Make It Monday #299 ~ Sentiment Window

Hello! I was able to find some time today to play along with the Make it Monday challenge from Papertrey Ink. I love this particular challenge using a sentiment as the focal point! I just had to play along... and I thought it would be a great way to get some Christmas cards made. Sadly, I have not kept up with my personal challenge to make 8 Christmas cards per month.

I love that this card has some dimension from the technique because I could keep it super simple and not have to worry about it being more postage to mail. I die cut the patterned paper from the Summer Camp patterned paper that I was able to get during the huge sale Papertrey Ink had earlier in the year. I adhered that piece to my kraft card base and then die cut the center using the Brushed Off Rectangle die. I stamped the sentiment from the Winter Village set using VersaFine black ink. I then stamped the trees using Ripe Avocado and Fresh Snow. I stamped a few more trees on some scrap kraft card stock and die cut them. I then stamped the house using Dark Chocolate, True Black and Kraft inks and then I die cut it. This was the first time I actually inked up this set and other than needing some practice lining up the pieces... it was pretty easy and I loved the result! The last thing to do was to adhere the trees and the house. I did decide at the last minute to add a little drift of snow on the roof of the house using a white Prismacolor pencil. I love it!

Here are the products I used for this card:

Stamps: Winter Village (PTI)

Card Stock: Kraft (PTI), Summer Camp (retired PTI)

Ink: Kraft, Dark Chocolate, True Black, Ripe Avocado, Fresh Snow (PTI)

Tools: Winter Village (PTI), Stitched Rectangle Stacklets (TE)

Adhesive: Tombow Mono Multipurpose liquid glue (SSS)

 I'd love to hear what you thought of my creations.

Thanks for stopping by!

See ya next time.

~ Crystal

Scrapping for Less Blog Hop featuring Carta Bella and Echo Park

Scrapping for Less is in love with Echo Park/Carta Bella!!

All of us here at Scrapping for Less absolutely love Echo Park Paper Co. They are a really diverse company and bring many, many patterns out each and every year. They have at least one release each month and could not be cuter! Cause who doesn’t love some absolutely cute pattern paper? 

This month’s focus is this fabulous paper company and the Design Team has outdone themselves with some great projects. You can read all about the interview Teresa had with Madison Parker (the owner of Echo Park/Carta Bella) just in case you missed it.

I love Echo Park's papers!! The 6x6 paper pads are so much fun to play with and what's better than some fun paper piecing! I think it was an absolute must for this cute card! I was inspired by the Perfect Princess paper pad to share a bit of magic! Being a bit of a bookworm myself, I imagined my daughter entranced in the magic of one of her fairy tale books... and this card came to life. 

I stamped the image from My Favorite Things BB Our Story on white card stock as my base. I colored the skin and hair using copic markers. I then stamped the image a few more times on the different pieces of patterned paper and fussy cut the different pieces. I adhered all the different pieces to my white base... it's like putting a puzzle together, so fun! 

I die cut a circle making a 'window' and then die cut a stitched scalloped circle to adhere on top. The 'magic' sentiment is a die cut cardstock piece from the coordinating frames & tags ephemera pack. I sponged a little bit of distress ink around the edges to help pop the sentiment. 

I also added some clear Wink of Stella around the stitched scalloped circle and the sentiment. You can see the glittery goodness a bit better in this picture.

Now here's the hoppers lineup...

Scrapping for Less

Stacy Tiedemann

Crystal O. Minkler <--- you're here

up next ---> Jessica Wilson

Tanya Hahn

Katie Williams

Tina Smith

Sandy Hentzel

Don’t forget to head back to the Scrapping for Less Blog to enter the Rafflecopter for a chance to win a 6x6 paper pad and matching embellishment. Thanks so much for joining us today!

See ya next time.
~ Crystal

Growing in Unity Winners

Hello! Last week I had so much fun sharing my love of Unity stamps!! I really enjoyed reading through all the comments that were left on my blog throughout the week. You all were so kind! The winners for the Unity grab bags are...

Eileen Mathys & Trisha Magnus!! Congrats, ladies! Please contact me with your mailing info so I can get your Unity grab bags in your hands ASAP!! :)

Haha! My daughter helped pick names from a hat. She had some fun doing it in her big brother's Darth Vader costume... please excuse her Wookie Hair Don't Care!! LOL

Thanks again to all those that came by to check out my posts!!

