Nuts About You

Today's card is a super simple card, featuring the Cute Critters stamp set from My Favorite Things. This set has some adorable critters, but what really pushed me into buying it is that "nuts" sentiment. Big, bold, funky - what's not to love?!

So, I wanted to build a card around that, and really let the sentiment shine -- which meant something clean-and-simple.

I started by stamping out the acorn in brown ink and coloring it with my Copics. I kept the coloring very simple. Once I was finished, I carefully cut around it, leaving a small white border. I set it aside to work on the rest of the card.

I die-cut a piece of striped patterned paper with the stitched rectangle die. While I had my Bigshot out, I also die-cut a scallop rectangle from black Doodlebug Sprinkles vellum. I'm not sure if this vellum is available anymore, but I bought a whole bunch of it a few months ago, and I want to make sure I use it all up.

I stamped the sentiment straight onto the colored panel. This was a bit nerve-wracking, as it's a big stamp and it wouldn't be easy to fix a mistake. Luckily, it stamped just right (phew!). I adhered the vellum to a standard top-folding A2 card base (4¼ x 5½"), then adhered the patterned paper panel on top.

I added the acorn with foam squares for a bit of dimension, then added 3 sequins as embellishment.

Have a creative day!
~Elle~

Crafty Chat and Goals (updated)

It's been just ages since I last put up a post, so I thought I'd have a quick chat about what I've been up to lately, and what some of my new crafty goals are for the upcoming months.

I've been quite busy with work, and it's unfortunately going to continue for some time. I'm hoping to still be able to squeeze in a few hours here and there to get crafty. But it might be another couple of weeks before I can resume any consistent anything.  It's also not helping that summer is slowly creeping up on us - which means a ton more time spent outside. Hopefully I'll be able to balance out the work and the fun!

I've also been busy working on a few super secret projects that I cannot share just yet! They're wonderfully exciting, though, and I'm quite eager to reveal them when the time is right. But I can say they're wonderfully creative projects and I'm enjoying myself immensely.

One thing you might have noticed about my last few posts is some new titles and tags - like Color Monday or Retro Thursday. This is a new system I'm trying out to help me stay focused and sharing the way-too-many-ideas I have. And I'm mainly hoping it will make interesting posts easier to find.

Here is a breakdown of what I have planned:
- Color Monday: It's where I focus on coloring, interesting palettes, or colorful patterned paper.
- Challenge Tuesday: This is where I post a challenge card - whether it's a challenge I created or a challenge I'm participating in.
- Budget Wednesday: This is where I share cards using budget-friendly supplies, techniques or share other penny-saving tips. (haven't shared anything for this yet, but I am planning to!)
- Retro Thursday: It's where I share cards created in a retro/vintage/oldie style, or cards created with retired supplies.
- Friday Illustrations: This is where I share cards I illustrated myself. I'm hoping to grow more and more comfortable with illustration as time goes on.
- Saturday: My day off, as I spend it with family or catching up on work.
- Recap Sunday: This is where I just have a quick chat, go over some goals or just share interesting anecdotes.

I'm still slowly easing into this plan, so I'm not following it 100% to the letter and only sharing projects that fit that day's theme. But I am hoping to eventually implement it as a consistent schedule and get ahead on the projects I share. I'll be trying scheduled posts sometime soon, too, as I think they could help me quite a bit when life gets busy.

Other than that, there are a few long-term projects I'd like to do:
- Updated list of beginner essentials - I think this is definitely something that I should do on a yearly basis, rather than a one-time thing. This is both because my preferences change over time and because products I linked originally may have retired. I'd like to maybe update the list once per year, but we'll see what time will allow for.
- Art Journal - I've been slowly building up a collection of mixed-media and art supplies, as I think I would really enjoy journaling. It would also allow me to use all those awesome techniques that just don't translate into cards as well as I'd like them to.
- Tutorials - Especially on things that might seem a little scary to new crafters - like Copic coloring. I'm slowly getting over feeling like a total card-making newbie, so I think I'd like to jump into tutorials when I've got time for it.

Thank you for reading that wall of text!
~Elle~

Retro Thursday - Tiddly Inks

Today's card is using a stamp set from Tiddly Inks called Ellie Says Hi. I have had this stamp for over a year now, and just did not get around to making anything with it. It's a super sweet stamp, though, and it definitely deserved to be used. So, I decided to make a cute card with it.

