Hello friends and happy BLACK Friday! Best of luck to you brave souls who dare to venture out on this day because I want no part of it! Those crowds are not for me! Today, you will find me shopping local at the Butterfly Reflections, Ink in New Hampshire for my very first time! Be sure to follow along on Instagram to see all the behind the scenes photos from the store and more. I'm excited because it is also the shop owner, Vanessa's birthday, so I will get to wish her a happy birthday in person. To celebrate, a large group of current and past Design Team members, along with some special guests, will be doing a blog hop on Instagram sharing cards that were inspired by some of Vanessa's favorite things: the color fushia, cute critters (she LOVES Hello Bluebird), coffee and pumpkin spice. Here is the card I created for her:
Card details:
This slimline card ( 8 1/2" x 3 1/2") was made from Berry Burst cardstock. The first matted layer is a 8 1/4" x 3 1/4" piece of Neenah Solar White smooth cardstock. I die cut the mountains in Blushing Bride cardstock using the Hello Sweetums Mountains of Fun dies. I die cut the trees using the Lawn Fawn Stitched Trees dies. I stamped all of the critters, trees and presents from the Hello Bluebird Frosty Friends stamp set in Memento Tuxedo Black ink and colored them using Copic markers. I added highlights to some of the images with a Uniball White Gel pen. I also added Lawn Fawn ultrafine glitter to the snowbanks and critters' hats. I added many of the images to the card using 3M foam adhesive. I stamped the sentiment at the bottom of the card in Berry Burst ink. Lastly, I added a coat of clear Wink of Stella to the images for added sparkle.
Here are the Copic colors I used for coloring:
Here is the Frosty Friends stamp set by Hello Bluebird (available through Butterfly Reflections, Ink) that I used to create today's card:
Be sure to follow along on Instagram to see what everyone else created for Vanessa's birthday!
Thanks for visiting and I hope you have a wonderfully creative weekend! XO, Crystal
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Hello friends and happy Thanksgiving Eve day! If you are traveling today (or anytime this week) I wish you safe travels and hope that each of you have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday with friends and family. Today I am sharing some simple table placards on the Butterfly Reflections, Ink blog that were made using the Pretty Pink Posh Winter Wreath stamp set and coordinating dies. Truth be told, Pretty Pink Posh also has an autumn wreath stamp set that would have worked for these placards too, but since I didn't buy that one, I was able to turn the winter wreath into more of a fall theme simply by using more traditional fall colors. I also didn't know the names of everyone who will be attending Thanksgiving dinner at my aunt's house, so instead of personalizing the placards, I used various sentiments instead.
Project details:
These placards are 3 1/2" square. I simply folded a sheet of 3 1/2" x 7" paper in half to form the note card. The base of each card is made from a kraft cardstock. I stamped the Pretty Pink Posh Winter Wreath in Memento Tuxedo black ink on Neenah Solar White smooth cardstock and die cut it using the coordinating Winter Wreath die. I colored each wreath in with Copic alcohol ink markers. I cut a 4" x 1" strip of Lawn Fawn Gold Rush cardstock and adhered it to the notecard behind the wreath. I adhered the wreath to the center of the placard using foam adhesive. I tied a bow in Curry ribbon and adhered it to the top of the wreath using glue dots. I stamped various sentiments in Cajun ink on Neenah Solar White smooth cardstock. I notched the right end of the sentiment strip before adhering it to the center of the wreaths. Lastly, I added a coat of clear Wink of Stella to the flowers and leaves on the wreath for added sparkle.
Here is the Winter Wreath stamp set from Pretty Pink Posh (available through Butterfly Reflections, Ink):
Thanksgiving Blessing:
May love and laughter light your days and warm your heart and home;
May good and faithful friends be yours wherever you may roam; May peace and plenty bless your world with joy that long endures; May all life's passing seasons, bring the best to you and yours. Happy Thanksgiving! XO, Crystal
Forget about a white Christmas, I'm dreaming of a purple Christmas! It's only a few shades away from blue anyway, so it's really not that much of a stretch. Sure, it's anything but traditional, but it's fresh and fun and kind of whimsical. By using a slimline card (8 1/2" x 3 1/2") there is enough space to feature all of the images from the Santa's Wonderland stamp set on this winter scene.
