Hello readers and welcome back from the weekend! I hope that you all enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday with your friends and family - if you were able to. Understandably, Covid might have changed how you celebrated this year, as it did for us. For the safety and health of our family, we opted not to travel this year, so it was a Thanksgiving table for two (well, five if you count the kitties too) because you know I shared my turkey and fixins' with them! : ) Today I am sharing another card that I made for the Newton's Nook Inky Paws Challenge. Week number two of Challenge #137 is continuing on with this modern and fresh color challenge designed 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: For today's card, I have created an inside shadow box card using a few different stamp sets to create a wintery village scene. I followed the directions to create the base of this card from this Jennifer McGuire video. And, I have to say, this was a very simple tutorial to create a fun, interactive card. I definitely will be making more of these inside shadow box cards in the future! Card details:The base of this A2 inside shadow box card was made from Real Red cardstock. Please refer to this Jennifer McGuire video to create the base of the shadow box card. For the inside of the card, I placed a 5 1/4" x 4" piece of 80 lb. Neenah Solar White Smooth cardstock as the "top" of the card, in which I could stamp my sentiment and add a few red snowflakes and die cut trees. For the inside shadow box, I placed a 5 1/4" x 4" piece of white cardstock as the background. I stamped the Main Street Christmas in Memento Tuxedo Black on white cardstock. I colored the buildings with Copic markers and then die cut the scene using the coordianting Main Street Christmas dies. I adhered the image directly to the white background. Using the Land Borders dies, I die cut white cardstock for a "snowbank" in front of the buildings. I also die cut a second "snowbank" for the outside of the shadow box. I lined the snowbanks with Lawn Fawn Chunky Glitter. I die cut a couple trees from green patterned paper using the Forest Scene dies. I stamped one of the cars from the Destination Christmas stamp set in Memento Tuxedo black ink on white cardstock and die cut it using the coordiating Destination Christmas dies. I adhered this car to the front snowbank (on the inside of the card). Because the inside of the card is very busy and fun to open, I kept the front of the card very simple. I die cut a scalloped border from white cardstock and stamped two sentiments. One in red ink and the other in Memento Black ink. I also added two die cut trees to the left side of the sentiment. 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! The deadline to enter is Friday, December 4th, 2020, at midnight CST. XO, CrystalList of supplies:
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Happy Black Friday, friends! Christmas season is officially here! Today I am sharing two very traditional wreath cards using the Season's Greetings stamp set and coordinating dies by Pinkfresh Studio. Lately, I have been drawn to more classic and elegant stamps and Pinkfresh Studio had many beautiful designs that caught my eye upon a recent purchase. Card details:*A full supply list is located at the end of this post. *Please note both cards were made using the same cutting measurements and instructions, I simply alternated between red, green and blue color combinations. The base of each A2 sized card is made from 80 lb. Neenah White Solar Smooth cardstock. I cut a 5 1/4" x 4" piece of plaid paper and adhered it directly to the card base. I cut a white scalloped frame and adhered it to the center of the card. On a separate piece of white cardstock, I heat embossed the wreath with gold embossing powder. I colored the wreath using Copic markers and die cut the wreath. I adhered the wreath to the center of the scalloped frame using 3M foam adhesive for added dimension. I stamped the sentiment in the center of the wreath in Versamark ink and heat embossed the sentiment with gold embossing powder. On a scrap piece of blue cardstock, I heat embossed the bow with gold embossing powder and used the coordinating die to die cut the bow. I adhered the bow to the bottom of the wreath using a Tombow dot runner. Typically I would say that I like the blue wreath more (because blue is my favorite color). But, this time, I'm leaning more toward the red and green wreath! Do you favor one design/color combination more than the other? Thank you for visiting and have a wonderfully creative day! XO, CrystalList of supplies:Hello friends and happy Wednesday! Today I am sharing a