Hi, crafty friends! I promised I’d be back on the weekend with a card featuring Holly Mabutas’ new collection with Purple Onion Designs, so here I am. I paired the new Hold on tight with the older Snowy Forest and used a very limited color palette.
I stamped the main image with Memento Tuxedo Black, but opted for the softer Hero Arts Wet Cement for the trees, as I really wanted them to truly be in the background and not distract too much from the focal image. I used the RV90 family for the trees and most of the clothing and made the bunnies different by adding patterns to their scarves.
I stamped the sentiment from the Seasons Sayings sentiment set using Stormy Sea ink from Papertrey Ink, sprinkled Chunky white embossing enamel over my panel and melted the granules from the back, giving it that textured snowy look I love. I used a black glaze pen to add some shine to their eyes and mounted my panel onto a card base I created from Stormy Sea cardstock from Papertrey Ink. This wound up being an odd size card, it measures 5 1/4 x 5″. I added a few snowdrift sprinkles from Little Things from Lucy’s Cards to finish.
Very limited color palette for this one.
For a limited time, the entire Cotswood Christmas collection is available as a bundle at a 30 % discount. The bundle includes all 9 images in the collection and a sentiment. The offer ends Wednesday 11 November 2026, so if you want it, you’re better off not sitting on the fence for too long.
The 
This card came together pretty easily, and even though I had planned on using more bluegreens for the clothing, in the end I did go back to my trusty blues. You can just never go wrong with blue! I even stamped the sentiment in Altenew Winter Lake ink, to get even more blue in there. I like having the color of the sentiment match the rest of the card.
Simple color palette for this one. I used a lot of dark colors, and I also used BV27, which is a color I’ve made myself, as I find the gap from 29 to 25 a bit tricky to work with for large night skies like this.
I colored the basketball teen, the extra basketballs and the footballs with Copics and fussy cut them all. I made an A2 card base using Capri cardstock from Concord & 9th and covered most of it with the Lovende patterned paper from the Ungdommelig collection from Papirdesign. Putting the teen directly on the patterned paper wouldn’t work as it was a very busy pattern, but by using the A2 Oval Basics die set from Kristina Werner, I was able to create a grounding element for my focal point. The die cuts out the oval and a frame in one go, so I die cut it once from Capri cardstock, and once from Soft Stone cardstock from Papertrey Ink. I used the Connected Alphabet die set from My Favorite Things to die cut the letters for the kid’s name in Capri cardstock, stacking a few for dimension.
For the insides, I die cut more of the ovals, and actually used the back of that same patterned paper that I used for the front. Double sided patterned paper is awesome. I rarely use patterned paper anymore, so it was fun to bring it back for this card. I stamped a sentiment from the Konf. 02 stamp set from Norsk Stempelblad AS on the panel on the left using Capri ink from Concord & 9th and embellished the insides with a few basketballs and a football. (I know the photo is a bit blurry, but it was the only one I took of the inside and I didn’t realize until I’d given the card to the lady who ordered it).
Same setup on the back of the card. Another sentiment stamped in Capri ink, also from the Konf. 02 stamp set.
With such a simple image, there weren’t a lot of colors used.
I wanted a storybook look to this, and the ice cream truck is a fairly busy image, so I decided to stamp the background in fadeout ink from Inkon3 for a no line look.
I colored my scene with Copics, and when the coloring was complete, I put the panel back in my Misti and stamped the truck again, this time in Obsidian ink from Altenew. It gives such crisp, dark black lines, but it’s not Copic friendly, so I need to do this step once the coloring is complete. I tend to hold my breath hoping I don’t offset the stamping, as I don’t want to have to start all over again. This time it worked. I stamped SPECIAL DELIVERY and the postmark stamp using Classic Kraft ink from Papertrey Ink. The stamps are from the 
I adhered strips of solid color cardstock towards the top of my 6 1/2 x 5″ card base, before mounting my huge postage stamp scene in the center with foam tape. The colors I used are Nectar, Sorbet, Starfruit, Clover and Bluebell, all from Concord & 9th.
