Winter Bunny

 The last few days have been a total blur. Between holidays and work, I've had absolutely no free time to do anything other than eat and sleep. And things are about to get even more busy! *insert panic mode*

I've also been slacking a bit on sharing some of my cards mainly because I just don't have the time for my usual write up of the process, supply links and so on. So, I'm doing a much quicker version this time around - and hopefully you'll forgive me for not talking you through step-by-step.

This card features the adorable bunny from Lawn Fawn, as well as some great paper, background scene builders and sentiment. I had fun coloring the bunny with my Copics and adding stitched snowflakes as a decoration.

Supplies:
Lawn Fawn Winter Bunny stamp and die
Lawn Fawn Beanie 12x12 patterned paper
Lawn Fawn Snow Day stamp
Lawn Fawn Joy to the Woods stamp
Lawn Fawn Stitched Snowflakes dies
Mama Elephant Type It dies
Avery Elle Heavyweight cardstock in Truffle
Stampin' Up Inkpads in Pear Pizzaz, Soft Sky, Pool Party, Crumb Cake
Stampin' Up cardstock in Pool Party
MFT Hybrid Inkpad in Chocolate Brown
Copics
adhesive
button

Birdie Brown - Cool Day

Today's card features some Copics and a wonderful new stamp set by Birdie Brown called Cool Day. As some of you know, I love seeing Torico's work, and I've bought pretty much every stamp set that MFT has released in the Birdie Brown line. Cool Day is no exception! It's a very fun set with adorable illustrations, and I just had to make a card with it.

I started by stamping the ice-bank and the bear. I tried something a little different and stamped the ice-bank in navy blue, and the bear in chocolate brown. I then colored them in with Copics. I was inspired a lot by this card that Torico shared on the MFT blog during the launch countdown. I loved the idea of a striped sweater and how cozy it looked. Once both were colored in, I got to work on the background.

The sea was colored as my standard water - with some white gel pen to add in extra details. For the top, I just drew in a bunch of circles in varying sizes. I used a light and a medium color and alternated between them. I think it made for a really interesting background.

After the coloring was done, I matted the image with a piece of chocolate brown cardstock. I grabbed one of the teal papers from American Crafts' Holiday 6x6 and die-cut a scalloped border with MFT's Blueprints 14 die and glued it to the left side of the bear panel. While I had my Bigshot out, I also cut a piece of chocolate brown cardstock into a scalloped rectangle and a piece of red patterned paper into a stitched rectangle using Mama Elephant's Femme Frames die.

I adhered all the elements together onto a standard A2 card base made out of speckled cardstock. I used a combination of adhesive and foam tape.

As a last touch, I added 3 sparkly sequins.

Since this fun holiday card fits in with Simon's Work It Wednesday challenge, I'm entering it. :)

Supplies:
MFT Birdie Brown - Cool Day stamp set
MFT Hybrid Ink in Nightshift Blue and Chocolate Brown
Copic Mini Marker pad 70#lbs
Copics (W2, W4, R20, R08, R46, R59, B00, B32, B34, B18, C1, C4, BG11, BG32, BG72, BG49, G24, G67)
American Crafts Holiday 6x6 patterned paper
Stampin' Up Cardstock in Chocolate Chip
Avery Elle Heavyweight cardstock in Speckled
MFT Blueprints 14
Mama Elephant Femme Frames
Pretty Pink Posh Sparkling Clear sequins in 4mm and 6mm
Ranger Studio Multi-Matte glue
Tombow Craft Dot Adhesive Runner (pink)
3M double-sided foam tape

Holiday Anya 3 - Merry

Since I've already made two cards with Holiday Anya (one and four), I decided I ought to complete the set and create a card with Holiday Anya #3. Since I'm using one of Simon's wonderful dies on the card, I'm also entering this in the Simon Says Stamp Flickr challenge #6. Challenge 6 is all about dies, and this card uses plenty of them. :)

I started by stamping Anya in brown hybrid ink and coloring her in with my Copics. There wasn't anything very special about my coloring this time around, though I did go through a few shades until I got her hair colored in a way I liked. I added some sparkly details with a white gel pen on the skirt, and added some Wink of Stella to the star in her hair.

