Crystal Komara
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Santa Claus Is Coming To Town

12/20/2022

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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. 
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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.
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​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.  
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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 

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December 2022 Mood Board

12/1/2022

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​Hello friends and happy December!  The wait is over, the holidays (whether you're ready or not) are officially here!   The Design Team at Joy Clair Designs is excited to share the mood board for this month.  Mood boards (also commonly called "inspiration" boards) are a combination of colors, images, textures and patterns that can offer guidance or direction.  If you feel like you don't know where to begin a project, try looking at a mood board and let the creative juices flow.  You might just be surprised by the end result!
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Let's take a look at the December 2022 Joy Clair Designs mood board:
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This month's mood board is so cool and festive!  A monochromatic palette of blues and white these images and scenes evoke chilly winter eves, snow adorned churches and leave me thinking about NOT having a "Blue Christmas."

We would love to see YOU create using this mood board as inspiration too!  Feel free to use similar colors in whatever brand of cardstock you have readily available.  We'd love for you to use your Joy Clair Designs stamps if you have them!  And if you don't have any yet CLICK HERE TO START SHOPPING TODAY!

Be sure to tag us on social media using the following hashtags so we can see your cards or other papercraft projects:
#joyclairdesignsmoodboard
#joyclairmoodboard

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

Be sure to sign up for Joy Clair Designs newsletters. You will receive notifications of new releases, sales and exclusive offers to subscribers.  You can also follow the team’s creations from Joy Clair Designs on Facebook Page, Joy Clair Stamp Projects Facebook Group, Instagram , Twitter, Pinterest and  YouTube!
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Mood Board Elegance

11/21/2022

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Hello friends and happy Monday!  Today I am sharing another card that I created inspired by this month's mood board at Joy Clair Designs because I am soooo in love with the gorgeous color palette! Ooh la la!  It is pure fall elegance. 
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First, let's take a look at the November mood board again:
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Here is the card I created that was inspired by the mood board colors of peach, mustard, raspberry, eggplant and gold.  
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Card details: 

The base of this A2 sized card is made from 80 lb. Neenah Solar White smooth cardstock.  On a 5 1/4" x 4" piece of Yupo (polysynthetic paper) I created the alcohol ink background using Tim Holtz Ranger Adirondack alcohol inks.  I used the colors lemonade, salmon, raspberry and valencia.  Alcohol inks are one of my FAVORITE backgrounds to create.  The colors are always so stunning and well, honestly, you never know what you're gonna get!  

​Once the alcohol ink background dried, I adhered it directly to the card base. Then, I printed out the sunflower image from the Such a Blessing digital stamp set.  I printed the image in yellow ink on Neenah White cardstock. Next, I fussy cut the sunflower out and adhered it to the left side of the card. I used Scotch 3M foam adhesive to adhere the sunflower to the card. 
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Next, I stamped the sentiment, "hello my friend" in magenta ink on white cardstock.  This sentiment is from the Thankful For You stamp set. 
Thanks for visiting and have a wonderfully creative day!  

XO, Crystal

Follow Us
Also, be sure to sign up for Joy Clair Designs newsletters. You will receive notifications of new releases, sales and exclusive offers to subscribers.  You can also follow the team’s creations from Joy Clair Designs on Facebook Page, Joy Clair Stamp Projects Facebook Group, Instagram , Twitter, Pinterest and  YouTube!
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Such a Blessing

11/14/2022

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November is a great month to celebrate all the things we are thankful for.  Today I am on the Joy Clair Designs blog sharing a slimline card she created featuring the new digital stamp set "Such A Blessing.  The "Such a Blessing" stamp set is from the latest digital stamp release, Gather Together.  Continue reading to learn how I made this card inspired by this month's mood board.
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​First, let's begin by taking a look at this month's mood board:
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Card details: 

