Happy New Year!

I am closing out the year with my Best 9 from Instagram:

I hope you all have a fabulous and safe New Year. We will be celebrating in home with our good friends in Destin, Florida. I hope to see  you back here in 2020.

CAS(E) this Sketch #352 - Guest Designer

Good morning. I am guest designing for the new CAS(E) this Sketch Challenge today. It's a great little sketch and I hope you can find some crafty time to join us.

I stamped and diecut with the matching die from the sweet My Favorite Things Pure Innocence Angel, then colored with Copic Markers. As you can tell I followed the sketch closely using gold and silver metallic cardstock as a background for the sweet angel which I attached with a layer of craft foam. A sentiment from the Simon Says Tiny Words Christmas set finished it up.

Products: My Favorite Things stamp and dies, Simon Says stamp, American Crafts metallic cs, Michaels and PTI cs, MFT Die, Altenew die, Copic Markers

Copics: Skin-E000, E000, E11; Hair-E30, E31, E33; Dress-W00, E81; Wings-BG0000, BG10

Have a blessed day! Thank you for stopping by.

Christmas Dreams

I am still working on Christmas cards as I am seriously short this year.

I combined three Lawn Fawn stamp/die combo sets, Happy Howlidays (retired), Christmas Dreams and Hay There for the various Christmas icon, animal and farm images which were all colored with Copic Markers after diecutting. I used the Stitched Portrait Hillside Backdrop die to cut white linen cardstock and a backing piece for the opening from watercolor paper. I cut a small circle from printer paper to create a mask for the moon on the watercolor piece, then blended three shades of blue for the night sky. I then stamped Santa and reindeers along with the sentiment from the Winter Skies set and attached the colored images using foam dots.

Products: Lawn Fawn stamps and dies, PTI and Master's Touch cs, Altenew, MFT, PTI and Ranger Distress ink, Copic Markers

Copics: Barn-R20, R22, R24, R27, C00, C1, Y21, Y26; Fences-E30, E33, E35; Lights-YG01, YG03, R22, R24; Dog-N1, N3, N5, W00; Bone-E81, R22, R24; Cat-C00, C1, C3; Fish-YG61, YG63, R22, R24; Horse-W00, E81, E50, E51, E53, E42, R20, R22, R24, R27

Santa dropped off his gifts for the horse (hay and oats in the barn), a bone for the dog and a fish for the kitty and it's on to the next farm.

I am submitting this to the Lawn Fawnatics #66 Challenge with a theme of Happy Little Holiday Critters.

Enchanted Forest

I am back with another trio of similar Christmas cards for faster cardmaking during this busy season. This time I used the same Papertrey Ink Enchanted Forest stamp set but changed up the layout for each. I will go ahead and confess that I have had these trees stamped up since June. Yeah, that long. The reason I know is because I found it in my blog drafts with a June date.

I stamped the various trees in a variety of ink colors and cut out with the matching Enchanted Forest Dies.

I am submitting the above card for the current Color Throwdown (CTD573) Challenge with colors of Lime Green, Hot Pink and White. I first embossed the card front using a die from the Papertrey Ink Shape Shifters Oval 2 Die. I only had one pink stamped and cut tree so I stamped two different ones directly onto the card front, along with the snowflakes and sentiment. I then added the cut tree, adhering the foliage part using craft foam. A strip of patterned paper as the bottom border finished it up.

For this card I used a border style embossing folder to partially emboss the card front. I added the three cut trees over the embossed area and stamped the sentiment. The center tree is actually lavender and purple but I think my light box made it looked more gray. I am submitting this one to the Addicted to CAS #174 Challenge which is a theme of trees. 

For card #3 I used a geo snowflake stencil with distress ink to create a partial background then attached the trees over the stenciled portion. A sentiment from the Simon Says Tiny Words Christmas set and a few silver holeless sequins finished it up. The layout came from the Freshly Made Sketches #415 Challenge.

Products: Papertreyink stamps and dies, dp and cs; Simon Says stamp, The Cat's Pajamas Holeless Sequins, Darice Embossing Folder, PTI ink

Have a great rest of the week!

It's Cold Outside {Purple Onion Designs}

Well hello there. Are you as busy as I am these days? I at least have my indoor and outdoor decorating completed but don't ask me about shopping, wrapping or Christmas cardmaking! All of it complicated by traveling for Christmas and New Years along with the complications that are presented with blended families. But frankly speaking, all of these are first world problems because we know that we are truly blessed.

