Hi, crafty friends. I’m sharing a fun card today featuring three small chicks from Purple Onion Designs. Meet Flo, Mo & Bo. These three are older, they’re from the Sunny Meadow Fair collection from 2019, but I’ve been dying to use them, and this was the perfect opportunity.
These little chicks are so cute. And since they’re so small, they’re very easy to color. I did quick Copic coloring, before using the 1″ square die in the Postage Collage die set from Waffle Flower to cut them out. I then quickly scribbled on some grass so they’d have something to stand on, then masked off the chicks and the outer perimeter of each postage stamp, before ink blending the sky using Aqua Sky ink from Concord & 9th.
Onto a panel of Buttercup cardstock from Concord & 9th, I ink blended with the same ink color using the Watercolor Stripes stencil from Altenew. I cut the panel down slightly, and adhered it to a card base I created from Stamper’s Select White cardstock from Papertrey Ink.
I mounted my postage stamp chicks in the top center of the card, and also an additional fourth square that I ink blended in the same way. I stamped and white heat embossed a sentiment from the Easter bunnies stamp set from Simon Hurley Create and ink blended over the top using more of that Aqua Sky ink from Concord & 9th. I cut the sentiment into two small strips and mounted them on foam tape on the top of the bottom right square, angling them for a playful look, before finishing the card with a few enamel dots from the Cool Summer Night pack from Altenew.
I love the dimension behind these postage stamps, it looks like these chicks are floating.
Super simple color palette for this one.
I didn’t want to use Flappy and his little friends on their own, so I decided to create a mask and stamp
Once my coloring was complete, I stamped a sentiment from the coordinating
I used a mixture of brown and gray for Flappy’s fur, and an obscene amount of colors for the green.
I colored up
I stamped a sentiment from InkyWings using Pink Pearl ink from Altenew. The stamp actually has the word hugs in it too, but I opted for a die cut hugs, using the Sweet Sentiments die set from Altenew. I die cut four from Grapefruit cardstock and stacked them together for a dimensional look.
I finished off with a couple of heart droplets from Little Things from Lucy’s Cards.
Fairly simple color palette for this one.
I almost gave up on this background. One of my markers went sticky. It had recently been refilled, so I knew it wasn’t because of lack of ink (which is usually the culprit when my markers go sticky). I had to investigate, and as soon as I cleaned the marker cap, I knew why. It had a big crack. I keep spare marker caps on hand, so I replaced the cap, changed the brush nib (the chisel nib was fine) and added a few more drops of ink to the marker. It’s an old marker, so I’m hoping I was able to salvage it. I don’t want to have to get a new one, I know the new ones aren’t as good.
I wanted a very light background to make Lavender & Thyme stand out, and while I’m happy with the window display, I think I would have liked it better if the exterior wasn’t this dark. Lesson learned for next time, I guess.
I’m happy with how Lavender & Thyme turned out, though. I wanted a bit of a vintage vibe with the colors and may have gone overboard with Thyme’s jacket. I wasn’t happy with the red I used initially, there just wasn’t enough contrast between the jacket and her mitten. I went back over the jacket with a couple of other colors and I’m much happier with this.
I stamped a sentiment from the
I used ink from Papertrey Ink for the department store, as well. I used Classic Kraft ink, which I knew would work well with the sepia coloring I had planned. I even used a Sepia colored Copic multiliner to darken the letters in the sign. The Copic multiliner pens have very fine tips, and it was the perfect tool for the job.
I only used seven colors for the entire background, but way more colors for the critters in front for this card.
Meet
Once my scene was all colored in, I used a stamp from the
Lots and lots and lots of Copics for this one. The first eight in this graphic are for the sky alone.
