Hug {Kort & Godt}

Hi, crafty friends. I’m back today with a card I created for the Kort & Godt design team. This time I actually broke out my watercolors.

I love hydrangeas, and this image was is one I just HAD to color. Even though I’m more confident with my Copics because I use them so much, I love the soft look and those edges lines you get with watercolor. I stamped the image on a piece of Fabriano Artistico Extra White watercolor paper using Obsidian ink from Altenew. This is a pigment ink, which makes it perfect for embossing. I sprinkled on clear embossing powder from Ranger and melted the powder.

I grabbed a couple of paint brushes and my Mijello Mission Gold watercolor set and mixed pinks and purples for my flowers, and a bunch of different greens for the stems and leaves. I’m no expert watercolorist (if you want to watch an expert watercolor, head over to Debby Hughes’ blog, she’s amazing, her work is sooo impressive), but I’m learning and having fun each time I pull out my watercolors anyway.

This stamp set actually comes with a couple of additional leaves and petals and dies to cut them out, but there’s no die for this large image. Fussy cutting it was easy enough, though. I stamped and white heat embossed a sentiment from the stamp set onto a piece of True Black cardstock from Papertrey Ink. I dry embossed a piece of patterned paper from the Watercolor Wishes 6×6 inch paper pack from Lawn Fawn using the Geometric Landscape stencil from Altenew. I wanted a little bit of texture to create interest in the background without distracting from the main image, and this did the trick.

I added a few more layers of cardstock behind my black strip for dimension, popped the flower up on foam tape and finished off the card with a few faceted pearls. Or are they gems? No matter what they are, they’re gorgeous, and I have a feeling I’ll use up the entire pack of these in no time, I love them so much.

Kort & Godt products used:

Sett #12

ST178

Sea, it’s time to celebrate! {Purple Onion Designs}

Hi, crafty friends. Can you believe it’s July already? Can it be July all year? Summer’s by far my favorite season, I don’t like the cold, and today’s card really is a summery one.

Meet Skeeter, Splash and Beaks. These summer loving friends are part of the Charmed by the Sea release from Purple Onion Designs, which was released mid-June. The Sunrise Sunset stamp in the background is also part of the release, and the sentiment is from the coordinating Seaside sentiment set.

I colored in the scene with Copics, stamped the sentiment using VersaMark ink and sprinkled on Super fine detail embossing powder from Ranger, before melting in it from the back for a smooth look. Did you know that you get smoother embossed results if you use the heat gun from the back of the paper instead of the front? It makes quite a bit of difference, actually. I urge you to try it if you haven’t already.

It looks like I wrote down the Copics I used for this card in a bit of a haste, because I see I’ve left out the blues, both for the water and the jetski. I made this card at the end of May, so I don’t really remember which ones I did use, but I believe it’s the B10 family (B18, 16, 14 and 12) for the water, and the B30 family (B39, 37 and 34) for the jetski.

Be merry! {Lili of the Valley}

Hi, crafty friends. I’m back to share another card, and this time I chose the Christmouse decorations image from Lili of the Valley. They have several stamps like this, with critters in a line doing something or holding something, and it’s never too early to get started on those Christmas cards.

I printed my image so it would fit a mini slimline card nicely, and didn’t feel like choosing colors, so I asked my color buddy Liz for suggestions. She really wanted to challenge me and said “red (not E), green (not BG) and gold”. She knows I don’t like red and green together, she knows I use the Es to create red on my Christmas cards and she knows I use BG colors or greys in combination with those Es. It’s kind of scary how well she knows what I like and use. I admit I was a little reluctant to try this at first, but I always run with her suggestions anyway, and I think it turned out okay (except for the huuuuge white dots on the green scarf).

Once I finished my coloring, I stamped and white heat embossed a sentiment from the Christmas greetings stamp set from Lili of the Valley, white heat embossed a few details in the image, then die cut it using partial die cutting and the largest die in the Slimline Double Stitched Rectangle STAX die set from My Favorite Things. I added a couple of layers of white cardstock behind the colored panel and mounted it all to a card base I created from Amarena Cherry cardstock from My Favorite Things. The finished card measures 6 3/8 x 3 1/2″.

No Es. And even though I used BG99 in my green combo, it still reads green and not BG. BG99 is great to use for dark green.

Gledelig jul {Kort & Godt}

Hi, crafty friends! Summer solstice in the Northern hemisphere was yesterday, which means that the days will get shorter and shorter, and before we know it, Christmas will arrive. It’s no secret I love creating Christmas cards (no matter how much I despise cold weather), and it’s also not a secret that I love blue, so today, I’m sharing with you a blue monochromatic Christmas card.

