Hi, crafty friends. I’m back with another Christmas card in non-traditional colors, this time using a snowball image from the new Polar Christmas release from Lili of the Valley. The set is available for pre-order here.
I colored the little snowball with Copics and fussy cut him, adding a touch of black glaze pen to his eyes to make them shiny, and then a tiny white dot of Gelly Roll 05 once the black was dry. I used the Fa la la inlay die from Concord & 9th and die cut a white panel. I trimmed off a little on each side and glued it to a card base I created from Grapefruit cardstock from Concord & 9th, inlaying the white letters back into place. I cut a few in the grapefruit color, stacked them and emphasized one line in the background using this color, which left just enough room on the right for the snowman to sit on some foam tape.
I stamped and white heat embossed a sentiment from the older Christmas Greetings stamp set from Lili of the Valley onto a piece of Aqua Sky cardstock from Concord & 9th. The cardstock color was a little bit light for the white letters, so I ink blended on top using Aqua Sky ink to make the sentiment more visible. The exposure in the photo makes it lighter than it is in real life, it’s actually very easy to read it in person. I used the Snowflake Confetti Fancy die from Hero Arts to die cut small snowflakes from Aqua Sky cardstock. I stacked two of each for a tiny bit of dimension and used them as embellishments on the card.
Very limited color palette for this one.
I colored my penguin with Copics, fussy cut him and used a black Glaze pen to add shine to his eyes, before putting him aside while I worked on the rest of my card.
I really wanted to use the big MERRY greeting in the Merry Trees stamp set from Kristina Werner. I love her cleanly designed products, they’re right up my alley, and this greeting makes a statement. I stamped with VersaMark onto Juniper cardstock from Concord & 9th, before sprinkling on super fine detail embossing powder from Ranger, which I then heat set. I die cut an additional four layers of the letters from white cardstock and stacked them with the green on top.
I used the Berries & Boughs embossing folder from Concord & 9th to create a little bit of interest to the background. I trimmed my white dry embossed panel slightly and adhered it to a black cardstock panel that I adhered to a top fold white card base. I arranged my merry letters on the front of the card, added my penguin with foam tape and also added a white on black heat embossed sub sentiment from the Christmas Greetings stamp set from Lili of the Valley.
I added a few pearls from the Glossy Porcelain mix from Little Things from Lucy’s Cards to finish. I love how I was able to turn this cute party penguin into a holiday penguin, and I’m kind of liking the untraditional Christmas palette of green and black.
I messed around with a few greens to find the right combo to somewhat match my green cardstock. If it hadn’t been for that, this would have been a very limited color palette.
I colored her up with my Copics and kept the panel intact this time. No die cutting, no nothing. I adhered it directly to a top fold A2 card base and put a torn piece of patterned paper at the top. The paper is from the Watercolor Wishes pad from Lawn Fawn, and I white heat embossed triangles onto it to create a little more interest, using the Scattered Triangles Background stamp from My Favorite Things.
I used a small circle die to create notches near the top of the card. I stamped a sentiment from the Mini messages stamp set from Mama Elephant using Obsidian ink from Altenew onto a piece of patterned paper from the Watercolor Wash Brights paper pad from My Favorite Things, and die cut it with one of the dies in the Blueprints 27 die set from My Favorite Things. I put foam tape on the back and adhered it to my card, before adding some black twine to the card, tying it in a bow at the top of the die cut. The notches help keep the twine in place. I finished off with a few pearls from the Meadow mix from Little Things from Lucy’s Cards.
I love using Rs and YRs to create peach colors.
I colored the images with Copics, then used the Postage Collage die from Waffle Flower to create stamps.
I added Solar Paste in the Golden Hour color onto Lemon Tart cardstock from Papertrey Ink using the Merry Go Round stencil from Memory Box. I wanted a little bit of interest in the background, but nothing too distracting, and this worked really well. I added the panel to a top fold white card base I created from Stamper’s Select White cardstock from Papertrey Ink.
I added scraps of cardstock behind my die cuts to give them a little lift off my card and adhered them pretty much in the center of the card.
I stamped a sentiment from the Anything-but Basic Birthday Wishes stamp set from My Favorite Things onto Spring Rain cardstock from Papertrey Ink using Obsidian ink from Altenew. I cut the sentiment down to a strip and added a few layers of cardstock behind it before adhering it to the card.
I finished off with a few sequins from the White Orchid Sequin mix from Little Things from Lucy’s Cards.
Fairly muted color palette for this one.
I stamped this cute gang onto X-Press It blending card and colored them with Copics, then used the largest die in the A2 Rectangle STAX Set 2 from My Favorite Things to create my standard faux stitch edge. I stamped a sentiment from the 
I covered the critters with a mask, then used the Bokeh Elements Stencil Duo set from Waffle Flower to create some interest to the rest of the panel. I used Pistachio and Misty Sage fresh dye inks from Altenew for the green and started with Peachy Glow, also fresh ink from Altenew, for the smaller yellow dots. I suspect my stencil wasn’t clean from the last project, because the yellow seemed a bit too muddy for the look I was going for, so I went over with Scattered Straw Distress Ink, which helped. I then rotated the stencil 180 degrees and went in with Simon Hurley Solar Paste in the Golden Hour color. This paste goes on so easily and has a lot of shine. Once the paste was dry, I adhered my panel to a top fold card base I created from Sour Apple cardstock from My Favorite Things, and the card was complete.
