Sweet hello {Purple Onion Designs}

Hi, crafty friends. Today I’m sharing a card featuring the sweet Junie image from Purple Onion Designs. I love this little bunny with her bouquet of flowers.

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 Sunshiny Sentiment set to create my staggered sentiment. I didn’t have the right color purple ink I wanted, so I stamped once with Grapesicle ink from My Favorite Things and then right on top with Iceberg ink from Altenew to create a new color for my sentiment.

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.

Enjoy the traditions of the season {Purple Onion Designs}

Hi, crafty friends! Guess what? I have another holiday card to share, this time featuring the train and train tracks from the I’ll Be Home for Christmas collection illustrated by Stacey Yacula for Purple Onion Designs.

As soon as I saw this train, I immediately thought of the movie The Polar Express, which happens to be my favorite animated Christmas movie. I colored my train in similar colors to the one in the movie, and I put a mask on top when my coloring was done and airbrushed the sky, moon and glow coming from the headlight.

My best friend and I have a tradition where we sit down and watch this movie every year, and I thought the sentiment from the Home for the Holidays sentiment set was the perfect one to add to this card.

The sentiment is actually one long line, but I did some masking to create a staggered one, which I thought fit my card better. I stamped the sentiment in VersaMark ink and heat embossed it in white using Super fine detail embossing powder from Ranger.

I created the moon by first masking off a circle as I airbrushed the sky, then I used the moon mask that was part of the Tim Holtz/Simon Says Stamp collaboration set for Stamptember 2021 to create my moon.

Once I’d created my moon I covered the circle opening again with VersaMark ink and sprinkled on Iridescent Sparkle embossing powder from Judikins, which I then melted. It gives the moon a nice sparkly glow. I thought that would be a nice detail to add to what is otherwise a very simple card. I adhered the colored scene to a white top fold card base and decided not to embellish, I wanted the image to be the focal point on this card.

Lots of Copics for this one. The ones after the white gap are the ones I used to airbrush the sky, moon and the glow from the headlight.

Have a very crafty Christmas {Purple Onion Designs}

Hi, crafty friends! You know I can’t resist creating Christmas cards, and today’s card happens to be one with a crafty theme. I actually made this in 2021 in time to mail it to a crafty friend, but time ran out to share before the new year, so here we are. I used lots of cute images from the 2021 I’ll be home for the holidays collection from Purple Onion Designs, illustrated by Stacey Yacula.

I stamped and masked Lori & Marc, then stamped The Crafters behind them for a fun scene where they’re all sitting around the table having a crafty good time.

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 craft accessories repeatedly with Berry Sorbet ink for a tone on tone effect. I then ran my stamped panel through my die cutting machine twice; once using the largest of the dies in the A2 Stitched Rectangles STAX Set 1 from My Favorite Things and then again using the Watercolor Wash Free Form die to create the opening for my scene to peek through. I added two more layers behind my pieces for a dimensional look.

The sentiment is a mix of a stamp from the Home For the Holidays sentiment set and individual letter die cuts. I did the stamping with Berry Sorbet ink, and used the In Stitches Lowercase Alphabet set from My Favorite Things for the die cuts. I die cut three of each letter and stacked them for dimension. I added additional pieces of letters where they hang over the edge of the colored cardstock.

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.

We swish you a merry Christmas {Purple Onion Designs}

Hi, crafty friends. I know it seems like Christmas is an eternity from now, but time really flies, it’ll be November before we can blink. These dogs from Purple Onion Designs are kind of flying too, at the very least they’re hurrying home to get their tree up.

For this slightly larger than normal slimline card, I stamped the 3 Dog Holiday stamp on one piece of X-Press It blending card, and the Snow Capped Evergreen Tree and the Duo Snow Capped Trees on another. I took a think Copic friendly marker and drew in a horizon line between my trees and colored everything with my Copics.

I cut down my background so that it would fit on my cardbase, which I created from Sprout cardstock from Concord & 9th. I stamped a sentiment from the Snow Much Fun Sentiment set using Jalapeño Popper ink from My Favorite Things, fussy cut the image with the dogs carrying the tree and adhered them to my background using foam squares that are pretty thin.

It shows better in this photo that the dogs are slightly raised off the background. It adds a fun detail to an otherwise very simple card. This is the point where I’d normally share the Copics I used, but I seem to have misplaced my post-it note where I’d written it down. Things were kind of hectic before the holidays when I made this.

Have an ice day! {Purple Onion Designs}

Hi, crafty friends! Today I’m sharing with you a fun, wintery card with the quirkiest moose and giraffe you ever did see. They’re both skating, and I thought they were brilliant to pair together on this card.

Meet Murray and Muriel, aren’t they fun? I stamped them using Extreme Black ink from My Favorite Things, masked them both and then stamped the Snow Much Fun background stamp behind them, using the same ink.

I’ve probably mentioned this in a previous post, but I love the quality of rubber stamps and their ability to include very thin, detailed linework. The lines in these images are all very thin, and they stamp so beautifully in a way only rubber can. I love it.

