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Anyone that knows me knows that I am a cat person. However, with that being said, I know not everyone is so cat crazy and prefers. . . Ugh. . Dogs. Just kidding! I love those crazy energetic, drooling, barking, fire hydrant peeing creatures too (when they are at YOUR house)! Unfortunately, no matter what side of the pet fence you are on, we are all bound to love and lose our dear four legged friends one day. The new Puppy Paws dies and the Paws and Bones border dies from Whimsy Stamps will allow me to send my sympathies to those mourning the loss of their sweet pooches, since we all know I've got enough cat themed stamps to be considered a crazy cat lady!
Card details:
*A full list of supplies (including clickable links) is located at the end of this post.
The base of this A2 sized card is made from Neenah Solar White smooth cardtsock. I used a 5 1/4" x 4" piece of kraft patterned paper to mat the card with. Using the Scalloped Stitched Nesting Rectangle dies from Gina Marie Designs, I cut a piece of Neenah Solar White smooth cardstock. I stamped the sentiment in the lower right corner using brown ink. I made a shaker frame from the Puppy Paws die, out of brown cardstock. I lined the frame with an acrylic sheet. I used the Paws and Bones border die to cut a whole bunch of bones out of white cardstock to put inside the shaker. Lastly, I punched a small heart out of red cardstock to adhere on the outside of the paw. 
Card details:
The base of this A2 sized card is made from Neenah Solar White Smooth cardstock. Using the Scalloped Stitched Nesting Rectangle dies from Gina Marie Designs, I cut a sheet of black cardstock to line the card base with. Using the Puppy Paws and Bones border die, I cut multiple lines of bones from a piece of white cardstock. I then lined the back of each row of bones with red, orange, yellow, green and blue cardstock. I stamped the sentiment at the bottom using Memento Tuxedo Black ink. I tied a black ribbon around the card before adhering the entire card to the card base. I cut the paw from white and black cardstock using the Puppy Paws dies. I adhered the paw to the card using 3M foam adhesive.
The new Puppy Paws dies could actually be used for cat (or a variety of another animals as well), so please don't let the name "Puppy Paws" limit your creativity! I think bear paws will be up next!
​Thanks for visiting and have a wonderfully creative day! XO, CrystalList of supplies:
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Hello readers! Today I am sharing a simple way to create elegant backgrounds for your cards. It's nothing new or earth shattering, but may be something you have never considered before. These cards were created using a tone-on-tone, or as in these examples, black-on-black heat embossing. Simply heat embossing an image with black embossing powder onto black cardstock. It is simple, subtle and stunning.
I used the brand new RG Avenue digital stamp set called "Strong Courage" to create these cards. There is also a full supply list with clickable links at the end of this post.
Here is the step-by-step tutorial video I created showing how both of these cards were made:
If you haven't already, I hope you will try the black-on-black heat embossing. I think you will find it adds a very elegant look to your cards.
Thank you for visiting and have a wonderfully creative day! XO, CrystalList of supplies:Hello and welcome! Today's post is all about coloring the beautiful Thankful Mandala stamp set by Birch Press Design. If you love to color, then these cards will be perfect for you to try. And, well, if you don't love to color so much (Hi, Karla!) then you can simply admire the beauty of someone else's coloring!  I will be the first to admit that I have a love/hate relationship with coloring. There are times when I find it peaceful and soothing, yet there are also days when I find it can be simply dreadful! So, listen to how YOU feel. If you feel like coloring today, then go for it! If you'd rather sit back and eat a hot fudge sundae, you won't find me judging you! : )  For this yellow mandala I used Copic marker numbers V17, R27, Y02 and YR68.   For the green mandala I used Copic markers numbers YG06, G21, G05 and BG13.   For the purple mandala I used Copic markers number RV19, RV55, RV66, V9 and BV02.  For the blue mandala I used Copic marker numbers B02, B24, B52 and B12  Each of these cards begins the same way. I stamp the large Thankful Mandala on a 5 1/2" x 3 1/4" piece of Neenah Solar White Smooth cardstock in Memento Tuxedo black ink. Then I selected 3-4 colors of Copic markers in complimentary hues and color away. There is no rhyme or reason to my madness! In all honesty, each mandala took me about half an hour to color and then I adhered various colored rhinestones for added sparkle.