new release product from Whimsy Stamps called the Twinkle Scribble Die. This 3" steel die can be used as an accent, to create a focal point or used to frame an image or sentiment. For these two cards, I have used the die to create wreaths: Card details:*A full list of supplies can be located at the end of this post. Both cards were made exactly the same, simply alternating red and green colors for the cardstock and ink. The base of this A2 sized card is made from Real Red (or Garden Green) cardstock. Using a 5 1/4" x 4" piece of Tartan paper, I lined the base of the card with this plaid paper. I die cut a scalloped frame from craft cardstock and placed it in the center of the card using 3M foam adhesive for added dimension. I die cut the new Twinkle Scribble die twice - once in red (or green) cardstock and once in gold foil cardstock. I layered the two wreaths together (placing the gold foil wreath on top). I adhered the wreath to the center of the card using a Tombow dot runner. Using the Everyday Scripted Sentiments stamp set, I stamped the word "winter" in red (or green) ink in the middle of the wreath. I stamped the word "wishes" in Versamark ink and heat embossed it with gold embossing powder. I fussy cut the word "wishes" and adhered it to the card using 3M foam adhesive. To see this new Twinkle Scribble die and all of the latest new release products from Whimsy Stamps, please click here. Thank you for visiting and have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday! May you have a blessed, happy and healthy week, however you choose to celebrate this year. XO, CrystalList of products:Hello readers and happy Tuesday! Today I am on the Birch Press Design blog sharing two very traditional Christmas cards using the Marisol Ornament Layering dies and the Twinkle Ornament Layering dies. I couldn't be more excited with how elegant and sparkly these cards turned out using evergreen and cherry cardstock colors with lots of gold glitter paper. If you like a traditional holiday look, then these classic cards are sure to tickle your fancy! The base of each A2 sized card is made from 80 lb. Neenah Solar White Smooth cardstock. Using the Pinpoint Radial Layering plate, I die cut the first layer from white cardstock. This paper pierced die provided a subtle background to allow the ornaments to "pop!" There was no rhyme or reason to my die cutting madness. I simply die cut each layer of the ornaments (Twinkle A, B and C and Marisol A, B and C) from Cherry, Evergreen and gold glitter cardstock and then I began adhering the layers together. When I was all done, I had four completed ornaments, or enough for two cards. Once all the pieces are die cut, I use LineCo ph Neutral bookbinding glue to adhere the three (or sometimes four layers) together. You will find that a regular Tombow adhesive runner does not work well at adhering glitter cardstock, so try a liquid glue instead. On a side note, these ornaments would look just as lovely if I had tied a gold ribbon to the top of each one and used them as paper Christmas tree ornaments. I hope you have enjoyed these beautiful Christmas cards and are well on your way to creating all of yours! XO, CrystalHello readers and welcome back from the weekend! I hope you found a little time to do something crafty. It's never too early to start your handmade holiday cards! It's Monday and that means we have a new challenge to share with you at Inky Paws. Challenge #137 is a color challenge using red, evergreen, lime green and white. So, if you're looking for some Christmas inspiration, let's see what you can create using these fun colors! For my card, I used the new Nutcrackers stamp set and coordinating dies along with the challenge colors: Card details:*A full list of supplies is located at the end of this post. The base of this A2 sized card is made from 80 lb. Neenah Solar White Smooth cardstock. I used a 5 1/4" x 4" piece of lime green argyle cardstock from the Sunny Studios Argyle paper pack. Using the Frames and Flags die set, I cut a scalloped rectangle from white cardstock and adhered it to the center of the card. Using the Circle Frames dies, I cut a large circle out of vellum and adhered it to the center of the scalloped rectangle. I stamped the two nutcrackers in Memento Tuxedo Black ink on white cardstock and colored the images using Copic markers. I used the coordinating Nutcracker dies to die cut the two nutcrackers out. I also die cut the words "Pa Rum Pum Pum Pum" from red cardstock, using the Nutcracker dies. I adhered the two nutcrackers to either side of the scalloped circle with 3M foam adhesive for added dimension. Using a Lawn Fawn liquid glue tube, I adhered the