Scrapping for Less ~ SugarPea Designs ~ Novel Birthday!

Hello! Today I'm sharing an adorable card using SugarPea Design's Reading Friends... oh my goodness... this set is so sweet! Reminds me of when I was a kid... I was always reading! Now I'm always card making... lol... well, when I can!

I started off by stamping the image on white card stock with my go to ink - Memento tuxedo black - and then I colored and colored... I loved coloring this image! I used the following Copic markers ~ Tree - E55, E57, G14, G17; Girls - E0000, E000, E00, R20, E99, YR23, YR24, E11, E31, YR02, YR16, Y000, Y13, B000, B12; Books - N0, Y06, Y35, R14, R27, E55, E57, G12, G14, B000, B02, B24; Sky Background - B0000, B000. I die cut the image and then mount it on a die cut yellow scalloped rectangle. I set that aside.

I cut the diagonal rainbow paper from Lawn Fawn's Really Rainbow paper pack and mat it on white card stock. I then adhered that piece to a blue card base. I cut the blue notebook paper from the same Really Rainbow paper pack and adhered it to the card. I then popped up the main image on the card.

I used the EK Tools Powder Tool Applicator on a scrap of white card stock to keep any static from messing up my stamped sentiment and then using VersaMark watermark ink I stamped the sentiment and heat embossed ultra fine black embossing powder. My last touch was to add a few sequins from my stash. So cute! I love how this turned out! I hope you do too!

Thanks for stopping by!

See ya next time.

~ Crystal

~ Friends of Unity March Blog Hop ~

Hello! Wow! February zipped right on by, didn't it?! I can't believe it's already time for another Friends of Unity Blog Hop! We decided to go with a New Beginnings theme for this month. So naturally I started thinking about Spring. It's a time of new beginnings.

Spring is so close... soon the trees will turn to their gorgeous greens and the flowers will soon be in bloom. I, for one, cannot wait for some warmer weather. So with the theme New Beginnings on my mind, when I saw the February 2018 Kit of the Month {Being Who You Are}, I just knew I had to use it! 

I adore C.S. Lewis' books and when I saw this quote, I just had to use it on my card. And how sweet is this clock?! It was a must, too! I have to admit, I struggled deciding on what to do with the clock. 

I have my papers all picked out. I used a paper pack that I got last month at the Hobby Lobby. This one is called Kirby Teesdale Studio by The Paper Studio. I love the blues and greens in the paper and those fabulous flowers along the edge. I decided to keep the card pretty simple and let the paper shine! I added a few layers to bring the greens and blues to the eye, but I also wanted the sentiment to pop so I added a few layers of black. 

How sweet did this clock turn out?! I decided to paper piece it with papers from the same paper pad. I actually stamped it out three times. First on a piece of white card stock because the patterned papers are thin and I didn't want to accidentally tear it while I was fussy cutting. And then once on each of the papers. I cut out the face of the clock and adhered it to the pink patterned paper. I fussy cut the pink layer and adhered it to the white card stock and then I fussy cut the whole thing out. I'll admit it was a tad bit tedious, but I love how it turned out and that extra layer of paper really made it easier handle while I cut. My final touches on the clock were to add some black to the edge of the image to help it pop. For that, I used the Memento tuxedo black marker. I used a pink copic marker to add a touch of pink to the hearts on the face of the clock and I used a grey copic marker to add some grey to the hands on the clock. I went over the whole face of the clock with Fun Stampers Journey Journey Glaze. My first application was kind of bumpy so I did a second...and then a third application, letting each layer dry before adding to it. It's not perfect, but I think in person it looks really cool. ;) 

That's it for my card for this month's hop!

Now let's go see what the other hoppers have, shall we?! Oh, but before you hop away I have a fabulous giveaway up for grabs... what is it, you say? A grab bag!!! Yes! A fantastic grab bag of Unity stamps... and I'm thinking 25 stamps is a good number! LOL! So all you have to do to enter is leave me a comment below! It's that easy! :) Now, let's go check out the fabulous creations from the other gals in the hop!

~ Let's Hop ~

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

up next ---> Eileen Mathys

Amber Trubiak

Robyn Jordan

Jeanie Hays

Dawn Fields

Thanks for stopping by!

See ya next time.

~ Crystal

Love You Beary Much

Happy Wednesday! Today I have a cute card using a set from Heffy Doodle that I used awhile back for our product feature blog hop. You can find this adorable set in the Scrapping for Less shop right here ---> Beary Big Heart. I've had Christmas cards on the brain lately so it was nice to play with a set for Valentine's Day.

I blended the background using Worn Lipstick and Picked Raspberry Distress Oxide inks. I then stamped the little flower all over using VersaMark ink and heat embossed ultra fine white embossing powder. I cut a frame using two different sizes of Wonky Square dies. I adhered a piece of vellum card stock to the back the frame piece and then adhered that to my white card base. 

