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This weekend we will celebrate my Grandpa's 90th birthday and I couldn't wait to create a very special card for him. He is the most amazing, hardworking, generous and loyal man I know. He ran his own business and still found time to raise his family and travel the entire US in an RV. He can fix anything from an air conditioner to an airplane! He inspired within me my love of photography and of leaving the world a better place than you found it. He is still sharp as a tack and physical enough to shovel the snow of his two story home during a Maine winter! I hope you are all as blessed in your lives to know a man quite like him.
Card details:
The base of this box card was made using the Lawn Fawn Scalloped Box Card and Basic Black cardstock. I added black and white chevron paper (miscellaneous scraps) and Gold Glimmer paper to the sides, using the dies from the Lawn Fawn Scalloped box. Most of the sentiments were stamped in Memento Tuxedo Black ink on Neenah Solar White cardstock. I punched out the 9-0 numbers from the Large Letter Framelit Dies (retired by Stampin' UP!) in Gold Glimmer Paper. I cut the stars from Basic Black cardstock and Gold Glimmer paper using the Spellbinders Stitched Nesting Star dies. I punched the balloons using the Balloon Bouquet punch in Basic Black and Whisper White cardstocks and Gold Glimmer paper. I used black baker's twine to tie the balloons together. I also used clear acetate sheets to allow the line of stars and balloons to "stand up straight." The clear acetate is nearly invisible on the card. I assembled the entire card using Thin Tear Tape to ensure all components were adhered securely.
The sentiments used on this card are from the Celebrate Everything stamp set by Fun Stamper's Journey.
I hope you have enjoyed today's over-the-top box card celebrating a very special man in my life.
Thanks for visiting! XO, Crystal
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Hi friends! Last night I came up with the idea to make a shaker card using the Hero Arts Color Layering Koi stamp set. Well, it was a great idea. . . Only I had to revert to "plan b" because my acetate sheets weren't long enough to make a shaker frame for an 8 1/2" slimline card! There was also a minor disappointment when one of the koi fish I had stamped didn't make the cut as I ran out of working space. Poor purple koi! So, while this card turned out entirely different than the image I had in my mind, I still like the end result. Even if it doesn't shake, at least it sparkles thanks to a layer of Lawn Fawn Chunky Glitter!
Card details:
The base of this A10 card is made from Crumb Cake cardstock. The first matted layer is an 8 1/4" x 3 1/4" sheet of Balmy Blue cardstock. I cut a 8" x 3" sheet of Neenah Solar White Smooth cardstock and ran it through my Big Shot using a dotted embossing folder. Using the Lawn Fawn Glue Tube I added a layer of Lawn Fawn Chunky Glitter at the bottom of the card. The colors for the koi fish (in the order they appear on the card) are: Mango Melody, Granny Apple Green, Blushing Bride and Balmy Blue. *Note - I stamped off the first layer of ink on the first color layering koi. I die cut each koi and adhered it to the card using 3M foam adhesive. I stamped five lily pads in Mint Macaron ink and die cut each individually. I stamped five lily pad flowers in Pineapple Punch ink. I adhered both the lily pads and lily pad flowers to the card with 3M foam adhesive for added dimension. Lastly, I put a layer of Clear Wink of Stella over all the fish and lily pads for added sparkle.
Here is the Color Layering Koi stamp set and coordinating dies from Hero Arts that I used to create today's card:
I hope you enjoy this colorful and slightly whimsical card.
