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Hello readers and happy Monday! I hope you all had a nice weekend. I am excited to begin sharing some Valentine's Day cards with you over the next two weeks. Today's card uses the You Are Loved dies and the Beautiful Flowers stamp set both from Simon Says Stamp.  Card details:*Both of these cards were made using the same products, I simply used alternating colors. The base of this A2 sized card is made from 80 lb. Neenah Solar White Smooth cardstock. Using either petal pink ink (on pink cardstock) or real red ink (on red cardstock), I stamped the background of each with the Roses All Over stamp set by My Favorite Things. On real red or petal pink cardstock, I stamped the large bouquet of roses from the Beautiful Flowers stamp set in Versamark ink. (I stamped this image twice because I needed two sets for each card.) I heat embossed the large roses in white embossing powder and used the coordinating die to cut the flowers out. I adhered one of the die cuts to the top left corner and one to the lower right corner of each card cutting the edges to fit the 5 1/4" x 4" panel.  I die cut the outer shadow portion of the "You are Loved" die on white cardstock and the thinner script portion was die cut from gold glitter cardstock. I adhered both layers together using a Lawn Fawn glue tube. I then adhered the entire sentiment to the center of the card using 3M foam adhesive for added dimension.    I hope today's feature will inspire you to begin creating (and ultimately sending) your Valentine's Day cards. Thank you for visiting, stay warm, and happy crafting! XO, Crystal
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Today I am continuing on with the #manuarycards and sharing a simple, but elegant golf themed masculine card. For this card, I used the Golf stamp set by The Frantic Stamper. Last week I shared these birthday cards also featuring a black, gold and white color palette, which I have found works well for a wide variety of masculine cards.  Card details:The base of this A2 sized card is made from Neenah Solar White Smoothcardstock. I cut a 5" x 3 3/4" piece of black cardstock and a 5" x 3 3/4" piece of brushed gold patterned cardstock. I layered and staggered the black and gold cardstock to the font of the card. On thin strips of black cardstock, I stamped the sentiment in Versamark ink and heat embossed it with white embossing powder. I also stamped the golf clubs in Versamark ink on black cardstock and heat embossed it with white embossing powder. I adhered both the golf club and sentiment strips to the card using 3M foam adhesive for added dimension.  I hope you have enjoyed today's card. Thank you for visiting! XO, CrystalHello! Hello! Happy New Year friends and welcome back! I'm excited to be returning to a regular blogging schedule after taking some much needed time off for the holiday season. Today I'm kicking things off with a slimline New Year's themed card using the Cheers stamp set (retired) from 88 and Clear.  Card details:This slimline card measures 8 1/2" x 3 1/2". Slimline cards are designed to fit inside a regular #10 business sized envelope and require no additional postage. The base of this slimline card is made from 80 lb. Neenah Solar White Crest smoothcardstock. Using the Slimline Frames and Portholes die from Newton's Nook, I die cut the background from black cardstock. I stamped the champagne bottle, wine glasses, top hat and party hat in Versamark ink on white cardstock. I heat embossed all the images with gold embossing powder and then fussy cut each image (there is no coordinating die). I die cut the large numbers (retired Stampin' UP!) from gold glitter cardstock. I adhered all the images to the card using 3M foam adhesive for added dimension. Lastly on a thin white strip of cardstock, I stamped the sentiment "make it amazing" in Memento Tuxedo black ink. I notched the left end before adhering the sentiment strip to the upper righthand corner of the card.    May this new year bring you blessings in abundance of love, joy, health, peace and prosperity! XO, CrystalHappy 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, I can't believe I'm about to say the word Christmas. In September. . . . I know, I know, I hear ya, it's still kind of early (and by kind of, I mean A LOT)! But, if you hand stamp or design all of your Christmas cards, then chances are you should probably be thinking about starting now! I send approximately 100 cards every Christmas, so after today's three cards, I've only got 97 more to go!! : ) Today I am sharing this trio of cards on the Birch Press Design blog. These cards use the new Christmas Ornaments and Labels stamp set and coordinating dies.  Today's trio of cards uses the brand new Christmas Ornament and Labels stamp set and coordinating dies. For these cards, I chose a traditional Christmas color palette in red, green, kraft and gold. The base of each of these A2 sized cards is made from 80 lb. Neenah Solar White Crest cardstock. On a 5 1/4" x 4" sheet of green, red or kraft cardstock, I stamped the large background stamp in Versamark ink and then heat embossed the background with white embossing powder. I then stamped the image again on an alternating colors of cardstock. I stamped the ornament in Versamark ink and heat embossed it with gold embossing powder. I used the coordinating ornament die to cut the ornament. I adhered the ornament to the card using 3M foam adhesive for added dimension.  