I started with a quarter sheet of Stamper’s Select White cardstock, the Wintry Forest stencil set from Pinkfresh Studio and the Northern Shore color family from Altenew. The stencil set has 6 different stencils that you layer to create a gorgeous wintry forest. I started with stencil number 1 (the Pinkfresh Studio stencils are numbered, which makes it really easy) and Polar Bear ink, which is the lightest of the four colors in the Northern Shore color family. I then moved on to stencil number 2, but didn’t change the color. Since I had to stretch my four colors and use them on five stencils (the last stencil adds snow on the trees), I kept the lightest one for this second layer and ink blended with a heavier hand, which makes the color appear darker. I used stencil number 3 with Icy Water ink, which is the next shade, then stencil number 4 with Winter Lake ink, and finally stencil number 5 with Arctic Mountain ink, which is the darkest color in this set of four gorgeous blues.

On top of the ink blending, I stamped a snow flurry background stamp from Kort & Godt (M-428) using Fresh Snow hybrid ink from Papertrey Ink, which added lots of white snowy dots to my background. I then used a die in the DIE240 set from Kort & Godt to die cut the banner directly from my background. I put it to the side, placed the last stencil on my background and spread a layer of Light & Fluffy modeling paste from The Crafter’s Workshop through the stencil, before sprinkling on Rock Candy Distress Glitter and let that dry. Onto my banner, I stamped a sentiment from the M-467 stamp set from Kort & Godt using Arctic Mountain ink. I ink blended a little bit of Winter Lake ink to the edges to make it stand out a little bit more, added a stack of white die cuts behind it for dimension and adhered a couple of faceted iridescent pearls (ST178) to finish off the card.

Candles {Lili of the Valley}

Hi, crafty friends. I have a simple, almost one layer card to share with you today, featuring Candles from Lili of the Valley. This image is so cute with the bear peeking out from behind the line of candles.

I printed the image fairly large and chose a summery color palette of hot pink, apple green and bright yellow. I colored the image with Copics and used the largest die in the Additional A2 Layers die set from Waffle Flower to turn it into a nice rectangular panel. I put the panel in my MISTI, and used the A06 stamp set from Norsk Stempelblad AS to stamp sentiments on the plain candles. I used Jalapeño Popper ink from My Favorite Things for the green candles, Raspberry Fizz ink from Papertrey Ink for the pink candles and Spiced Marmalade distress ink from Ranger for the yellow candle, with a little bit of help from VersaMark to prevent the distress ink from beading up on the photopolymer.

Once all my stamping was done, I adhered the panel onto a black card base I created from True Black cardstock from Papertrey Ink. I also die cut a panel to go on the inside from Stamper’s Select White cardstock from Papertrey Ink for a place to write my personal greeting. I used my black Glaze pen from Sakura to create a little bit of shine to the eyes and the nose of the bear, and added sequins from the Seashore and Iced Sherbet mixes from Little Things from Lucy’s Cards for a finishing touch.

Simple color palette for this one 🙂

Aloha {Purple Onion Designs}

Hi, crafty friends. Summer has FINALLY arrived. It’s warm, it’s sunny and I’m loving every minute of it. Another arrival today is the new release from Purple Onion Designs. Charmed by the sea is a massive collection of stamps in Stacey Yacula’s signature style, and I’ve had the best time creating cards with this release.

I did a ton of masking for this card. I love creating stories in my head with these images, then stamping them and making them come to life. Kai (fox surfer) and Mimi (hedgehog with cocktail) are meeting in front of the tiki hut.  I used the surf board and beach sign from the beach accessories set, stamped the tiki torch in a few places and masked everything before stamping the Sunrise Sunset stamp using fadeout ink from Inkon3 for a no line look in the background. I love that sunrise sunset stamp, and have used it for many of my cards, but they all look very different.

I colored in my scene using Copics, then stamped the Aloha greeting from the sentiment set using Peacock Feathers Distress Oxide ink.

I used a lot of colors for this card.

In the Purple Onion Designs store, there’s a special bundle price for a limited time.  The entire 34 stamp collection and coordinating sentiment set can be purchased as a bundle with over a 30% discount until Thursday, June 29th.  That’s a huge discount on a huge release, and definitely worth checking out.

There’s also free shipping over $75 on US orders (no code needed) & $10.00 off international shipping on orders over $85.00, use code SAVE10 at checkout.

Enjoy your day {Kort & Godt}

Hi, crafty friends! I’m back today with a clean and simple birthday card featuring some Kort & Godt goodies.

I used a banner die with faux stitching to create a shaped card. This banner die is about 4″ wide, making it the perfect size for a decent size card. I used partial die cutting to create the card base, but die cut a separate piece that I used for my ink blending, which I then adhered to the card base once finished.

