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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:
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Hello readers and happy Saturday! Today I am sharing a new digital stamp set called "Making It" from the RG Avenue Monthly Card Club. I'll be the first to admit that when I saw this geometic shaped stamp set, I was quite hesitant that it wasn't necessarily "my style." But, part of being a designer and artist, means being unafraid to take chances and experiment with things outside of your comfort zone. I was very pleasantly surprised with how these cards turned out using a rainbow theme of colors!    Card details:The base of this A2 sized card is made from Neenah Solar White smooth cardstock. Using the Altenew Watercolor Stripes Cover Die, I cut the background from Black Taffy sugar stock. I printed the butterflies from the "Making It' stamp set on Neenah Solar White Smooth cardstock and colored them with Copic Markers. I cut the butterflies out using my Brother Scan and Cut 2 machine. I adhered the butterflies to the card using 3M foam adhesive. I adhered some black baker's twine under the sentiment. Lastly, I coated the butterflies with a layer of Dazzling Pat for added sparkle.   Card details:The base of this A2 sized card is made from Neenah Solar White smooth cardstock. Using the Altenew Watercolor Stripes Cover Die, I cut the background frame from white cardstock. I lined the frame with green gingham paper. I printed the roses from the "Making It' stamp set on Neenah Solar White Smooth cardstock and colored them with Copic Markers. I cut the roses using my Brother Scan and Cut 2 machine. I adhered them to the card using 3M foam adhesive. I adhered the sentiment in the upper left corner also with foam adhesive. Lastly, I coated the roses with a layer of Dazzling Pat for added sparkle.  Here is the "Making It' digital stamp set that I used to create today's set of cards:     Monthly Card Club:Subscribe, Receive and Create! It’s that simple! Be the first to play and craft with trends before they’re launched!! Live Virtual Class with step-by-step instruction. Classes will stay recorded so if you can’t make the Live class, not a problem you can access it anytime. Come and play when you want! *Live class is held every 2nd Wednesday of each month* Receive your Exclusive Download instantly after checkout and start creating! Exclusive Digital Download included with files in 5 formats; Regular PDF, Digital Die Cut Machine Outlined PDF, Mini PDF, SVG & JPEG. You will also receive an exclusive new stamp set each month to create your projects (Stamp Set available for by mail kits only). Here’s what you receive in each Monthly Kit!– Create 4 gorgeous projects! – Exclusive Digital Downloads in 4 formats! (Regular PDF, Digital Die Cut Machine Outlined PDF, SVG File, and JPEG File) – Exclusive new stamp set 6″ x 8″ (three months ahead of its launched date) – One on one education! Live virtual education class. The recording will always be available! – Learn Design Trends First! – Tips, Techniques, and methods! – Design and composition! Subscription:* In the mail kit Option (U.S. Purchases only) 6-month subscription at – $29.99 + Tax & Shipping each month.     I hope you have enjoyed this colorful array of cards! Thanks for visiting. XO, CrystalHello crafty friends! I am excited to be sharing a new video with you today that I created for the RG Avenue monthly newsletter. This newsletter will be emailed to all RG Avenue subscribers, but I have also put the video on YouTube and will be sharing it here with you today at the end of this post if you would like to learn some simple watercoloring. You can also view my full video tutorial gallery HERE.   Card details:*A full supply list is located at the end of this post. The base of this A2 sized card is made from Neenah Solar White Smooth cardstock. I cut a piece of 5" x 3 3/4" piece of Neenah Solar White smooth cardstock. Using the Layered Scallop stamp set, I stamped half of the scalloped image in Sour Mist ink on the lower half of the white cardstock. I stamped the sentiment in the upper right corner also using Sour Mist ink. I splattered the entire image with Sweet Lavender ink. Using Scalloped Stitched Rectangle dies, I cut a piece of Sour Mist cardstock and matted the stamped image to that before adhering both to the card base. I heat embossed the feathers with gold embossing powder and watercolored them with Sour Mist ink, Sweet Pink ink and Sweet Lavender ink. Lastly, I tied a small bow around the card for added texture.    