Hi, everyone! I’ve got a card to share today, featuring one of the super sweet images from the Lili of the Valley release that’s coming next Sunday (February 14th) and some faux watercolor.
Meet Grace. She comes in seven different poses, and each pose comes in a regular black lined version, and a more sketchy pencil style version, which is what I used for my card. I thought the sketchy look would be amazing with watercolor, but watercolor doesn’t play well with the ink in my printer, so I’ve totally cheated and used Copics. Well, Copic refills on watercolor paper, to be exact. Works like a charm and you get soft results, it’s fast to do and you don’t need a lot of colors. And for a sketchy style image like this, it doesn’t even matter if you go outside the lines a bit, it adds to that watercolor feel. I used this technique years ago (blog post here, written in Norwegian), it was fun to pull it back out and try it with a digital stamp.
I wanted all the focus to be on the image, and used the Fine Frames Cover die with some patterned paper from Papirdesign in a soft, matching purple, adding dimension behind every other frame (the wider ones), while gluing the others straight onto the card base.
I stamped and white heat embossed a sentiment from the Statement Flowers stamp set from Altenew, before adding a few sequins from the White Orchid Sequin Mix from Little Things from Lucy’s Cards.
Very limited color palette. I put a drop or two of color onto my glass work surface and picked up the color with a watercolor brush filled with blender solution instead of water. I have a watercolor brush just for blender solution.
I stamped 
I used one of the Precious Polaroids dies from My Favorite Things, as well as a wishes die from Mama Elephant. I die cut both four times from Blue Yonder card stock from My Favorite Things and stacked them for a dimensional look. Directly onto the card base, I used a blender brush from Taylored Expressions with Classic Kraft ink from Papertrey Ink over a Tim Holtz mini layering stencil to create some interest in the background. I stamped selected words from two sentiments from the 
I’m woefully short on envelopes to fit A2 cards, and definitely didn’t have any blue, kraft or white ones to go with my card, so I pulled out my A2 V Flap Envelope dies from Simon Says Stamp and created one using scraps of patterned paper from Papirdesign. Blue with snowflakes, can you get any better for a blue, wintery birthday card?
Very limited color palette this time, but it’s no wonder given the size of the image. I also used B90 for the hat, which is a color I’ve made myself.
I adhered everything to my die cut panel, some directly, and some with a couple of more layers of paper behind them for added dimension. I added a couple of veneer snowflakes from Crafty Moly that I’d already white heat embossed with three layers of super detail embossing powder from Ranger. I used a piece of the strip of 12×12″ paper that has the barcode on it from Papirdesign. Their barcode strips are awesome. One side has the barcode and all the information, the other side of the strip actually has a design on it, so nothing needs to go to waste.
I adhered everything onto a card base I made from Classic Kraft card stock from Papertrey Ink. I didn’t have any colored envelopes to match (and I’ve run out of white envelopes for A2 sized cards), so I used the A2 V Flap Envelope dies from Simon Says Stamp to create an envelope from some larger scraps of Maja Design patterned paper.
As usual, I leave you with the Copics I used. In addition to B0000 and the blender, I also used B90, which is a color I’ve made myself, for the sky.
I colored the skater boy using Copics, then fussy cut him right up against the black stamped lines.
I don’t often use green as my main color in my cards, but on boy cards, I think it’s one of the best colors out there, even better than blue. And coming from me, that’s saying a lot. For this one, I used the Geometric Landscape stencil from Altenew, along with five different colors of Altenew ink for my background; Bamboo, Parrot, Grass Field, Shadow Creek and Evergreen. I smooshed the Grass Field onto an acrylic block and added some water to it, before using a paint brush to create green paint splatter in the background. I also pulled out my Black Marble ink spray from Ranger (Dylusions) and did the same with that.
I mounted my ink blended background to a white card base using lots of foam tape, before adding the skater boy on top using some 
Blues, greens, gray and a little bit of skin and hair.
After coloring the image, I used a die from the nested stitched doily set from Cottage Cuts to turn my colored piece into a circle with some nice detailing along the edge. I die cut two more from white cardstock and added them to the back for a little bit more strength and stability.
Using the Detail Ringlet Plate from Simon Says Stamp, I created a white panel with subtle texture. I wanted something that wasn’t too plain while at the same time not being too distracting from the image. I cut down four more pieces of white card stock, added them to the back of the die cut one and adhered it to a card base I made from Berry Sorbet card stock from Papertrey Ink.
A stacked die cut sentiment (die from Papirdesign) and a heat embossed sub sentiment from Norsk Stempelblad AS were added to the front, and finally a couple of matte gold sequins from Little Things From Lucy’s Cards. Before adhering it to the card, I used a shimmer spray on my colored piece, you can sort of see it in this photo, but it’s a lot more sparkly in person.
I went with a combo of cool Copic colors and even used the E80s, which I hardly ever use. I cut my colored piece down using a faux stitch rectangle die from My Favorite Things.