I stamped the little bear using Memento Tuxedo black ink and colored it in with copic markers {E00, E31, E33, R20, and 0}. To color the heart I blended some Pink Flambe Nuvo mousse and paper pieced it to the image. I stamped the little flower on a scrap of paper and colored it in with copic markers {R20, RV04}. I fussy cut the bear and touched the edges with a Memento Tuxedo black marker. I adhered the bear to the vellum square with glue dots. I stamped the sentiment, fussy cut it out, and then adhered it to the card.

Thanks for stopping by!

See ya next time.

~ Crystal

~ 3 Days of Halloween ~ Day 3 ~

Hello! It's my final day for my 3 Days of Halloween series! I know I already shared a card using this beautiful stamp... but I think Unity's Esmerelda Girl is my favorite so I just had to make another card!

For this card, I stamped Esmerelda on a piece of white card stock in Memento Tuxedo black ink and then colored her in with the following Copic markers: Dress/hat - V01, V05, V09; Hair - E02, E07, E08; Skin - E50, E51, E53; Broom - E55, E57; Ground/belts - N01, N02, N05. I die cut the piece using the largest rectangle in the In & Out Diagonal Stitched Rectangle Stax set from My Favorite Things. I then blended some Hickory Smoke and Black Soot distress inks around the edge. I stamped a few background stamps from Stampin' Up!'s Ghoulish Grunge set. I still had the Tim Holtz Cobweb thinlit die on my desk so I decided to cut out another True Black cobweb. I added some glittery goodness to it using a clear Wink of Stella pen. I decided to cut up some of the web so I could fit more of it on the card. I then decide to add some more purple to the card and mat the panel onto a scalloped rectangle of Blackberry Bliss card stock from Stampin' Up! I adhered the entire panel to a card base of Soft Stone card stock from Papertrey Ink. The finishing touch was a quick sentiment from the Simon Says Stamp set If The Hat Fits I used on yesterday's Halloween card. I stamped it in VersaMark ink and then heat embossed a fine white embossing powder. I fussy cut a banner and popped it up on the card using dimensionals. I just love how this card turned out! I sure hope you do, too!

If you missed Day 1 of my ~ 3 Days of Halloween ~ series... you can check it out here and Day 2 can be found... here.

I sure hope that you've enjoyed my ~ 3 Days of Halloween ~ series!!

Thanks for stopping by!

See ya next time.

~ Crystal

~ 3 Days of Halloween ~ Day 2 ~

Hello! Are you ready for another Halloween card?! I am!! I had so much fun making this card...

I started out by looking through my Halloween papers. I found these old Stampin' Up! papers and thought they'd be fun to use. I cut the True Black card base for this card like normal (11-1/2" x 4-1/4"), but I scored it at 3-1/2" and 9". I then cut out the papers using an Edgers die from Papertrey Ink and layered them together. Once I had that done, I realized that the top portion wasn't going to be sturdy enough just using patterned paper so I layered it on an additional piece of True Black card stock. I adhered the entire piece to the top fold of the card and then set it aside.

 I stamped these fun hats from the If the Hat Fits stamp set from Simon Says Stamp onto a piece of white card stock using Memento Tuxedo black ink. I colored them in using Copic markers and then fussy cut them out. I also stamped the sentiment onto some Very Vanilla card stock and then die cut it out using the My Favorite Thing Fishtail Banner Stax dies. I had the negative die cut piece of the black and vanilla paper left so I adhered it to the bottom of the banner. I popped up the banner and the hats on the card using dimensionals.

I don't always stamp the inside of my cards, but when I do... it's fabulous!! Lol!

The sentiment is from the If the Hat Fits set and the web is from the Ghoulish Grunge set by Stampin' Up! That may, or may not be a clue for what's coming tomorrow ~ my third and last day sharing Halloween cards! Hope you enjoyed this card and will be by tomorrow for my final card.

If you missed Day 1 of my ~ 3 Days of Halloween ~ series... you can check it out here.

Be sure to come by tomorrow for Day 3 of my ~ 3 Days of Halloween ~ series!!

Thanks for stopping by!

See ya next time.

~ Crystal

~ 3 Days of Halloween ~ Day 1 ~

Hello! I've always had a love for Halloween... I love all the fun decorations and the costumes! Even more than all that, I love all the fun Halloween stamps and papers that are released from all the different companies. They get more fun every year! I was starting to get bummed because I really hadn't had time to play with my Halloween stamps and get some Halloween cards made to mail out. So... I decided the housework could wait, and I got inky!! Yay!

I just had to ink up Unity's Esmerelda Girl... I love this stamp and how fun is she to paper piece?! I used some Papertrey Ink papers that I had bought during their big sale. I die cut the layers using a set of Edgers dies from Papertrey Ink. I added a little bit of purple with some washi tapes from my stash. I die cut the Tim Holtz Cobweb thinlit die from True Black card stock and then added some glittery goodness using a clear wink of stella pen. I adhered that to the layers on the card. Now the fun part, I stamped Esmerelda in Memento Tuxedo black ink on white card stock so I could color some of her using Copic markers. I also stamped her on the black and white star paper. I colored the parts of Esmerelda that I wanted and then fussy cut out her dress and hat and adhered those to the image. I then cut out the entire image and adhered her to the card. Now this sentiment is hilarious... I just had to have it when I saw it. It's from Simon Says Stamp, in their If the Hat Fits set. I stamped it and die cut it with My Favorite Things Jumbo Fishtail Banner Stax die. To finish off the card, I added a few drops of black Nuvo drops. Such a fun card to make! Hope you like it!

