You're Amazing!

Hello! A quick post today for the Inspired By Challenge #38 ~ Fall Foliage.

I was inspired by the fabulous colors in the challenge photo and also the cup or mug (not sure?) in the photo. I wanted to focus on the rich colors of Autumn with reds, oranges and yellows, but also include the browns. I love the rich brown in the scallop background piece poking out from the behind the watercolored washed background. I die cut the Large Scallop Stackers from Dark Chocolate card stock for that piece. 

I ran Canson XL watercolor paper through the big shot with the Papertrey Ink Book Print Impression Plate and then did a watercolor wash with Kuretake Gansai Tambi watercolors. I die cut the piece with the Noted: Simply Stitched A2 Vertical dies also from Papertrey Ink. I adhered those layers to a Kraft card base and then set it aside.

I stamped the Tea Cup Floret by Graciellie Designs (sold by Unity Stamp Company) in Gina K's Black Amalgam ink. I heat set it with my heat tool and then colored it in with the same Kuretake Gansai Tambi watercolors I used on the background, but also used some browns and white for the cup, saucer, and coffee. I added some copper metallic thread to the bottom of the fussy cut image and then popped it up on the card. I stamped the sentiment in VersaMark watermark ink and then heat embossed some fine white embossing powder. I die cut it with a banner die, trimmed it, and adhered it to the card. I am loving how this one turned out!

The Inspired By Challenge just started today so I hope you also get a chance to play along.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

See ya next time.

~ Crystal

~ Friends of Unity June Blog Hop ~

Hello! It's my favorite time of the month... the first Saturday ~ that means my friends and I are hopping with creations from our favorite stamp company... Unity Stamp Company!

Our cue for this month is Masculine... my first thought was a Father's Day card but since our wedding anniversary is also this month, I thought I'd make a Masculine Anniversary card. 

My husband and I both have a love of old trucks... we don't quite agree on the make and/or model that would be our favorite, but we do agree that they are all fantastic vehicles! So I naturally decided to use Slowly Turning Classic. I stamped the image with Versamark watermark ink and heat embossed fine black embossing powder. I used ZIG Clean Color Real Brush watercolor brush pens to color in the image and then I fussy cut it out leaving a bit of a colored border. I added some glossy accents to the windshield and the headlights and set it aside to dry.

 I stamped the 'tread' stamp from Unity Stamp Company's March 2018 Kit of the Month called Stay Classy on another piece of watercolor paper with Versamark watermark ink and heat embossed it with the same fine black embossing powder. I watercolored the background to match the truck image and then die cut the whole piece using Gina Marie Design's Big and Little Chain Rectangle die set. I stamped the sentiment from yet another stamp set called Authentic Man using the same ink and embossing powder. I mat the die cut piece on True Black card stock and then popped up the whole panel on a Kraft card base.

I popped up the truck image with dimensionals and adhered it to the card. You can see the glossy accents and heat embossed shine in this photo. So fun!

I really like how this turned out! I hope my husband does too! 

Now, before you all get back to hopping... I have a giveaway... I have a brand new Kendra Girl stamp set up for grabs! All you need to do is keep hopping and be sure to leave a comment on each blog. We sure appreciate and love all of your fun comments! The winner will be announced during our next hop! There may even be another giveaway... you never know unless you hop. ;)

Now let's get back to hopping!

Eileen Mathys

Amber Trubiak

Robyn Jordan

Crystal O. Minkler <---you are here

up next ---> Dawn Fields

Jeanie Hays

Thanks for stopping by!

See ya next time.

~ Crystal

My 100th Blog Post!!!

Just a quick post to celebrate my 100th blog post!! Yay!

I decided to ink up my very first Unity Stamp Company stamp for this post. My love for Unity (and a crazy addiction to their stamps!) started with this lovely called Dream of Being. 

I stamped her in VersaMark and heat embossed her using a fine detail black embossing powder. I used my ZIG Clean Color Real Brush watercolor pens to color in the image. I added a bit of blue around the image and then die cut it out using a circle die. I've had this 'wood' paper stack in my stash for a while and I thought it would be a nice touch, but I also wanted a bit of color so I used some Soft Sky card stock to layer and mat the sentiment. I adhered this all to a white card base.

Thanks for stopping by for my 100th Blog Post!

See ya next time.

~ Crystal

CYCI165 - Birthday Wishes Sent Your Way

Hello! I have a fun card today with colors that I had chosen for this week's challenge. I sure hope that you will play along!! My card is a special birthday card for my niece. She celebrated her birthday by having a moonlit party. How fun is that?! I wanted to bring that fun to her card just a bit.

