Season's Greetings...

 Hello! 

I'm back on the Hello Bluebird blog and today I've brought together stamps from six different sets to create a holiday scene at the tree lot. Since these winter days are so short, a night scene was the way to go and what better way to light up the night than with the strand of lights in the Halloween Party set. Yep, they may be part of a Halloween set but these party lights are just as perfect on a Christmas card. To fill the tree lot I repeatedly stamped the tree from the O Christmas Tree set leaning to and fro. Then to complete the location I grabbed the "season's greetings" signage from the Holiday Office Party set and hung it across the entrance to the lot.  Now I just had to fill this festive Christmas tree lot with some patrons searching for this year's perfect tree. The squirrel and bunny working as a team in the background are from the Snowman Competition set but instead of building snowmen they are trying to get their paws on the tallest tree they can find. The little wren from the O Christmas Tree set is adjusting the signage at the entrance while the bunny from the Deck the Halls set is trying to sell one of the fancy wreaths she's made using left over pine branches. Finally, Mr. Bear from the Merry Makers set has found a cute small tree that will fit perfectly in his cozy den back home.  

Once all of the images where in place and it was time to grab my Copic markers and start coloring, I just kept in mind that all of the light in this scene is coming from those lights overhead. In order to help sell that look it was important to be pretty dramatic with the shadows beneath everything, so the darker the colors I used, the better. Because it is a high traffic area, I colored in a lot of dirt for them to be walking on but I did strategically leave some of the white card stock showing beneath the fencing to become snow drifts here and there. All in all, I am so happy with how the completed scene compares to the original vision I had in my head and it is cards like this that will keep me continuing to mix and and match all of the stamps sets in my stash, LOL! 

Stay crafty my friends!

 

Supply list:
cardstock- Papertrey Ink and Catherine Pooler
stamps- Hello Bluebird (O Christmas Tree, Merry Makers, Deck the Halls, Holiday Office Party, Snowman Competition and Halloween Party)
ink- Memento rich cocoa and Papertrey Ink pure poppy
My Favorite Things A2 stitched rectangle stax set 1
Sharpie extra fine white pen
Copic markers:
ground- E31, E33, E34, E43, E44, E47, E49
wood poles- E43, E44, E47, E49
snow/sky- B91, B95, B97, B99
trees/wreath- YG03, G24, G46, BG99, E84, E87, E89
lights/fence- Y00/100
bear- E55, E57, E59/R24, R29, R89
wreath bunny- BV20, E50, E81, E40, 0, R000, R30, E04/R24, R29, R89, YG01, YG03, YG67
bird- BV20, E50, E81, Y32, R30, E21, E23, E77, C1, C2, R24, R29, R89
stooped bunny- E30, E31, E35, E43, E44, R000, R30, YG01, YG03, YG67, BG99
squirrel- W1, W2, W4, W6, R000, R20, YG01, YG03, YG67
 

Have the merriest season...

Hello friends!

I've got a fun winter scene to share today using a bunch of older Christmas stamps from Purple Onion Designs. I came across this one in the stack of pre-stamped cards that I have on the corner of my desk and figured it had waited long enough to get colored up. Jasper, the fox and Aspen, the owl are both snow shoeing through the Winter Trail Background while little Juniper flies over head. I didn't have a lot of time to color yesterday so I decided to make all three of these cute critters have winter white fur and feathers, going with an Arctic fox, great Snowy owl and dove versions. I also limited the color palette on their hats and scarves to save time too. This had the added bonus of giving the scene a crisp and cool finished look that really suits the winter wonderland that I was going for.  :)

Later gators!

 

Supply list:
cardstock- Bazzill and Catherine Pooler
stamps- Purple Onion Designs (Jasper, Aspen, Juniper, Winter Trail Background and Sweet Occasions sentiment set)
ink- Memento tuxedo black
My Favorite Things A2 stitched rectangle stax set 2
Sharpie extra fine white pen
Sakura stardust glitter pen
Copic markers:
critters- BV31, E40, E81, W00, W4, R000, R30, C2, C6, C9, Y21, Y26
snow shoes/outer wear- E34, E44/ BG01, BG45, BG09, B16, B37, B39, W5, W7, W9, C2, C4
gingerbread house- C00, C1, C2, W6, E31, E53, E55, E57, R43, R46, R89, E31, snow- B0000, B000, BV0000, BV00, C0, C1, C2
trees- G43, G46, BG96/E84, E87, E89, G28, BG99

Wishing you a joyous Christmas...

