Tag Archives: Copic Coloring

Birthday Card Using My Favorite Things Beautiful Bloom Stamp & Die

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I’ve had this stamp & die set for quite a while, but had never used it before. You know how stamps can get to the bottom of a pile and are “still new to you” months after they were released. That’s what happened to this beauty! I needed a quick and easy birthday card for a friend, so I thought that this large flower would be perfect.

I started by stamping the image using Gina K’s Amalgam black ink (Copic friendly) and chose a pink combination of Copics for the coloring (RV02, RV04 and RV17). My coloring skills here were very, very simple. After coloring, I die cut the image out and put it aside.

I knew that I wanted to “pop” the flower up, so using the die and another piece of white card stock (4″x5 1/4″), I cut out another flower. Rather than glue that to the colored flower, I just put it aside and placed thin foam squares (these are new to me, but I LOVE THEM!) on the colored flower.

Before assembling the card, I stamped the outside greeting from Reverse Confetti’s Lots to Say stamp set onto the card front piece. Final assembly involved finding a matching piece of pink scrap card stock for my card front mat. After that was adhered to my white card base, I glued my white card front to the card. All that was left was adhering the colored flower in the open die cut space. (side note: that was probably the most difficult thing about the card…finding the right way to attach the flower).

I love how the pink mat peeks through underneath the flower.

I’m hoping this made sense, but if not, please leave me a comment with any questions. Thanks for visiting 🙂

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Cute Birthday Card Using Both Digital and Stamped Images

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I have collected so many digital images that I just never seem to think about once I store them away in the appropriate folder on my computer.  After seeing a recent Instagram post from Kathy Racoosin (@kathyrac) where she colored a gorgeous digital image, I was inspired to go through my stash to find something that I could use on the birthday card that I was making.  As you’ll see, I decided to start pretty small, but I’m hoping that it will inspire me to use more digital images in the future.

My Empty Nest Creations Birthday Card using Bugaboo Digital RPHello image

I started by ink blending my background (4×5 1/4″) using Distress Oxides Broken China, Blueprint Sketch, Faded Jeans and Black Soot.  As you can see, I had a slight mishap on the lower part, but I kept going because I figured that I could “hide” it a bit with my dog image.  (For some reason, the mishap isn’t so obvious on the real card.  Lighting and camera seem to highlight it.)  I finished the background adding some water spritzes and some white heat embossed stars using Simon Says Stamp Birthday Celebrations stamp set.  The final touch for the background was a few clouds cut from vellum using Ellen Hutson Silver Linings die set.  In order to hide the spray adhesive on the clouds, I simply added some white gel pen lines.

On to the stamping and coloring…Using Spectrum Noir paper, I stamped the heart balloon from Concord & 9ths Monster Love stamp set using Gina K Amalgam ink, and I printed the cute dog from Bugaboo Digital Stamps (RPHello).  After some very basic coloring, I fussy cut both images and put them aside to dry a bit.

Putting everything together was easy.  Using foam squares for some dimension, I adhered the dog and balloon in places that would leave room for the birthday banner.  Before adding the banner, I tied and glued the string around the balloon end.  While I let that dry, I stamped the greeting using Hero Arts Stamp & Cut Ribbon Messages stamps, but I knew that I wanted to have a portion of the banner to wrap around the balloon string.  To do this, I used the partial die cutting technique that Jennifer McGuire has shown many times on her blog.  I let the die cut most of the image, but left the left side of the die off the cutting pad.  Using my scissors, I added a bit to wrap around the string.

Once the glue was dry on the balloon string, I attached the banner and glued the string to the dog’s paw, and called it done!

Thanks for visiting 🙂

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p.s.  If you’re not following Kathy on Instagram, you really should.  She is so incredibly talented and a genuinely nice person.  Also, be sure to check out Bugaboo Digital Stamps to see some adorable images.

I Just Had to Copy This Design…

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I am a bit obsessed with Instagram.  There, I said it.  It is the best and quickest way to get inspired by so many incredible card makers out there.  Today, I came across Trina from Phamtastic Design.  If you aren’t following her blog and her Instagram account, you are truly missing out.  She is so incredibly talented.  The reason I am so drawn to her style is it’s not overly complicated.  She makes awesome cards that bright and colorful, but are easy to translate to your own style.

