It’s your day {Lili of the Valley}

Hi, crafty friends. I have a super simple card to share with you today, featuring this cute Cupcake Teddy image from Lili of the Valley.

I colored up this image nearly a year ago, so it was about time I put it to good use on a card. Using the largest die in the A2 Stitched Rectangles STAX 1 set from My Favorite Things, I turned it into a panel with the faux stitch edge that I love to use on my cards. There’s something about faux stitching dies that make the cards look more finished. It’s a nice, subtle detail. I adhered the panel to a top fold card base I created from Blueberry cardstock from My Favorite Things.

From the same color cardstock, I die cut the sentiment using the Dagen er din die from Papirdesign. I stacked four die cuts for a dimensional look and added a few blue enamel dots from Papirdesign to finish off the card.

Blues and greens for the win for this one. I’ve always been a fan of analogous color combinations, they’re very harmonious.

The world’s greatest! {Mo’s Digital Pencil}

Hi, crafty friends. I have a clean and simple card to share today, featuring Brenna from the 6 Baby Fairies set from Mo’s Digital Pencil.

I colored up this fairy quite a while ago, and I even had a blue sky around her that I decided not to use. I fussy cut the image, leaving a trim around the edge (I didn’t want to contend with the whispy lines in her hair).

I created a white top fold card base using Stamper’s Select White cardstock from Papertrey Ink. It’s my all time favorite white cardstock. Using a geometric embossing folder from We R Memory Keepers, I created a bit of texture to the card front. It’s nice to have lots of white space while giving the background a little bit of interest, and embossing folders are a great way to ensure that.

I cut a piece of Winter Wisteria cardstock from Papertrey Ink at an angle and adhered it to the top of the card using foam tape.

I adhered my colored image, half on top of the purple cardstock using foam tape, the bottom half to the card base using foam tape. I let her foot hang off the edge of the card for a little bit of added interest.

To finish off the card, I die cut scraps of purple patterned paper from Papirdesign to adhere to the bottom right corner of the card. Onto one of the strips, I stamped and white heat embossed a sentiment from the Hilsninger stamp set from Norsk Stempelblad AS, before I added sequins from the White Orchid sequin mix from Little Things from Lucy’s Cards for a little bit of embellishment.

Not a lot of colors for this one.

For a koalaty friend {Amanda Jayne Designs}

Hi, crafty friends. A while back, Amanda from Amanda Jayne Designs reached out to me, asking if I would like to color up a couple of her stamps. I’m not one to turn down an offer to do some coloring, so I of course said yes, and she sent me a couple of her digital stamps. Fast forward a couple of months (things have been hectic around here), and I’ve turned her Kali Koala image into a completed card.

This koala was so quick and easy to color. If you’re new to coloring, or enjoy coloring but don’t want to spend an eternity coloring one image, I’d recommend her images. They’re not super detailed, which makes them easy and fast to color.

I decided to put my colored koala in a polaroid frame, and used the largest of the dies in the Precious Polaroids die set from My Favorite Things to die cut three times from white cardstock for a stacked look on top of the cute koala.

I created a top fold A2 card base using Green Parakeet cardstock from Papertrey Ink. Onto the left bottom corner of a piece of Stamper’s Select White cardstock from Papertrey Ink, I stamped some leaves from the Leaf Clusters stamp set from Altenew, using Limelight ink from My Favorite Things. This is a much more vibrant, yellowy green than what you’ll find in eucalyptus leaves, but I wasn’t going for realism with this card and happen to like the bright green – it really pops. I made sure to stamp a large enough area that some of the leaves would be visible around the polaroid frame with my koala. I also stamped the smallest leaf cluster in the Altenew stamp set near the top right corner for a little bit of balance and die cut the white panel using the largest die in the A2 Stitched Rectangles STAX 1 set from My Favorite Things.

