die cut the lighter blue panel from Blue Breeze cardstock from My Favorite Things using the Stitched Snowflake Backdrop die from Lawn Fawn. The die cuts a full size panel for an A2 card, I trimmed mine down slightly to have the darker blue border showing around the edges.

I added a few extra white pieces of cardstock behind my colored panel to make it stand out a little more against the background. I like the dimension it adds.

I used a few words from the Christmas Greetings stamp set from Lili of the Valley, cut them down to strips and added a few more cardstock layers behind them for additional dimension.

To finish the card I added a few sequins from the White Orchid sequin mix from Little Things from Lucy’s Cards. I also added a bit of black glaze pen to the penguin’s eyes, and then a white dot of Gelly Roll 05 on top once the black had dried. This makes the eyes stand out a little against the rest, and the shine looks great in real life. It’s hard to photograph, though, so you’ll just have to trust me.

Simple color palette for this one, these penguins don’t require a lot.

Let it snow {Mo’s Digital Pencil}

Hi, crafty friends. It’s been a while, but I have a simple Christmas card to share today, featuring Season’s Greetings from Mo’s Digital Pencil. This is an older image of hers, but I love the playfulness of the girl hanging on to the candy cane and couldn’t resist.

I printed the image on a piece of X-Press It blending card, extending the candy cane so it would run along the entire left side of my card front. The line style of the image is somewhat sketchy, which means you can’t really mess up creating an additional couple of lines. I colored the image with Copics and sprinkled on lots of chunky white embossing enamel, before melting the granules from the back of the cardstock.

I wanted a big sentiment for this card, and chose the Let It Snow die from Lawn Fawn to create it. I cut once from Hawaiian Shores cardstock from Papertrey Ink, and three times from white cardstock, also from PTI, to create a chipboard like element that adds dimension to my card. I finished off with a few snowflake sprinkles from Little Things from Lucy’s Cards.

Simple color palette. I would never pair red with green for a Christmas card (I’m not a fan of complementary colors), but red and teal works sooo well.

Easter fun {Rachelle Anne Miller Creative Studios}

Hi, crafty friends. There’s a new release out right now from Rachelle Anne Miller. It’s all about Easter Friends. There are eggs, guinea pigs, a cute woodland scene and a scene creator set, but I just had to choose Koala’s Easter for my card. With my ties to Australia there was really no other choice.

Isn’t this image the cutest? The koala with the bunny ears painting the egg with the little bunny watching, it’s sooo sweet. I colored this image using a lot more colors than I normally would, but they’re colors that scream spring to me, so I’m all for it, I definitely long for warmer days.

I put a strip of pink patterned paper from My Favorite Things above and below the image, and added a few more patterned paper pieces (from Lawn Fawn and My Favorite Things) angled behind my colored piece, before die cutting all of them using the A2 Stitched Rectangles STAX 1 die set from My Favorite Things to create that faux stitch look that I love to add to my cards. I used the same die to die cut from yellow patterned paper from Lawn Fawn, adhered that to my card base, then mounted my colored piece on top using foam tape.

Onto a piece of vellum, I stamped a sentiment from an Easter stamp set from Papirdesign (PD18390 Påske) using VersaFine Onyx Black ink and clear heat embossed it, before die cutting it using one of the dies in the Fishtail Flag Frames die set from My Favorite Things.

I tied a bow around my sentiment banner using twine from Whisker Graphics in the color Lemon, and then I finished off the card with a few yellow enamel dots from the Pocketful of Sunshine enamel dot collection from Altenew.

Lots of colors for this one.