Category: Christmas - Crystal Komara

Santa Claus Is Coming To Town

12/20/2022

Hello friends and happy December! It's a very busy time of the year between all the holiday decorating, shopping, baking and entertaining. I guess you either love it, or you hate it! While I won't admit to loooooooving it, my favorite part about Christmas is making Christmas cards (okay. . . okay. . . and drinking the eggnog)! Today I am sharing a fun holiday themed card in which the focus is on the ombre sentiment repeated in the background.

Card details:

The base of this A2 sized card is made from 80 lb. Neenah Solar White Smooth cardstock. For this card I used the Christmas Wish digital stamp set. First, I manipulated the digital sentiment "Santa Claus is coming to town" to repeat down the card from black font to a very light gray font. Then I printed this onto Neenah white cardstock. I cut this down and adhered it to a 5 1/4" x 4" piece of red cardstock.

I die cut a row of mountains from white cardstock and adhered these over the bottom of the sentiment. Then I die cut the tops of the mountains from silver glitter cardstock. I printed out the ski Santa image from the Christmas Wish digital stamp set. I colored the image with Copic markers and adhered it to the card using 3M foam adhesive for added dimension. Lastly, I added a coat of clear Wink of Stella to the image for added sparkle.

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

XO, Crystal

Felicity Snowflakes

11/2/2022

Hello friends! If there is one thing I love when it comes to cardmaking, it's the alcohol. Ink, that is! ; ) Initially I never thought I would have enjoyed working with alcohol inks as much as I have because, well. . . they're messy. They stain. They are a tad unpredictable in outcome and all that just terrifies me. Yet, somehow I learned to love them and now can't feature them enough on my cards.

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 Yupo (polysynthetic paper) and "ink blew" Ranger Adirondack alcohol ink in the color Stream over the Yupo paper. That's it, just one ink color was all I used! As it moves around and dries, you get puddles of ink that look like other darker and lighter colors, but I assure you, I used just one color. Nice and easy!

Using the Felicity Snowflakes dies, I cut the outer layer from vellum cardstock and the top thinner layer from white cardstock. I adhered the two layers together with liquid adhesive and then I adhered the snowflakes to the card with a small pop dot (which you can actually see through the vellum, it's too hard to hide).

Using the Contempo Christmas Greetings stamp set and coordinating die, I stamped the sentiment in Versamark ink on white cardstock and heat embossed it with turquoise embossing powder. I used the coordinating circle die to cut out the sentiment. I adhered the sentiment to the card with Scotch 3M foam adhesive for added dimension.

Now that I think about it, you could make this same card in ANY color! Red or green alcohol ink would be very traditional, but I'm also thinking pinks and purples for a pop of pizazz too!

Thanks for visiting and have a wonderfully creative day!

XO, Crystal

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

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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

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

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Jolly Herbarium Layering Plate

9/27/2022

Hello crafty readers! Today I am on the Birch Press Design blog and I am so excited to be sharing a card made using the beautiful new Herbarium Layering Plates. This 3-piece full cover layering plate set is my favorite from this latest holiday release from Birch Press Design!

Swoon! Honestly, it's just gorgeous if I do say so myself! With a mixture of mint green and teal cardstocks with a splash of gold glitter paper in the sentiment, it's just pure holiday elegance!

Card details:

The base of this A2 sized card is made from 80 lb. Neenah Solar White Smooth cardstock. I die cut Layer A of the Herbarium Layering Plate from white cardstock. I die cut Layer B from mint cardstock and Layer C from a darker teal green cardstock. These beautiful colors are from the 6" x 6" Fresh Aqua paper pack. I layered all three layers together with a fine-tip liquid glue. I placed the layers underneath a heavy book to let them dry well and dry flat.

I die cut the word "jolly" from the Jolly Honey Script word die. I die cut the bottom shadow layer from the same darker teal green cardstock and the top outline layer from gold glitter cardstock. I adhered the two layers of the sentiment together and then adhered them to the card using Scotch 3M foam adhesive for added dimension. Lastly, I added a couple red rhinestones as the berries on the card.

I really, really, love how this card came out! In fact, I know that I'll be trying to recreate it in a variety of color combinations.
Thanks for visiting and have a wonderfully creative day!

