Blog Archives - Crystal Komara

Merriest Moments Release

10/27/2022

Hello friends and happy Thursday! It is a very exciting day for my dear friend Martha at Joy Clair Designs as she offers a beautiful new holiday release of digital stamps. This mini-release is called Merriest Moments and you can continue reading to see the new products! If you are new to using digital stamps, please read this very informative blogpost I wrote two years ago to learn more.

Here are the four new digital stamps from this release:

Jingle All The Way

Christmas Cheer

You Gnome Me

This Christmas

For my card today, I used the new This Christmas digital stamp set. I particularly liked the beautiful holly wreath.

Card details:

The base of this A2 sized card is made from 80 lb. Neenah Solar White Smooth cardstock. I cut a 4" x 3" piece of red plaid paper and adhered it to the bottom half of the card. I cut a 4" x 3 1/2" piece of the same Neenah White cardstock and used an envelope edger die to angle the bottom. I printed off the beautiful wreath from the This Christmas digital stamp set and colored it with Copic markers. I fussy cut the wreath out and adhered it to the card using 3M foam adhesive for added dimension. I printed off the sentiment (altering the image from black to green ink) on a thin white strip of cardstock. Lastly, I added a coat of Clear Wink of Stella to the wreath for added sparkle. Simple and elegant.

I hope you will check out this beautiful new holiday digital release at Joy Clair Designs. Thank you for visiting and have a wonderfully creative day!

XO, Crystal

Be Merry

10/24/2022

Hello friends! Today I am sharing more holiday themed inspiration using products from the latest Birch Press Design release. Birch Press Design never ceases to amaze me with its elegant layering dies, contour dies and foil plates. Some of my most loved cards have been as a result of these gorgeous and elevated products.

Card details:

The base of this A2 sized card is made from 80 lb. Neenah Solar White Smooth cardstock. I cut a 5 1/4" x 4" piece of navy cardstock from the 6" x 6" Ocean Blue paper pack. Using my Gemini Foilpress machine and the String Art Hot Foil Frame, I heat foiled a cerulean blue foil onto the navy cardstock. I know that it kind of looks like silver foil in these photos, but it is ever-so-slightly more blue tinted in person.

Using the Snowy Circle Layer Set, I created the center focal piece. I die cut Layer C (bottom layer) from navy cardstock. I die cut Layer B (middle layer) from a sky blue cardstock. I die cut Layer A (top layer) from white cardstock. Again, I used cardstock from the 6" x 6" Ocean Blues paper pack. I used a fine-tip liquid adhesive to adhere all three layers together and then I lined the back of the three layers with a solid sheet of white cardstock. I adhered the entire Snowy Circle image to the center of the card using 3M foam adhesive.

Lastly, I stamped the sentiment "be merry' in navy ink on white cardstock. This sentiment is from the Contempo Christmas Greetings stamp set. I used the coordinating circle die to die cut the sentiment out. I adhered the sentiment to the lower right side of the snowflakes with 3M foam adhesive.

Thanks for visiting and have a wonderfully creative day!

XO, Crystal

You might also enjoy:

Hey Pumpkin

10/20/2022

Hello friends and happy (almost) Halloween! EEEEEKKKKKkkkk! It is my absolute favorite season of the year to make cards for! I love all the ghosts, zombies, pumpkins, bats, cats and witches! Today I am sharing a not-so-scary card using the Hey Pumpkin stamp set from Joy Clair Designs and some non-traditional pumpkin colors. Black and purple pumpkins? Why not? It's one way to up the spook factor.

Card details:

The base of this A2 sized card is made from 80 lb. Neenah Solar White Smooth cardstock. Using a 5 1/4" x 4" piece of white cardstock, I ran it through my big shot with a diagonal lined/striped background frame die. I then flipped the frame die over and filled in the gaps with strips of orange, black and purple cardstock. I printed out the large pumpkin image from the Hey Pumpkin stamp set. I colored the image in with orange, purple and green Copic markers. I fussy cut the image and then adhered it to the card using Scotch 3M foam adhesive for added dimension. I cut the words "hey pumpkin" out in thin strips and adhered them to the card also using 3M foam adhesive. Lastly, I added a coat of clear Wink of Stella to the image for added sparkle.

There are still 11 days left until Halloween! You have time to brew up some scary creations! Thanks for visiting and have a wonderfully creative day!

XO, Crystal

Honey Butterfly

10/13/2022

Hello crafty friends! I know you don't know me from Adam, but today I am sharing a card that is quite outside of my comfort zone. It's my first attempt at sort of a mixed media type look. Even though looking back, I didn't fully embrace the "grunge" and I could have done some distress work, I'm happy with the end result and I think it's a good start to build from!

