CYCI#135 Back to School Challenge

Are you ready for another CYCI challenge? 

The challenge at canyoucaseit.com this week is Back to School!

I knew as soon as I saw this challenge that the recently released Stamp of the Week from Unity would be perfect!! I just HAD to ink this stamp up and watercolor away!

I inked the main image using StazOn jet black ink and set aside for awhile to make sure it set. I used several different Stampin' Up inks to watercolor: Pear Pizzazz, Soft Sky, Daffodil Delight, Baked Brown Sugar, Chocolate Chip, Sweet Sugarplum, Pumpkin Pie, Gumball Green, Smoky Slate, Basic Gray, Early Espresso, Midnight Muse, Dapper Denim, Real Red, Basic Black, Really Rust, Melon Mambo, Pink Pirouette, and Blush Blossom. I know, it's quite a list!!

The base for this card is Papertrey Ink white cardstock. I cut a piece of retired designer series paper called Notations to 4 x 5-1/4 inches. I like the white border on the card it helps the watercolored piece to pop. I wanted to give the dsp some weight so I mounted it on a piece of Stampin' Up!'s Whisper White cardstock. Then I wrapped around some Crushed Curry twine, also from Stampin' Up!, and tied a little bow. I used glue dots to adhere that piece to the card base. Now, I went back and forth on what cardstock to back the main image with but I decided Soft Sky was soft enough to not take away from the soft look of the paper. I stamped the sentiment (also from the We're Back {to School} kit) in Memento tuxedo black ink. I popped the main image up with stampin' dimensionals - there you have it!

That's my entry for the CYCI#135 Back to School Challenge... hope you'll play along!!

Thanks for stopping by!

See ya next time.

~ Crystal

A Good Book Tag

Today I'm sharing a tag I made for the Unity {show & tell} Tag Challenge.

I started with a tag that I received free with my order from Unity Stamp Company - woohoo!

I stamped the main image from the Part of the Story stamp kit in Memento black ink. I then grabbed a post-it note and stamped the same image and then fussy cut it out. I put the post-it note image on top of the tag image and stamped the stack of books from the Unity Books A'Flutter stamp kit using my Soft Suede marker so I could omit the butterfly on top of the stack of books. Then I did some random stamping with my two favorite texture sets from Stampin Up! - Timeless Texture and Touches of Texture - using Crumb Cake and Lost Lagoon ink.

I even flipped the tag over and stamped the back.

Isn't it pretty?!

Back to the front of the tag...

I pulled out my Copic markers and colored away. I used E00 for the skin; E55, E77, and E79 for the hair; E31, E37, and R29 for the book; BG72 and BG75 for the jacket with a touch of B97 for the cuff; B97 and B99 for the jeans; N2 and N4 for the blouse; and a touch of BG72 for the glasses.

I stamped the sentiment in Memento black ink.

It took me a bit to decide on the ribbons to finish it off, but I settled on Tip Top Taupe dotted lace trim and Lost Lagoon silky taffeta ribbon to tie it off.

Thanks for stopping by!

See ya next time.

~ Crystal

CYCI#134 Pet Challenge

The CYCI#134 challenge for this week is a pet challenge so I was looking through my stamps and I don't have any traditional pet stamps! I'm shocked!

I did, however, have the Boy Basics: Frog Hop stamps from Papertrey Ink. My husband had a bullfrog when we were in college so I thought this'll work!

I stamped the frog with Wild Wasabi ink and then watercolored it using the same ink being careful not to smear the image. I stamped the lily pad with Garden Green ink and then watercolored it with the same ink, again, being careful not to smear the image. 

For the background behind the frog I did a light watercolor wash in Soft Sky ink and Pool Party ink on Papertrey Ink white cardstock making sure to not get my aqua painter brush too wet. I adhered that to a piece of Wild Wasabi card stock. 

The sentiment was stamped in Memento black ink. I then adhered the sentiment to a piece of Soft Sky card stock. I stamped some flies here and there in black ink. All that was left was putting all the pieces together. I wanted the frog image to the side and decided it needed an edge so I cut the frog circle. The sentiment looked strange after that so I decided to cut that circle, too. 

Here's a list of the other supplies I used:

Papers: SU! - Watercolor Wonder DSP

Tim Holtz - distress watercolor cardstock

Tools: PTI - Boy Basics: Frog Hop die

Spellbinders - Nestablilities Small & Large Circles

Tim Holtz - Tonic Paper Distresser

That's my entry for the CYCI#134 Pet Challenge... hope you'll play along at canyoucaseit.com.

Thanks for stopping by!

See ya next time.

~ Crystal

Christmas Birdie Tag

I finally had a bit of time to do some stamping

so I decided to get inky for the tag challenge over on Unity {show & tell}.

I got this sweet little birdie stamp in the mail today from Unity Stamp Company. The name of the kit is Folksy Partridge. As soon as I saw it I thought, 

"This is perfect for a tag!"

I embossed the bird stamp on Papertrey Ink kraft card stock using black craft ink and black embossing powder.

I colored the sweet bird using Stampin' Up!'s Smoky Slate marker and Staedtler Triplus Fineliner pens. I wanted to keep it simple so I only used the olive green and red pens. I also used the Uniball Signo white gel pen to add some touches of white to the snow.

I colored the ornament with the silver Wink of Stella. It's a shame you can't see the shimmer in this picture. I couldn't stop there so I stamped the snowflakes from Unity's Different & Beautiful kit around the edge of the tag with Stampin' Up! Real Red ink. I added some Christmas patterned paper to the top. Then I added some Cherry Cobbler sheer linen ribbon and tied it with Fun Stampers Journey black licorice twine. I stamped the sentiment in black craft ink and embossed it with black embossing powder. A few cuts here and there and I had a cute sentiment for this sweet Christmas birdie tag.

Thanks for stopping by!

See ya next time.

~ Crystal

A Lovely Day

I was reorganizing my stamps and saw this beauty from Fun Stampers Journey that I still hadn't inked up. For shame!

This is a very simple card... I inked up the flower and the sentiment from the Lovely Day set with memento black ink and stamped it on Papertrey Ink's white card stock.

Then I pulled out my Copics and started coloring. I used B000 to outline the flowers and the sentiment. I was in a purple kind of mood so I used BV000, BV02, and BV04 for the petals. Of course, a lovely yellow combo was needed for the middle of the flower so I used Y13 and Y15. And to finish it off, I used G40, YG63, and YG67 for the stems.

I couldn't stop there. It needed something so I added some Papertrey Ink's rustic cream twine. I wrapped it around the card a few times and added a cute bow. Voila!

Thank so much for stopping by.

See ya next time.

~ Crystal

CYCI#133 Color Challenge

My very first blog post!

I was stuck trying to think of a card to make my oldest son for his birthday coming up - BAM! The CYCI#133 Color Challenge was posted and it hit me! I used Ken Oliver's Color Burst to make the watercolor background. I then splashed some Fun Stamper's Journey silks and some black Wink of Stella to add that bit of sparkle, but not too much! I cut out both dies using Papertrey Ink's True Black card stock. I added a layer of true back card stock to the watercolor paper and mounted it all on Papertrey Ink's white card stock using dimensionals.

Thanks for checking out my first blog post.

See ya next time.

~ Crystal