Thanks for visiting and have a wonderfully creative day! XO, Crystal
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 If you're anything like me, you love to craft, but you're also always looking for ways to save money doing something you love. It's no secret that this can be an expensive hobby, especially when you want ALL the things! Today I'd like to share with you one of my go-to places for great deals on those steel cutting dies. Cutting dies are often very costly, especially when you purchase nesting sets, intricate designs or full cover plates. Gina Marie Designs offers a variety of excellent quality dies for significantly more reasonable prices. While you can find everything from rubber and photopolymer stamps, to stickers and rhinestones and other embellishments available on the Gina Marie website, today I will focus specifically on dies. The most often used die I own from Gina Marie Designs is the Scalloped Stitched Nesting Rectangles. This five-die nesting combo is the perfect accent border for your cards. Below I have highlighted three differently priced, though very similar dies. You can see the cost comparisons below for yourself, but the Gina Marie Designs die is less than half the cost of comparably similar products! Scalloped Stitched Nesting Rectangles:  Gina Marie Designs $10!!
Here are some of the cards I've made using the Gina Marie Scalloped Stitched Nesting Rectangle dies:      The second most often used die I own from Gina Marie Designs are the Stitched Nesting Circles. Again, you will see based upon the comparison's below that the Gina Marie Designs version is 50% less than the competition! 50%! Stitched Nesting Circles  Gina Marie Designs $10
Here are some of the cards I've made using the Gina Marie Designs Stitched Nesting Circles:    While those two dies are the ones I used most often, I do have a variety of other Gina Marie Designs dies to include the Flower Burst Quilt Die:
I have both the Scalloped Stitched Ovals dies and the Stitched Ovals dies:
 There are so many more great deals available than what I have showcased here today, so I hope you will visit Gina Marie Designs and take a look for yourself. I promise you will save money, well, unless you buy ALL the things! Happy thriftier stamping!
Hello friends and welcome back from the weekend! We're back to the Monday grind, so today we're rocking some heels. And fancy schmancy red-laquered Christian Louboutin stiletto's at that! Today's fashion forward card features the Power Pumps stamp set by The Ton Stamps. For those of us who can't afford French designer high-end shoes, we'll just have to be happy stamping them! Though, if you added up all the money I've spent on stamps. . .
Card details:
The base of this A2 sized card is made from Basic Black cardstock. Using the Gina Marie Scalloped Stitched Nesting Rectangle dies, I die cut a sheet of Real Red cardstock as the first matted layer. I die cut a sheet of Neenah Solar White Smooth cardstock using the Gina Marie Stitched Rectangle dies. I stamped the sentiment at the bottom of the white cardstock in Memento Tuxedo Black ink. I stamped the color layering heels in Memento Tuxedo Black, Basic Gray and Real Red ink.
Thanks for visiting and have a wonderfully creative day!
XO, Crystal
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Hello crafty friends and happy Friday! TGIF! I hope you have fun things planned for the weekend ahead. Speaking of crafty friends, and before we get to today's crafty friends cards, I would like to give a little shout out to my newly found again friend, Carla! You see Carla used to follow me on the Super Stamp Girl website and then when I transitioned, I forgot to email her about the change. Oops! Then on a random whim, Ink Road Stamps announced that Carla was their winner of a recent Instagram contest, so I reconnected with her again. I'm happy to have you following along again, Carla! And, a big thank you to all the other readers who visit my website regularly as well! I hope to continue to inspire and entertain you while you are here.
As for my weekend plans. . . I have a stamp camp to teach on Saturday and then on Sunday I've got lots of designing to do for my upcoming fall classes. LOTS! But, I'm excited because that means I can finally start to play with all the fun Halloween products! 
Card details:
The base of this A2 sized card is made from Crumb Cake cardstock. Using the Gina Marie Stitched Rectangle dies, I die cut a sheet of Neenah Solar White Smooth cardstock. Next I heat embossed a whole bunch of the crafty sentiments onto a variety of cardstock using white embossing powder. From top to bottom, the cardstock colors are: Real Red, Pumpkin Pie, Daffodil Delight, Pear Pizzazz, Marina Mist (retired), Pool Party, Blushing Bride and Highland Heather. I trimmed each sentiment into a small strip and notched both ends. I adhered all the sentiment strips to the card using 3M foam adhesive for added dimension.