I started by stamping Ellie in brown ink, then coloring her in with my Copics. I wanted to go with a palette I seldom use, so I chose green and yellow. After she was colored in, I carefully cut her out, leaving a small white border. The stamp set comes with a cute sentiment, so I stamped out the speech bubble and the "Hi" in brown ink. Then I used a pink ink to stamp the little hearts in the background. I also cut out the speech bubble with a small white border.

The rest of the card came together really quickly. I grabbed a few pieces of patterned paper from my scraps stash and layered them together on a neutral card base. I added some liquid pearls and two pieces of wood veneer that I colored in with Copics.

And that's all there was to it! I really like how the card turned out, and I'm definitely going to use this stamp again. I have another idea on how to color her cute dress, and some other cute patterned paper I've been meaning to use with cards.

Thanks for reading!
~Elle~

Think Pretty Thoughts

Today's card features a super cute stamp set from Sweet Stamp Shop called Unicorn.

I started by stamping the unicorn, cloud and sentiment with brown ink onto some Copic marker paper. I then used Tag Builder 3 die from My Favorite Things to cut out a cute scalloped panel out of the stamped image. I colored it in with Copics, going with purples, pinks and a touch of blue. I also sketched in some hearts with a pink pen.

I cut a rectangular panel out of a piece of pink patterned paper I found in my scraps stash. I adhered it to a purple note-card, then drew a little scallop around it with a white gel pen. I adhered the center panel at an angle with foam tape.

Lastly, I added in some sequins all over the image. I think they bring in just the right amount of sparkle and shine.

Thanks for reading!

~Elle~

Color Monday - Nightly Mushrooms

It is Monday, and that means it's time for another color card! Today's card features Lawn Fawn's Gleeful Gardens as well as my usual Copic coloring. This card has a few more layers than I usually do, so I kept it very simple and free of embellishments and clutter.

I started by die-cutting a stitched circle out of some Copic marker paper. I stamped a scene with two nested mushrooms and a cute curvy hill-line. I started by coloring the mushrooms, and I went with my favorite redcap combo (R05, R46, R89, E50, E53, E33). Then I got to the sky and thought to myself that it would be really fun if I made this a nighttime scene. I used my BV markers (BV11, BV13, BV17) to sketch in the sky and a few fun clouds.

Since the scene was now at night, I didn't want to go with my usual bright greens for the grass. Instead, I used BG72 and BG75 along with G29. This created a cool-colored grass that works for nighttime. As a last touch, I used my white gel pen to draw a line around the mushrooms (this makes them stand out a lot better) and a few dots here and there on the image.

Once I had my colored image, I used it as inspiration for the rest of the card.

I die-cut a scalloped circle out of yellow polkadot paper. Even though there's no bright yellow anywhere in the colored section, purple and yellow are contrasting colors. I had a lot of contrast between the bright red of the mushroom and the other colors, so I wanted to balance that out by introducing another contrast -- yellow and purple.

I die cut a panel out of teal paper with tiny stars on it. This paper was just perfect because it both had stars and it was the same tone as the grass. Note that the color I used on the grass does not match the paper perfectly. But they're in the same color family, which really helps tie them together.

Since polka-dots were a recurring element, I also added a panel of white polka-dot vellum paper. And I set everything against a neutral kraft base. I used a combination of my standard adhesive and foam tape to stick everything together.

 Thanks for reading!
~Elle~

OHC 43 - Coffee

Today's card is another card for my One Hundred Cards challenge(read about it here). When I pulled out the theme "coffee", I was stumped - not because I have nothing coffee-inspired, but because I have so many awesome coffee-themed supplies that I couldn't possibly narrow it down to one or two to use! So, I took a slightly different approach and pulled a bunch of colors and patterns.

The first paper I reached for was Lawn Fawn's Milk Chocolate Line Dance (from the Let's Polka Mon Amie collection). It has a lovely brown tone that reminded me of iced mochas I used to drink with friends. I also grabbed a pale aqua paper from Pint-sized Patterns: Beachside petite pack. I also added in some embossed vellum from Doodlebug that I had laying around. A bit of yellow and pink, and I was ready for stamping!

I used Lawn Fawn's Love You a Latte stamp set to stamp a couple of cute cups. I colored them in with my Copics, then die-cut them into a circle. I colored in a quick background and added some hearts with a white gel pen.

