Hi, crafty friends! My blogging has been sporadic lately. Madness (the good kind) at work and the world cup are the reasons behind my absence, but now that we’ve been kicked out of the world cup because FIFA didn’t want us advancing to the semi finals, I can focus on other things. Vacation time is also right around the corner, so I’m hoping to share lots of cards! I’m starting with this cute ice cream truck from Purple Onion Designs, brilliantly illustrated by Pei. This is Happy Cone Mobile, and it’s from the Sunshine & Daydreams collection that was released a few weeks back. The Woodsy Background is from the same collection.
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 Vintage PostCARD and the Vintage PostCARD Add-On stamp sets, which are both older sets from Purple Onion. I also stamped a sentiment from the Sunshine & Rainbows sentiment set using Clover ink from Concord & 9th.
I used the largest die in the Nesting Postage Stamps die set from Hero Arts to turn my panel into a large postage stamp.
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 stamped Tofu and Brownie in Extreme Black ink from My Favorite Things, placed a mask over top and stamped the Sunrise Sunset with Altenew Golden Honeycomb ink. I colored in my scene and decided to try a new twist for the sky. I don’t think I’ve ever used these particular color for a sky before, but I think it worked out well.
I imagine they’re in a tropical location where the ocean has this very peaceful aqua color that fades into nothing as it reaches the shore. I tried to give the whole panel a dreamy vibe, and there’s not a whole lot of dark markers used. I did include a dark green towel and used more of the YR09 on the crab than I did on Tofu’s hat (believe it or not, it was used on Tofu’s hat, albeit in a very small amount). The greens play well together and work with the ocean, while the more corally color for the hat, seashell and crab play off the peach in the sunset.
Once my image was colored, I cut my panel down using the larges die in the Additional A2 Layers die set from Waffle Flower. I stamped a 
I used an extra fine point white Sharpie to add the ripples in the ocean, and used White puff embossing powder from Wow! to create the seafoam on the beach. I added a bit of black glaze pen to their eyes, and the glaze made the crab’s eyes bigger, which made him even funnier than he was originally. I adhered my colored piece to a panel of white cardstock cut to 4 1/4 x 5 1/2″, then mounted the whole thing onto a 4 3/4 x 6″ white card base covered with a panel of Sprout cardstock from Concord & 9th.
Speaking of colors, I used a ton of Copic colors for this card. By the time I had colored the sky, I’d already used 11 colors; they add up fast!
Isn’t this image fun? I love that Tofu somehow fits in this wine glass. There was an image in last year’s summer collection with a similar vibe. That one had a corgi hanging on to a margarita glass. So fun!
For this card, I simply colored my image with Copics, placed a mask on top of my mage and did some ink blending with C9 inks and the Celebrate stencil set from Kristina Werner. I used purple voluntarily, can you believe it? The purple is Fig faded into Aster, the green is Clover faded into Surfside, and the blue is Capri blended into Bluebell. I can’t take credit for the color palette, though, it was one Jennifer McGuire shared in the C9 Winter Retreat back in January, when they revealed the new colors to the retreat attendees. I’ll take my color inspiration wherever I can get it, and this was a fun one to try. Capri has stolen my heart!
Back to the card. I removed the mask on the corkscrew before stamping the 
I wanted a little bit more interest in the background and decided to use paste, but before I put the paste on, I die cut my panel using the largest die in the A2 Oval Basics die set from Kristina Werner.
Once my panel was the finished size of the card, I placed the corkscrew mask back on, then used another stencil in the Celebrate stencil set from Kristina using Golden Hour Solar Paste from Simon Hurley. I made sure to cover the sentiment before adding the paste, so it wouldn’t end up where I didn’t want it. The paste adds texture and a little bit of shine in addition to breaking up all the white space in the background.
Last, but not least: the Copics I used. Fairly neutral palette for this one.
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.
I stamped and colored my image with Copics on X-Press It blending card, before using a die in the A2 Double Stitched Rectangle STAX die set from My Favorite Things to create faux stitching around the perimeter of my panel.
I masked off my image, before using Powder, Harbor and Sea Glass inks from Concord & 9th to ink blend the background through the Perfect Pool Water stencil from My Favorite Things. I flipped and rotated the stencil to create my pool water.
