Hi, crafty friends! We’ve passed the half way point of summer (I wish it would never end), and I guess this means Christmas is getting close? I’m no fan of the cold, but I do love advent and Christmas, so I’m all for Christmas in July, which is why I’m sharing a Christmas card today, created for the Kort & Godt galleri blog.
This card was a bit of an evolution. I originally wanted to make a snowflake wreath, but quickly decided that that was too simple. I then had an idea of half a very layered wreath, and this stems from that.
I die cut a sprig of leaves a few times – two from 40 lb vellum from Bazzill and a couple from Ocean Tides cardstock from Papertrey Ink. I dry embossed a couple of circle dies into a panel of Blue Breeze cardstock from My Favorite Things and adhered the two vellum pieces in the bottom left of my impressed circle. I cut the green leaves apart and added them here and there, before topping with felt snowflakes, alternating between large and small.
I wanted a white sentiment, and started with white glitter cardstock. The white didn’t match the snowflakes, so I went to regular white cardstock and die cut four of each word and stacked them. The sentiment got lost, there was too much going on in the background. I then die cut the words from Blueberry Sky cardstock from Papertrey Ink and added that on top. I also cut down the panel slightly and added a 4 1/4 x 5 1/2″ panel of Blueberrry Sky cardstock behind the lighter one to pick up the color from the sentiment. Guess what? The sentiment was still lost in the busy background. Plan D: die cut one more layer from Enchanted Evening cardstock from Papertrey Ink and add that on top. This is one of my most used blue cardstocks, I love it. The sentiment was finally legible.
I embellished with a mix of faceted white pearls and some blue diamonds, and the card was finished. I kind of wish I’d made my half wreath tighter, it’s very wide, but I’ll revisit the snowflake wreath idea, I might have a plan for a new card using these products.
Kort & Godt products used:
Die 231 (sprig)
Die 347 (jul)
Die 348 (god)
ST102A (small snowflakes)
ST105A (large snowflakes)
ST104A (large snowflake in the center)
ST178 (faceted pearls)
blue diamonds 3 mm (discontinued)
I started with a panel of Stamper’s Select White cardstock from Papertrey Ink that I dry embossed. I then used a stencil set (the Butterfly Blooms set from Concord & 9th) to add the color. I used all inks from Concord & 9th: Powder for the background, Sprout and Parsley for the greens, Sunshine and Buttercup for the florals and Pink Lemonade and Honeysuckle for the pinks.
Once the panel was all inked, I adhered it to a white card base, created half circle notches at the top and bottom with a small circle die and thread some cotton thread through, which I tied off in a bow. I added pink sparkly gems to act as the bodies of the butterflies and finished off with a couple of black sentiment sticker strips that I mounted on foam tape. I love the softness of the background against the bold of the black. The black really draws your eye.
I fit a lot of images into this scene. 
I colored in my scene with Copics, opting for very vibrant colors for all the floating elements and the details on the boat house, while keeping the rest fairly muted. The lake is lighter the further back you get, and the sky is a bit moody off in the distance. I added a bit of black glaze pen to the eyes of the gang on the pier for a little bit of dimension and shine.
I stamped a sentiment from the 
I adhered the panel to a card base that measures 6 1/8″ x 4 1/4″. This is an irregular size for a card, but when I create scenes like this, I let the scene dictate the size of the card. I can always make a custom envelope to fit.
I used lots of Copics for this one.
I knew I had to color up this image as soon as I saw it. This is so adorable with the corgi hanging off the top of the glass. And so funny, and very typical of Pei’s illustration style. I love it!
I colored the image with Copics, fussy cut him, then added VersaMarker pen to the rim of the glass and used white puff embossing powder from Wow! to mimic a salt rim. The embossing also adds some fun texture to the glass. I also used a black glaze pen to add a little bit of shine and dimension to his eyes.
I ink blended Parsley and Starfruit inks from Concord & 9th onto a white cardstock panel for an ombré effect, then used the Geometric embossing folder from WRMK to create some subtle dimension. I added the panel to a card base I’d covered with Parsley cardstock from Concord & 9th, before mounting the image using foam tape.
In this release there are also a few sentiment sets, and this one from the 
Simple color palette for this one. This was so fun to color!!!
I started with a panel of white cardstock. I put down the first stencil, which is for the background, and used Harbor and Powder inks. The second stencil does the stems and leaves, and I used Sprout with a bit of Parsley at the base for those. For the large part of the flowers, I used Ballet Slipper and for the fourth and final stencil, which is for the smaller part of the flower, I used Honeysuckle. I also used the small circle burst stamp in the stamp set to add a little more detail. I stuck to Honeysuckle ink, and I just love the way these flowers turned out.