To finish off the card I added a couple of yellow hearts from the Beach Dreams Crystal collection from Little Things from Lucy’s Cards.
I used a LOT of colors for this one. Very few colors for the background, but a lot for the truck and these cute friends!!
I needed a birthday card for my niece’s 16th birthday. She’s a lover of tropical fruits, and this was the perfect set to use for her birthday card. I die cut the watermelon from Vintage Jadeite cardstock from Papertrey Ink and used the stencil set to in blend the stripes on the watermelon rind using Clover ink from Concord & 9th. I stamped the spots in the coordinating stamp set using the same color. I die cut a few extra watermelons from Vintage Jadeite. I knew I was going to pop up my watermelon on an action wobble (I actually ended up using two wobbles), so it needed to be sturdy.
I added White puff embossing powder from Wow! for a seafoam look near the bottom of my panel and stamped a sentiment from the much older 
To finish off the card, I added a few sequins, gems and pearls from the Melon embellishment mix from Little Things from Lucy’s Cards.
This Tropic color combination from Concord & 9th was my inspiration for this card.
The floral stamp’s an old Stamptember collaboration stamp with Studio Katia called Flower Bunch. Studio Katia is no longer in business, I believe, but that doesn’t mean this image is any less gorgeous. I stamped it with Extreme Black ink from My Favorite Things onto X-Press It blending card, colored it with Copics and fussy cut the whole thing.
I created a card base from Rustic White cardstock from Papertrey Ink and added some interest to the background with the Garden Lattice Base and Garden Lattice Top dies, both from Honey Bee. I cut two of each, stacked them and adhered them to my card base, gluing the fussy cut image down in the bottom left corner.
I die cut the Gratulerer 6 die (PD17240) from Papirdesign from Summer Sunrise cardstock from Papertrey Ink and backed it with a couple of additional ones die cut from Harvest Gold cardstock, also from PTI. I stamped and white heat embossed a sub sentiment from the A06 stamp set from Norsk Stempelblad AS onto a scrap of True Black cardstock from Papertrey Ink, trimmed it down to a strip and backed it with additional strips for dimension. I’m pretty sure I used some glitter spray at the end of my coloring, because the image on this card really sparkles. It’s not in my notes, though. To finish off I scattered a few sequins from the White Orchid sequin mix from Little Things from Lucy’s Cards.
I even embellished my envelope. I used the By the numbers die set from Papertrey Ink for the big numbers, then white heat embossed another sentiment from the A06 stamp set from Norsk Stempelblad AS, this time onto Autumn Rose cardstock from Papertrey Ink.
I love how you can get so many variations of pink with just five markers.
This is a super simple fun fold, you basically fold the front of a regular sidefold card at the halfway point, so it doubles up on itself, which then becomes the front. For this one I started with three panels of Pale Peony cardstock from Papertrey Ink. I inked up the Leafy Lattice press plate from Pinkfresh Studio with white pigment ink from Concord & 9th to impress and ink up a very subtle pattern on all panels. I created a card base from Stamper’s Select White cardstock from Papertrey Ink that measures 5 x 6 1/4″ when it’s folded. I scored and folded the front at 2 1/2″. I put one of my panels on the inside of the card, put one on the back of the card and cut the last one in two to put on the front, making sure the pattern lined up with the inside.
This is what the card looks like on display. I die cut a couple of images from a sheet from Kort & Godt (MA1001) using a die in the Stitched Circle STAX die set from My Favorite Things. This paper is kind of thin, so I backed it with a plain white cardstock circle behind. I glued one circle to the front, making sure to put glue on the left side only. I die cut the leafy circle die from Kort & Godt (die 345) from Heavyweight Translucent vellum from MFT and added that on top of my circle image, adhering it only in a few spots. I used the Kjære brudepar die set (PD18406) from Papirdesign for the word, stacking a few white ones, adding the shadow die cut from vellum, then another few white die cuts topped with a glitter one, die cut from pink glitter cardstock from Kort & Godt, before finishing off with a few champagne glitter drops from Pinkfresh Studio.
