Blog Archives - Crystal Komara

Jar of Flowers

6/30/2020

First things first, despite the tag on this jar of flowers reading, "SMIL", it does in fact, actually say "SMILE!" I realized after taking the photos for this card that one of the leaves was hanging down over the tag thereby blocking the "E." And now, I can't unsee it!! It's going to drive me insane. But, all that aside, I love this fun shaker jar of flowers all made with products from Whimsy Stamps.

Card details:

*Full list of supplies located at the end of this post.

The base of this A2 sized card is made from Neenah Solar White Smooth cardstock. Using a scalloped rectangle dies, I cut the frame from Crumb Cake cardstock. I cut a 5" x 3 3/4" piece of white cardstock to line the frame with and I stamped the sentiment in the upper right corner using Memento Tuxedo black ink. I created the shaker frame using the Mason Atlas Jar and die cut it from Balmy Blue cardstock. I lined the back of the jar with a piece of acetate film and added blue and clear Sparkletz (glass beads and sequins) before sealing the shaker frame down. I stamped the flowers in Memento Tuxedo black ink on white cardstock. I colored the flowers with Copic markers and fussy cut them (as there is no coordinating die). I adhered the flowers to the card using 3M foam adhesive for added dimension. Lastly, I added a coat of clear Wink of Stella to the flowers for sparkle.

Shaker cards remain one of my favorite interactive cards to make. Thanks for visiting and have a wonderfully creative day!

XO, Crystal

List of supplies:

Inky Paws Challenge #126

6/29/2020

Hello readers and welcome back from the weekend! I hope you found a little time to do something crafty. Today I am sharing another card that I made for the Newton's Nook Inky Paws Challenge #126. This week we have a sketch challenge to inspire you. Our challenges run for two weeks, thereby giving you more time to create, so I have designed a second card to share with you this week that was still inspired by the same image seen below:

Here is the fun London themed shaker card I created inspired by this week's sketch:

Card details:

The base of this A2 sized card is made from Neenah Solar White smooth cardstock. I cut a 5" x 3 3/4" piece of white cardstock and matted this on top of a piece of Pacific Point blue cardstock. I stamped the sentiment in the upper right corner in Real Red ink. I cut a piece of plaid paper and adhered it to the bottom third of the card. I also cut a strip of Real Red cardstock and stamped "I (heart) London" over it in red ink before adhering it to the card. I created a shaker circle using the Circle Frame dies and filled the shaker with iridescent sequins. I stamped the London Tower, the bus and the Newton's umbrella images from the Newton Dreams of London stamp set in Memento Tuxedo Black ink. I colored the images with Copic markers and die cut them using the coordinating Newton Dreams of London dies. I adhered the images to the card using 3M foam adhesive for added dimension.

Will this sketch inspire YOU to create? Are you ready to get your paws inky with us and play along for a chance to win?! We will randomly select one linked entry to receive a $20 store credit to the Newton's Nook Designs online shop!
We will also highlight our favorites from each challenge the following Monday, so that all entries have a chance to be featured on the Newton's Nook Designs blog.

Please make sure you review the challenge rules page before you link up your project!
Deadline to enter is Friday, July 3rd, at midnight CST.

Thanks for visiting and I hope to see your creations there!

XO, Crystal

Music On

6/28/2020

Hello readers, I hope you are all enjoying a nice weekend! Today I am sharing a slimline card made using the new "Music On" digital stamp set by Richard Garay Designs. I think this is a really fun stamp set and I'm probably aging myself by saying I remember cassette tapes and walkman's from my own teenage years. And yes, absolutely I made my own mixed tapes back then too!

