Christening {Mo’s Digital Pencil}

Hi, crafty friends! I shared this card on the Mo Manning Dream Team blog last week, but thought I’d share it here as well. When I first started making cards, they were very layered with lots of embellishments. These days, I’m more of a clean and simple (or in my case clean and time consuming) maker, but every once and again, I go back to my roots, and that’s definitely true for this card.

I made a Christening card this time, for a little boy whose christening was this Sunday. I’ve used this image so many times over the years I’ve lost count. I colored the image with Copics and die cut it using the Stitched Circle STAX die set from My Favorite Things. I matted it on a piece of Maja Design patterned paper cut with the Nesting Circles die set from Lifestyle Crafts.

I created a shaped card using the Nesting Frames 8 die set from Lifestyle Crafts, and used a few sizes of this die for the patterned paper panels on my card, which are all created from the Vintage Spring Basics collection from Maja Design. I die cut a white doily using the English Tea Party die from Cheery Lynn, mounted it in the center of the card and added my circles on top. I die cut the letters to spell the boy’s name using Die 304 from Kort & Godt and adhered them to a strip I die cut with the Essential Stitched Sentiment Strips die set from My Favorite Things. I added some Studio Calico veneer stars to embellish and a button from Kort & Godt that I put on top of a bow I created from Chalk White seam binding which I’d colored with Copic B95 and B91. This took me back – I used to color seam binding with Copics to match my card sooo often back in the day, and it honestly made me a little nostalgic doing this.

The insides of the card have the same basic layout as the front, just different patterns, and I left the stitched circles plain white for the personal message. On the back of the card, I die cut a pre printed image from Kort & Godt, found another button and added a star on each side of it to finish.

Very limited color palette for this one, there wasn’t much to color.

Happy mail {Purple Onion Designs}

Hi, crafty friends. I have a fun card to share today, featuring Happy Mail from Purple Onion Designs, illustrated by Pei. This image is from this year’s Season’s Greetings collection from Pei. I love her illustration style, and whenever there’s a penguin, I’m sold. Speaking of sold, the annual holiday sale is underway at Purple Onion Designs. Pretty much everything (with a few exceptions) is at 25 % off. The offer ends this Sunday (December 8th, 2024), so there’s plenty of time to browse the Purple Onion website and pick up favorites!

I suggest you put this image in your cart, it’s so awesome. I colored it with my Copics, adding an actual no line horizon behind my critters to complete the wintry scene, before using a die from the Nesting Postage Stamps infinity die set from Hero Arts to turn it into a huge postage stamp. I then used the Vintage Holiday Postmark Set along with the wavy lines from the Vintage PostCARD set to add to the postage feel. I used Lazy Day ink from My Favorite Things, which matches the blue in my coloring pretty nicely.

I created a top fold card base from Pure Poppy cardstock from Papertrey Ink, mounted my large postage stamp using lots of foam tape and adhered a few Snowdrift sprinkles from Little Things from Lucy’s Cards to finish.

I actually used red markers for red this time, with a little bit of B14 where I wanted it to be darker than R29 can create on its own. I usually use earth tones for red, this was a fun change.

Det snør, det snør, tiddelibom {Rachelle Anne Miller}

Hi, crafty friends. The sentiment on this card probably won’t make much sense to you unless you’re Norwegian, but it’s the first line of a Winnie the Pooh song about snow (I found a voice recording of it here if you want to listen). Now, Winnie the Pooh isn’t in this card, but I have some cute Polar Bears from Rachelle Anne Miller. I love this image, and realized once my coloring was done that I had printed a no line version on the back of the panel. I probably intended to use that, as I prefer no line for “white” things. Oh well, I wasn’t starting over, and I’ve colored these polar bears in a no line version previously, so maybe having black lines this time wasn’t such a bad idea after all?

I took a quick look at the colors I’ve focused on recently to try to choose something different and opted for this blue green combo. I colored the image with Copics and added a horizon in the distance with a few trees scattered about.

I made sure not to add to many trees so there would be room for the sentiment, which I stamped in Oceanside ink from Concord & 9th. The sentiment itself is from the Snøstorm stamp set from byCino. I die cut my panel using the lartest die in the A2 Stitched Rectangle STAX 1 set from My Favorite Things, before I sprinkled on chunky white embossing enamel from Stampendous. I made sure that none of the granules covered the sentiment or the eyes of the polar bears before melting the powder from the back.

I adhered my panel to a card base I’d covered with a quarter sheet of Oceanside cardstock from Concord & 9th. This is actually a side fold card. I usually make top fold cards, but I didn’t have any landscape oriented card bases on hand and didn’t feel like breaking open a new pack of cardstock. Long live lazy crafting, right?

Very cool color palette for this one.