The circle image on the inside is a little bit smaller than the one on the front, and is hidden when the card is closed. . I added some wedding themed sentiment sticker strips from Kort & Godt (ST1018) and a few more glitter drops to embellish. This circle actually opens to reveal a place to write a sentiment, there’s a score line you can see on the left here.
Another circle hides behind, and there’s enough room for a personal message without it showing too well when the card is open on display.
Here you can see the card open from a different angle.
This wound up being a very soft looking card, between all the pink, white and vellum.
I love love love the added texture and crisp inking you get with a press plate. It’s the best thing ever.
The back of the card. Another die cut circle, another vellum circle with the leaves and a couple more of the sentiment sticker strips. I hope you try this fun fold if you haven’t already. It’s easy, but still something different than store bought.
As I mentioned, I created this card using two collections: 
Once I had all my sea creatures colored and fussy cut, I put them aside and worked on the rest of the card. I die cut the Stamp Border from Gummiapan five times from Powder cardstock from Concord & 9th. The die cuts five postage stamps in a border, but I cut off one, making it a strip of four. I put two layers of white scraps behind each of the individual postage to give it a floating look. I also cut down small cardstock squares two layers thick to put behind my critters, also giving them a bit of dimension, but not as much as foam tape would add.
Once I knew how I wanted my strips of sea postage arranged, I stamped a sentiment from the Småtekster stamp set from Norsk Stempelblad AS using Capri ink from Concord & 9th directly on my card base, which I created from Stamper’s Select White cardstock from Papertrey Ink. I made a side fold card this time that is 1/2″ larger in both directions than the standard A2 card. I adhered my postage stamps, added some dew drops from Concord & 9th that kind of look like bubbles and decided to make their eyes shine. I used a black glaze pen, then went over with one small dot of an extra fine white Sharpie once the black was dry. I don’t think I’ve ever used 20 images on one card before, but this was SO. MUCH. FUN!!
I used the Bouquet turnabout stamp set from Concord & 9th to create my focal point. This turnabout set has two separate images that you turn. The greenery is one stamp, the florals another. I used Sprout, Parsley, Basil and Evergreen inks for the greenery, and Bluebell, Capri, Poppy and Cranberry for the florals, all C9 colors. I’m loving the new 2026 colors from Concord & 9th, Capri is dynamite, it’s so awesome!! I cut my bouquet out using the coordinating die set and put the piece aside while I worked on the rest of the card.
I wanted a subtle background, and opted for the Stippled Plaid press plate from Pinkfresh Studio. I love this press plate, it’s probably the one press plate I use the most. I inked it up very carefully with Bluebell ink and ran it through my system with plain white cardstock to match the white cardstock I used for my floral bouquet stamping. I then cut the panel down significantly, added a mat from Poppy cardstock and mounted it on a top fold card base I created from Stamper’s Select White cardstock from Papertrey Ink, which is the white cardstock I’ve used for everything on this card.
I popped up my bouquet using more foam tape and knew I wanted a die cut sentiment. Gratulerer med dagen is what you say when greeting someone on May 17th, it literally translates to “Congratulations on the day”. It’s the exact same sentiment we use to wish someone a happy birthday. I used the Gratulerer 6 die set from Papirdesign for the main part of my sentiment. I die cut four layers from white cardstock, one layer from Gold Shine cardstock from My Favorite Things and the shadow layer from Heavyweight vellum, also from MFT. I backed the gold one with one white, adhered it to the vellum and put the three remaining white ones behind the vellum, to give it a bit of dimension.
On a piece of Capri cardstock, I stamped a sentiment (have a fantastic celebration) from the A06 stamp set from Norsk Stempelblad AS with VersaMark ink, sprinkled on Super fine detail embossing powder from Ranger and heat set it from the back. I always do my heat embossing from the back, it gives a much smoother result than working from the front. I finished off the card with a few enamel dots from Concord & 9th in Capri, Bluebell and Poppy.
