Saturday, October 6, 2018

~ Friends of Unity October Blog Hop ~

Hello! Happy World Cardmaking Day!! I hope that you get to play on this day for us card making peeps! Speaking of... can you believe that it's October already?! Time is flying by so quickly. I do love the cooler temperatures and the gorgeous colors appearing in the trees. Speaking of trees... wink wink... our Cue for the Friends of Unity October Blog Hop is Leaves.



I LOVE Fall! I've mentioned this in other posts. I just can't help myself... the rich oranges, yellows, reds and even the browns! Sigh... I love love love them! Add to that an adorable fall themed stamp set and Oh My Goodness... again, I say Love!


Another thing that I love... is a good sketch! I found this sketch in my Sketch Journal and thought it would be perfect to showcase this adorable stamp from the Hoppy Fall stamp set. I started by stamping this sweet bunny and a few leaves using Gina K's Black Amalgam on white card stock AND on Canson XL watercolor paper. The card above was colored using the following Copic markers ~ Y000, Y02, Y06, Y11, YG0000, YG61, YG63, YR15, YR16, YR68, R14, R20, R27, N0, E000, E23, E25, E30, E31. I die cut the bunny with the Labels Three die from Spellbinders. I also die cut a piece of Kraft card stock that I cut in half and adhered just on the edges of the bottom and top portion of the main panel. Since the center portion wasn't adhered, I could slide my patterned paper in between the layers of the focal image. I adhered those pieces in place and then popped up the whole piece on the layers adhered to a Kraft card base.


For my second card, I flipped the sketch and also watercolored the image using ZIG Clean Color Real Brush pens with similar colors to the Copic colored version. I changed up the patterned papers a bit but I really love how these two cards turned out.


The inside of the first card. I added a piece of white card stock with a strip of patterned paper and stamped the entire sentiment with Memento tuxedo black ink.


The inside of the second card... just like the first, I added a piece of white card stock with a strip of patterned paper and stamped the entire sentiment with Memento tuxedo black ink.

Surprise!! I have another card!! Did you know that the beautifully colored part of the Poinsettia plant is actually colored bracts which are modified leaves?! A fun fact I've learned and one of the reasons I'm playing with the Poinsettia with Love sentiment kit for this hop. Let's check out the card I made...


I started with a pretty simple sketch idea with a diagonal cut of patterned paper mat on a piece of gold card stock, also cut diagonally. I wanted the words on the paper to stand out so I adhered the mat patterned paper to a white card base. I then stamped the gorgeous poinsettia on a piece of Canson XL watercolor paper (110 lb) using Amalgam black ink. I watercolored the image with ZIG Clean Color Real Brush pens and once it was dry, I fussy cut it out. I added some gold to the center of the flower using a gold gel pen and I also added some glossy accents to the red berries to give them some shine.


I popped up the fussy cut poinsettia on the card using dimensionals and that was it... I absolutely love how this card turned out! I originally wanted to add a sentiment near the top in the white portion of the card, but decided against it. I just love it how it is... so I'll add a sentiment inside or maybe I'll just leave it blank to hand write my holiday greetings to the recipient... who knows?!

Thank you friends for checking out my blog post! I sure hope that you like the cards I've shared today. There are a few giveaways this month so be sure to check out each of the blog posts and comment. We absolutely love all of your comments!
Now I think it's time to get hopping!





Crystal <--- you're here

up next ---> Eileen





See ya next time.

Inky Hugs!
~ Crystal



73 comments:

  1. Beautiful cards, my friend! I always love your layout. I must get a sketch book! (I always struggle with the layout.) Your bunnies aaahhh oh my that green colored one stole my heart! The poinsettia is just gorgeous. Awesome fun fact about its leaves!

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  2. Beautiful cards. Love the layouts. I love patterned paper and mixing prints. Your poinsettia card is stunning

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  3. WOW WOW and WOW... so ADORABLE!!!! Those bunnies and beautifully colored. And that gorgeous poinsettia card! LOVE! Happy World Card Making Day!