I stamped Unity's Patience Girl in VersaMark ink and heat embossed her in black. I watercolored her using the ZIG markers. Once the panel was dry, I die cut the edge using a new border die that I had recently ordered called Border Builders dies by Lil' Inker Designs. I just recently... like two days ago... received my Distress Oxide inks and I was able to use a few of those colors to make the card base look like a night sky. Love that there are more colors available! I stamped the sentiment from Unity's June Kit of the Month called Time to Enjoy Life using Versamark and then heat embossed it in white. I cut the banner by hand and popped it up on the card. I added a few drops of white Nuvo drops. And there you have it! 

This is our second to last challenge for Can You Case It? I sure hope you'll play along!

 I've linked most of the products I used above. Here are the rest of the products I used for this card:

Distress Oxides: Black Soot, Seedless Preserves, Wilted Violet, Picked Raspberry (SSS)

Adhesives: Tombow Mono Multipurpose liquid glue (SSS), Stampin' Dimensionals (SU!)

Miscellaneous: Heat Tool (SU!), Ranger Super Fine Black embossing powder, Fine White Embossing Powder (SSS)

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

Thank you so much for stopping by!

See ya next time.

~ Crystal

CYCI162 - It's a Mermaid Birthday!

Hello! It's been awhile... our family has been in the process of moving so all my crafty stuff has been partially packed. I finally have my desk set up and some crafty supplies... so I'm back! We're celebrating our daughter's 5th birthday this weekend. I decided to use the CYCI sketch challenge for a quick birthday card. She loved it!

I had the die cut piece already in my stash. I added some blues and purples to it using distress inks and oxide inks with a blending tool. I stamped and heat embossed the images onto distress watercolor card stock. I used my ZIGs to color the images. I also added a touch of glitter to the mermaid using a Clear Wink of Stella pen. I fussy cut all the images and adhered them along with the die cut onto a white card base. I then stamped and heat embossed the sentiment directly on the card base. 

 I can't wait to see what you create using this fun sketch as your inspiration!! Be sure to join our Facebook group so that you can see the Design Team creations and enter the challenge... Can You Case It? Challenge Group

Here are the products I used for this card:

Stamps: Just Keep Swimming (LC), Number of Years (SU!)

Card Stock: White (PTI), Tim Holtz Distress Watercolor (SSS)

Inks: VersaMark (SU!), Salty Ocean Distress Ink, 

Wilted Violet & Broken China Distress Oxide Inks (SSS)

Adhesives: Tombow Mono Multipurpose (SSS)

Tools: Heat Tool (SU!), Striped Scallop die (retired SU!)

Miscellaneous: ZIG Clean Color Watercolor brush pens (Amazon), Ranger Super Fine Black embossing powder (SSS)

 Please leave a comment. I'd love to hear what you thought of my creation.

Thank you so much for stopping by!

See ya next time.

~ Crystal

Make It Monday #283 ~ Every Day

I'm back again with another Make It Monday challenge from Papertrey Ink. This weeks challenge is a watercolor wash background. I'm a huge fan of watercoloring so I just had to play along with this challenge. It was also a great excuse to play with some new goodies I got from Papertrey Ink.

I stamped the image from the Quoted: Start Again stamp using VersaMark ink and then heat embossed white embossing powder. I was very excited to have another chance to play with my new Kuretake Gansai Tambi watercolors. They've been sadly neglected sitting on my shelf. I used a few colors to do my watercolor wash background. I cut down my piece of watercolor paper and then distressed the edges. I love the texture that gives to the card. I adhered the watercolored panel to a white card base and then I splattered some watered down white acrylic paint onto the whole card. I popped on a few sequins and called it done. Not sure that I like the image off center... but I did call it done! So it's done... :)

Here are the products I used for this card:

Card Stock: White (PTI), Tim Holtz Distress Watercolor (SSS)

Watercolors: Kuretake Gansai Tambi - Set of 24 (Amazon) 

Tools: Heat Tool (SU!)

Adhesive: Tombow Mono Multipurpose liquid glue (SSS)

Miscellaneous: Vintage Chic sequins (SSS), Apple Barrel Matte White Acrylic (Amazon) 

 Please leave a comment. I'd love to hear what you thought of my creation.

Thanks for stopping by!

See ya next time.

~ Crystal

Savvy 7 ~ April Blog Hop ~ Birthday

It's time for another Savvy 7 & Friends Blog Hop!! The theme for this month is Birthdays... talk about a theme with possiblities!! Can't wait to see what all the hoppers create this month!

I'm sure you've seen the fun Twist and Pop technique that everyone seemed to be trying and sharing all over blogs and social media networks. I know I've seen it, but I hadn't tried it yet. I had an idea for an awesome twist and pop card and I think I was actually able to create it. I hope you like it!

