Last Flavor of the Month for 2017: Winter and Love

As many of the country is surrounded by winter weather what better way to celebrate by having a winter/love themed card kit? Valentine’s Day is by far a super popular holiday and who can resist sending a card to a loved one? This card kit will head your way in plenty of time for you to create some sweet winter love themed cards for all those people in your life that need a sweet little card! 

Our Design Team has brought lots of wonderful inspiration, process videos for you to enjoy! I hope you know we have been listening to your suggestions and we are very thankful that you feel comfortable enough to share them with us! 

Make sure to enter the Rafflecopter over on the Scrapping for Less blog for a chance to win one of the 4 collections for this month! 

Head here to sign up for a subscripition: Banana Split or Double Dip levels. Or to purchase a kit of either Banana Split, Deluxe, Double Dip, or Single Scoop for the month of December.

Also please know that we have several November kits and October kits available just in case you missed out!

Are you ready to see the fabulous and fun cards I made for this Flavor of the Month blog hop?!!?

You may remember these sweet owls from my sneak peek card. I just adore them! For this card using Collection One items and Sketch #1, I started off by stamping the owls using VersaFine onyx black ink on a piece of watercolor paper I had on my desk. I then die cut them out using a circle die that's roughly 3-1/4" in diameter. I watercolored the image using ZIG Clean Color Real Brush markers. I set that aside to dry and then layered my papers onto a white card base. I started by cutting a 2" x 4-1/4" strip of pink card stock. I adhered that to the bottom of the card and then picked this cut X's and O's paper. I die cut a stitched border at the bottom and then adhered this paper to the top portion of the card. I cut a banner for the blue arrow paper and trimmed one side off to add to the top of the card. I stamped part of the sentiment onto white card stock and trimmed it to fit on the other portion of the blue arrow banner. I popped those up on the card and then adhered a few sequins to the bottom of the card.

For my second card using Collection Two and Sketch #2, I started by stamping this cute image from Santoro's Friendly Hedgehog using Memento tuxedo black ink. I stamped the image a second time on a post it note that I fussy cut out and masked my main image. I decided to go for a winter night time scene so I blended Chipped Sapphire, Seedless Preserves, and Black Soot distress inks. I splattered some white acrylic paint and some Sparkle Silk from my supplies. I removed the mask and colored the image using Copic markers {E50, E51, E53, E55, E57, E70, E77, E79, RV0000, RV11, RV21, BG11, BG32, 0}. I set that aside and started to assemble my card. I cut a 4-1/4 x 5-1/2" piece of pink card stock and adhered that to a white card base. I cut the different strips of patterned paper from the Main Squeeze paper pack and adhered those to the pink card. I cut a 3-1/2 x 2-3/4" piece of the aqua card stock and adhered my main image to it. I then adhered the matted image to the card. I stamped the sentiment from the Main Squeeze stamp set that comes in the Banana Split level in black ink and then trimmed it down to a banner. I colored the edges of the sentiment banner using the RV11 copic marker and then I used the Colorless blender to lighten it a bit around the inside edge. I then adhered the sentiment to the card. 

 I thought this cute image needed just a bit more sparkle so I added some Stardust gelly roll to the edge of the ground and then some clear wink of stella to the rest of the ground. It's all kinds of sparkly fun! I hope you can see some of the sparkle in this close up picture.

I had a lot of fun picking out the layers of patterned paper for my third card. For Collection Three, I used Sketch #3... I think at this point, I was on a roll with keeping to the same collection and sketch numbers... I started by cutting all my layers of paper. I cut a 5-1/2 x 4-1/4" piece of aqua card stock that I adhered to a white card base. I then adhered my other layers and set the card aside. I stamped this sweet fox and sentiment in Memento tuxedo black ink and colored in the fox using Copic markers {BG11, BG32, RV11, N0, N1, N3, E51, E55, E57, BG0000, 0}. I adhered the main image to an aqua mat and adhered that to the card. I added a teal rosette to the side and there you have card #3.

So if it's not pretty obvious at this point... I like the aqua blue colors. Ha! To start off this card, I have to admit I was inspired by another Design Team member, Katie. She had mentioned using dies for embossing and the idea to add a little interest to the grey and white plaid paper by embossing the snowflake included in Collection 4 just came to me. Thanks, Katie!! I embossed the snowflake on either end of the paper and then adhered it to a white card base. I trimmed the blue plaid paper and adhered that to the card. I grabbed another piece of watercolor paper and stamped this adorable image from My Favorite Things called Ice Skater using VersaFine onyx black ink. Using the ZIG Clean Color Real Brush markers again, I colored this image and then set her aside to dry. I cut a mat for the main image and once it was dry I die cut it too and then adhered it all together. I added a few snowflake brads to the card. Lastly, I stamped the sentiment and then die cut it using a stitched banner die. I popped up the sentiment with some foam tape and there you have it!

