Hi, crafty friends. I’m back with another card made with the brand new release from Sweet November Stamps. This time I used the Forest Abode stamp set, which is a 4×8″ set that comes with the tree house I’ve used here, a sentiment and another smaller tree house. The one I’ve used is sized perfectly to fit the front of an A2 card, the smaller one is perfect as a backdrop behind the fairies and other cuties from the release.
I colored the scene in using Copics. A couple of my browns went sticky during my coloring, and refilling them (which usually does the trick, markers tend to go sticky when they’re low on ink) didn’t work, so I replaced the nibs and they’re behaving a little bit better now.
Confession time: I actually had to color this whole panel a second time. In the process of cutting down the kraft cardstock I used for my frame from a lettersize piece to something that would fit in my die cutting machine, I accidentally placed my finished, colored piece behind the kraft cardstock I was cutting. I realized what I’d done as soon as it happened, but by then it was too late. I had a cut going down the center of my panel and one going straight left from the center. I hadn’t cut through (I did cut through the cardstock that was on on top that I meant to cut through), but I had two very visible cut lines on my colored piece. I’ve done some weird things in my craft room, but have never made this particular kind of a blunder before. Can I blame Covid-19? I tested positive two days before this happened, and I think it’s made my brain foggy. Anyway, long story short, I had to recolor my image.
Using Classic Kraft cardstock from Papertrey Ink, I die cut the largest of the Wood frame infinity dies from Hero Arts and put two additional layers behind it for dimension. The die actually cuts a frame that is slightly larger than the size of an A2 card, so I created a custom sized card to fit the frame. I glued the frame to my scene, stamped a sentiment from the Småtekster stamp set from Norsk Stempelblad AS onto Cornflower cardstock from My Favorite Things and heat embossed it in white, before using a die from the Tag Builder Blueprints 6 die set from My Favorite Things to turn it into a nice strip with a flag end. I adhered it to the frame and added 3 sequins from the White Orchid sequin mix from Little Things from Lucy’s Cards to finish.
Very simple color palette. Since I had to color it twice I’m glad it wasn’t more involved 🙂
I stamped my critters onto a piece of X-Press It blending card, which is the paper I prefer for all my Copic coloring. I colored the image, then restamped it using VersaFine Onyx Black to get super crisp black lines in the image. This needs to be done after coloring, Copics and VersaFine don’t play well together.
I used a die from Kort & Godt to create the torn page edge at the top of my panel, before trimming the rest of it down to fit on the front of a mini slimline card. I stamped a sentiment from the Scripty Xmas stamp set from Mama Elephant using Jalapeño Popper ink from My Favorite Things, added another three layers of cardstock behind my panel and adhered it to a card base I created from Jalapeño Popper cardstock from My Favorite Things.
To finish the card I scattered a few snowdrift sprinkles from Little Things From Lucy’s Cards around the image and sentiment.
I love this little stack of critters, and the tall, narrow design is the perfect kind of image for a mini slimline card.
You’d think my color palette wouldn’t have this many colors in it, but I tend to go overboard on the snow. I do the same with the green, I love this green combo.
I colored the bear quickly with Copics, fussy cut and put the image aside while I worked on the rest of my card.
I haven’t made a mini slimline card in a while, and I haven’t made any at all since I purchased the Stitched Mini Slimline STAX die set from My Favorite Things back in November, and thought it was about time I break them in. I used the largest die in the set for this card, once on a piece of patterned paper from the Watercolor Wishes 6×6″ paper pad from Lawn Fawn, and once from white cardstock at an angle that I’d stamped a background stamp onto (the Paint Splatter background from MFT) and heat embossed.