Both of today's cards were created used the Crafty Friends stamp set from Altenew:
Card details:
The base of this A2 sized card is made from Basic Black cardstock. Using the Gina Marie Stitched Rectangle dies, I die cut a piece of Neenah Solar White Smooth cardstock for the first layer. I stamped the sentiment in Memento Tuxedo black ink. I heat embossed the Lawn Fawn Mailbox (retired) on Real Red cardstock in white embossing powder and cut it using the coordinating die. I adhered the mailbox to the card using 3M foam adhesive for added dimension. Next I stamped each small envelope in Lovely Lipstick ink, Pumpkin Pie ink, Daffodil Delight ink, Pear Pizzazz ink, Tempting Turquoise ink (retired) and Highland Heather ink. I fussy cut each stamped envelope and adhered it to the card using 3M foam adhesive.
Thanks for visiting and I hope you have a crafty fun weekend too!
XO, Crystal
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 Hear ye! Hear ye! Calling all brave knights and crafty maidens! The August Hero Arts My Monthly Hero kit is here and it is a fantastical assortment of fairytale products fit for royalty. OMG! How did August already arrive when I haven't even opened up my July My Monthly Hero Kit yet!?  August kit includes:
It is available in limited quantities so be sure to grab yours before they are all gone - or sign up for a monthly subscription, so you never have to worry about missing a kit!  Here are some samples from the Hero Arts Creative Team showcasing this new kit. *You can click on the photos to visit each artists' website.  Created by Caly Person  Created by Ilina Crouse  Created by Michelle Short  Created by Libby Hickson  Created by Jessica Frost-Ballas But, WAIT! There's more! (Of course, there is. . . ) In addition to the monthly kit, each month Hero Arts offers optional add-on products that complement the kit and take it in new directions! Let's take a look at this month's extras:
And that's only a small sampling of some of this month's kit extras. For more inspiration and information, or, to sign up for a Hero Arts subscription, please visit Hero Arts. XO, Crystal
Hello! Today I am sharing a beautiful floral card featuring a monochromatic color palette. Purple is a color that has grown on me through the years and is still not one I use frequently, but, I love how this card turned out and I think it will inspire me to create with purples more often. This is also one of those cards that I say will look good in every color! Keep reading to learn how I made this card and the products I used.
Card details:
The base of this A2 sized card is made from Gorgeous Grape cardstock. Using the Honey Bee Stamps Watercolor Lines Cover Plate die, I cut the first layer from Gorgeous Grape cardstock. Underneath the frame I used a piece of Lawn Fawn Watercolor Wishes paper. On a separate sheet of Neenah Solar White Smooth cardstock, I stamped the color layering iris bulbs in Sweet Sugarplum (retired), Gorgeous Grape and Highland Heather inks. I stamped the color layering leaves in Old Olive and Garden Green ink. Using the coordinating dies, I die cut both the flowers and leaves. I adhered the flowers to the card using 3M foam adhesive for added height. Lastly I stamped the sentiment in Gorgeous Grape ink on a sheet of white cardstock and die cut it using an oval framelit.
Here is the Color Layering Iris set from Hero Arts that I used to create this card:
I hope you have enjoyed today's card. Thanks for visiting!
XO, Crystal
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Hi friends! Because Monday's are typically never fun or happy, let's start today off with fun and happy! Smiling sushi and punny sentiments! I hope today's card will make you smile, because Lord knows we could all use it returning to work after the weekend!
Card details:
The base of this A2 sized card is made from Neenah Solar White Smooth cardstock. I cut the green background piece from the Lawn Fawn Really Rainbow Scalloped paper pack and adhered a black frame (die unknown) around it. I stamped all of the images in Memento Tuxedo black ink and colored them using Spectrum Noir alcohol ink markers. I used a Uniball White Gel pen to add some highlights to the images. I die cut the images using the coordinating die and then adhered them to the card using 3M foam adhesive for added dimension. I stamped the sentiment at the bottom of the card using Memento black ink. Lastly I added a coat of Clear Wink of Stella over the images for extra sparkle.
