Bear hugs {Lili of the Valley}

June 28, 2021June 27, 2021 ElinLeave a comment

Hi! I have a simple card to share today, featuring Jenny floral border, which is an image from Lili of the Valley. I printed the image with a low opacity setting to get the no line look and colored in my image with Copics, drawing the facial features back in with a black pen.

I don’t often color fur like this. It’s very relaxing to do and a very forgiving technique, but it’s a time consuming one, layering up all those fine lines isn’t done in five minutes, or fifteen, for that matter, so I don’t usually take the time to do it, but this cute little bear was begging for it.

Using the watercolor stripes stencil from Altenew, I dry embossed a piece of Soft Stone card stock from Papertrey Ink. I’ve had a love affair with the Papertrey Ink card stock for close to a decade now; it’s my favorite, and this particular grey color is so soft and perfect! I mounted it onto a top fold white card base (made out of Stamper’s Select White card stock, another one from PTI) using lots of foam tape, leaving a 1/4″ border around the edge. Using even more foam tape, I mounted my fussy cut colored piece in the center of the grey card stock for even more dimension.

I stamped and white heat embossed a sentiment from Norsk Stempelblad AS onto a scrap piece of Berry Sorbet card stock from Papertrey Ink and turned it into a small banner with one of the dies in the Itty Bitty Strips die set from My Favorite Things. This particular pink card stock is another favorite of mine, and I only have tiny scraps left, I need to stock up! I mounted the banner onto my colored piece using 1 mm foam squares.

I added sparkling clear sequins from Pretty Pink Posh to finish off my card. Three groupings forming a visual embellishment triangle. I usually only place my embellishments near the sentiment to draw the eye to the sentiment, but for this one I staggered them elsewhere too. I love that these sequins come in a bag with four different sizes. I have other sequins I love too (the mixes from Little Things from Lucy’s Cards are awesome), but I still believe these are my favorites. If I could only buy one type of sequins for the rest of forever, these are the ones I’d choose.

I’m sending sparkling, dimensional, flowery bear hugs your way!

Teeing off! {Lili of the Valley}

June 18, 2021June 16, 2021 ElinLeave a comment

Hi! I have a 50th birthday card to share today, featuring the Teeing Off image from Lili of the Valley that was released a few weeks ago.

The card was made on order for a golf-playing tinsmith whose favorite football team (European football) is Liverpool. I wanted to include as many of the elements as possible, and made a slimline card with patterned paper from Papirdesign, P13 and 7 Dots Studio.

I used lots of foam tape for dimension, and varying widths of the patterned paper layered and criss-crossed across the card. I used the Slimline Starter die set from My Favorite Things and also the Stitched Trad. Tag STAX dies to create the tags. The reinforcers are made with the Tag Builder Blueprints 6 die set, also from MFT.

Through one of the reinforced holes, I pulled a piece of Cherry twine from Whisker Graphics and dug through my stash to find a ball charm, perfect for a football fan. I wanted to include a little bit of metal because of his profession, and started by stapling the twine to the tag. I also fussy cut a few footballs from patterned paper from Papirdesign that I scattered across the front.

I fussy cut my golfer and added him to the front of the card using foam tape.

I created a circle with the recipient’s age and covered it with a thick layer of Glossy Accents. Glossy Accents takes a long time to dry, so I made this little piece before starting on the rest of the card and put it somewhere safe to dry for a few hours. Once it was time to put the card together, I’d completely forgotten about this little 1″ circle, and only found it after I’d handed the card over to the woman who ordered it. Thankfully, I was able to meet up with her the following day to add it to the card, but of course, all my photos were already taken, so I snapped this super quickly with my phone just to show what the card should have looked like all along.

I was asked to try to put the Liverpool team song somewhere on the card, and I figured that one of the insides had just enough space. The other inside has plenty of room for a personal message to the recipient.

On the back of the card I used more patterned paper, more fussy cut footballs and also a sentiment from Norsk Stempelblad AS stamped in Memento Ladybug ink.

I also added my personal stamp to the back of the card, on a white football with splatters. Back in February, Create a Smile had a two week collaboration with Sommerabend where you could order personal stamps. I got this one and an address stamp. I’ve been creating cards for over 10 years, but never had a personal stamp until now, and I’m so happy with how they both turned out.

I felt like I hadn’t hit the brief in terms of the tinsmith part, so I decided to die cut the letters of his name in foil sheet and add to the front of the envelope. I put a couple of layers of plain card stock die cuts behind each foiled letter for dimension, and used an old hammer from Tim Holtz to add a little texture to the letters. A few footballs on either side of his name to complete the look.

Not a whole lot of Copics required for an image that mostly reads as red and white.

Merry Christmas from me to you {Lili of the Valley}

May 28, 2021May 28, 2021 ElinLeave a comment

Hi, there! You may think I’ve lost my mind making Christmas cards in May, but I actually enjoy making them all year. It saves me from having to scramble last minute in November to get them all done. It’s also been really wet and cold here lately, so it’s felt like we’re closer to Christmas than to summer. It’s sunny today, though, and tomorrow, the temperature’s supposed to creep over 20! Feels like spring is finally on its way now that it’s actually almost over.

