Friday, April 24, 2020

Scrapping for Less ~ April 2020 Flavor of the Month Card Kit ~ City Streets and Country Roads


City Streets and Country Roads! I am a country/small town girl at heart, but oh... those city streets and the hustle and bustle of a city is very exciting! Which do you prefer? This month's theme is a little bit travel themed and a little bit hometown themed. Join the Design Team as they share inspiration for all these wonderful collections. Make sure to stop by the website and either purchase a one time kit or sign up for a subscription. Also, please enter the rafflecopter for a chance to win a prize. *Disclaimer: I know most of you are Staying Safe at home...please know this theme was planned way before all this happened. ~ Teresa, {SFL Owner}


If you are just starting hopping, we're so glad to have you join us! 
The hop starts on the Scrapping for Less blog or you can start hopping right here.

Here's a quick look at the April 2020 City Streets and Country Roads card kit...





Oh my goodness!!! Isn't this month's kit just amazing?! I'm so excited to have two of my very own illustrations in the kit this month and I truly hope that you love them just as much as I do! Let's get to the cards that I created for the hop, shall we?!


Here they are all together!! Aren't they just so much fun?! I had such a blast creating them!


Collection One: Super Host
I love super hero stamps and even though the products for this kit were in development months ago, I think this sweet collection is perfect for the current times that we are experiencing around the world with the Coronavirus Covid-19. This would be a great card to send to a friend or give to a neighbor that's an essential worker, no matter the field of work they are in!


I kept my design for this card pretty simple. 
I colored the superhero boy with the following copic markers:

Skin ~ E000, E00, E11
Hair ~ E50, E51, E53, E55
Clothes ~ R000, R14, R24, R27, B00, B02, B05, Y11, Y13, Y15

 I think this card turned out super cute... get it! *wink wink*

Supplies used (not found in the kit):
Memento Tuxedo Black ink
Tombow Mono Multi Liquid Glue
Stampin' Up! Tear & Tape Adhesive
My Favorite Things Blueprints 15 dies
My Favorite Things Stitched Rectangle STAX dies


Collection Two: Your Best Life
I may be a little partial to this collection because I created this stamp with my daughter in mind. She's not nearly old enough to be driving a scooter around right now, but I'm sure she will someday with her beautiful curly hair flying in the wind! 


I used the following copic markers to color this sweet image:

Skin ~ E000, E00, E11, R00, R20
Hair / Eyes ~ E21, E23, E25, E47, B02, B16
Clothes ~ R05, R08. R22. B02, B16, B26, C00, C3
Scooter ~ R000, R01, R14, R21, R30, N0, N2, N4, N6, C00, C3, Y11, Y13

Supplies used (not found in the kit):
Memento Tuxedo Black ink
Tombow Mono Multi Liquid Glue
My Favorite Things Stitched Fishtail Flag STAX dies


Collection Three: Country Roads
I couldn't wait to color up a sweet sunset scene for this beautiful Country Road stamp! Such a fun image to color!! Here's a list of the copic markers I used:

Sky ~ B0000, B000, B21, B45, R00, YR12, YR21, Y11, Y13
Fence ~ E30, E35, E37
Flowers ~ Y11, Y13, Y15, YR15, YR21, YG11, YG23
Road ~ E55, E57, E59
Tree ~ E55, E57, E59, YG03, YG11, YG17
Grass ~ YG0000, YG03, YG11, YG13, YG17


Here's a close up of the colored scene.

Supplies used (not found in the kit):
Memento Tuxedo Black ink
Gina K Designs Red Hot ink cube
Tombow Mono Multi Liquid Glue
My Favorite Things Stitched Arch STAX dies


Collection Four: Howdy, Partner
This collection has got to be the cutest... with the beautiful color combination of pinks, aquas, and browns, plus the paisley, AND the adorable cowboy and cowgirl images!!! How could you not just love it!?! I couldn't help but use a bunch of pink in my card for this collection... my daughter loves to play dress-up and even though she doesn't have a cowgirl costume, I could imagine her dressing up just like this sweet girl. 