Card details:The base of this A2 sized card is made from Sour Mist cardstock. On a 5 1/4" x 4" piece of mixed media paper, I created a watercolor wash background in Sour Mist ink, Sweet Pink ink and Sweet Lavender ink. I splattered the entire background with Sweet Lavender ink. On coordinating cardstock, I stamped the feathers from the Perfectly Blessed stamp set in Versamark ink and heat embossed them with white embossing powder. I fussy cut each flower and adhered it to the card using 3M foam adhesive for added dimension. Lastly, I stamped each sentiment below the feather in Black Taffy ink.   Here is a YouTube video tutorial that I created showing how you can make these watercolored cards: I have truly begin to enjoy creating video tutorials for you, and I hope YOU are enjoying them. Thanks for visiting and have a wonderfully creative day! XO, CrystalList of supplies:
Hello readers and happy Sunday! I hope you are all enjoying a nice weekend so far. Unfortunately, I have been battling a stomach bug for the better part of the last four days, so I haven't felt quite like myself. But, then again, we are currently two months into a quarantine, NO ONE feels like themself right now! Today's card features nearly all of the beautiful floral images from the Bold Bouquet digital stamp set by RG Avenue. I have been making a lot of floral themed cards lately and I feel like they are my favorite. I go back and forth between different techniques (watercolor, distress oxides, etc.) and different images (cutesy or elegant), but floral cards are always a win and are appropriate for such a wide variety of occasions.    Here is the Bold Bouquet digital stamp set from RG Avenue that I used to create today's card:   Thank you for visiting and enjoy the rest of your Sunday! XO, CrystalHello readers, I hope you are all enjoying a pleasant Sunday. I am sure the weekends also look like most weekdays do right now, there is not a whole lot going on and you are forever forgetting what day of the week it actually is! Today I have a beautiful large new digital stamp to share with you from RG Avenue called "Bloom Book." What I love most about this stamp set is the detail already in the lines of the image that make it easy to color because you need less blending and shading. The image is so large, it becomes the focal point of the card and doesn't need much to embellish it, but this lovely lattice background is a perfect accompaniment.   Card details:The base of this A2 sized card is made from Black Taffy cardstock. Using the Whimsy Stamps Lattice A2 die , I cut the lattice frame from Neenah Solar White Smooth cardstock. I printed out the large beautiful Bloom Book stamp on Neenah Solar White Smooth cardstock and colored it with Copic markers. I ran the colored image through my Scan and Cut 2 electronic cutting machine, so it cut the stamp out for me. I adhered the bouquet of flowers to the card using 3M foam adhesive for added dimension. I stamped the sentiment in Black Taffy ink on a 4 1/4" x 1 1/2" strip of Neenah Solar White Smooth cardstock. I wrapped a piece of black lace ribbon below the sentiment before adhering it to the card. Lastly, I added a coat of clear Wink of Stella to the flowers for added sparkle.   Here is the "Bloom Book" digital stamp set from RG Avenue that I used to create this card:    I just absolutely LOVE this large stamp! Thank you for visiting and enjoy the rest of your weekend! XO, CrystalYou might also enjoy:
Hello friends! Today I am sharing a slimline card featuring the new digital stamp set from RG Avenue called "Concha Life." And, since I know the very first question is going to be "what are conchas?" I've done some research for you! But, in simple terms it's a "sweet," some I'm all in! The punny sentiments that go with this stamp set really crack me up. Concha (plural conchas, meaning "shell" in Spanish) is a traditional Mexican sweet bread/roll. Conchas get their name from their round shape and their striped, seashell like appearance. A concha consists of two parts, a sweetened bread roll, and a crunchy topping (composed of sugar, butter and flour). Their distinctive pattern is made by pressing a bread stamp over the topping while the dough is proofing. Although the roll and topping are usually the same flavor, the top layer may have different flavorings or colors (strawberry, coffee, chocolate, etc.). Conchas are popular in bakeries in Mexico and throughout the United States. They are usually eaten with coffee at breakfast or as an afternoon snack.  