I used one of the dies in the Precious Polaroids die set from MFT to die cut three times from white cardstock and once from a gold cardstock from Rayher. It has a brushed finish, which adds a little interest in texture instead of being flat gold. I put a thin strip of this cardstock above and below my heat embossed white cardstock piece as well, for a bit of definition to the top and bottom of the panel. I stamped a sentiment from the Birthday Messages stamp set from Mama Elephant onto a scrap piece of the pink patterned paper and poured on Gilded embossing powder from Brutus Monroe (the same embossing powder that I used for the paint splatter background), before melting the powder. I die cut it into a small strip with an angled end using one of the dies in the Everyday Gift Box die set from My Favorite Things and adhered it to the top of the polaroid using some 1 mm foam squares. I finished off the card with a few sequins from the Heaven Sent mix from Little Things from Lucy’s Cards.
The Copic palette couldn’t possibly get any simpler.
I colored the cute little scene with Copics and put it aside while I worked on the rest of my card. On a separate piece of X-Press It blending card I blended the same three blueish teal colors that I used for the kookaburra and the ornaments to create an ombré effect, and used the Merry Script die from Mama Elephant to create part of a sentiment that would match my coloring. I added three white die cuts behind it for dimension to make it stand out on my card.
I used the largest die in the A2 Stitched Rectangles STAX 2 set from My Favorite Things along with the Selfie Square die, also from MFT, and die cut both from a piece of Stamper’s Select White cardstock from Papertrey Ink. I then used the Watercolor Stripes stencil from Altenew and ink blended Jalapeño Popper ink from MFT very softly onto the white cardstock for a subtle background.
I put foam tape behind my ink blended background and adhered everything to a cardbase I created from Jalapeño Popper cardstock from MFT, before scattering a few sequins from the White Orchid Sequin Mix from Little Things from Lucy’s Cards to finish my card. I used the stencil from Altenew to add a little interest to the envelope, as well.
I colored the gnome (his name’s Alf, you can find him 
I added a scrap of a paper doily from Doodlebug to the bottom left corner, put my sentiment strip on 1 mm foam squares and added a couple of sequins from the White Orchid Sequin mix from Little Things from Lucy’s Cards. I put some natural twine from May Arts through the hole at the top of the tag, added a charm and stapled the ends of the twine to the tag using a mini stapler.
On the back of the tag I stamped a to/from image from Norsk Stempelblad AS using Jalapeño Popper ink from My Favorite Things.
For such a small image, I used quite a few colors.
I printed the image on a piece of X-Press It blending card and colored my birds with Copics in colors that match the Cool Collab paper pad from My Favorite Things, because I really wanted to use it. Red and teal is a color combo I really like, and this paper pad has lots of it. Once my coloring was complete I did some partial die cutting using the largest die in the Slimline Double Stitched Rectangle STAX die set, also from My Favorite Things. It gave me a nice double stitched edge around my colored image.
I adhered my panel to a card base I covered with one of the papers in the pad, which gave me a nice frame. I also die cut the word gledelig from another piece of paper in the pad, with three white die cuts behind for dimension. I stamped the word jul (stamp set from Norsk Stempelblad AS) below it using a combination of Peacock Feathers Distress Oxide ink and Caribbean Sea ink from My Favorite Things to get the perfect color. To finish off the card I added a few heart droplets from the Crystal Collection Glass mix from Little Things from Lucy’s Cards.
Simple color palette for this one.
I love 
I stamped Flannel using Extreme Black ink from My Favorite Things onto X-Press It blending card. It’s my favorite cardstock for coloring. It’s super bright white and the Copics blend very well on it. It’s no surprise, though, the paper is made especially for Copic use.
I die cut the panel using the largest of the dies in the Wonky Stitched Rectangles STAX set from My Favorite Things, which is one of the many things I purchased with the $250 gift card I won in this year’s Superstar contest. I love my MFT faux stitch dies, and this wonky one is a fun change from my regular faux stitched rectangles. I sprinkled on chunky white embossing enamel from Stampendous and melted the granules from the back of the cardstock, before adhering it to an A2 card base I created from Green Parakeet cardstock from Papertrey Ink.
