Halloween is my favorite cardmaking holiday, so I'm all about spooky colors, bat stencils and cute kitties hiding in pumpkins!

The base of this A2 sized card is made from Neenah Solar White Smooth cardstock.  Using the Frames & Flags dies, I cut the scalloped frame from black cardstock.  I cut a 5" x 3 3/" piece of Bristol Smooth cardstock to ink blend the distress oxide inks on to create that background.  I first ink blended Wilted Violet Distress Oxide ink onto the paper and then I laid the Flying Bats stencil on top.  I then ink blended Seedless Preserve Distress Oxide ink and Twisted Citron Distress Oxide ink bats over the background color. I die cut the grass using the Land Borders die and Granny Apple Green cardstock.  I stamped the cat and pumpkin image from the Newton's Boo-tiful Night stamp set in Memento Tuxedo black ink on white cardstock and colored it using Copic markers.  I die cut the image using the coordinating Newton's Boo-tiful Night dies.  I adhered the image to the card using 3M foam adhesive for added dimension.  I cut a thin strip of black cardstock and notched the right end before adhering it to the left side of the card (to fit the sketch image) and I stamped "Happy Halloween" in Memento Black ink on a thin strip of white cardstock to adhere directly below the black strip.  Lastly, I added a coat of clear Wink of Stella to the image for added sparkle. 

MY FAVORITE HOLIDAY JUST GOT EVEN BETTER WITH THE RELEASE OF THE NEW SLIMLINE HAUNTED HILL DIE BY WHIMSY STAMPS!  No, do not adjust your screens, my all caps commentary is not a grammatical error!  I'm just shouting these words electronically because I'm that excited about this fun new die!  But, what makes it even better is that with the positioning of the haunted house, you can die cut the whole image and then just use the mansion portion for an A2 sized card, if you don't want to make a slimline card.  It's a Halloween win-win!

*A full list of supplies is located at the end of this post. 

The base of this slimline card is made from Neenah Solar White Smooth cardstock.   I die cut the Haunted hill die from black cardstock.  I ran the same Haunted Hill die through my Big Shot again this time in purple cardstock and I pieced the purple road into the first black mansion I die cut.  I had a scrap piece of a green alcohol ink background leftover from another card and was able to reuse it for the background sky of the mansion for a spooky green glow.  I die cut the ghosts from the "Boo" die set in white cardstock and put a little piece of black cardstock behind their eyes to give them dark shadow.  I die cut the word "boo" out of lime green cardstock and then created a shadow behind the word from black cardstock.  I adhered all the ghosts and the word "boo" to the card using 3M foam adhesive for added dimension.   

Are YOU as excited about this spooky new die as I am!???  No?  That's okay too!  : ) 
It's Friday (and also the start of my vacation), so let's all be excited about that! 
​ Thanks for visiting and have a great weekend!

*I will be taking my first official "vacation" of 2020, and, as such, will also be taking a much needed break from blogging.  I will return to regular posting on Monday, September 21st.  Be well friends and I'll see you when I return. 

Today I am sharing another way to use the new "Sheets & Giggles" stamp set from the September release at Whimsy Stamps.  If you missed yesterday's card, please click here to see it, because it's a lot of fun for Halloween!

For today's card I created a shaker card and used another new stamp set called "Spooky Parlor" background behind the shaker frame.  And the best part?!  If you look closely at the frame, you will see the sequins inside the shaker component are actually little ghosts!  I cannot recall where I originally purchased these sequins, but I did find a similar mix through Lucy's Cards, if you like them too!

*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 stamped the Spooky Parlor background in Versamark ink on a piece of Basic Black cardstock.  I heat embossed the image with white embossing powder.  I cut this background image to 5" x 3 3/" and adhered it directly to my white card base.  Using the Wavy Nested Frames die set, I cut a wonky hole in the center of this mottled black and white cardstock (a SNEAK PEEK at an upcoming paper pack from Whimsy Stamps)!  I lined the back of the paper with clear acetate and then I lined edge to edge with foam adhesive.  I sprinkled about two tablespoons of sequins directly onto the Spooky Parlor background and then flipped over the frame and secured it in place so the sequins could not fall out.  I stamped two of the ghosts from the Sheets & Giggles and fussy cut them out.  I adhered each ghosts to a corner of the card using 3M foam adhesive.   I stamped the sentiment in Memento Tuxedo black ink on white cardstock and fussy cut it by hand into thin strips.  I adhered the sentiment to each corner of the card also using 3M foam adhesive.  Lastly, I added a coat of clear Wink of Stella to the ghosts for added sparkle. 

I hope you have enjoyed these sassy cards (both yesterday's and today's) using the new "Sheets & Giggles" stamp set from Whimsy Stamps.  Thank you for visiting and have a wonderfully creative day!

