Hi there and welcome to the first day of the Pinkfresh Studio* Holiday Cards Blog Hop (you should have arrived from Ivana Camdzic‘s blog)! Yep, you’ve read that right: there will be two days of blog hops to be able to deliver you even more awesome inspiration with the Pinkfresh Studio Holiday themed stamps and dies!
(In case you get lost or want more information about this Blog Hop, be sure to check out the Pinkfresh Studio blog!)
And of course, like there is with any good Blog Hop, there will be a giveaway [now closed]! Well actually, there will be lots of giveaways! Each day there will be (6) people who can win a $25 gift card to the Pinkfresh Studio store (they will be randomly picked from the comments on the blogs), so that will be (12) winners over the two days, plus two grand prize winners randomly picked from the Pinkfresh Blog posts who will win a bundle of holiday stamps & dies**!
Aaaand, as if that’s not already good enough, Pinkfresh Studio will be offering a free Holiday Vibes die with every purchase in the Pinkfresh Studio shop (while supplies last; it will be added to your cart automatically)!
Now let’s have a look at the cards I created for the hop. For my cards I used three different stamp sets (+ coordinating dies) from last year’s Holiday release. I selected the main images of the Simple Joy and Festive Llama stamp set because I wanted to color them in with my new Faber Castell Polychromos pencils. I am really not much of a card maker, but I have been watching hours and hours of Youtube videos of super talented people like Yana Smakula or May Park, just to name two, and they have inspired me a lot and made me want to try it!
What always kind of kept me from getting started was the issue of the coloring images. A lot of card makers use Copic markers, but since I didn’t really know if the whole thing really is something for me, I didn’t want to invest a lot of money just to get started. So I decided to get a selection of Faber Castell Polychromos pencils to get started and see if I liked it.
There are ready-made sets of 12, 24, 36, 60 or 120 pencils available. However, since I didn’t really like a lot of the colours in the sets, I went to a craft store nearby and put together my own selection of 24 pencils. I knew that if I have colors that I really love, I would use them more often.
What I love about these Pinkfresh Studio stamp sets, is that there are coordinating dies available! That made cutting out the Santa and the llama super quick and easy and that way I could adhere them with some foam adhesive to my card bases to add some more dimension to the cards. All in all, these cards were very simple and easy to make. The part that took the most time was the coloring, but I am happy I gave it a go.
Normally I would shy away from using stamp sets that only have outline images because I’d always feel like they need to be coloured in but it wasn’t something that I could do. But now I can see a lot more cards in my future 🙂 I hope that these cards inspire you in some way to get your Christmas card making started!
** The winners will be posted on Sunday, November 11th by 2pm CST on the Pinkfresh Studio giveaway page. You must check that page & if you won, claim your prize within 2 weeks.
*This blogpost contains affiliate links for products I use and love. Compensated affiliate links present no additional cost to you. If you buy sth. through my affiliate link, I’ll earn some coffee money which will help keep me going and create more projects for you Thank you for your support!
Fiskars SureCut Paper Trimmer Shop at: SB | BL | AZ |
American Crafts Gold Scissors 8 Inch Shop at: SB | BL | AZ |
Spellbinders Platinum 6 Die Cutting Embossing Machine Shop at: SB | BL | AZ | SP |
Mini MISTI Stamping Tool Shop at: SB | HA |
Lawn Fawn Stamp Shammy Shop at: SB | AZ |
EK Success Powder Tool Shop at: SB | BL | AZ |
Tsukineko VersaMark Watermark Stamp Pad Shop at: SB | BL | AZ |
Heat Gun for Embossing Shop at: SB | BL | AZ |
Scrapbook Adhesives 3D Foam Squares White Shop at: SB | BL | AZ |
Tombow Mono Adhesive Tape Dispenser Shop at: SB | BL | AZ |
Hero Arts Intense Black Dye Ink Pad Shop at: SB | AZ | HA |
Hero Arts Embossing Powder Detail Black Shop at: SB | AZ | HA |
Hero Arts Embossing Powder White Shop at: SB | BL | AZ | HA |
Hero Arts Embossing Powder Gold Shop at: SB | BL | AZ | HA |
Tonic Studios Nuvo Crystal Drops Morning Dew Shop at: SB | BL | AZ |
Tonic Studios Nuvo Crystal Drops Simply White Shop at: SB | BL | AZ |
Pinkfresh Studio Simple Joy Stamp Set Shop at: SB | PFS |
Pinkfresh Studio Simple Joy Die Set Shop at: SB | PFS |
Pinkfresh Studio Festive Llama Stamp Set Shop at: SB | PFS |
Pinkfresh Studio Festive Llama Die Set Shop at: SB | PFS |
Pinkfresh Studio Merry and Bright Stamp Set Shop at: SB | PFS |
Faber Castell Polychromos 12 Set Shop at: AZ |
Faber Castell Polychromos 24 Set Shop at: AZ |
Faber Castell Polychromos 36 Set Shop at: AZ |
Faber Castell Polychromos 60 Set Shop at: AZ |
Faber Castell Polychromos 120 Set Shop at: AZ |
Lisascreativeniche
Love the backgrounds!
