Hi, crafty friends! We’re almost a month into spring already, and it’s starting to feel like it, even though we had a bit of sleet earlier in the week. I haven’t seen anything starting to bloom yet, but I’m actively on the lookout for Coltsfoot, which is the first flower to pop out to greet the sun in the spring. On today’s card, however, spring is more advanced, and the cute Bunny and Besties stamp from Purple Onion Designs are taking a stroll through a wonderfully green landscape.
I colored the image with Copics, adding a simple free hand background of a couple of hills with a few trees, a path for the bunny to walk on and some blades of grass in front. My original plan wasn’t a scene at all, I had planned to add a big Happy Easter die cut, but changed my mind and added the hills and sky instead. I think this looks better than what I had planned.
I used the largest die in the A2 Stitched Rectangles STAX 1 set from My Favorite Things to create a little bit of interest along the perimeter of my panel. I stamped the word spring from the Happy hello sentiment set using Autumn Rose ink from Papertrey Ink to match the bunny’s shirt. I also used a Glaze pen from Sakura to create some shine (and a tiny bit of texture) to the eyes.
I die cut the word HAPPY from the Birthday Script die set from Kristina Werner three times from Stamper’s Select White cardstock from Papertrey Ink (the same cardstock that I used for my card base, I love this cardstock) and stacked them. I adhered my stacked word above the stamped spring to complete my sentiment.
I decided to die cut tiny butterflies to use for embellishment. I didn’t have any cardstock in the color I wanted, so I colored scraps of X-Press It blending card with the same colors I used for the bunny’s outfit, before using the butterflies die from the Greenhouse Greetings die set from Concord & 9th (it’s a die set from the 2024 C9 summer camp). I scored my tiny butterflies down the body, adhered each of them with a tiny bit of glue and added Rosewater Jewel Drops from Tonic on the bodies of the butterflies to finish.
I used quite a few Copics for this one.
I actually didn’t start with the coloring on this one. I printed the image on a quarter sheet of X-Press It blending card, which is what I always use for Copic coloring. I put a circle mask on top of the penguin, then used the Hurra stencil from Create a smile and some inks from Concord & 9th to create my background. I used Sweet Pea, Clementine and Buttercup, creating a gradient between the three colors. Once I took the stencil off, the white of the background felt a bit stark, so I went in with the 1″ blender brushes from Pinkfresh Studio and did a soft blend of the background using the same three colors.
Once I removed the mask, it was time to color the penguin. I used Copics, went for a pretty bright palette and added a bit of black glaze pen to the eyes, then a dot with a white Sharpie on top once the black was dry. This gives the eyes a bit of shine.
I used the largest die in the Double Stitched Rectangles die set from My Favorite Things to cut my panel down slightly. It also adds a fun stitching detail to the edge. I then adhered my panel to a top fold card base I created from Stamper’s Select White cardstock from Papertrey Ink.
I used a sticker from Kort & Godt for my sentiment. I like my sentiments with some dimension, and to get dimension with stickers, I first use antistatic powder on the back to remove the stickyness, then add foam tape. I finished off the card very simply with some clear dew drops from Concord & 9th. There was so much color going on, I thought clear was the best option.
I used quite a few Copics for this, but that hat alone needed quite a few.
I printed the image onto a piece of X-Press It blending card, adding a digital watercolor background behind the image before printing. I colored the image with Copics and opted for a warm yellow for the actual number and the book, an analogous color palette always works well.
I die cut the panel using the Postage Stamps infinity die set from Hero Arts, then stamped the sentiments from the Bursdagsbillett stamp set from by.cino (hipp hipp hurra) and the A06 stamp set from Norsk Stempelblad AS (det er din dag i dag) using Clover ink from Concord & 9th. I also used second generation stamping of a couple of the images from the CS0879 stamp set from Marianne Design in the corners of my large postage stamp. I mounted my postage panel onto a card base I created from Summer Sunrise cardstock from Papertrey Ink, then die cut and mounted the Hipp hipp hurra sentiment using the MSTN Say Anything die set from My Favorite Things, before finishing off the card with Clover and Honeycomb enamel dots from Concord & 9th, as well as a dot of a black Sakura Glaze pen to each eye for a little bit of shine and dimension.
Simple color palette for this one.
I stamped the pig, masked him, then stamped the Congrats from the 
Once I had the pig and the letters colored in with my Copics, I used the Bunch of balloons stencil from Concord & 9th to add a bunch of balloons to my background. I used Harbor, Lemongrass and Oceanside inks, all C9 colors and a light touch with my blender brushes.
I created a 4 1/2 x 4 1/2″ top fold card base from Soft Stone cardstock from Papertrey Ink. This is a very soft grey and it’s great as a subtle neutral color. I created strips of varying widths from Oceanside, Lemongrass and Harbor cardstock from C9 and adhered them horizontally near the bottom of the card base, before mounting the panel with the pig in the center of the card using foam tape.
I stamped a sentiment from the 
I didn’t use a ton of colors for this one.
I colored the image and die cut it using one of the circle dies in the Stitched Circle STAX die set from My Favorite Things. I also die cut circles from grey cardstock and patterned paper from the Denim & Friends collection from Maja Design using the Nesting Circles die set from Lifestyle Crafts. The shape of the card is created with the Nesting Frames #8 die set from Lifestyle Crafts.
I popped some pieces up using foam tape, die cut the letters for the name using an alphabet die set from Scrapmagasinet and adhered the letters to a banner I die cut with an old die from Spellbinders. I used an old die from Marianne Design for the spriggy things on the left, and used some old Blueberry Sky buttons from Papertrey Ink to embellish.