I used some old scraps of patterned paper to create this card. On my desk I have a container of scraps of patterned paper that I’ve cut down to 4 1/4 x 5 1/2″, making them very convenient to use. The paper I used to cover the entire front of the white card base is from My Mind’s Eye (it’s the same sheet as the one I used for the sentiment banner), the one with the white lines running through it is from Autumn Leaves, from their Manhattan line, which happens to be from 2007. I definitely have some old papers in my stash. The lightest piece is from Kaisercraft. I decided to add dark blue enamel dots from Papirdesign to break a little from the monochromatic patterned paper I had going, and also to reintroduce the blue from the image, even though I really like the grayish teal of the jacket and the patterned paper scraps.
I stamped the sentiment from Norsk Stempelblad AS using VersaFine Onyx Black ink and die cut it using one of the fishtail flag frames dies from My Favorite Things.
Quick and easy coloring of this one without too many colors. As usual when I color snow, quite a few of the colors were used for the snow alone. I also used BG71 on the jacket, which is a color I’ve made myself.
I started by coloring my image. I had a rough idea of what I wanted to do when I started, so I lightly traced a circle and colored everything inside. Using a peachy pink combo with the fairly light blue helps sell the idea of this not being a holiday card.
Once the image was all colored up, I took the same die that I’d used to trace my coloring area to die cut circle windows in four panels of white card stock, before adhering them together for a dimensional look, making sure the window was in the same spot on each of them. I used the Detail Ringlet Plate from Simon Says Stamp to die cut from another piece of white card stock. Lining up the circle once more, I die cut a window from this layer, trimmed 1/8″ off from each side and added it to the stack of die cuts I already had. I glued the colored piece behind the window, and adhered everything onto a card base made out of Berry Sorbet card stock from Papertrey Ink.
Using the Happy Birthday Brush Script die from Simon Says Stamp, I die cut three pieces from white card stock and one from a piece of X-Press It that I’d colored with the same peachy pink Copic combo that I used on my image. I glued all four pieces together for a dimensional look, and used a shimmer spray on top for some sparkle, before adhering the stacked die cut to the front of the card, before adding a few blue enamel dots from Papirdesign as a finishing touch. I didn’t have a colored envelope to match, so I used a white one from My Favorite Things instead.
Not a whole lot of colors for this one. I have, however, used quite a few colors to color in the snow. B41 was used for the sky, but the rest of those light blues, the BV20 and the BG0000 were all used for the snow, as well as the blender. For the sky I also used B40, which is a color I’ve made myself.
As usual, I colored my image with Copics. I usually also create a panel with my colored images, but this time I did some serious fussy cutting, that stem is super thin. Ginger, one of the talented crafty people I follow on Instagram (you can find her 
I used the Detail Ringlet Plate cover die from Simon Says Stamp on a piece of Berrylicious card stock from My Favorite Things. I chopped off 1/4″ on each side, added a few layers of card stock behind for dimension and adhered it to a top fold card base I made out of Stamper’s Select White card stock from Papertrey Ink. I die cut two tags from the same white card stock and glued them to the panel that was already there.
I glued the girl onto the tag, making sure to put a couple of extra pieces of card stock for stability behind the part of her head that hangs over the edge of the tag. I also added used my clear Wink of Stella glitter brush on her wings, which you can sort of see in the photo if you look closely. I die cut the word hei (hi) four times from Summer Sunrise card stock from Papertrey Ink and glued them together for a stacked look. The sub sentiment is a stamp from Norsk Stempelblad AS, stamped in VersaMark and white heat embossed on New Leaf card stock from Papertrey Ink. I also built that up with a few additional layers of cardstock behind it for stability and dimension, and finished the card by adding a couple of enamel dots from Papirdesign.
Here you can see that there’s a lot of dimension in this fairly simple card.
No post complete without a list of Copic colors used.
I decided to go for a version in gray and green, and used a die from Papirdesign to create a scallop heart for the front of my gift tag. I stamped a sentiment from Norsk Stempelblad AS using Ripe Avocado ink from Papertrey Ink.
I diecut a regular tag shape from patterned paper from Maja Design using a die from My Favorite Things and glued the scalloped heart to the regular tag.
For the back of the tag I die cut the regular tag shape again from that same patterned paper as the one for the front, as well as a second scalloped heart from white cardstock. I used the same green ink as I did on the front to stamp the To/From stamp from Norsk Stempelblad AS.
Not a lot of Copics used for this one, but it’s a small image.
This is a simple one. I colored 
On the back of the tag I die cut an additional two tags from patterned paper from Maja Design and stamped a To/From stamp from Norsk Stempelblad AS using Olive Twist ink from Papertrey Ink. I used a couple of strips of patterned paper to get a candy cane in there, as well.
I added some twine through the top of the tag and even a snowflake charm, but let the rest be very simple. I’m hoping this penguin will put a smile on my sister’s face, she loves penguins, and this one is going to her and her husband.
Lots of grays for the penguin, and also quite a few greens. I love this green combo.
Papirmølla 