Hello friends and happy Tuesday!  Today I am sharing a fun new stamp set from the September release at Whimsy Stamps called "Sheets & Giggles".  Now these ghosts are quite a bit cheeky and perhaps even a tad risque to some, but I used the most "tame" of the bunch and this sentiment is my favorite!!

*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.  Using the Scalloped Nesting Rectanangles from Gina Marie Designs, I die cut the frame from black cardstock.  Using the new "Boo" dies from Whimsy Stamps, I die cut the word "boo" three times in orange glitter cardstock, green glitter cardstock and purple glitter cardstock. I adhered the three sentiments to the card using a Lawn Fawn glue pen.  I stamped the ghosts from the new Sheets & Giggles stamp set in Memento Tuxedo black ink on white cardstock and colored in their eyes and/or mouths with Copic markers.  I used my Brother Scan and Cut 2 e-cutting machine to cut the ghosts in lieu of fussy cutting.  

I adhered the ghosts to the card using 3M foam adhesive.  I stamped the sassy sentiment in Tuxedo Memento Black ink on white cardstock and cut it by hand into a thin frame.  I adhered the sentiment with 3M foam adhesive in between the layers of "boo's."  Lastly, I added a coat of clear Wink of Stella to the ghosts for added sparkle!

There are so many fun Halloween new release products available now at Whimsy Stamps!  Tomorrow I'll be sharing another way to use this new Sheets & Giggles stamp set. 
​Thank you for visiting!

Hello and happy Friday, friends!  Today Whimsy Stamps is having a slimline cards hop on both Instagram and YouTube.  Members of the Creative Team have designed a variety of slimline cards, both to inspire you, as well as to promote Whimsy Stamps for being the innovator of the slimline dies.  You can begin the Instagram hop on the Whimsy Stamps account here.   Or, you can start the YouTube hop here on my YouTube page!  

For my card, I have used the Corny Candy Corn stamp set and the Filmstrip Slimline die to create this fun Halloween themed shaker card:

Here is the step-by-step instructional video I created to show you how to create this shaker card:

I hope you will be inspired by the many creative slimline card ideas you will see on both the Instagram and YouTube hops!  Thanks for visiting and have a great weekend! 

I am excited to share today's box card with you featuring a new stamp set from Whimsy Stamps called Sugar Skull Beauties.  It's no secret that I love Halloween, but I also love learning about the history, folklore and culture surrounding the holiday.  For those of Mexican heritage who celebrate Dia de Muertos or "day of the dead" it is a beautiful remembrance celebration of life and death.  A common symbol of the holiday is the skull (in Spanish "calavera"), which celebrants represent in masks and foods such as sugar or chocolate skulls, which are inscribed with the name of the recipient on the forehead, hence the name of the stamp "Sugar Skull" beauties!   Sugar skulls can be given as gifts to both the living and the dead. 

*A full list of supplies is located at the end of this post.

The base of this box card was made using the Lawn Fawn Scalloped Box Card.  The base of the card is made from Basic Black cardstock.  I cut rectangles of purple, pink and blue glitter cardstock to fit on the base of the box.  Using a small star punch, I punched out stars in black, pink and blue to adhere to some of the rectangles.  I cut a 3" x 4" piece of white cardstock for the back piece of the box on which I stamped the sentiment "RIP."  I created two hanging banners by cutting rectangles of glitter cardstock and folding them in half over black twine and adhering them to the box.  I stamped the sugar skull beauties in Memento Tuxedo black ink on white cardstock and colored the images using Copic markers.  Once all of the images were colored, I used my Brother Scan and Cut 2 e-cutting machine to cut the images out, in lieu of fussy cutting them.  Then I adhered the images onto the box using 3M foam adhesive for added dimension.  Lastly, I added a coat of clear Wink of Stella to the images for added sparkle.    

I hope you have enjoyed today's box card.  To see more of the new release products from Whimsy Stamps, please click here.  Thank you for visiting and have a wonderfully creative day!

Hello and happy Friday!  I am sooooo ready for the weekend, it's been one of those weeks and the weekend can't come fast enough!  It's another exciting new release day today at Whimsy Stamps and it's all about Halloween!  I know I've mentioned it before, but I LOVE Halloween!  It is one of my favorite holidays to make cards for, so you'll be seeing lots of spooky inspiration over the next month or two. 
Today I'm sharing three cards created using the new "Boo" dies combined with Distress Oxide ink backgrounds for an extra spooky sky effect.    

*A full list of supplies is located at the end of this post.