XO, Crystal

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Christmas Mandala Trees

12/21/2021

Hello and happy Tuesday! Today I'll be sharing my very last holiday themed cards for 2021! I know there are only four days left until Christmas, so by now it's too late to make any more cards and send them out, but, if you're super ambitious, you can always get started on next year's cards!

I just love this new Christmas Mandala Tree stamp and coordinating dies, though for these cards, I only used the two tree dies!

Card details:

*Please note - both cards were made the exact way I just used alternate color combinations for each card to show variety.

These slimline cards measure 8 1/2" x 3 1/2" inches. Slimline cards are designed to fit inside a regular #10 business mailing envelope and require no additional postage. For one card I used a lilac purple cardstock base and the other I used a garden green cardstock base. I lined each cardstock base with an 8 1/4" x 3 1/4" piece of 80 lb. Neenah Solar White smooth cardstock. I then started die cutting trees for each card. For the purple trees, I used some of the glitter cardstock from the 6" x 6" Graceful Garden Glitter pad and some extra purple plaid paper I pulled from my scrap bin. For the green trees, I used glitter cardstock from the 6" x 6" Frosted Glitter pad.

I adhered the first five trees directly to the card base. I adhered the "top" tree (with the mosaic cutouts) to the center of the card using 3M foam adhesive for added dimension. On thin white strips of cardstock, I stamped the sentiment "wishing you peace" in either green or purple ink. This sentiment is also included in the Christmas Mandala stamp set.

Thank you for visiting! I wish you all a very Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Feliz Navidad & Happy Kwanzaa! Whatever you celebrate may your festivities be filled with peace, love and joy. I'll see you in the New Year!

XO, Crystal

Noel

12/20/2021

Can you believe that we are only 5 days away from Christmas!? It's exciting, exhilarating, energizing and yet e-x-h-a-u-s-t-i-n-g all at the same time! Today I am on the Joy Clair Designs blog sharing a fun holiday card using the skating Santa image from the Love Santa digital stamp set.

Card details:

The base of this A2 sized card was made from 80 lb. Neenah Solar White Smooth cardstock. I also cut a 5 1/4" x 4" piece of the same white cardstock for the first mat. I stamped the leaves from the Fall Greetings stamp set in Memento Tuxedo Black ink horizontally along the top and bottom of the white cardstock mat. I colored the leaves with red and green Copic markers to give them more of a festive holiday feel than a fall feel. I placed a 5 1/4" x 1/4" strip of black cardstock as a frame to ground the "NOEL" letters onto. I die cut the letters, "N, E and L" from red glitter cardstock. I adhered the letters to the card using 3M foam adhesive for added dimension. I printed out the skating Santa from the Love Santa digital stamp set and colored him using Copic markers. I fussy cut the Santa out and used this image in lieu of the letter "O" in "NOEL." Lastly, I added a coat of clear Wink of Stella to the Santa image for added sparkle.

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

XO, Crystal

Be Merry

12/14/2021

Hello readers! I can't believe we are only 11 days away from Christmas! I am proud of myself for getting all 121 of my handmade Christmas cards out (and on time) this year! Although, my friends in Austria and Germany may see their cards around Valentine's Day. . . I tried. Today I am sharing two cards made using the Frosty Snowflake Layering dies from Birch Press Design and while the sentiment on these cards says, "be merry," they could easily be made into winter birthday cards or holiday thank you cards by simply changing out the stamped sentiment.

Card details:

*Note - both of these cards were made the same way, I just changed out the color combinations.

The base of this A2 sized card was made from 80 lb. Neenah Solar White Smooth cardstock. Using the Pinpoint Radial Plate die, I cut the background from the same white cardstock. Using Layer A and Layer B of the Frosty Flakes Layering Dies I cut the snowflakes from the 6" x 6" Twinkling Jewel Glitter pad. I adhered the snowflakes directly to the background. Using the Contempo Christmas Greetings stamp set and coordinating die, I stamped the sentiment "be merry" in either blue ink or purple ink and then I used the coordinating circle die to cut the sentiment out. I adhered the sentiment to the center of each card using 3M foam adhesive for added dimension.

Here is the same card made in an alternate color combination:

I hope you have enjoyed these beautiful cards. Thank you for visiting and have a wonderfully creative day!

XO, Crystal

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