Since I do not have all the Christmas cards I need completed I decided it was necessary to "cheat" a bit by using the same layout/design but with a different image. And of course the Stacey Yacula super cute images work perfectly for this idea. I started out by stamping Jasper (snowshoe fox), Birch (winter bunny) who is one of my favorite SY images and Icicle (polar bear) onto Copics X-Press It cardstock, colored with Copics and then all fussy cut out. I used the images from the Carolyn Draws Bundle Up Set to create backgrounds stamping with soft stone ink onto linen cardstock for two cards and one onto soft stone cardstock. After adding a strip of patterned paper to each card front, I then cut with a stitched die. Each SY animal was attached with craft foam and the sentiment from the Holiday Blurbs set was stamped directly onto the background panel using PTI and Catherine Pooler ink to match the clothing pieces of each critter. A few holeless silver sequins finished them up.

Products: Purple Onion Designs stamps, Avery Elle and The Paper Studio dp, PTI cs, The Cat's Pajamas Holeless Sequins, Sakura Gelly Roll pen, Atenew, PTI and Catherine Pooler ink, Copic Markers

Copics: Fox-W00, E81, E11, E13, E15, 20, R00, R01, B41, B32; Bunny-E50, E51, E53, W00, E81, R11, R14, R17, R20; Bear-W00, E81, R02, R20, YG01, YG11, YG06, YG13

There is plenty of time to take advantage of the annual Holiday sale! All stamps are 25% off thru December 13!

Not a Creature was Stirring {Purple Onion Designs}

Are you a Black Friday shopper? I am not but I have been known to shop online especially for crafty type sales. Like, e.g. the  Purple Onion Designs Holiday sale. This is an annual event and all stamps, including the new ones, are 25% off starting today through December 13.

I stamped the Cookies for Santa onto Copics X-Press It cardstock, then the Sugar Plum image onto patterned paper and then again onto X-Press It cardstock. I fussy cut all the images and placed the bunny in the chair using craft foam for dimension. I love that sleepy bunny waiting for Santa. It really is one of my favorite Stacy Yacula images. I created a shaker background for this little sweetie, cutting a "window" using a die and then used sequins for the shaker items against a patterned paper background. The Sentiment was parsed (no mouse this time, just a bunny), stamped onto a patterned paper cut with a stitched die.

Products: Purple Onion Designs stamps, Sunny Studio dp, PTI cs, The Cat's Pajamas die and sequins, Nuvo Crystal Drops, Altenew and WPlus9 ink, Copic Markers

Copics: Buny-E40, E41, E42, R00, R20, W00, E81, R11, R14, R17; Chair-C00, C1; Table-C00, C1, C3, YG01, YG11, YG03, E30, E33, R11, R14, R17, W00, E81

Happy shopping!

New Illustrator - Day 2 {Purple Onion Designs}

It's another introduction day for the new illustrator here at Purple Onion Designs. His name is Julian Charlton @juliancharlton on Instagram and I am featuring some of the images from the Happy Winter Forest Friends set today. If you missed his Silhouettes collection, you can see my post here. The new stamps will be available to purchase Friday, November 29. More about that later.

Rather than cut up the various images I used the whole sheet of 4x6 images and stamped onto Copics X-Press It cardstock. I then colored the images I wanted to use for this card using Copic markers and fussy cut out. I added Nuvo Crystal drops for the circles in the bear's sweater. I created the background with cardstock for the snowy ground and patterned paper for the snowy sky. I placed the tree in the background and then attached all the rest using foam dots for dimension. The sentiment also came from the set. YOU need this! It is adorable. 

Products: Purple Onion Designs stamps, The Paper Studio dp, PTI and MFT cs, Nuvo Crystal Drops, Simon Says and MFT dies, Altenew ink, Copic Markers

Copics: Bear-W00, E81, E41, E42, R20, B0000, B000, B01, B02; YG01, YG11, YG13; Gift-C00, C01, YG01, YG11, YG13; Tree-YG01, YG06, YG13, E33, E35; Star/Garland-YR30, YR31, YR23; Baubles-BG0000, BG000, BG01; Flying Bird-YR30, YR31, YR23, B000, B02; Standing Bird-BG000, BG01, YG01, YG06; Log-C00, C1, C3, E30, E33, E35

You are in luck as the new stamps are available as the same time as the annual Holiday sale! All stamps are 25% off November 29-December 13!

Happy Thanksgiving to all my USA readers.