Good morning!

This holiday weekend ended up being a busy one with my fam so I really didn't get a lot of crafting done. That's not a bad thing as I enjoy taking a break now and then, especially for time spent with my loved ones. But that means the only thing I have to share here on the blog today is the card I made for the Sweet November Stamps newsletter that went out on Friday showcasing this month's free digital stamp for our newsletter subscribers. She's called Vintage Christmas Shopper and the image is her full body but because she is a digital stamp I was able to enlarge and crop the image to pull focus on just the upper half of her body. A simple, snowy background in monochromatic blue-violet really let her pop and take center stage on this card. :)

Hope your week is off to a great start!

Supply list:
cardstock- Bazzill and Copic X-Press It
digital stamp- Sweet November (Vintage Christmas Shopper)
Simon Says Stamp cut apart Christmas sentiment
Spellbinders hemstitch die
Sharpie extra fine white pen
Copic markers:
skin- E000, E00, E11, E04, R00, R20
hair- E44, E47, E79Supply list:
clothes- BV31, E40, E41, E81, R83, R56, RV99, W4, W7
packages- E30, E31, E34, E44, R46
background- BV0000, BV00, BV31, BV02, BV04, BV25, BV29

 

All the joys of the season...

  

Hello, hello!

There's no new digital stamp release at Sweet November Stamps today because we are having a big Sale-abration Weekend instead. You can see all of the great deals on the cute banner above and then hop on over to the shop to see if there is anything you've been wanting to cross off your wish list. While the sale is on, the team and I are sharing more cards using the new Christmas/Winter clear stamp  release. For my card, I returned to the adorable Snow Angels set because I still had three of the cuties that hadn't been inked up yet. I paired the flying angel with the flying snow owl, then started to think about the over-all look and color scheme for the card. Something with a decidedly vintage influence would not only be different from my previous Snow Angels card but it would also stand out from most of the other holiday cards I've made so far this season. I took my cues from looking up vintage postcards on Pinterest and gave this winter scene "dirty" looking snow and sky. I also kept her clothing to pretty rustic woodland hues of green and brown with a few touches of gold for a hint of elegance. If you are interested in watching this scene come together you can check out the full length speed coloring on the Sweet November Stamps Youtube channel or the shorter Reel over on my Instagram.  :)

Laters!

 

Supply list:
cardstock- Papertrey Ink and Catherine Pooler
stamps- Sweet November (Snow Angels and Horizon Lines: Alpine)
ink- Memento rich cocoa and Versamark Watermark
gold embossing powder
My Favorite Things A2 stitched rectangle stax set 1
Sharpie extra fine white pen
Pear Blossom Press gold pen
Copic markers:
Sorry, I didn't keep a list but you can see the colors used here
 

Here comes Amazon, here comes Amazon...

 

Hello friends!

I'm on the TGF blog with my last blog post of the year since the team takes December off. Once again I went to the awesome selection of digital stamps that can be found in the TGF store to create this all too familiar holiday scene. First I grabbed the cute Delivery Ian with his stack of packages and then I paired him with the Christmas Porch digi set. I went all out decorating the door and patio because I knew Mr Brown himself would be rockin' his traditional uniform which isn't very festive, though I did borrow the snowman from the Christmas Day digi set and sized it real small to look like a decorative pin on his hat. As I started to color the scene, again I went heavy on the traditional reds and greens throughout the background to contrast all of the browns on Ian and his packages. And just look at all those packages, hopefully poor Ian doesn't have to go back to the truck for another load. Mama must have been up late on Amazon, giving ol' Santa Claus a run for his money. LOL!

Ok, thanks so much for stopping by! 