I used the following copic markers to color up this cowgirl:

Skin / Mouth ~ E000, E00, E11, R00, R14, R20, N2
Hair ~ E50, E51, E53, E55
Clothes ~ E44, E47, RV11, RV21, BG11, BG32
Hat / Boots ~ E43, E44, E47, RV11, RV21

I really wanted to play with all the pretty papers in this collection! LOL! I even added a layer of beautiful white glitter card stock that you can find in the A La Carte section of the shop that really adds some glittery goodness to the whole card design.

Supplies used (not found in the kit):
Memento Tuxedo Black ink
Picked Raspberry Distress Oxide ink
Shabby Shutters Distress Oxide ink
Tombow Mono Multi Liquid Glue
Taylored Expressions Stitched Square Stacklets dies


That's it for me this time! Your next stop on the hop is... Christine

Be sure to head back over to the Scrapping for Less blog to enter the Rafflecopter once you've finished hopping!



Thank you friends for checking out my blog post!
See ya next time.

Inky Hugs,
Crystal

Scrapping for Less ~ April 2020 Flavor of the Month Card Kit ~ Sneak Peek!

Hello there crafty friend!
I am so excited to be sharing the last sneak peek of the absolutely amazing City Streets and Country Roads Card Kit that releases tonight!!! Eeep! You are going to love this kit!! It is seriously gorgeous... and amazing!! 


I seriously LOVE each of the collections this month... Gorgeous!! But the Banana Split subscription this month has that extra bit of crafty goodness that just tops the cake!! How absolutely stunning is that camera with the dainty flowers and leaves...?!? I just HAD to use it for my sneak peek! I die cut it from the Neenah 110 lb. Classic Crest Smooth Solar White card stock included in the kit and colored it using copic markers that coordinated with the gorgeous papers included in the Country Roads collection:

Flowers ~ R0000, R14, R56
Leaves ~ Y11, Y13, Y15, E41, YG91, YG93
Camera ~ N0, N2, N4, N6


I colored most of the pieces while keeping the die cuts intact, but some of the camera pieces were so small I took them out and colored them. I then adhered the entire die cut piece to a piece of white copy paper and fussy cut it around the edges. 


I trimmed the beautiful patterned papers and adhered them together. I then wrapped a pretty yellow ribbon from another collection around the layers and adhered the panel to a white card base from my stash. I then die cut a piece of white card stock with the Stitched Arch STAX die... adding this piece helped the gorgeous camera to pop on the card. I stamped the empowering sentiment from Your Best Life stamp set in Collection Two with VersaFine Onyx Black Pigment Ink and die cut it with a banner die. I added a tiny piece of patterned paper to the edge of that sentiment and then popped it up on the card. To finish off the card, I added a few of the black sequins included in the Banana Split subscription. So... I used three of the collections and a couple of elements from the Banana Split to make this beautiful card!! I am telling you this kit is A MUST HAVE!!! Go subscribe here ---> City Streets and Country Roads Card Kit!! 

Be sure to come back tonight at midnight EST to check out the reveal of the card kit and to hop with us as the design team shares all kinds of amazing inspiration!!

Thanks so much for stopping by!
See ya next time.

Inky hugs,
Crystal

Friday, April 17, 2020

Scrapping for Less ~ A Farmhouse Spring Card Kit ~ Butterfly Stencil

Hello there crafty friend!
Today I'm sharing a few more cards using the wonderful A Farmhouse Spring card kit from Scrapping for Less! I really wanted to play with the beautiful Butterfly Stencil that's included in the Banana Split subscription... have you seen the lovely cards being created by the Design Team with this stencil?! So inspiring!! Mine was slightly delayed in arriving but now I have it and I couldn't wait to play!!


What do you think?! Pretty cute cards if I do say so myself! I started by blending Picket Fence Distress ink over the stencil onto a card front of Spearmint, Cotton Candy, and Grapesicle card stock. I then die cut the card fronts with a few different rectangle dies in my stash... just to change things up so they weren't all the same. I adhered those to white card bases from my stash.


And then I blended some Spun Sugar Distress Oxide ink over a scrap of white card stock and die cut it with a circle die. I die cut three scalloped circles from the vellum paper... one for each card and then die cut three more scalloped circles from the Spearmint, Cotton Candy, and Grapesicle card stock. 


I set all of those pieces aside and blended some Wilted Violet Distress Oxide ink over the Butterfly Stencil. It wasn't quite the right shade of purple but I tried to keep it light and I think it works pretty well. 


