Hi, crafty friends. I wanted to share this yesterday, because it was the 24th and nine months left until Christmas Eve, but I didn’t finish this before the sun set, and I’m no good at flat lay photography in the dark, so I’m sharing today instead.
I colored and fussy cut Especially for you from the 2021 I’ll Be Home for the Holidays collection illustrated by Stacey Yacula for Purple Onion Designs. I left a white trim around the edge to preserve the tail on the mouse and also have an easier time cutting the ribbon that adorns the present.
For the background I used the largest die in the Stitched Traditional Tag STAX die set from My Favorite Things and die cut two of these from Blue Breeze cardstock from My Favorite Things, before gluing them back to back. On the back I simply stamped a To/From stamp and on the front, I used the Falling Snow stencil from Simon Says Stamp along with some paste for a subtle snowy effect in the background.
I mounted the image on foam tape and added big die cut numbers above them using the By the numbers die set from Papertrey Ink. I die cut four of each number from Cornflower cardstock from My Favorite Things, and the top layer from the same cardstock I used for the background. I stamped a sentiment from a Norsk Stempelblad AS stamp set using Cornflower ink from MFT onto one of the numbers. I stacked the numbers, offsetting the top layer slightly and adhered them to the tag. I even put foam tape on the back of the number 4 to pop it up a little bit more and to add interest and dimension, before finishing off the tag with some ribbon of unknown origin, twine from Whisker Graphics in the color Blueberry and a snowflake charm.
I used quite a few colors for the fur on the squirrel, but the rest of the colors are pretty basic.
I actually created two cards this time. No Copic coloring on these, which is rare for me. I bought the Wreaths and Mulled Wine stamp set from Ciao Bella last year, but didn’t have time to use it. Get Cracking to the rescue. I took one of the wreaths in the stamp set, stamped it in VersaMark ink onto watercolor paper (I used Fabriano Artistico Extra White 140 lb hot pressed paper for this) and created two similar, yet different cards.
For this blue one I used Iridescent Sparkle embossing powder from JudiKins for my heat embossing. I used Prussian Blue paint from my Mijello Mission Gold watercolor set and watered it down quite a bit to get the light blue I was after. I used a 3/4″ flat brush across the surface, and the heat embossing resisted the watercolor I put on top. I love the edges of watercolor, so I just walked away and let this air dry, I didn’t want to mess with it.
Using a more concentrated paint of the the same color, I did a flat wash on a scrap piece of watercolor paper that was big enough for me to die cut. I used the Merry Script die from Mama Elephant and die cut three layers of white and one layer from my painted blue piece and stacked them for dimension. I also white heat embossed part of a sentiment from the Itty Bitty Holiday stamp set from My Favorite Things and nestled that in below the merry using some clear foam tape.
I could fiddle with placement of embellishments all day long. Color, size, I wanted everything to be just right, and wound up using a combination of the Igloo mix from Little Things from Lucy’s Cards (pearls and iridescent sparkle sequins), the Crystal Collection – Glass mix, also from Little Things from Lucy’s Cards (clear jewels), and a few blue diamonds from Kort & Godt to fill in the rest.
I used a die from Waffle Flower to create a rectangle from the watercolored piece and mounted in on foam tape on a card base I created from Spring Rain cardstock from Papertrey Ink. It’s no secret that I love blue for Christmas cards, and I thought this soft background with the wreath and the embellishments was a nice combo.
For my second card I used the same wreath stamp that I stamped in VersaMark ink. This time I embossed it in silver, painted the background with Van Dyke Green (also watered down quite a bit) and flipped the panel upside down to have the snowflake in the bottom right “corner” of the wreath instead of the top left.
I used the same Waffle Flower die to create my rectangle from the watercolor piece and was a little unsure of what to do for a card base. I didn’t have any green cardstocks that matched my watercoloring, and I didn’t feel like pulling my paints back out to create a green wash that I could use (although that would have been pretty). I rummaged through my silver cardstocks, but none of them matched the silver heat embossing very well, so I wound up creating my own using the same silver embossing powder that I used for the wreath. I squished my VersaMark pad onto the edges of a 4 1/4 x 5 1/2″ piece of white cardstock, sprinkled on the embossing powder and repeated the process until the embossing was even and covered everything. I adhered my embossed panel onto a white top fold card base and mounted my watercolor cardstock on top using foam tape.
Using the Hjerte 3 die set from Papirdesign, I die cut the words God jul three times and stacked them for a dimensional look. I made sure to cut the top layer from the watercolor paper I’d already used so that the whites would match. I adhered my die cut words to the center of the wreath using liquid glue.
