Hi, crafty friends. It’s no secret that I love a lot of the cute characters that pop up around Christmas. Reindeer, snowmen, penguins, polar bears; give me all of them (please leave Santa out, he’s creepy). Today’s card features an adorable snowman from the Snow folk stamp set from Lili of the Valley.
I colored my snowman with Copics, added black Glaze to his eyes, then a white dot using a Gelly Roll 05 once the black was dry. I also used the white to add the white dots to his hat. I fussy cut my snowman, leaving a thin white trim around him, before putting him to the side to work on the rest of my card. I covered my card base with patterned paper from Maja Design. This frosty blue paper is from the Vintage Frost Basics collection from 2013, the sheet’s called 13th of December. I used the Notebook Edge die from My Favorite Things to create a fun border on a piece of Stamper’s Select White cardstock from Papertrey Ink. I used Light & Fluffy Modeling Paste from The Crafter’s Workshop to create snow through the Falling Snow stencil from Simon Says Stamp. While the paste was still wet, I sprinkled on Rock Candy distress glitter for an even frostier effect, and mounted my white panel with foam tape to my card front.
I stamped and white heat embossed a sentiment from the Christmas Greetings stamp set from Lili of the Valley onto a scrap piece of the patterned paper, before using a die from the Itty Bitty Strips die set from My Favorite Things to turn it into a banner. I also die cut a white banner, grouped the two together and adhered them to the back of my snowman, which I mounted using foam tape. I finished off with a few snowflakes I die cut using the Snowflake Confetti Fancy die from Hero Arts. Sadly, this die is discontinued, but the snowflakes it creates are the perfect size, so I probably won’t ever stop using it!!
Simple color palette for this one. Lots of blues.
I stamped the image with Extreme Black ink from My Favorite Things, colored it with Copics, then stamped again, this time using Obsidian ink from Altenew for crips, dark lines. I decided to fussy cut right against the stamped lines, and put this cute dog to the side while I worked on the rest of the tag.
I die cut a tag from white cardstock using the Stitched Trad. Tag STAX die set from My Favorite Things, before using Polar Bear, Icy Water and Winter Lake inks from Altenew to ink blend a soft blue sky. I die cut a couple of trees using the silhouette snow trees from Mama Elephant and adhered them on top of my ink blending. I used a die in the Stitched Hillside Borders die set from Lawn Fawn to create the faux stitch hill, then used the tag die again to die cut the bottom part and adhered it to the tag also.
I added my dog using foam squares. stamped and white heat embossed a sentiment from the Julehilsen stamp set from Norsk Stempelblad AS onto Wild Cherry cardstock from My Favorite Things, before trimming it down and adding it with foam squares to the tag. I die cut a reinforcement piece from white cardstock using a die in the Fold-up Tags die set from My Favorite Things and adhered it to the top, before threading some ribbon through and adding a charm. I used some May Arts Natural Twine to tie a bow to secure everything.
On the back of the tag, I stamped the Til/Fra frame from Norsk Stempelblad AS using Obsidian ink from Altenew. I used Dark Chocolate and Classic Kraft inks from Papertrey Ink to stamp the images that make up the background. The stamps are from North Star Design, Inkido and Ladybug and Friends. I believe none of these companies are still in business, but I love these particular stamps and use them regardless.
Simple color palette for this one. No wonder, as it’s essentially just brown, gray and red.
I colored the image with Copics, and after a couple of cards recently with very muted, vintage colors, I went super bright with this one. I love penguins done with BGs instead of grays, it’s like they’re happier, somehow.
I stamped and white heat embossed a sentiment from Huldra Designstudio directly onto my card base, which I made from Oceanside cardstock from Concord and 9th.
Above and below the colored panel, I added strips of patterned paper from the Party Patterns paper pad from My Favorite Things, before mounting it all on foam tape for dimension. I finished off the card with enamel dots. The bright green ones are from Papirdesign, the teal and yellow ones from the Cool Summer Nights and Pocketful of Sunshine packs from Altenew. The Papirdesign ones have more dimension to them than the ones from Altenew, which creates a little more variety.
By using an untraditional color palette and a non holiday sentiment (winter hug), this image can be used for more than just Christmas. I’m thinking this would make a great wintery birthday card.
Fun colors used for this one!
I colored my image with Copics and used a fancy border die from Papirdesign (Snøkrystall ramme 2) to create trees and snowflakes along the edge. I wanted to do something different, and actually created a card base from vellum. I have heavyweight translucent vellum from My Favorite Things, and it’s a very thick, sturdy vellum that can handle being a card base.
I sprinkled on chunky white embossing enamel from Stampendous both on my colored piece and on the vellum base, before adhering the two together. I decided to create a white panel with the same die cut border for the inside of the card, as the vellum is very slick and not well suited for writing a personal message.
I stamped and white heat embossed a sentiment from the B05 stamp set from Norsk Stempelblad onto Autumn Rose cardstock from Papertrey Ink. I used the Wax Seals die set from Waffle Flower to turn it into a faux seal and mounted it onto my card using foam tape.