I wanted a punny koala themed sentiment on my card, and the word koalaty (quality) came to mind. I needed something to use with it, and dug through my sentiment sets for one with the word friend in it. A sentiment in a stamp set from InkyWings was perfect, it said For a sweet friend. I stamped it in VersaMark ink and white heat embossed it using Super fine detail embossing powder from Ranger. I cut the sentiment down to a strip, removed the word sweet and had the perfect start and finish to my punny sentiment. Using the Connected alphabet die set from My Favorite Things, I die cut the letters to spell koalaty three times from Green Parakeet cardstock and stacked them for a dimensional look. I die cut an additional three white ones for the letters that hang off the polaroid (ATY) and glued these behind the green ones so the letters would all be flush on the card. I also added some additional layers of cardstock behind the white heat embossed strips for that little bit of added dimension, before finishing off the card with a few enamel dots from Papirdesign.

The dimension is more visible in this photo, I love adding dimension to my cards. Dimension is life 😉 I cut the layered up white A in half, because only half the letter hangs off the edge. The letters that have the white die cuts behind them kind of look like they’re floating on the card.

Super simple color palette for this one.

Have a fantastic celebration {Lili of the Valley}

Hi, crafty friends! I’m sharing a very typical Elin card today. It’s what I like to call clean and simple cluster. I love creating clusters of die cut scraps of patterned paper for my cards, but I haven’t done it in a while, and thought this card was the perfect opportunity for some paper play.

I colored up Teddy with pile of presents from Lili of the Valley, sticking to a combination of mostly blue, teal and green (with a little bit of yellow). I’m a big fan of analogous color palettes, and the images from Lili of the Valley are perfect for it. There’s usually a lot of patterns in their images, and by sticking with analogous color combinations, the end result isn’t too busy. You may notice that each of the presents here only has one actual color, but I’ve gone a shade darker for the patterns (the base color in the top two presents). If I’d mixed and matched, this would look like a hot mess, but by sticking to one color, it’s more pleasing to the eye.

These clusters are pretty easy to put together. On my desk I keep a bin with die cut scraps of patterned paper. I organize these scraps by color, and put each color in a stamp storage bag. Whenever I want to create a cluster, I choose the colors that go with my card, dump the contents of the storage pockets on my desk and play. This time I used three bags; the blue, the green and the gray – it’s nice to throw a neutral into the mix. The scraps I used for this card are from a few different companies. The blue ones are from Papirdesign (the grey with the blue stars is the back of that blue with the lighter dots), the green ones are from 3ndypapir and Karen Foster, with a little bit of New Leaf cardstock from Papertrey Ink thrown in for a darker green to make the dark blue a little less dominant. The top grey one is actually from Magnolia, whereas the one with the sentiment is from DCWV. The sentiment itself is from Norsk Stempelblad, stamped in Cornflower ink from My Favorite Things. To finish off the card I added a few green enamel dots from Papirdesign.

This color palette makes me happy.

Happy birthday {Purple Onion Designs}

Hi, crafty friends. Popping by today with a fun birthday card featuring a couple of cuties from the newest A Special Day release from Purple Onion Designs, illustrated by Stacey Yacula.

I really wanted to create a birthday card with Bugsy (what a great name for a bunny, btw) and Jessie. They’re on their way to a birthday party and I stamped them using Extreme Black ink from My Favorite Things, making sure to stamp Bugsy in a way that made part of the balloon hang off the edge of the panel, creating the illusion that the scene extends beyond the card to other partygoers and the birthday boy or girl. I did a teeny tiny masking on top of the balloon to stamp the Tree Line stamp from a previous release using Fadeout ink from Inkon3 for a soft no line look on the horizon.

I colored in my scene using Copics. I started with the sky (I don’t even remember what color I used there, sorry), before coloring the trees, the ground, then the critters. I struggled with my colors on this one. I wanted the trees to be a muted green way back in the distance, but the colors I used felt too gray, so I added a couple of more vibrant greens to make them come alive a little bit more.

I managed to make the same mistake with the ground. I originally wanted a muted green, because most of the green backgrounds I’ve colored using stamps from this release have been very vibrant. As it turns out, I’m not as big a fan of the muted green look when it’s down on paper as opposed to what I envision in my head before I start. I was originally only going to use three green markers for the ground, I ended up with eight, and I’m still not entirely happy with it. It’s messier than what I’m used to, and I struggled with the blending.