Spreading holiday cheer {Rachelle Anne Miller Creative Studios}

Hi, crafty friends. I’m sharing a sweet holiday card today, featuring one of my all time favorite stamps from Rachelle Anne Miller. This is Penguin Hug. Rachelle created this illustration many many moons ago, and I remembered it so fondly that I described it to her a few years back and asked her if it was possible to turn it into a stamp. She did, and I’ve used it plenty of times, it’s such a good one and I absolutely love it!!!

I printed the image onto X-Press It blending card and colored it with my Copics, creating a soft winter sunset behind the cute penguins. From white cardstock (Stamper’s Select White from Papertrey Ink), I die cut a frame using the Winter Wonderland window die from Lawn Fawn and adhered it to my colored piece.

I used the Magic Snow Cover die from Mama Elephant to create texture and interest to a piece of Cornflower cardstock from My Favorite Things, which I adhered to my top fold card base. I added some dimension behind my winter wonderland window and adhered it in the center of the card. I stamped a sentiment from the Holiday messages stamp set from Mama Elephant onto Nectar cardstock from Concord & 9th using Grapefruit ink, also from Concord & 9th, cut it down to a strip and added it to my frame with a couple of extra layers of cardstock behind it for dimension, before finishing off with sequins from the Ivory Sequin mix from Little Things from Lucy’s Cards.

I used a fairly limited color palette for this card. I also used B20, which is a color I’ve created myself.

Have a holly jolly Christmas {Mo’s Digital Pencil}

Hi, crafty friends. Today, I’m sharing with you a card featuring Giggling Snowman from Mo Manning. This is one of my all time favorite images from Mo, and if you look closely at the tiny little image next to the header in the tab in your browser, you’ll see it’s the same little guy.

I love coloring this image in noline versions. I usually print with his eyes and eyebrows in a dark brown and the rest of him in a super light grey. I kept the snow on the ground around him this time, and cut away the part of the panel that above my imagined horizon line. I created stars in the sky by using solar paste from Simon Hurley (in the golden hour color) through the Falling stars stencil from Simon Says Stamp onto the front of an A2 card base I created from After midnight cardstock from My Favorite Things.

Once the stars were dry, I adhered my panel with my snowman, adding die cut trees a little bit below the horizon line. I created the trees by coloring a scrap piece of X-Press It using the same green markers I used for the image, before die cutting them using the Silhouette Snow Trees die set from Mama Elephant. I finished off the trees with some liquid glue and Rock Candy distress glitter for a sparkly, snowy look. For a sentiment I die cut the words holly jolly from the Jolly Holiday greeting die set from Concord & 9th five times from white cardstock and adhered them all together for a stacked, dimensional look and completed the greetings with some small words from the Holiday messages stamp set from Mama Elephant that I stamped in Obsidian ink from Altenew onto pieces of cardstock I colored with the lightest of the green markers I used for the snowman and the trees.

Fairly simple color palette for this one, although I don’t think I’ll ever have a limited color palette for snow, I always choose a lot of colors to create snow.

Eat, drink & be merry! {Purple Onion Designs}

Hi, crafty friends! I’m back today to share another card with the new release from Purple Onion Designs. Today, I’m focusing on Stacey Yacula’s Whispering Pines collection. I always love everything Stacey illustrates!!

Meet Mack and Katie. They’re both enjoying their beverages out in the snow, and I added the general store behind them to create my scene and even snuck in Santa’s Silhouette from a previous release (A Little Christmas Magic! collection from 2022) to really bring out the Christmas spirit.

Once everything was colored in, I stamped Santa’s Silhouette using Obsidian ink from Altenew. This is a pigment ink, which doesn’t really play well with Copics, so it’s best to use it once the coloring’s complete. I then stamped a sentiment from the Home for the Holidays sentiment set using Jalapeño Popper ink from My Favorite Things, before I sprinkled on chunky white embossing enamel from Stampendous, which I melted from the back for a textured snow look. I adhered my panel to a top fold card base and my card was complete.

I used a lot of Copics for this scene. A lot.

The entire Whispering Pines collection is available as a bundle at 30 % discount until Friday, November 15 2024, so if you want to take advantage of this offer, you still have about a week left.

Have a holly jolly Christmas {Mo’s Digital Pencil}

Hi, crafty friends. I have a simple holiday card to share today, featuring Sneaking a peek from Mo Manning. I’ve used this image in the past, it’s so cute and quick to color.

I colored the image with Copics and fussy cut it. It’s an easy one to fussy cut, so that helps. I die cut a frame from the Mega Snowflake Cover die set from Mama Elephant three times from white cardstock, stacked them and adhered the stack to a card base I created from Blue Breeze cardstock from My Favorite Things, before mounting the image with foam squares.

I used one of the dies in the Jolly Holiday Greetings die set from Concord & 9th to die cut a few times from white cardstock and stacked those as well. I adhered the stacked die cut to my card base. I stamped and white heat embossed a sentiment from the Itty Bitty Holiday stamp set from My Favorite Things onto Amarena Cherry cardstock from My Favorite Things, cut the sentiment apart and used part of it to complete the sentiment on the card, before finishing off with a few pearls from the Glossy Porcelain mix from Little Things from Lucy’s Cards.