The vellum and die cut border create unexpected elements, the embossing enamel creates texture and you get a little bit of dimension with the sentiment seal. They all contribute and make this simple card a special one.
Not a whole lot of Copics for this, and a fairly muted color palette.
I always say that you can’t go wrong with a penguin, and with so many images to choose from in this release, I knew I could color another penguin and the rest of the card would fall into place. 
I colored the ice first, and added a hint of reflection underneath their feet. I probably could have used a darker marker, but it’s more noticeable in real life than in the photos. Initially, I’d planned on keeping the buildings and sky uncolored, but once I’d colored the snow and the trees, it kind of all looked white, so I decided to add color to the background anyway. I colored the buildings in various shades of cool greys, before masking off the buildings and airbrushing a blue sky behind them.
I colored my critters (here you can see the reflection in the ice a bit better) before finishing up with a sentiment from the 
There’s an ice rink stamp in this release, I just really loved the large area I was able to create with this older horizon stamp.
Lots of Copics used for this card. B000 was only for airbrushing the sky.
Isn’t he cute holding his little lantern? I went very untraditional with my aqua/purple combo, but I think it works. Onto a top fold landscape A2 card base I created from Stamper’s Select White cardstock from Papertrey Ink, I stamped the Hand-Lettered Holiday background stamp from Simon Says Stamp using VersaMark ink. I then brushed Perfect Pearls powder on top for a shiny, but subtle effect. I stamped the snowflakes from the Wreath & Mulled Wine stamp set from Ciao Bella on top using Sno Cone ink from My Favorite Things.
I die cut a white tag using a die from the Stitched Trad. Tag STAX die set from My Favorite Things and stamped the word Hugs from the
As usual, I use way more colors than I anticipate going in.
This penguin is from the 
I adhered the light blue panel to a top fold card base I created from Cornflower cardstock from My Favorite Things, and die cut a scallop border using the Stitched Rectangle Scallop Edge Frames die set from My Favorite Things. I cut the frame apart and added one strip to the top and one to the bottom of my light blue panel. I used the Merry Script die from Mama Elephant to die cut three layers from white cardstock and one layer from X-Press It blending card that I colored pink with Copics. I stamped the word everything from the Holiday Messages stamp set from Mama Elephant onto white cardstock using Cornflower ink from My Favorite Things, added a few layers of cardstock behind it for dimension and embellished with a few pink sequins from the She’s So Lovely mix from Little Things from Lucy’s Cards. The penguin was easy to add with a little bit of foam tape.
I didn’t use too many colors for the penguin itself, but the gingerbread house required quite a few markers.
I stamped my critters using Extreme Black ink from My Favorite Things, added a mask and stamped the trees in the background using Stormy Sky ink from Papertrey Ink. It’s a nice grayish green that goes really well with the colors I used for the coloring of the trees. I created my signature winter sunset behind it all, and did my best to create depth in the background by varying the intensity of the coloring of the trees. Once everything was colored, I stamped the critters again, this time using Obsidian ink from Altenew for a crisp, black outline.
At the bottom, I stamped a sentiment from the 
I used lots of Copics for this one. Lots!!
I have a deep, undying love for penguins and snowmen. These two have been joined by a sweet bunny and the cutest little squirrel you ever did see! I did some fairly simple Copic coloring of the image before I used a die in the Blueprints 27 die set from My Favorite Things to create a faux stitch line and a scallop border.
I stamped the word Christmas from the Sentiments from a Yeti stamp set from Mama Elephant using Melon Berry ink from Papertrey Ink. Onto a strip of Sprout cardstock from Concord & 9th, I stamped a coordinating sentiment from the Holiday messages stamp set from Mama Elephant using Eiffel Tower ink from My Favorite Things. I stacked a few extra cardstock strips behind my stamped one for dimension, and adhered it above the word Christmas.
I added three layers of scrap cardstock behind my colored panel for dimension before adhering it to a top fold card base I created from Melon Berry cardstock from Papertrey Ink. I love this pink!
I used pearls from the Glossy Porcelain mix from Little Things from Lucy’s Cards to embellish just a little.
Lots of Copics on this one, in spite of fairly simple and even quick coloring.
This little mouse is so cute, and she might be adding her name to Santa’s nice list, who knows? I colored her with Copics and fussy cut her leaving a white border.
I covered a white card base with a panel of patterned paper from Maja Design. This is the Snowflakes pattern from the Holiday in the Alps collection. I love the design paper from Maja Design, it’s my favorite patterned paper to use! Into a panel of Stamper’s Select White cardstock from Papertrey Ink, I die cut a circle opening towards the top left and also used a stitched rectangle die from the A2 Stitched Rectangle STAX 2 set from My Favorite Things.
I stamped God jul from the M-442 stamp set from Kort & Godt using Blue Beyond ink from My Favorite Things. I die cut trees using the Silhouette Snow Trees die set from Mama Elephant, stacked them and added Rock Candy distress glitter from Ranger for a super snowy look. With the layering of the trees, this was pretty dimensional, so I had to double up on the foam tape when I added the panel with the circle opening.
I also added foam tape behind the mouse and this card is very thick as a result.
Papirmølla 