Introducing a New Illustrator {Purple Onion Designs}

There is an additional talented illustrator here at Purple Onion Designs. His name is Julian Charlton @juliancharlton on Instagram and I am featuring some of the images from the Silhouettes collection  today. The new stamps will be available to purchase Friday, November 29.

As you can probably tell by the name, the images are silhouettes which makes for quicker card making. My goal was to make three quick cards in one afternoon session.  And most importantly I wanted them to be "mail friendly".

I stamped the Frederick the fox using canyon clay ink, masked him, then stamped the Twin Trees alternating the size and color between ocean tides and pinefeather ink. After stamping the sentiment (retired) using ocean tides ink, I cut out with a wonky stitched die. 

Products: Purple Onion Designs stamps, PTI cs, MFT die, PTI ink

I stamped the igloo from the Igloo & Snowballs images in soft stone ink and Tux (penquin) in blueberry. I masked the igloo, then stamped one of the trees from the Twin Trees and the sentiment No Place Like Home using hawaiian shores ink.  I bit of patterned paper at the bottom of the stiched rectangle added more color. Clear holographic sequins finished it up.

Products: Purple Onion Designs stamps, Reverse Confetti dp, PTI cs, MFT die, The Cat's Pajamas die and sequins, MFT and PTI ink

My last card finds Rudy the deer and Cocoa the bunny exchanging gifts. Rudy and Cocoa were stamped using wet cement ink and the Gifts in vermillion and viridian ink  onto a pierced circle diecut. The sentiment from the Warming Winter Thoughts set was stamped using vermillion ink. 

Products: Purple Onion Designs stamps, Echo Park dp, PTI cs, Doodlebug enamel dots,  Ranger Archival and Hero Arts ink

A thank you to Julian for such cute and easy to use stamp designs! See @purpleoniondesigns on Instagram and the Purple Onion Designs blog for more inspiration. Tomorrrow we will visit Julian's outline images which can be colored with your favorite medium. 

The Cat's Pajamas November Release and Blog Hop

It is release day at the The Cat's Pajamas! Five new stamps, one new die and seven new stencils are available for purchase in The Cat's Pajamas shop.

We are celebrating the release with a blog hop. If you arrived here from the very sweet Brenda's blog you are in the right place. If not, then please return to Cristena's blog because her fantastic project is the beginning of the hop.

My card uses the one of the sweet images from the Hugs Needed set. After stamping the image onto Dwatercolor cardstock I very loosely colored with Zig Kuretake Real Brush markers. I added a simple patterned paper strip on one edge of the image piece, then attached to a cardstock background using a layer of craft foam. The sentiment stamped in gala red and a few mini heart shape enamel dots finished it up.

Products: The Cat's Pajamas stamps and dies, PTI and Touchmaster cs, Doodlebug enamel hearts, MFT ink, Zig Kuretake Watercolor markers

Zigs: (065) Mid Brown, (022) Carmine Red, (046) Mid Green, (031) Cobalt Blue 

Now hop on over to Kerry's blog because she has something fabulous to share with you.

Have a great time hopping and shopping!

Here is the Full Blog Hop Lineup:

Cristena

Melissa

Julee

Beata

Wendy

Brenda

Nancy
Kerry

Alma/TCP

{The Cat's Pajamas Sneak Peeks} Winning

Welcome to another day of The Cat's Pajamas September sneak peeks. There are 5 stamp sets, 1 die set and 7 stencils in this release. Products are made available to purchase as they are sneak peeked but if you can wait there is special pricing on the official release date of November 26. Today we are showcasing the new Winning set. 

I stamped up the big eared bunny, colored with Copics and then fussy cut out. The tag was cut from patterned paper using a die from the Spring Tag Duo. I then used the Shakey Numbers Stencilz with vermillion ink to create a countdown. The background was prepared with patterned paper and the sentiment stamped at the bottom. The tag and bunny were attached with a layer of craft foam and a few enamel dots finished it up.

Products: The Cat's Pajamas stamps and dies, Sunny Studio dp, PTI cs, Doodlebug dp, Altenew and Ranger Archival ink, Copic Markers

Copics: C00, C1, C3, R20, W00, E81

For a chance to win a $10 gift certificate to the store, comment on each of the designer's blogs  including mine today and also on my Instagram account @nancyhthomas. Check the The Cat's Pajamas Blog to see which designers are participating each day. Winners will be announced on The Cat's Pajamas Blog and Facebook page each day.

Here are all the new products:

I'll be back tomorrow with another sneak peek project. Thanks for stopping by!