words between the two nutcrackers. Lastly, I added a coat of clear Wink of Stella to the nutcrackers 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 Designs 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 - the deadline to enter is Friday, December 4th, 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, CrystalList of supplies:Happy December, friends! Wow, what a year! Today is an exciting new release day with Whimsy Stamps and I am featuring the fun new Yeti for Christmas stamp set. This new stamp set features two adorable yeti's (one on a sleigh delivering Christmas presents and the other stringing up some elves), plus, it has some punny yeti sentiments to go along with it! Card details:*A full supply list is located at the end of this post. 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 cherry red cardstock for the first mat and then a 5" x 3 3/4" piece of white again (with a 3" circular hole cut in the middle. I lined the back of the circle with a piece of blue snowflake paper from the Blurry Flurry paper pack collection and two trees die cut from the Tree Assortment die set in lime green cardstock. I stamped the yeti in Memento Tuxedo Black ink on white cardstock and colored the image using Copic markers. I fussy cut the image and adhered it to the front of the card using 3M foam adhesive for added dimension. I stamped the sentiment "Are we yeti for Christmas" in cherry red ink on the bottom right side of the card. Lastly, I added a a coat of clear Wink of Stella to the image for added sparkle. I hope you have enjoyed this fun card! Be sure to check out the latest release from Whimsy Stamps here! Thank you for visiting and have a wonderfully creative day! XO, CrystalList of supplies:Hello readers and welcome back from the weekend! I hope you found a little time to do something crafty. Unfortunately ours was filled with garage cleaning, leaf cleanup and cooking, so there wasn't much fun or relaxing time to be had. Well, it's Monday and today I am sharing another card that I made for the Newton's Nook Inky Paws Challenge. Week number two of Challenge #136 is continuing on with choosing your favorite NND stamp set! 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: In full disclosure, this week I selected the "Festive Fawns" stamp set as my favorite simply because the images were already colored leftover from another card I had made last year! So, yes, this might be cheating just a little bit, but I'm all for "work smarter, not harder!" : ) Card details:*A full supply list is located at the end of this post. The base of this A2 sized card is made from Neenah Solar White Smooth cardstock. I created the background by using alcohol inks ink pink, coral and lemonade on Yupo paper. I die cut four white birch trees using the Forest Scene Builder die set. I adhered the trees to the background before cutting a snowbank from white cardstock using the Land Borders die set. I stamped the sentiment in pink ink on the lower left side of the snowbank. I stamped the critters from the Festive Fawns stamp set in Memento Tuxedo black in on white cardstock and colored the images using Copic markers. I used the coordinating Festive Fawns dies to cut the images out. I adhered the images to the card using 3M foam adhesive for added dimension. Lastly, I added a coat of Clear Wink of Stella to the images for added sparkle. 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, November 20th, 2020, at midnight CST. Thanks for visiting and I hope to see your creations there! XO, CrystalList of supplies:Hello readers! Today I am honored to have been asked to join Alex Syberia in sharing her latest release of digital stamps. This was the first time I have been able to participate in one of her new releases due to scheduling conflicts, but I'm happy it's filled with lots of Christmas and wintery goodness. Alex Syberia has also just released her first line of acrylic stamps with Maker Forte and I can't even begin to image how proud and excited she is to see her digital stamp dreams come true in physical form. Alex is a brilliant artist with a flair for flowers and you have to check out her unique dot coloring! For my card today, I have colored the slimline gnomes in a variety of pinks, reds and greens for a fresh modern whimsical take on these mythical beings. Pleae keep reading to see how I created this card. . . Card details:This slimline card measures 8 1/2" x 3 1/2". Slimline cards are designed to fit into a regular #10 business sized mailing envelope and require no additional postage. The base of this slimline card is made from Real Red cardstock. Using the Newton's Nook Slimline Frame, I cut the frame from 80 