I then blended a few different green oxide inks and decided that Cracked Pistachio was the closest to coordinating with the Spearmint green. I die cut the purple butterflies and the green butterflies and then stamped the Hello Spring sentiment on each of the circles with Memento Tuxedo Black ink. I then adhered all of my circle layers.


Now at this point, I had decided on my design for the card but it needed something. I decided to add a banner strip of black card stock from my stash to make the sentiment pop just a bit more on the cards.


Here's another look at the three cards together... I really love how they turned out! I hope you do too!


I have one more bonus card to share. When I was finishing up the trio of cards above, I had an idea for this card. It's a pretty simple design. Just some ink blending with the same three colors I used on the first three cards, but I did mask some of the stencil so that the butterflies looked like they'd be flying out of the sentiment. The sentiment is from the Hello Spring stamp set and I stamped it with Memento Tuxedo Black ink. I had an extra piece of Cotton Candy card stock in my stash so I mat the main panel with that. I then adhered the panel to a white card base. And to finish it off, I added a few of the sequins that were also included in the Banana Split subscription.

I hope that I've inspired you to get inky with your card kit!! And if you don't have this lovely card kit to play with, I believe that there are a few more left in the shop so go get one before they are all gone!! You will love it!!

Thanks so much for stopping by!
See ya next time.

Inky Hugs,
Crystal

Monday, April 13, 2020

Unity Stamp Company ~ Faith Not Fear ~ Fun with Digi Stamps!

Hello there crafty friend!
Today I'm sharing a card that I created using a couple limited edition digi stamps from Unity, along with a sweet butterfly from the April 2020 Kit of the Month called Hope in Uncertainty. Have you seen the fabulous digi stamps that Unity is offering during these uncertain times of social distancing and self quarantine?! They are absolutely gorgeous and such a crazy low price... you have to go check them out, but first let's check out my card for today.


I was trying to decide on my next card design when I happened to glimpse the Jesus & Germs digi set and then I remembered the gorgeous Faith Not Fear girl that I just created a card with... and BAM! Since these are digi stamps... I could resize the girl to fit in the frame from the Jesus & Germs digi set!! I resized the Jesus And Germs digi in a Word Document to fit almost an entire card front... 5 x 3.93 inches and then I resized the girl to 2.15 x 1.67 inches. I then placed the girl digi inside the frame and print it off. Easy peasy!


Now the fun part... coloring!! I used a whole bunch of copic markers so I'll just list them here:

Skin/Lips ~ E000, E00, E21, R00, R20
Hair ~ E21, E23, E25
Clothes ~ R00, R21
Flowers ~ R00, R21, R22, YR21, YR31, E93, E95, Y02, Y15, YG11, YG23, YG63
Butterfly ~ YR21, E93, E95
Background/Outline ~ B0000, B000


Here's a close up showing the dimension I gave the butterfly. I did this by just adhering the center of the butterfly with some liquid glue and gently folding up the wings.


I die cut the main panel with a stitched rounded corner die from Rubbernecker Stamps. I adhered it to a black card front, wrapped it with black twine, and tied a pretty bow. I then adhered the entire panel to a white card base. To finish off the card I popped up the sentiment that I trimmed and mat on black card stock. This turned out so lovely... I hope you like it too!

Be sure to check out the amazing digi stamps available at Unity for a limited time!!

Thanks so much for stopping by!
See ya next time.

Inky hugs,
Crystal

Friday, April 10, 2020

Scrapping for Less ~ Bloom Wildly Collection ~ Live Simply

Hello there crafty friend!
I'm here today with one more look at the gorgeous Bloom Wildly Collection of the A Farmhouse Spring card kit from Scrapping for Less! I am loving the Live Simply Bloom Wildly sentiment and how fast and easy it is to use in making a beautiful card!


For my card today I started with a scalloped rectangle of the pretty floral papers on a white card base from my stash. I then stamped one of the butterflies from the set several times on the vellum paper included in the card kit. I stamped it with Brutus Monroe Clear Embossing ink and heat embossed a fine white embossing powder being careful not to keep my heat tool in one place for too long and warp the vellum paper. I adhered the vellum layer to the card with PLUS vellum glue tape and then die cut the zigzag die (included in the Banana Split subscription) a few times from white card stock.