This is the "Let's Roll" stamp set from Lawn Fawn that I used to create today's card:
Thanks for visiting, you make miso happy! Haha, see what I did there?!
XO, Crystal
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Hi readers and TGIF! I hope you have fun things planned for the weekend ahead! Today I am sharing the last in a series of slimline cards this week. I hope by sharing a few designs like this that maybe I've convinced YOU to try creating one of these cards, especially if you feel like you could use a larger canvas to create on! It's simple enough to cut - it's just an 8 1/2" x 7" piece of cardstock that you fold in half to give you the 8 1/2" x 3 1/2" dimensions.
I have owned these two stamp sets from Sunny Studio called "Happy Home" and "City Streets" for a while now, but I've always been a bit intimidated to use them because of their fine lines and my less-than-stellar coloring skills! I mean it's good enough, but there's always room for improvement! So, I decided to heat emboss the different images on a variety of sherbet colored cardstocks. I think the end result looks like a happy little pastel village that the Care Bears or the Easter bunny might live in! 
Card details:
The base of this card is made from Crumb Cake cardstock. I cut a 8 1/4" x 3 1/4" sheet of yellow paper from the Lawn Fawn Really Rainbow Scalloped paper pack for the first layer. I stamped each of the images in Versamark ink on Highland Heather, Pool Party, Daffodil Delight, Crisp Cantelope (retired), Crumb Cake and Pistachio Pudding (retired) cardstock. I heat embossed each image with white embossing powder. I die cut the images with the coordinating die and layered them onto the card with 3M foam adhesive for added height. I cut some of the grass using green scrap paper and the Lawn Fawn Meadow Borders Lawn Cuts. Before I adhered the grass down, I heat embossed the sentiment in the lower left corner in white embossing powder.
Here are the Happy Home and City Streets stamp sets by Sunny Studio Stamps that I used to create today's card:
Thanks for visiting and have a wonderful weekend!
XO, Crystal
Hello friends and happy August! It wasn't my intention at the beginning of the week to create ALL slimline cards to share with you over the past few days, but, after enjoying having so much more space to create with, I've been loving these longer cards! Now, I just need to buy some elegant #10 envelopes because the ones I send my checks in to the water and electric company just isn't going to cut it! : )
Today's slimline card features the elegant Marvelous Perfume stamp set from The Ton Stamps. My next goal for this stamp is to create a functional "scratch-n-sniff" card or a scented card, so if you have any ideas, talk to me! 
Card details:
The base of this A2 card is made from Basic Black cardstock. I cut a sheet of Gold Foil paper measuring 8 1/4" x 3 1/4" as the first layer. Next I cut a piece of Neenah Solar White Smooth cardstock measuring 8" x 3". At the top center of this white cardstock, I stamped the sentiment in Memento Tuxedo black ink. Next I stamped all of the perfume bottles multiple times on black and white cardstock using Versamark ink. I heat embossed all of the images in gold embossing powder. Because I do not own the dies for the Marvelous Perfume stamps (ugh, all sold out!) I fussy cut each of these bottles. One. By. One! Then I adhered them to the card using 3M foam adhesive for added dimension. Relatively easy and elegant! It would be super easy if you had those coordinating dies!
Here is the Marvelous Perfume stamp set from The Ton Stamps that I used to create today's card:
Thanks for visiting and have a wonderfully creative day!
XO, Crystal
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I, Crystal Komara, am solely responsible for this blog and all of its content, including, but not limited to designs, concepts, text, images and photographs. This website is for your personal enjoyment, inspiration and to help stimulate your own creativity.
If you use one of my posts, images, classes or designs please be sure to give credit where it is due. Thank you! 2019 © Disclosure:Whether gifted, or from my own supply, all of my recommendations are based on items that I use and truly love, and I think you will too. |
