Hi, crafty friends. Today’s the third Thursday of the month. Kind of hard to believe – true, nonetheless. It’s what you get when the month starts on a Thursday, and it also means it’s time to get cracking on Christmas. Just over 3 months to go, it really is time to get started on Christmas cards if you haven’t already. At the very least, it’s time to start thinking about it.
I’ve created a very simple card this time, featuring this cute little car from the new Snowglobes stamp set from Lili of the Valley, which came out earlier this week. The stamp set includes a snowglobe, six different scenes to put inside and a few sentiments. I actually omitted the snow globe entirely for this card, I thought the car to go inside worked well on its own and decided to go for a no line version.
I did some simple no line coloring of the image. I hadn’t done no line in a while when I created this, so opting for this tiny image was perhaps not the most brilliant idea ever. It’s kind of what I do, though, I jump in. I used a grey Copic to give the illusion of someone sitting in the car, used a couple of blues for some simple shading near the tires and kept everything very simple.
Using four different shades of blue ink (Distress Inks in the colors Chipped Sapphire, Faded Jeans and Stormy Sky, in addition to Iceberg ink from Altenew), I softly ink blended an ombre sky before sprinkling on Chunky White embossing enamel for a snowy effect that I love having on my cards. I heated the panel from the back, melting the granules and adhered the panel onto a top fold card base I created from white cardstock from Papertrey Ink.
Using the sentiment die from The Penguin’s Waddle die set from Mama Elephant, I created a chunky sentiment by adding several die cuts together for a stacked, dimensional look. I adhered it to the top center of my card and finished it off by placing a few snowdrift sprinkles from Little Things from Lucy’s Cards near the car.
I love a dimensional die cut sentiment, it kind of says I mean business and adds so much to a simple card!
Simple color palette for this one. It’s a simple card with a tiny image, so it’s kind of a given.
This is one of the penguin chicks from the 
I colored the penguin very simply with my Copics, sprinkled on chunky white embossing enamel to my panel and added it to a top fold note card I created from Blue Breeze cardstock from My Favorite Things. I then die cut the Let it snow sentiment using a die from Mama Elephant. I die cut three layers of the same blue color cardstock and adhered them for a stacked look in the top center of the card before finishing off with a few snowdrift sprinkles from Little Things from Lucy’s Cards.
Very simple color palette for this one.
This set comes with sooo many images, and I’ve actually used 11 different ones for this card. I added the lines for the shelf with a black pen, but everything else in the scene comes in the one stamp set.
I’m known on the design team for occasionally printing my images very small. This time I might have set a new record, the mouse and the eyeballs in this scene were so small, they were tricky to color, but I really wanted them this size to fit the scene and the card design.
Once I finished the coloring, I trimmed the panel down to 3 1/4 x 4 1/2″, and put it aside while I worked on the rest of the card.
I created a card base from Cement Gray cardstock from My Favorite Things, added three 1/4″ strips of cardstock in colors that matched the scene (Royal Velvet from Papertrey Ink, Orange Zest from Papertrey Ink, Sour Apple from My Favorite Things), before I mounted the scene on top using plenty of foam tape.
I stamped and white heat embossed the sentiment from the Itty Bitty Boos stamp set from My Favorite Things, added a few more layers of cardstock behind it for stability and dimension and finished off the card with a trio of acetate ghosts from the Candy Corn mix from Little Things from Lucy’s Cards.
Lots of Copics for this little scene.
As soon as I saw this stamp set, I knew these snow globes would make the perfect shaker cards. The stamp set comes with the snow globe and six different scenes you can stamp inside. I, of course, opted for the penguin, but there’s also a snowman, a car with a tree on the roof, a house, a tree with presents and a village, as well as a few sentiments.
I stamped and colored the empty snow globe on a quarter sheet of X-Press It blending card. I stamped the penguin on a separate piece of blending card and colored that for the inside of my snow globe. I glued a few Kort & Godt pearls around the penguin and put him aside while I worked on the rest of the card.
I cut the center out of the snow globe and adhered a piece of acetate to the back of the white cardstock, before adding foam tape on the back of the shaker area, making sure not to leave any gaps. With glitter inside the shaker window, you don’t want it to escape.
I put a mix of clear Distress glitter from Ranger and some micro beads inside the shaker area, before adding my colored penguin to the exposed adhesive of the foam tape to close the shaker.
I initially put too much inside (I always seem to put too much inside) and had to pour some out to get the perfect amount. I then adhered my popped up snow globe to a card base I created from Enchanted Evening cardstock from Papertrey Ink. I used the merry script die from Mama Elephant to cut the word merry three times from Blue Breeze cardstock from My Favorite Things, stacking the die cuts for a dimensional look. Near the bottom of the letters I softly ink blended a bit of Blueberry Sky ink from Papertrey Ink to add a little bit of a gradient. I stamped the word Christmas from the 
This is a fairly simple looking card, but it’s got tons of dimension and a shaker card is always fun, right?
Not a whole lot of Copics for this one. I did also use B90, which is a color I made myself using an empty marker, some B91 refill and blender refill.