Very limited color palette for this one.
This all started with patterned paper from Maja Design and the Sleigh full of cheer dies from Concord & 9th. Die cutting presents like this is a great way to use scraps. I used the Christmas Nostalgia collection for this. I’m a sucker for anything blue, so I wanted a dark-ish blue at the bottom, a lighter blue at the top and a contrast in the center. You could do this with any color, even plain cardstock. There are actually some images in the coordinating stamp set that will allow you to add patterns to your die cuts using just ink, but I opted for the patterned paper version here. I die cut the bow, the ribbon for the presents and the sleigh using champagne foil cardstock from Concord & 9th and added those for a touch of shine. The sleigh itself is a few layers thick to make it stand out against the background, and I did some ink blending on the seat using Wheat ink to make it stand out even more, as I have the same cardstock color for the seat as my background.
Speaking of backgrounds – I used one of the stencils in the Splatter Textures stencil set from Kristina Werner on a panel of Wheat cardstock from Concord & 9th. I added Altenew embossing paste through the openings and sprinkled on rock candy distress glitter while the paste was still wet. It’s important to clean your stencils quickly when using paste, or you’ll have a really hard time making it come off. Nobody wants to clean, but when dealing with pastes, you need to. I stamped my sentiment from the Joyful and merry stamp set from Kristina Werner using Wheat ink on Rustic Cream cardstock from Papertrey Ink. I used the coordinating die set to cut out my merry, and added another three die cuts on the back for dimension. I cut down everything to a nice strip, added another strip on the back for strength and adhered the sentiment to the largest present to finish the card.
I stamped my images (both the critters and birch tree background) on separate panels of X-Press It blending card with Copic friendly ink, colored them in and fussy cut them. Before fussy cutting the critters, I actually stamped over my initial stamping with Obsidian ink from Altenew, which gives super black lines that are extra crisp. It’s a pigment ink, though, so it needs to be stamped after the coloring. I also colored a sky and some bushes on a separate panel, where I stamped my sentiment in Blueberry Sky ink from Papertrey Ink. I cut an oval into a panel of Americana cardstock from Papertrey Ink using an old oval die from Spellbinders (Petite Ovals Large) and then created two pieces of accordion folds in the same color cardstock. I glued my background with bushes and sky to the back of the accordion pieces, the birch trees in the center, and the panel with the oval window in front. I mounted my critters using foam tape and used black glaze pen for the eyes. I then adhered my accordion to a top fold card base I created from Rustic Cream cardstock from Papertrey Ink.
I used a lot of Copics for this one. I even used B20, which is a color I’ve created myself using an empty marker, B21 reinker and blender reinker.
I went for a no line version this time. This is probably my most used image from Mo, and I love how easy he is to color. I chose a pink color combo that I really like, and I think this could work both as a holiday card and as a general winter card. I added the dots back into his scarf using an extra fine white Sharpie, and then fussy cut him. He’s pretty easy to fussy cut, too. I used the Sparkling snow embossing folder from Simon Hurley (Spellbinders) on the background for some texture. I love the detail this embossing folder gives, and they’re proper six pointed snowflakes and not the weird 8 pointed ones that some companies make. Real snowflakes never have eight points, they always come in multiples of six. It has to do with the way water molecules are formed and then bind together. Anyway, it’s a great embossing folder and it adds interest to an otherwise plain background.
I trimmed my embossed panel slightly, added a couple of layers behind it and adhered it to a card base covered with a panel of Autumn Rose cardstock from Papertrey Ink. On a separate piece of Autumn Rose cardstock, I stamped a sentiment from the Snøstorm stamp set from byCino using VersaMark ink, before sprinkling on super fine detail embossing powder from Ranger and melting it until it was smooth. I cut my sentiment down to a wide strip, added a layer to the back of it for a little bit of dimension, then put a couple of additional layers behind the snowman before gluing him down and finishing the card with a few sequins from the Assorted Moonshine mix from Simon Says Stamp.
Simple color palette for this one.
I die cut the “map” from the Joyful Wreath die set into a panel of Nectar cardstock. This die doesn’t actually cut anything, but is a great placement guide when gluing all the leaves on top. I die cut the leaves from Eucalyptus, Rainforest, Grasshopper and Champagne cardstock and put a drop of liquid glue at the base of each, which made it possible to lift the leaves off the panel for an airy feel.
I die cut the top layer of the berries from Cayenne cardstock, opting for the darker Cranberry for the base. I glued them directly to the leaves, tucking parts behind some of the leaves. I went back and forth on the sentiment, trying a few different things before choosing this simple Kort & Godt sentiment to stamp in the center using Cayenne ink. I trimmed the Nectar panel slightly and adhered it all to a top fold white card base I created from Stamper’s Select White cardstock from Papertrey Ink.
I colored the image with Copics onto X-Press It blending card and fussy cut it right up against the black lines. From another piece of X-Press It, I die cut the postcard shape using the Postcard combo die set from Mama Elephant. I used Peachy Glow ink from Altenew to ink blend across the panel, giving it a vintage feel. I then went in with a stencil from the mini stencil set 3 from Tim Holtz and added the splatter texture using Classic Kraft ink from Papertrey Ink along with a blending brush. In some areas, I added ink with the blender brush without using the stencil.
I stamped the leaves from the 
Fairly limited color palette for this one.
Papirmølla 