Because I wanted to really keep the focus on the beautiful image, I decided to keep the background simple. I used a Cuttlebug Argyle Embossing Folder on some white and aqua colored cardstock, matching the patterns when joining them together at an angle.  Following the rule of thirds, I kept the top 2/3 of the card front white, and the bottom 1/3 aqua.  But something seemed missing, until I added a darker blue strip where the two backgrounds met to add a crisp accent.

To color up the image (to look like me), I used the following Copic colors:
Hair: B00, C4, C6 and C8
Cup: C1 and C3
Skin: E50. E51, C53, E11, and R20
Lips: R24
Sweater: B21, B45, and B37
Scarf and mittens: RV52, RV55, RV66 and RV69
I also emphasized her eyes and added lashes with 0.5 pt Copic Multi-liner Pen and added highlights with Uniball Signo White Gel Pen.

I cut out the image with an Oval Die and backed it with some fun foam glued on (I couldn’t find my double sided foam adhesive, but this was a great, inexpensive alternative) so that it could be uplifted from the background. Then for the inside of the card, I printed out in blue ink from my computer the following saying: “I love hot coffee, sweater weather and YOU!” This is going to be a Valentine’s Day card for Mr. CraftyPaws, and I know he’ll appreciate the clean design (he’s a CAS kind of guy!).

CLICK on the following picture to watch the Copic coloring tutorial:

Disclosure: Many of the supplies I’ve used for today’s project are linked. Some may be affiliate links, which means if you make a purchase I receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. I truly appreciate your support toward the costs of running this blog!

This card is being entered into the following challenges:
Fab ‘n’ Funky In the Pink Challenge
Word Art Wednesday Anything Goes Challenge
Creatalicious Anything Goes with Optional Hearts Challenge
Stamping Sensations Feminine Challenge
Crafty Gals Corner Winter Fun Challenge
Through the Craft Room Door Anything Goes Challenge
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday With Love Challenge

MFT Wednesday Sketch Challenge #475

I sketched out a peace symbol using some circle dies to help get the general framework and doodling an upside-down Y down the middle. Then using an old school Stamp-a-ma-jig, a Fiskars acrylic block, and Momento Tuxedo Black Ink, I stamped out the adorable puppies from the Mama Elephant “Little Dog Agenda” stamp set in the shape of that peace sign to create this single layer card.

I used the following Copic colors to bring all the pups to life and create the puppy peace symbol:
Black and grey dogs: W0, W1, W3, W5 and W7
Brown and tan dogs: E50, E51, E53, E55, E57 and E59
Rainbow of colors for accessories: R35, R37, YR04, YR07, Y11, Y21, Y19, G14, G17, B16, B18, C0
Blue dots to fill in peace sign: B000, B01 and B02
I also re-emphasized the puppy eyes and noses with a Sakura Black Glaze Pen

For the card liner, I printed the sentiment from my computer and simply stamped a couple of my favorite Little Dog Agenda puppies (the one offerings the bone and the heart) to flank the sentiment. To mat the card front, I used a beautiful shimmery dark blue card stock and then adhered the whole thing to a square kraft corrugated card base. I love how this non-traditional holiday card for dog lovers came out. 🙂

Disclosure: Many of the supplies I’ve used for today’s project are linked. Some may be affiliate links, which means if you make a purchase I receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. I truly appreciate your support toward the costs of running this blog!

CLICK the following picture to watch the whole card crafting process video:

This card is being entered into the following challenges:
Crafter’s Castle Anything Goes with Optional Christmas Challenge
Simon Says Stamp Monday B is For (Blue, Brotherly love, Banner, Balloon, Basketball, Boxes, and Bone) Challenge
Word Art Wednesday Anything Goes Challenge
Simon Says Stamp Work It Wednesday Ho Ho Holiday Challenge
Card Mania Christmas Challenge
Crafts Galore Encore Anything Goes Challenge
Crafty Gals Corner Anything Goes Christmas Challenge
Lil Patch of Crafty Friends Anything Goes Challenge
Through the Craft Room Door Anything Goes Challenge

For this card, I used the laughing donkey stamp along with the karate person kicking from the Diemond Dies Karate Die Set #1 to make a silly Fathers Day card. I printed from my computer the partial sentiment, “Hope your Father’s Day is…” and then I added the kicking person plus the donkey to pictograph the word, “Kick Ass.”