lb. Neenah Solar White Smooth cardstock. I used a pink piece of Lawn Fawn Watercolor Wishes paper for the background. I colored the gnomes with Copic markers and then fussy cut the entire image out as one piece to adhere in front of the pink watercolor background. I adhered the gnome image using 3M foam adhesive for added dimension. I used a Uniball white gel pen to create different sized white dots to resemble snow on both the background and the gnomes themselves. To learn more about digital stamps, please read this post. To see more beautiful designs by Alex Syberia, please visit her Etsy shop here. Thank you for visiting and happy stamping! XO, CrystalTGIF friends! Well, it seems I have inadvertently skipped over all things Thanksgiving this week and jumped full speed ahead to Christmas! This is SO not me at all! I will be the first to tell you that I don't decorate for Christmas, or gasp, listen to Christmas music until at least December 1st. And, I could do without the Christmas music until December 23rd really. . . So, the fact that I'm looking ahead at my future blogposts and I am inundated with elves, wreaths and poinsettias tells me that this weekend will be spent creating more fall things! But for today, it's still Christmas as I'm sharing the new Pine Bough classic rubber stamp from Whimsy Stamps. This 3" x 5" background stamp is from the latest November release at Whimsy Stamps. For my slimline card, I went with a very traditional take on the stamp by heat embossing it in gold and pairing it with an evergreen cardstock. At the end of this post, I'll share with you some of the beautiful cards that my fellow Whimsy Stamps Creative Team members created using this same background stamp. 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 into a regular #10 business mailing envelope and require no additional postage. The base of this slimline card is made from 80 lb. Neenah Solar White Smooth cardstock. I then lined the white cardstock with an 8 1/4" x 3 1/4" piece of evergreen cardstock. Using the Slimline Scenic Window die, I cut the frame from gold foil cardstock. I stamped the Pine Bough stamp in Versamark ink on white cardstock and heat embossed it with gold embossign powder. I cut this piece enough to fit behind the gold frame and peek through teh windows. I die cut a scalloped circle of evergreen cardstock and placed it to the right 1/3 of the card. I stamped the sentiment "Christmas Wishes" in Versamark ink on white cardstock and heat embossed it with gold embossing powder. I fussy cut the words and adhered them to the card using 3M foam adhesive for added dimension. Lastly, using the Leaf Foliage 2 die set, I die cut four leaves from evergreen and lime green cardstock to tuck behind the scalloped circle. Here is a look at what my fellow Whimsy Stamps Creative Team members created using this same stamp: I hope you have enjoyed seeing a variety of ways to use the beautiful new Pine Bough background stamp by Whimsy Stamps. To check out the November release by Whimsy, please click here. Have a wonderful weekend! XO, CrystalList of supplies:Hello friends and happy Thursday! Today I am happy to be representing 88 and Clear (formerly Richard Garay Designs) for the Fall/Winter Coffee Lovers Blog Hop with their new "Hot Cocoa" digital stamp set. Tomorrow, Friday, November 13th, is the last day to join the hop and be eligible for some of the fabulous prizes from the 72 sponsors of this bi-annual blog hop! Please read to the end of this post to see how you can link up your coffee-themed card to be entered to win. Here is the slimline card I created using the "Hot Cocoa" digital stamp set: Card details:This slimline card measures 8 1/2" x 3 1/2. The base is made from 80 lb. Neenah Solar White Smooth cardstock. I cut the slimline frame from Sweet Cane sugar stock paper and lined the back of the frame with red and white diagonal striped paper. I printed out the "Hot Cocoa" digital stamp set on 80 lb. Neenah Solar White smooth cardstock and colored the images using Copic markers. I used my Brother Scan and Cut 2 e-cutting machine to cut the images in lieu of fussy cutting. I adhered the images to the slimline card using 3M foam adhesive in an array that was pleasing to my eye. Once all of the images were adhered, I used Dazzling Pat (similar to Wink of Stella) and added a coat of sparkle to all of the images. Here is a list of the fabulous prizes that you can win simply by linking up a caffeinated beverage (coffee, tea, cocoa, matcha, cider, etc) themed card to the hop: Jillian Vance Design :: $25 Gift Code :: FLASH [Two] Coffee, Tea and Me Die Set (USA only please) Angie Blom Digital Designs :: $15 Gift Code :: FLASH – $15 Gift Code Anthony’s Paper Craft :: One Coffee 2 :: FLASH – One Coffee 2 Art Impression :: Envelope for Gift Card Holder Set + Java Gift Card Holder [set goes to one winner] :: FLASH – Coffee BFFs + Hot Java Mama Avery Elle Stamps :: $25 Gift Code Butterfly Reflections Ink :: Miss Ink Stamps – Brewtiful stamp set CAS-ual Fridays Stamps :: $50 Gift Code :: FLASH – $15 Gift Code✦ Catherine Pooler Designs :: $25 Gift Code Clearly Besotted Stamps :: £25 EGift Code Close to My Heart – Chris Franco :: CTMH November SOTM – You Warm My Heart Club Scrap :: $30 Club Scrap Gift Certificate Crackerbox & Suzy Stamps :: $30 Gift Code Dare 2b Artzy :: $15 Gift Card✦ Digi Doodle Studios :: $25 Gift Code Dina Kowal Creative :: Two – $10 Gift Codes :: FLASH – coffee art mini bundle – ornament, mini canvas, glass pendant✦ Divinity Designs LLC :: $25 Gift Code✦ DL.ART :: TWO $10 Gift Codes :: FLASH – Coffee Bundle + Flair Doodlebugswa.com :: $25 Gift Code :: FLASH – $10 Gift Code✦ Ellen Hutson LLC :: $25 Ellen Hutson Gift Card Evelin T Designs :: $10 Gift Code :: FLASH – $10 Gift Code Flora & Fauna :: One Stamp Set $15 Value Funky Fossil Designs :: £25 Gift Code Gerda Steiner Designs :: $25 Gift Code Gina K Designs :: $50 Gift Code :: FLASH – FIVE $10 Gift codes Happy Town Studio :: Two Happy Town Studio Coffee Stencils for One Winner :: FLASH – Two Happy Town Studio Coffee Stencils for One Winner Impress Cards and Crafts :: Caffeinated Prize Jaded Blossom Stamps :: $25 Jaded Blossom Gift Card Jane’s Doodles :: $25 Gift Code JessicaLynnOriginal.com :: Two $15 Gift Card :: FLASH Digital Download for all + Two $5 Gift Cards✦◼︎ Journals for Life :: Coffee Bundle $25 Value Joy Clair Designs :: $15 Gift Code valid for stamps only [clear & digital] Kat Scrappiness :: $25 Gift Code for KS Products :: FLASH – Surprise KS Gift Pack Limited Runs Stamps :: $15 Gift Code to Store :: FLASH – TWO prizes – Any Three Digital images in shop Makers Movement [NEW] :: One MiniMaker Die Cutting Machine :: FLASH – One MiniMaker Die Cutting Machine ✤ Miss Ink Stamps :: $25 Gift Card :: THREE $10 Gift Code✦ Newton’s Nook Designs :: $25 Gift Code :: FLASH – Mugs Stencil + Coffee & Wine Stamp Not 2 Shabby :: $25 Not 2 Shabby Gift Certificate Paper Sweeties :: $25 Paper Sweeties Gift Card :: FLASH – Two Coffee Theme Sweet Mini Duo Sets Pink and Main :: Surprise Package worth $25 Pretty Pink Posh :: $30 Gift Code Rachel Vass Designs :: £15 gift code Reverse Confetti :: Two Prize Packages worth over $50 :: FLASH – TWO Reverse Confetti $15 Gift Codes Richard Garay 88andClear :: One Stamp set of winners choice Rubbernecker Stamps :: $50 Gift Code :: FLASH – Coffee Lovers Clear Set RunningStitchDesign :: Coffee Bag filled with coffee treats✤ Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L :: $30 Value Adhesives Package :: FLASH – TWO $30 Value Adhesive Packages Seven Hills Crafts :: £15 Gift Certificate Simply Charming Bags :: Hot Chocolate Bar Apron :: FLASH – A Set of Zip Accessory Bags [one winner] Stamp Simply :: Choice of 2 Stamp Simply products – Stamps/Dies Stampendous :: Thankful Kitty Perfectly Clear Stamps and Gift Card Wallet Die Set ($40 retail value) to one US winner only. Stampin’ Up Independent Demonstrator Shannon Fralish :: Stamp set of choice [value up to $25] Stamplorations :: $25 Gift Code :: FLASH – THREE $10 Gift Codes ✦◼︎ Studio Katia :: $25 Gift Code :: FLASH – $25 Gift Code SugarPea Designs :: $25 Gift Code Sunny Studio Stamps :: $25 Gift Code Sweet ‘n Sassy Stamps :: $25 Gift Code Taylormadecards4u :: $25 Gift Code – Digital Images Only :: FLASH – Coffee Flash Card Digital Set The Cat’s Pajamas :: $25 Gift Card :: FLASH – TWO $10 Gift Card The Greetery [NEW] :: $25 Gift Code✤ The Rabbit Hole Designs :: Two $15 Vouchers :: FLASH – Five $10 Vouchers✦ The Ton Stamps :: $10 Gift Code [stamps/dies/ink/gilding only] :: FLASH – Two $10 Gift Code [stamps/dies/ink/gilding only] Therm O Web :: $30 Gift Card :: FLASH – $25 Gift Card Three Room Studio :: $30 CAD Gift Code Topflight Stamps :: $25 Gift Card Trinity Stamps :: $25 Gift Certificate Twiddler’s Nook [NEW] :: Two $15 Gift Codes :: FLASH – $10 Gift Code✦✤ Uniko :: In Stock Clear Stamp Set of the Winner’s Choice :: FLASH – Two winners each receive a £5 Clear Stamp Set of Winners Choice ✦◼︎ Unity Stamp Co :: Coffee/Tea Themed Prize Package that includes 11 Unity stamps + 1 paper pack, value approx $207+ Waffle Flower :: $25 Gift Code Whimsy Stamps :: $25 Whimsy Stamps Gift Code WOW Embossing Powder :: $20 Gift Card [WOW Embossing Powder UK] Your Next Stamp :: $25 YNS Store e-gift card LINK UP YOUR CARD HERE!Happy creating! 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. |