For this card, I wanted to go with some more unusual Christmas colors - such as teal and pink. So, I grabbed the Candy Cane Lane from Bo Bunny. This is a fabulous pack with lots of soft colors, subtle texture and bright images. I grabbed 3 different papers from the pack, then die-cut them with my Bigshot and a variety of dies. While I had my bigshot out, I also cut out a "Merry" sentiment from Simon Says Stamp's Merry Christmas dies.

I layered all the panels together, using my standard adhesive. Then I added Anya on foam squares, then glued on the delicate "Merry" sentiment with Tombow glue.

The card was still missing something, so I added 3 flowers from Prima's Insight: Epiphany pack.

Supplies:
The Greeting Farm Holiday Anya #3 stamp
My Favorite Things Hybrid Ink in Chocolate Brown
Zig Wink of Stella in clear
Copics (E00, E11, E13, E15, R20, Y35, Y38, YR27, E35, E37, E29, R08, R46, R59, B00, B02, B05, B32, C2, C4)
Bo Bunny Candy Cane Lane 6x6 patterned paper
Mama Elephant Femme Frames dies
Mama Elephant Type It dies
My Favorite Things Blueprints 13 die
Simon Says Stamp Merry Christmas craft die
Tombow Mono-multi liquid glue
Tombow Craft Dot Adhesive (pink)
Prima Flowers Insight: Epiphany flower pack
Scrapbook Adhesive 3D foam squares

Crafty Thoughts and Goals: Update #2

It's been almost a month since my last crafty goal update, so I figured I should do another one. I've had some challenges, and took the time to revisit and revise some of my goals.

What's working:

- Notepad for sketches, ideas, color combos and card layouts.
 This is working fabulously, and I wish I'd thought of it sooner. Aside from having one central place for my random ideas, it's also been a great place to write down measurements for boxes (and I'm planning on making several boxes to go with the card sets).

- Making Christmas card sets to give away in a few weeks.
I've always only made one-of-a-kind sort of cards, and often taking quite a long time with fancy things like Copic coloring, watercolor and other elaborate techniques. But one-of-a-kind cards were not an option as a gift this year. So, I've found myself making sets where multiple cards have the same layout/stamp/sentiment, etc. And it's been really great! I've started to appreciate some of the simpler things like die-cutting and stamping - things I might have otherwise taken for granted.

- Prismacolor pencils.
I really wish I'd gotten them sooner! They're wonderful to work with and I'm really enjoying coloring with them. I was using your average colored pencil before, and it didn't give the best of results. It was a bit like the difference between using 99c Crayola markers and using Copics. Having a higher-quality pencil set made a huge difference.

What's not working:

- Basket with project for next time I make a card.
 Now, this idea sounded just perfect in theory. It sounded like it would streamline my process and make it so cards come together faster. Except, in practice, it sort of fell flat. I either completely ignored the basket and made what I felt inspired to make. Or I sat to make the project from the basket and hit creative blocks. Plus, there's that slightly obsessive-compulsive part of me that was irritated with all the supplies not being in their place... So, I think I'm going to have to tweak the project basket idea until I find something that works.

- Spending Freeze.
 As in, I've broken it not once, but several times now. The first time was when I saw that MFT was having a major sale and that they were retiring some of the stamps on my lengthy "to-get" list. So, of course, I went totally crazy and bought so many things that I have nowhere to store them anymore. And then I had to make another order because I couldn't resist the new Birdie Brown stamps. Which, in turn, led to another order of some must-have stamps from other companies and I ended up blowing through another ridiculously high figure. The month's not even over yet! *sigh*

New/Updated Goals:

- Sharing more cards created with older stamps.
 One of the things I always find a little frustrating - and hopefully I'm not the only one - is when I see a great stamp only to find out that it's unavailable (whether it's because it's retired or because the company went out of business). So, for quite some time now, I've mainly shared cards that had stamps I could link to. However, this meant that I also had to pretty much always share only the newest stamps and my older stamps sat there collecting dust. And the thing is... a lot of those "older" or retired stamps were actually new to me. I never even got a chance to make something with them before finding out they were retired.