Here is the Thankful Mandala stamp set from Birch Press Design that I used to create these cards:   I hope you have enjoyed these cards and will maybe try coloring some too! Thanks for visiting and have a wonderfully creative day. XO, CrystalYou might also enjoy:
Hello friends! Today is a new product mini-release day at Whimsy Stamps and I'm happy to be sharing a fun new coffee themed stamp set called "Cool Beans." For more on the latest new release products, or to see what my fellow Design Team members have made using this same stamp set, please visit the Whimsy Stamps website! I decided to make these cute little coffee cups into a pop up box card. This box card is one of the easiest "interactive" cards I know how to assemble without watching a YouTube tutorial 827 times!  Card details:*A full list of supplies (with clickable links) is located at the end of this post. The base of this card was made using the Lawn Fawn Scalloped Box Card pop up. I cut two pieces of the box card base from kraft cardstock. To decorate the side pieces of the box I used Garden Green cardstock and Neenah Solar White smooth cardstock. I stamped a variety of the images from the new "Cool Beans" stamp set in Memento Tuxedo black ink and used my Scan ad Cut 2 electronic cutting machine to cut them. I colored the images with Copic markers and began adhering them to the card using 3M foam adhesive for added dimension. I stamped the sentiments in Garden Green ink on white cardstock and cut them using a 1" circle punch. After all the images were added to the card, I put a coat of clear Wink of Stella on the coffee cups for added sparkle.       Thanks for visiting and have a wonderfully creative day! XO, CrystalList of supplies:
Hello friends and happy Monday! I hope you all had a nice weekend. I am excited to be sharing my card for the next Newton's Nook Inky Paws Challenge today. I frequently hear from friends and fellow stampers that they aren't creative enough to design something on their own, or that they don't know what colors to use. They feel frustrated before they even begin because they don't know where to begin. I understand! Yes, I've been there too! That's the concept behind a card challenge. It can help to inspire you and get the creative juices flowing by giving you a place to start. Challenge #124 by Newton's Nook is a theme challenge. Let the image below be your inspiration for creating a card (or scrapbook page) and see where this challenge takes you!  Here is the card I created inspired by this week's floral theme challenge:  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. Using the Whimsy Stamps Lattice #2 die, I die cut the lattice from white cardstock. Underneath the lattice frame, I mounted a watercolored sheet of pink paper from the Lawn Fawn Watercolor Wishes paper pack. I stamped two of the lily flowers from Newton's Easter Lily in Memento Tuxedo Black ink on white cardstock. I colored in both flowers using Copic markers. I die cut the Easter Lilies using the coordinating die cuts. I adhered both sets of lilies to the card using 3M foam adhesive for added dimension. I stamped the sentiment in Rich Razzleberry ink on a scrap piece of white cardstock. I notched the bottom end of this sentiment and adhered it to the upper right corner of the card. Before I adhered the entire card together, I wrapped a piece of Razzleberry ribbon around the card tying it with a "faux bow." Lastly, I added a coat of Clear Wink of Stella to the flowers for added sparkle.     Will this theme 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, June 5th, at midnight CST. Thanks for visiting and I hope to see your creations there! XO, CrystalList of supplies:
Earlier this month on one of my "off" weeks from work, I decided to begin assembling some cardmaking kits for my friends, family and local stampers. Since the beginning of March, when the Covid-19 pandemic began, I have not been able to hold classes in my home studio, or in the community. I keep receiving emails and text messages from my regular attendees who state how much they miss coming to classes, which just warms my heart as I miss hosting and teaching too! So, I have been creating a variety of kits and making doorstop deliveries so that my class comes to them! And WOW, are they are a hit! With each and every new card kit I create, they are selling out within two days! I am so happy that I can help my friends and family from a little boredom at home. Here is one of the poppy themed birthday card kits I put together using the beautiful "Painted Poppies" stamp set by Stampin' UP!        Here is the Painted Poppies stamp set by Stampin' UP! that was the focal point of this card kit:    Ladies, I hear your requests and I promise, there ARE more kits coming, I just need to replenish some supplies! Thanks for visiting and have a wonderfully creative weekend friends! XO, Crystal
Raise your hand if you are SOoooo ready for vacation! Heck, I'll even take visiting the next town over right now if it means a break from the four walls of my own house! Today I am sharing another fun and colorful card featuring the Hippo Beach Fun stamp set that was a May release from Whimsy Stamps. If you missed the first slimline card using these same hippos, please click here.
Card details:
*A full list of supplies with clickable links is located at the end of this post.
The base of this A2 sized card is made from Neenah Solar white smooth cardstock. I die cut a large circle from rainbow scalloped paper (sorry, I am unsure where that paper came from!). I adhered the rainbow circle to the base of the card. I stamped the sentiment "Cheers" in the upper right corner in Memento Tuxedo black ink. Then using the Wavy Edgers die set, I created a layer of sand from kraft cardstock. Using the Kinetic Waves die set, I die cut the waves from blue sparkle paper and adhered this in front of the sand line I stamped the hippo on Neenah Solar White smooth cardstock in Memento Tuxedo black ink. I colored the image with Copic markers and fussy cut the hippo with craft scissors. I adhered the hippo on top of the sand using 3M foam adhesive. I added a couple of clear rhinestones in the sky for added sparkle. Lastly, I added a coat of Clear Wink of Stella to the hippo for even more sparkle. 
I hope you have enjoyed today's fun beach card! Thanks for visiting.