Supply list:
cardstock- Papertrey Ink and Copic X-Press It
digital stamps- The Greeting Farm (Delivery set, Christmas Porch set and Christmas Day set)
computer generated sentiment
My Favorite Things A2 blueprints die
Sharpie extra fine white pen
Wink of Stella clear glitter pen
Copic markers:
skin- E000, E00, E11, E04, R00, R20
hair- YR31, YR27, E18
clothes- E55, E57, E47, T6, T9, C2, N8, N10, R24, R29, YG03, YG67, YR04
packages- E30, E31, E34, E44, W8, W10
porch/siding/door- N3, N4, N5, YR23, YR24, E35, E37/W0, W1, W2, W3/R24, R27, E18, W5, W8
wreath/poinsettia- YG03, G07, BG99, Y02, YR23, YR24, E47/R32, R35, YG03, YG67, BG99
sign/gift decor- C1, C3, C5, C8, R43, R46, R89, YG23, YG17, YG67

Gather together and give thanks...

Happy Thanksgiving to all my friends who are counting their blessings today!

Whether you've gathered together with family and friends or are simply enjoying another Thursday, I want to take a minute and wish everyone a very wonderful day. I am thankful for many things including this amazing hobby of ours and the special card making community that I feel blessed to get to be a part of.

For my card today, I've mixed stamps from four different Hello Bluebird sets to create a cute gathering of critters. The turkey, bear and raccoon all come from the Friendsgiving set while the chipmunk, stump and tree are from the Autumn Days set. The pear and pumpkin centerpiece were borrowed from the Fall Banner Buddies set and I finished off the scene with a large sentiment from the Autumn Script set. They all come together seamlessly to capture the magic of being close to the ones you love. :)

Alrighty friends, gobble 'til you wobble and have fun taking advantage of all those Black Friday sales out there!

Supply list:
cardstock- Papertrey Ink and Catherine Pooler
stamps- Hello Bluebird (Friendsgiving, Fall Banner Buddies, Autumn Script and Autumn Days)
ink- Memento rich cocoa and Catherine Pooler icing on the cake
My Favorite Things A2 stitched rectangle stax set 1
Copic markers:
ground- E31, E34, E44, YG21, YG03, YG91, YG93, YG63
mountains/sky- BV31, BV23/B0000
trees- E81, E84, E87, Y11, Y15, Y26, YG21
raccoon/hat- E40, E42, E43, W00, W2, W4, W5, W6, R000, R30, E04/N5, N8, N10, C2, C3, E23, E25, E27
bear/pie- E31, E55, E44, E47, R000, R30, E04/C2, C3, C5, E50, E30, YR31, YR24, E35
chipmunk/acorns- E50, E41, E31, E33, E35, E37, W3, W5, W8/E23, E25, E27, E43, E44, E47
turkey- B41, B52, B34, E53, E55, E57, E23, E25, E29, YR23, R24, R59
pumpkin- E84, E87, Y35, YR15, YR07, YR09, E07
apples/basket- YG01, R32, R35, R37, R39, YG63/E53, YR23, YR24, E35
berries/pear/leaves- RV34, RV99/YG11, YG13, YG45, YG21, Y04/Y11, Y04, Y15, YR04, YR27

Cozy Christmas Wishes...

Hello, hello!

I was cleaning off my desk and putting all of the fall and Halloween stamps away when I came across this sweet Big Bear Hugs stamp that was part of the Sweet November Fall release. My first go round with this image I colored him as a big ol' brown bear but I really wanted to give him a Christmas make-over and color him as a polar bear this time. My vision was to keep the snowy scene monochromatic with purple tinted greys and just the small pops of bright red here and there, which I knew would make for a quick coloring. So I figured why not film it and have a mid-week speed coloring video to share? If you are interested in watching the process you can find the short Reel on my Instagram or the longer version will be up on the Sweet November Stamps YouTube channel soon. :)

Toodles!

Supply list:
cardstock- My Favorite Things and Copic X-Press It
stamps- Sweet November (Big Bear Hugs), My Favorite Things (sentiment)
ink- Memento rich cocoa and Papertrey Ink pure poppy
My Favorite Things A2 stitched rectangle stax set 1
Wink of Stella clear glitter pen
Dr PH Martin's bleed proof white
Sharpie extra fine white pen
Copic markers:
Sorry, I didn't keep a list but you can see the colors used here