I used the largest die from the A2 Stitched Rectangles STAX 1 set from My Favorite Things to turn my colored panel into one with a nice faux stitch edge, and adhered it to a top fold A2 card base I created from Stamper’s Select White cardstock from Papertrey Ink. I love the look of the faux stitch with that thin white border going around the edge. For my sentiment I die cut the Happy Birthday Brush Script die from Simon Says Stamp four times from white cardstock and glued them together for a stacked, dimensional look, and I had just the right spot to adhere it to the card.

At that point I thought the card was a little plain and decided to add some “flowers” by drawing in white dots in a few clusters on the green grass. This adds a little bit of interest, but I still didn’t think it was enough, so I pulled out my Frosted Lace Stickles and added a thick layer to the balloon, before deciding to also add it to the die cut letters. This helped a little more, but I felt like I needed another element in the sky, it was still pretty plain. Using the Cloud 1 & 2 die set from Papertrey Ink, I die cut four small clouds from vellum. I glued two and two together and adhered them to the sky, which really helped pull the entire design together. This was an evolution of a card (I also colored the bird yellow to begin with, but decided I wanted it red and colored red over the yellow), but it came together in the end.

I used quite a few Copics for this one. I have a feeling I may have used B00 for the sky, but I’m not entirely sure.

Today is the last day for the 30% discount off the entire A Special Day release bundle, and also the last day to get 10% off the individual stamps in this release, so if you want them and have been on the fence, now is the time to get them and save.

It’s your day {Mo’s Digital Pencil}

Hi, crafty friends and welcome to Summer. Can you believe it’s June already? Where has the time gone? In the spirit of this first summer month, I’ve made a summery card with a summery image. 3 on a bench from Mo’s Digital Pencil is one of those stamps that you can get as a merged image or as the separate components that make up the scene. This particular one consists of three kids sitting on a bench, each enjoying their own snack. I’ve used the separated version for my card, and I’ve used the bench and the girl with the big wedge of watermelon. There’s also a boy with a popsicle and a girl eating corn in the same stamp, but I opted for the watermelon alone today.

I printed the image towards the bottom left of my panel of X-Press It blending card and colored it with Copics. I’ve colored this girl once before, but I decided to go for a different color scheme this time, I think the only thing that’s stayed the same since the last card is the coloring on the watermelon. The printer doesn’t print all the way to the edge, so I cut off a little strip on the left side and decided to add a strip of yellow patterned paper from Papirdesign on the right to balance out the design and fill the front of this A2 card.

I also added a tiny piece on the left side to add a tiny bit of added interest. I adhered my panel onto a top fold card base I created from Buttercup cardstock from Concord & 9th. I used a die from Papirdesign (Hipp hurra, oval) to die cut the letters from the same color of cardstock and adhered them towards the top right corner of the card front. Onto a strip of Red Hot cardstock from My Favorite Things, I stamped a sentiment from the A06 stamp set from Norsk Stempelblad AS using VersaMark ink and white heat embossed it using super fine detail embossing powder from Ranger, before adding two additional layers of cardstock behind it for a bit of dimension and adhering it to the card. I added a few enamel dots from the Pocketful of Sunshine pack of enamel dots from Altenew, and my super simple card was finished.

And as usual, I finish with the Copics I used. Quite a few for this super simple image, I reckon.

It’s your Birthday {Crafty Meraki}

Hi, crafty friends. Crafty Meraki is turning 2!! They asked me to guest design and I have a fun birthday card to share today featuring a couple of products from their anniversary release.

I used one of the dragons in the Flamin’ Birthday stamp set for the focal point of my card. I stamped it in Copic friendly ink, colored it with Copics, then stamped on top using VersaFine Onyx Black ink to get crisp, black lines. Copics and VersaFine don’t play nice together, so you need to do the stamping after you’ve finished coloring. I use my Misti to make sure I stamp in the exact same spot as the first stamping.

I fussy cut around the image leaving a thin white border. There’s a set of coordinating dies to go with the stamp set, but I don’t have it, and fussy cutting this one was simple enough.