 The other thing that I realized is that there's this fear that if I don't use the latest stuff, I will never get noticed. Which, after thinking about it, is kind of silly. I had to remind myself (several times) that I'm not making cards to get noticed. It's always thrilling when it does happen, mind you, and I am extremely grateful to every person and/or company that's taken the time to let me know what they think of my creations. But card-making is my personal journey into creativity and art. It's helping me feel connected with those parts of myself that like to color, and tinker, and make things. It's not a job, not an obligation or a chore. It's plain fun, and I should take a moment every now and then to appreciate that.

So, I'm going to push myself to make what I feel like making and worry less about whether I can link to it or not. I've learned from the Concept Trio challenge that you can create an amazing card whether you use the best and newest or a much, much older set.

- Exercise/Workout + Crafting = Awesome!
One of my other goals is to get into shape. My current job is a work-from-home kind of job, and usually involves a lot of sitting at the computer - and it's especially bad when I have large-scale projects that require a lot of time and attention. Combine that with my general home-body tendencies and you've got a lady that's completely out of shape.

I've been trying to do the whole regular exercise thing for a while now, but it always ends up going off-track. Kind of like that spending freeze...

But my husband had this brilliant idea of combining exercise with buying crafting supplies. Basically, for every minute of exercising, I would "earn" some money to spend on crafty supplies. It's completely guilt-free and giving me a chance to tackle two of my goals at once. Since I'm so out of shape, I'm sure my initial budget will be really tiny -- that means being careful about spending and saving up for things like new releases and sales. But if I keep it up, the budget will get much bigger.

It'll probably sound silly to most, but I'm pretty excited about it. It won't hurt to try, in any case.

- Create a patterned paper challenge for myself.
I have veritable TOWERS of patterned paper. And since I'm always drawn to paper, I keep finding new must-have sets that I can't resist buying. But the towers of paper are starting to look mighty dangerous, so I need to start using up paper - and fast!

I want to create a challenge that would use up paper pads, but at the same time not turn into a "make this one card with 50 different papers" kind of deal. That sounds like it would be a chore rather than fun, so I'm going to put on my thinking cap and try to think of a good challenge.


And that's it for my as-always-super-lengthy update. Next time, there will be less talking and more card sharing. In the meantime, I leave you with this super quick card sketch I made while trying to figure out if I should make sketches on paper or on the computer:

Paper won out in the end. So, this might be the only digital sketch I share. But feel free to use the layout or the color combination (or both!)

Merry Snowflakes

As I've mentioned previously, I'm making a few sets of cards to give away as a gift to family, and I'm splitting it into 3 funny cards, 3 cute cards and 3 classic cards. Today's card is in the classic category, and it's a simple card that uses silver embossing to make an impact.

I wanted to make a card with a cool palette, but also off-set it with something a little warmer. So, I started by creating my card base from Simon Says Stamp's Khaki cardstock.  I cut the sheet of cardstock in half, and scored it to create a top-folding A2 card (4 1/4 by 5 1/2"). I set that aside and got to work on the rest of the card.

I cut a panel of light blue cardstock to measure 3 3/4 by 5", and a piece of navy cardstock to measure 3 1/2 by 4 3/4". I wanted to have the navy panel on dimensionals, so I cut an inch off in the middle of the panel to leave room for my sentiment.

After prepping the navy cardstock with an embossing magic bag, I stamped several different snowflakes from Simon Says Stamp's Lots of Snowflakes stamp set in Versamark ink. I then coated the paper generously with Simon Says Stamp's Silver fine detail embossing powder and heated it with my heat-gun until it melted.

