Nutcracking Christmas - RAM

 Hello Crafty Friends! I’m here with a brand new Digi Stamp release from Rachelle Anne Miller, “The Nutcracker Scene Creator”! 

I started with copic coloring the main images. I am sharing the colors I used for each of them. The accessories are using the same combos as well. 

For the background I started with some green cardstock from my stash that matched well with Pine Needles distress oxide. This saves me a bunch of time from having to ink blend a whole panel from scratch. I took that pine needle distress oxide and went around the edges leaving a good portion in the middle untouched. Then I used black soot distress oxide very sparingly around the edges on top. This nicely draws the eye into the middle where our focal point will be. Lastly for the background I added some splatter in Blue Gold Gansai Tambi starry water colors.

As a kid I grew up watching the theater and ballet and my absolute favorite was definitely The Nutcracker. My mom and I still try and go every few years to a performance and it’s always magical. I even have a Mouse King ornament we bought at one of the performances years and years ago. That’s what inspired the color palette for me today. 

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Spring Robin - Pretty Pink Posh

 Hello Crafty Friends! I am here with a mini slimline card featuring some adorable birds from Pretty Pink Posh. I decided to go with Robins as the stamp is named for Spring and the gorgeous robin eggs. I chose a sentiment for this card to work at any time. I did a simple ink blended sky background with distress oxide ink in Broken China. I used copics to color the images. Hope you are inspired to create your own simple cards!

Supplies: 

Spring Robins Stamp Set - PPP

Broken China Distress Oxide - Ranger Ink

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Shake it Shake it! - Pretty Pink Posh

 Hello Crafty Friends! Back again with ANOTHER birthday card! Never to many of those and they always come in handy! This one is a shaker card featuring some new goodies from Pretty Pink Posh. 

First I used the circle from the Lets Party Coordinating Dies to cut the window from the cardstock. I ink blended on the cardstock with distress oxide ink in Peacock Feathers on the top very lightly and then Shaded Lilac from the bottom. Once that was done I took the Yellow Gold from the Gansai Tambi Starry Colors to splatter the background with. 

I put acetate behind my window and a double layer of foam tape to form my shaker. I filled the window with the new Daydream Clay Confetti which I adore! The colors of the card were obviously inspired by that. I then stamped the a piece of cardstock with the main image from the Let's Party Stamp set in a very light grey which I used to close the shaker before attaching the whole thing to a card base.

So to finish this design I wanted to keep it simple so I could make several of them to have on hand! I die cut the present from the Lets Part Stamp Set and did some quick coloring. BG13, BG10, BG000; Y02, Y000. I also used a sentiment from that set and white heat embossed it on black. The present is popped up on foam tape in the center of the window but the sentiment strip is glued directly to the base.

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Koala Cake - Pretty Pink Posh

 Hello Crafty Friends! Second installment of my birthday series. This one features the Koala from the Party Friends Stamp set from Pretty Pink Posh. I used all my favorite color combos in this one. The sentiment is from the Everyday Greetings set. 

The bankground is done with distress oxide inks in Blueprint Sketch & Shaded Lilac. I stamped the stuff over the background in the same Blueprint Sketch ink. The copic colors are: W5, W3, W1; B69, B66, B63; Y11; C1, C0; R11. I added some diamond stickles on the candles as a finishing touch.

A Family Celebration - Avery Elle

  Hello Crafty Friends! Thanks so much for stopping by! I am here with a darling card with fun images from Avery Elle, Oh Tiny Tree which is illustrated by Elena. I just adore her work. 

The background is simple ink blend with one color of distress oxide in; Tumbled Glass. The images are colored with Copic Markers. E47, E44, E43, E40, C1, C0, R89, R29, R27, R24; Y38, Y35, YG63, YG61, B02, B00.

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Wicked Fun - Pretty Pink Posh

 Hello Crafty Friends! Ive got another Halloween card for you. I never used much of these even though I make lots. But I sure did this year! Lots of kiddos need a treat in their mailbox. 

