Love and Hugs Watercoloured Roses from SSS

Hello!  The monthly challenge on Instagram for Simon Says Stamp is watercolouring, so I thought I’d pull out one of my Simon Says Stamps sets called Beautiful Flowers , because it really IS beautiful!  I embossed the image onto Arches watercolour paper, and pulled out some of my Daniel Smith Watercolour tubes to paint.  

It almost feels a bit like cheating when you watercolour over embossing.  The raised edges of the embossing hold your colours in each section so nicely.  This image has a lot of gold in it, so over all it was easy to paint. I used the coordinating dies for the set to die cut the image out. 

I also created a background using a Gothic stencil and embossing paste with ink splatters.  It gives it so much great texture.  

The sentiment is from the set, also embossed in gold, and a few mirrored sequins make it sparkly.  

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Love and Hugs Watercoloured Roses from SSS

Slimline Tulip Spray with Crafty Meraki

 

Hello!  Today is another fun Hop on Instagram for the newest Meraki Genesis Release at Crafty Meraki.  There are ways to win, so please join us on this post on IG starting HERE.  For the Hop I created this slimline beauty with sprays of tulips in sunny shades.  I have been having a lot of fun with the new Press Plates!  This one is called Love Like No Other, and I pressed it with green outline ink and used the coordinating Crafty Meraki Layering Stencil Set and coordinating Dies.  The stencils are really gorgeous as you can see, and the vibrant colours are so perfect for these blooms.  

I placed the tulips on an ink blended background with water splatters, and then added touches of sparkle with the Strip Suite - ZigZag Zoom Dies cut from sparkle paper,  as well as the sentiment foiled with Crafty Meraki’s Handmade Love Hot Foil Plate (an essential for great scripty phrases).   

Just a few copper coloured sequins add that last detail to tie it all together.  Thanks for joining me today!  

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Slimline Tulip Spray with Crafty Meraki

Merry Snowman with RAM Stamps

 

I don’t know about you, but it feels to me that November zoomed by and here we are at the beginning of December, with today being the first Sunday of Advent.  My little corner of the world is filled with snow, and I’m delighting in the cozy.  Today’s card uses the cutest image from RAM Stamps called Christmas Merry.  Isn’t that little snowman darling?  

The image is coloured in one of my favourite Christmas combos using coloured pencils, with some white gel pen accent.  I had some fun creating the background with embossing some swirling snow, a misty spritz of colour and some ink blending to really make it feel like a blizzard.  

To accent I’ve added sparkling glitter paper strips, die cut snowflakes and irridescent sequins that really make it sparkle.  Hoping that your season is Merry!  

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Merry Snowman with RAM Stamps

Holy Night Nativity with RAM Stamps

Happy Wednesday evening!  Have you explored the wonderful world of RAM Stamps recently?  Rachelle has a treasure trove of gorgeous designs with such sweet whimsy!  At the end I have a special coupon for you at RAM Stamps, so don’t miss it!  

I could not resist this beautiful image Nativity Scene Creator to work with for Christmas.  She’s captured Joseph, Mary and baby Jesus so tenderly, and you can design the scene any way you like, including puffy sheep and wisemen, (which I didn’t include).  

I wanted to spend more time on this image using coloured pencils on kraft paper, so I took my time wiht the layers of colour.  I kept any other detailing very simple so the image takes centre stage.  

I did add a textured stripe die background for the slimline card base, and some white gel pen stars in the distance.  "Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!"  (2 Corinthians 9:15).

As a way of saying thank you for being a faithful reader - I’m extending my 10% off coupon to RAM Stamps - use CHRISTINEOKKEN at checkout! 

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Holy Night Nativity with RAM Stamps

Sweater Weather Doggie with TCP

 

Oh it’s sweater weather, and I love it!  Welcome to the October release at The Cat’s Pajamas!   You’ll find all sorts of Autumn and Winter goodies this month.  Today I picked up the new Gnome for the Holidays.  It’s the cutest set full of Christmas gnomies, but the little weiner dog caught my eye and I knew he’d be perfect for a slimline design, and I knew he could pull of Autumn in his snazzy sweater!

He’s coloured up with Copics, with fine line sweater details done with coloured pencil.  Between his rubber boots, and toque, he’s a true Canadian ready for the season.  The sentiment is from a retired TCP polymer set, and I’ve added in the little leaves from a retired TCP Cut Ups die.  