I used the cover die to create a frame from white cardstock that I glued on top of my ink blending. I mounted sentiment sticker strips from Kort & Godt using foam tape and adhered the sentiment in the top third of the card. I rarely add my sentiments to the top right, but I think it works. I finished off very simple with a few iridescent dew drops from Pinkfresh Studio.
I started by running a panel of white cardstock through my die cut machine with an embossing folder. I chose the Crystal Distortion embossing folder from Simon Says Stamp, which leaves some fun texture in the background without being too distracting.
I added the tigers to the panel with some foam squares. The texture on the dry embossed panel makes it uneven, and the foam squares help – I also love the dimension it adds. I cut off the parts of the tigers hanging off the edge, trimmed the panel down and mounted it on foam tape to a card base I created from Canyon Clay cardstock from Papertrey Ink.
The large sentiment is from the same sheet of stickers as the tigers, which means the colors fit perfectly. I added some foam squares to the back and adhered it above the bottom tiger.
I added some black bling in a couple of different sizes to finish the card. This is actually the third card I’ve shared in a row without any stamping. I’m sure I’ll use some stamping soon, but it’s fun to use other products and techniques.
I used the Twist pattern press plate from Pinkfresh Studio with Nectar ink from Concord & 9th on a piece of Nectar cardstock from Concord & 9th to create a subtle background. I adhered the panel to a top fold card base I created from Stamper’s Select White cardstock from Papertrey Ink.
I mounted the tag in the center using foam tape and added a bow with white cotton thread from Kort & Godt. I adhered a couple of sentiment sticker strips with foam tape.
To finish off the card I adhered a few faceted pearls. This card is so simple, and the soft colors really are perfect for spring.
I colored these cuties with my Copics and did the same with 
I used the Additional A2 Layers die set from Waffle Flower to cut my panel down slightly, then adhered it to a card base I created from Autumn Rose cardstock from Papertrey Ink, before I added a few snowdrift sprinkles from Little Things from Lucy’s Cards.
Lots of Copics for this one. I even created a new combo for the fox which requires less markers than the one I used to use.
I separated out the baubles from the image and did some copy paste work to create my scene. It’s one of the advantages of using digital stamps, and it makes them super versatile. I drew in a base board at the back with a black Copic multiliner and colored my scene.
I fussy cut around the back bauble and base board and adhered my colored piece onto a piece of patterned paper from ModaScrap that acts as a wall paper for my background. To make it even more obvious that it’s supposed to be a wall, I stamped part of the Window Signs image from Purple Onion Designs using Altenew Obsidian ink onto a scrap piece of X-Press It blending card that I’d colored with one of the neutral colors (E81) I used for my baubles. I then die cut that using the Postage Collage Die set from Waffle Flower and adhered it to my wall, drawing in strings and a nail on the wall for it to hang from.
I stamped a sentiment from the Merry Greetings stamp set from Mama Elephant using Melon Berry ink from Papertrey Ink. It matches really well with the coloring. I adhered my scene to a card base covered with a quarter sheet of Grapefruit cardstock from Concord & 9th to create a matching frame and my card was finished.
Limited Copic color palette for this one. I also used W3, W1 and W0, but I see now that I cut my graphic off too short, so they’re missing here.
I started by running a panel of Stamper’s Select White cardstock from Papertrey Ink through my die cutting machine with the Kaleidoscope embossing folder from Simon Says Stamp for a subtle, textured background. I love white space on my cards, but that doesn’t mean it needs to be flat.
Next, I did some stripping. Cardstock stripping, that is. I cut a few colors of cardstock into different width strips. The colors I used are (top to bottom – all Concord & 9th cardstock): Ballet Slipper, Carnation, Sweet Pea, Buttercup and Clementine. I added the strips to a scrap of cardstock to keep them all together and mounted them at an angle using foam tape.
I die cut the word klem (hug) three times from white cardstock and stacked them for dimension. I usually stack four, but I was using a scrap to die cut from and there was only room for three with the piece I used. Three layers work too!
I love how this word die creates a space for a sub sentiment strip. You can put pretty much anything on the bottom of the last part of the die cut and still see the whole word. For this one I used a sentiment sticker strip and adhered a couple of layers of cardstock strips behind it for even more dimension, so it pops off the die cut a little. To finish off the card, I added a few gold heart, I thought they matched the sub sentiment (you have a heart of gold) nicely.
Papirmølla 