Karenajo
Love my Polychromos pencils and so great the way you have used them here. Your backgrounds are super and these are such fun cards! Thanks for sharing!
Mindy Drummond
Both cards are awesome, I wouldn’t believe you are just getting started coloring because you did a fantastic job on both. I love the Santa reading the letters so much lol. I have been wanting to try the Polychromos pencils too but have been putting it off because of the cost. I think I will take your example and just by a few singles to begin with and try them out. Thanks for sharing and the inspiration on the cards and the pencils. (mardy14@bellsouth.net)
Marisela Delgado
That llama is too cute!
Laura Jata
Such festive cards! Love it!
Annalisa
I feel you! All the little open spaces make me nervous and feel like they need coloring, but you’ve done a great job doing specific highlighting. I also have been inspired by Yana, and I’m hoping that I can actually make a decent amount of Christmas cards this year. Thanks for sharing!
Annette Gordon
I just love both of those cards. I don’t have any markers, just pencil crayons, and it is always nice to see how the professional’s colour. Very well done! I just love all these images too! Pink Fresh has the best images!
Chris W
I love the Simple Joy Stamp Set. Your card is super cute.
Dana W
Fun cards!! I really love that llama set!!
Denise Bryant
Delightful cards with these sweet images! I’m anxious to get started on some holiday card making myself!
Cathy Lillie
Fun and festive cards! I lIke how you created the background on the Santa card. I get intimidated with the coloring as well and usually stick to smaller images, but I am improving with practice. I think you did a great job!
Karen
The santa has me laughing!!! Great cards!!!
Lagene
Awesome cards! I especially love the llama!
Donna M.
I LOVE my Festive Llama, & your llama looks great over the snowy background. (The Santa is very cute too). Love your cards!
Gilda (McStamper)
Fabulous card designs. Love the dark background and adorable llama.
Ericka Strange
Great cards! Love this fun Santa and the llama is awesome. Great job and perfect for Christmas!
Bonnie Eng
Great cards – they are fun and very cute!
BrendaLea Abbott
I love both of your cards! You did a fabulous job on your coloring. I like ve how you created your backgrounds for the cards too!
Judie Attard
Awesome cards! Thanks for the inspiration!
Sue Washburne
Fun cards! I especially like your gold embossed background on the Santa card!
lee
What fun cards! My nieces would love that llama!! Thank you for sharing!
Heidi Rees
LOVE the llama card! I have a boy who loves llamas! I enjoy creating with heat embossing too! Great inspiration!
Super Stick Chick
Wonderful cards! So full of fun and merriment. Love the Santa stamp.
Bev Page
Hi there. Bev from “down under” here. I was hoping someone would choose that crazy Santa image to made a card, and the llama too, and you did both!!!! Thank you so much. LOVE both your cards and that Santa stamp is to die for. Thanks for sharing – you made my day!
Miriam Prantner
What cute cards! I especially like the llama on the dark background!
Kelly Schirmer
The coloring on these is so vibrant and sweet, they really bring these images to life!
Denise Mlady
Your cards came out so cute, glad you gave coloring a try! Thanks for sharing.
Jnana Bryant
Love these cards — so festive and merry!
Destiny
Love these cards and your coloring techniques!
Mary Holshouser
Usually we see Santa bustling around.
Love the idea of him taking some time to
sit and get his work done. Fun design.
Great card. thanks for sharing
txmlhl(at)yahoo(dot)com
Jennifer d
Oh llama! I love it. And the Santa card reminds me of the older Santa’s really great job.
Shirley Baker
These are both wonderful cards!
Farhana S
beautiful coloring! and the backgrounds! so perfect that at first glance I thought that they were pattern paper!
Sheri Kempke
Lovin’ the llama and the cute little elf! Great coloring!
Dana M
Fantastic cards! So wonderfully vibrant and festive. Wonderful coloring, glad you gave it a go.
Nandini Karmarkar
Very cute cards. Love the backgrounds you have created.
Lauryne Cunningham
The vivid colors on your cards are gorgeous! I love how Santa is portrayed in the Simple Joy stamp set!
Mirella Rogan
These are lovely, I especially like the llama card – so cute!
