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.
I really wanted to create a birthday card with 
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.
I used one of the dragons in the 
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 
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 
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.
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.
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.
I printed the image with the accompanying sentiment and made it bigger than what I normally color. I wanted the focus to really be on this stamp.
I colored the image with Copics, then used a die from the A2 Double Stitched Rectangles STAX set from My Favorite Things to create the faux stitch look around the edge that I really enjoy having on my cards.
I adhered the panel to a card base I created from Pure Poppy cardstock from Papertrey Ink.
The red cardstock matches the red balloon and really makes it pop.
To finish the card I added Sparkling Clear sequins from Pretty Pink Posh here and there. These are my favorite sequins, and they’re near impossible to find in stock anywhere. I need to get some more soon, though, I’ve almost run out.
Last, but not least; the colors I used for this. The ones on the bottom row were all used for the balloon. I went a little overboard on the balloon.
I used the 
I fussy cut each of the butterflies right up against the stamped lines, going over the cut edge with a black pen so no white core would show from the sides. I then took a thin Copic multiliner to make the bodies of the butterflies more solid black (I suspect I might need a new black ink pad because my current one is starting to get dry).
I added the butterflies to a 3 1/2 x 4 3/4″ panel of Stamper’s Select White cardstock from Papertrey Ink, lifting the wings and adding tiny pieces of 1 mm foam squares to the back of them for dimension. I didn’t want these to be flat. On some of the butterlies, I added 2 mm white pearls from Kort & Godt to the bodies.
The sentiment is from the 
The sparkle of the embossing powder is visible in this photo, as is the wonderful lift the wings of the butterflies get by using tiny pieces of foam tape. I colored one more butterfly, but there was no more room on the front of the card, so I adhered it to the back of the card above my “Handmade by Elin” stamp.
Not a lot of colors for this one, though I did use the yellow ones for all the two toned butterflies.
I colored the chick with Copics and fussy cut it, leaving a white border around the edge. I put it aside while I worked on the rest of the card.
On a 3 1/2 x 4 3/4″ panel of Stamper’s Select White cardstock from Papertrey Ink, I adhered 1/4″ strips of pastel colored cardstock at an angle. The colors are (top to bottom) Ballet Slipper (Concord & 9th), Lemon Tart (Papertrey Ink), Mint Julep (Papertrey Ink), Aqua Sky (Concord & 9th), Blue Breeze (My Favorite Things), Lilac Grace (Papertrey Ink). I then die cut a circle from the center of this panel.
I die cut a sligthly smaller circle out of vellum and adhered it to my card base using foam tape for a little bit of lift. I mounted the stripped up panel on top using even more foam tape (a thicker one for this layer) and put pieces of foam tape behind the little chick and added it in the center of the window opening.
I stamped a sentiment from My Favorite Things using Harvest Gold ink from Papertrey Ink on a leftover strip of Lemon Tart cardstock, then used foam tape to adhere it to the front of the card before finishing off with a few raindrops from Little Things from Lucy’s Cards.
This card has lots of dimension and a soft look because of all the pastel colors of cardstock, but that little chick is still the star of the show!
Very simple color palette for this tiny little image.
My first card as a Lee Holland design team member HAD to be a birthday card for the wonderful friend that sent me the link, thereby letting me know that this amazing opportunity even existed.
I first fell in love with Lee’s images because of his dragons, but all his critters are adorable, and I thought this 
She loves teal, so I knew just what color to use for the balloons. I made sure to print the image towards the bottom left corner of my quarter panel of X-Press It blending card, which is what I use for nearly all my Copic coloring. I used the largest die in the A2 Stitched Rectangles STAX 1 die set from My Favorite Things to give my panel a slight trim and that faux stitch edge I love so much, before adhering it directly to a card base I created from Tropical Teal cardstock from Papertrey Ink.
I die cut the letters to spell HURRA three times from the same color cardstock using the Connected alphabet die set from My Favorite Things. I stacked them for dimension and stability and adhered them to the right of the top balloon.
I also stamped a couple of sentiments from the A06 stamp set from Norsk Stempelblad AS onto strips of Sea Glass cardstock from Concord & 9th using Caribbean Sea ink from My Favorite Things. I added a few additional strips behind each and glued them to the card, before finishing off the card with a few sequins from the Seashore mix from Little Things from Lucy’s Cards.
I used a lot of colors for the coloring of this. I used 16 colors for the squirrel, which is kind of nuts (pun intended).
I colored the flamingo with my Copics and fussy cut it leaving a white border. I put it aside while I worked on the rest of the card.
I used the Crystal Distortion embossing folder from Simon Says Stamp on my white card base to create a little bit of texture and interest to the background. It doesn’t photograph very well, but the texture is much more impactful in person.
I cut a piece of Summer Splash cardstock from My Favorite Things at an angle and stamped the word flamazing. The Bella Letters stamp set from Mama Elephant was perfect for this. The stamp set comes with multiples of each letter, so I could stamp the entire word at once. I used Summer Splash ink from My Favorite Things for a tone on tone effect. I could have stamped the letters individually to get them closer together, but I like the spacing for this card. I also stamped and white heat embossed part of a sentiment from the Bitty Birthday Wishes stamp set from My Favorite Things onto Berry Sorbet cardstock from Papertrey Ink to complete the sentiment.
I mounted my angled colored cardstock panel with foam tape at the bottom of the card, using foam tape behind the top part of the flamingo as well. This design worked out really well, because I could adhere it’s thin legs directly to the cardstock with liquid glue instead of having to fuss with small pieces of foam tape. I also added a few sequins from the Ice Water sequin mix from Little Things from Lucy’s Cards to finish the card.
Papirmølla 