I adhered the navy panels to the light blue panel temporarily as a placement guide, then stamped the sentiment from Presents and Ornaments in Cobalt archival ink. I adhered the light blue panel to the card base with my standard adhesive, then added the two navy panels on foam tape.

Lastly, I added a few clear sparkling sequins.

Supplies:
Simon Says Stamp Lots of Snowflakes stamp set
Simon Says Stamp Presents and Ornaments stamp set
Simon Says Stamp heavyweight cardstock in Khaki
Versamark embossing inkpad
Simon Says Stamp fine detail embossing powder in Silver
Staimpin' Up cardstock in Pool Party and Night of Navy
Ranger Archival Ink in Cobalt
Tombow Mono Dot Adhesive Runner
3M Double-Sided Foam Tape
Pretty Pink Posh Clear Sparkling sequins in 4mm and 6mm

Super Secret Stamp Club: Lavender

In my crafty closet, I have a box. I call it my lost treasures box, and it has a little bit of everything in it - from die-cuts to embellishments, paper scraps and more. Many things find their way into my lost treasures box, so it's a beautifully, magically, very messy treasure box. This box is where I put things I've found on my floor, things I decided not to use on a card and things I couldn't resist sneaking into my cart in the crafty aisles of department stores.

Why do I mention this box? Because this is where I found all the embellishments for my card. And because they were in my messy box, I can't link to the products. Hopefully that's alright... Now onto the card!

Today's card uses the 2nd stamp in TGF's Super Secret Stamp Club -- the very lovely Lavender. Like Sage, she is an adorable girl with a cute skull bow. After stamping Lavender onto some white cardstock, I used my brand new Prismacolor pencils to color her in. I then carefully fussy-cut her out, leaving a small white border.

Since Lavender has a bit of Gothic feel to her, I decided to make the card base from black cardstock. I created a standard A2 card base (4 1/4 by 5 1/2"). I then pulled out my Bigshot and diecut a piece of Gorjuss patterned paper with MFT's Blueprints 13. I cut out a smaller purple panel with MFT's Blueprints 5.

I used a couple of distress inks around the edges of the purple panel to help it stand out a bit better. I adhered the blue panel to the card base with my standard adhesive, then adhered the purple panel with foam squares. I adhered Lavender to the right side of the purple panel with my standard adhesive.

Lastly, I grabbed a bunch of goodies from my lost treasures box and adhered them to the card.

Also, o-m-gosh! This card was featured on the TGF spot blogpost. I'm beyond thrilled and thankful!! :D

Supplies:
The Greeting Farm - Lavender (Secret Stamp Club) stamp
My Favorite Things Hybrid Ink in Black Licorice
Prismacolor Premier softcore colored pencils
Simon Says Stamp Cardstock in black
Neenah Solar White in 80#lbs
DoCrafts Gorjuss patterned paper 6x6
My Favorite Things Die Namics Blueprints 13 and Blueprints 5
Bigshot
Tombow Mono Dot Adhesive runner
Scrapbook Adhesives 3D Foam Squares

Yeti - I Believe In You

Recently, I got a big set of Prismacolor pencils. I've had a small set for a few weeks now, and really enjoyed coloring with them. So, after seeing that the big set was on sale, I jumped at the opportunity and got it. And, of course, I had to immediately break it in by coloring something fun.

I chose to color Some Odd Girl's Yeti stamp. This stamp features an adorable yeti and several sentiments. I figured fur texture should prove to be a great challenge for my pencils, and I have to say that I'm extremely pleased with the results. The coloring was fantastic -- just as enjoyable as working with Copics, and now I have another great coloring medium I can use for stamps (yay!).

After coloring in the stamp, I carefully fussy-cut around him, leaving a small white border and got to work on the rest of the card. I found a couple of wonderful scraps from Fancy Pants Blissful Blizzard, which I used for last year's Christmas cards. I cut the tree paper into a rectangle measuring 4 by 5 1/4". I then cut out some hills from the blue paisley paper - just free-hand cutting with a pair of scissors.