I colored Winter Fun with my Copics, trimmed off a little on the sides and adhered my panel onto a top fold white card base.

I don’t normally use red on my Christmas card, but when I can pair it with blue or grey, I can tolerate it. The coloring on this card is pretty busy (it’s all those stripes), so I needed my sentiment to stand out. I used a god jul die from Papirdesign, and in the sleeve with the die were 7 white die cuts that were apparently scrapped from a previous project. I glued them together for a stacked look, die cutting one more to put on top from Electric Red card stock from My Favorite Things. Sadly, they’ve discontinued this color. I’m super picky about my reds, and this one is nice and rich and dark. I heat embossed a sub sentiment from Norsk Stempelblad AS onto a strip of more of that red card stock, and mounted it on foam tape below my die cut. To finish off the card and add a little more dimension and interest, I sprinkled some snowdrift sprinkles from Little Things from Lucy’s Cards here and there. I love these little clay snowflakes.

Not a massive amount of colors for this. Everything left of E13 on the top row is used for the snow.

Birthday wishes {Streamside Studios}

May 11, 2021May 11, 2021 ElinLeave a comment

Hi, there. I have a super simple birthday card to share today, featuring the Turtley Awesome digital stamp set from Streamside Studios. This card is actually part of an Instagram hop, so if you head over to Instagram and hop along, you’re in with a chance to win some prizes. Who doesn’t like prizes, right?

I colored two of the tortoises (the other one’s on the inside of the card) and fussy cut both. I printed one of the watercolor splashes from Lili of the Valley at 50 % opacity straight onto the card base. I love the watercolor look, but hate getting inky fingers, and this way, there’s no drying time, and I can use my nice white cardstock and not have to rely on the more yellow watercolor paper.

Here you can see a little of the tortoise I glued to the inside of the card. On the front, I added a stacked wishes sentiment (die from Mama Elephant). It’s six die cuts thick for some real dimension.

I stamped and white heat embossed part of a birthday sentiment from a Simon Says Stamp/Concord and 9th Stamptember collaboration set onto a piece of Smokey Shadow card stock from Papertrey Ink, mounted it on foam tape and adhered it above the w.

To finish off the card, I added some sparkling clear sequins from Pretty Pink Posh. It’s a great mix of sequins in four different sizes, I really love using them on my cards.

Welcome to the world {Rachelle Anne Miller Creative Studios}

May 10, 2021May 10, 2021 ElinLeave a comment

Hi, there! Today I’m sharing a super simple card (I feel like I always say that), featuring an image (Dinosaur Friends) from Rachelle Anne Miller from the release that’s coming later this week.

I colored the image with my Copics, using the largest of the A2 Stitched rectangles dies from My Favorite Things to turn it into a panel with a nice faux stitch edge. I adhered it to a card base made from Lush Lagoon card stock from My Favorite Things and wanted to keep everything simple and the focus on the image. I did that by adding just a sentiment strip (white heat embossed sentiment from Norsk Stempelblad AS) and a sparkling clear sequins from Pretty Pink Posh.

Simple coloring, simple color palette.

Precious baby boy {Lili of the Valley}

April 18, 2021April 3, 2021 ElinLeave a comment

Hi, there! I have a baby card to share today, featuring the Baby Swing image from Lili of the Valley.

I colored in the image with Copics and put it aside while I worked on the rest of the card. I had an old discarded panel of Aqua Mist card stock from Papertrey Ink that I’d already dry embossed using the Quilted Backdrop die from Lawn Fawn, and decided it would be perfect for this card. I used the largest of the A2 Stitched Rectangles STAX dies from My Favorite Things to turn it into a panel with a nice edge, and I used the Selfie Square die, also from My Favorite Things, to create my window.

Using a craft knife, I cut into my colored panel so I could get the legs of the bunny on the outside of my window panel, which I added to my card base using lots and lots and lots of foam tape. Dimension is life!

I die cut a few clouds from white card stock using a die set from Papertrey Ink, and stamped a sentiment from Norsk Stempelblad AS onto one of the clouds in Hawaiian Shores ink, also from Papertrey Ink.

I added the clouds using foam squares, and embellished ever so slightly with sequins and confetti stars from the Sea Glass mix from Little Things from Lucy’s Cards to finish my card.

Simple color palette for this one.

I adore you {Lili of the Valley}

April 9, 2021April 11, 2021 ElinLeave a comment

Hi, there! I have a simple card with a fun technique to share today, featuring the pencil sketch version of Grace Beauty from Lili of the Valley. I love the pencil sketch versions of these images, and I’ve done some faux watercoloring for this one.

I printed the image onto Fabriano Artistico Extra White watercolor paper and did some Copic coloring. Yes, this is done with Copics, but not with the markers. Copic markers and watercolor paper are a bad match, the paper will ruin the nibs. I thought these sketchy images would be perfect with watercolor, but my printer and watercolor aren’t a good match either. That, and my watercolors still scare me. What never scares me are my Copics, so I filled a little bit of Copic blender solution into a water brush (one that I’ve designated for use with Copics) and used that as my paint brush, picking up drops of refill in various colors from a smooth, slick surface.