To finish off the card I added Kort & Godt diamonds in three different sizes in clusters around the wreath. They act as little berries and add a little bit of sparkle and shine.
I made quite a few green Christmas cards last year. It’s a color that’s growing on me, and this Van Dyke Green from Mijello is the most perfect green ever.
I had so much fun creating these cards. They’re very different from what I usually create, that might be part of the reason why. The simplicity of this design makes it easy to mass produce, too, if that’s your jam. Break out your embossing powders, different colors of paint and go to town.
I went for a green and yellow combo this time, and made her hair dark (I colored her blonde last time). I was going to color her dress in teals, but when I was done with everything else and only had the dress left to color I changed my mind and opted for white. White’s not really white, I used a few grays and the tiniest amount of light blue, but it reads white in the finished coloring. I fussy cut my image leaving a white trim around the edge and put her aside while I worked on the rest of my card.
I took a page out of 
I adhered my cream panel onto a top fold, white card base using foam tape, before stamping and heat embossing a sentiment from the Itty Bitty Birthday stamp set from My Favorite Things. I thought this particular sentiment would work for many occasions, not just birthdays, and the size was perfect to add to one of my cardstock strips.
Using even more foam tape I adhered Mona near the bottom left of the card. I love that her dress sticks out right below the sentiment, I really couldn’t have placed the sentiment any better, it’s nestled in perfectly. I put Glossy Accents on the lollipop and a few Sparkling Clear sequins from Pretty Pink Posh here and there to finish the card.
Here you can see all the dimension. The cream panel is mounted on foam tape, the cardstock stripes are mounted on foam tape, and Mona is mounted on foam tape.
Quick and easy color palette for this one. I don’t think I went too much overboard with the amount of markers in this one. I won’t mention that I used six colors for her hair 😉
I stamped the image using Extreme Black ink from My Favorite Things, before coloring with my Copics. I love love love the way rubber stamps stamp even the thinnest lines. It’s great for details, and Stacey Yacula’s illustration style gets to shine. Her line work is very delicate, which pairs so well with rubber stamping, because you’re able to easily stamp all the little details.
I used a die in the Slim Card Basics die set from Mama Elephant to create a cloud border above my stamped and colored image, and used the same die on a separate piece of cardstock. I found a scrap piece of patterned paper from Scenic Route that I added to my card base, then added my cloud pieces on top using foam tape.
I used two sentiments from the 
Using the lower case Parker alphabet die set from Memory Box, I die cut each letter three times from Harvest Gold cardstock from Papertrey Ink to spell the word hello. I stacked my die cuts and adhered them to the right of Junie using liquid glue.
To finish the card I added a few yellow sequins from Little Things from Lucy’s Cards. These are actually from the Candy Corn mix; a Halloween mix with orange, yellow and clear sequins and gems which even has a few tiny ghosts made from acetate thrown in. It’s a fun mix.
Simple color palette for this one.
I colored the scene in using Copics. A couple of my browns went sticky during my coloring, and refilling them (which usually does the trick, markers tend to go sticky when they’re low on ink) didn’t work, so I replaced the nibs and they’re behaving a little bit better now.
Using Classic Kraft cardstock from Papertrey Ink, I die cut the largest of the Wood frame infinity dies from Hero Arts and put two additional layers behind it for dimension. The die actually cuts a frame that is slightly larger than the size of an A2 card, so I created a custom sized card to fit the frame. I glued the frame to my scene, stamped a sentiment from the Småtekster stamp set from Norsk Stempelblad AS onto Cornflower cardstock from My Favorite Things and heat embossed it in white, before using a die from the Tag Builder Blueprints 6 die set from My Favorite Things to turn it into a nice strip with a flag end. I adhered it to the frame and added 3 sequins from the White Orchid sequin mix from Little Things from Lucy’s Cards to finish.
Very simple color palette. Since I had to color it twice I’m glad it wasn’t more involved 🙂
I wanted a little bit of subtle interest to my background, and used the Garden Lattice dies from Honey Bee and die cut both the base and the top die (these are sold separately) twice from Stamper’s Select White cardstock from Papertrey Ink. By doubling up on each of the die cuts, I get lots of dimension.
I also die cut the word hugs from the Sending Big Hugs die from My Favorite Things. I die cut two layers from white cardstock and three layers from purple (Winter Wisteria from Papertrey Ink). The purple didn’t match my coloring, so I added BV02 to the top layer, that did the trick. I stamped my sub sentiment from the Bitty Thanks & Gratitude stamp set from My Favorite Things using Grapesicle ink, also from My Favorite Things, and adhered the strip directly to the diecut HUGS word.