I die cut the top of each ornament from gold glitter cardstock. I die cut some of the leaves using green, gold or red cardstock. I tucked the leaves under the ornament topper. I stamped the various sentiments in red, kraft and green ink on Neenah Solar White Smooth cardstock and used the coordinating label die to cut each sentiment out. I adhered the sentiment banner to the center of each ornament.     I'm looking forward to replicating these cards using non-traditional colors too. Blues, mint green and silver is another holiday favorite combination of mine. Thank you for visiting and have a wonderfully creative day! XO, CrystalPlease don't be all confused by the title of today's post. . .Yes, I am very aware that it is the middle of July, which qualifies it as summer, and thus, the title should be "summer mail." But, the name of this stamp set from Richard Garay Designs is called "Spring Mail." And, in my traditional habit of always being behind, today we get spring mail, in the form of a peony filled envelope, in the summer!  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 matted a random scrap piece of black and gold foil paper with Melon Mambo cardstock and adhered both to the center of the card. I stamped the Spring Mail image in Versamark ink onto a piece of watercolor paper and heat embossed it with gold embossing powder. I colored the image using Zig Watercolor Brush pens. Once the image dried, I fussy cut the image and adhered it to the center of the card using 3M foam adhesive for added dimension. I punched out a few extra leaves with a leaf punch and gold glitter paper. I stamped the sentiment "Hello Lovely" in Versamark ink and heat embossed it also in gold embossing powder. I fussy cut the sentiment and adhered it below the envelope and to the right of the card. Lastly, I added a few pink rhinestones for extra sparkle.    Thank you for visiting and have a wonderfully creative day! XO, CrystalList of supplies:
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 friends! Today I am over on the Birch Press Design blog sharing these two cards using the Thankful Mandala stamp set. I chose to work with this stamp set because it was something very different for me, and I'm so happy that I decided to challenge myself because I love how these cards came out! The very first thing I did after receiving this stamp was to actually cut it down! Yes, this was equally as scary as it sounds! I knew this could go wonderfully right, or horribly wrong really quick and that I was taking a chance at potentially ruining a $25 stamp set! But, I didn't particularly like the large square shape of the mandala, so I trimmed off the outermost layer to give more of a peacock edge shape. I regret that I did not take a picture of this process so you could see exactly what I mean. Fortunately, it worked out just fine! Phew!   Card details:The base of this A2 sized card is made from 80 lb. Neenah Solar White Smooth cardstock. I stamped the large mandala in Versamark ink on black cardstock and then heat embossed it with gold embossing powder. I cut the mandala in half in order to separate it on the card. I adhered each half to the top and bottom of the card base. I die cut the larger outline word "thanks" from gold foil paper and the smaller word outline from black cardstock. I mounted the two together using a Tombow tape runner and adhered both to the center of the card using foam adhesive. Lastly, I stamped the sentiment "for all you do" in the middle of the card in Memento Tuxedo black ink.    Card details:For the second card, my card base is a sheet of turquoise cardstock. I stamped the mandala in Versamark ink on another sheet of turqoise cardstock and heat embossed it with white embossing powder. I trimmed the image down to 5" x 3 3/4" and mounted this stamped mandala onto a scalloped sheet of white cardstock. I adhered both sheets to the card base. I die cut the word "hugs" from both gold foil paper and white cardstock, layering the two together using a Tombow tape runner. I stamped the words "it's your birthday" in Versamark ink on a thin strip of turquoise cardstock and heat embossed it with white embossing powder. I notched both ends before adhering it to the card below the word "hugs" using 3M foam adhesive.   Thanks for visiting and I hope today's post will encourage YOU to try using a stamp set that might be a bit out of your comfort zone! You just might find that the end results were worth it. XO, CrystalList of supplies:
I don't know if I'm more excited to share today's card with you because it's a beautiful new stamp set that I'm loving, or because of the surprisingly beautiful color combination! You might recall that last Friday I shared this Fall Foliage wreath card with you that was inspired by Davina's September Mood Board. I was very skeptical about the crushed curry, blush pink, mint and teal colors, but pleasantly surprised with the end result! So much so, in fact that I wanted to create another card using these same colors.