While I still had my mask in place, I stamped a sentiment from the 
I adhered my panel to a card base I created from Oceanside cardstock from Concord & 9th, added a layer of Glossy Accents to Tofu’s glasses and finished off with a mix of sequins and gems from the Ice Water embellishment mix from Little Things from Lucy’s Cards.
Very limited color palette for this one.
I stamped and masked my bunny, stamped the field background, then colored in my scene with Copics. I didn’t want an “all green” background, so I colored the bush and the tree with pink markers, I’m pretending they’re blooming. The fruit trees are in full bloom at the moment, so it was an easy decision. Once my coloring was complete, I used the largest die in the Stitched Traditional Tag STAX die set from My Favorite Things. This tag set doesn’t create holes in the tags, so I made my own and used a reinforcer from the Fold-up Tags die set, also from My Favorite Things, to give the hole a finished look. I stamped Hello from the 
Very soft color palette for this one.
I created a scene with quite a few images from the Lakewood collection from Purple Onion Designs, illustrated by Holly Mabutas. 
I don’t use watercolor a lot, but a palette with watercolor paint is a lot more travel friendly than 360 Copic markers, and I was on vacation in the mountains when I painted this last summer. Only having access to watercolor forces me to play with them and familiarize myself with them, which is a good thing.
The images are all stamped using Obsidian ink from Altenew, which is a pigment ink that works well with watercolor. The paper is Fabriano Artístico cold pressed watercolor paper. I used my Mijello Mission Gold watercolor paints and brushes of varying sizes. I’m not an expert watercolorist, so the coloring’s pretty basic.
I trimmed my panel, stamped a sentiment from the 
I colored the image with Copics, choosing a very bright green combo for the ground and the leaves. I didn’t want all the flowers to be the same color, so I went for a crocus look. I love all the details you get in a real crocus, but they’ve yet to bloom, I guess it’s still too cold.
I used the largest die in the Wonky Stitched Rectangles STAX die set from My Favorite Things to turn my colored piece into a panel with a fun detail along the border. then adhered it to a panel of Butterccup cardstock from Concord & 9th, which I in turn adhered to a top fold white card base created from Stamper’s Select White cardstock from Papertrey Ink.
I couldn’t find the right shade of purple in my cardstock collection, so for the sentiment, I colored a scrap piece of X-Press It with one of the colors I used on the florals. I let it dry, then stamped and white heat embossed a sentiment from the 
I decided to keep it very simple, only adding a few Iridescent Dew Drops from Pinkfresh Studio to embellish. There are a few different colors in the mix, I chose a few of the purple ones. I did also come in with a black Glaze pen from Sakura to add a touch of dimension and shine to the eyes. It doesn’t really show up in the photos, but you can definitely see it in real life.
I colored the image with Copics, adding a simple free hand background of a couple of hills with a few trees, a path for the bunny to walk on and some blades of grass in front. My original plan wasn’t a scene at all, I had planned to add a big Happy Easter die cut, but changed my mind and added the hills and sky instead. I think this looks better than what I had planned.
I used the largest die in the A2 Stitched Rectangles STAX 1 set from My Favorite Things to create a little bit of interest along the perimeter of my panel. I stamped the word spring from the 
I die cut the word HAPPY from the Birthday Script die set from Kristina Werner three times from Stamper’s Select White cardstock from Papertrey Ink (the same cardstock that I used for my card base, I love this cardstock) and stacked them. I adhered my stacked word above the stamped spring to complete my sentiment.
I decided to die cut tiny butterflies to use for embellishment. I didn’t have any cardstock in the color I wanted, so I colored scraps of X-Press It blending card with the same colors I used for the bunny’s outfit, before using the butterflies die from the Greenhouse Greetings die set from Concord & 9th (it’s a die set from the 2024 C9 summer camp). I scored my tiny butterflies down the body, adhered each of them with a tiny bit of glue and added Rosewater Jewel Drops from Tonic on the bodies of the butterflies to finish.
I colored the image with Copics on a piece of X-Press It blending card and nestled one of the sentiments in the little nook between the bunny and the egg. I die cut the panel using the largest die in the Stitched Rectangles STAX 1 set from My Favorite Things.
I adhered the panel directly onto a card base I created from Caribbean Sea prestige cardstock from My Favorite Things and finished off the card with a few dew drops from Concord & 9th. Simple, yet sweet, right?
Lots of pastels for this one.
Papirmølla 