To keep the clean, CAS look, I first die cut the kicking person from white fun foam, but because I thought the dimension was not enough to give it enough visual weight to stand up next to the donkey, I added a lemon yellow kicking person die cut over top. And so that the karate person didn’t look like he was floating, I used a Tim Holtz Shattered Stencil and Tumbled Glass Distress Ink to indicate where the kick had hit a shattered glass background. I masked off the donkey before blending on the ink through the stencil using a Clarity Stamp Stencil Brush, which enabled me to gradually soften the broken glass look to blend to the white of the card front.

I used the following Copic colors for the Donkey: E01, E02, E97, W0, W1 with R14 for gums and tongue; and the ground under karate person and donkey was shadowed with N2. Using these colors I thought gave the overall card a balanced look with softer versions of the primary colors as the main colors of the card (lemon yellow, summer/light blue, and warm peach).

The following is a process video of creating this and the funny farm cow card from the prior post:

This card is being entered into the following challenges:
CASology Farm Challenge
Word Art Wednesday Anything Goes Challenge
Creatalicious Anything Goes with Optional Photo Inspiration
Lil Patch of Crafty Friends Anything Goes Challenge
Through the Craft Room Door Anything Goes Challenge
Crafts Galore Encore Anything Goes Challenge
613 Avenue Create Anything Goes with Optional Use Buttons or Bows Challenge
Crafters Castle Anything Goes with Optional More than One Fold Challenge
Stamping Sensations Anything Goes Challenge
MFT Color Challenge 94

To create the feeling of an ocean, I used Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Inks in Broken China, Salty Ocean and Blueprint Sketch to create an ombre background in the lower left 1/3 corner of the card front. I took care to blend this area to the white of the card front with a very soft edge so that it would appear as though we were getting a peek at this small segment of a much more vast ocean. For an even more watery look, I splattered on some water droplets and let the water leach out the pigment for a splotchy look.

I also used the Lawn Fawn Waves Die Set to die cut in some squiggly wave details into this inked area. This gave me a place to tuck in the adorable whale from the stamp set, which I Copic colored and fussy cut (including around the fin so it could be tucked over the wave). I think he’s so cute just swimming along the surface of the water! To make the water from the blowhole look wet and the cute whale’s eye look shiny, I also coated them with Glossy Accents.

I used the following Copic colors to color up the whale and water spurts:
Belly: C0 and C2; Body: C2, C4, C5 and C7 with R20 blush and B02 for the eye; water spouting from blowhole: B000, B01 with highlights made with a Signo White Gel Pen

I used the sentiment from the stamp set, “Have a WHALE of a time” and heat embossed it with Ranger Fine Black Embossing Powder in the upper right corner of the card front, which I had intentionally left crisply white.

Disclosure: Many of the supplies I’ve used for today’s project are linked. Some may be affiliate links, which means if you make a purchase I receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. I truly appreciate your support toward the costs of running this blog!

This card is being entered into the following challenges:
Simon Says Stamp Monday Masculine Challenge
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Anything Goes Challenge
Word Art Wednesday Anything Goes Challenge
Creatalicious Anything Goes with Optional Photo Inspiration Challenge
Addicted to CAS SEA Challenge
CASology Squiggle Challenge
Simon Says Stamp Work it Wednesday Summer Challenge
Lil Patch of Crafty Friends Anything Goes Challenge
Through the Craft Room Door Anything Goes Challenge
613 Avenue Create Mostly Blue Challenge

I used the following Copic colors to color up this cutie and her balloon:
Skin: E000, E00, E01, E21 and R20
Blue black hair: B000, B00, C7, C8 and C9
Dress: RV00, RV02, R22, R24 and R29
Balloon: R22, R24 and R29
Shadow on ground: C1 and C2
I used Clear Wink of Stella to add shimmer to both the balloon and the heart on the little girl’s dress, and added a coating of Ranger Glossy Accents on the Balloon for high shine.

I first stamped out the sentiment in the upper left, but ended up getting stray ink marks so I had to figure out how to hide that. I ended up stamping out the sentiment with VersaMark Ink on a scrap of black card stock and used Super Fine White Ranger Embossing Powder to heat emboss it. I popped this sentiment piece on double sided foam adhesive to add a little dimension, and I think it looks much better this way than how I had originally stamped out the sentiment just directly on the card front.

For a little extra visual texture, I added gun metal glitter washi tape to both sides of the card front and also backed the whole piece with some fun pink and red chevron patterned paper from the Doodlebug Design “Lovebirds” 6 x 6 paper pad (retired). For a sparkly finishing touch I added a handful of sequins in various sizes to the lower right and upper left of the card front.

It’s one of my goals this year to focus a bit more on the insides of my cards, so for this one I trimmed the sides of the card liner with scraps of the same Doodlebug chevron patterned paper. I also decided to stamp out from the stamp set, the large quilt heart and the heart balloon again.

Unfortunately, I smeared the heart balloon a little bit, but I ended up camouflaging that with little eyelash lines that I doodled all around the hearts with a 0.03 pt. Copic Multi-liner Pen. Again, having to address a little mistake I think made the card better! 🙂

Disclosure: Many of the supplies I’ve used for today’s project are linked. Some may be affiliate links, which means if you make a purchase I receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. I truly appreciate your support toward the costs of running this blog!

The following is a start to finish process video of crafting this card:

This card is being entered into the following challenges:
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Anything Goes Challenge
Word Art Wednesday Anything Goes Challenge
Creatalicious Anything Goes with Optional Girly Challenge
Card Mania Embossing Challenge – WINNER
Lil Patch of Crafty Friends Anything Goes Challenge
Through the Craft Room Door Anything Goes Challenge
613 Avenue Create Anything Goes with Optional Love Challenge
Crafty Gals Corner Anything Goes Challenge
MFT Color Challenge #88

It’s a single layer CAS scene card that I stamped and masked in layers. I first stamped the bunny. Then I masked it to stamp the rug. I positioned the cup so it would look like it had just slipped from the bunny’s hand and doodled in some spilled coffee with a 0.1 pt Copic Multi-liner Pen. Then I partially masked off just below the bunny’s arm and stamped in the flag so it would look like it was tucked in the crook of her arm.

I used the following Copic colors for the scene:
Bunny: W0, W1, W3, W5 with R30, R20 and YR15 for the ears, nose and paw pads
Cup: Y00, Y13, YR15
Blue of rug: B000, B00, B01
Red of rug: R24, R27 and R29
White flag: C0, C1
Spilled coffee: E57 and E59
Wood grain floor: C1, C3, E53
I added white Uniball Signo Gel Pen dots in her eyes and a tiny highlight on her nose. And to add a bit of glimmer shimmer, I coated the cup with a Clear Wink of Stella.

For the sentiment, I printed from my computer the sentiment, “Adulting is Hard” using a free font called Magnolia Sky in 20 pt font. I really like the scripty look of this font and I thought the whimsical hand written look went well with this cute, exhausted bunny. LOL

This card is being entered into the following challenges:
Through the Craft Room Door Anything Goes Challenge
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Add A Sentiment Challenge
CAS-ual Fridays More Coffee Please Challenge
Lil Patch of Crafty Friends Anything Goes Challenge
Word Art Wednesday Anything Goes Challenge
Crafty Gals Corner Anything Goes Challenge
Creatalicious Anything Goes with Optional Cute Challenge
613 Avenue Create Anything Goes with Optional Something New Challenge
MFT Color Challenge #85