Card details:
The base of this slimline card is made from Gorgeous Grape cardstock. The first layer is cut from the Lawn Fawn Watercolor Wishes paper. Using the Stitched Slopey Joes border dies from Heffy Doodle, I cut two layers of snow from Neenah Solar White Smooth cardstock. I lined one of the snowbanks with Lawn Fawn Chunky Glitter. I die cut the trees in the background from Lawn Fawn Stitched Trees Border Lawn Cuts in white cardstock. I cut the tree "leaves" from miscellaneous scrap paper in purple stripes and in white glimmer paper (center tree). I stamped all of the images in Memento Tuxedo Black ink on white cardstock and cut them using the coordinating Santa's Wonderland Nice & Neat dies. I colored the images with Copic markers and added highlights to the colored images using a white gel pen. I added the images to the card using 3m foam adhesive for dimension. Lastly, I added a coat of clear Wink of Stella to the images for added sparkle.
Here is the Santa's Wonderland stamp set from Neat & Tangled that I used to create today's card:
What do you think? Have I sold you on a purple Christmas yet?!
Thanks for visiting and have a wonderfully creative day! XO, Crystal
Welcome back from the weekend! There's no better time to share a coffee themed card than on a Monday morning, because we all need it! Well, except me, I gave up caffeine (again) last week, and ugh, the withdrawals on days 4-6 were not pretty friends. . . But, this java girl has made my Monday slightly better with those boxes of donuts piled sky high! Give me ALL the Boston cream's!
Card details:
The base of this A2 sized card is made from Neenah Solar White Smooth cardstock. Using the Scalloped Stitched Nesting Rectangle dies by Gina Marie Designs, I die cut a piece of Tangy Apple Sugar Cuts cardstock. Using the Stitched Nesting Rectangle dies by Gina Marie Designs, I cut a piece of Neenah Solar White Smooth cardstock to mount to the green background. Using the Sweet Cane Sugar Drops, I splattered some ink on the white cardstock. I punched out a scrap piece of foil coffee scripted paper in a large circle and adhered it to the center of the card. I printed out the Birthday Girl stamp set from my computer onto Neenah Solar White Smooth cardstock. I colored the java girl image with my Copic markers and printed the image out using my Scan and Cut. I adhered the girl to the card using 3M foam adhesive. I wrapped a piece of salmon ribbon around the card and knotted it just below her knee line. Lastly, I added a coat of clear Wink of Stella to the girl for added sparkle.
Here is the Birthday Girl stamp set from RG Avenue that I used to create today's card:
Thanks for visiting and have a wonderfully creative (and caffeinated) day!
XO, Crystal
Hi friends! Happy Friday! I hope you have fun things planned for the weekend ahead. Today I'd like to talk about digital stamping. While digital stamps are not new to the market, they seem to be increasing in popularity. Ever since I began designing cards recently for RG Avenue (who uses a LOT of digital images!) I have become a lot more adept at using this type of stamp and I have come to really like them. While I still have a lot to learn about manipulating the images, today we can talk about some of the basics of digital stamping.
What ARE digital stamps?
Digital stamps, also known as “digi stamps" are simply high-resolution digital images. The most significant difference between a digital stamp and a traditional stamp is that there is NO physical stamp. A digital stamp is just the image or images. Think of it kind of like computer clip art. These digital images can be color or black and white. They are downloaded onto a computer where they can be manipulated - resized or altered before being printed.
Below is an example of a digital stamp. No, you cannot tell the difference simply by looking at this image if this is a digital stamp or a physical stamp. This particular stamp set is called "Bold Bouquet" from RG Avenue. This stamp, like many others from RG Avenue, comes in both options - digital or physical. What do I need?
One of the benefits of using digital stamps is that you don't need anything special! As long as you have access to a computer and a printer you have the two most important pieces. Any inkjet printer will work fine; you don’t need expensive, fancy equipment. But, if you do own a laserjet printer, this will work too.
Downloading digital stamps:
Typically after you purchase a digital stamp you will receive an email with the digital file. Most digital stamps will come in .PNG, .JPG, .CSV or .PDF files. Some digital stamps might be provided in .ZIP files, so you will need to know how to unzip a file. Save the digital stamp file to your computer’s hard drive with an easily identifiable name (trust me, this helps to find it later)! Open up the saved file using either a word processing program such as Microsoft Word, or a photo editing program such as Photoshop Elements, LightRoom or a free website such as PicMonkey or GIMP. You can either print the image(s) out directly, or manipulate the image(s) before you print them out. You can add digital image to cards, scrapbooks, home decor and so much more!
Advantages of digital stamps:
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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. |