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 
I love my Copics and used quite a few for this rather simple 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.
These penguins are about 4 cm tall, which makes them the perfect size to create gift tags from. By stamping them on a sheet of X-Press It blending card (or your cardstock of choice) with a little bit of space between them, you can die cut some and fussy cut the remaining ones. I decided to fussy cut the one in the center, while using dies for the other two.
I colored all the penguins with Copics and used a black glaze pen to create a little bit of shine and dimension to their eyes. Once the black was dry, which didn’t take long, I used a white Gelly Roll 05 on top of the black to put the white back into their eyes.
I’m starting with this fussy cut penguin. In a drawer, I had a scrap of a snowy background that I created last fall using Rustic Cream cardstock from Papertrey Ink, the Falling Snow stencil from Simon Says Stamp, modeling paste from The Crafter’s Workshop and Rock Candy distress glitter from Ranger. I decided to put it to use and die cut it using the 210 die from Kort & Godt, I really like the heart shaped hole it creates at the top. I mounted the penguin using foam tape and added a sentiment strip below. The sentiment is from the 
On the back, I added die cut letters to spell the words to and from. The words are from the Tag Builder Blueprints 6 die set from My Favorite Things, die cut from Amarena Cherry cardstock, also from MFT.
Simple color palette for this one.
Next up is the circular tag. I used the Tag Builder Blueprints 6 die set for this one as well, as well as another sentiment from the Christmas Greetings stamp set from LOTV. I added Divine Twine in the color Cherry to the top, a bell charm and a few red enamel dots from Papirdesign to finish it off.
A few additional colors for this one, I wanted to ground my penguin and also needed some color on that candy cane.
For the blue one, I used the Fold-Up Tags die set from My Favorite Things to create my tag. I made sure not to cut off his scarf by fussy cutting that and putting it behind the die as I ran it through my die cutting machine. I used a piece of Blue Breeze cardstock from My Favorite Things to create the reinforcing element near the top, added some Divine Twine in the color Blueberry, a couple of white bells from UiT Hobby and some thread that’s actually meant to use with a loom (it’s super strong). Once again, I used the Christmas Greetings stamp set for the sentiment, and scattered a few snowdrift sprinkles from Little Things from Lucy’s Cards to finish.
On the back, I used that same die from the Tag Builder Blueprints 6 die set from My Favorite Things that I used for the other two tags, this time die cut from Enchanted Evening cardstock from Papertrey Ink.
Once again, simple color palette. These were such fun to make. I want to make more, and have a bunch on hand when it’s time to wrap Christmas presents, so I’m not rushing last minute to get the tags done.
I colored my scene with Copics on X-Press It cardstock and fussy cut right up against the black lines. This image has very simple outlines, making fussy cutting a cinch.
I covered the entire colored panel with sheer sparkle craft spray from Imagine, it adds so much sparkle, which unfortunately is hard to capture in photos. It’s there in real life, though, trust me. I glued my colored piece onto a thicker white cardstock, both for a bit of stability and to hide the back of the colored panel. Copics bleed through to the back (you want that, it’s actually a sign that you’re using a good cardstock for Copic coloring), and I usually add my panels to card bases, but this one was different. I scored the white cardstock at the bottom and glued the back flap to the back bottom of an A2 card base I created from Lovely Lady cardstock from Papertrey Ink. With hidden magnets between the layers of the card, it stays shut and doesn’t fall open.
You can see some of the shimmer in this photo, a couple of big droplets fell on the mushroom and the rainbow. I added pearls from the Igloo mix from Little Things from Lucy’s Cards for the mushroom, and used a black glaze pen from Sakura to make the eyes stand out.
Lots of Copics for this one.
There’s a stamp in the stamp set with a penguin holding a present. I thought it was perfect for a simple birthday card. I colored the penguin with Copics and added a layer of black glaze pen to the eyes for shine. Once the black was dry (this stuff dries fast), I went back in with a 05 Gelly Roll to add the white dots back in. I fussy cut the penguin and started working on the rest of the card.
Using the Snow Drifts Cover-Up die from My Favorite Things, I decided to create some waves on the front of my card. I die cut four layers from white cardstock and used various shades of aqua tones for the top layer. From bottom to top they are: Tropical Teal from My Favorite Things (bottom two waves), Caribbean Sea from MFT, Hawaiian Shores from Papertrey Ink, Summer Splash from MFT, Sno Cone from MFT and Stamper’s Select White from PTI (top two waves).
On the Hawaiian Shores wave, I used one of the big words in the 
I used the Sea Glass mix of embellishments from Little Things from Lucy’s Cards for a finishing touch. This mix was the perfect color for my card, and it’s sometimes fun to add something besides JUST sequins. There are a couple of gems and even confetti stars on this card, too, all from the same mix.
I love the dimension of those waves, it’s very impactful, and the reason I wish I’d added dimension behind my penguin, as well, I feel he’s a little flat compared to the rest. Oh well, next time.
Simple color palette for this one.
For this card, I’m once again focusing on the 
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 
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.
Papirmølla 