Distress Combo: Milled Lavender, Wilted Violet oxide with a bit of black soot ink on the top edge. I also splattered the background with the same black soot. 

Copic Combos:N8, N6, N4; C3, C1 & C0; V20, V17; E47, E44, E43, E21, E11, E00; R20

Stamp Supplies:
Halloween Pals
Trick or Treat Friends

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A little Batty - Pretty Pink Posh

 Hello my Crafty Friends! Im here today with a spooky Halloween inspired card today featuring some goodies from Pretty Pink Posh!

To start I inked the background in Twisted Citron distress oxide down 3/4 of the card leaving the bottom the white of the cardstock. I then brought in Mowed Lawn around the edges of the Citron. That still wasn't dark enough for me so very lightly I went over that with some black soot. I then took some of the white gold Starry Colors and splattered the background as stars for my spooky night scene. 

The two bat images are from the Boo stamp set which I copic colored N8, N6, N4, N2 & N0. I also used these same greys on the outfit of the little girl from the Trick or Treat Friends stamp set. Her Green shirt and tights are YG23, YG21 & YG00. The little pumpkins are also from this set and are colored with YR04, YR02 & YR00. The moon was a last minute addition insisted on by my Husband. ha! I think it was a great idea. For some fun dimension I used a mini action wobbler! Check out my instagram stories to see it in action.  Lastly I white heat embossed the sentiment (Also from Boo) on some black cardstock to ground my images. 

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Hang in There - Pretty Pink Posh June 2020 Release

Hello there crafty friends! Back with another card from the new Pretty Pink Posh June release. There is a fantastic new die out with this collection called Nature Essentials Dies that can be used to create so many scenes. There are just so many ways each piece can be used. They really maximized the space when designing it too. 

The dies do not cut apart, instead you run it all through at once and it cuts all the individual pieces you need. I die cut mine out of white cardstock and then used ink blending to color each section. Super quick and easy! And they are so versatile. I also cut out the vine from the Stitched Leafy Borders dies for my monkey to swing from. The Monkey is from Monkey Friends stamp set & the Hippo buddy is from Jungle Additions. 

Distress Ink colors:

Spiced Marmalade 

Wild Honey,

Twisted Citron

Mowed Lawn

Lucky Clover

Shabby Shutters

Broken China

Salty Ocean

Copics:

BV04, BY01, BV31

Y13, Y11

E49, E47, E44, E53, E50

R20

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Missing You - Pretty Pink Posh

Hello Crafty Friends! In my bid to get ahead the other day I made a whole bunch of ink blended backgrounds. Because inkblending was going so well that day I decided to do a few more involved ones. 

For this one I used masking and with masking taped off the bottom of the card. I proceeded to ink blend with a light tumbled glass for the sky. To get a lighter application I chose a large brush and started on the tape moving slowly into the card stock and fading the color so it was darkest near the horizon. I then dried that with a heat gun so I could mask off the sky without trying to get the tape to stick to wet ink. For the pond I wanted something kind of murky looking. I started with a base of peacock feathers and then around the outside edge I used some evergreen bough to tone it down.

For copics I went way outside my normal greens and reached for my dark BG colors for this card featuring the frogs from the Pond Friends stamp set. BG78, BG75, BG72 for the big frog and for the little one I used BG75 as my darkest and added BG70 for my lightest. the lily pads and cat tails were done with BG99, BG96 & BG93. Tops of the cat tails were E44, E43 & E40. The little lily flower was RV11, RV10 and RV00.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Love you Magnolia - Pretty Pink Posh

Hello Crafty Friends! I know I don't often to floral cards, they are waaaaaaaay outside my comfort zone but I love all of the Pretty Pink Posh florals so I am trying to use them more. I find her floral design style more approachable.

This card features the Magnolia Flowers. We have a giant Magnolia tree behind my mothers house that has the most gorgeous blooms every year. Since my favorite color is yellow that is the color I chose for these. I used my copics! These are a simple blend of Y13 & Y000 with a hint of Y35 right near the base of the petals for some added contrast.