I had such a blast playing with this kit! I hope you've enjoyed the cards I shared! Now it's time to check out all the other fabulous creations from the Design Team.

~ Blog Hop Line Up ~

Scrapping For Less

Jessica Wilson

Stacy Tiedemann

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

---> up next Teresa Russell

Katie Williams

Tanya Hahn

Tina Smith


Thanks for stopping by!

See ya next time.
~ Crystal

Scrapping For Less ~ December Flavor of the Month Sneak Peek

Hello! I have a super quick and cute sneak peek for the fabulous December Flavor of the Month card kit!! These sneak peeks are hard... I love giving you peeps the details! Ha!

Without revealing too many details, I inked up these adorable owls and the sentiment in Memento tuxedo black ink and then colored them in using copic markers {N0, N1, N2, N3, N5, RV0000, RV11, RV21, YR12, YR24, Y06, E55, B0000, 0}.

I added a couple strips of pretty paper and there you have a quick sneak peek! I hope you're excited for the blog hop tomorrow... I know I am!

Thanks for stopping by!

See ya next time.

~ Crystal

It's All About Christmas at Scrapping For Less

Merry Christmas! I'm sharing a sweet Christmas card for Scrapping for Less today.

You may have already seen the pictures above on the SFL blog today. I have a few more pictures to share. I just love when a card design comes together like this one did!

I just knew I had to use this Shut the Front Door die for this card. It fit perfectly with the beautiful Cursive Merry Christmas word die from Gina Marie Designs. I started by stamping the little snowflakes from Lawn Fawn's Beary Happy Holidays in white ink all over the light blue card stock. I set that aside to dry. I wanted to make the door look somewhat real so I grabbed my leftovers papers from the November Sending Thanks Collection ~ My Mind's Eye Woodgrain papers and die cut the door, the steps and the door handle. I then die cut the wreath using leftover card stock from the October Merry & Bright Collection <--- there's still a couple kits in stock!

For the inside of the door, I cut a 2" x 3-1/8" piece of thin white card stock and used some more scraps of paper... again the woodgrain one and I also used the Christmas music paper from the I Love Christmas paper pack by Echo Park. I layered those patterned papers on top of the white card stock and then trimmed the edges. I inked up the little penguin from Lawn Fawn's Here We Go A-Waddling with Memento Tuxedo black ink and colored him in with copic markers. I fussy cut him out and adhered him inside the door. Now the fun part, adhering all the layers. Once that was done, I layered the entire panel to a white card base.

Here's a close-up picture showing the snowflakes in the background and the glittery goodness I added to the wreath using a clear wink of stella pen. I really had fun making this card! 

Wishing you and yours a very Merry Christmas!

If you haven't already, be sure to check out the Scrapping for Less blog today... the whole design team is sharing their wonderful creations all together!

Thanks for stopping by!

See ya next time.

~ Crystal

'Teas the Season

Hello! I have my final card for the Winter Coffee Lovers blog hop... I'm kind of bummed. I've been having so much fun making cards for the hop and, in fact, I have ideas for more cards but it's time to be done. This post is also kind of bittersweet... I don't want to put a whole bummer on the post though so I'm just dedicating this card and post to my Mom that passed away in September. She loved a good cuppa and I made this for her.

I stamped the mug and deer from STAMPlorations' Winter Mug set using Memento Tuxedo black ink and colored it in with copic markers {R12, R14, R27, 0, N3, N7, E11, E51}. I fussy cut it out and set it aside. I decided to use some patterned papers that I hadn't opened yet... these papers are from Echo Park's paper pad called A Perfect Christmas. 

I cut the papers and adhered them directly to a kraft card base. I then adhered a strip of grosgrain ribbon to the card trimming the sides. I stamped the sentiment from STAMPlorations' Caffeinated Christmas on white card stock, trimmed it and then adhered it to the card. I popped up the mug using dimensionals and there you have it! I think it's cute and I think my Mom would have liked it. :)

There's not much time left to play along but if you have a chance, go check out the Coffee Loving Cardmakers blog to play along!!

Thanks for stopping by!

See ya next time.

~ Crystal

Stay Cozy

Hello! I have another wintry coffee card for the Winter Coffee Lovers blog hop... I wasn't sure that I would be able to finish this one in time, but I did!!