To start with, 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 my slimline card is made from 80 lb. Neenah Solar White Smooth cardstock. This is my go-to cardstock for everything.  It can be used for card bases, die cutting, Copic Coloring, ink blending, heat embossing and so much more!
Next, I used a slimline die to create the stitched frame on white cardstock. Then, I layered this white stitched frame onto a piece of blackberry bliss cardstock and cut it to size to give the white frame a purple border.  I also selected the "you are such a blessing" sentiment and placed it just above the line of pumpkins.  After that, I set to work creating the digital image. 
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​To create the long row of pumpkins, I printed out the digital pumpkin image from the "Such a Blessing" stamp set and repeated the image multiple times and in different sizes.  Next, I colored the image using a variety of Copic markers in yellow, orange, peach, pink, raspberry and brown. Then I adhered both layers of the card together with 3M foam adhesive. 
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Thanks for visiting and letting me share my slimline card. Have a wonderfully creative day!  Additionally, for more inspiration, you can follow me on my Instagram, Facebook and on my YouTube channel.​

Follow Us
Also, be sure to sign up for Joy Clair Designs newsletters. You will receive notifications of new releases, sales and exclusive offers to subscribers.  You can also follow the team’s creations from Joy Clair Designs on Facebook Page, Joy Clair Stamp Projects Facebook Group, Instagram , Twitter, Pinterest and  YouTube!
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November 2022 Mood Board

11/1/2022

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​Hello friends and happy November!  No, it's not quite Christmas yet, for all your Christmas lovers!  There is still the whole month of November to get through and I'm not ready for snow yet anyway here in New England!   The Design Team at Joy Clair Designs is excited to share the mood board for this month.  Mood boards (also commonly called "inspiration" boards) are a combination of colors, images, textures and patterns that can offer guidance or direction.  If you feel like you don't know where to begin a project, try looking at a mood board and let the creative juices flow.  You might just be surprised by the end result!
​
Let's take a look at the November 2022 Joy Clair Designs mood board:
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This month's mood board is so elegantly dreamy!  I love the rust, pink and eggplant hues and swooooon, a touch of gold!  Yes please!  If this is fall, I'm here for it.   


We would love to see YOU create using this mood board as inspiration too!  Feel free to use similar colors in whatever brand of cardstock you have readily available.  We'd love for you to use your Joy Clair Designs stamps if you have them!  And if you don't have any yet CLICK HERE TO START SHOPPING TODAY!



Be sure to tag us on social media using the following hashtags so we can see your cards or other papercraft projects:

#joyclairdesignsmoodboard

#joyclairmoodboard


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

XO, Crystal
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Follow Us
Be sure to sign up for Joy Clair Designs newsletters. You will receive notifications of new releases, sales and exclusive offers to subscribers.  You can also follow the team’s creations from Joy Clair Designs on Facebook Page, Joy Clair Stamp Projects Facebook Group, Instagram , Twitter, Pinterest and  YouTube!
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Merriest Moments Release

10/27/2022

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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. 
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Here are the four new digital stamps from this release:
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Jingle All The Way

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Christmas Cheer

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You Gnome Me

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This Christmas

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For my card today, I used the new This Christmas digital stamp set.  I particularly liked the beautiful holly wreath.  
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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.  
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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!
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XO, Crystal

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Hey Pumpkin

10/20/2022

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Hello friends and happy (almost) Halloween! EEEEEKKKKKkkkk!   It is my absolute favorite season of the year to make cards for!  I love all the ghosts, zombies, pumpkins, bats, cats and witches!  Today I am sharing a not-so-scary card using the Hey Pumpkin stamp set from Joy Clair Designs and some non-traditional pumpkin colors.  Black and purple pumpkins?  Why not? It's one way to up the spook factor.    
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Card details:

​The base of this A2 sized card is made from 80 lb. Neenah Solar White Smooth cardstock.  Using a 5 1/4" x 4" piece of white cardstock, I ran it through my big shot with a diagonal lined/striped background frame die.  I then flipped the frame die over and filled in the gaps with strips of orange, black and purple cardstock.  I printed out the large pumpkin image from the Hey Pumpkin stamp set. I colored the image in with orange, purple and green Copic markers.  I fussy cut the image and then adhered it to the card using Scotch 3M foam adhesive for added dimension.  I cut the words "hey pumpkin" out in thin strips and adhered them to the card also using 3M foam adhesive.  Lastly, I added a coat of clear Wink of Stella to the image for added sparkle.  
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There are still 11 days left until Halloween!  You have time to brew up some scary creations!  Thanks for visiting and have a wonderfully creative day!
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XO, Crystal 