See ya next time.

~ Crystal

More Fun Featuring the September Flavor of the Month Card Kit!

Hello! Today I'm sharing another batch of fun cards from the September Flavor of the Month card kit! I've had so much fun with this kit... I'm going to share just a few more cards that I've made.

My first card was very simple. The paper really did all the work for me. I just trimmed down this piece of patterned paper and then mat it a couple of times and adhered it to the white card base. I added a few of the fun Gina Marie Autumn Enamel dots. A quick & cute card!

My second card was also pretty simple. I attached the fabulous tree sticker to a piece of white card stock and then die cut it out with a stitched oval die. I then die cut a piece of the navy blue card stock and mat the tree oval to that piece. I set that aside and then cut a strip of this beautiful fall paper that I adhered to a white card base. I popped up the oval piece with foam tape. I found a fun sentiment in the patterned papers and just trimmed it to a rectangle. I popped the sentiment up, as well, and then I just added a few green sequins. Isn't it just sweet! I love that tree sticker!

My third card features the fun Neat & Tangled Pumpkin Everything stamp that comes with the Banana Split subscription. This is such a fabulous stamp! For this card I stamped it using VersaMark and then heat embossed it with fine black embossing powder. I die cut the piece with a stitched rectangle die and then found this fun patterned paper for the layer underneath. I die cut that paper with a slightly larger stitched rectangle die. I adhered those layers and then mat them on a piece of brown card stock. I then adhered the entire piece onto a white card base. I added a few of the leaves and the pumpkin stickers to the corners. A fun fall card!

My last card was so much fun to make. I started off with the cute kitty and pumpkins. I stamped them using Memento Tuxedo black ink and then colored them in with copic markers. I fussy cut them out and set them aside. I then die cut the purple star paper and adhered a piece of acetate to the center. I added foam tape to the back and set that aside. I grabbed a piece of white card stock and blended a galaxy background. I have a tutorial on my blog with step by step pictures on how to make a galaxy background... you can find that here. I adhered a piece of purple card stock to the white card base. I adhered the galaxy background to the purple card stock and then I added some sequins and adhered the shaker portion of the card. Once that was done, I fiddled around with the little kitty and pumpkins trying to figure out where they wanted to sit. I finally settled on the bottom left corner so I adhered them there. I then stamped and heat embossed the sentiment using a fine white embossing powder. I die cut the sentiment and then popped it up on the card. I don't make too many shaker cards because they can be pretty involved, but I sure love when they come together and look as cute as this one!

I sure hope that you like the cards I've shared with you today. 

Thanks for stopping by!

See ya next time.

~ Crystal

Growing in Unity ~ Day 5 ~ Seasonal Fun!

Hello! I can't believe that today is the last day for my Growing in Unity week. 

I've had a blast sharing with you all. I am a self proclaimed Unity addict so you can be sure that I'll be blogging more Unity love... hope you'll come by again to check it out.

I am loving the look of the Eclipse cards that I've been seeing so I thought this fabulous background I made would work beautifully with this technique. First, I made the background using the leaves from the September 2016 Moments Between Moments KOM. I stamped them all over a piece of watercolor paper with VersaMark ink and then I heat embossed them with a fine white embossing powder. I then added some color burst pigment and spritzed. I dabbed a lot of the color to keep it soft. Around the leaves I blended in some more yellows and oranges to help the white leaves pop. I die cut the word 'fall' and adhered the pieces back in place, but to give them the Eclipse look I popped up the letters. I then stamped the 'happy birthday' stamp from the Hugs, Kisses & Birthday Wishes sentiment kit masking the birthday portion of the stamp. I used VersaMark and Autumn Rose ink and then heat embossed it with fine clear embossing powder. I adhered it to a layer of Autumn Rose card stock and then adhered the entire piece to a Canyon Clay card base. The last touch to this card was a few drops of Ripened Pumpkin Nuvo crystal drops.

Here's a side view that shows the Eclipse technique a bit better. The effect is so much better in person. I sure had fun making this one!