Card details:

This slimline card measures 8 1/2" x 3 1/2". Slimline cards are designed to fit inside a regular #10 business sized envelope and do not require additional postage. I cut a 8 " x 3" piece of white cardstock and stamped teh background splatter in Sweet Blue ink, Sour Watermelon Ink, Sweet Banana ink and Rich Cactus ink. I matted this white cardstock onto an 8 1/4" x 3 1/4" piece of Rich Cactus cardstock. I printed the "Music On' digital stamp set onto Neenah Solar White Smooth cardstock and colored in the cassette tapes with Copic markers. I cut the images out using my Scan ad Cut 2 electronic cutting machine, in lieu of fussy cutting. I adhered the cassette tapes to the card using 3M adhesive for added dimension. I printed out the digital sentiment and added it to the bottom of the card also using 3M foam adhesive.

Here is the "Music On" digital stamp set that I used to create today's card:

I hope you have enjoyed this fun "flashback to the 80's" card! Thanks for visiting and enjoy the rest of your weekend.

XO, Crystal

Peeking Giraffe

6/26/2020

Hello readers and happy Thursday! I'm happy to be sharing in the latest June release of products from Whimsy Stamps and I have a really fun and colorful card to share with you using the new "Peeking Giraffe" stamp set and coordinating giraffe stencil. I was so excited with how this whimsical this background came out! As I begin to branch out and try to do more experimenting with Distress Oxide inks, I'm finding that I really am enjoying using them!

Card details:

The base of this A2 sized card is made from Neenah Solar White Smooth cardstock. Using the Whimsy Giraffe stencil, I stenciled Distress Oxide Inks in Lemonade, Honey, Evergreen and Broken China on a piece of Bristol Smooth cardstock. I mounted this stenciled background onto a piece of kraft cardstock before adhering both pieces to the white cardstock base. I stamped the giraffe in Memento Tuxedo black ink on a die cut circle of white cardstock. I colored the giraffe using Copic markers. I mounted the white cardstock circle onto a scalloped piece of kraft cardstock. I cut a piece of grass from Green Apple cardstock using the Grass and Edger die set. Lastly, I stamped the sentiment in Versamark ink on a piece of black cardstock and heat embossed the sentiment with white embossing powder.

I hope you have enjoyed this fun new "Peeking Giraffe" stamp set and rainbow giraffe stencil background from Whimsy Stamps.
Thanks for visiting and have a wonderfully creative day!

XO, Crystal

List of supplies:

Summer Flowers

6/24/2020

Hello readers! Today I am sharing a shaker card created with the beautiful "Summer Flowers" digital stamp set from Alex Syberia Design. I mentioned in this post just a couple weeks ago, that I had recently discovered her work on Instagram and purchased a few of her designs on Etsy. I thought that these flowers were beautiful, but fairly simple, so I placed them over a shaker frame and it added more visual interest to the card.

Card details:

The base of this A2 sized card is made from Neenah Solar White Smooth cardstock. Using a scrap piece of green striped paper, I cut the base mat to 5 1/4" x 4". I created a frame out of white cardstock and lined the back of the frame with acetate film. I filled the shaker with approximately 1 tablespoon of iridescent sequins. I printed out the digital flowers onto Neenah Solar White Smooth cardstock and colored them with Copic markers. I fussy cut the flowers using a small pair of craft scissors and adhered the flowers over the shaker frame using 3M foam adhesive for added dimension. I stamped the sentiment in Memento Tuxedo black ink on white cardstock and used a small oval punch to punch out the sentiment. I adhered the oval sentiment to the card using 3M foam adhesive as well. Lastly, I added a coat of clear Wink of Stella to the flowers for added sparkle.

Here is the digital "Summer Flowers" stamp set from Alex Syberia Design that I used to create this card:

Thank you for visiting and have a wonderfully creative day!

XO, Crystal

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A Ruff Day

6/23/2020

Admittedly, we've ALL had our fair share of "ruff" days lately! It's more like, rough months, and I highly suspect that come the end of 2020, we will all proclaim it a very "ruff" year! Today's card features the "Cone of Shame" stamp set by Whimsy Stamps and this poor dog might just be feeling a tad worse for wear than the rest of us at the moment.

