Category: Summer

Life is Sweet

8/11/2021

Hello and happy Wednesday! Today I am on the Joy Clair Designs blog sharing this sweet and summery card filled with fresh fruit from the Life is Sweet stamp set. Last week I admitted that I haven't been good recently at timing the theme of my cards around the holidays, so I think this fruity card is another one that's perfect for summer since we still have the month of August before us.

Card details:

The base of this A2 sized card is made from 80 lb. Neenah Solar White Smooth cardstock. Using the Altenew Watercolor Stripes Cover Die, I die cut the frame also from white cardstock. I stamped multiple images from the Joy Clair Designs Life is Sweet stamp set in Memento Tuxedo black ink on white cardstock. I colored the images with Copic markers (mostly using reds, greens and yellows) and then used a Brother Scan and 2 e-cutting machine to cut the images out, in lieu of fussy cutting. I adhered the images down the left side of the card in a pattern I found pleasing to my eye. I stamped the sentiment "life is sweet" in Memento Tuxedo black ink on white cardsotck and die cut it using a 2" circle die. I adhered the sentiment to the card using 3M foam adhesive. Lastly, I added a coat of Clear Wink of Stella to the images for added sparkle.

Did you know that Joy Clair Designs is another woman-owned small business? There are so many small, but fabulous companies being run by boss women, such as Martha (Joy Clair's owner and beautiful designer). Martha also works full-time outside of this business and that is a strong testament to her commitment, hard work and dedication. I'm happy and honored to represent and design for companies like Joy Clair Designs.

Thanks for visiting and have a wonderfully creative day!

XO, Crystal

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Good Vibes

8/3/2021

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Hello readers! I have been very remiss with my holiday themed cards this year. I didn't make one single card for Easter, Father's Day, Mother's Day and the 4th of July! But YAY, here's to being consistent at least! There's still a good month of summer left, so not all is a loss with today's good vibes themed card.

Card details:

The base of this A2 sized card is made from 80 lb. Neenah Solar White Smooth cardstock. On a 5" x 3 3/4" piece of Yupo paper, I created the alcohol ink background with Magenta and Flamingo alcohol inks. Once the alcohol inks dried, I mounted the Yupo paper to a 5 1/4" x 4" piece of black cardstock. I die cut the words "Good Vibes" using the Simon Says Stamps shadow die. I die cut the larger shadow layer from magenta cardstock and the thinner top layer using black cardstock. I mounted the sentiment to the lower right corner of the card using 3M foam adhesive.

The sunglasses are from the Good Vibes stamp set by Joy Clair Designs. I stamped the palm trees (also from the same stamp set) in Memento Tuxedo Black ink on the lenses of the sunglasses and then fussy cut the sunglasses out. I adhered the sunglasses to the card. Lastly, using a white Uniball gel pen, I added highlights to the words "good vibes" for added dimension.

I hope you like today's fun and summery card. Thanks for visiting and have a wonderfully creative day!

XO, Crystal

Other alcohol ink cards you might enjoy:

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Inky Paws Challenge #127

7/13/2020

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Hello readers and welcome back from the weekend! I hope you found a little time to do something crafty. It was insanely hot and humid here the past few days, so I spent some extra time in my craft room. Today I am sharing another card that I made for the Newton's Nook Inky Paws Challenge #127. This week we are continuing a theme challenge to inspire you. Our challenges run for two weeks, thereby giving you more time to create, so I have designed a second card to share with you this week that was still inspired by the same image seen below:

Here is the slimline card I created inspired by this week's theme:

Card details:

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

This slimline card measures 8 1/2" x 3 1/2". Slimline cards are designed to fit in a regular #10 business sized envelope and require no additional postage. Newton's Nook is now offering a variety of slimline envelopes available in a multitude of colors. The base of this card is made from Neenah Solar White Smooth cardstock. Using the Slimline Frames and Portholes Dies, I created the frame from Crumb Cake cardstock. I cut a 8" x 2 3/4" piece of Bristol Smooth cardstock to create my backgound. I splattered pink ink along the top half of the card. Using the Land Borders die set, I cut the grass from Granny Apple Green cardstock. On a separate sheet of white cardsock, I stamped the images from the Newton's Nook Summer Treats stamp set in Memento Tuxuedo Black ink. I colored the images with Copic markers and then die cut them using the coordinating Newton's Nook Summer Treats dies. I adhered the cat images to the card using 3M foam adhesive. Lastly, I stamped the sentiment in Memento Tuxedo Black ink between the third and fourth kitties.

Will this theme inspire YOU to create? Are you ready to get your paws inky with us and play along for a chance to win?! We will randomly select one linked entry to receive a $20 store credit to the Newton's Nook Designs online shop!
We will also highlight our favorites from each challenge the following Monday, so that all entries have a chance to be featured on the Newton's Nook Designs blog.