XO, CrystalList of supplies:
Perhaps now that we are two months into the Covid-19 pandemic, you all have been able to find the ever essential toilet paper in local stores! So, hopefully we can all get a good laugh out of today's "TP Dudley" digital dragon stamp from Whimsy Stamps. This quirky image designed by Whimsy Stamps own artist, Dustin Pike, was released as a FREE digital download during the start of the pandemic. Please continue reading to the bottom of today's post to see how YOU can download this free digital stamp!
Card details:
*A full supply list with clickable links is located at the end of this post.
The base of this A2 sized card is made from Gorgeous Grape cardstock. Using the Scalloped Stitched Rectangle Nesting dies from Gina Marie Designs, I created the scalloped background from Neenah Solar White Smooth cardstock. I die cut an oval from the Lawn Fawn Gotta Have Gingham purple paper and adhered it to the center of the card. I printed out the TP Dudley digital stamp onto Neenah Solar White Smooth cardstock and colored it using Copic markers. I fussy cut the image and adhered it to the card using 3M foam adhesive. I printed out the coordinating sentiment on Neenah Solar White smooth cardstock and adhere it to the top of the card notching both ends. Lastly, I covered the entire dragon stamp with a coat of clear Wink of Stella for added sparkle. 
Card details:
The base of this A2 sized card is made from Coastal Cabana cardstock. Using the Scalloped Stitched Rectangle Nesting dies from Gina Marie Designs, I created the scalloped background from Neenah Solar White Smooth cardstock. I die cut a turquoise oval from scrap paper and adhered it to the center of the card. I printed out the TP Dudley digital stamp onto Neenah Solar White Smooth cardstock and colored it using Copic markers. I fussy cut the image and adhered it to the card using 3M foam adhesive. I printed out the coordinating sentiment on Neenah Solar White smooth cardstock and adhere it to the top of the card notching both ends. Lastly, I covered the entire dragon stamp with a coat of clear Wink of Stella for added sparkle.
This "TP Dudley" digital stamp illustrated by Dustin Pike is still available as a FREE download from Whimsy Stamps. Please click here to download this stamp and create your own fun cards!
Thanks for visiting and have a wonderfully creative day! XO, CrystalList of supplies:Hello readers! Today I am on the Birch Press Design blog sharing these rainbow cards featuring the Lovely Butterflies stamp set. I've been creating a lot of rainbow themed cards lately, because I find them very cheerful and uplifting and I think we could all use more sunshine (and rainbows) in our lives right now!   Card details:To create the first card, I die cut the Butterfly Garden Layer Plate C from white cardstock. I adhered this over a piece of rainbow patterned paper. I stamped one butterfly on each of five different colored cardstocks (red, orange, yellow, green and blue) and heat embossed the butterflies with white embossing powder. I used the coordinating Lovely Butterflies dies to die cut the butterflies out. I die cut a circle of vellum cardstock and stamped the sentiment in the middle of the circle in Versamark ink. I heat embossed the sentiment with white embossing powder and adhered it to the center of the card. I adhered the die cut butterflies down the left side of the card in a rainbow ROYGBIV pattern. I adhered the butterflies using small pieces of 3M foam adhesive.   Card details:*A full list of supplies is located at the end of this post. The base of this second card was made using 80 lb. Neenah Solar White smooth cardstock. Using the Delfina Layering Plate A, I die cut the lattice from white cardstock. I adhered a piece of rainbow paper behind the lattice using a Tombow dot runner before adhering both to the card base. I stamped the sentiment "make a wish" in Memento Tuxedo black ink on a piece of scrap paper and notched the bottom end. I adhered thin pieces of orange, red and blue ribbon behind the sentiment and stapled it together. Yes, stapled! Why not?! It's art!  I stamped a variety of butterflies from the Lovely Butterflies stamp set on vellum cardstock in Versamark ink and heat embossed them with white embossing powder. I die cut the butterflies using the coordinating Lovely Butterflies dies and adhered them to the card small pieces of 3M foam adhesive for added dimension.   I have created a YouTube video tutorial for you to watch and learn how both cards were created! I hope these rainbow cards will bring some sunshine to your day! XO, CrystalList of supplies:
Hello readers and welcome back from the weekend! I hope you found a little time to do something crafty. Last week was my "off" shift from work, so I spent the majority of my days doing a LOT of that. Today I am sharing another card that I made for the Newton's Nook Inky Paws Challenge #123. 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 dreamy scene I created inspired by this week's sketch:  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 Neenah Solar White smooth cardstock. I used a 5 1/4" x 4" piece of scrap paper featuring a cloudy sky pattern for the background. I cut three rectangle strips of white cardstock for the three panels in the sketch. I layered a pink strip of cardstock along the bottom and stamped "Bonjour" in pink ink in the lower right corner. I wrapped a piece of linen thread around the card. I stamped some of the images from the Newton Dreams of Paris stamp set in Memento Tuxedo Black ink on Neenah Solar White smooth cardstock. I colored the images with Copic markers and used the coordinating Newton Dreams of Paris dies to cut them out. I adhered the various 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.  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! The deadline to enter is Friday, May 22nd, at midnight CST. XO, CrystalList of supplies:
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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.
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