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Honey Butterfly

10/13/2022

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Hello crafty friends!  I know you don't know me from Adam, but today I am sharing a card that is quite outside of my comfort zone.  It's my first attempt at sort of a mixed media type look.  Even though looking back, I didn't fully embrace the "grunge" and I could have done some distress work, I'm happy with the end result and I think it's a good start to build from!
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Card details:

​The base of this A2 sized card is made from 80 lb. Neenah Solar White Smooth cardstock.  On a 5 1/4" x 4" piece of Yupo paper, I ink blended some Ranger Adirondack alcohol ink in lemonade.  I set this piece aside to let it dry.  On a separate sheet of white cardstock I printed out the beautiful geometric butterfly image from the You Fill My Day digital stamp set.  I printed this image large at about 40%.  I colored the butterfly with yellow, orange and gold Copic markers.  I found a scrap piece of gold foil honeycomb vellum and I adhered that directly to the dried alcohol ink Yupo background.  I fussy cut the butterfly and then I adhered the butterfly to the card with Scotch 3M foam adhesive for added dimension.  I sliced off about 1/3 of the left side of the butterfly.  I printed the sentiment out on a thin strip of white cardstock, notching the right end at an angle.  Lastly, I added a coat of clear Wink of Stella to the butterfly for added sparkle.  
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I hope you have enjoyed this card.  I love using alcohol inks to create unique and bold background on my cards.  Thanks for visiting and have a wonderfully creative day!  For more inspiration, you can follow me on my website, Instagram, Facebook and on my YouTube channel.


Follow Us
Be sure to sign up for Joy Clair Designs newsletters. You will receive notifications of new releases, sales and exclusive offers to subscribers.  You can also follow the team’s creations from Joy Clair Designs on Facebook Page, Joy Clair Stamp Projects Facebook Group, Instagram , Twitter, Pinterest and  YouTube!
​

XO, Crystal 

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Gather Together Release

10/7/2022

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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.  
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Here are the four new digital stamp sets available in this month's release:
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Such a Blessing digital stamp set
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Everything Better digital stamp set
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Christmas Wish digital stamp set
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Merry and Bright digital stamp set
Here is the card I created for this release using the Merry and Bright digital stamp set:
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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.  
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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. 
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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 

1 Comment

Supersized Sunflower

10/6/2022

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Hello friends and crafty readers!  One of my absolute favorite new images from the Summerlicious release at Joy Clair Designs is the beautiful sunflower from the You Fill My Day digital stamp set.   Flowers remain one of my favorite images to create cards with and I love this geometric sunflower.  Recently I created this rainbow themed card with the same exact digital stamp.  Rainbows always make me happy!  Today I am sharing another (similar) way to use this supersized sunflower with a fall color palette.
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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 white cardstock and ran in through my Big Shot using a stitched leaf pattern background die plate.  I adhered this as my first background layer.  I printed out the giant sunflower at about 50% size and then colored it using Copic markers in a variety of yellow, gold and orange hues.  I fussy cut the sunflower and adhered it to the right side of the card, actually chopping about 1/3 of the right side off the edge.  I used Scotch 3M foam adhesive to adhere the sunflower to give it added dimension.  I printed the sentiment "you fill my day with happiness" on a thin strip of white cardstock and adhered it over the sunflower.  I added a couple clear rhinestones for added texture.  Lastly, I added a coat of clear Wink of Stella to the sunflower for added sparkle.  *My general rule of thumb is ALWAYS add sparkle!
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I hope you have enjoyed this card.  Thanks for visiting and have a wonderfully creative day!  For more inspiration, you can follow me on my website, Instagram, Facebook and on my YouTube channel.
XO, Crystal
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Follow UsBe sure to sign up for Joy Clair Designs newsletters. You will receive notifications of new releases, sales and exclusive offers to subscribers.  You can also follow the team’s creations from Joy Clair Designs on Facebook Page, Joy Clair Stamp Projects Facebook Group, Instagram , Twitter, Pinterest and  YouTube!
​

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    Hi, I'm Crystal!

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    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. 
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