Card details:The base of this slimline card measures 8 1/2" by 3 1/2" inches. Slimline cards are designed to fit into a regular #10 business sized envelope and require no additional postage. The base of this card is made from Neenah Solar White cardstock. I matted the card base with a 8 1/4" x 3 1/2" piece of yellow polka dot paper. Using the Whimsy Stamps Slimline Postage die, I die cut the frame from white cardstock. I matted the oval circles with some pink gingham paper. Because the "Concha Life" stamp set is a digital stamp set, I printed out all the images onto Neenah Solar White cardstock and colored them using Copic markers. I ran all of the images through my Scan and Cut 2 machine which cut the images out electronically for me. I added the images to the card using 3M foam adhesive. Lastly, I added a coat of Dazzling Pat to the conchas for added sparkle!     I hope you have enjoyed this sweet card and learned a little about conchas! Thanks for visiting and have a wonderfully creative day! XO, CrystalList of supplies:
Hello readers and happy Saturday! Today I am happy to be sharing a beautiful floral card that I created using a new FREE digital stamp from RG Avenue called "Bloom Anyway." Keep reading to learn how you can get this digital stamp set and begin creating cards with it too! If you're new to digital stamps, I'd encourage you to read this post to learn more. But, long story short, digital stamps are simply images that you color, cut and create with.  Download this digital stamp for FREE:Simply click HERE (to go to the RG Avenue website). Scroll to the bottom of the screen and click "add to cart." Go back to the top of the screen and open your cart. You will see your free stamp located in your cart. Simply follow the checkout instructions and fill in the prompts. The digital stamp will be EMAILED to you immediately after checkout. Once you receive the digital stamp in your email, you essentially print it out and begin coloring!  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 80 lb. Neenah Solar White Crest cardstock. Using the A2 Lattice die from Whimsy Stamps, I die cut the background from white cardstock. I printed out the digital "Bloom Anyway" stamp set on Neenah Solar White Crest cardstock and colored the images with Copic markers. After I finished coloring the images, I added highlights using a Uniball white gel pen. I ran the sheet of colored images through my Scan & Cut 2 electronic cutting machine to cut the images out, as opposed to fussy cutting them. I adhered nearly all of the images to the card using 3M foam adhesive for added dimension. I also adhered the sentiment in the upper right corner after notching the bottom. Lastly, I added a coat of Dazzling Pat (similar to Wink of Stella) for added sparkle.    I hope you have enjoyed this bold and vibrant floral card and that you will try downloading this free digital stamp! I'd love to see what YOU create with it! Thanks for visiting and have a wonderfully creative weekend! XO, CrystalList of supplies:
Hello readers and happy Sunday! I hope you are all having a nice weekend. It's a very rainy day here so I think there will be lots of chill time and catching up on movies, rather than crafting today! But, I have next week off from work, so there will be plenty of time to play over the next seven days. . . Today I am excited to share with you another new stamp from the "Spring Fling" release at RG Avenue. In all honesty, this new stamp set called "Succulent Terrarium" is just about the only plant that I am ever going to keep alive!   Card details:The base of this A2 sized card is made from gray cardstock. I cut a 5 1/4" x 4" piece of Neenah Solar White smooth cardstock for the first mat. I stamped "thank you" in gray ink on the lower right corner of the white cardstock. I had a previously created piece of alcohol ink background in my scraps pile (made with orange and gold alcohol inks) that I cut to a 1 1/2" x 4 " strip and adhered to the center of the card. I printed the images from the "Succulent Terrarium" digital stamp set onto Neenah Solar White Smooth cardstock. I colored the images with Copic markers and cut them out using my Scan & Cut 2 electronic cutting machine. I adhered the images to the card using 3M foam adhesive for added height.   