The background was masked off with some tape and then I did a very light inking with some tumbled glass distress oxide. I used one of my biggest blending brushes as I find the bigger brush surface lets me get a really good light ombre effect. I stamped my sentiment right onto the background. The flowers are glued flat to the card for easier mailing. I finished off the card with some sparkling clear jewels.

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Tropical Birthday - Pretty Pink Posh

Hello Crafty Friends! Im here with a new Pretty Pink Posh card. This style is a little outside my comfort zone but I was inspired by a nursery room print I saw on Pintrest. I love how it turned out! I used the sentiment from Everyday Greetings, the leaves from the Hibiscus Flower stamp set & the lion from Party Friends!





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A little light in the dark - Hello Sweetums

Hello my crafty friends! This card has been through a lot. I actually had a video and everything for it; and on the day I heard Hello Sweetums was closing I was in the middle of working on it. And then I was going to post it anyways and it sold out so I kept putting it off. Well eventually I lost the video footage (it got corrupted) and so I shelved it.

I really super loved Hello Sweetums and their owner was just the kind of crafty friend you could want. So please don't get up in arms at me if you can no longer find these sets for sale but I don't want to just never use them again because that would make me beyond sad.

I was inspired originally to make this card as soon as I saw the stamp set. This past summer at my house was the first time in forever I've seen fireflies out in droves and it just really warmed my heart.

So here is this little card sending you light and warm wishes.





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Get Cracking on Christmas - Jenn Shurkus

My good friend Jenn Shurkus (Shurkus.com) has been doing the Get Cracking series for several years now. This is year 3! Each month on the third Thursday she will be posting new inspiration and hopefully encourage you to get Cracking on Christmas!

If you want to participate (and there is a prize!) head over here to the link up! Or use the hashtag #getcrackingonchristmas on Instagram to participate.

My card today features some Lawn Fawn from Ho Ho Ho Holidays! I made a mini card for this month, perfect to slip into a gift bag. I will be honest and admit I use a lot of gift bags! I just hate wrapping.

I started with my background panel and inked the whole thing with a light coat of Distress Oxide ink in Faded Lilac and then very lightly added some Blueprint Sketch to the top. I die cut a simple stitched hillside border for the snow.

I then stamped and die cut the images from Ho Ho Ho Holidays & stamped the greeting on the background with black ink. I did some copic coloring on all the images and finished off Santa's hat with some glitter which I tried to get a photo of above. Its super sparklie with the Lawn Fawn glitter.

Copics:

Red R29, R27, R24 & R20

Yellow Y35 YR30

Brown E49, E47, E44, E41 & E40; E11, E00, E0000

Grey N0

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Howdy Cowboy! - MFT Stamps

Hello Crafty Friends! Im here with a new MFT Stamps card featuring some old and new Birdie Brown sets that I felt just paired perfectly together. Today's card features BB Let's Stick Together & BB Saddle up & Celebrate. (Also the clouds from BB Rain or Shine.

The Cacti and the little cowboy are all copic colored.
Browns
E49, E47, E44 & E43; E11, E21, E00 & E000
Green
YG17, YG23, YG21, YG00
Yellow
YR24, YR21, YR30
Blue
BG10; B02 & B00

The background is Spiced Marmalade & Dried Marigold Distress Oxide inks with some hills cut out of craft cardstock. The sentiment is white heat embossed to finish the card.

Thanks for stopping by!

Bring it Back - Lawn Fawnatics Challenge 71

Hello Crafty Friends! Today's post is for the new Lawn Fawnatics Challenge! If you love Lawn Fawn you should definitely play along. This months challenge is to Bring it Back; use an older craft product, stamp set, embellishment etc. Today I used an older set, an older technique and an older embellishment!

