Polkadoodles Hello Beautiful Autumn

 Hello crafty friends! Today I’m sharing a sweet little autumn card made with the gorgeous Polkadoodles Wishes in the Wind Winnie Autumn Wishes digital stamp. I loved the cosy feel of this image straight away — Winnie, the huge maple leaf, the little cat in the basket and the dog carrying a leaf all felt perfect for a warm, seasonal make.

I kept the card size at 6 x 4 and went for a clean white base so the colouring could really stand out. I printed the digi stamp, planned the placement of the sentiment above the image, and chose an autumn palette of olive greens, pumpkin oranges, warm browns and soft peach tones.

The main image was coloured with Ohuhu markers first, using them to build the base colour and shading. Once that was dry, I went back in with Polychromos pencils to add all the little details — leaf veins, folds in Winnie’s clothes, texture on the boots and scarf, and extra depth on the animals.

For the greeting, I used the Polkadoodles Big Hello sentiment die in olive green and paired it with a dark brown Rare Earth “beautiful” stamp underneath. I love how the bold die-cut word gives the card height, while the script sentiment keeps it soft and pretty.

I finished the panel with a hand-drawn stitched border and kept the embellishments simple — no sparkle this time, just lovely autumn colour. I also die cut and displayed leaves using the Polkadoodles Winter Botanical Bits dies, which tied in beautifully with the falling leaves in the stamp.

My project tip: If you like colouring with both markers and pencils, keep the marker layers smooth and simple first, then use pencils to add the tiny details at the end. It gives the image a lovely hand-finished look without overworking it.

I’m really happy with how this one turned out — it feels cheerful, cosy and very autumnal. If you fancy making your own version, you can find the Winnie digital stamp on the Polkadoodles website using the link above. What autumn colours are you reaching for at the moment?

I'd like to enter this into:

Thanks you for stopping by in my little crafting world - for more inspiration, please do click on the social links above, or leave me a little comment!

See you soon - crafty hugs

Rachael

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Witchy wishes from Polkadoodles

 

Hello crafting fiends (yes, we are no longer friends; it's Halloween making time!)

Firstly a bit of a disclaimer... I have started using ChatGPT to brighten my background layouts to show off my cards.  A short blurb into the software, along with the photo and some details of the items you want it to display in the background, and it creates a perfect layout to display my project.  If you see stuff on my pages stating AI-generated, please know that my cards are all totally handmade, from scratch, using real supplies!  Only the photo editing and background are done via AI. 

I had such fun making this bright little Halloween card! I started with a clean 5 × 7 inch white base, then built a colourful focal cluster using the witch, broomstick, cat and “Broom Parking” sentiment from the Polkadoodles Grab Your Broomstick Matchables stamp set.  This stamp and die set is no longer available, but... if you go to the Polkadoodles website, there are plenty of other cute witchy characters and stamps you could use to replace the one I used.

For the background, I raided my scrap box and tore up little pieces of Polkadoodles backing paper. The lime green, purple and monochrome patterns were layered behind the characters, keeping the panel fairly compact so there was still plenty of fresh white space around it.

I stamped the images onto colouring card and brought them to life with Ohuhu markers. I went for a wonderfully witchy mix of green skin, glossy black hair, deep purple clothes and bright orange stars, with warm brown on the broom. Once everything was coloured, I fussy cut each piece and left a slim white border to keep the outlines lovely and crisp.

When I assembled the card, I tucked the broom behind the witch, popped the tiny black cat beside her skirt and ran the “Broom Parking” sentiment across the right-hand side on a longer black strip. Trying the layout before adding glue made it much easier to balance all those bold shapes.

The final touch was a scattering of purple Nuvo Drops in different sizes. I placed nine in clusters around the image, mostly in the white space, then left the card flat until they were completely dry. They add just the right amount of shine and dimension without stealing the spotlight from that fabulous witch.

My project tip: A slim white border around fussy-cut stamped images works like a built-in frame. It keeps even black hair and tiny broom details clear when they overlap patterned papers.

I really love the mix of cute characters, bold colour and scrappy texture on this one. It feels spooky without being scary—and the little cat in its tiny witch’s hat might just be my favourite bit! Which detail catches your eye first?

I'd like to enter this into:

Colour dare challenge - use colour palette 

Creative inspirations challenge - Anything goes

Tic tac toe challenge - using grid (bottom line die cut (fishtail and banners), patterned paper (even if only scraps) bright colours

Thanks for dropping by - leave me a comment, and please click on the icons in the right corner to follow me on other social media platforms.

See you very soon

Crafting hugs

Rachael

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Udderly cute cow

 Hi crafting friends

Did you see the latest release from Polkadoodles the 'udderly cute'collection. It has some of the most adorable cows, waiting to be coloured in a variety of colours and with some gorgeous papers too.  I loooove the cow print paper on this!

I printed the digi image onto watercolour card stock in a light grey (you can adjust the transparency of the image to change the colour)

I then used a combination of watercolour paints and coloured pencils for detail to bring this cutie to life, before fussing with cutting out, leaving a small white border.

I then mounted it on a white rectangle, cutting a larger rectangle from the cow print paper.  All finished with a daisy and a sentiment (also in the bundle)

There are so many cute cows to choose from. Check out the full bundle here, or you can buy them individually.  There will definitely be something you 'need'! 

Id like to enter this into:

Crafty calender - Love is in the air

Crafty Catz - Anything goes

Cut it up - This makes me happy - (dies used flowers and stitched rectangle background) card making just makes me happy and so does this image.  it really made me smile when i saw it!

C.R.A.F.T - love/anything goes

Little red wagon - Love

Hope to see you soon, thanks so much for dropping by.  If you do land here, please leave me some love - it makes my day to read them!

Crafting hugs

Rachael

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some bunny loves you bunches

 Hi Everyone

Happy new year - first post of 2025!  For those of you who use Instagram, I tend to post more often on there so please follow me here for more inspiration!

I love Christmas, but something about spring cards makes my heart happy!  The fresh colours and florals are so pretty, also with Spring comes love and valentines day.

For this week's challenge over at Polkadoodles blog, I used an image that's available singularly or on a USB or mega bundle download.  I love to colour, but sometimes I just don't have time, and there are some beautiful pre-coloured images on the PD website you can use for a quick easy card.

This one is from the Bunny Love collection and is called Love You Bunches.

There are also papers in the mega bundle/USB, so I printed these on a smooth white card stock and used them with a Kraft card for a softer look.  finished with some white die-cut flowers.  It's too cute!

Thanks so much for stopping by - see you again soon!

Rachael

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