I added a thick coat of modeling paste through the Birthday Balloons stencil on a piece of Sno Cone cardstock from My Favorite Things that I’d cut down to 3 1/2 x 4 3/4″. Once I’d slathered on the modeling paste and before it had a chance to dry, I quickly sprinkled distress glitter Rock Candy over the top for a glittery balloon effect. Once dry, I lightly sanded the rough edges and mounted the panel to the center of a top fold A2 card base using foam tape. Lots of foam tape, I’m not shy with my foam tape.

Using 1/16″ foam squares, I added my colored dragon towards the bottom center of the card. I added a little bit of liquid glue to make sure it really adhered to my glitter balloons, I didn’t want it coming off at any point. I didn’t have the right shade of cardstock to match my tealy blue coloring, so I colored a scrap strip of X-Press It blending card using one of the markers I used for the bow, before stamping and white heat embossing a sentiment from the Flamin’ Birthday stamp set. I cut it to fit the sentiment, added a couple of strips of cardstock behind it for dimension and stability and adhered it to the present.

I finished off the card by adding a few sparkle gems. These are from the Green Illusion mix, and they’re really fun because they change color depending on how you tip them in the light. I love that there are many sizes in the mix, and the smallest ones really are tiny at 1.5 mm.

Last, but certainly not least – the colors I used for this cute dragon present. BG05 is the color I also used on the sentiment strip.

Life is better with friends {Rachelle Anne Miller Creative Studios}

Hi, crafty friends. Today I’m sharing a super simple card featuring the Bunny & Guinea: Ladybug stamp from Rachelle Anne Miller. The stamp actually comes with a sentiment, which you can leave off if you want, but I thought I’d make it easier on myself by having it there. That way I didn’t have to find one myself to add to the card once I finished coloring.

I printed the image in the center of a panel of X-Press It blending card and colored it in with Copics.

I used the largest die in the Wonky Stitched Rectangles STAX die set from My Favorite Things to create a little bit of interest on the edge of my panel.

I adhered the panel to a top fold A2 landscape card base I created from Bright Buttercup cardstock from Papertrey Ink. The yellow border around the edge picks up the yellow of the flowers and makes them pop.

I added a few yellow sequins from the Seashore mix from Little Things from Lucy’s Cards around the image and sentiment, and my card was finished.

The end result is a very mail friendly card without a lot of bulk. The sequins add a tiny bit of lift off the base of the card, but not much.

Simple color palette for this one.

Hugs from the heart {Lee Holland Design}

Hi, crafty friends. I’m back with another dragon card to share. This time it’s Dragon with three flowers from Lee Holland that is front and center on my card.

It’s no secret that I’m a fan of Lee’s Dragons, and this one holding sunflowers was begging for a blue/yellow combo. Once I’d colored the image with Copics, I used the second largest die in the A2 Stitched Rectangles STAX 1 die set from My Favorite Things to give the panel a nice finishing edge. I adhered it to a card base I created from Cornflower cardstock, also from MFT.

I die cut a heart from Bright Buttercup cardstock from Papertrey Ink and stamped a sentiment from an Inky Wings stamp set in the center using Cornflower ink from My Favorite Things. I added the heart using foam tape and then a few sequins from the White Orchid Sequin Mix from Little Things from Lucy’s Cards to finish off this simple card.

Let’s Celebrate {Purple Onion Designs}

Hi, there. I have another card to share today featuring the newly released “A Special Day” collection illustrated by Stacey Yacula for Purple Onion Designs. This time I’ve focused on The Prickles, which was the first image I noticed and really wanted to use from this collection.

I stamped the image using Extreme Black ink from My Favorite Things, before creating a mask, adding that on top and stamping the woodland background using Fadeout ink from Inkon3 for a no line look in the background.

I colored in my scene using Copics and stamped a sentiment from the older Everyday Blurbs stamp set using Poppin’ Pink ink from My Favorite Things. I then fussy cut around the speech bubble stamp, leaving a thin white border and popped it up on some foam squares for dimension to finish the card.

Last, but not least – the Copics I used. I also used B30 (which is a color I’ve created myself) for the sky in addition to B32.