I adhered everything together with a combination of regular adhesive and foam tape. Lastly, I adhered some white alpha stickers to spell out "coffee".

Thanks for reading!
~Elle~

CS-Thanks Tag

I think I mentioned before that I keep a notebook where I jot down ideas I randomly get for cards. Sometimes it's color combinations, other times it's concepts. And - very rarely - I make a quick card sketch.

Card sketches are interesting. On one hand, I love the idea of planning out my card and getting away from the same old design I keep using over and over again. On the other hand, my card process is usually so intuitive and organic that having a definite plan can feel like a big constraint (and creative block!).

 I started this card by picking out some patterned papers. I liked the look of polka-dots layered with woodgrain, but I just could not settle on how to use them together. After browsing through my idea notebook, I found a quick sketch I'd made a while ago. It featured a circle, a tag and a wonky cut of patterned paper. It looked like a fun layout to try, so I decided to follow it.

For the tag, I used Simon Says Stamp's Medium Tags die. I also used a thanks stamp from Mama Elephant's Many Thanks stamp set. To add a whimsical touch, I used a white gel pen to add in some scallops and dots.

Since dots were a recurring theme on the cards, I used circular embellishments- enamel dots and a piece of flair.

Thanks for reading!
~Elle~

It's been Oolong

It's a very rainy day here today, and the sky is so overcast that it almost looks like night-time (it certainly does look like night-time inside!). I really adore this kind of weather. Rainy, cool and perfect to stay inside and get crafty. So, I will try to sneak in some creative time today in between work and family.

The card I'm sharing today features a super cute little stamp from the Sweet Stamp Shop called "Oolong". This set has a few things I really love - cute faces on inanimate objects, a punny sentiment and tea. So, I just had to make a card with it.

I stamped the image and sentiment onto some Copic marker paper, then colored them in with my Copics. I was aiming for really quick and minimal coloring -- just a punch of brightness. I trimmed the paper a bit, then matted with a striped paper scrap I had laying about. I used a scallop die to cut a piece of red striped paper and adhered everything together.

A ribbon and some cute enamel dots finished the card off perfectly.

Thanks for reading and happy paper-crafting!~
~Elle~

OHC 36 - Blue

Today's card features another stamp from The Greeting Farm's Super Secret Stamp Club - cute little stamp called Love Peppermint. This stamp is in the style of their Beans collection. I don't have any stamps from that collection, so I was super happy to get this set to play with.

Today's card is a double-duty card. First, it's a color Monday - and I'm using a color combo I've been itching to try:

In particular, I love the idea of combining blue, mint and yellow/orange. Blue and orange are contrasting colors, so they really make the combination pop.

Secondly, it's another entry for my One Hundred Card challenge (read about it here).

I kept the card itself very simple. Since I wanted the peppermint girl to really pop, I kept the card base and patterned papers in the blue and mint tones. I layered all the elements together, then adhered them to a square 4¼ by 4¼" card. Lastly, a few enamel dots and the card was done!

Thanks so much for reading.
~Elle~

P.S. Busy times at work continue. I apologize in advance if I'm a bit slow to respond or if I miss a day or two posting cards.

OHC 28 - Pastel

 It's time for another entry in my One Hundred Cards challenge (read about it here). When I pulled out the "pastel" theme, I wasn't sure what I wanted to do. My first thought was to make a baby card, but that felt kind of predictable. So, instead, I decided to pull out Sunflower Sweetheart from Birdie Brown.

I've always admired the lovely soft style Torico (the artist behind Birdie Brown line) brings to so many of her cards, and I wanted to try to do the same with my Copics. My Copic coloring tends to be very bright and vibrant. In fact, it's not until fairly recently that I even started getting some of the lighter colors. I've still got to fill out my collection of lighter colors, but I did manage to find a softer palette I could work with - I got the right amount of color and good shading contrast, which is awesome. I definitely need to try this lighter palette again.

After stamping and coloring the flower girl, I die-cut her with matching dies and set her aside. I chose to go with a square card measuring 4¼x4¼". I cut a piece of patterned paper to 4x4" and matted it to the card. I added the girl on foam squares and stamped the sentiment in brown ink.

Lastly, I grabbed the lightest sequins I could find and adhered them to the left side of the card.

Thanks for reading!
~Elle~