I started by blending my background using distress oxide inks ~ Wilted Violet, Seedless Preserves, and Salty Ocean. I stamped the fun splattered coffee ring from Altenew's Coffee with a Splash set using VersaMark ink and then I heat embossed an ultra fine white embossing powder. I die cut the piece using the My Favorite Things Blueprints 20 scalloped rectangle die.

 I then stamped the image from Unity's {Planner Gal} Stay Cozy kit using Memento Tuxedo black ink and colored her in using copic markers {E50, E51, E53, E55, E57, V06, V09, B00, B05}. I cut the image out using My Favorite Things Stitched Fishtail Flag STAX dies. I stamped and heat embossed the sentiment from the same Unity kit directly on the background. I adhered the fishtail flag image and then adhered the whole panel to a white card base. Yay! Card #7 done! BAM!

Go check out the Coffee Loving Cardmakers blog to play along!!

Thanks for stopping by!

See ya next time.

~ Crystal

Hot Cocoa ~ To Warm Your Heart!

Hello! This is my 6th card for the Winter Coffee Lovers Blog hop... I'm having so much fun with this hop!  I'm back today with a card for National Cocoa Day! I love me some Hot Cocoa... extra whipped cream, please!

Isn't this sweet little mouse just adorable! I thought he was perfect for today's post. He's from a Simon Says Stamp set called Cocoa & Love. 

 I stamped him using Memento tuxedo black ink and colored him in with copic markers {R000, R14, R20, R27, G14, G17, N0, N1, N3, B00, 0}. I added a touch of texture using a Marvy Snow Marker and then I fussy cut him out and set him aside.

I added a couple simple strips of Knit Picky patterned paper from Lawn Fawn cutting a scalloped edge on one strip. I adhered those to a white card base and then added the merry mouse. I then stamped the sentiment from Jaded Blossom's Hot Cocoa set and added a couple hearts from the Cocoa & Love set. Such a simple card but I love it! I hope you do too! And be sure to enjoy a mug full of delicious hot cocoa heaping with marshmallows... or whipped cream! 

Go check out the Coffee Loving Cardmakers blog to play along!!

I'm also entering this card in the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge ~ Stitch It!

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

Coffee... Santa's Little Helper!

Hello! I'm back with my fifth card for the Winter Coffee Lovers Blog hop!! I started off with a completely different design for this card... but I love the way it turned out!

I started this card, first, by stamping these gorgeous snowflakes from The Ton's Crystal Flurries stamp set. I was lucky enough to win these fabulous stamps from The Ton during the Fall Coffee Lovers Blog hop and I just had to use them for this hop! I stamped several of the snowflakes in different teal blue colors layering the snowflakes in some spots. For my last layer of snowflakes I stamped the images in VersaMark and heat embossed them in silver. It really makes for a stunning background. Once I finished up the snowflakes, I just had to add a touch of 'coffee' to the background so I used the little cluster of coffee beans from STAMPlorations' Latte Love using Ground Espresso distress ink. I cut out the background using the just released Stitched Tag-Corner Rectangle STAX dies from My Favorite Things. I love the look of these dies! I layered the die cut piece on a piece of Lost Lagoon card stock and fussy cut the corners. 

I wrapped some Satin Dark Chocolate ribbon around the piece and adhered it to a kraft card base. I set that aside and then grabbed a scrap piece of kraft card stock. I stamped the mug image from Unity's January 2017 Kit of the Month called When You Smile using a Memento Tuxedo black marker so that I could avoid the marshmallows in the image. I wanted a coffee theme so the marshmallows weren't going to work. Ha! I colored the image in using copic markers {BG11, BG15, BG18, E51, E55, E57} and then fussy cut it out. After fussy cutting it, I decided it needed some silver so I used the Ranger Emboss It pen and traced over the snowflake. I then heat embossed some silver embossing powder and set the mug aside. 

Now the sentiment... I wanted something Christmassy and suddenly remembered a coffee themed Christmas sentiment set that I had from STAMPlorations called Caffeinated Christmas. Such a cute little sentiment... and I have to say, Coffee is not only Santa's little helper... it's good for mama's too! Haha! To finish off the card I popped up the mug and the sentiment {that I had layered on Dark Chocolate card stock} using dimensionals. I had two thoughts when this card was done... 1. I love it! and 2. I have A LOT of coffee themed stamps from many companies!! Yay!

Go check out the Coffee Loving Cardmakers blog to play along!!

Thanks for stopping by!

See ya next time.

~ Crystal

Coffee!!

I had a busy weekend and couldn't get inky... insert sad face! I did get a little inky today, so I have my wintry coffee card for day 4! Yay!! This card came together quickly! I basically let the papers and a little stamp do all the work.