All three of these A2 sized card are made from a base of Neenah White Solar Smooth cardstock.  I cut the window frame using the Arched Window die.  This frame was cut from black glitter cardstock.  I created a cloud template using the Grass and Cloud Edge die set and acetate sheets.  I ink blended distress oxide inks in Carved Pumpkin, Twisted Citron and Seedless Preserves to create each sky.  I blocked off a small white circle with masking tape for the moon.  I die cut each of the ghosts from white cardstock and put a small piece of black cardstock behind their eyes and mouth for a shadow effect.  I die cut the word "boo" from orange, green and purple glitter cardstock and made my own shadow frame from black cardstock.  All ghosts images and the word "boo" were adhered to the card with 3M foam adhesive for added dimension.  

Are you starting to think about making your Halloween cards yet?  I promise, getting a good head start now will make you panic much less on October 27th!

​Have a great weekend!

Hello friends and Happy Halloween!  Today I'm sharing a new stamp from the October Life Celebrations release from RG Avenue.  This fun Day of the Dead inspired stamp set was too unique not to share ALL of the calaveras (skulls), so I had to create a slimline card for the entire familia!  My thought process going into this was that if I colored all of the calaveras with ALL of the colors, it would simply be way too much color! 
Because, hi, remember me, the neutrals girl. . .
So, I decided to color each skull within a similar color family (green, blue, pink and yellow).  I felt it added more cohesiveness to the overall appearance.  It's still bright and colorful without being entirely loco!

The base of this 8 1/2" x 3 1/2" slimline card is made from Black Taffy cardstock.  I cut a 8 1/4" x 3 1/4" piece of Neenah Solar White Smooth cardstock and stamped the grunge splatter on it using the RG Avenue Tangy Apple Sugar Cube, Tangy Gum Sugar Cube, Sweet Lavender Sugar Cube and Tangy Orange Sugar Cube.  As the La Familia stamp set was a digital once, I printed out all of the images and then colored them using Copic markers.  I added highlights to each image using a white gel pen.  I adhered the images to the card using 3M foam adhesive for added dimension.  I stamped the sentiment on Black Taffy cardstock in Versamark ink and heat embossed it with white embossing powder.  I notched both ends of the sentiment strip and adhered it to the bottom center of the card using 3M foam adhesive.  Lastly, I added a coat of Clear Wink of Stella for added sparkle. 

I hope you have enjoyed today's card.  Thank you for visiting and have a wonderfully creative day!

If it weren't for two extra days of crafting in LA last weekend with my dear friend Donna, I'm not sure I would have sent out my Halloween cards this year. . . And, oh the stress I have felt about this!  I knew that September and October were going to be two very busy months for me, and I did my best to plan accordingly by having kits made in advance for most of my classes and having my blog posts pre-photographed and drafted.  But, I still had this nagging voice in the back of my head that kept haunting me about those darn Halloween cards.  Here is just one (of a set of 8 matching cards) that I made in Donna's beautiful LA studio:

The base of this A2 sized card is made from Basic Black cardstock.  The first matted layer is a 5 1/4" x 4" piece of plaid cardstock from Echo Park.  Using the Gina Marie Scalloped Stitched Nesting dies, I cut a piece of Basic Black cardstock.  On a 4 1/4" x 3 1/2" piece of white cardstock, I stamped the spider, web and tree in Memento Tuxedo black ink.  I cut the grass using a scrap piece of Old Olive cardstock and a grassy border die.  The tombstones were heat embossed in white embossing powder on Smoky Slate cardstock.  I then fussy cut the tombstones and adhere them to the card with pop dots.  I stamped the sentiment in Pumpkin Pie ink on a thin piece of white cardstock and notched both ends before adhering it to the center of the card with pop dots.  Lastly, I added a coat of clear Wink of Stella to the tombstones for added sparkle. 

No, not everyone on my 98-person Christmas card list is going to be getting a card for Halloween, but I tried, and I did the best I could do in the time that I had available.  With age and wisdom comes the acceptance that I cannot do it all (nor does anyone expect me too!) My new mantra is "done is better than perfect" and some days I really am okay with that.

Thanks for visiting!

Hello and welcome to my Create w/ Crystal monthly cardmaking "club!"  About five months ago, I asked some fellow crafty friends who would be interested in a FREE little "kit."  Every month I send each member a small envelope of supplies that they will have to use to create a card.  Everyone in the group will receive the exact same supplies.  Once they have completed their card, they mail it back to me (in a self-addressed stamped envelope) and I share all their cards with you!  The idea is to see how vastly different our cards can be, despite all using the very same products. 

You will notice that some people submitted two cards and that's entirely okay by the "rules."  They were given instructions to create whatever they wanted with their supplies.  If they had enough for two cards, that's great.  But, they can also submit scrapbook pages or any other papercrafted item as well!

Let's take a look at what they made:

What a wide array of ideas have been presented in these beautiful samples!  I hope you have enjoyed seeing the talents of my crafty friends.  Please leave them some love in the comments below! 

Thanks for visiting and have a wonderfully creative day!