Simple color palette.

Merry & bright {Papiria}

Hi, crafty friends. Can you believe we’re in October already? I don’t know where the time’s gone, but I do know that if you haven’t started your holiday cards yet, you might want to think about it soon. Enter Kristina Werner. She’s now launched her own line of products, and they’re SO good. Her September release sold out pretty much on the first day, and it’s no wonder, it’s THAT good. I was lucky enough to grab the things I wanted before they sold out, though, and the products are now back in stock.

I wanted to create a blue Christmas card. Blue’s my jam, and I had this idea as soon as I saw the release. I started with the Merry Trees stencil set, which is a set of two stencils that creates a line of trees. Each of the stencils has two “layers”, and if you layer all four you have the full line of trees in up to four colors. I used the Northern Shore family of Fresh dye inks from Altenew for my stenciling, it’s a great blue family of inks.

Using the Merry Trees die set, I took the big MERRY die and die cut it straight out of my ink blended trees. I also die cut an additional four layers of using After Midnight cardstock from My Favorite Things. I cut off a little on each side of the white panel, adhered it to a card base in that same dark blue color and puzzle pieced the letters back in. The fact that they’re stacked with a dark color makes the word easier to read than if I’d used white to stack.

I white heat embossed a couple of sentiments from the Merry Greetings builder stamp set onto After midnight cardstock and cut them down to sentiment strips using the Merry Greetings builder die set. I usually use a steel ruler and craft knife to create my sentiment strips, but there’s something about the roundness of the edge that you get by using a die. I added a few more strips of cardstock behind each of the sentiment strips for dimension and placed them above and below the die cut MERRY to complete the sentiment.

I decided not to use any embellishments on this card. Sometimes I feel like the colors and cardstock do all the work for me, and I love how this one turned out.

Hello friend {Mo’s Digital Pencil}

Hi, crafty friends. I haven’t shared many cards recently, and I apologize for that – there have just been too many things lately needing my attention, and it means less time in the craft room. I do have a new card today, though (yay), featuring this cute Peaches image from Mo Manning. I’ve used this one before, and it’s very summery. I’m holding onto summer (or at least the idea of summer, we didn’t really have much of a summer this year) for dear life, even though the leaves are changing colors and falling like it’s all they know how to do.

I colored her up with my Copics and kept the panel intact this time. No die cutting, no nothing. I adhered it directly to a top fold A2 card base and put a torn piece of patterned paper at the top. The paper is from the Watercolor Wishes pad from Lawn Fawn, and I white heat embossed triangles onto it to create a little more interest, using the Scattered Triangles Background stamp from My Favorite Things.

I used a small circle die to create notches near the top of the card. I stamped a sentiment from the Mini messages stamp set from Mama Elephant using Obsidian ink from Altenew onto a piece of patterned paper from the Watercolor Wash Brights paper pad from My Favorite Things, and die cut it with one of the dies in the Blueprints 27 die set from My Favorite Things. I put foam tape on the back and adhered it to my card, before adding some black twine to the card, tying it in a bow at the top of the die cut. The notches help keep the twine in place. I finished off with a few pearls from the Meadow mix from Little Things from Lucy’s Cards.

I love using Rs and YRs to create peach colors.

You are so worth celebrating {Rachelle Anne Miller Creative Studios}

Hi, crafty friends! There’s a new release coming next week from Rachelle Anne Miller which has me super excited. It has a theme I love and a type of critter I simply can’t resist – a little tease for you there. Today’s card, however, is created using an oldie, but goodie stamp. This is the Animal Parade, and I know I keep saying so many of Rachelle’s images are among my favorites, but they really are, and this is another one. I’ve used this image once before on this card. This time I cut the image apart and used the critters individually to create postage stamps on my card.

I colored the images with Copics, then used the Postage Collage die from Waffle Flower to create stamps.

I added Solar Paste in the Golden Hour color onto Lemon Tart cardstock from Papertrey Ink using the Merry Go Round stencil from Memory Box. I wanted a little bit of interest in the background, but nothing too distracting, and this worked really well. I added the panel to a top fold white card base I created from Stamper’s Select White cardstock from Papertrey Ink.

I added scraps of cardstock behind my die cuts to give them a little lift off my card and adhered them pretty much in the center of the card.

I stamped a sentiment from the Anything-but Basic Birthday Wishes stamp set from My Favorite Things onto Spring Rain cardstock from Papertrey Ink using Obsidian ink from Altenew. I cut the sentiment down to a strip and added a few layers of cardstock behind it before adhering it to the card.

I finished off with a few sequins from the White Orchid Sequin mix from Little Things from Lucy’s Cards.

Fairly muted color palette for this one.