Hi, crafty friends. It’s time for another release from Rachelle Anne Miller, and this month’s release has a safari theme.
Aren’t these guys cute? The image is called Wild Side, and the cute little mouse with big ears has won my heart. I colored the image with Copics, created a nice double stitched border around it using the A2 Double Stitched Rectangle STAX die set from My Favorite Things and adhered it to a card base I created from Autumn Rose cardstock from Papertrey Ink.
Using the Hooray Script die from Mama Elephant, I die cut the main sentiment from the same color cardstock. I stacked four layers for a dimensional look and stamped a sub sentiment from the Itty Bitty Birthday stamp set from My Favorite Things onto Bright Buttercup cardstock from Papertrey Ink using Obsidian ink from Altenew. To finish off the card I added a few sequins from the Seaglass mix from Simon Says Stamp, as well as a dot of black glaze pen to their eyes.
A bit of a different color palette for me. Years and years ago, I used the RV90 family a lot, I rarely do anymore. It’s a nice one, though, so I don’t know why I stopped using it. Maybe I should use it more often again.
This 
I colored my image with Copics, stamped a sentiment from Mathia Design using Ocean Tides ink from Papertrey Ink, before die cutting a bunch of white snowflakes from the same cardstock (X-Press It blending card) that I use to color on, so my whites would match. I used the Snowflake Confetti fancy die from Hero Arts, along with the CR1335 die from Marianne Design to die cut all my snowflakes. Both these dies cut lots of snowflakes at once, and the snowflakes are fairly small, making them ideal for a background like this. I adhered lots of snowflakes above the penguin’s head, then used a rectangle die from Waffle Flower to die cut my panel. I mounted it on foam tape onto a card base I created from Ocean Tides cardstock from Papertrey Ink, and my card was complete. Another Christmas card done for 2023.
Fairly minimalist color palette. I also used B90 and BG71, which are colors I’ve created myself.
As you might be able to tell from the front, this isn’t a regular card. It’s a slider card. At first I wasn’t sure how to turn this particular stamp into a card, but then I had a lightbulb moment and realized it was perfect for a slider card.
I colored the images with Copics, did some fussy cutting leaving a think white border and put my pieces aside while I worked on the rest of the card.
When you pull on the string at the top, these mice from the Be Kind stamp are revealed. Nice little surprise there, huh? The slider mechanism itself is made using the Slider Surprise die set from My Favorite Things, but you could easily do this on your own, it’s not difficult. They’re straight cut lines and just a few score lines.
I wanted a little texture to my white cardstock, and used the Stitched Ripple Backdrop die from Lawn Fawn, which creates these faux stitch lines across the panel. In hindsight, I realize I probably should have dry embossed it only and not die cut it, because where the stitched lines intersect with the die cut edge of the part that folds up, it kind of snags a little. It’s not a huge deal, but it’s enough to make me think simply dry embossing would have been enough.
In the opening, I added a piece of Gold Foil Pinstripe washi tape from Altenew for the mice to have a little bit of a grounding element, then adhered the mice using liquid glue. The top die cut panel is mounted on foam tape, and everything adhered to a top fold card base I created from Melon Berry cardstock from Papertrey Ink.
Probably the simplest color palette I’ve ever used on a card.
My last holiday card was blue, so I needed a new color. Green to the rescue, with a little bit of “gold” and a touch of pink. Somehow, I think it works.
I printed the image twice: once onto X-Press It blending card, which is what I use for all my Copic coloring, and once onto Stamper’s Select White cardstock from Papertrey Ink. I wanted to fussy cut my colored image right up against the lines, but Rachelle’s images come with these great squiggly lines that I didn’t want to lose, they add such a unique look. By printing twice, I could mount my colored piece onto the other one and maintain the wonderful linework.
For the background, I ran my printed white cardstock through my die cutting machine using the Magic Snow Cover die from Mama Elephant, which adds a nice faux stitch snow flurry look. I used an embossing mat to make the details stand out even more, then adhered my white panel to a white cardbase and mounted the colored image using 1 mm foam squares – I wanted a little bit of lift, but not too much dimension.
I then used the sentiment from the Let It Snow die set from Mama Elephant to die cut 5 times from Meadow cardstock from Hero Arts. Before die cutting, I colored one of the pieces with my G46 Copic marker to better match my coloring, stacked the five layers together with the colored one on top and added the stacked die cut sentiment to the card.
I finished off the card with a few sequins. These are a mix of Sparkling Clear sequins from Pretty Pink Posh and select sequins from the Sea Glass mix from Simon Says Stamp.
I used my favorite green combo AND my favorite “holiday pink” combo for this card. I hope they inspire you.
I did fairly simple Copic coloring for this, die cut my panel and added it to a white card base I’d covered with a quarter sheet of Winter Wisteria cardstock from Papertrey Ink.
This image with its sentiment deserved to steal the show on its own, so I embellished very sparingly with a few sequins from the White Orchid sequin mix from Little Things from Lucy’s Cards.
Isn’t this image the sweetest, with mama bear and her two cubs? For some reason, I love coloring polar bears, and to make them look “white” (although real polar bears aren’t really white), I always do no line coloring whenever I create cards with polar bears.
Once my coloring was complete, I made a quick mask from Post-it tape to cover up my polar bears before I used my Wintry Forest stencil set from Pinkfresh Studio along with inks from Altenew (the colors are Misty Morning, Cloudy Sky and Nimbus) to create my background.