The background dies give you all that sweater texture and the striping that coordinates with the image.  He’s sure a cutie!  

 

Here’s a peek at the set where you can see the cutie gnomes!   Thanks for dropping by!  

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Sweater Weather Doggie with TCP

September Summer with Concord & 9th

 

Hello!  I don’t know about you - but we’ve had the most beautiful hot end to Summer this week.  I’m not sure how many more days we’ll get back to 31 degrees Celcius yet this month.  But we enjoyed it with motorcycle rides, walks and time in the hammock.  With that, I wanted to take one last splash this week at Summer cards.  Today its with this wonderful designs from Concord and 9th called Season Post Bundle.  For this mini-slimline design I used the postage elements of the dies in the set to create a little scene for someone who’s been there for you. 

With some ink blending in the background with the stencils it gives some sky and sea colour.  I also added in some white gel pen to accent the sparkle of the water, and then its all about simple die cut layers, and a postage stamp bottom.  I also added textured stripes from Concord & 9th’s Double Stripe Card Front Die, to keep with that horizontal stripe theme of the mini-slimline.  A few postage marks and its as cute as can be!

Thanks for dropping by today!  I’ll have some more Summer for you this week, so stay tuned!

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September Summer with Concord & 9th

Sea and Summer Fun with TCP Stamps

 

Hi There!  Today on the blog I’ve got some wonderful Summer cards that will soothe your soul!  And that’s because they all involve water, and they are brand new from The Cat’s Pajamas.  First off we’ll start with this Slimline beach scene with the new August set “Just Add Water”.  

I arranged the digital images into a scene and coloured the slimline scene up with Copics, with sparkly sea accents using a white Sharpie pen, and connecting lines in the scene with a black Micron pen.  My beach is definitely in the Caribbean somewhere with its beautiful coloured waters.  

I kept the details quite simple since the scene was detailed, but added the sentiment from the set which reads “Happiness Comes in Waves”.  

I’d love to be here right now!   Our next stop on the journey is under the sea with new Mermaids from The Cat’s Pajamas.  

This pretty set is called Be A Mermaid, and I’ve used just one of the mermaids that are included.  After colouring the image with Copics, I placed it windowed style with a watercolor paper frame which I had used Lindy’s Magical Powders on.  This gave me the sparkly pigmented water colour you see.  

It’s full of shimmer with the background as well as shimmery pen added to teh mermaid hair, the crab and the shell.  Even the star fish accent is coloured with Lindy’s Magical Powders.  I also added in some teal “waves” with a retired TCP die and some pretty holeless sequins to give the feeling of bubbles under the water.  

And she’s simply Mermazing!  So glad that you joined me today and I hope it sent you to a beautiful spot in your imagination.  

Here’s a peek at the new August sets I used. 

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Sea and Summer Fun with TCP Stamps

Billowing Peonies with Copic and Pencil from Altenew

 

Hello Again!  I’m popping in today with another beautiful set of Billowing Peony cards from Altenew which I coloured with a combination of Copics and coloured pencil.  As I mentioned the other day, this image is just huge, so I could create two slimline sized designs with one image.  

Here is a quick snap I took of the flowers after colouring, you can see its over 8 inches by 7 inches on my grid.  I cut it diagonally so that a part of both flowers was in both halves.  

For this first card I stencilled the background with the Halftone Stencil from Altenew, and then added some splatters of white acrylic paint and an interior die cut frame.  The image is popped up so it really has a sense of dimension.  

The lovely sentiment is stamped in white, and a few enamel dots accent.  

For the second card I ink blended a background with Wilted Violet and Seedless Preserves Distress Oxide ink and then used Waffle Flower’s Sweet Plaid Texture Die.  

Simple details finish off this design with enamel dots and a sentiment from the Altenew set.  

Makes for a beautifully dramatic set of floral cards!  My favourite!  

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Billowing Peonies with Copic and Pencil from Altenew

Big Thanks with Concord & 9th

 

Hi!  Earlier this Spring I purchased enough from Concord & 9th to get a little add-on paper pack.  Well, on this paper pack was a lovely “Thank you” lettering as part of the packaging.  Well, you never see a cardmaker wasting anything pretty, so I set it aside for just this occasion!  