Card details:

The base of this A2 sized card is made from Neenah Solar White Smooth cardstock. I created a rectangle frame for the card measuring 5" x 3 3/4". I lined the frame with a yellow alcohol ink blended background (which is barely visible behind the brick wall). On a separate sheet of white cardstock I used the Whimsy Brick Pattern stencil and stenciled in the wall using Mahogany Distress Oxide ink. I die cut the brick wall into a circle. From a sheet of green cardstock I cut a strip of grass using the Grass and Cloud Edge die. I adhered the grass along the bottom of the card. I stamped the dog, doghouse and bowl in Memento Tuxedo black ink on white cardstock and colored in all the images with Copic markers. I fussy cut each image out and adhered them to the card using 3M foam adhesive. Using the Puppy Paws die set, I cut the "woof" dies from white cardstock and adhered to the grass using a fine-tip glue pen. Lastly, I stamped the sentiment in Espresso ink on a strip of white cardstock, notched the left end and adhered it to the card using a Tombow Dot runner.

Cheers to the plus side and for NOT having to wear a cone of shame even on our "ruffest" days!
Thanks for visiting and happy creating!

XO, Crystal

List of supplies:

Inky Paws Challenge #126

6/22/2020

Hello readers and welcome back from the weekend! I hope you found a little time to do something crafty. Today we have a new challenge to share with you at Newton's Nook Inky Paws Challenge #126. Using the sketch shown in the image below, share with us YOUR creations!

Here is the card I created inspired by this week's sketch:

Card details:

The base of this A2 sized card is made from Neenah Solar White smooth cardstock. I cut a piece of Lawn Fawn Watercolor Wishes paper to 5 1/4" x 4" and matted it onto a piece of Calypso Coral cardstock before adhering both to the white card base. I cut two waves using the Sea Borders Die set from both a Pool Party and Bermuda Bay cardstock. Using the Lawn Fawn Sunrise backdrop die, I cut the sun rays from Calypso Coral cardtock and adhere it directly over the peach watercolor paper. I stamped the images from the Newton's Perfect Wave stamp set in Memento Tuxedo Black ink on white cardstock. I colored the images with Copic markers and die cut them using the coordinating Newton's Perfect Wave dies. I adhered the images to the card using 3M foam adhesive for added dimension. I stamped the sentiment in the lower left corner in Versamark ink and heat embossed it with white embossing powder. Lastly, using the Lawn Fawn glue tube, I put a small line of glue on the bottom of the card and sprinkled Lawn Fawn Chunky Glitter across the bottom for added sparkle.

Are you ready to get your paws inky with us and play along to win a prize? We will chose a RANDOM entry to win a $20 store credit to our Newton's Nook Design online shop! We will also highlight our favorites from each challenge the following Monday so all entries have a chance to be featured on this blog!

You have TWO WEEKS to play along - Deadline to enter is Friday, July 3, 2020 at Midnight CST. The winners will be announced on the Newton's Nook blog the following Monday.

Are you ready to play along and get your paws inky? Make sure you check the challenge rules page before you link up your project.

XO, Crystal

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Patriotic Bevel Layering Plate

6/19/2020

Hello readers! Today I am sharing this patriotic inspired card over on the Birch Press Design blog. I don't know if anyone actually sends 4th of July cards or not, but this idea would also work well for members of the military or law enforcement. The first time I saw the Mini Dazzle Bevel Layering Plates, I knew immediately that I wanted to create a flag in strips of red, white and blue.

Because the bevel strips were larger than I had anticipated, I had to alter the dimensions of this card. Instead of my more traditional A2 card size, this card measures 5 1/2" square.

Here is a step-by-step video tutorial showing how I created this card:

Thank you for visiting and have a wonderfully creative day!