I printed out the sentiment: “You are the wind beneath my wings.” from my computer and then stamped out the whimsical flying bird with a heart shaped breast with Momento Tuxedo Black Ink. Then I Copic colored the bird and the surrounding swirly air/wind with the following Copic colors:
Bird: Y11, YR21, YR14, R14, B34, B37 and B39
Air: B000, B00, B01

To add a little deeper detailed coloring in the “nooks and crannies” of the air around the bird, I also used a couple of Prismacolor color pencils in Blue Mediterranee (PC1022) and Bleu Denim (PC1101). For a little magical shimmer on the bird, I added a coat of Clear Wink of Stella. To help the darker areas of the bird pop, I added some dotting details with a Uniball Signo White Gel Pen. Lastly I also added Ranger Glossy Accents to the bird’s eyes, beak and legs for some dimension and shine.

For a finishing touch on the CAS card, which I die cut using a WPlus9 Sunshine Layers die, I glued on a smattering of sequins topped with tiny dots of Platinum Liquid Pearls to cover the holes in the sequin centers. For added texture, shine and balance, I also added a handful of teeny tiny Platinum Liquid Pearl dots close to the sequin clusters.

The following is a process video of the coloring of this card:

Disclosure: Many of the supplies I’ve used for today’s project are linked. Some may be affiliate links, which means if you make a purchase I receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. I truly appreciate your support toward the costs of running this blog!

This card is being entered into the following challenges:
Simon Says Stamp Work It Wednesday New Challenge
Simon Says Stamp Monday Something New Challenge
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Something New Challenge
CASology Encourage Challenge
Creatalicious Anything Goes Challenge
Word Art Wednesday Anything Goes Challenge
Crafty Gals Corner Anything Goes Challenge
Lil Patch of Crafty Friends Anything Goes Challenge
Cards Galore Encore Anything Goes Challenge
MFT Color Challenge #84

Once I had the design in my mind, putting together the card was a snap! I first stamped out the puppy raising his leg and the hydrant (both from the My Favorite Things You Make My Tail Wag stamp set — one of my favorites) on Strathmore Bristol Paper (this is great for watercoloring as it absorbs moisture well without warping and is as smooth as cardstock, unlike a lot of watercolor papers). Then I stamped the images onto post-it note paper and fussy cut these images out as masks. Next, I placed the DIY masks on top of the images and then stamped out the Docrafts Brickwork Background Stamp to create the background. WOW, once that background was stamped in, the whole scene came to life!

For the highlighted focal point of the card, I watercolored a pee-rainbow using Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers in: Geranium Red (029), Orange (070), Yellow (050), May Green (047), Cornflour Blue (037) and Deep Violet (084). Using a Fine Pentel Waterbrush made it really easy to blend and fade out the pigments to create the splashy rainbow. I thought the pee-rainbow could represent how sometimes through adversity something good can come. 🙂

The sentiment from the You Make My Tail Wag stamp set reads, “Some Days You’re the Dog, Some Days You’re the Hydrant.” That cracks me up every time I read it. I wanted it to be clear and pop from the rest of the card but not distract from the mostly black and white card design, so I used VersaMark Ink to stamp it on black cardstock and heat embossed it with Ranger Super Fine Detail Embossing Powder. I trimmed down the cardstock and popped it up on double-sided foam adhesive toward the top right side of the card.

Disclosure: Many of the supplies I’ve used for today’s project are linked. Some may be affiliate links, which means if you make a purchase I receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. I truly appreciate your support toward the costs of running this blog!