It’s not as precise as regular Copic coloring, but it’s a pretty fast, forgiving technique, and it’s a lot of fun to get more uses out of the markers (and the refills). It ticks all the boxes for me. I get the watercolor look that I like, without having to wait for things to dry (because the alcohol in the Copics evaporates a lot faster than water does), I can “watercolor” digital images with Copics because the ink won’t bleed. You don’t need a lot of colors either, and if you don’t have the refills, you can use the actual marker to scribble onto an acrylic block or another slick, non absorbent surface. One of these days I’ll practice coloring regular stamps with my actual watercolors, I just have to carve out the time. Even though they scare me, my watercolors don’t deserve to just be sitting unused in their palette, that’s not the reason I bought them.

I wanted to let the image shine and kept the card pretty simple. I used a rectangle die to cut a window in the center of a panel, mounting the negative on foam tape to frame the image.

I glued a couple of pieces of a mini doily from Doodlebug into the corners of my colored piece. I just wanted a little something. These go well with the soft look I was going for. I stamped a sentiment from the Leaf Clusters stamp set from Altenew in Soft Granite ink from Hero Arts onto a scrap piece of Sweet Blush card stock from Papertrey Ink, and added it in the top left corner, along with some pearls from Little Things from Lucy’s Cards. The pearls are the perfect matching color, they were a sampler pack in a big order I placed from her a while back, so unfortunately, I don’t know the color name.

When I do normal Copic coloring I tend to go overboard and use a ton of colors to achieve the look I’m after. With faux watercolor, it’s the opposite, the color palette is always very limited, because I can get a lot of gradient with just one color, depending on how much I dilute it with the blender solution in the water brush. The pink on her dress, the bows in her hair and the flowers is all made with just R43, I’d never be able to achieve this ombré effect using just one color with the markers themselves.

A little princess {Lili of the Valley}

April 3, 2021April 2, 2021 ElinLeave a comment

Hi! I have a simple baby card to share today, featuring the adorable Baby Scales image from Lili of the Valley.

I colored the image with Copics and fussy cut it, leaving a thin white border. Normally, I’d cut right up to the stamped lines, but with the baby’s strands of hair sticking out from the top of its head, that wasn’t going to happen.

I ran a piece of Lilac Grace card stock from Papertrey Ink through my Gemini Jr. with the Linen & Canvas impression plate, also from Papertrey Ink, for a little bit of subtle texture in the background. I love this particular impression plate, but it’s the first time I’ve used this side of it, I usually use the other. I cropped the panel down significantly and added it with foam tape to my card base. I used 1 mm foam squares behind the image, and adhered that to the bottom left.

I used a stamp from Norsk Stempelblad AS with Altenew Amethyst ink to create my sentiment strip. I found a scrap corner of a mini paper doily from Doodlebug Design that I adhered directly to my textured panel, before mounting the sentiment strip on top with more of those 1 mm foam squares, finishing off with a few enamel dots from Papirdesign.

Not a whole lot of Copics used for this image, it IS simple, after all. I also used V97, which is a color I’ve made myself.

Smile – it’s spring {Lili of the Valley}

March 19, 2021March 19, 2021 Elin1 Comment

Hi, everyone! I have a quick and easy card to share today, featuring Balancing Bunny from the upcoming release from Lili of the Valley. Lots of Easter themed images, which is perfect right now, don’t you think?

I colored the image in with my Copics and used partial die cutting with a die from My Favorite Things to turn it into a tall, slim panel. I stamped and white heat embossed a stamp from the Pinstripe stamp set from Altenew repeatedly on a card base I made out of Winter Wisteria card stock from Papertrey Ink, and added my colored piece in the center using foam tape. I stamped and white heat embossed a sentiment from Papirdesign onto a scrap piece of card stock, die cut it and matted it with a white circle, before using 1 mm foam squares to pop it off the colored piece just a bit. And that finished the card for today. Super simple.

Lots of colors used for this one, for some reason.

You are worthy {Lili of the Valley}

March 11, 2021March 10, 2021 Elin2 Comments

Hi, everyone! I’m back with a super simple card today, featuring the pencil sketch version of Grace Kindness from Lili of the Valley. I love the loose, sketchy look of these.

I wasn’t sure what to do at first, but wound up fussy cutting the image, leaving a white trim. I usually prefer cutting right up against the edge, but I didn’t want to cut off the sketchy lines on the perimeter of the image, and decided to leave the white border. I ran a piece of white card stock through my die cutting machine using a geometric embossing folder from We R Memory Keepers. It gives the background a nice texture without being too distracting from the image.

After die cutting an eyelet circle from a Cottage Cutz die set using a piece of patterned paper from DCWV, I did some aggresive cropping to one side and mounted the remainder of the circle on my dry embossed white card stock using 1 mm foam squares. I added the white panel to the card base using regular foam tape, and added the girl on top of the circle, before finishing off the card with a heat embossed sentiment from an Altenew stamp set and a few sequins from the White Orchid sequin mix from Little Things from Lucy’s Cards. The blue card stock is Blueberry from My Favorite Things.