On her blog and Instagram account, she has a stacked penguin card with this incredible rainbow background.  Here’s the link to her blog post.  I just had to use it to make a card today.

MyEmptyNestCreations Rainbow Background Card Using Gerda Steiner Designs Howl Are You? stamp set

I started by stamping this adorable howling dog from Gerda Steiner Designs Howl Are You? stamp set.  After a bit of masking, I colored the dogs with my Copic Markers (I need to do a lot more practicing with my Copic coloring 🙂  To get the sentiment the way I wanted, I had to do something that I’ve avoided doing with any of my stamps—I cut the stamp apart to get the greeting all on one line.  I’m still a bit uncomfortable with it, but if it’s okay with the Jennifer McGuire, it’s got to be okay with me.

Once the dogs were all colored, I pulled out my masks again (I had 3 dog masks) and strategically masked the dogs and the circular ground while I ink blended the background with Twisted Citron, Salty Ocean, Seedless Preserves and Fossilized Amber Distress Oxides.  The perfect finishing touch was adding all of those white snow dots using a white gel pen.

I mounted it onto a top folding A2 Neenah Desert Storm card base and called it done!

I hope you like it (and don’t forget to check out Trina’s blog and Instagram Account)!

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I Know They’re Anemones, but…

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I see poppies in Altenew’s Build a Flower Anemone stamp set.  I guess you can make them any flower that you want, right?

My Empty Nest Creations Altenew's Build a Flower Anemone

After masking the large flower outline and leaves stamps multiple times (stamped them in Memento Tuxedo Black), I colored them with Copic markers.  After the Copic coloring was complete, I added just a bit of colored pencils to the flowers for some subtle detail.  To give the flowers a bit of dimension, I simply outlined them with some cool gray Copic colors.

For the sentiment, I chose one from Technique Tuesday’s So Blessed stamp set and white heat embossed it onto a scrap of black card stock.  For some added interest, I matted that piece onto a strip of paper from My Favorite Thing’s Black & White Stripe 6×6 paper pad and attached it to the floral piece.

To finish it off, I attached the floral piece onto a top folding A2 card base made from 110# Neenah Solar White card stock.

Thanks for stopping by!

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A Very Simply Cut Out Card

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I’ve wanted to try this cut out technique for a while.  I’m pretty sure it was Jennifer McGuire that inspired this card.

My Empty Nest Creations Cut Out window card using Paper Smooches Best Buds stamps and dies

I started with a vertical top folding A2 card base.  I die cut the flower/mason jar image from Paper Smooches Best Buds dies.  Using the cut out as a template, I fit the matching stamp in the cut out space and stamped it through the window using Memento Tuxedo Black ink (love my Tim Holtz Stamp Platform).  I colored the image using Copic markers with very simple blending.  To give the flowers a little more detail, I pulled out my white gel pen and Micron black marker.  The sentiment is from Altenew’s Penned Rose stamp set.

This was such a simple card, but I really loved how it turned out.  I hope you like it, too.

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A Card for a Friend

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Unity Stamp Company is one of my favorite cling stamp companies.  Their stamp images range from adorable to incredibly elegant and everything in between.  I’m convinced that anyone would find something that they liked in their stamp inventory.  Best of all, their stamp quality is hard to beat.  The images stamp beautifully and clean up is a breeze.

My Empty Nest Creations Unity Stamp Lil Bloomin Owl over Watercolor BackgroundI had a leftover piece from some watercolor playing, so I decided to use it for the base of my latest card.  I diecut it using Avery Elle’s Wonky Stitches die to give it that cute loose stitching along the edges.  Unity’s Lil’ Bloomin Owl has been sitting on my desk waiting to make an appearance, so I thought he’d be the perfect star for my card.  I stamped him with Memento ink onto Copic Blend It Paper, and colored him with Copic markers.  As you can see, I need a lot of practice using my Copics, but I think he turned out okay.  After fussy cutting him out, I used foam tape to pop him up.  My greeting is from another Unity stamp set, Lil Bunny Peeps.  I white heat embossed it onto black card stock and adhered it with my tape runner.

To mat my card front, I chose a color that I definitely don’t use very often, green, but I think it coordinated perfectly with the watercolor background.  I chose a kraft colored cardbase rather than a white one because my watercolor paper isn’t truly white.

I hope you like it!

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