I die cut my panel using the second largest die in the Additional A2 Layers die set from Waffle Flower Crafts, adhered it to a panel of Enchanted Evening cardstock from Papertrey Ink and then onto the card base.
I stamped a sentiment from the Scripty Xmas stamp set from Mama Elephant using Enchanted Evening ink from Papertrey Ink and added some white dots to the cub’s hat with a white Gelly Roll 05 pen. And that finishes the card. I decided not to add any embellishments to it.
Oh, how I love blue for Christmas cards.
Naturally, lots of blue for the coloring, too.
I used the 
I wanted a pastel look for my card, and this is probably the lightest wash of color I’ve ever done with my Copics. Except for E25 on the guinea pig, I’ve only used markers ending in numbers that are 3 or lower. That’s super light for someone who doesn’t shy away from using markers ending with 9. Once the coloring was complete, I used a black glaze pen to create shine in their eyes, and I went over it with a dot of white Gelly Roll 05 on the bunny.
From a piece of Winter Wisteria cardstock from Papertrey Ink, I die cut a circle opening and also used a faux stitch rectangle die from My Favorite Things to create a little bit of extra interest around the edge of the panel, before mounting it on foam tape.
I used a die from Papirdesign to make my God påske (Happy Easter in Norwegian) sentiment, and made it dimensional by stacking four white die cuts on top of each other, before finishing off the card with a few crystals from Papirdesign that match the Winter Wisteria cardstock nicely.
Here it is, the softest color palette ever.
I colored the image with Copics and fussy cut around it, leaving a white border. This image is pretty easy to fussy cut, so it didn’t take long. I’m trying to get out of my standard “full panel with cluster” mode, and fussy cutting the image gives me endless possibilities.
I needed something in the background behind my image, and decided to create a circle stencil to ink blend into. I used Distress Ink from Ranger in Abandoned Coral, Spiced Marmalade and Squeezed Lemonade, before I removed the stencil and looked through my stash of background stamps I could use to add some more interest. I wound up with a mixture of stamps from Inkido, Tim Holtz and My Favorite Things, and used Distress Ink once again for the stamping. This time Spiced Marmalade and Mustard Seed for a bit more of an intense yellow on top of the ink blending.
I mounted the image using foam tape, and die cut the word happy from the Bold Happy Birthday die set from My Favorite Things. I die cut four of each letter and stacked them for a dimensional look, overlapping them on my card to make them fit.
I stamped and white heat embossed a sentiment from the Anything-but-Basic Birthday Wishes stamp set from My Favorite Things onto a piece of Caribbean Sea cardstock, also from MFT. The sentiment actually says Commencing Happy dance, but since I already had a diecut happy, I only needed the first and last word for my card. I added three additional strips of cardstock behind the words for dimension, and finished off the card with a few enamel dots. The teal ones are from the Cool Summer Nights pack from Altenew, the orange ones from a Halloween pack from Papirdesign. I also added a dot of black Glaze pen to the kittens’ eyes and the boy’s eyes, then a white dot using the Gelly Roll 05 from Sakura once the black had dried on the boy.
I’m using the new 
I adopted Laura Bassen’s new coloring motto for 2023 for this card: “no muss no fuss coloring”. This was very simple, a few grays and a little bit of pink for the cheeks, the inner ears and the belly. I used a craft knife to cut out the interior of the balloon and printed another panel with just the balloon in the same size. I colored that balloon in green (thanks for the color suggestion, Liz) and added foam strips along the outer edge of the balloon, before filling it with tiny iridescent stars from the Icicle sequin mix from Hero Arts. I then added a piece of acetate on top to complete my shaker, and adhered the koala panel to the shaker, making sure to line up the window with my shaker heart balloon as best I could.
I added foam tape on the back of the rest of the panel and adhered it to a top fold card base. The card base is actually Stamper’s Select White cardstock from Papertrey Ink, but I adhered a panel of Clover cardstock from Concord & 9th on top to create the green front. The color matched with my green balloon, but I don’t have unlimited amounts of Concord & 9th cardstock, so I’m trying not to use it all at once. Also, it’s a thinner cardstock, and not sturdy enough on its own to hold the weight of lots of foam tape and a shaker.
Using the largest of the dies in the Stitched Rectangle Scallop Edge Frames die set from My Favorite Things, I die cut a frame from Soft Stone cardstock from Papertrey Ink. This is such a perfect soft grey, I love it. I finished off the card with a few enamel hearts from Altenew, from the Green Fields pack and the Rock Collection.
The iridescent stars inside the shaker heart really catch the light nicely.
Super simple color palette, as I mentioned.
I love these animal number images from Rachelle, and these ducks are sooo cute. Perfect for a birthday card, I think. I colored the image with my Copics, before temporarily adhering the Watercolor Wash Free Form stencil from My Favorite Things and ink blending with Harvest Gold ink from Papertrey Ink. I then stamped a sentiment from the A06 stamp set from Norsk Stempelblad AS using Shadow Creek ink from Altenew.
I used the largest of the Wonky Stitched Rectangle STAX dies from My Favorite Things to create a quirky faux stitch interest around the edge and adhered my panel to a top fold card base I created from Meadow cardstock from Hero Arts.
To finish off the card I added a few raindrops from Little Things from Lucy’s Cards, I thought they fit well with the water theme in the image.
Simple, yet bright color palette for this one 🙂
Papirmølla 