Card details:The base of this A2 sized card is made from gray carsdtock. I cut a 5 1/4" x 4" piece of Neenah Solar white smooth cardstock for the mat. I had a previuosly made alcohol art piece in my "scraps" bin (made using gold and orange alcohol inks) and I die cut it with a hexagon die. I adhered the hexagon to the left side of the card. I stamped hello in the upper righthand corner in gray ink. I printed out all of the images from the "Succulent Terrarium" digital stamp set onto Neenah Solar White Smooth cardstock and colored the images with Copic markers. I used my Scan & Cut 2 electronic cutting machine to cut the images out. I adhered the images to the card using 3M foam adhesive for added height. Lastly, I added a coat of Dazzling Pat to the images for added sparkle.   Enjoy the rest of your weekend, friends! XO, CrystalYou might also enjoy:
Hello readers and happy Friday! I'm excited to be sharing an adorable new stamp set from the Spring Fling release at RG Avenue. Unfortunately, the large weekend "Spring Fling" stamping event in Arizona had to be canceled last weekend, but this new "Oh La La" stamp set is now available online and it just might be my favorite set from this new release!
Card details:
*A full list of supplies is located at the end of this post.
The base of this slimline card is cut from gray cardstock. This slimline card measures 8 1/2" x x 3 1/2" wide. I adhered a piece of 8 1/4" x 3 1/4" piece of Neenah Solar White smooth cardstock directly to the card base. Using the Whimsy Stamps Slimline Postage Stamp Die, I cut the frame from Pink Glitter paper. Because the "Oh La La" stamp set I had was the digital stamp set, I printed out all the images from my computer on Neenah Solar White Smooth cardstock. I colored the images with Copic markers and add a few highlights to some of the images using a Uniball White gel pen. I used my Scan & Cut 2 machine to cut out all of the images electronically and then I adhered the images to the card using 3M foam adhesive for added dimension. Lastly, I added a coat of Clear Wink of Stella to the bunnies, swan and cat for added sparkle. 
I hope you have enjoyed this sweet card! Thank you for visiting and have a wonderfully creative day!
Please say healthy and remember, "By staying home, you just might be saving the life of someone you may never meet." XO, CrystalList of supplies:Hello again readers, this is my second post for today as I had a few deadlines to meet, and fortunately, I was able to spend a good portion of the weekend (and most likely the foreseeable future) in my craft room. Before I get to today's card, I would just like to take a brief minute to let my readers and followers know that I am thinking of you all, as well as your friends and your families, in these unprecedented times that we are all facing. I wish you good health, love, light and positive vibes. Above all, please remember to be kind always and take care of one another. "A person's most useful asset is not a head full of knowledge, or pockets full of gold, but a heart full of love, an ear ready to listen and hands willing to help." Today's fun slimline card features the yummy "Frosting Tops" digital stamp set from RG Avenue. For more information about digital stamping, please read here.  Card details:*A full supply list is located at the end of this post. The base of this slimline card is made from Berry carsdtock. This slimline card measures 8 1/2" x 3 1/2" long. I lined the base of the card with a piece of Neenah Solar White smooth cardstock. I splattered Berry and lime green ink on the white cardstock. I printed all the images from the "Frosting Tops" stamp set onto Neenah Solar White smooth cardstock. I colored the images and ran it through my Scan and Cut to electronically cut the images for me. I added a few highlights to each image with a Uniball white gel pen. I adhered the cupcakes to the card with 3M foam adhesive for added dimension. Lastly, I tied a piece of lime green twine around the card and tied a bow to complete the card.     I hope you have enjoyed today's sweet card. Thanks for visiting and please stay safe and healthy friends! XO, CrystalList of supplies:
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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: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. |