I wanted the paper to stand out a little better, so I went around the edges with a mini foam tool and some distress ink.

I created a standard A2 card base out of some speckled cardstock (4 1/4 by 5 1/2"). I adhered the tree paper and one of the hills straight to the base with my standard adhesive. I layered the second hill with some foam squares. The yeti stood out too much, so I quickly went around some of the edges with the blending tool and distress ink. I adhered the yeti with a combination of dot adhesive and foam squares.

For the sentiment, I stamped it in black onto some white cardstock. I cut it down to size, leaving one end angled. I adhered it straight to the top paisley panel.

Lastly, I added a few enamel dots.

Supplies:
Some Odd Girl Yeti stamp set
My Favorite Things Hybrid Ink in Black Licorice
Fancy Pants Blissfull Blizzard 6x6
Avery Elle Heavyweight Cardstock in Speckled
Tombow Mono Dot Adhesive Runner
Scrapbook Adhesives 3D Foam Squares
Prismacolor Pencils (72ct)
Ranger Distress Inks in Salty Ocean and Tea Dye
My Mind's Eye Essentials Enamel Dots in Black & Grey

Santa 'stache

I mentioned previously that I really wanted to make a set of cards for a few friends and family members as an early Christmas gift. But I could not decide what kind of cards to make. Do I go with classic designs that can be given to anyone? Or cute designs with adorable critters and sweet patterns? Or do I throw caution to the wind completely and make some funny/amusing ones?

After a much-too-long-and-agonizing internal debate, I decided that I just couldn't settle for one type. So, I'm doing them all! Each gift set will have 3 classic, 3 cute and 3 funny cards, plus 1 unique one-of-a-kind card that's a bit more complex than the other ones. It will be a little extra work, but not so much that I'll stress over and not finish.

I decided to first make the funny cards, and I grabbed the brand new Tis The Season stamp set from Ellen Hutson. This set has several great iconic images and funny sentiments, and it came packaged in a stamp storage pocket- how cool is that?!

I started by creating my card base out of Kraft cardstock by trimming and scoring half a sheet into a standard A2 card base (4 1/4 by 5 1/2"). I then grabbed a background stamp from Impression Obsession called Dotted Argyle.

I first stamped the background in Tsukineko's VersaCraft White Pigment ink. I bought the white pigment ink fairly recently because the only other white ink I have is Hero Arts Unicorn White - which has fantastic coverage, but it takes ages and ages to dry. Since VersaCraft promised that it would dry quicker, I figured I'd give it a try. But after stamping with it, it didn't show up very well on the cardstock.

So, I inked up the background once again, this time in Avery Elle's Cherry pigment ink. I stamped the card front again, making sure that it was offset a little from the white stamp. I think it created a very unique and subtle effect.

I cut a scalloped circle out of green cardstock, then a smaller plain circle out of white cardstock. I stamped the funny Santa face from Tis The Season onto the white circle, and quickly colored him in with my Prismacolor pencils. I adhered the two circles together, then added it to the card front with foam squares.

I created a sentiment panel by matting a piece of white cardstock onto some patterned paper. I stamped the sentiment in navy blue, and adhered it to the card base with foam squares.

Supplies:
Ellen Hutson LLC Tis The Season stamp set
Impression Obsession Dotted Argyle background stamp
Ranger Archival Ink in Jet Black and Cobalt Blue
Tsukineko Versacraft White pigment Ink
Avery Elle Cherry pigment ink
Sizzix Framelits in Circle and Scalloped Circle
Prismacolor Pencils
Scrapbook Adhesives 3D foam squares
Tombow Mono Dot Adhesive runner (pink)
Neenah Desert Storm environmental cardstock in 100#lbs
Simon Says Stamp cardstock in Green Leaf
Neenah Solar White cardstock in 80#lbs

Santa's List

This small card was something I created quickly as a template for a possible card set. It features a fantastic Santa stamp from Birdie Brown's Jingle All the Way stamp set. I kept the card simple so it could be easily reproduced.