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  4. I love the way you are using patterned paper! So many pretty papers! I especially like how you added a tiny strip on the inside. Amazing designs!

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  5. Oh my! 😊 So happy that you used the Hoppy Fall stamp set. I just received mine, and you have inspired me to ink it up asap. Such wonderful coloring on all of your cards. And thank you for teaching me something new today. I did not know that fact about poinsettias.

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    1. Yay! I hope you got a chance to play with your Hoppy Fall set! Thanks so much for your kind words!

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  6. Such great cards!! love the fall bunny, too cute!! The poinsetta is gorgeous!!

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  7. Wow. Beautiful cards. That last one is just incredible. Love them!!

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  8. I just LOVE the little bunny! Great coloring!

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  9. Love those bunny cards! Can’t decide which I like better! But that poinsettia is just gorgeous! Really nice work!

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    1. Thank you so much, Joyce! I can't pick a favorite bunny card either... they turned out so cute! :)

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  10. Lovely cards! I really like them all.

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  11. Oh that bunny! Soooo adorable. Those cards are gorgeous designs. And the poinsettia card ... my fave! I love the black dp you paired with the gorgeous poinsettia.

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  12. So amazing, friend! Love that bunny and that poinsettia is stunning! I love your coloring, patterns, designs, and stamps. Just lovely!

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  13. Love your "Hoppy Fall" cards. The bunny is so adorable and the card layout is very eye catching. Pam Foy

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  14. Fun fall bunny image! And, oh how I love the poinsettia you have colored in! Beautiful cards!

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  15. That bunny is adorable. I love the colors you selected for the card.

    I am glad you left the white space at the top of your second card because it makes the beautiful poinsettia pop.

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  16. Lovely fall (and winter) cards. I really like how you show the flipped design to show the possibilities usint the same elements.

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    1. Thank you, Denise! Being able to flip a sketch design is one of my favorite things to do! :)

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  17. Such beautiful cards! That bunny is so sweet!

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  18. Cute Fall cards and beautiful poinsettia card.

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  19. I LOVE ur cards !! I can’t pick a favorite! They are both stunning!’

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  20. Great cards Crystal! Your little bunny cards are sweet. I know it’s not a Fall card but I think your poinsettia card is gorgeous. Thanks for sharing.

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  21. WOW! Love both cards but that bunny card is just too frickin' cute! HE melts my heart! Just love him! THe poinsettia is gorgeous but I would love to snuggle with that bunny! LOL Thank you for sharing your talent with us!

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    1. Awww... thank you so much, Christi! I'm so glad that you liked my cards!

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  22. Oh I love these cards - I'm all about the fall bunny and then a beautiful poinsettia shows up. Thank you!

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  23. Love the non-Easter bunny!!! Nicely done! Other card nice too!

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  24. Crystal, I am always so excited and in AWE over all of your card creations! You never disappoint!

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    1. Thank you so much, Cindy! I always appreciate your sweet comments! :)

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  25. Love the fall cards....but I absolutely LOVE the poinsettia one!!!

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  26. Love the little rabbit. Your cards are beautiful!

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  27. Crystal, all of these cards are perfection! The pattern paper you used matches perfectly with your beautifully colored stamped images! Those leaves on the poinsettia look like velvet. Bravo my friend!

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  28. Beautiful cards! The bunny is adorable!! I like to flip sketches too, it gives it such a different look.

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  29. I also love fall and so that bunny card is an absolute favorite. Your patterned papers and lovely water coloring brings this image to life!

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  30. Fantastic cards! Love the beautiful layers and amazing coloring.

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  31. Oh my!!! Stunning cards! Colors are amazing!!!

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  32. Your little bunny stole my heart !! Thanks for the lovely inspiration. Love, Marjorie
    [margessw(at)icloud(dot)com]

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