I've had the layout and design for this card in my mind for so long, I think I've even dreamed about it. Ha! I love Esmerelda Girl!! I knew when I saw this web stencil from Tim Holtz that finally my vision for this card would come to be. I stamped Esmerelda with Memento Tuxedo black ink and colored her in using copic markers. Black copic coloring is a challenge... I think the key is less is more. I didn't even use a black copic on this image. The darkest color I used was N10. Anywho, I got her all colored and set her aside. Now it was time for the background. I did a light blending of the purples and some grey, and then I laid the stencil on top and blended in more purples, grey, and black. I kept the black blending mostly to the edges. Once I was done blending, I went over the web with a clear wink of stella pen. I'm so bummed you can't see it in this picture. 

It was also very hard to get a picture that showed any of the glitter, but you can see a bit of it in the center here. In person, the glitter can be seen throughout the web and I even added some to Esmerelda's belt, hat, and hair. To finish off the card, I layered some fun Halloween papers and the web panel onto a black card base. I then stamped the sentiment with VersaMark and heat embossed some fine silver embossing powder and then I die cut the sentiment out and popped it up on the panel. I also popped up Esmerelda. I absolutely love how this turned out... it's a great feeling when your idea turns out the way you envisioned.

So, I made a Fall card and a Halloween card... now it's time for a pretty Christmas card. I stamped the image and the sentiment from Poinsettia Wishes on watercolor paper using VersaMark ink and heat embossed it with a fine black embossing powder. I watercolored the image using ZIG Clean Color Real Brush pens and my water pen. I die cut the image using the stitched oval die and then mat it on a die cut stitched black oval. I set that aside and searched through my stash of embossing folders... I finally decided the Holly folder would look pretty so I grabbed a piece of white card stock and ran that through my big shot. I lightly sponged on some Festive Berries and Shabby Shutters distress inks. I layered that piece on a black mat and then tied a bow with some black organdy ribbon. I adhered that to the white card base and then popped up the oval piece. Love!! I just love how pretty this one turned out.

 I had so much fun making all of these cards to share with you all. I sure hope you've enjoyed them!

Be sure to check out Berina Febin's post today as well, she's another Growing in Unity girl this week. You can check out her blog ---> here!

Now, don't forget to leave a comment on this post to be entered into a drawing to 

win a grab bag from Unity. I'll be drawing names for 2 lucky winners!!

Thanks for stopping by!!

See ya next time.

~ Crystal

Growing in Unity ~ Day 4 ~ Coffee Coffee Coffee!

Hello! I can't believe that it's already Day 4 of my Growing in Unity week... it's flying by way too fast!! Today, I am featuring not only my love of Unity, but my love of Coffee!! Unity has some wonderful coffee stamps!!!

My first card started out as a CAS kind of card... but... the ink just kept talking sweet to me like it needed to go on this card. Ha! I started with a Kraft card base and I inked up a fun background stamp in the Vibes kit with Ground Espresso distress ink. I love the cool splatter and coffee ring vibe to the image. I dabbed a sponge in different areas around the edges in different colors. I like the texture it gives to the card. I stamped the image of the coffee cups from the February 2017 Unexpected Place KOM directly on the card and then stamped it again on a scrap of white card stock. I colored the cups with copic markers and then fussy cut each one out and adhered them to the stamped images on the card. I did it this way for two reasons... I didn't want to fussy cut a mask for each cup and this way the cups give a bit of texture to the card. I stamped the sentiment using Vintage Photo Distress Oxide ink on Dark Chocolate card stock and heat embossed it using a fine clear embossing powder. I also added some Nuvo Chocolate Fondue glitter drops. You can't see the glittery goodness in the drops, but in person they are so pretty! I adhered the sentiment and called it done!

For my next card I used the new fall themed coffee cup kit called Fall to Go. I stamped the image in Memento Tuxedo black ink and colored it in using copic markers. I paper pieced the body of the cup. I then stamped the sentiment in VersaMark on another piece of patterned paper and heat embossed it using a fine white embossing powder. I decided I wanted this card to have the feel of a home so I grabbed my 6x6 pack of Wood & Notebooks Basics papers and found a nice piece to make my 'table'. I cut that out using an oval stitched die. I then cut out the sentiment using a label die and mat it on a different wood themed paper. I wanted it to look like something hanging on the 'wall'. I then had to decide on what papers to use as my 'wall' and 'floor'... I'm terrible at home decor so this was difficult. Ha! I finally settled on this yellow with white polka dots paper and a nice light brown. I adhered all the fun pieces to my card and I have to say I love the way it turned out!!