I started by stamping the Santa from Jingle All the Way onto some Copic marker paper. I colored him in with my Copics, then carefully cut around him.

For the base, I used one of the pre-made card bases from Penny Black's petites pack, which measure 4 3/4 by 3 5/8". This makes them the perfect size to use a 3x4 journaling card with. I grabbed another fun journaling card from Kaisercraft's Peppermint Swirl pack.

I had some copic marker paper left over from the Santa, so I cut them into 2 snowbanks. I colored the in with Copics, and adhered them to the bottom of the card. I added the Santa over it.

For the sentiment, I chose Clearly Besotted's All Occasion Sentiments stamp. I stamped it onto a banner flag I'd previously die-cut. I trimmed it down and adhered it to the card. Since it wasn't standing out quite as well as I wanted it to, I quickly drew a small gray shadow around the edges.

As a last touch, I added a few enamel dots. And voila! Simple card done. :)

Supplies:
My Favorite Things - Birdie Brown Jingle All the Way stamp
Clearly Besotted All Occasion Sentiments stamp
My Favorite Things Hybrid Ink in Black Licorice
My Favorite Things Pierced Fishtail banner STAX
Copic Mini Marker Pad 70lbs
Penny Black Petites in Berrylicious
Kasiercraft Peppermint Swirl 3x4 journaling cards
Tombow Mono Dot Adhesive runner
Studio Calico White and Gray enamel dots
Copics (E00, E11, E13, R20, B000, B00, B32, BG10, C2, C4, BV25, BV29, R08, R46, R59)

Snowman Blessings

Simon Says Stamp Flickr group has launched another challenge. This time, the challenge was to use embossing - whether it be embossing powders, folders or paste. I don't own any embossing paste, but I do have a small variety of embossing folders and some fun embossing powders.

I couldn't decide whether to use an embossing folder or embossing powders, so I decided to use both!

I started by cutting a piece of latte layering paper to measure 4 by 5 1/4". I put it inside a Swiss Dot embossing folder and ran it through my Bigshot. While I had my Bigshot out, I also die-cut a scalloped circle out of navy cardstock and a smaller plain circle out of this white Doodlebug Sprinkles vellum.

I grabbed the Winter Friends stamp set and stamped the adorable snowman in brown hybrid ink. I colored him in with my Copics, keeping the coloring very simple. This stamp set does have coordinating dies, but I don't own them, so I cut carefully around the snowman - leaving a small white border.

I found a scrap 1" wide piece of patterned paper in my stash, and decided to use it as my sentiment panel. After wiping it down with my embossing powder bag, I grabbed the Christmas Blessings sentiment from Simon Says Stamp's Peace on Earth stamp set. I stamped the sentiment in Versamark ink, then coated it with white embossing powder. After melting the powder with my heat-gun, I trimmed the sentiment panel and cut it at an angle.

I created a standard A2 card base (4 1/4 by 5 1/2") out of Dark Chocolate cardstock. I adhered the latte panel straight to the cardstock, then layered the scalloped circle, the vellum circle and the sentiment to the card front with foam squares. I added the snowman, also on foam squares.

It felt like the card was missing something, so I pulled out my Bigshot and die-cut a small snowflake using Maryanne Snowflake die out of Sea Glass cardstock. I adhered it to the scalloped circle corner and added a small white enamel dot in the center.

Supplies:
Simon Says Stamp (with Clearly Besotted) Winter Friends stamp set
Simon Says Stamp Peace on Earth stamp set
Simon Says Stamp Maryanne Snowflake die
Tsukineko Versamark inkpad
My Favorite Things Hybrid Ink in Chocolate Brown
Inkadinkado Magic Embossing Powder Bag
Hero Arts White Embossing Powder
Simon Says Stamp Heavyweight Cardstock in Dark Chocolate and Sea Glass
Avery Elle Heavy Cardstock in Sapphire
Hero Arts Layering Paper in Latte
Provocraft Cuttlebug A2 Swiss Dot Embossing Folder
Doodlebug Lily White 12x12 Sprinkles Vellum
Scrapbook Adhesives 3D Foam Squares
Tombow Craft Dot Adhesive Runner (pink)
My Mind's Eye Essentials Black & White enamel dots
Copics

Holiday Anya #4

Today's card features another Holiday Anya -- this time, it's Holiday Anya #4, which was just released this year.