I colored my scene with Copics, then stamped a sentiment from the Snow Much Fun sentiment set onto the ice using Jalapeño Popper ink from My Favorite Things, before adhering my panel onto a card base made from Jalapeño Popper cardstock, also from My Favorite Things.

I wanted some sparkle to my ice, and added Stickles. I didn’t like the look of the Stickles, so I scraped most of it off and switched to liquid glue with a sprinkling of Distress Glitter Rock Candy instead. I made sure not to spread it perfectly, but to create streaks to emphasize the streaky look of the ice I created with my markers.

I added a dot of a black glaze pen to their eyes to make them pop, and I love that this card is versatile enough to work as a general card in the winter months or even a birthday card. It’s a bit of an odd size, about 5 7/8 x 4 1/2″, but I made the size of the card fit my scene, not the other way around. I’ll create a custom envelope for this, and it’ll be good to go in the mail.

Lots of Copics used for this one!

Time for Mittens {Purple Onion Designs}

Hi, crafty friends! November and December are usually fairly hectic around here, and this time, they were especially hectic. I changed jobs and felt like I worked around the clock, which left little time for blog posts and to upload my creations to Instagram. As a result, I’m playing catch-up, and I have a few more holiday cards and tags to share over the next few weeks. Let’s face it, I make Christmas cards all year anyway, so I’d probably be sharing holiday cards in January even if November and December hadn’t been as crazy as they were.

Every year I seem to create just enough Christmas cards by making them all year, but I tend to neglect gift tags and scramble last minute to get them done as I wrap presents. This time I was a little more ahead, and this gift tag was one of the early ones I made, featuring Mittens from Purple Onion Designs, as well as the Snow-capped Duo in the background.

I created a very layered tag for my niece and used the Stitched Traditional Tag STAX die set from My Favorite Things to achieve that faux stitch look that I’m such a fan of. I used another stitched die from MFT to create the slope in the background and added both the ground and my fussy cut cat using foam tape.

Through the hole at the top, I looped a bit of tinsel and tied a bow around it using Purple Plum divine twine from Whisker Graphics. I also die cut a letter tag using the Personalized Tags die set from My Favorite Things from some Winter Wisteria cardstock from Papertrey Ink. My niece loves purple, so I thought it fit nicely. I also added a charm with a pair of mittens, I just couldn’t help myself. This tag doesn’t even have to be a holiday tag, it’d be perfect for someone born in the winter months (not my niece, though, her birthday’s in June).

On the back of the tag I used a piece of patterned paper from the Forever Green paper pack from Moda Scrap. I die cut it using that same stitched tag die from MFT that I used on the front and stamped a to/from stamp from the B06 stamp set from Norsk Stempelblad AS using Milk Chocolate ink from MFT. I love their inks, they stamp so well!

You wouldn’t think I’d use this many colors for such a small image, but I did. I even airbrushed the sky in the background using B93, 91 and 90 (a color I’ve made myself), and used BG93 and BG90 with a tip to tip technique on the trees in the background for just a hint of color. I wanted the main focus to be on the cat in the foreground, so I chose very soft colors for the background.

Be merry {Purple Onion Designs}

Christmas is less than a month away, and I admit I haven’t bought all my presents yet. I have, however, been good at creating Christmas cards all year. I think Christmas cards are the most fun cards to make, even in Spring, and as a result, I have plenty done and never have to scramble last minute to create them.

Today I’m sharing a simple one, featuring Shirley and Sharon, this owl and smaller bird with a snowflake garland between them. This image doesn’t need to be used for Christmas either, it would be great for a wintery birthday card.

I stamped the image with Extreme Black ink from My Favorite Things onto X-Press It blending card, colored the image with Copics and fussy cut, leaving a thin, white border. I prefer cutting right up against the stamped lines when I fussy cut, but with the snowflake garland, that just wasn’t an option.

I used an oval die from Spellbinders to cut a window into a white cardstock panel. I then used the Snowflake Oval Frame embossing folder from Simon Says Stamp to create a little bit of texture to my plain white cardstock. This embossing folder has an oval in the center that doesn’t emboss (where you can stamp a sentiment), but I wanted a window for my card and cut out an oval before using the embossing folder.

I created a card base from Spring Rain cardstock from Papertrey Ink and stamped part of a sentiment from the Home For The Holidays sentiment set using Spring Rain ink in the exact spot I wanted. The sentiment actually says Eat, drink and be merry!, but by using just the last part, it fit my card better.

I put lots of foam tape on the back of the white cardstock with the dry embossed snowflakes and adhered that to my card, and then added foam tape behind my colored image and placed it in the center of the card.

Simple color palette for this card.

Live like there’s snow tomorrow {Purple Onion Designs}

Hi, crafty friends. I’m sharing a slimline Christmas card today, featuring Hazel and Snow-capped Christmas Tree from the new It’s Snowing Cats and Dogs collection illustrated by Shari Bresciani for Purple Onion Designs. I love this cat looking up with the fishbone in her hand, and if you pair her with this tree, it kind of looks like she wants to replace the star on top with her fishbone, which is just too funny.

