Yellow Christmas {Lili of the Valley}

September 17, 2021September 17, 2021 Elin1 Comment

Hi. I’m sharing something a little bit different today. It’s a Christmas card, and it’s one with lots of yellow, which isn’t really a color most people associate with Christmas. It also has three badgers on it, which is not your typical Christmas critter, either. We’re used to seeing cute penguins and reindeer, badgers are new and different and fun!!

These badgers are the Christmas Badgers from the Christmas 2021 release from Lili of the Valley. Aren’t they fun carrying that tree? And with their scarves and that hat? Come on, how cute is that? I was unsure of what colors to use for this, so I asked my “twin”. Liz Vefall is the one person I always ask if I can’t decide on colors or card designs. She likes challenging me and suggests things that are a little out there. I LOVE that. I love the challenge. For this card, I didn’t know what color to use for the scarves. I’ve colored so many Christmas images recently, and felt I’ve used up the entire Christmas color palette. She suggested yellow and I just went with it. Who says you can’t use yellow for Christmas? Fun, unexpected and.. FUN!! I printed the image towards the top of a 4 1/4 x 5 1/2″ panel of X-Press It blending card and colored it in, making sure to go all the way to the edge for the sky and the snow.

I adhered my colored panel to a top fold card I made from Bright Buttercup cardstock from Papertrey Ink. I added a strip of that same cardstock below my image and left tons of white space. I printed a sentiment from the Embossed Christmas sentiments set from Lili of the Valley and mounted on top of my image using foam tape. I love this stamp set. It has 52 different Christmas sentiments. Most of them are in English, but there are some that say “Merry Christmas” in various languages. I, of course, used the Norwegian one for my card. I think I know who I’ll send this to; a person who appreciates the whimsy fun look and yellow! I added Glossy Accents to the star and a little black glaze pen to their noses for some shine, and that’s it for this card.

Simple color palette, of course with a pop of yellow in there.

Merry Christmouse {Lili of the Valley}

September 9, 2021September 8, 2021 ElinLeave a comment

Hi! I have a fun Christmas card to share today, featuring one of the brand new images from Lili of the Valley. It’s called Mouse with Bauble, and the best thing is that you can choose to purchase the digital stamp (which is what I’ve used) OR the photopolymer stamp. That’s right, Lili of the Valley is reintroducing physical stamps. Some of my oldest and most cherished rubber stamps are from Lili of the Valley, and I think it’s awesome that they’re going back to having physical product.

Enough blabbing. I printed the cute mouse onto a 1/4 sheet of X-Press It blending card, which is my favorite for Copic coloring. Using a stencil from My Favorite Things and Iceberg ink from Altenew, I did some very light ink blending around the image for a little bit of added interest before I started coloring.

Onto the “white” stripes on the bauble, I used my quickie glue pen from Sakura and sprinkled on Rock Candy Distress Glitter for a little bit of sparkle. You can kind of see it in this photo, but it’s more noticeable in real life.

I cut my panel down, added lots of foam tape to the back and added it to a top fold A2 note card that I created from Blueberry cardstock from My Favorite Things. Sadly, this is one of their discontinued colors, but I have a pack of this cardstock that I absolutely love, and this color is just beautiful. It’s dark blue, but not too dark, and it’s just the right tone of blue.

I stamped a sentiment from Norsk Stempelblad AS using Blue Yonder ink from My Favorite Things. I don’t have ink in the discontinued Blueberry color, and I didn’t want to use too dark of a blue ink, so I triple stamped using the Blue Yonder instead. It matches the robe pretty well.

I added a few sequins from the White Orchid sequin mix from Little Things from Lucy’s Cards, and the card was done. Super simple.

Super simple color palette, too.

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

August 19, 2021 Elin1 Comment

Hi! I haven’t shared a Christmas card in a while, and with a brand new HUGE Christmas release from Lili of the Valley, I thought I was overdue for a new one.

This Penguin Parade is one of many different images in this release. There are penguins, badgers, people, snowmen and angels, even a polar bear or two, so there’s something for everyone, no matter what kind of card you prefer to create. As you may know, I have a soft spot for penguins, and just had to create a card with this little parade.

I colored my penguins with Copics, added glitter to parts of the ground, sprinkled on chunky white embossing enamel all over the image and melted the granules from the back of the paper. I die cut a piece of Autumn Rose card stock from Papertrey Ink using a die from Mama Elephant and adhered my colored piece directly on top, and then mounted that on foam tape onto a slimline card base I made from Stamper’s Select White cardstock from Papertrey Ink. I stamped and white heat embossed a Norsk Stempelblad AS sentiment onto more of that Autumn Rose cardstock, die cut that using a die from My Favorite Things and adhered it using 1 mm foam squares. I added a few veneer snowflakes from Crafty Moly to finish off the card.

Last, but not least, the Copics I used for my image.

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.

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.

Simple color palette. I love pink, yellow and green together!

Wishing you a happy day {Lili of the Valley}

July 19, 2021July 18, 2021 Elin2 Comments

Hi, there! I have a very simple card to share today, featuring the Camper Van image from Lili of the Valley. How cute are these bears having a picnic?

I printed the image onto X-Press It blending card and colored the whole thing in with my Copics. I trimmed it down a little and adhered it directly to a top fold card base I made from Cornflower Blue cardstock from My Favorite Things. It’s the blue cardstock I have that most closely resembles the darkest of the blue Copics I used on the image.

I wanted to keep the card pretty simple and not cover up too much of the image, so I decided to white heat emboss a sentiment from the Statement Flowers stamp set from Altenew onto a scrap piece of that same blue color cardstock. I added a few layers of cardstock behind it for dimension and put in in the bottom right corner of the card, with just enough space around it to add a few sequins from the White Orchid sequin mix from Little Things from Lucy’s Cards.

The size of the card wound up being an odd one, it measures 5 1/4 x 3 5/8″. I probably could have cut down my colored piece in a way that would fit an A2 sized card better, but I don’t mind the odd size. As long as I can create an envelope that will fit, I’m good.

I feel that simplicity is the key when using full colored panels on my cards. By not adding a whole lot to it, there’s nothing to distract and the image gets most of the attention.

Here you can see the tiny bit of dimension behind the sentiment. Three additional layers of cardstock strips gives the sentiment a little bit of lift, and it also makes tucking sequins in behind the sentiment a little bit easier.

Quite a few Copics for this one.

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.