I finished off the card by adding a few veneer butterflies, I thought they paired well with the butterfly on the bunny’s nose. The butterflies are from Wycinanka, and I added two Kort & Godt pearls to the center of each of the butterflies to form the body, and that finishes the card.
Simple, yet happy color palette for this card.
I couldn’t choose any other colors for this card, it simply had to be blue and yellow. I colored the image with Copics, then used the largest die in the Wonky Stitched Rectangles STAX set from My Favorite Things to create a little bit of interest to the edges of the panel, before adhering it to a card base created from Cornflower cardstock from My Favorite Things.
In the top right corner, I adhered part of a mini doily from Doodlebug using liquid glue. To the top of the card, I tied a piece of Divine Twine from Whisker Graphics in the color Lemon. I stamped and white heat embossed a sentiment from the Mini Messages stamp set from Mama Elephant on a scrap piece of blue cardstock and die cut it into a tag using a die from the Everyday Gift Box die set from My Favorite Things. I tied the ends of the twine to the tag, added a bow and put foam tape behind the tag for a little bit of dimension to my card.
I put a small piece of Stick-it adhesive behind a scrap of Bright Buttercup cardstock from Papertrey Ink and die cut lots of tiny hearts from it using a die from the Say What? Gift Tags die set from Lawn Fawn. I adhered the hearts in three little groupings of three. They form a nice visual triangle and add more yellow goodness to the card. There’s no such thing as too many hearts!
I’m sending lots of love to the people in Ukraine. It’s heartbreaking that certain people haven’t yet learned the lesson that war’s never the answer. Love always is. 💙💛
Lots of Copics used for this. Thankfully, they were already out on my desk from previous projects, so I didn’t add to the pile of markers I have to clean before I put them back where they belong in my block stands.
I colored my image with Copics and put it aside while I worked on the rest of the card, which I kept fairly simple. I used the largest die in the A2 Stitched Rectangles STAX 1 set from My Favorite Things in combination with the Watercolor Wash Free Form die, also from MFT, to die cut a window from Bright Buttercup cardstock from Papertrey Ink. I adhered the image to the back of this window and adhered it to my card base, which I made from Stamper’s Select White cardstock from Papertrey Ink.
I die cut the Celebrate die from My Favorite Things twice from white cardstock and once from a silver sparkle cardstock and adhered them together for dimension. I also stamped a sub sentiment from the Itty Bitty Birthday stamp set from My Favorite Things onto Hibiscus Burst cardstock from Papertrey Ink and heat embossed it, before using a banner die from the Everyday Gift Box die set from My Favorite Things. I put a couple of additional layers of pink cardstock behind it, adhered it on top of the stacked Celebrate die cut and embellished the card very simply by putting two star enamel dots in spots that have stars in the stamp. Simple, right?
Quick and easy coloring with a fun, summery color palette (it’s been snowing and sleeting and freezing here, which makes me long for summer even more than usual).
I printed the image near the bottom left corner of a panel of X-Press It blending card, before coloring it with Copics and using the largest die in the A2 Double Stitched Rectangle STAX die set from My Favorite Things to create a finished look with the nice faux stitching details that I love to add to my cards. I adhered it to a cardbase I created from Jalapeño Popper cardstock, also from MFT, and I had my base ready for some play with scraps.
I love creating these clusters of die cut scraps on my cards, and I have stamp storage pockets with little die cut patterned paper scraps sorted by color. That way I can rummage through these when I create my cards instead of having to find lots of patterned paper to match my card, then die cut it. It usually takes several different patterned papers of one color to create the dynamic look I want for my cards, but for this one, I actually kept it simple with one yellow (P13), one white and gray (Sunny Studio) and only two green ones (Basic Grey and Karen Foster Design). They’re all different shapes, which still keeps it interesting. Some are glued directly to the card, some with foam tape for a little bit of dimension. Using VersaMark ink, I stamped a sentiment from the Mini Messages stamp set from Mama Elephant onto one of these die cut pieces (it happened to be a tag) and heat embossed it using Super Fine Detail embossing powder from Ranger. I used part of a mini paper doily from Doodlebug Design behind my main cluster, and added a few enamel dots (green from Papirdesign, yellow from Altenew) to embellish.
Lots of green for this color palette.
I stamped and masked 
I colored in the scene using my Copics, and I actually used all the gray families for this, something that rarely happens. I tend to stick to one or maaaaybe two, but using all four made sense for this card.
On a piece of Berry Sorbet cardstock from Papertrey Ink, I stamped the 
The sentiment is a mix of a stamp from the 
To finish the card I added a few Sparkling Clear sequins from Pretty Pink Posh around the sentiment.
Lots of Copics for this one, but not a lot of color. Like I mentioned, I used all the gray families for this card.
Papirmølla 