Be sure to come by tomorrow for Day 2 of my ~ 3 Days of Halloween ~ series!!

Thanks for stopping by!

See ya next time.

~ Crystal

CYCI158 - You're on My Mind

Hello to you this lovely Sunday morning! I have a simple one layer card to share with you today. 

It's been terribly hot the last few days and I just felt like coloring a simple card. I thought this beautiful flower stamp from Unity's May KOM was perfect for such a simple card. I didn't use anything fancy, just my crayola colored pencils to color it in. The sentiment is from Unity's I Want You to Know sentiment kit. I stamped that and die cut it using MFT's Stitched Sentiment Strips die.

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

Here are the products I used for this card:

Stamps: Free Your Dreams May KOM, I Want You to Know (Unity)

Card Stock: White (PTI)

Inks: Memento Tuxedo Black (SU!)

Adhesives: Tombow Mono Multipurpose liquid glue (SSS)

Tools: MFT Stitched Sentiment Strips (SSS)

Miscellaneous: Crayola Colored Pencils (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

CYCI155 - A Very Simple Happy Birthday!

We are back with a very simple sketch challenge this week! In fact, this one was so simple I really struggled designing my card. Until, I realized... I have the perfect stamp kit for this!

I stamped the sentiment and the flowers using my misti, because honestly, it was the easiest way to line this up straight. With this image being my only focal point on this card - it had to be straight! I used Memento tuxedo black in and colored it with copics. I layered it on True Black card stock and then adhered that to a white card base. I decided it needed just a little something so I pulled out the ebony black nuvo crystal drops.

 I can't wait to see what you create using this sketch as your inspiration!! Be sure to join our 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 on our Facebook page!

Here are the products I used for this card:

Stamps: Special Wishes (Unity)

Card Stock: White, True Black (PTI)

Inks: Memento Tuxedo Black (SSS)

Copics: YR16, YR15, YR0000, Y35, YG97, YG95, B23, B000 (Oozak)

Adhesives: Tombow Mono Multipurpose liquid glue (SSS)

Miscellaneous: Ebony Black Nuvo Crystal Drops (SSS)

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

Thanks for stopping by!

See ya next time.

~ Crystal

You Are Strong Enough!

Hello! My card for this Easter Sunday was inspired by the cue card over at CASology - STRONG!

I immediately thought of this inspiring sentiment stamp I have from Unity. Isn't it fantastic?! I knew that Drew Girl would look just as fantastic with this sentiment.

I stamped Drew Girl with Memento Tuxedo black ink and colored her in using Copics (I'll list them below). The Can You Case It? color challenge made my choice of colors super easy! I love the way she turned out! I stamped the sentiment from Unity's You Are Strong Enough kit using VersaMark ink and then heat embossed some fine black embossing powder.

 I can't wait to see what you create using this color combo as your inspiration!! Be sure to join our 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 on our Facebook page!

Here are the products I used for this card:

Stamps: Drew Girl, You Are Strong Enough (Unity)

Card Stock: White (PTI)

Inks: Memento Tuxedo Black, VersaMark (SSS)

Copics: B0000, B000, B00, B02, N0, N1, N2, N3, E0000, E000, E00, E23, E25, E47

Tools: Heat tool (SU!)

Miscellaneous: Fine Black Embossing Powder (SSS)

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!

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

Happy Birthday Donuts!!

Have you seen the most recent CASology Cue Card? It's YOUTH!! Oh, the possibilities!! This is one idea that I had... well, my second attempt at this one idea. Hahaha!! 

This is a pretty quick and simple card and it screams YOUTH!! I know, I know... everyone loves donuts! Anywho, the details... I stamped the sentiment and donuts in Memento Tuxedo black ink. I clear embossed the sprinkles and colored in the donuts using Copics (E34, Y16, Y68). I happily discovered that the alcohol markers discolored the embossed sprinkles and when rubbed with a paper towel they became a yellow color which I think worked for these adorable donuts! To finish the donuts off I covered the icing with Journey Glaze. All that was left was adhering the offset piece on a white card base. I decided to add just a strip of True Black card stock.... BAM! I'm loving the way it turned out!

Here are the products I used for this card:

Stamps: Birthday Basics (PTI), Donut Worry (LF)

Card Stock: White, True Black (PTI)

Inks: memento tuxedo black (SU!)

Adhesives: tombow mono multi (SU!)

Miscellaneous: Journey Glaze (FSJ)

Go check out the challenge over at CASology... there's still some time to play along!!

Thanks for stopping by!

See ya next time.

~ Crystal