My card features the older stamp set Blue Skies; one of my favorites that came out in 2013. I did a watercolor wash technique for the background that I hadn't practiced in a while and I love how it turned out. And of course some rainbow hot air balloons because who can resist rainbowing all the things right? For my older embellishment I chose some diamond stickles. I forgot how much I love the sparkle. Thanks to Christy Gets Crafty for the reminder on how great Stickles is still. 

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Kitten Wishes - Pretty Pink Posh

Hello Crafty Friends! I was just so excited and inspired by the newest little additions to our family that I had to make a card to celebrate. This was another favorite set of mine from Pretty Pink Posh called Cuddly Cats.

For the background I die cut out of a white panel of cardstock three different sizes of circles. This was inspired by a card I received from Christy of Christygetscrafty. I adored her layout so I had to make my own. For the circles themselves I used distress oxide in Twisted Citron, Spiced Marmalade and Peacock Feathers.


 


The kitties are colored with copic markers. I picked some of my favorite kitten fur patterns. I couldnt narrow down my choices so I picked four. I just think they are the cutest things.


Brown: E44, E43 & E41
Orange: YR24, YR21 & YR30
Greys N10, N8, C5, C3 &C1
Pink: R20




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Fly Away with Me - Lawn Fawn

Hello Crafty Friends! I am taking part of the "For the Birds" Lawn Fawnatics challenge this week. I have two cards to share featuring some older much loved sets. I didnt realize until this challenge just how many Lawn Fawn sets includes birds; a lot!


No I didn't get an advanced set of papers, I still had my original paper pad! Its very loved and running super low so I was sooooooo excited to see it being re released coming in the Spring collection. I used the stitched circle stackables for the center panel using some merman carstock. I heat embossed a sentiment from the Hello Sunshine stamp set with Lawn Fawn white embossing powder. The clouds and little birds are also from the same set. I used Y35, Y13 & Y11 copics on the birds. I added some sparkle using the glitter pen to the solid cloud. I simply adore how this turned out.






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Be my Galentine? - Avery Elle

Hello Crafty friends! As much as I love Valentines or Love themed cards I was absolutely head over heels for the additional sentiments included in this Cupids set from Avery Elle that was designed by Elena. Perfect for any friend or for a gal pal on Galentine's day!

I found some light pink cardstock in my stash that was just a few shades lighter than my worn lipstick distress ink. This time it is ink, and not oxide. I used a regular foam blending tool and brought the Worn Lipstick in around the edges to create a spotlight effect. I then splattered the whole panel with white paint. I kept it heavy around the edges. 

Cupid, the birds and the little cloud I colored with Copics.  I wanted a little redheaded cupid (because I'm a redhead!) So I used some YR24, YR21 & YR30 for the hair. The skin is E11, E00 & E00 with a few dots of YR24 for freckles above his nose. I added a little R11 for the cheeks and white pen details. The wings are outlined with a touch of N2 and the birds, cloud, cupids undies and arrow are all done with R20, R11 & R00 and a light glaze of RV00 over top to try and match the background a bit more since Rs are more on the peachy side. I white heat embossed the sentiment on some black cardstock. Lastly I added a little silver confetti heart to the cloud.

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Valentine's Day Theme Week - Pretty Pink Posh

Hello Crafty Friends! I have a blog post up on the Pretty Pink Posh blog today to celebrate Valentine's day. All the details for this card can be found there. You can save 15% off this week on all products in the Valentine's Day category here.

Thanks for stopping by!!

Coffee with a friend - My Favorite Things

Hello my crafty friends! I’m here with a card featuring some more MFT dragons. I have always loved dragons since I was very small and my dad read me the Hobbit. I even had a dragon tattoo down the middle of my spine! It was my first tattoo at 18 and has evolved over the years. It’s still my favorite. So this card exemplifies my love of dragons and coffee.





I shaded the edges of my dark teal cardstock using black soot distress ink. I like how this technique spotlights the images. The dragons are both copic colored. I combined a few sets in this card just like my last MFT fantasy card. I love how well all the BB sets can work together. This was BB Friends At First Sip, BB Magical Friends & BB Magical Dragons.

Thanks for stopping by!