The card front is pretty simple. I stamped and watercolored Unity's Poppy Girl. The sentiment is heat embossed. I die cut the panel using My Favorite Things Blueprints 22. One pretty layer... I love it!

BAM! The inside of the card... I had so much fun watercoloring each panel for this. I am really getting a hang of those ZIG markers and loving them! The bottom part of the card was stamped using Unity's Wild Poppy Silhouette. I colored the stamp directly with a Real Red and Garden Green marker. I spritzed it with a mini mister and stamped. I ended up using a blender pen to fill in the flower all the way, just a few little touches here and there.

The first panel I made using Unity's Deserving kit. I'm still working on highlights in hair... I like how this one turned out, though. The sentiment was stamped, heat embossed, and then die cut using My Favorite Things Stitched Sentiment Strips.

For this second panel I used Unity's Soul Within kit. Another wonderful sentiment from Unity! They have so many inspirational sentiments. This sentiment was also die cut using the Stitched Sentiment Strips from MFT.

For this third panel I used Unity's Jar of Hope kit. I just stamped the top of the flowers around the edge a bit. The sentiment is from Unity's So Glad you Were Born sentiment kit.

The fourth panel was stamped using Unity's Missing You Girl kit. I added a few touches of white gel pen over the flowers in her hair... love the softness it added to it. This sentiment was die cut using Lawn Fawn's Everyday Sentiment Banners die.

The top part of the card I stamped using Unity's Donna Poppies with Real Red and Memento Tuxedo black inks. The sentiment is also from the So Glad You Were Born kit. This is the only sentiment I didn't heat emboss... not sure why. :)

Here's one more look at the inside of the card. I truly had so much fun putting this one together and I know just who I will be sending it to. I hope she likes it! ;)

Here are the products I used for this card:

Stamps: Poppy Girl, Wild Poppy Silhouette, Deserving, Soul Within, Jar of Hope, Missing You Girl, Donna Poppies, So Glad You Were Born (Unity)

Card Stock: white (PTI), Real Red (SU!), Tim Holtz Distress Watercolor Cardstock (SSS)

Inks: Ranger Archival Jet Black (SSS), VersaMark, Real Red, Memento Tuxedo, Real Red and Garden Green markers (SU!)

Adhesives: Tombow Mono Multipurpose (SU!)

Tools: My Favorite Things Blueprint 22, My Favorite Things Stitched Sentiment Strips, Lawn Fawn Everyday Sentiment Banners (SSS)

Miscellaneous: ZIG Clean Color Real Brush markers, Uni-Ball Signo White gel pen (Amazon), Mini Mister (SSS), 

Blender Pen (SU!)

Thanks for stopping by!

See ya next time.

~ Crystal

Be sure to check out the rest of the fabulous creations on the hop!

CYCI151 - You Are Loved!

We have a sketch for you this week at CYCI! I definitely had fun with this one. I started out with a whole different card... the pieces are still sitting on my desk. This sketch had a mind of its own. :)

The focal point on this card is the beautiful jar of poppies from Unity's Jar of Hope kit. I watercolored it on kraft card stock using my ZIG clean color real brush markers directly on the card stock. I blended the color out just a bit and loved the way it turned out! The background was made using the same stamp. I stamped it multiple times in VersaMark ink and then heat embossed white detail embossing powder. The sentiment is another kit from Unity called Bitty Regards. I inked the sentiment up using Bermuda Bay and Real Red markers.

Here's a close-up of the pretty poppies!

I can't wait to see what you create using this sketch as your inspiration!! Be sure to join our new Facebook group so that you can enter the challenge... Can You Case It? Challenge Group and go check out all the creations by the CYCI design team!

Here are the products I used for this card:

Stamps: Jar of Hope, Bitty Regards (Unity)

Card Stock: White, Kraft (PTI), Cool Caribbean (retired SU!)

Inks: VersaMark; Bermuda Bay, Real Red markers (SU!); Kuretake ZIGS (Amazon)

Adhesives: Stampin' Dimensionals, Tombow Mono Multipurpose, Mini glue dots (SU!)

Tools: Heat Tool (SU!), Pierced Traditional Tags Stax (MFT), Mini Stapler, Scallop edge punch (retired SU!)

Miscellaneous: White detail embossing powder (retired SU!), Cherry Cobbler baker's twine, 

Bermuda Bay baker's twine (SU!), Fresh Snow Topnotch Twill Tape (PTI)

Thanks for stopping by!

See ya next time.

~ Crystal

CYCI149 - Yay... a Sketch!

Yay! It's time for a CYCI Sketch Challenge... I've missed them! Don't get me wrong... I've loved the color challenges, but there's a whole different challenge to a sketch challenge. We have a fun sketch from Rose this week! Let's get to it... 