My last card for today features the fun coffee mug from the Cuppa Comfort sentiment kit. I blended a few fun fall colors on a piece of white card stock and then stamped the mug. I liked the fall theme with the colors so I decided to stamp a leaf from the August 2017 Never Be Afraid KOM and I loved the way it looked so I went with it. I added a little highlighting to the leaf using a white prismacolor pencil and I colored in the heart with some Cranberry Bliss silk. I fussy cut the mug out and set it aside. I grabbed a piece of watercolor paper and painted some 'steam' for my mug. I decided the card needed more so I dug through my collection of Jolande & Marleen stamps and found a few kits to use.... You Can Do It, You Matter, Hug, and I Am Who I Am. I did a little bit of blending on the edges and then stamped my sentiment from the new kit called Hug using VersaMark and Ground Espresso distress inks and then heat embossed it with a clear fine embossing powder. I adhered the watercolor paper to a piece of Dark Chocolate card stock and then adhered the entire piece to a white card base. Love it! I didn't plan on a fall theme for my coffee cards today, but I think I'm ready for some cooler weather!

I sure hope you like the cards I shared with you today! Come back tomorrow for my final Growing in Unity post. I'll be featuring some fabulous seasonal stamps from Unity! You won't want to miss it!

Be sure to check out Berina Febin's post today as well, she's another Growing in Unity girl this week. You can check out her blog ---> here!

Now, don't forget to leave a comment on this post to be entered into a drawing to 

win a grab bag from Unity. I'll be drawing names for 2 lucky winners!!

Thanks for stopping by!!

See ya next time.

~ Crystal

Growing in Unity ~ Day 3 ~ Hello!

Hello! I can't believe that it's already my third day as a Growing in Unity girl... the time is flying by!

Today, I have some of my most favorite flower stamps from Unity. If there is one thing that the artists for Unity can draw and turn into stamps, it is flowers!!! I love Unity's flower stamps! I have too many favorites... this post could go on for days, but I'm going to just focus on my two most favorite.

My first card features a daisy... I love daisies! They are my most favorite flower! The daisy stamp is from the May 2017 Free Your Dreams Kit of the Month. I stamped the daisy in Memento Tuxedo black ink and colored it in using copic markers. I stamped the daisies again on a long post it note and masked the image on my card. I then stamped the other images around the panel using distress inks and stamps from two kits... Spring Inspired Layers of Life kit and Blow Your Mind, a Jolande & Marleen kit. I just love the texture it gives to the card. I colored the background behind the daisies with some grey copics. I stamped the sentiment with VersaMark ink and heat embossed it using a black detailed embossing powder. I also die cut the panel using a fun diagonal stitch rectangle die. I layered it with a light purple card stock and adhered it to my white card base. Fabulous!

My second card features my second most favorite flower... the sunflower!! This stunning sunflower is found in the September 2016 Moments Between Moments KOM. This card went in a totally different direction from what I had planned, but I absolutely love it! I stamped the image three times on white card stock using Memento Tuxedo black ink. I colored the center of the flower and cut it out. I then colored the inner petals and cut them out. Lastly, I colored the outer petals and cut the entire flower out for that layer. I set all those pieces aside and started searching for the best patterned paper... that took awhile. Ha! I wanted just the right paper! I thought these papers would be perfect so I layered them on a Dark Chocolate card base and added a little bit of ribbon. I then adhered the outer petal layer for the sunflower. I popped up the middle layer using dimensionals. I then popped up the center of the flower also using dimensionals. I just love the way this card turned out... 

Here's a close up of the layers on the sunflower!! Isn't is just stunning! I love the dimension 

it gives to the flower!! 

I sure hope you like the cards I shared with you today! Come back tomorrow... I'll be featuring some fun coffee stamps from Unity! You won't want to miss it!

Be sure to check out Berina Febin's post today as well, she's another Growing in Unity girl this week. You can check out her blog ---> here!

Now, don't forget to leave a comment on this post to be entered into a drawing to 

win a grab bag from Unity. I'll be drawing names for 2 lucky winners!!

Thanks for stopping by!!

See ya next time.

~ Crystal