Handmade hugs {Lili of the Valley}

Hi, crafty friends. I have another spring themed card to share. I can’t wait for spring to arrive (although we’re technically 10 days into spring already), but with temps in the double digits below 0, there’s no chance of that happening any time soon, so I’m pretending with cardstock and cute images.

These guys are from the Spring Rabbits stamp set that came out a couple of weeks ago from Lili of the Valley. I colored the rabbits with Copics, fussy cut them all leaving a thin white border and then added some shine to their eyes with a black glaze pen, and then went in with a dot of white Gelly Roll 05 once the black was dry.

Onto the card base, I ink blended Fresh Leaf and Eastern Sky inks from Altenew to create a soft background that went from green to blue. I then added splatters of my sheer shimmer spray from Imagine. It’s not really visible in the photos, but in real life it adds a bit of sparkle.

I die cut three circle openings in a quarter piece of white cardstock and mounted it with foam tape to the card base.

I added foam tape to the back of my critters, popping each of them into the circle openings. I stamped and white heat embossed a sentiment from InkyWings onto a piece of Mushroom cardstock from Concord & 9th, mounted it on foam tape and added it to the card.

To finish off the card I added sequins from the Rosy Glow mix from Little Things from Lucy’s Cards.

Such a simple color palette for this one. Aside from the colors of the fur, which differ for each bunny, I used the same colors throughout.

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.

Flowers {Mo’s Digital Pencil}

Hi, crafty friends. I’m back with a spring themed card. Nothing says spring like tulips, and I can’t wait for warmer temperatures. I hate the wet and cold, winter’s definitely not my favorite season. Bring on the sunshine and warmer days! Three weeks to go until spring is officially here, and I’m counting down the days.

This More Tulips image from Mo is one I’ve used previously. This time I printed the image in its original size, cutting off a bunch of it on one side for a dynamic card design. I colored the image with Copics using a very soft color palette.

I stamped a sentiment from the Definisjoner stamp set from Norsk Stempelblad AS with Melon Berry ink from Papertrey Ink, chopped off a bit of the panel and adhered it to a card base I created from Melon Berry cardstock, also from Papertrey Ink.

I added a couple of sequins from Little Things from Lucy’s Cards. The larger sequin is from the Sweet Shop mix, the smaller one from the Iced Sherbet mix.

Super simple color palette.

HERD you needed a hug {Purple Onion Designs}

Hi, crafty friends! I’m so happy to be back in the craft room on a somewhat regular basis. The months of mid October through mid January were insane, and I had no crafty time whatsoever, but that’s changed now. I have a fun card to share today, featuring this Hugs image from Purple Onion Designs, illustrated by Julian Charlton. I love his Elliot & Marcel images, they’re quirky and cute and just perfect.

I chose to color Elliot in a very soft grey, and once fully colored, fussy cut the image leaving a thin white border. I put the image aside and started working on the rest of the card.

I felt a landscape design would work best for what I had in mind, and used the Geometric Landscape stencil from Altenew to create some interest in the background with blue inks, also from Altenew. I used the entire Lapis Lazuli color palette from Altenew for my blending, (Azurite, Ultramarine, Eastern Sky, Iceberg) which fades to white at the top.

Using the Sending You Hugs die from My Favorite Things, I die cut the letters to spell out HUG four times from white cardstock from Papertrey Ink, which happens to be the same cardstock I used for my cardbase. I love their white cardstock, it’s the best by far. I stacked the letters for dimension and stamped and white heat embossed a punny sentiment that comes with Elliot & Marcel. There are actually a few more sentiments in the set, and I added another one to the inside of the card. I didn’t have the right color cardstock, though, so I cheated and covered white cardstock with the Azurite color, which is the darkest of the four blues I used for the blending of the background. To create the sentiment strip, I went direct to paper, and used my heat tool to speed up the drying process of the ink so I could stamp and heat emboss on top. I added three additional strips of cardstock behind it to make it flush with the die cut letters, adhered it to the card and finished off with a few sequins from the White Orchid Sequin mix from Little Things from Lucy’s Cards.