I colored the cute mouse and the tree with Copics, before fussing cutting them. I left a white trim around the edge to make it a little easier on myself, that mouse is small and I didn’t want to accidentally cut off his tail. Onto Stamper’s Select White cardstock from Papertrey Ink, I ink blended trees using the Wintry Forest stencil set from Pinkfresh Studio along with Polar Bear, Icy Water and Winter Lake inks from Altenew. I used the largest die in the Stitch. Trad. Tag STAX die set from My Favorite Things to turn it into a tag and sprinkled on chunky white embossing enamel from Stampendous, which I melted from the back for a snowy look.
I mounted Pippin and the Christmas Tree to the tag using foam tape. I stamped a sentiment from the
I used a reinforcer die from the Fold-up Tags die set from MFT to add strength to the hole at the top of the tag, added a couple of Snowdrift Sprinkles from Little Things from Lucy’s Cards, as well as some blue satin ribbon, a piece of Blueberry Divine Twine, a thin string and a snowflake charm to the top of the tag for a finished look.
Simple color palette for this one. I didn’t even go overboard with the snow on the tree.
I stamped the image with Extreme Black ink from My Favorite Things, colored it with Copics, then stamped again, this time using Obsidian ink from Altenew for crips, dark lines. I decided to fussy cut right against the stamped lines, and put this cute dog to the side while I worked on the rest of the tag.
I die cut a tag from white cardstock using the Stitched Trad. Tag STAX die set from My Favorite Things, before using Polar Bear, Icy Water and Winter Lake inks from Altenew to ink blend a soft blue sky. I die cut a couple of trees using the silhouette snow trees from Mama Elephant and adhered them on top of my ink blending. I used a die in the Stitched Hillside Borders die set from Lawn Fawn to create the faux stitch hill, then used the tag die again to die cut the bottom part and adhered it to the tag also.
I added my dog using foam squares. stamped and white heat embossed a sentiment from the Julehilsen stamp set from Norsk Stempelblad AS onto Wild Cherry cardstock from My Favorite Things, before trimming it down and adding it with foam squares to the tag. I die cut a reinforcement piece from white cardstock using a die in the Fold-up Tags die set from My Favorite Things and adhered it to the top, before threading some ribbon through and adding a charm. I used some May Arts Natural Twine to tie a bow to secure everything.
On the back of the tag, I stamped the Til/Fra frame from Norsk Stempelblad AS using Obsidian ink from Altenew. I used Dark Chocolate and Classic Kraft inks from Papertrey Ink to stamp the images that make up the background. The stamps are from North Star Design, Inkido and Ladybug and Friends. I believe none of these companies are still in business, but I love these particular stamps and use them regardless.
Simple color palette for this one. No wonder, as it’s essentially just brown, gray and red.
I always say that you can’t go wrong with a penguin, and with so many images to choose from in this release, I knew I could color another penguin and the rest of the card would fall into place.
I colored the ice first, and added a hint of reflection underneath their feet. I probably could have used a darker marker, but it’s more noticeable in real life than in the photos. Initially, I’d planned on keeping the buildings and sky uncolored, but once I’d colored the snow and the trees, it kind of all looked white, so I decided to add color to the background anyway. I colored the buildings in various shades of cool greys, before masking off the buildings and airbrushing a blue sky behind them.
I colored my critters (here you can see the reflection in the ice a bit better) before finishing up with a sentiment from the
There’s an ice rink stamp in this release, I just really loved the large area I was able to create with this older horizon stamp.
Lots of Copics used for this card. B000 was only for airbrushing the sky.
I stamped my critters using Extreme Black ink from My Favorite Things, added a mask and stamped the trees in the background using Stormy Sky ink from Papertrey Ink. It’s a nice grayish green that goes really well with the colors I used for the coloring of the trees. I created my signature winter sunset behind it all, and did my best to create depth in the background by varying the intensity of the coloring of the trees. Once everything was colored, I stamped the critters again, this time using Obsidian ink from Altenew for a crisp, black outline.
At the bottom, I stamped a sentiment from the
I used lots of Copics for this one. Lots!!
Meet 