I started by stamping Anya onto some Copic Marker paper with Chocolate Brown hybrid ink. I colored her in with my Copics, and added a few small highlights with a white gel pen. I carefully cut her out with a pair of sharp scissors and set her aside while I worked on the rest of the card.

I created a standard top-folding A2 card base (4 1/4 by 5 1/2") out of kraft cardstock. I grabbed my paper trimmer and cut two panels - one out of brown cardstock and a smaller out of white cardstock. I matted the white cardstock to the brown. I had a thin strip of brown cardstock left over, so I layered it onto the white panel for a bit of extra interest.

I decided to use this set of journaling cards from Kaisercraft as a patterned background. To make it a bit more complex, I also die-cut a stitched scalloped border out of a scrap of red patterned paper and adhered it to the card.

For the sentiment, I cut a 1" strip of white cardstock and stamped Merry Christmas from Simon Says Stamp's Holiday Hellos. I adhered it straight to the top of the journaling card. I added Anya with foam squares.

Lastly, I adhered a few white and brown enamel dots.

Supplies:
The Greeting Farm Holiday Anya 4 stamp
My Favorite Things Hybrid Ink in chocolate brown
Copic Mini Marker Pad 70#lbs
Neenah Desert Storm Environmental Cardstock in100#lbs
Neenah Solar White cardstock in 80#lbs
Stampin' Up Cardstock in Chocolate Chip
Pretty Pink Posh Stitched Borders I dies
Kaisercraft Peppermint Swirl Captured Moments 3x4 journaling cards
My Mind's Eye Enamel Dots (brown, white)
Copics

Baby's First Christmas

Today's card features a really fabulous digital stamp from Mo Manning called First Christmas. If you're not a fan of digital stamps, Mo also has several of her designs in cling rubber stamps available through Penny Black and through Stamping Bella.

This card is the first in a set I will be giving to my sister-in-law for Christmas. My nephew was born right around Christmas last year. And while it's technically not his very first holiday, it's the first one that will have gifts and treats he can open himself. So, I thought I'd celebrate the occasion with a couple of Christmas-themed baby cards.

After printing out the cute baby stamp, I cut it into a rectangle and colored in with my Copics. Since the image has a wonderful sketchy feeling, I did very little blending on the colors. I colored a simple gray floor to add a bit of shadow, then matted the image onto some red cardstock.

The rest of the card was kept very simple. I cut a panel of patterned paper from Gingerbread Village pad to measure 4 x 2". I also cut a piece of brown cardstock to measure 4 x 5 1/4". I adhered the patterned paper to the bottom of the chocolate cardstock, then added a line of red and white polkadot ribbon.

After adhering the panel to a standard top folding A2 card base, I attached the stamp panel with foam squares. As a last touch, I scattered several sparkling clear sequins around the baby.

Supplies:
Mo Manning First Christmas digital stamp
Copics (E00, E11, E13, R20, B000, B00, B02, B05, B37, R08, R46, R89, Y11, Y38, G67, W2, W4)
Simon Says Stamp cardstock in Lipstick Red
Neenah Desert Storm Environmental Cardstock in 100#lbs
Stampin' Up Cardstock in Chocolate Chip
Webster's Pages Gingerbread Village 8x8 patterned paper
Red grosgrain ribbon with white polkadots
Tombow Craft Dot Adhesive runner (pink)
Pretty Pink Posh sparkling clear sequins in 4mm and 6mm
Scrapbook Adhesives 3D foam squares
Ranger Multi-Medium Matte glue