Card details:

The base of this A2 sized card is made from 80 lb. Neenah Solar White Smooth cardstock. On a 5 1/4" x 4" piece of Yupo paper, I ink blended some Ranger Adirondack alcohol ink in lemonade. I set this piece aside to let it dry. On a separate sheet of white cardstock I printed out the beautiful geometric butterfly image from the You Fill My Day digital stamp set. I printed this image large at about 40%. I colored the butterfly with yellow, orange and gold Copic markers. I found a scrap piece of gold foil honeycomb vellum and I adhered that directly to the dried alcohol ink Yupo background. I fussy cut the butterfly and then I adhered the butterfly to the card with Scotch 3M foam adhesive for added dimension. I sliced off about 1/3 of the left side of the butterfly. I printed the sentiment out on a thin strip of white cardstock, notching the right end at an angle. Lastly, I added a coat of clear Wink of Stella to the butterfly for added sparkle.

I hope you have enjoyed this card. I love using alcohol inks to create unique and bold background on my cards. Thanks for visiting and have a wonderfully creative day! For more inspiration, you can follow me on my website, Instagram, Facebook and on my YouTube channel.

Follow Us
Be sure to sign up for Joy Clair Designs newsletters. You will receive notifications of new releases, sales and exclusive offers to subscribers. You can also follow the team’s creations from Joy Clair Designs on Facebook Page, Joy Clair Stamp Projects Facebook Group, Instagram , Twitter, Pinterest and YouTube!

XO, Crystal

Find Joy

10/12/2022

Hello friends! Today I'm sharing a card that is filled with love, joy and alcohol! Ink, that is! ; ) I was really pleased with how this card came out, since I had ended up pulling a random piece of alcohol ink background from my scrap bin. It is so cheerful and uplifting!

Card details:

The base of this A2 sized card is made from 80 lb. Neenah Solar White Smooth cardstock. On a sheet of 5 1/4" x 4" Yupo paper, I created an alcohol ink background in peaches and pinks. Honestly, I keep about 50 alcohol ink background pieces on reserve in a bin to pull from and it makes creating cards kind of quick and easy! This background was one of those "pre-made" pieces.

For the center focal piece I used the Kinsley Heart Layering Plates. Layer C (bottom layer) was cut from peachy/orange cardstock. Layer B (middle layer) was cut from gold glitter cardstock and Layer A (top layer) was cut from pink cardstock. I used the 6" x 6" paper packs in both Sunny Orange and Berry Reds for the cardstock. The glitter paper came from the 6" x 6" Festive Glitter paper pack. I adhered the three layers of the heart together with a fine-tip liquid glue.

I used the Find Joy and Outline die to create the sentiment. The shadow or outline of the word "find joy "was die cut from white cardstock. The thinner inside was cut from pink cardstock from the same Berry Red 6" x 6" paper pack. I adhered the two layers together with a fine tip liquid glue. Lastly, I adhered both the heart and sentiment to the card with 3M foam adhesive for added dimension.

Alcohol inks are a great way to add interest and uniqueness to your cards! Thanks for visiting and have a wonderfully creative day!

XO, Crystal

Gather Together Release

10/7/2022

Hello friends and happy Friday! It is an exciting new mini-release day today at Joy Clair Stamps! Just in time for the holidays the beautiful new digital Gather Together release will have you creating for fall, Christmas and beyond.

Here are the four new digital stamp sets available in this month's release:

Such a Blessing digital stamp set

Everything Better digital stamp set

Christmas Wish digital stamp set

Merry and Bright digital stamp set

Here is the card I created for this release using the Merry and Bright digital stamp set:

Card details:

The base of this A2 sized card is made from 80 lb. Neenah Solar White Smooth cardstock. I printed out the digital sentiment "Merry and Bright" in green ink. I created a Word document so that I could manipulate the digital present image. I stacked the digital stamp presents below the sentiment. I printed the entire image out on a sheet of Neenah White cardstock. I then used a scallop rectangle die to cut the entire image.

I colored the image with Copic markers and then adhered it to the card base. It's really a CAS (Clean and Simple) one layer card! Lastly, I added a coat of Clear Wink of Stella to the presents for added sparkle.

I hope you will check out the beautiful new Gather Together digital release from Joy Clair stamps! Thanks for visiting and have a wonderfully creative weekend!

XO, Crystal

Supersized Sunflower

10/6/2022

Hello friends and crafty readers! One of my absolute favorite new images from the Summerlicious release at Joy Clair Designs is the beautiful sunflower from the You Fill My Day digital stamp set. Flowers remain one of my favorite images to create cards with and I love this geometric sunflower. Recently I created this rainbow themed card with the same exact digital stamp. Rainbows always make me happy! Today I am sharing another (similar) way to use this supersized sunflower with a fall color palette.