I cut this fun piece of patterned paper with the snowflakes from my Paper Studio paper pack called Lewis Family Vacation. These papers have quickly become a favorite of mine! I used a strip of red and black plaid to add some interest and color. I layered those onto a piece of Pure Poppy card stock from Papertrey Ink. I then adhered the whole panel to a kraft card base. 

I stamped this cute little coffee image from Unity's Coffee Side by Side kit using Ground Espresso distress ink. I kept the image simple by coloring in just the hearts. I layered that piece on a scrap of kraft card stock and then I popped the image up using dimensionals. I thought it needed a little something so I grabbed my Gina Marie Designs Wreath die set that just happened to have some pre-cut holly and berries! Score! The perfect little something... I adhered those pieces and called it done. I decided not to add another sentiment... really the 'Coffee' with the heart coffee beans is perfection! I did, however, decide to add a couple red rhinestones from my stash. Love!!

Go check out the Coffee Loving Cardmakers blog to play along!!

Thanks for stopping by!

See ya next time.

~ Crystal

Growing in Unity December Blog Hop

Hello! I'm super excited to be hopping with some very talented ladies that have participated with Growing in Unity the last couple of months. 

If you've been hopping, you arrived here from Amanda Garrett's  blog and you've reached the end of our hop. No pressure there being the end of the hop... yikes!! Haha! Anywho, onto my card... 

I have a sweet friend who likes birds and I wanted to make her Christmas card using these particular birds. I just love these sweet birds, but I also love the scene behind the birds so I wanted to make the card kind of like a window. I sure hope she likes it!

I started with a kraft card base that I stamped the birdy image from the Chick Time kit using Memento tuxedo black ink. I colored the image with prismacolor pencils and then set that aside. I grabbed another piece of kraft card stock to stamp the lovely pine cones and branches on from the Winter Blessings kit. First, I wanted to make sure that the pine cones and branches framed the scene so I laid the card with the birds on my grid paper and marked some general measurements for my 'window area'. I then laid the 4-1/4" x 5-1/2" piece of kraft card stock in the same part of the grid and lightly marked off the area with pencil. 

Then came the fun part, stamping the branches... I stamped them just twice - once in each corner and colored them using copic markers. I grabbed another piece of kraft card stock and stamped the pine cones several times. I cut out my 'window' by hand fussy cutting around the branches. I colored in the pine cones using copic markers and then I wanted to add a touch of gold so I used a Ranger Emboss It pen and then heat embossed some Ultra Fine Antique Gold embossing powder. Those pine cones look so cool in person. I wish the picture showed it better. I fussy cut the pine cones and adhered them and then I cut off the edges that went over the card. I popped up the pine cone and branch piece over top of the card base using dimensionals. All that was left was the sentiment... I originally planned on doing a banner with the Merry Christmas sentiment from the Cheerful Prancing kit, but it was much bigger than I anticipated so I ended up fussy cutting around it and adding it to the fence under the birds. It almost looks like the birds hung a sign on the fence. Haha! Well, that's my card for this fun hop. I sure hope you liked it!

Like I mentioned above, I am the end of the hop so if you happened to miss any blogs be sure to check out the hop list below AND don't forget to comment on each blog for a chance to win a prize package from Unity Stamp Co.

~ Blog Hop List ~

Unity Blog

Denise Sayers
Lori Simonson
Shannon Edwards 
Amber Sheaves 
Kim Chong

Angela Bode 
MariLynn DeGroot 
Amanda Rhodes 
Paula McClane 
Sue Nagata 

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

Thanks for stopping by!

See ya next time.

~ Crystal

Coffee... Joy ~ Love ~ Peace

Hello! I'm back... can you believe it?!? Haha! I have another wintry coffee fun card to share for the Winter Coffee Lovers Blog Hop.