The solar paste adds so much shine that I decided not to add any embellishments to this card, making it very mail friendly.
I didn’t use a ton of colors for this one.
I colored the image with my Copics, before using the Notebook Edge die from My Favorite Things to create a fun border at the bottom. I used a black glaze pen to add shine and dimension to their eyes, then went in with a Gelly Roll 05 once the black was dry. I fussy cut around the image, and the stems of the sunflowers actually dictated the width of this card, which only measures about 3 1/4 x 4 3/4″. If you include the flowers hanging off the edge, it’s a little wider than 4 1/4″, so I might need to put it in a larger envelope.
I used the Raised Sentiments 3D embossing folder from Altenew on a piece of Harbor cardstock from Concord & 9th to create a little interest in the background, cut it down and adhered it to a top fold white card base. I mounted my colored piece on top using foam tape, I’m a big fan of dimension on cards.
I die cut one of the dies from the Blooming Delight die set from Altenew from True Black cardstock from Papertrey Ink. I cut five, put two together, and stacked the remaining three, so I had two somewhat dimensional die cuts. I die cut the shadow layer from Heavyweight Translucent Vellum from My Favorite Things, adhered the stack with 3 behind it and the stack with the 2 on top. This creates a nice shadow around the shadow die without the use of foam tape.
I white heat embossed a sentiment from the Pristine Peonies stamp set from Altenew, cut it down to a strip, added a few more strips behind it for dimension and adhered it below my die cut to complete the sentiment (the stamp actually says 
Fairly soft color palette for this one.
I created my little scene with the palm tree, a couple of surfboards and a penguin. I can never resist a penguin, and this one has a hula skirt – I was sold! I colored my scene with Copics, and the plan I had initially went out the window. I was going to color the base of the surfboards in a light yellow, almost white, but then I came up with this soft orange combo and totally changed everything else to fit. Instead of a soft blue sky, I ink blended a sunset using Honeysuckle, Clementine and Buttercup inks from Concord and 9th. I then used the largest die in the A2 Stitched Rectangle STAX 1 set from My Favorite Things, along with the Watercolor Wash Free Form die, also from MFT, to create a rectangular panel with a fun window. I die cut a couple more to stack behind the front panel to create a little bit of dimension, before adhering it all to my colored image.
I adhered a quarter sheet of Clementine cardstock from Concord & 9th directly to a top fold card base and glued my scene in the center. This created a bit of an orange border around the image. I then die cut Cloud 1 & 2 from Papertrey Ink out of Heavyweight Translucent vellum from My Favorite Things. I love die cut vellum clouds. This vellum is super thick, so the glue I put behind it doesn’t even show through, but I still placed enamel dots strategically on top. Old habit, I guess. These enamel dots are actually from a Halloween pack from Papirdesign. Onto a piece of True Black cardstock from Papertrey Ink, I stamped and white heat embossed a sentiment from the Bitty Birthday Wishes stamp set from My Favorite Things. I cut it down to a strip, added a couple of extra layers of cardstock behind it and adhered it to my card.
I used quite a few Copics for this one.
I used the panda peeking out from behind a fence or a wall or whatever you’d like it to be, as well as the bamboo. I used the bamboo multiple times to create a “wall” of bamboo behind my panda. I created mirrored versions so they wouldn’t all look the same, and I made sure to make them different heights. I erased the bottom of the bamboo so they’d end at the horizontal lines going out from the paws of the panda. Once I printed my image, I used a 0.35 Copic multiliner to extend the horizontal lines, making it look like a wall. I colored in my image, making sure to use a couple of green combos for the bamboo leaves for a little bit of variety.
I used the largest die in the A2 Stitched Rectangle STAX Set 2 die set from My Favorite Things to create a nice faux stitch border around the edge, before adhering it to a black card base I created from True Black cardstock from Papertrey Ink. With my pink wall, I felt like I had to make a baby card, but I didn’t want to, so I opted for the black. I used the Sweet Sentiments die set from Altenew to die cut my thanks word. I stacked three black die cuts for dimension and die cut the shadow from Stamper’s Select White cardstock, also from Papertrey Ink. I rarely use shadow dies, but I knew I was going to white heat emboss the rest of the sentiment, so I figured it would work. I also tend to pop up my sentiments, but actually adhered this one flat down onto the card. It still has dimension because of the stacking. I stamped and white heat embossed a sentiment from the Bitty Thanks & Gratitude stamp set from My Favorite Things, cut it down to a strip and adhered it on top of my stacked die cut. I put an extra strip behind it for a little bit of strength. I also added a black glaze pen to the eyes and nose, before going in with a white Gelly Roll 05 on top once the black was dry. This adds some shine to my little panda. I decided not to add any embellishments to this card, which is really rare for me.
Not a ton of colors used for this one. I used E81 and the blender with the tip to tip technique to color the “white” fur.
Papirmølla 