Using the Very Merry and Bright die from My Favorite Things, I die cut the letters for the word Merry five times from the same green cardstock that I used for the card base. I glued them together for a stacked, dimensional look and adhered them to my colored panel using liquid glue. Onto a small strip of Cocoa Bean cardstock from Papertrey Ink, I stamped and white heat embossed part of a sentiment from the 
To finish off the card I added a few Snowdrift sprinkles from Little Things from Lucy’s Cards for a little bit of extra interest and dimension. I love these tiny clay snowflakes, I use them all the time.
Simple color palette. That bright green really is fun!
I bought a 36 tube set of Mijello Mission Gold watercolors last September, and they’ve been sitting in their palette scaring me, but I’ve recently started dabbling a little bit. Images like this with big open areas are great for practice, and this is my third proper watercolor piece. Yes, I’m keeping track, haha. The previous two attempts were both noline. One was a background, and the other a digital stamp. My printer ink doesn’t play well (or at all, really) with water, so I had to opt for the noline look to prevent visible bleeding. I dove right into the deep end, hoping I could pull it off.
I stamped the image onto Fabriano Artistico Extra White watercolor paper using VersaFine Onyx Black ink. I’ve created a birthday card with these two once before (blog post 
For my last card with this image, I used my Copic BV20 series for a purply gray elephant. This time, I went for a bluer version to get a nice contrast. I actually decided to mute my pink a little before painting with it. The Bright Opera color from Mijello is a super bright pink, and I added a tiny bit of Hooker’s Green to dull it a little, it was just too bright a pink straight from the palette for what I wanted.
Once I’d painted my scene, I went back over with a black pen to trace the lines of the image. I would have restamped if I could, but I stamped the image weeks before I painted it and removed the stamp from my MISTI in the meantime. Black pen to the rescue. I just wanted crisp black lines. I stamped a sentiment from the stamp set using VersaFine Onyx Black ink and heat embossed that using clear embossing powder.
I cut down my colored panel slightly and adhered it to an A7 top fold card base I created from two pieces of Poppin’ Pink cardstock from Papertrey Ink. To finish the card I adhered sequins, beads, confetti and other various little bits from the Sweet Shop mix from Little Things from Lucy’s Cards. I don’t usually put this many sequins on my cards and scatter them like this, but I wanted to really keep the party vibe from these two going across the entire card front.
I colored up these 
I’m usually good at using scraps of patterned paper and rarely use a brand new sheet. Today was the day, though. I thought this patterned paper from the I wish collection from Maja Design went really well with my coloring, and I didn’t have a single scrap of this particular paper. Using the same die that I used on the white panel, I die cut my patterned paper before cutting up my die cut into pieces I could use on my card. I added two layers of cardstock behind both pieces and glued them to my card. I now have a continuous stitched border, even though some of it is my colored panel and some is patterned paper. I love little details like that. I die cut three of the god jul die from Papirdesign from red cardstock and glued them together for a stacked look. I glued my die cut to the center of the wide patterned paper before adding a sub sentiment. The sub sentiment is from Norsk Stempelblad AS, white heat embossed on the same color red cardstock and cut down to a strip, with two additional pieces of cardstock behind it to make it flush with the die cut. I added three snowdrift sprinkles from Little Things from Lucy’s Cards to the patterned paper, and my card was finished.
Not a whole lot of colors for this one. Soft colors too (except for the darkest green, I wanted a little bit of contrast there), which is rare for me.
I colored the image with my Copics, die cut her using the largest of the A2 Double Stitched Rectangle STAX dies from My Favorite Things and sprinkled on a generous amount of chunky white embossing enamel from Stampendous, which I then melted.
I adhered my panel onto a top fold cardbase I created from Cranberry cardstock from Concord & 9th, before adding a piece of a mini paper doily from Doodlebug and a sentiment from My Favorite Things that I white heat embossed onto a separate piece of the Cranberry cardstock, with three additional layers behind for a little dimension. I added a few Snowdrift sprinkles from Little Things from Lucy’s Cards, and my card was complete. Super simple.
As usual, I finish with the Copics I used for my image.
Papirmølla 