This card came together in a whirlwind! Honestly, I had my desk covered in stamps and inks and embossing powder! Oh my... I had so much fun! Haha! I started by stamping the cup from Unity Stamp Company's Comfort to Go kit using Broken China and Antique Linen distress ink and then I heat embossed it using an ultra fine clear embossing powder. I die cut this piece using an In & Out Diagonal Stitched Rectangle die. I blended some Vintage Photo and Broken China distress ink along the edges and set this aside. I grabbed a kraft card base and blended some Broken China and Vintage Photo distress ink. I wanted to continue the snowflakes onto the card base so I grabbed the Wild Winter SMAK kit and stamped the snowflake stamp all around the edges with Antique Linen Distress Oxide ink and then heat embossed it using the clear ep again. I decided it needed a little something so I inked up the Worn Music background stamp that I just got in my latest order from Unity using Walnut Stain Distress Oxide ink. I wrapped a kraft satin ribbon around the card base and tied a fun bow. I wasn't done there! LOL! I grabbed the coffee panel and dragged it along the Antique Linen Distress Oxide inks and then I heat embossed that too! Can I just say, this card is so heat embossed and shiny that it was sooo hard to get a decent picture. But in person it is gorgeous!! To finish it off I stamped the sentiment from the Comfort to Go kit on vellum card stock and heat embossed it. I tore around the sentiment and adhered it to the card by placing a few glue dots behind the words. I then stamped and heat embossed the 'coffee...' from Unity's Kit of the Month called Unexpected Places. I adhered that to the card and then I popped the whole panel up using dimensionals. I had the wood snowflake on my desk and it was like it asked to be on this card... I think it fits in just fine! My final touch to the card was a few dots of Aquatic Mist glitter drops. There you have it... card number three! I'm on a roll... 

Go check out the Coffee Loving Cardmakers blog to play along!!

Thanks for stopping by!

See ya next time.

~ Crystal

Get Kids Crafty ~ December Blog Hop ~ Fun with S'mores!

Hello! Happy Saturday to you! 

Today, I am getting crafty with my kiddos and joining the December Blog Hop with Get Kids Crafty! When I asked the kids if they'd like to join for this month's theme, they got super excited! We have a couple of things to share with you. Be warned though, there are a lot of pictures! I hope you have some fun seeing the crafts that we made because I know my kids had a blast making them!

~ S'mores Ornament ~

The first craft that we decided to do was a S'mores Ornament. This ornament is made out of popsicle or craft sticks.  We started out with 8 craft sticks that the kids painted with acrylic paints.

They painted 3 sticks white for the marshmallow, 1 stick dark brown for the chocolate, and 4 sticks a light brown for the graham crackers.

 We talked about the importance of having scrap paper under our project so that we didn't get paint on the table (I'll admit, I was a little nervous... the kids usually paint with washable paints).

We also talked about keeping the paint to our projects and not on our clothes. Once our sticks were painted, we set them aside to dry. Sadly, I am missing a few pictures for the next couple of steps. I think they were deleted by little fingers. Anywho, the kids and I wrapped a little twine around a couple craft sticks that we had cut down to be support pieces to back the ornament. I then used a hot glue gun to secure the twine to the support pieces. We laid down our support sticks and I added hot glue to each piece while the kids built their s'more. In this step, we decided to just use 2 craft sticks for our 'graham crackers'.

Once we had the s'more built we set it aside so the glue could cure. Which was a great time to learn what the term cure means when you're referring to glue. The kids thought it was funny, like the glue was sick. They learned something new. 

The next day, we were ready to add googly eyes and our smiles. We used googly eyes that I got from Fun Stampers Journey during last Halloween. The kids thought it was funny to give their ornaments more than two eyes... so I guess we have S'mores Monster ornaments. Ha! I was hoping to share a picture of the ornaments on the tree, but... our tree isn't up yet so... yeah.

~ Watercolor Handprint Campfire Art ~

Our next project was a fun little art project combining a couple of different ideas we saw online. 

This time it was epic fail for Mom because I forgot about taking pictures when Saydee was adding Color Burst pigment to the watercolor paper. Oops... but we did get pictures after. She really loves to watercolor so she was super excited to use Mom's 'little bottles' - as she called them. I think her watercolor turned out so pretty!

I did approach this part of the project with the kids separately. It was just a better way to control the mess for this OCD mama! In any case, Sym also had fun doing this part of the project. The pigment powder didn't cooperate with him so he ended up whacking the bottle. He sprayed a lot more water on his paper and got a totally different look from Saydee's. We let our watercolors dry overnight and then we traced and cut out our paper hands. We were able to get 3 hands from each paper.

The kids picked some green and blue paper for the background of their campfire and we cut up 'logs' from some brown paper.

Now it was time to glue everything. We used plain old glue sticks for this.... and managed to get glue everywhere so that was fun. We did discover that the glue stick was not strong enough to hold down the watercolor paper. So we used some Mono Multipurpose glue to make sure our paper hands stuck.

Our Watercolor Handprint Campfire Masterpieces!

We sure hope that you've enjoyed seeing our projects for the Get Kids Crafty December Blog Hop! We had so much fun making them!

~ Hop List ~

The Frolicking Fairy

Crystal O. Minkler

Acute Angle

Faith Dream Create

Fanciful Spaces

Phineas and Mae

Mad Crafter’s Tea Party

Thanks for stopping by!

See ya next time.

~ Crystal