This card is being entered into the following challenges:
Addicted to CAS Favorite Stamp Challenge
Simon Says Stamp Work it Wednesday Stamptember Challenge
Lil Patch of Crafty Friends Anything Goes Challenge
Word Art Wednesday Anything Goes Challenge
Through the Craft Room Door Anything Goes Challenge
613 Avenue Create Anything Goes with Optional Masculine Card – this is for my nephew – WINNER
Penny Black and More Close to Nature Challenge
Creatalicious Anything Goes with Optional Make Your Own Background – brick and rainbow-pee background
Just Keep on Creating Anything Goes Challenge

I used the My Favorite Things Snuggle Bunnies stamp set (which is one of my favorites and seems perfectly suited to craft thinking-of-you cards) to make this CAS (clean and simple) card. I stamped one of the bunnies and teddies off center and softly colored them with the following Copic markers:
Bunny: W0, W1 and R30
Bunny’s T: YR61, E95, Y11 and Y15
Teddy: E51, E21, E31 and R30
Shadow to ground them: C1

Then I die cut the card front panel with the largest of the My Favorite Things STAX Cross-Stitched Die-Namics Rectangle Die Set. That subtle texture around the panel I think adds a nice warm/cozy feel.

Lastly I took a scrap of black card stock and used VersaMark ink to stamp out the sentiment: Today I caught myself smiling. Then I realized I was thinking of you.” I first prepped the card stock with an EK Success anti-static Powder Tool and then used Ranger Super Fine Detail White Embossing Powder over the stamping. A blast (front and back) with my heat tool, and I ended up with a nice, crisp sentiment to cut out and pop up on foam adhesive.  A yellow mat and then adhering to a yellow-orange card base, and voila!

Disclosure: Above are links to the supplies I’ve used for today’s project. Some may be affiliate links, which means if you make a purchase I receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. I truly appreciate your support toward the costs of running this blog!

This card is being entered into the following challenges:
613 Avenue Create Anything Goes with Optional Masculine Card
Simon Says Stamp Work It Wednesday Stamptember Challenge
Addicted to CAS Favorite Stamp Challenge
Word Art Wednesday Anything Goes Challenge
Just Keep On Creating Anything Goes Challenge
Penny Black and More Close to Nature Challenge
Creatalicious Anything Goes with Optional Make Your Own Background Challenge
Lil Patch of Crafty Friends Anything Goes Challenge
Crafts Galore Encore Anything Goes Challenge
CAS-ual Fridays Sketch Challenge

I first stamped out the cute pug couple with Momento Tuxedo Black Ink in the lower right corner of a plain white card stock card front and used the following Copic colors to bring them to life:
Pugs: E51, E81, E84, W5 and W7
Bow and heart: R22 and R27
Ground shadow: C3

I also cleaned up the bleeding markers along the edges of the image with 0 Copic, a 0.03 pt Copic Multi-liner Pen, and a Uni-ball Signo White Gel Pen.

To add a little interest, I die cut a fancy lower edge to the card front using a die from the Pretty Pink Posh Stitched Borders 2 Die Set. Then I cut off about 1″ off the top of the card front to make some room at the bottom of the card front for a scrap of plaid patterned paper from the Graphic 45 Good Ol’ Sport Collection.

I adhered the whole card front to a kraft card stock card base, because I thought the kraft would add a nice coziness and coordinate with the warmth of the pug colors. For the inside liner of the card, I used another scrap of the Graphic 45 plaid paper as a mat and used a scrap of white card stock for the message area. The sentiment is from the My Favorite Things “You Make My Tail Wag” stamp set, and I used some Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Antique Linen to stamp out some small paw prints.

As finishing touches and a little sparkle to the card front, I coated the heart with Cranberry Stickles and added a handful of Champagne Gold Stickles dots around the pug couple. I added Glossy Accents to the pugs’ eyes and noses for a tiny bit of shine and dimension too.

The following is a process video sharing the step by step process of making this card:

This card is being entered into the following challenges:
613 Avenue Create Anything Goes with Optional Monochrome Challenge
Simon Says Stamp Work It Wednesday Add Sparkle Challenge
Simon Says Stamp Monday You’ve Got the Edge Challenge
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Anything Goes Challenge
Word Art Wednesday Anything Goes Challenge
Not Just Cards Anything Goes Challenge
Creatalicious Anything Goes Challenge with Optional Summer
Crafty Gals Corner Anything Goes Challenge
Through the Craft Room Door Anything Goes Challenge
Lil Patch of Crafty Friends Anything Goes Challenge