I adhered the zigzag die cuts across the card and set the card aside. I stamped the Live Simply image with Brutus Monroe Clear Embossing ink on Spearmint card stock and heat embossed an ultra fine white embossing powder. I then die cut the image with a scalloped circle die and popped it up with foam squares. I added a few sequins (included in the Banana Split subscription) to finish off the card... the perfect touch!


I just love the soft touch that the vellum layer gives the card... and those pretty butterflies add so much to the dimension. I hope you like this card as well, and that you're inspired to use the vellum included in the A Farmhouse Spring card kit. If you have been busy getting inky with your card kit and you're finding your card stock supplies getting low be sure to check out the A La Carte items in the SFL shop!! You can replenish your supply of card stock, pretty papers, and ephemera pieces!! And if you have not purchased a card kit yet, you are in luck!! There are still some in stock... be sure to snatch yours up quick before they are all gone!!

Thanks so much for stopping by!
See ya next time.

Inky hugs,
Crystal

Saturday, April 4, 2020

~ Friends of Unity April 2020 Blog Hop ~

Hello there crafty friend!!
It's my favorite time of the month... the first Saturday which means it's time to hop with a few of my friends who share an obsession of Unity Stamps!! Woohoo!


We're doing something a little different this month as you can see from the cue above... we're using this fun and simple sketch to inspire our creations this month!! I had fun making a couple cards to share with you all. Let's check those out...


I absolutely LOVE this sketch!! I just knew the coffee cup image from the new April 2020 KOM called Hope in Uncertainty was going to be perfect with this sketch!! I did turn the sketch here... I love that you can do that with a sketch! I did a little ink smooshing and splatters with Vintage Photo and Ground Espresso Distress Oxide inks on Tim Holtz Distress Watercolor card stock. I dried the panel with my heat tool and adhered it to a card front of True Black card stock measuring 4-1/4 x 5-1/2". I adhered that to a white card base and set it aside.


I colored up this gorgeous coffee cup with the following copic markers:

Cup/Saucer ~ BG01, BG45, BG49
Coffee/Beans ~ E23, E25, E27, E51
Spoon ~ N0, N2, N4

I fussy cut the image and even the two extra beans. I then popped them up on the card using foam squares. I trimmed the sentiment and popped that up on the card, as well. I really love how this card turned out!! 


Now my second card came together very quickly... I recently finished adding all my Itty Bitty stamps to Evernote!!! Celebrate with me!!! Yay!! If you have taken on that task, you have an idea of why I'm so excited! Lol! Anywho, while I was doing that it was like finding old friends... stamps that I HAD to have but haven't used and they've just been waiting to get inked up. This fun stapler stamp from the Keeping it Together set was one of them and I found the sentiment to be very fitting. I struggled a bit this week with the social distancing, quarantine, and the fear that has become associated with the goings on of the world right now and I had some rock star friends help lift me back up... namely the gals in this very hop!! I love and appreciate each one of them so much! So this card was totally created with them in mind!


I followed the sketch design for this one. I did a bit of ink smooshing and splattering with Black Soot Distress ink on this cool patterned paper I found in my stash from Art-C... it doesn't have a name on it, sadly... and I stamped the sentiment directly on the paper. I then adhered the patterned paper to a kraft card front. I set it aside and stamped the stapler with Memento Tuxedo black ink... it took me a long while to decide on a color to color this. My go-to is always turquoise and even though I think it would have looked awesome, I wanted to use another color so I went with a bluish purple. I used BV02, BV04, BV08, C00, C1, C3. I fussy cut the stapler and popped it up on the card front. And then... I had this fun idea to add some staples! Ha! My stapler didn't want to cooperate... it kept jamming, but I showed it who was boss and got it to work. And I love the added touch it gives to the design of the card! Such a fun and seriously addicting sketch to play with! I will definitely be using this sketch again and again.

So, I have a little business to take care of before we get hopping. I need to share my winner from last month's hop and the lucky winner is...





... Michelle Bridgewater!!! 
You have won a sweet and adorable Phyllis Harris stamp called No Bunny Compares !!! Congratulations!!  Please email me at crystalominkler@gmail.com to claim your prize. Prize must be claimed within two weeks.