I chimply love punny sentiments and couldn’t resist.

Very simple color palette for this one. This was fast to color.

Time for balloons and soda {Rachelle Anne Miller Creative Studios}

Hi, crafty friends. I have a super simple birthday card to share today, featuring the Animal numbers 4 digi stamp from Rachelle Anne Miller.

I love these animal number images from Rachelle, and these ducks are sooo cute. Perfect for a birthday card, I think. I colored the image with my Copics, before temporarily adhering the Watercolor Wash Free Form stencil from My Favorite Things and ink blending with Harvest Gold ink from Papertrey Ink. I then stamped a sentiment from the A06 stamp set from Norsk Stempelblad AS using Shadow Creek ink from Altenew.

I used the largest of the Wonky Stitched Rectangle STAX dies from My Favorite Things to create a quirky faux stitch interest around the edge and adhered my panel to a top fold card base I created from Meadow cardstock from Hero Arts.

To finish off the card I added a few raindrops from Little Things from Lucy’s Cards, I thought they fit well with the water theme in the image.

Simple, yet bright color palette for this one 🙂

You’re so sweet {Streamside Studios}

Hi, crafty friends! There’s a brand new release out from Streamside Studios. Sloth-some Sloths is a set that has several cute sloths, but also a few other images. I’ve focused on the donut from the set today.

I colored the donut with my Copics and fussy cut it, leaving a thin white border around the edge. I printed a panel of several donuts in light gray for a bit of added interest in the background, popped up my panel onto a card base I created from Rustic Cream cardstock from Papertrey Ink, while I worked on the rest of the card.

Using the Parker alphabet die set from Memory Box, I die cut the letters to spell sweet from Grapesicle cardstock from My Favorite Things. I stacked six of each for a dimensional look.

I stamped and white heat embossed partial sentiments from the Itty Bitty Basics and Itty Bitty Gifting stamp sets from My Favorite Things to complete my sentiment, adhered it all to the card and finished with a few sequins from the White Orchid Sequin mix from Little Things From Lucy’s Cards.

Soft pastels were all I used for this one. It’s a little different for me.

A very Merry Christmas to You {Lili of the Valley}

Hi, crafty friends. I have a super simple mini slimline card to share today, featuring this adorable Merry Christmas Penguins image from Lili of the Valley. Christmas is 11 months away, it’s never to early to start making those holiday cards.

I love the playful nature of the Lili of the Valley stamps, and their adorable critters drew me in when I was a new cardmaker years and years ago. I still have all my old rubber stamps from Lili of the Valley, and they stamp so well. This one is digital, however, and the two main advantages that I see in digital stamps are that you can adjust the size to suit your needs and that there’s no waiting for ink to dry. Also, you get a perfect print every time. I love digital stamps!

I haven’t made a mini slimline card in a while, and decided that this image would be perfect for it. I created a card base that was slightly smaller than an average mini slimline. This one measures 5 1/4 x 3″, it fit the scene better than a 6″ wide base.

I colored the scene with Copics, cut it down to a size that left a nice border around the edge and adhered it directly to the card base, before adding some crystals from a mix from Little Things from Lucy’s Cards to the banner.

The crystals add a tiny bit of dimension to an otherwise fairly flat card, and those penguins are the cutest, aren’t they?

Simple color palette for this one.

Cosy Christmas wishes {Mo’s Digital Pencil}

Hi, crafty friends. Can you believe it’s November already? I long for summer, but I’m still creating Christmas card. It’s weird, I know, but that’s just how it is. Today I have a Christmas card to share with a real cutie on the front.

This image is Winter Delivery from Mo’s Digital Pencil. I’ve used him once before (here), and was really planning on creating a blue card this time (the last one was green), but somehow the green won out.