I paired the colours of the big THANK word with Concord & 9th’s Flower Medley stamp set and stamped a whole bunch of blooms, die cut them with the coordinating dies and then made a little arrangement around the slimline sized card.  Colours are Dragonfruit, Clementine, Oceanside, Tidepool and Parsley.  

Next the letters are popped up on foam tape, and I added the “you” that is part of the sentiment in the stamp set on top of the K so it would complete the words.  To fill in some of the white space, I stamped a few of the tiny petals in.  Some white gel pen accents the letters too, creating the illusion of shine.  

Feels very bright and cheerful, and such a fun way to make use of packaging!  

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Big Thanks with Concord & 9th

Green and Gold for a Grad Girl with The Stamp Market

Today I’m back with the second grad card this week for our son’s girlfriend.  I went with the same colours as yesterday - their University colours of green and gold, but a much more feminine style using The Stamp Market products.  This beautiful floral die set is called Big Bloom Bouquet.  Marvellous, don’t you think?  I placed the arrangement onto a mini-slimline size card that I foiled with a Spellbinders foiling die called Plaid Tidings (retired?).  

I added some ink blending and pencil colour blending on the petals and the same gorgeous shimmery gold cardstock for the flower centers.  

And it’s finished with a perfect gold foiled sentiment from The Stamp Market called Best Wishes Foil Plates and some gold sequins.  It has a very summery feel with the rich colours!

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Green and Gold for a Grad Girl with The Stamp Market

Retirement Florals with Pink Fresh Studios

Hello!  Today I’m bringing a second Retirement card for a friend’s workplace.  This one is all about fresh colour and beautiful colour!  I'm using Pink Fresh Studio’s Artsy Florals Stamp set and the coordainting dies.  They have a fun loosly drawn style which was fun to colour with Copics because you have the freedom to decide the depth of colour in the petals.  I’m also playing along with the May 2024 Monthly Challenge at Pink Fresh,  which is about Flower Power!  

Once I had coloured the flowers and die cut them, I created a pretty rainbow style ink blended background to coordinate with the colours of the flowers, and then ran this panel through the Ornate Medallions Coverplate die, perfect for a touch of delicate texture.  I also added a framing layer using Pink Fresh Studio’s Essentials:  Mini Slimline Dies.  

To help accent the design I embossed a few of the flowers from the set onto vellum and tucked them into the design, perfect for allowing the background colour to still shine through.  I few sequins add that touch of sparkle.  The sentiment is embossed and from a retired Stampin’ Up! set.  It feels so cheerful!  Which is what I hope retirement is like :)  

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Retirement Florals with Pink Fresh Studios

Zesty Cards for TCP May!

Oh I’m just overflowing with joy to bring you the new cards for TCP’s May Release!  Seriously, there are SO many fun new digital sets that are so fun and full of delight, I’m going to have a hard time limiting myself this month!  Today, I have two fun designs for you that are both colourful and punny!  

We’ll kick it off with these wonderful lemons called Cute Citrus or Not.  What I love about this one is that it has cute kawaii style images with cute little faces - or you can go the route I went and use the fruit without the faces.  So, the lemon branch with blossoms is what I chose to work with.  I LOVE fruit images!  It has lots of vibrant lemony Copic colouring with some added pointillims dots to give you the texture of the fruit.  

After colouring, I trimmed the image out and placed it on a watercolour panel that I painted a pretty teal and green watercolour background.  it really makes the lemons pop!  

Then its a few enamel dots and a punny sentiment from another new set called Citrusly that is HILARIOUS in it’s punny sentiments.  

Next it’s a little more earthy...with these cuties called So Mushroom! 

For this mini-slimline design I printed the mushrooms stacked behind each other in a row so that I could  colour them with Copics and trim the out.  I placed the trio on a gold foiled woodgrain background to capture that cozy forest floor feeling.   

I added a retired TCP die grass border to anchor the image and really give you the feeling of dimension between the mushrooms.  The sentiment is a cute one for a husband, son or guy friend, and a woodgrain arrow accent accents it just right.  

 

Thanks for popping by, and I hope you had as much fun as I did checking out these new stamps!  Here’s a peek at the new sets below. 

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Zesty Cards for TCP May!