A few of my friends are having giveaways this month so be sure to check out all the fabulous creations along the hop and comment on each blog for a chance to win!! 

Thank you all so much for your continued support of our little hop... and for all of your lovely comments! I really, truly do appreciate each and every one of you.

Let's get to the hopping...

Crystal <--- you are here

up next ---> Eileen











Thanks so much for checking out my blog post!
See ya next time.

Inky Hugs,
Crystal





Friday, April 3, 2020

Scrapping for Less ~ Hello Spring Collection ~ More Inspiration

Hello there crafty friend!
Today, I'm sharing a couple more cards using the sweet Hello Spring collection from the A Farmhouse Spring card kit. The sweet bunny stamp in this collection is seriously becoming a favorite of mine! I could stamp it all day long!


Isn't it lovely in purple?! I did use my Stamp Platform and stamped it a couple of times with Winter Wisteria ink to get a nice crisp image. I kept the rest of the bunny white and decided to just die cut it with a circle die and kept that a nice clean white too. I love it!


I trimmed a couple of the pretty patterned papers and adhered them to a Whipped Cream card front that was adhered to a white card base from my stash. I adhered another piece of Whipped Cream card stock that I had stamped the sentiment on, also with Winter Wisteria ink. To finish off this simple card, I added a few of the enamel dots from the collection.


I have been loving the ephemera pieces included in the card kits lately and the pretty flowers in this one are just too lovely not to make the focus of this card. I trimmed down the border around the ephemera piece and then mat it with Grapesicle card stock. I then trimmed down some of the papers from the collection and mat them on Grapesicle card stock, as well. I adhered all of my layers to a white card base from my stash and then stamped the sentiment with Memento Tuxedo black ink. I die cut it with a banner die and then trimmed it and adhered it to the flower ephemera piece. To finish off this card, I popped up the big flower ephemera piece and added a few of the enamel dots.


I created these cards when I was playing around with my sneak peek ideas before the reveal of the card kit and I happened to find this fabulous trio of sketches for Mojo Monday on the Poetic Artistry blog. I love the designs to these sketches... perfect to use up some of those scrap pieces of patterned paper while you are working with your new March 2020 A Farmhouse Spring card kits!!


I hope that I've inspired you with a few ways to get inky with the new card kit and I'll be back next Friday with more inspiration using the wonderful Bloom Wildly collection.

Thanks so much for stopping by!
See ya next time.

Inky Hugs,
Crystal

Wednesday, April 1, 2020

Scrapping for Less ~ Spring Color Challenge ~ A Farmhouse Spring Card Kit

Hello there crafty friend!
It's time for the new April 2020 challenge for the Scrapping for Less: Show & Share Facebook group!! This month's challenge is a beautiful Spring Color Challenge using the following color palette...

{photo credit: Jennifer Rizzo from jenniferrizzo.com}

...White, Grey, Mint and Peach!! Gorgeous!!

Before I share my card using this beautiful palette of colors, I'd like to invite you to join the Scrapping for Less: Show & Share Facebook group. It is key in playing along with our challenge because entries need to be added to the challenge album in the group. You do not need to have a blog to play along since you'll be adding a photo of your creation directly in the challenge album.You are, however, able to include a link to your blog post in the description of your creation if you'd like. And if you do play along, please use the following hashtag in your social media posts... #sflcolorchallenge4.


Here's is my card using the Bloom Wildly collection of the A Farmhouse Spring card kit. I have been loving this simple sketch lately and couldn't help but use it again with these beautiful papers.


I used Tattered Rose Distress Oxide ink to stamp the sentiment and butterfly... it's the perfect color to compliment the peach color in the papers! Love it! To finish off the card, I added a few of the sequins that are included in the Banana Split subscription of this card kit. If you're not familiar with this card kit, I'd love for you to check it out on the SFL website ---> A Farmhouse Spring card kit! It's a beautiful card kit jam packed with Spring goodies!!

And I'd like to invite you, again, to come play along with this challenge over in the Scrapping for Less: Show & Share Facebook Group! We'd love to see what you create using these beautiful colors!

Thanks so much for stopping by!
See ya next time.

Inky Hugs,
Crystal