I have a tall pine tree outside my craft room window. In it, there’s a huge nest that magpies built a few years back. One morning last week, I heard the magpies making more sound than usual. When I looked outside, there was a squirrel that had taken over the nest. It was adding one twig after another to the nest, I guess it had evicted the magpies. After quite some time, one of the magpies tried to get back in, but was chased away by the squirrel. I must admit I was delighted, I’d much rather have a squirrel outside my window than magpies. The squirrel is much cuter, and it’s a lot quieter too.

Back to the card. Once I finished the coloring, I stamped the word Christmas from the Christmas Greeting stamp set that Lili of the Valley released earlier this year using Jalapeño Popper ink from My Favorite Things.

I then die cut the panel using the second larges die in the A2 Stitched Rectangles STAX 1 die set from My Favorite Things and adhered it directly to a card base I created from Jalapeño Popper cardstock, also from My Favorite Things. On a scrap piece of cardstock the same color, I stamped and white heat embossed the words cosy and wishes to complete my sentiment. I put a couple of additional layers of green cardstock behind each word for a little bit of added dimension.

I added a few sequins from the White Orchid Sequin Mix from Little Things from Lucy’s Cards to finish off this very simple card. A little bit of shine is never a bad idea on a simple card.

You’d think an image this simple would have less Copics used, but I tend to go overboard on snow. This time I also went overboard on the fur, even though it might not look like it.

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).

Alex Syberia Designs Kickstarter Campaign | Blog Hop 2 & Giveaway

Hi, crafty friends. I’m back with the card I made for the second blog hop for the Alex Syberia Kickstarter Campaign. We had our first blog hop mid September, which you can find here, and our first IG hop about a week later. My blog post for that is here. For the first two cards I featured a sentiment set and one of the beautiful floral stamp sets. This time, I’m focusing on critters – penguins, more specifically. ONE penguin, to be perfectly accurate.

I thought this guy from the Smile and Wave stamp set was too cool not to use, so I colored him with my Copics and did some fussy cutting, leaving a white border around the edge. I wanted him to stand out and to make a super simple card.

I created a mask with some 2″ post-It tape by cutting a sloping hill with a craft knife. This is easy to do free hand, but you can use a curved die if you’d like.

I wanted this guy to really stand out against the background and decided to ink blend using distress inks. I used Abandoned Coral, Worn Lipstick, Spiced Marmalade, Mustard Seed and Scattered Straw for the sky. The yellow and orange tones pick up the colors from his belly, beak and feet and really stand out against the blue of his hat. For the ground I used a little bit of Tumbled Glass Distress Ink near the horizon, fading into white near the bottom.

I sprinkled on Chunky White embossing enamel to the background, making sure no granules covered my stamped sentiment before melting the granules from the back. I mounted the panel onto the white top fold card base using foam tape for dimension.

I mounted the penguin onto foam tape and used some clear iridescent crystals from the Crystal Collection (Glass) from Little Thing from Lucy’s Cards to finish off this very simple card.

Simple color palette.

Did you know that Kickstarter is all or nothing? That means that Alex Syberia Designs need to reach their funding goal to be able to go ahead and manufacture this beautiful collection, so please, help them! You can back them on their Kickstarter Campaign and you can help them spread the word about it!

Remember that you have some fantastic discounts, which are only available through their Kickstarter Campaign.

GIVEAWAY PRIZES | OVER £1000/$1200 IN TOTAL

Alex Syberia Designs is giving away some fantastic prizes; their full September Release and two of their gorgeous Floral Bundle or Critter Bundle to choose from. There are also amazing companies and crafty friends who are celebrating with us. Here’s the complete list of awesome prizes:

Check the Kickstarter Campaign for more info

That’s a total of 15 prizes for 15 lucky winners! To be in with a chance to win one of these amazing prizes all you have to do is play along with each of the four hops! Alex Syberia Designs will draw winners from those entrants that have played along the hops by 16th October 2022. 

To enter, leave a comment on this blog post as well as those of all other amazing designers. You can see the full list, with links to each blog, below.

Winners will be announced on the Alex Syberia Designs blog on the 23rd October 2022.

BLOG HOP 2 | DESIGNERS LIST