Margaret
Love these cards! A stamped background and a focal point – what more do you need?
Amy Vitriani
Adorable cards Kathleen! I love that you let your images stand out! These are super cute! Thanks for the inspiration ❤️
Jean Marmo
Darling! Thank you for the inspiration!
Nana Griffin
So cute!
Teri S.
Both of your cards are super cute! I love the Santa sitting reading. I’ve never seen Santa presented this way in a stamp & it appeals to me. Thanks!
Kelsey Thomas
What a cute llama! 🙂 I love it.
Peggy M
These are adorable cards! Thank you for sharing!
Althea Joseph
Great cards. Love your colouring, Santa is really cute.
Vicky O
Gotta love the llama!
Teresa Doyle
Kathleen, I don’t know why you think you “aren’t much of a card maker”? These are AMAZING! Keep watching Yana & May, you are doing them proud! Well done!
Dee Earnshaw
adorable cards – LOVE the backgrounds !!!
Michelle Hackett
These are wonderful. And your coloring is too. I’m not good with Copics, but I love colored pencils and gamsol. Gamsol blends the colors so beautifully. Give it a try.
Jane
Love your fun cards!
joy meadows
Your coloring is really outstanding, Kathleen! these cards make me smile!
Michele K. Henderson
I LOVE seeing llamas during the holidays! Your cards are all so bright and beautiful!
Amy Cooley
Adorable cards! These images are so much fun and I love your bold colors.
teresamnj
These cards are whimsical and so fun!
Isabel Z
I love blog hops because they inspire me to create.
Eva N
Your cards sure don’t look like you are just learning to color with pencils! These are adorable, especially the Simple Joy Santa.
Brande Davison
Such cute cards – fabulous inspiration.
Desiree Lamar
Love these, the Santa in the chair is my fave!
Carolyn Keierleber
I appreciate your comments on coloring. Your coloring looks beautiful and gives me hope. I love your Santa and Llama cards.
Brian Poteraj
Your llama (alpaca?) is so bold and cool. I like the colors you chose. Great for Christmas
Sue D
Cute cards. Love the llama.
Meghan Kennihan
I just love the llama! Great coloring and design!
Jeanne Beam
Wonderful cards.
Thanks for sharing…
Heike
I like the Santa card, he is too cute.
Deb O.
Love the whimsy of your cards!
Kirsty Vittetoe
Lots of fun and beautiful inspiration here!
Marisela Delgado
Awesome cards! Super cute llama. =)
Mary G
Great cards; they background on the Santa w/ list is great, but I love the llama more! 🙂
REBECCA YAHRLING
I’m not much of a colorist myself, but I try a little. Not much, tho. lol
I think you did a fantastic job! I love these cute images and your darling
cards. Great job!
Anne Sturgeon
Simple Joy is one of my favorites. For a beginner you are well on your way in the coloring department. So great. I am also a fan of Yana and have gleaned so many tips from her blog. Both backgrounds look wonderful. Thank you for sharing your talent.
Nelya
What an adorable Santa!
Cynthia Cole
See, you can do it. Your cards are lovely using the polychromos!
Sharon Gullikson
Your santa card is really cute. He looks like he’s being very careful about reading his list…
Kathryn S
These are beautiful Kathleen! I especially love the backgrounds you created. Great job on the colouring, too! Love that llama, he just cracks me up. So cute.
Kelly
I’m in awe of the background you made for the Santa card Kathleen. How did you get things spaced so evenly and stamped so straight? I love Pinkfresh because it’s mod and fun. I mean, check out Santa’s chair ! LOL, fabulous 😀
Karthikha Uday
Super fun and cool cards! 🙂
Freda
Love the background created for the santa card.
Vivian C
Thanks for sharing, these Christmas cards are so cute.
claudia fuentes
Wowww que bellas tarjetas, creo que es una gran idea usar los Poly cromos de faber castell quedan preciosos los colores nada que envidiar a los copic o otra marcas, muchas gracias por compartir su proceso creativo!!!
Lisa Byers
Wow!! You did a wonderful job coloring!! I have the Primacolor pencils and love them but are tempted to buy a set of Polychromos because I hear so many great things about them. Your cards are fabulous!!
carol
For being new to colouring, your cards are absolutely knock-it-out-of-the-park fabulous, Kathleen! You’ve done wonders with your new pencils in breathing ‘life’ into your Santa and llama. Great to read that this first step will lead to many more colouring/card-making journeys in the days to come! I, too, am often intimidated by ‘outline’ images…just need to take a breath and bring out my pencils to see what I can achieve. Christmas spirit soaring in seeing your inspired, inspiring festive delights!
~carol