I used the Big Balloon stencil set from My Favorite Things to create my balloons, and used Distress Inks for my ink blending. Faded Jeans, Mermaid Lagoon and Salty Ocean for the blue balloon, Picked Raspberry for the pink balloon and Mustard Seed and Squeezed Lemonade for the yellow balloon. Where they overlap, they create new colors, which is half the fun of ink blending, right? With the balloon stencil still in place, I added the Falling Stars stencil from Simon Says Stamp on top and ink blended white stars onto the balloons using Fresh Snow hybrid ink from Papertrey Ink.

I stamped a sentiment onto the front using Obsidian ink from Altenew and added a stacked die cut HURRA above it. I layered six black die cuts, before adding this glitter one on top and finished off the card with a few black pearls.

Treat yourself {Mo’s Digital Pencil}

Hi, crafty friends! I haven’t shared one of my “signature cluster” cards in a while, so I thought it was about time. I thought the Cupcake Thief image from Mo’s Digital Pencil would be perfect for the occasion, and by opting for a black dress, I could pair the image with a recently acquired black and white patterned paper pad that I’ve wanted to use for a while.

This is Cupcake Thief. I’ve used the image once before. This time, I flipped it so she’s facing right, it’s one of the many advantages of using digital stamps. I colored her with Copics and cut my panel down to a width of 3 1/2″. I put it aside, covered a white card base with the black and white plaid patterned paper from My Favorite Things, then mounted the colored panel on foam tape, leaving a little bit of the patterned paper showing on one side, and more showing on the other.

On my desk, I keep storage pockets of die cut patterned paper scraps that I use on my cards. I keep them organized by color family, and pulled out the pink, orange and yellow ones for this, as well as a grey/white/neutral one. The great thing about this system is that everything’s already die cut (using the Happy Days Ticket Stubs die from XCut [which cuts 9 different tickets with one die] and the Fishtail Flag Frames die set from My Favorite Things), so I just play with sizes, colors and composition of the different pieces until I’m happy with the result. For this particular card I used a combo of patterned papers from Sunny Studio, P13 and Bo Bunny. Onto one of the die cut banners I stamped a sentiment from the Little Birthday Notes stamp set from My Favorite Things using Obsidian ink from Altenew. I finished off the card with a few sequins from the Sweet Shop mix from Little Things from Lucy’s Cards and some Stardust Stickles to the dress.

Quite a few Copics for this one. I also used B90, which is a color I’ve made myself, for a subtle hint of a sky.

It’s your birthday! {Purple Onion Designs}

Hi, crafty friends. I’m sharing a fun birthday card today, featuring a few images from Purple Onion Designs. Dotty is as adorable as all of Stacey Yacula’s other critters, I just love her illustration style so much. This particular mouse has her arms out, making her the perfect choice if you want her holding something. I chose the balloons from the Balloon Trio & Streamer set, making sure the knot holding all the balloons together is in her hands. I stamped both the balloons and the cute little mouse using Extreme Black ink from My Favorite Things, and stamped The Perfect Spot behind them using Fadeout ink from Inkon3.

I colored the scene with Copics, then used The Perfect Spot again to stamp on white cardstock (Stamper’s Select White from Papertrey Ink, my favorite white cardstock), this time using Memento Espresso Truffle ink. I wanted this to be more visible than the background without being stark black, and this color is perfect. I then die cut the white panel using two dies: a rectangle die from Waffle Flower to make it smaller and the Watercolor Wash Free Form die from My Favorite Things to create a window.

I added foam tape on the back of my white panel for dimension and lined up the stamped lines on the two panels as best as I could, before adding my double panel to a card base I created from Soft Stone cardstock from Papertrey Ink. I then stamped a sentiment from the Everyday Blurbs stamp set using Picked Raspberry Distress Oxide ink, fussy cut around it leaving a thin white border and mounted it on foam tape. To finish off the card I used a Gelly Roll 05 to create white dots on the pink balloon.

Fairly simple color palette for this one. I also used B90, which is a color I’ve made myself.

The biggest cake {Lili of the Valley}

Hi, crafty friends. I thought I’d share a simple birthday card today, featuring The Biggest Cake from Lili of the Valley.

Lili of the Valley critters are among the cutest in the stamping world, and I just couldn’t resist these bunnies carrying a big cake. I colored the image with Copics, before die cutting it using the largest die in the A2 Stitched Rectangle STAX die set from My Favorite Things. I adhered the panel to a card base I created from Autumn Rose cardstock from Papertrey Ink.

I used my Quickie Glue pen on the flames and sprinkled on Rock Candy distress glitter for added sparkle. Using foam tape, I popped up a sticker sentiment from Kort & Godt before finishing off the card with sequins from the White Orchid Sequin mix from Little Things from Lucy’s Cards.

Very soft color palette for this one.