XO, Crystal

List of supplies:

Filmstrip Slimline Die

6/18/2020

The June superhero and vintage comic themed release from Whimsy Stamps has been SOOooo wildly popular! I'll be the first to admit that I know next-to-nothing about superhero's and who belongs to DC or Marvel and who has what powers. The ONLY comic themed movie I've ever seen is Ben Affleck's version of Batman, because h-e-l-l-o, it's Ben Affleck! Ben Affleck could be reading a restaurant menu for 102 minutes in high-def and I'd still watch. But anyway, I digress. . . Superhero's are cool and fun and I'm so happy that this release has attracted such a huge fan base! Today I have two more cards to share with you using many of these June release products.

Card details:

*A full list of supplies is located at the end of this post.

This slimline card measures 8 1/2" x 3 1/2". Slimline cards are designed to fit inside a regular #10 business sized envelope and require no additional postage. The base of this slimline card is made from Whisper White cardstock. Using the Filmstrip Slimline Die, I cut the frame from Basic Black cardstock. I cut small squares of the Cosmic paper to fit behind the frames of the slimline die for the background sky. I cut the city skyline die from black cardstock and adhere it behind the filmstrip die, but in front of the sky. Using sentiments from the Gossip Girls stamp set, I stamped them in Versamark ink on green, blue, orange and pink cardstock. I heat embossed the sentiments in white embossing powder and then used the Speech Bubbles dies to cut the sentiments out. I adhered the speech bubbles to the card using 3M foam adhesive for added dimension.

Card details:

This slimline card measures 8 1/2" x 3 1/2". Slimline cards are designed to fit inside a regular #10 business sized envelope and require no additional postage. The base of this slimline card is made from Whisper White cardstock. Using the Filmstrip Slimline Die, I cut the frame from Basic Black cardstock. I cut small squares of the Cosmic paper to fit behind the frames of the slimline die for the background sky. I stamped three of the ladies from the Gossip Girls stamp set in Memento Tuxedo black ink on white cardstock. I colored in the ladies using Copic markers and die cut them using the coordinating Gossip Girls dies. I adhered the ladies directly to the card front. Using sentiments from the Gossip Girls stamp set, I stamped them in Versamark ink on green, blue, orange and pink cardstock. I heat embossed the sentiments in white embossing powder and then used the Speech Bubbles dies to cut the sentiments out. I adhered the speech bubbles to the card using 3M foam adhesive for added dimension.

I hope you find this release fun and unique too! Thanks for visiting and have a wonderfully creative day!

XO, Crystal

List of supplies:

Let's Venti

6/17/2020

Last week three of my girlfriend's and I got together outside for our first socially-distanced happy hour and it was such a nice break from everything that has been going on and a chance to catch up after months of text messages only. It was a BYOE (Bring Your Own Everything) evening where you had to bring your own lawn chair, drink and snacks, so that we didn't have to share anything. Despite the extra bit of planning, it worked out just fine and it was our time to "venti" with the girls! Okay, in full disclosure, there may have been less "venti" and more "wine-y," but whatever. . .

Today's "Let's Venti" card features the fun new "Cool Beans" stamp set by Whimsy Stamps.

Card details:

*A full list of supplies is located at the end of this post.

The base of this A2 sized shaker card is made from white cardstock. Using the Whimsy Stamps Peekabook Window 1 die, I cut the first layer from Crumb Cake cardstock. Using Crumb Cake ink, I stamped coffee beans all of the background. I lined the back of the frame with acetate film and lined all the edges with foam strips. I placed about two tablespoons of pink and iridescent sequins behind the frame before securing it down. I stamped the sentiment "let's venti" in Versamark ink in the lower right corner and heat embossed it with white embossign powder. I stamped the coffee images in Memento Tuxedo black ink on white cardstock and colored them with Copic markers. I used my Scan and Cut 2 electronic cutting machine to cut all of the images out (in lieu of fussy cutting). I adhered the images to the card with 3M foam adhesive for added dimension. Lastly, I added a coat of Clear Wink of Stella to the coffee cups for added sparkle.

Shaker cards are still one of my favorite interactive cards to make! Thank you for visiting!

XO, Crystal

List of supplies: