Crystal Komara
  • Home
  • Blog
  • About
  • Classes
  • Gallery
  • Videos
    • Photography for Cardmakers Video
    • YouTube Channel
  • Contact
Picture

Pumpkin Spice & Everything Nice

10/16/2019

2 Comments

 
Hello friends!  Today I am over on the Butterfly Reflections, Ink blog sharing two cards that I created from the same Newton's Nook Pumpkin Latte stamp set.  While I'm not sold on a PSL, I've never met an overly nutmegged chai latte that I don't loooooooove!  And, I'll always say yes to pumpkin bread, pumpkin pie and pumpkin soup. 

I have been seeing a lot of orange and teal color combinations for fall and I've been loving it, so it inspired me to create these cards in colors that I might not usually select together. 
Picture
Picture

Card details:

The base of this A2 sized card is made from teal cardstock.  I mounted a 5 1/4" x 4" piece of teal gingham paper from the Sunny Studios Classic Gingham 6" x 6" paper pack.  Using a framed die, I also cut a piece of Lawn Fawn Watercolor Wishes paper pack.  On this watercolored paper, I heat embossed the sentiment in the upper right corner in white embossing powder.  I stamped the images in Memento Tuxedo black ink on Neenah Solar White Smooth cardstock and colored in the images using my Copic markers.  I always add highlights to my images using a white gel pen.  (Shhh, it's my little crafty secret!)  After coloring the images, I die cut them using the coordinating Pumpkin Latte dies by Newton's Nook. I placed half of a doily at the bottom of the frame and wrapped linen thread around the frame.  I adhered the images to the card using foam adhesive for added dimension.  Lastly, I added a coat of clear Wink of Stella to the images for added sparkle.
Picture
Picture
Picture

Card details:

For the second card I created using the Pumpkin Latte stamp set, I made a shaker card.  I LOVE shaker cards - maybe even more than I like pumpkin!  I used the same teal cardstock base and the same teal Sunny Studio Classic Gingham paper pack.  Only this time, in the center of the teal gingham, I die cut a large circle using the Mama Elephant Basic Circle dies. I placed  a piece of Lawn Fawn Watercolor Wishes paper behind the and stamped the sentiment in teal ink.  I created the shaker frame by using Hero Arts Acetate Sheets and the Shimmering Ice Fusion Sequins by Studio Katia. I assembled the shaker portion of the card and adhered it to the card base. I again stamped all of the images in Memento Tuxedo Black ink on Neenah Solar White Smooth cardstock.  I colored in the images using Copic markers adding white gel pen highlights. I adhered the images to the card using foam adhesive creating a fall scene on top of the shaker card.  Lastly, I added a coat of clear Wink of Stella for added sparkle.
Picture
Picture
Picture
Click to set custom HTML
I hope you have enjoyed these fall cards!  Thanks for visiting and have a wonderfully creative day!

XO, Crystal

2 Comments

October Mood Board

10/15/2019

0 Comments

 
Hello friends and welcome back from a long and beautiful holiday weekend!  We spent the last four days on a mini-vacation to Burlington, Vermont.  Yes, it's peak foliage in northern New England, and yes, the crowds were wildly insane as a result, but, it is my favorite time of the year and so worth it!  Burlington is an artsy college community just an hour south of the Canadian border.  It's filled with lots of great restaurants, a vibrant nightlife (even though we're in bed by 10) and the most beautiful bike trail on Lake Champlain.  It was a perfectly relaxing weekend getaway and only about a four hour drive.

Today's card was inspired by the new October Mood Board from Butterfly Reflections, Ink.  Mood boards are used for a variety of events - home decor, wedding planning and yes, even crafting!  These boards inspire you to create using the colors, patterns or textures presented.  This card was inspired by the color palette of this month's mood board:
Picture

Card Details:

The base of this A2 sized card is made from Neenah Solar White Smooth cardstock.  I also matted the cardstock back with a 5 1/4" x 4" piece of Neenah Solar White Smooth cardstock.  I stamped all of the images from the Mama Elephant Donut Treats stamp set in Memento Tuxedo Black ink.  I colored the images using Copic alcohol ink markers.  I added highlights to some of the images using a white gel pen.  I die cut the photo frame from Tranquil Tide cardstock and adhered it over a scrap piece of green watercolor paper.  I adhered the picture frame to the center of the card at a titled angle.  I added the donut box, mice and donuts to the card using 3M foam adhesive for added height.  I stamped the sentiment on a strip of Neenah White Solar Smooth cardstock and notched the left end before adhering it behind the donut box.  Lastly, I added clear Wink of Stella to the card for added sparkle.
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Here is the Donut Treats stamp set from Mama Elephant (available through Butterfly Reflections, Ink):
Picture
Picture
Thanks for visiting and have a wonderfully creative day!

XO, Crystal

0 Comments

Butterfly Blossoms

9/19/2019

0 Comments

 
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.

Picture
Here is the Butterfly Reflections, Ink Mood Board that inspired me:
Picture
Picture

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. 
Picture
Picture
Picture
Here is the Butterfly Blossoms stamp set and coordinating Confetti Cuts dies from Reverse Confetti (available through Butterfly Reflections, Ink):
Picture
Picture
I hope you have enjoyed today's card.  Thank you for visiting and have a wonderfully creative day!

XO, Crystal

You might also enjoy:

Picture
Picture
Picture
0 Comments

September Mood Board

9/13/2019

2 Comments

 
Hello readers and happy Friday!  Yay for the weekend!  Today I have a card to share with you that is WAY outside of my color comfort zone!   Each month, one of my fellow DT members creates a mood board for the Butterfly Reflections, Ink blog and it is designed to help inspire you to create.  Perhaps you are inspired by the colors and textures or the patterns and the images.  A mood board is simply a starting place to build from.  This month Davina from Popsicle Creates is also so graciously offering (at her own expense) a $20 gift certificate to the Butterfly Reflections, Ink store!  All you have to do is make a card inspired by the mood board (see below) and enter your card on her website link-in.  One lucky winner will be chosen at random at the end of the month. 
Picture
At first I was very skeptical about these colors - salmon, curry, mint and teal.  Yikes!  Green and yellow together?  Meh.  I don't know about this!  But, as I got to coloring this fall wreath below, I LOVE it!  
Picture
We're going to pretend that pop dot backing is not on the card. I did not notice it until I uploaded the photos! *Can't see it? It's on the lower left mushroom! Oops! : )

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 a piece of Neenah Solar White Smooth cardstock for my first mat.  On a separate sheet of white cardstock, I stamped both wreaths and extra pumpkins and mushrooms from the Fall Foliage stamp set in Memento Tuxedo Black ink.  I colored in the images with Spectrum Noir alcohol ink markers and began to arrange them into an oval patterns on the card.  Once I had the placement of the images into a layout I was content with, I adhered the colored images to the card with 3M foam adhesive for added dimension.  I heat embossed the sentiment in the middle of the card with gold embossing powder.  Lastly, I added a coat of Clear Wink of Stella to the colored images for added sparkle.
Picture
Here is the beautiful new Fall Foliage stamp set (with coordinating dies) from Avery Elle:
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
I am still so pleasantly surprised that I ended up loving the colors of this mood board.  Now I want to create this card in ALL the colors!  Thanks, Davina, for inspiring me to step outside of the box.

Thanks for visiting and have a great weekend!

XO, Crystal

You might also enjoy:

Picture
Picture
Picture
2 Comments

Cats, Carbs and Cards

9/4/2019

2 Comments

 
Hello crafty friends! (I say "friends" because I really do believe in the age old adage, "strangers are friends you've yet to meet.")  Today I'm happy to be writing my first post as one of the newest Design Team members for the fall/winter 2019 term for Butterfly Reflections, Ink.  I'm very grateful to Vanessa for selecting me to join her amazing group of talented crafters and to help spread the word about her local store.  Cheers to strong and independent women business owners and to shopping local!

I chose to use the Newton's Thanksgiving by Newton's Nook to create my "debut card." Mainly because this card is all about cats and carbs, which pretty much sums up my life!  We have three rescue cats who dominate our house (we have no children!) and I'm a carb girl all the way, hello breads and pastries, so, all things created by Newton's Nook really make me happy.
Picture

Card details:

The base of this A2 sized card is made from Neenah Solar White Smooth cardstock.  The first 5 1/4" x 4" layer is a sheet of paper from the Echo Park Fall Paper Pack (similar). I used the Stitched Circle Frames Lawn Cuts and cut a circle from a scrap piece of kraft plaid paper.  I cut off the bottom of the circle to make a half circle.  I stamped the sentiment in the upper right corner of this half circle in a dark brown ink.  I adhered this directly to the center of the card using a Tombow Adhesive Dots Runner - these are THE BEST in my opinion!
 
I stamped all of the images in Memento Tuxedo Black ink (another personal favorite of mine!) on white cardstock and used the coordinatingNewton's Thanksgiving dies to cut the images out.  I colored the images with alcohol ink markers and then I always use a White Gelly Roll pen to add highlights to my colored images.  Try it - it's a little insider's secret to adding detail and dimension!
Picture
I added a piece of burlap tape to the bottom of the half-circle and began to adhere my colored images to the card.  I often use foam adhesive when adding images to a card to add depth to my scenes.
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Well, I hope you have enjoyed my first card for the Design Team!  Be sure to follow along on my Instagram too!  Thanks for taking the time to visit today and for joining me on my DT journey with Vanessa and Butterfly Reflections, Ink.  I look forward to sharing more of my creations with you and I hope you leave here feeling creative and inspired! 

XO, Crystal

You might also enjoy:

Picture
Picture
Picture
2 Comments

Exciting Announcement

9/3/2019

4 Comments

 
Picture
Hello readers and welcome back from a long, holiday weekend!  I have an exciting announcement to share with you today. . . I have been selected to join the amazing Design Team at Butterfly Reflections, Ink. for the fall/winter 2019 term.  I've known for a few short weeks now, but had to keep it quiet until the store announced it earlier today on their blog.  Butterfly Reflections, Ink. is a small woman-owned and operated craft store that opened just over a year ago in May of 2018 in Kingston, New Hampshire.  While I have yet to visit the store in person (my mom and I are planning a road trip on Black Friday!) I am delighted to be joining Vanessa's team of amazing designers and fellow artisan's.   If you live in southern Maine or New Hampshire, or Eastern Massachusetts, please consider visiting.  Butterfly Reflections, Ink. (BRI) carries SO many products online too, including the newest releases from fan favorites such as Lawn Fawn, My Favorite Things, Newton's Nook and many, many more!  But, even better, because the store is located so close to me in New England, it only takes 2 days for shipping!  No more waiting!

Now, I'll introduce you to a few other talented ladies who will be joining along on this DT journey with me for BRI: 

First up we have Tiffany Beuning. Tiffany is from Las Vegas, is a high school counselor and is married to a great guy who supports her craft habit. 
Picture
Next up we have Jane! Jane is a working professional by day and a crafter by night. hehe She lives in Southern California with her husband, 19 month old daughter and her 2 year old Westie (aka her first child). 
Picture
Next up, we have Amanda Willett. Amanda is from Kentucky and just 25 years old! Her grandmother used to work for American Greetings and after some time of giving/receiving the same cards, she got into cardmaking.
Picture
Candice Fisher is last, but certainly not least! She is an active mother of three (21, 18 and 16) and two of them are now in college. She is lucky to have an understanding hubby who supports her love of all things crafty, especially cardmaking. She's also been scrapping for 16 years and used to work for Archiver's as a class instructor. 
Picture
On Wednesday I will be sharing the first card I created for the Butterfly Reflections, Ink. Design Team, but I hope in the meantime you will check out the BRI store online HERE and be sure to follow Vanessa Middleton on Facebook and Instagram.  Let's help these small, independent and local stores stay in business by showing our support!

XO, Crystal 

4 Comments

    Hi, I'm Crystal!

    Picture
    Click the photo to learn more about me!

    Archives:

    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019

    Categories:

    All
    25 Days Of Christmas Tags
    4th Of July
    5 For $5
    88 And Clear
    Alcohol Inks
    Alex Syberia Designs
    All Occasion
    Alte
    Altenew
    A Muse Studio
    Animals
    Art
    Australia
    Avery Elle
    Backgrounds
    Beach/Ocean
    Behind The Scenes
    Birch Press Design
    Birch Press Designs
    Birthdays
    Blog Hop
    Bookmarks
    Books
    Box Card
    Boxes/Bags
    Budget
    Butterfly Reflections
    Butterfly Reflections Ink
    Camping
    Card Donations
    Card Kits
    Cards For A Cause
    Challenges
    Christmas
    Classes
    Classy & Elegant
    Coffee Loving Cardmakers
    Coloring
    Comic/Cartoon
    Concord & 9th
    Congratulations
    Copic
    Covid 19
    Covid-19
    Craft Room
    Craft Tools
    Crafty Finds
    Create W/ Crystal
    Custom Stamp
    Design Team
    Die Cutting
    Digital Stamping
    Distress Oxide Inks
    Easel Cards
    Easter
    E-Cutting Machines
    Ephemera
    Events
    Facebook Live
    Fall/Autumn
    Fantasy
    Father's Day
    Feature Friday
    Fiesta
    Flowers
    Food/Beverages
    Fruit
    Fundraising Efforts
    Fun Folds
    Fun Stamper's Journey
    Gerda Steiner
    Get Well Soon
    Get-well-soon
    Gina-k-designs
    Gina Marie Designs
    Glitter
    Graciellie Design
    Guest Designer
    Halloween
    Happy Birthday
    Happy Mail
    Heat Embossing
    Heat Foiling
    Heirloom Productions
    Hello Bluebird
    Hero Arts
    Holidays
    Home
    Home Decor
    Honey Bee Stamps
    Humor
    Ink
    Inky Paws Challenge Team
    Inside Shadow Box
    Instagram
    Interactive Cards
    Joy Clair Designs
    Kid Friendly
    Kids
    Lawn Fawn
    Love
    Magical/Fantasy
    Make Art Stay-tion
    Making Cards & Papercraft Magazine
    Mama Elephant
    Mandala
    #manuarycards
    Masculine
    Memory Box
    Monogram
    Monthly-kits
    Mood Board
    Mother's Day
    Music
    My Favorite Things
    Nature
    Neat & Tangled
    Newto
    Newton
    Newton's Nook
    New Year
    Online Classes
    Organization
    Papertrey Ink
    Patriotic
    People
    Pet Sympathy
    Picket Fence Studios
    Pigs
    Pinkfresh Studio
    Pink & Main
    Power Poppy
    Pretty-pink-posh
    Product Reviews
    Quilted Cards
    Rachel Vass Designs
    Rainbow
    Reverse Confetti
    RG Avenue
    Richard Garay Designs
    Rubberstamp Shows
    Sentimental
    Shadow Box Card
    Shaker Cards
    Sharks
    Shark Week
    Simon Says Stamp
    Slider Card
    Slim
    Slimline
    Slimline Cards
    Snow
    Spectrum Noir Alcohol Markers
    Spectrum Noir Sparkle
    Spellbinders/FSJ
    Spring
    Stamparatus
    Stampendous
    Stampin' UP!
    Stamplistic
    STAMPtember
    Stencils
    St. Patrick's Day
    Sugarpea-designs
    Summer
    Sunny-studios
    Sympathy
    Taylored-expressions
    Thanksgiving
    Thank You
    The-stamp-maker
    The-ton-stamps
    Thinking-of-you
    Tim-holtz
    Travel
    Treat Holder
    Trinity-stamps
    Tropical
    Twinklelane Designs
    Ukraine
    Vagabond-2
    Valentines Day
    Video
    Videos
    Vintage
    Waffle Flower
    Watercolor
    Waterfall-cards
    Wedding
    Whims
    Whimsy Stamps
    Winter
    Wow-embossing-powders
    Your-next-stamp
    Youtube
    Zig Clean Color Brushes

    Disclaimer:

    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:

    • I participate in several affiliate programs.  This means I earn a small commission when products are purchased using my links (at no additional cost to you). 
    • I do not work for any companies. 
    • I buy all of my own supplies, unless where mentioned in a post that a product has been gifted, or if I am supplied products in exchange for being on a company's Design Team.
    • I do not do sponsored posts (where a company pays me to talk about a product).
    • I do not place ads on my blog.  Ever. I hate them and I know you do too!

    ​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. 
  • Home
  • Blog
  • About
  • Classes
  • Gallery
  • Videos
    • Photography for Cardmakers Video
    • YouTube Channel
  • Contact