Card details:

The base of this A2 sized card is made from 80 lb. Neenah Solar White Smooth cardstock. I cut a 5 1/4" x 4" piece of white cardstock and ran in through my Big Shot using a stitched leaf pattern background die plate. I adhered this as my first background layer. I printed out the giant sunflower at about 50% size and then colored it using Copic markers in a variety of yellow, gold and orange hues. I fussy cut the sunflower and adhered it to the right side of the card, actually chopping about 1/3 of the right side off the edge. I used Scotch 3M foam adhesive to adhere the sunflower to give it added dimension. I printed the sentiment "you fill my day with happiness" on a thin strip of white cardstock and adhered it over the sunflower. I added a couple clear rhinestones for added texture. Lastly, I added a coat of clear Wink of Stella to the sunflower for added sparkle. *My general rule of thumb is ALWAYS add sparkle!

I hope you have enjoyed this card. Thanks for visiting and have a wonderfully creative day! For more inspiration, you can follow me on my website, Instagram, Facebook and on my YouTube channel.
XO, Crystal

Follow UsBe sure to sign up for Joy Clair Designs newsletters. You will receive notifications of new releases, sales and exclusive offers to subscribers. You can also follow the team’s creations from Joy Clair Designs on Facebook Page, Joy Clair Stamp Projects Facebook Group, Instagram , Twitter, Pinterest and YouTube!

You might also enjoy:

Holly Wreath

10/4/2022

Hello crafty readers! Today I am on the Birch Press Design blog sharing a holiday card with you featuring the beautiful new Holly Wreath Plate Layer set. But, there's a lot more going on with this card than just a dimensional wreath, there is also a heat foiled background and heat embossed sentiment too, so read on for all the fun details!

Card details:

The base of this A2 sized card is made from 80 lb. Neenah Solar White Smooth cardstock. This is my go-to white cardstock for e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g! Using the Gilded Grace Hot Foil Plate, I foiled the first layer of the card. I use a Gemini Foilpress machine for my foiling. I used the Crafter's Companion Foil Press paper in brass. I adhered this foiled layer directly to the card base.

I did not foil the inner circle of the Gilded Grace Plate, so instead I stamped the sentiment "wishing you peace" in the center of the circle. Next, I created the wreath. I die cut Layer C (bottom layer) of the Holly Wreath from dark green cardstock. I die cut Layer B (middle layer) of the Holly Wreath Plate from green glitter cardstock. Finally, I cut Layer A (top layer) of the Holly Wreath Plate from light green cardstock. The green cardstock is from the 6" x 6" Lush Green paper pack and the 6" x 6" Glitzy Glitter paper pack. I adhered all three layers of the wreath together with a fine-tip liquid glue.

I adhered the wreath to the center of the card using 3M foam adhesive for added dimension. I stamped the sentiment "joy" in Versamark ink on a piece of red cardstock. I heat embossed the sentiment with the Red Robin embossing powder from WOW! I used the coordinating circular die to die cut the sentiment out. The "joy" sentiment and die is from the Contempo Christmas Greetings stamp set and coordinating dies.

Lastly, I adhered a small piece of gold ribbon underneath the "joy" circular sentiment. I also added a couple red rhinestones to the wreath to resemble berries. This card has it all - gold foil, sparkly glitter paper and heat embossing! It sparkles AND it shines!

Thanks for visiting and have a wonderfully creative day!

XO, Crystal

You might also enjoy:

October 2022 Mood Board

10/1/2022

Hello friends and happy October! This is my personal favorite month of the year because I LOOOOOOOoooooove all things Halloween! The Design Team at Joy Clair Designs is excited to share the mood board for this month. Mood boards (also commonly called "inspiration" boards) are a combination of colors, images, textures and patterns that can offer guidance or direction. If you feel like you don't know where to begin a project, try looking at a mood board and let the creative juices flow. You might just be surprised by the end result!

Let's take a look at the October 2022 Joy Clair Designs mood board:

This month's mood board is very spooky and moody with its black and white photos of haunting images, eerie cemeteries and mystical black cats. But, there's also a touch of modern flair with DIY pumpkins and folk home decor.

We would love to see YOU create using this mood board as inspiration too! Feel free to use similar colors in whatever brand of cardstock you have readily available. We'd love for you to use your Joy Clair Designs stamps if you have them! And if you don't have any yet CLICK HERE TO START SHOPPING TODAY!

Be sure to tag us on social media using the following hashtags so we can see your cards or other papercraft projects:

#joyclairdesignsmoodboard
#joyclairmoodboard

Thanks for visiting and have a wonderfully creative day! For more inspiration, you can follow me on Instagram, Facebook and on my YouTube channel.

Be sure to sign up for Joy Clair Designs newsletters. You will receive notifications of new releases, sales and exclusive offers to subscribers. You can also follow the team’s creations from Joy Clair Designs on Facebook Page, Joy Clair Stamp Projects Facebook Group, Instagram , Twitter, Pinterest and YouTube!

XO, Crystal