I colored the cat, tree and ground with my Copics, before deciding that I really wanted a dark, intense night sky. I stamped and fussy cut masks for both images, then did some free hand cutting of a snowbank at the back, before I went in with my Copic airbrush system and some dark blue colors to quickly create the sky.

I used the largest of the dies from the Slimline Double Stitched Rectangle STAX set from My Favorite Things to cut down the panel to fit on the front of my card, and stamped a sentiment from the Snow-capped sentiment set from the Snow Much Fun collection (also new, illustrated by Shari Bresciani) using Blue Yonder ink from My Favorite Things.

I sprinkled on chunky white embossing enamel from Stampendous, making sure no granules covered the sentiment or Hazel’s eye before melting the granules from the back of the panel. I adhered my snowy scene to a card base I created from Stamper’s Select White cardstock from Papertrey Ink, and my card was complete. I didn’t want to add anything else to it.

For such a simple scene I sure used quite a few colors. The ones that come after the jump in this graphic are the ones I used to airbrush the sky.

Have the happiest of holidays! {Purple Onion Designs}

Hi, crafty friends. I’m sharing a simple card today, and it’s even close to a one layer card. Some people might say it qualifies, but as long as I put a layer of cardstock on top of the card base, I don’t consider it a one layer card myself.

Meet Melvin. He’s a tiny, adorable snowman from the latest release from Purple Onion Designs illustrated by Stacey Yacula. The collection’s named I’ll Be Home for the Holidays and features lots of cute wintery holiday images in Stacey’s signature style. The Holiday House background I’ve paired him with is also from this same collection.

I stamped my images using Extreme Black ink from My Favorite Things, and colored in the scene using my Copics.

After trimming down the panel, I stamped a sentiment from the Home For The Holidays sentiment set using Blue Yonder ink from My Favorite Things. I then sprinkled on Chunky White embossing enamel from Stampendous, making sure no granules covered the sentiment before I melted the powder from the back of the panel.

I adhered my colored panel onto a square card base I created from Blue Yonder cardstock from My Favorite Things. When I first started making cards, they were all square; 6×6″ is the standard size for handmade cards in Norway, and I admit it’s a fun size to go back to. This isn’t actually fully square, it measures 5 7/8 x 5 1/2″, but it’s the size that best fit my scene, so I went with it.

There’s something cozy and serene about this entire scene, and I really like how it turned out.

Very muted color palette for this one. I see now that I forgot to add the green, but I believe they were BG99, G46, 43, YG61 and G20.

God jul {Purple Onion Designs}

Hi, crafty friends! I’m back today with another card I created with one of the brand new stamps from Purple Onion Designs. Three collections all in one release has given me plenty to play with, and today’s card features Felicia & Snowcat from the It’s Snowing Cats & Dogs collection illustrated by Shari Bresciani.

This image is so quirky and playful, and the look of that cat just puts a smile on my face! This card actually came together pretty quickly and easily. I’d colored all my images for this release over a couple of days, and I spent a couple of hours fussy cutting all the images I wanted to have fussy cut, so when it was time for assembly, this one was a cinch.

Onto a top fold white card base I added a panel of white cardstock that I die cut using the Snowflake Confetti Fancy die from Hero Arts. I love this die, I’ve had it for years, and it’s great for die cutting lots of tiny snowflakes to put on cards, which is what I usually use for. I do, however, keep the bigger die cut pieces in the packaging with the die, and for this card I just pulled one out and adhered it to the card base. Super simple when the die cutting job is done in advance. I like the subtle texture the tone on tone die cut gives. It adds a little bit of interest, but doesn’t steal the show from the focal point of the card.

Seriously, look at that cat. He’s so funny and quirky and awesome!! As I’m writing this blog post, I’m realizing that I’ve kind of colored him to look like Garfield. Totally unintentional, but I’ll just run with it! Now that I think about it, it’s not a him, it’s a her, her name’s Felicia.

I put foam tape on the back of Felicia and the snowcat and adhered them to the bottom center of my card. I love all the white space above their heads, they have room to breathe.

I die cut the words god jul (Merry Christmas in Norwegian) twice from Jalapeño Popper cardstock from My Favorite Things using a die from Papirdesign. I glued the two layers together and adhered them on top of my colored image, and my card was complete.

Very limited amount of colors for this one.

The entire It’s Raining Cats & Dogs collection can be purchased as a bundle at a 30% reduction in price until November 12, 2021 (which happens to be tomorrow). If you’re a cat person and don’t want the dog images, there’s also a cat bundle with 6 different cat images and a Christmas Tree, and if you’re a dog lover, you can get the dog bundle with 8 dogs, a dog house AND the Christmas tree. If you get the bundle of the entire collection, there’s also a sentiment set included. If you purchase either the cat bundle or the dog bundle, you’ll have to purchase the sentiment separately if you want to grab it. All bundles are available at a 30% price reduction over on the Purple Onion Designs store.