Here is the Butterfly Reflections, Ink Mood Board that inspired me:
Card details:
The base of this A2 sized card is made from Crumb Cake cardstock. Using the Gina Marie Scalloped Stitched Nesting Rectangle dies, I cut the largest die from Neenah Solar White Smooth cardstock. I heat embossed the sentiment in gold embossing powder on the lower left corner of this white cardstock. On a separate sheet of white cardstock, I stamped the butterflies twice in Versamark ink and heat embossed them with gold embossing powder. I colored in the butterflies using my Spectrum Noir Alcohol Ink markers and then die cut them using the coordinating Confetti Cuts dies. Lastly, I added the butterflies to the card using 3M foam adhesive for added dimension.
Here is the Butterfly Blossoms stamp set and coordinating Confetti Cuts dies from Reverse Confetti (available through Butterfly Reflections, Ink):
I hope you have enjoyed today's card. Thank you for visiting and have a wonderfully creative day!
XO, Crystal
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Hello crafty friends and happy Friday! TGIF! I hope you have fun things planned for the weekend ahead. Speaking of crafty friends, and before we get to today's crafty friends cards, I would like to give a little shout out to my newly found again friend, Carla! You see Carla used to follow me on the Super Stamp Girl website and then when I transitioned, I forgot to email her about the change. Oops! Then on a random whim, Ink Road Stamps announced that Carla was their winner of a recent Instagram contest, so I reconnected with her again. I'm happy to have you following along again, Carla! And, a big thank you to all the other readers who visit my website regularly as well! I hope to continue to inspire and entertain you while you are here.
As for my weekend plans. . . I have a stamp camp to teach on Saturday and then on Sunday I've got lots of designing to do for my upcoming fall classes. LOTS! But, I'm excited because that means I can finally start to play with all the fun Halloween products! 
Card details:
The base of this A2 sized card is made from Crumb Cake cardstock. Using the Gina Marie Stitched Rectangle dies, I die cut a sheet of Neenah Solar White Smooth cardstock. Next I heat embossed a whole bunch of the crafty sentiments onto a variety of cardstock using white embossing powder. From top to bottom, the cardstock colors are: Real Red, Pumpkin Pie, Daffodil Delight, Pear Pizzazz, Marina Mist (retired), Pool Party, Blushing Bride and Highland Heather. I trimmed each sentiment into a small strip and notched both ends. I adhered all the sentiment strips to the card using 3M foam adhesive for added dimension.
Both of today's cards were created used the Crafty Friends stamp set from Altenew:
Card details:
The base of this A2 sized card is made from Basic Black cardstock. Using the Gina Marie Stitched Rectangle dies, I die cut a piece of Neenah Solar White Smooth cardstock for the first layer. I stamped the sentiment in Memento Tuxedo black ink. I heat embossed the Lawn Fawn Mailbox (retired) on Real Red cardstock in white embossing powder and cut it using the coordinating die. I adhered the mailbox to the card using 3M foam adhesive for added dimension. Next I stamped each small envelope in Lovely Lipstick ink, Pumpkin Pie ink, Daffodil Delight ink, Pear Pizzazz ink, Tempting Turquoise ink (retired) and Highland Heather ink. I fussy cut each stamped envelope and adhered it to the card using 3M foam adhesive.
Thanks for visiting and I hope you have a crafty fun weekend too!
XO, Crystal
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