I had mentioned before that I'm sending a card to my Mom each week. I realized this week that my stash was gone so I needed to make a card asap to send to her and I thought this sketch was perfect. I was reorganizing some of my stamps and found this stamp from Papertrey Ink called Botanical Blocks that was ideal for this sketch. I inked up the rose and the sunflower from this set, but decided to go with the rose for this card. I pulled out my watercolors and had some fun coloring this. I used some white gel pen on the flower that I softened up with my water pen. I had never tried that before but I like the soft white effect that it made. I also added some clear Wink of Stella here and there on the flower. I cut out the framed piece and started looking for a paper that coordinated well with it... that took a few minutes, but I ended up finding a piece that would work from a retired pack of Raspberry Tart Designer Series Paper. I used some crocheted 'ribbon' and a bauble from the retired Artisan Embellishment kit. I stamped the sentiment using Memento Tuxedo black ink. For a final touch, I added some broken black lines to kind of frame the whole card.

Here's a close up picture of the flower. You can see the softened white from the gel pen. It almost has a chalk like look to it. You can also see the shimmer from the Wink of Stella. It's really much prettier in person. :)

I can't wait to see what you create using this sketch as your inspiration!! Be sure to join our new Facebook group so that you can enter the challenge... Can You Case It? Challenge Group and go check out all the creations by the CYCI design team!

Here are the products I used for this card:

Stamps: Botanical Blocks (PTI)

Card Stock: white (PTI), Distress Watercolor (SSS), Raspberry Tart (retired SU!)

Inks: Memento Tuxedo Black (SU!), Ranger Archival Jet Black (SSS)

Adhesives: Stampin' Dimensionals, Tombow Mono Multipurpose (SU!)

Miscellaneous: Clear Wink of Stella (SU!), Artisan Embellishment kit (retired SU!), Sakura Gelly Roll Stardust, Kuretake Gansai Tambi watercolors (Amazon)

Thanks for stopping by!

See ya next time.

~ Crystal

CYCI147 - Poppies Make me Happy!!

Hello! I'm so glad that you've stopped by my blog! Today, I have for you a new challenge with CYCI... another fabulous color challenge ~ Pink, Red, Black, and Silver!

I have to be completely honest with you, as much as I love these colors... I was stumped on what to do. I didn't want to make another Valentine's card which had been my original thought. I did, however, really want to do something simple maybe with a bit of a wow factor. I just recently got these gorgeous poppies from Unity Stamp Company! Aren't they just stunning! I love them! 

To keep the design simple, I decided only to layer the one smaller poppy. The rest is stamped and splattered directly on the white card base.  First, I stamped the pink poppy on a scrap of white card stock using the pink ZIG Clean Color Real Brush marker. I did go back over it a bit with one of my water pens to smooth some of the color out. Now for the red poppy, I did the same - I colored the stamp directly with the red ZIG marker, but then I spritzed the stamp with a bit of water and then stamped it directly on the card base. I also went over this image a bit with the water pen just to even out some of the color. I love the effect that the water gave to the red poppy!! I then stamped the outline poppy images with Memento tuxedo black ink. Part of the fun with these stamps is that they are stunning even if you don't get the lines matched perfectly with the image. My next step was to mask the red poppy and splatter the card base with some Silver silks! I love my silks!! I went a little crazy with it and some splotches got a little too wet and leaked through the post it note which you can see in the close up picture below... 

In this close up picture you can see the shine from the silks and the added shimmer to the middle of the poppies that I added using a black Wink of Stella pen. My last step for this card was stamping and embossing the sentiment. I had recently won a prize package from Unity and this sentiment was in my prize package so I'm not sure what kit it comes from, but it was perfect for this card. I stamped it in black craft ink and heat embossed it. At this point I was done and walked away... but I couldn't take a photo until the next morning since my studio was so dark. The next morning when I came in to take the photos, I decided that the card needed a bit more silver... so I added the bit of ribbon to the top. After about five minutes of trying to tie a decent bow, I decided to just make a pretty knot and call it done! Haha! Just keeping it real! 

I can't wait to see what you create with these colors!! Be sure that you've joined our new Facebook group so that you can enter the challenge... Can You Case It? Challenge Group. Be sure to go check out all the other lovelies created by the CYCI design team!

Here are the products I used for this card:

Stamps: Donna Poppies (Unity)

Card Stock: white (PTI)

Inks: Memento Tuxedo Black (SU!), black craft (retired SU!)

Adhesives: Stampin' Dimensionals (SU!)

Tools: Heat Tool (SU!)

Miscellaneous: Silver silks (FSJ), ZIG Clean Color Real Brush markers (Amazon), 

black detailed embossing powder (retired SU!), Silver 1/8" ribbon (SU!)

Thanks for stopping by!

See ya next time.

~ Crystal