Please make sure you review the challenge rules page before you link up your project!
Deadline to enter is Friday, July 17th, at midnight CST.

Thanks for visiting and I hope to see your creations there!

XO, Crystal

List of supplies:

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Strong Women Make Waves

7/12/2019

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Yes! Yes! Yes! Amen to Taylored Expressions for creating this beautiful Be A Mermaid stamp set with a killer empowering, "strong women make waves" sentiment! Yes! Yes! Yes! Also because it's Friday! Who's ready for the weekend!? My parents are coming down from Maine for a visit and I look forward to seeing them. I also have a full class on Saturday in my home studio with 14 people attending and I can't wait for my mom to participate and meet many new crafty friends. Live in Western Mass and want to come to a class? See my class calendar here.

Because I am not currently creating technique video content on my website, I highly recommend checking out this Easy Alcohol Ink Background Tutorial by Jennifer McGuire. She has created a very simple introduction to working with alcohol inks to create some basic backgrounds. This was the first video I watched after purchasing my alcohol inks and then I just spent time playing around with them! The great thing is there is no right or wrong when it comes to art. You just have fun (and usually make a mess) with it! *My only tip would be that you don't need to spend your money purchasing polysynthetic Yupo Paper at nearly $1.00 per sheet. You can use the reverse side of any high quality photo paper (like this one by Kirkland) and achieve the same results! I used this same Kirkland photo paper to create today's alcohol ink backgrounds.

I am, however, s-l-o-w-l-y beginning to dabble in some video content. Essentially still photos with animated displays and music. I haven't attempted audio voiceover or video while creating cards yet, but it's a slow work in progress. I hope you enjoy this short 1-minute clips of the mermaid cards I have created this week:

Card details:

The base of this A2 sized card is made from Tempting Turquoise cardstock (sorry, it's retired Stampin' UP!) Using the Gina Marie Designs Scalloped Stitched Nesting Rectangles, I die cut the scalloped background on Kirkland photo paper. To create the background I used Ranger Alcohol inks in Sailboat Blue, Turquoise and Pool. I stamped the sentiment in the upper left corner in Versamark ink and heat embossed it in silver embossing powder. I stamped one mermaid tail in Tempting Turquoise ink (retired) on Neenah Solar White smooth cardstock and one in Granny Apple Green ink on the same paper. I stamped the third mermaid tail in Versamark ink on Tempting Turquoise paper and heat embossed it in white embossing powder. I die cut the tails and adhered them to the card using 3M foam adhesive.

Here is the Be A Mermaid stamp set and coordinating die from Taylored Expressions:

Card details:

The base of this second A2 sized card is also made from Tempting Turquoise cardstock (retired, Stampin' UP!). I used a scrap sheet of 5 1/4 x 4" paper with tiny light clouds on it for the background. Sorry, I do not recall who made this paper! I cut two pieces of a previously colored alcohol ink background with the Lawn Fawn Stitched Waves Border Die and adhered those to the center of the card. On a piece of Crumb Cake cardstock, I stamped "Let's Shellebrate" in Versamark ink and heat embossed it in white embossing powder. Then I used a Heffy Doodle Stitched Slopey Joes die to create a stitched border on the "sand." I tapped a small eraser into Crumb Cake ink and stamped the background of this Crumb Cake border. I stamped one Mermaid Tail on Temping Turquoise cardstock and heat embossed it in white embossing powder. I die cut another mermaid tail from Granny Apple Green cardstock and backed it with a piece of Turquoise Glitter paper. Lastly I stamped the seashells on Neenah Solar white cardstock, Granny Apple Green cardstock and Tempting Turqoise cardstock and adhered them to the card using 3M foam adhesive.

I hope you have enjoyed these vibrant cards and, even more, their powerful message.
Strong women make waves!

Thanks for visiting and have a great weekend!

XO, Crystal

You might also enjoy:

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Life is Sweet

Card details:

XO, Crystal

You might also enjoy:

Good Vibes

Card details:

XO, Crystal

Other alcohol ink cards you might enjoy:

Inky Paws Challenge #127

Card details:

XO, Crystal

List of supplies:

Strong Women Make Waves

Card details:

Card details:

XO, Crystal

You might also enjoy:

Hi, I'm Crystal!

Designing For:

Archives:

Categories:

Disclaimer:

Disclosure:

Life is Sweet

Card details:

XO, Crystal

You might also enjoy:

Good Vibes

Card details:

XO, Crystal ​

Other alcohol ink cards you might enjoy:

Inky Paws Challenge #127

Card details:

XO, Crystal

List of supplies:

Strong Women Make Waves

Card details:

Card details:

XO, Crystal

You might also enjoy:

Hi, I'm Crystal!

Designing For:

Archives:

Categories:

Disclaimer:

Disclosure:

XO, Crystal